There was no concrete reason for the feeling.
It was simply an intuition that rose unbidden in Li Fan’s heart as he watched Zhang Zhiliang sit in silence, half his figure swallowed by shadow.
Even so, Li Fan had always placed great faith in his instincts.
Perhaps witnessing the deaths of the other two array masters of the Strategy Array Hall has shaken him?
Li Fan wondered, but did not pry.
He only etched the observation firmly into memory.
After offering a respectful bow, Li Fan withdrew.
Once back before the Tianxuan Mirror, he carefully examined the jade slip’s contents.
The second slip was far more profound than the first, even brushing upon the threshold of the Unlimited Art, Zhang Zhiliang’s own legacy.
Unhurried, Li Fan fed its insights into the multi-threaded workings of the Unity of Dao Transformation and Mind.
Half a month passed.
During this time, his true self continued its cultivation as per usual.
Meanwhile, his avatar, Lin Fan, had gained a small degree of mastery in awakening the body’s hidden reserves.
By compiling countless texts, running experiments on himself, and drawing on descriptions from the Heavenly Physician’s Immortal Scripture , the avatar ceaselessly stirred the wellspring of latent power within, tempering his flesh to greater strength.
Now, he could unleash destructive force on par with a late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator with just the raw strength of his physical body, without relying on either spiritual power or arcane arts.
Since the method involved no special techniques, simply the most fundamental forging of the body’s hidden reserves, Li Fan named it the Creation Forge Technique.
The name referenced only the “forge” aspect, having nothing to do with actual creation. Yet when naming techniques, one naturally gravitated toward more imposing titles.
Li Fan felt quite satisfied with the name he had come up with.
By now, the avatar’s cultivation of the Creation Forge Technique had reached its first critical juncture.
His entire body had already undergone comprehensive tempering, both inside and out, preparing it to a sufficient level.
With his physical strength now meeting the required threshold, the next step was to draw upon the vast, surging power hidden within his body’s reserves and compress that force into a great hammer to pound his flesh.
Like steel refined through repeated strikes, the process would strengthen his body even as it pushed it to the brink of destruction.
This was the Initial Refinement.
Boom.
Boom.
Muffled, banging sounds resounded from within the avatar’s body. With each echo, an unnatural crimson flushed across Li Fan’s face.
Soon, his body began to heat up. His skin reddened, his temperature climbed, and he looked like a body thrown into a blazing furnace to be roasted. Throughout the process, he felt like he was teetering on the edge of collapse.
Yet whenever he thought he could no longer hold on, his hidden reserves surged forth on their own, flooding him with raw, vibrant vitality that mended what should have been fatal damage.
It wasn’t conscious control; it was his body’s primal response to mortal danger.
Through this hammering and tempering, his physique grew ever stronger. Gradually, the accumulation of countless small changes pushed him toward a breakthrough.
After an unknown span of time, a final, deeper impact rang through him.
Li Fan’s body shuddered.
The crimson glow faded.
Soon, a new strength settled into his limbs.
He compressed his spiritual power into a sharp edge and slashed at his left arm.
Clang!
The blow produced a clear metallic ring. Only after steadily increasing his spiritual power to the mid-stage Foundation Establishment level did he manage to leave a bloody mark.
The first round of tempering is complete. This step is equivalent to Foundation Establishment.
Next... I’ll need to mobilize my hidden reserves for a second round of tempering.
According to my theory, if there are no limitations, allowing me to keep repeating this process endlessly, a hundred hundred times, a thousand times... I will eventually be able to develop my body's hidden reserves to an extreme level, enabling me to influence and distort natural laws through physical strength alone, achieving a state where just about no techniques can harm me and no calamity can destroy me.
Unfortunately, this path is severed here in the Xuanhuang World.
Perhaps the restrictions in surrounding minor worlds won’t be as strong.
Li Fan took a deep breath, and the wound on his arm vanished in an instant.
My requirements aren't that high. I just need to forge a path where my physical body can contend with Golden Core cultivators.
That will be my avatar's next objective.
As the thought formed, the power of his hidden reserves surged forth like a bursting dam, scouring and tempering his physique.
Having successfully completed the Initial Refinement, the tempering process has become as natural as breathing, like an instinct of the body.
I no longer need to remain constantly in seclusion now.
I can research methods to increase the efficiency of my cultivation...
Li Fan contemplated.
Just then, his communication spirit talisman chimed with a notification.
Jiao Xiuyuan was complaining to him again.
Li Fan had grown accustomed to it over these past few years.
In the original plan, Jiao Xiuyuan should have held the first auction in Anchor Year 18 to build momentum for the Mini Medicine King Cauldron.
But the sudden outbreak of war in Tianling Province and the unexpected discount event from the Tianxuan Mirror had forced him to postpone it.
In Jiao Xiuyuan's words: "All cultivators are buying techniques; they've become penniless ghosts! There's no profit left to squeeze! If we hold an auction now, we probably wouldn't even recover our costs!"
Business at Thousand Li Hall had been rather bleak these past few years.
Using terminology from before Li Fan’s transmigration, it was an economic downturn—one in which everyone was feeling the strain.
Still, Li Fan believed that with the Tianxuan Mirror’s macroeconomic regulation, and with that Eternal Heavenly Venerable who caused calamities to fade from memory, the cultivation world would recover sooner rather than later.
After sending a brief response, his avatar stored the spirit talisman away and immersed itself in research about the body's hidden reserves once more.
While both Li Fan's true self and avatar were engaged in arduous cultivation, Ye Feipeng was growing somewhat disheartened on the deserted island.
Over these years, although he considered his cultivation efforts more than diligent, the gulf between reality and his aspirations remained vast—vast enough to be deeply discouraging.
According to the timeline in his memories, Zhang Haobo should have formed his artificial core around this time, riding the winds and dominating the myriad immortals.
Yet he, Ye Feipeng, had only just stepped into late-stage Foundation Establishment. The Golden Core realm still felt impossibly distant.
Is the gap between me and a true prodigy really this great?
And it wasn’t only Zhang Haobo.
Everyone on this deserted island was a monster in their own right.
Su Xiaomei was growing rapidly, her cultivation speed accelerating with each passing year. She had caught up from behind and reached late-stage Foundation Establishment, matching Ye Feipeng’s realm.
But when it came to actual combat, her terrifying natural talent completely overwhelmed him. During their sparring sessions, Ye Feipeng could do nothing but rely on his increasingly astonishing speed to evade her relentless assaults.
Xiao Heng was no weaker either.
Even Su Changyu and the Yin sisters, whose cultivation lagged slightly behind, each possessed distinctive strengths that made them impossible to underestimate.
In terms of natural talent, Ye Feipeng simply could not compete.
He had come to terms with this reality long ago. As a regressor, he could rely on foreknowledge to make up for his deficiencies, so he had never truly panicked.
But now, even that final source of confidence was beginning to crumble.
Not long ago, he had accidentally overheard passing cultivators discussing the great war that had erupted in Tianling Province several years earlier.
The more he listened, the more uneasy he became.
Because in his previous life, such a catastrophic event had never happened at all.