The youths watched as Li Fan soared away on the clouds. Only then did the truth dawn on them: Immortal Master He’s words had contained neither deception nor exaggeration. A wave of shame washed over them.
“Those who enter the spirit pool first will receive a greater share of the spiritual liquid. Go on, don’t wait,” Immortal Master He said, his expression softening as he addressed the group.
A frantic scramble ensued as the youths rushed toward the sea of clouds.
***
Enveloped by the thick, swirling sea of clouds, Li Fan felt utterly disoriented.
White clouds continued to gather around him, growing denser and denser. In moments, they condensed into a white spiritual liquid that encased him completely.
Submerged within it, Li Fan felt no sense of suffocation. Instead, an incredible warmth and comfort embraced him. Like a fetus within its mother’s womb, Li Fan’s mind and spirit gradually relaxed completely.
A gentle, gurgling energy flowed over every inch of his skin, seeping through his pores and into his body. His entire being, body and soul, felt as if it were soaking in a hot spring, a sensation so pleasurable he nearly moaned aloud.
But soon, the warmth intensified into a searing heat.
The searing heat became a scalding burn.
The scalding burn transformed into the agony of being roasted by raging flames.
Caught completely off guard, Li Fan let out a wretched scream. In that instant, he had lost all control over his own body.
All he felt was a molten, lava-like heat rampaging through his veins, savagely tearing and drilling into every single nerve.
This pain was beyond human endurance. Instinct screamed at Li Fan to activate Return to Truth, but he gritted his teeth and resisted the urge.
Three hundred years of bitter pursuit... wasn’t it all for this very moment?
No matter what, I will not give up. I will cultivate immortality! I will achieve eternal life!
Li Fan’s consciousness began to fracture under the extreme torment, yet a stubborn, unyielding obsession held him together, preventing the total collapse of his mind.
The scorching current cycled through his body in an endless, vicious loop. With each cycle, the destruction and the pain deepened.
Soon, the agony reached a level that could hardly be described in words. The pain was a blade that flayed his soul ten thousand times, then ten thousand times more. It was endless, ceaseless torment.
No matter how formidable Li Fan’s will, faced with pain of this magnitude, his resistance began to crumble.
Slowly, Li Fan’s awareness grew hazy and distant. His consciousness started to dissipate.
Even at this critical juncture, his deep-seated obsession made him hold on and refuse to activate Return to Truth.
His mind became a near-blank slate.
Cultivation, immortality, purging miasma, spirit pool, Liuli Island, Curios of heaven and earth, Return to Truth...
All these thoughts slowly faded away as Li Fan’s consciousness grew still.
Instinct took over where self-awareness faded. The Xuanhuang Heart Clarification Sutra, which Li Fan had practiced day and night without rest since arriving on Liuli Island, began to operate on its own accord.
As the sutra operated, Li Fan’s consciousness seemed to have found something to anchor itself onto. It began to coalesce once more, growing stronger.
Though he remained in a state devoid of conscious thought, his mind grew steady and firm. It was like a reef by the shore, standing unyielding against the wind and waves.
***
Three days passed in a blur.
Of the thirteen who had entered the Body Purification Spirit Pool, eleven had already emerged.
Only four of those eleven had successfully purged the Immortal-Mortal Miasma within them. The remaining seven had failed to endure the excruciating pain.
Apart from one unlucky soul who had died, the final one who had yet to emerge was naturally Li Fan.
Sensing that faint, almost imperceptible aura within the spirit pool array, He Zhenghao grew increasingly astonished.
As the cultivator presiding over the spirit pool array, he knew all too well the sheer agony involved in purging the Immortal-Mortal Miasma from a mortal’s body.
The Immortal-Mortal Miasma lay deeply buried within a mortal’s bloodline, coexisting with their flesh and blood from the moment the fetus was formed.
As the mortal grew, the miasma became ever more inseparable from their body.
This Body Purification Spirit Pool array was created by one of the leaders of the Myriad Immortals Alliance, Heavenly Venerable Dong Ji.
It worked by utterly destroying the body to force out the miasma, then using regenerative power to rebuild the flesh. This cycle repeated until all the miasma within the body was purged.
The older one was, the more entwined the miasma became with one’s flesh and blood. Consequently, more cycles of destruction and reconstruction were required to purge the Immortal-Mortal Miasma.
The pain endured in this process was unimaginable!
He Zhenghao had presided over this spirit pool array on Liuli Island for over fifty years. The oldest person he had seen persevere and complete the purification process was thirty-one years old.
For someone of Li Fan’s age, He Zhenghao had believed there was simply no hope of success. Yet, Li Fan’s performance far exceeded his expectations.
The sheer firmness of this man’s will is downright terrifying. If he succeeds in purifying his body, reaching Foundation Establishment will surely be no difficult task for him. He might even form a Golden Core... He Zhenghao’s eyes gleamed. Perhaps I can forge a favorable connection early on.
With that in mind, He Zhenghao escorted the others out of the array, waiting alone for Li Fan inside.
Another three days passed. Seeing that Li Fan still had not emerged, He Zhenghao was struck speechless with shock. If not for being able to sense Li Fan’s stable vital aura within the array, he would have gone in long ago.
But there was nothing to be done; the Body Purification Array couldn’t be interrupted arbitrarily. He could only continue to wait.
Another three days went by.
He Zhenghao’s expression turned somewhat grim. Someone who could persist within the Body Purification Spirit Pool array for so long was surely a monster.
At this point, the materials required to maintain the array’s operation were running low. If the materials ran out, the operation would be forcibly halted, leading to unforeseeable consequences. All the previous efforts of those still in the spirit pool might be wasted.
Logically speaking, if the array stopped operating now, it would just be Li Fan’s bad luck, with no blame falling on He Zhenghao. But thinking of Li Fan’s terrifying, iron will, a series of expressions crossed He Zhenghao’s face.
Never mind, let’s just bet on this kid achieving greatness in the future!
With that, He Zhenghao formed a series of hand seals. One item after another flew out from his storage ring, vanishing into the depths of the sea of clouds.
Good thing I always keep an extra set of these materials in secret... He Zhenghao mused inwardly, heart aching as he looked at his now half-emptied storage ring.
After another two days had passed, the churning sea of clouds finally began to calm. White clouds danced and clustered together, carrying Li Fan back to the mountain peak.
He Zhenghao swept his divine sense over Li Fan. Finding no trace of the miasma within his body, he finally let out a sigh of relief.
“Congratulations, young friend! Your shackles are now gone, and the path to immortality lies before you!” He Zhenghao said warmly.
Li Fan was still acclimating to his newly transformed body, feeling better than ever. However, he found Immortal Master He’s sudden change in attitude rather peculiar.
Though he had purged the Immortal-Mortal Miasma from his system, he hadn’t officially begun cultivating and was still just a mortal. Why was the Immortal Master being so courteous?
Noticing Li Fan’s puzzled expression, Immortal Master He understood the unspoken question and explained that Li Fan had remained in the Body Purification Spirit Pool for a full eleven days.
“What? I was in there for that long?” Li Fan was genuinely startled.
“Indeed, young friend. You may not know this, but the array materials were nearly exhausted. I went to great personal expense to replenish them for your sake...” Immortal Master He seized the opportunity to highlight his contribution.
But Li Fan’s mind was reeling for another reason—not Immortal Master He’s so-called “selfless sacrifice,” but the sight of a new technique on Return to Truth’s panel.
The Xuanhuang Heart Clarification Sutra he had always practiced had somehow turned into the Xuanhuang Heart Refinement Sutra.