The Thousand Mechanisms Jade Cosmos Scripture was discovered by Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi within the ruins of the Heavenly Mechanisms Sect in the Hundred Stones Grotto-Heaven on the border of Shilin Province. Though only a Nascent Soul technique, it had the profound abilities of discerning energy mechanisms and clarifying causality.
Li Fan was able to comprehend Formless Killing Mechanism largely thanks to the Jade Cosmos Scripture.
The Heaven-Swapping Art was obtained from Sikong Yi, a descendant of the Heaven-Swapping Sect. It allowed one to seize the fates of others and create avatars with that stolen fate, living up to its name of swapping heaven itself.
The secret art Visage Follows the Heart came from Zhou Qing'ang, a spy for the Five Elders Council and a past guardian of Tai’an Island. Paired with the Curio of heaven and earth, the Seven-Apertures Exquisite Heart, it could alter one's appearance to that of a completely different person, and was even capable of deceiving the Myriad Immortals Alliance's White Jade Heart-Questioning Platform test.
Energy mechanism, fate, and visage. Theoretically, combining these three could allow one to completely transform into another cultivator.
Li Fan had considered this possibility before. But these were all profoundly mysterious and abstract concepts. With his current theoretical foundation, even if he meditated in seclusion for centuries, he likely couldn't create a new technique based on them.
Now, with the opportunity to utilize the Derivation Jade to create a new technique, and considering the imminent widespread deployment of the Tianxuan Soul-Locking Array, which would strip all cultivators under heaven of their privacy, such an ability to assume another identity at will became critically important for Li Fan.
Therefore, without hesitation, Li Fan now poured the complete contents of the two techniques and one secret art onto the white paper.
Though it was just a single sheet of paper, the characters grew smaller and smaller as the writing filled up the page. It seemed capable of containing any amount of content.
In a moment, Li Fan ceased his contemplation. The white paper was completely covered in countless, densely packed tiny characters.
"Finished?" The little girl was still resting her chin in her hands. She stared at the desktop vacantly, not even looking up as she asked.
"Fin..." Li Fan gave a slight nod, but before the rest could leave his lips, he saw the paper in his hand transform into streams of flowing light, drifting toward the desk where the little girl lay.
Instantly, countless characters manifested on the desktop.
The little girl took one look and immediately pouted, visibly displeased. "Completely transform into another person? Your demands are so high.
"You have the blueprint techniques for altering energy mechanisms, fate, and appearance. But what about the techniques for transforming flesh and blood, divine sense, and soul?"
Hearing this, Li Fan showed no embarrassment, only replying honestly with a touch of helplessness. "Gathering the techniques I have now required my utmost effort. Methods for transforming flesh and blood, divine sense, and soul are exceptionally rare, beyond my current means to obtain.
"So, is it impossible to derive?" Li Fan asked, looking at the little girl.
"It's possible, alright. It's just that I finally had a chance to rest a bit. How annoying..." The little girl glared at Li Fan, muttering under her breath.
A thought stirred in Li Fan's mind, but he pretended not to hear, his expression unchanged as he watched the Derivation Jade's actions intently.
She patted the desk with her chubby hands. The countless characters on the desktop immediately flowed backward like a river, flying up into the massive sphere overhead. They joined the rapidly shifting sequence of derivation.
The characters flickered at a speed several times faster than when Li Fan had first seen them. Yet, the little girl slumped over the desk appeared utterly drowsy, nodding off.
Li Fan dared not make a sound, fearing he would disturb her. He quietly looked up, gazing at the sphere formed by the shifting characters above.
This was clearly not physical space. It felt more like a world constructed purely from consciousness. Yet Li Fan’s avatar had undoubtedly arrived here with a physical body, interacting with this consciousness.
Apart from the awareness of the Derivation Jade, Li Fan could also sense, from time to time, another gaze sweeping over him within this space. The owner of that gaze made no attempt to conceal their presence, and the warning within it was unmistakable. So Li Fan behaved with considerable restraint.
With his silence and the little girl’s drowsy stupor, the space fell into utter dead quiet. Only the light from above, shifting with the changing characters, played across Li Fan’s face, making his expression seem inscrutable and unfathomable.
Derivation Jade...
Only these words flashed through his mind before Li Fan suppressed all other thoughts, turning instead to silently calculating the passage of time. He focused on nothing else.
Four hours after the Derivation Jade began the derivation process, the massive sphere above erupted with a burst of dazzling light. Simultaneously, the little girl seemed to jolt awake from her slumber. Rubbing her eyes, she looked utterly unrefreshed as she said listlessly, "Done."
Instantly, countless tiny characters swarmed across the desktop, coalescing into a sheet of white paper that reappeared in Li Fan’s hand.
Li Fan narrowed his eyes slightly and began to read intently.
Arcana True Spirit Transformation.
Using a profound and mysterious power, it replicates all life fluctuations of a target, effecting a corresponding transformation.
If no target is present, a random transformation may be generated.
When targeting a living being, the first transformation requires a sample of the target's biological material.
No materials are required if no target is specified.
Only biological signatures can be replicated, but not cultivation techniques or realms.
Only lifeforms at the Nascent Soul realm or below can be selected as targets. After transformation, regardless of prior cultivation level, maximum cultivation level is limited to the Nascent Soul realm.
Li Fan slowly committed the technique’s contents to memory, and the writing on the white paper gradually faded away.
Truly worthy of the Derivation Jade. The effects of this Arcana True Spirit Transformation technique are even better than I anticipated. I just wonder how it will perform in actual use.
The more Li Fan studied it, the more delighted he became, and he couldn’t help but ponder the technique’s contents repeatedly.
Although it was only a Nascent Soul technique, its limitations were confined to the selection of transformation targets and the post-transformation power cap. The core transformation ability itself was almost exactly as he had envisioned.
Reading further, Li Fan saw that besides the transformation ability, mastering this technique also granted a discernment ability.
As the saying goes, prolonged illness makes one a doctor. Because completely transforming into another person required a deep understanding of the essence of life, once he mastered this technique to a large degree, his ability to discern the authenticity of living beings naturally followed.
What surprised and delighted Li Fan even more was that the True Spirit Transformation technique also preserved the avatar-creation method from the Heaven-Swapping Art. When crafting an avatar, one could fuse it with the profound transformative power of the True Spirit Transformation, producing a flawless replica of the target.
Li Fan found himself utterly immersed in this mysterious and profound divine technique. Though it was only at the Nascent Soul level, the sheer sophistication of its effects made him feel that it might even surpass the Cloudwater Dream Illusion Art.
Seeing Li Fan give no response for a long time, she muttered sullenly, "Time's almost up, you know. If there's anything you want improved, you can tell me."
With that, she yawned, watching Li Fan with listless eyes.
Only then did Li Fan snap out of his reverie.
The white paper in his hand had completely vanished, the technique's contents now etched perfectly into his mind.
Li Fan bowed solemnly to the Derivation Jade. "I am fully satisfied.
"You have worked hard."