Practicing like this, who wouldn't go mad?
After a long while, Li Fan couldn't help but sigh as he finished reading the entire jade slip.
It naturally recorded the Life-Death Profound Canon that Zhong Shentong mentioned. However, the scroll was only half-complete, and its origins were unknown.
Its essential principles were completely outrageous. The opening chapter of the technique's formula laid out its core tenet plainly. It posited that everything in this world must eventually face death. Birds, beasts, grass, trees, humanity. Even cultivators, demonic beasts, and heaven and earth itself... none could escape this fate.
To transcend death, one must, before one's own death arrived, achieve a state of superposition—neither alive nor dead, yet both alive and dead.
This was the highest level of the technique envisioned.
Accomplishing the coexistence of life and death required unparalleled comprehension and understanding of the very essence of life and death.
Sensing Life and Death was a method of the technique used to perceive and feel life and death, from the initial "clinging to life and fearing death," to "abandoning life and forgetting death," and finally to the “coexistence of life and death."
The Life-Death Profound Canon was basically a peculiar technique where its practitioner harnessed the power of life and death for cultivation.
Because its foundational concept was so lofty, the technique's contents were also extremely profound and obscure, even more so than the Arcana True Spirit Transformation.
Perhaps because even the technique's founder had not reached that state of being both alive and dead, much of the content in the latter half of the technique consisted of speculation and conjecture.
Even from Li Fan's cursory glance, he could spot one or two internal contradictions.
The technique is good, but unfortunately incomplete. If it were whole, it might be of some use. As it is now, it can only serve as a reference.
And, regrettably, Zhong Shentong's multicolored divine light doesn't seem to be related to this Life-Death Profound Canon.
Li Fan shook his head slightly.
Putting away the jade slip, Li Fan pondered for a moment, then attempted to cultivate the method of Sensing Life and Death.
This was the prerequisite method one must learn to even begin the Life-Death Profound Canon, something even a mortal could practice.
Naturally, Li Fan had no issues with it.
Word by word, the method’s instructions flowed silently through Li Fan's mind.
Three days and three nights passed.
As Li Fan sat with eyes closed in cultivation, a sudden turbulence erupted in his consciousness.
Countless images instantly flooded his vision.
He seemed to vaguely return to Great Xuan, to the triumphant moments of achieving the position of top scholar three times in a row, to his reckless audacity within the Empress Dowager's palace, to the overwhelming arrogance of ruling the world... And later, his arduous journey through the Immortal-Severing Grand Array, before he finally arrived in the cultivation world.
Step by step, from a mortal, to Qi Refinement, to Foundation Establishment, to core formation; every event that had ever excited him rushed forward, clamoring for attention, making Li Fan feel as if he were personally reliving each one.
With so many moments of great joy stacked together in this short span, even with Li Fan's mental fortitude, he couldn't help but feel a sense of lightheadedness and elation.
Just as this joyful atmosphere reached its peak, all the scenes shattered like bubbles, one after another, replaced by each of Li Fan's countless brushes with death.
"Father... father..."
"Dear!"
Faint, heart-wrenching wails echoed in his ears. This was his first life, before he had awakened Return to Truth, on the verge of death from illness.
"Just seizing my last chance to live!" Kou Hong's mad laughter, accompanied by a tremendous roar and a sky full of flames, appeared before Li Fan's eyes.
That was his second life, when Dao Xuanzi and Kou Hong battled, Xuanjing was destroyed, and Li Fan narrowly escaped death.
The Realm-Splitting Whales of the Immortal-Severing Grand Array, the rapid aging after merging with the sea, the pursuit of the enforcer... Scene after scene of mortal danger seemed to descend upon Li Fan all at once.
And finally, the space within the Tianxuan Mirror was torn asunder. Ahead, the faintly visible face of a kind-looking old man appeared.
The fear in his heart could no longer be restrained.
Li Fan broke free from his cultivation.
Return to...
Yet before he shouted the word "Truth" in his heart, all the terrifying images vanished in an instant.
Only then did Li Fan forcibly stop himself.
His body was soaked with cold sweat, and his breathing was as ragged as if he had truly escaped death.
Li Fan's eyes flickered as he reviewed the experience.
This cultivation attempt has failed.
The Sensing Life and Death method stirs the mind's fear of death. It is far more than a simple illusion.
It is somewhat similar to the Intent Horse—so illusory it feels real.
If the mind believes it to be real, then it is real.
It is truly perilous. If one becomes immersed deeply enough, unable to distinguish truth from falsehood, there is a real possibility of being frightened to death outright.
No wonder that Zhong Shentong went mad.
Only in this way can one genuinely feel the terror of death.
Thinking of this, Li Fan sighed softly.
A pity. This method is useless to me.
When ordinary people face the threat of death, they naturally feel terror and despair. But I am different.
No matter the circumstance, I have a lifeline. That is Return to Truth.
When Sensing Life and Death is pushed to its extremes, and I face a death threat that feels substantial, I will instinctively call upon Return to Truth and start everything anew—
Wait.
In that instant, Li Fan thought of something, and his expression changed slightly.
Survival instinct...
The Xuanhuang Heart Refinement Sutra...
He stood up abruptly, his thoughts racing.
Pacing back and forth, he considered the feasibility.
To inversely refine the Dao Heart, I must resist the instincts within my heart.
And for me, the greatest instinct is to call upon Return to Truth at the brink of death.
If I use this to inversely refine the Dao Heart, the gains would surely be unimaginable.
But it's impossible for me to truly intend to abandon Return to Truth at a life-or-death moment.
Using the Sensing Life and Death method avoids this problem entirely.
Li Fan's eyes gleamed. After a moment, he steadied his mind.
He began operating the sensing method once more.
This time, when all the beauty of life shattered and the threat of death descended again, Li Fan still failed to break free from this habit seemingly carved into his very soul, and once more called upon Return to Truth.
Second attempt, failed.
Undaunted, Li Fan tried a third time, a fourth... Until the fifty-sixth attempt.
Facing the Heavenly Physician, Li Fan activated the Xuanhuang Heart Refinement Sutra.
Simultaneously, with immense willpower, he temporarily suppressed the instinctual impulse to call upon Return to Truth.
But the threat of death did not vanish with Li Fan's restraint.
Instead, it grew increasingly real.
The Heavenly Physician's features grew clearer before his eyes, and the warnings from Li Fan's spiritual sense screamed ever more frantically within him.
In the end, Li Fan still emerged from his cultivation of Sensing Life and Death, drenched in sweat.
Perhaps it is only upon reaching the stage of abandoning life and forgetting death that the Sensing chapter would allow one to truly face death without coming to harm.
He knew with absolute clarity: had he forced himself to continue just now, even if he hadn't perished on the spot, the outcome would have been utterly disastrous.
This technique is genuinely sinister.
And yet, the gains from that brief moment were immense.
Within the great millstone of heart refinement, a slightly greater measure of that cool, refreshing energy cascaded down upon him, more than what he had earned from braving the White Mist or his desperate plea for aid.