"As far as I know, several of my martial brothers back then cultivated other techniques besides our sect's main technique, the Salvation Longevity Scripture.
"Awakening them ahead of schedule shouldn't be a major issue.
"Once I've gathered enough techniques..." Linghu Chang was speaking to himself when he noticed Xiao Heng and the others looking at him with strange expressions.
He paused, unable to resist asking, "What is it, Fellow Daoist Xiao? Is there a problem with my plan?"
Xiao Heng gave a bitter smile. "Fellow Daoist Linghu, I'm afraid the current situation in the cultivation world is not as simple as you imagine."
He then proceeded to explain the general circumstances of the Myriad Immortals Alliance and the Five Elders Council, two colossal entities that monopolized nearly all the techniques in the world.
Linghu Chang's face instantly turned deathly pale.
"How could this be?"
If these people weren't lying, then the Myriad Immortals Alliance and the Five Elders Council were clearly even more terrifying existences than the Ten Immortal Dao Sects of his era.
Su Xiaomei quickly added, "The Myriad Immortals Alliance isn't a good bunch! If they ever find out your Medicine King Sect has all those treasures and techniques, they'll definitely come after you!"
Zhang Haobo also nodded. "The Myriad Immortals Alliance's control over techniques is truly fearsome. The ancient method you cultivate must be extraordinary. Advancing to Dao Unity through it is certainly possible. Given the Alliance's modus operandi, they would never allow a technique of such caliber to remain outside their control. Once word gets out, they would surely dispatch cultivators from the Enforcer Hall to... reclaim it."
Drawing from their own mental image of the Myriad Immortals Alliance, the three of them elaborated on and embellished its terrors for Linghu Chang.
Although Linghu Chang didn't believe them entirely, he understood the principle that a common man's only crime is possessing a treasure.[1]
The fate of the Medicine King Sect lay in Linghu Chang’s hands. Placing the lives of hundreds of slumbering martial brothers in the control of the Myriad Immortals Alliance was something he simply could not do.
After a moment of thought, he bowed solemnly to Xiao Heng and the others.
"I have been away from the Xuanhuang World for thousands of years. The world has changed, and many matters are utterly unfamiliar to me.
"For the sake of my Medicine King Sect's survival and future, I must trouble you for assistance."
Xiao Heng hurriedly expressed that he dared not accept such deference.
After settling matters within the Medicine King Cauldron, Linghu Chang and the three of them flew out, and Linghu Chang stored the cauldron away.
They then planned to return to Shilin Province by the same route.
Throughout the journey, the group kept a low profile.
As Linghu Chang witnessed the majestic sky cities along the way and the numerous Myriad Immortals Alliance cultivators within them, he became even more convinced of his judgment and grew increasingly cautious.
***
The Myriad Immortals Alliance Headquarters, Museum of Divine Treasures.
Following his guide, Li Fan had now arrived inside this magnificent building.
His footsteps came to a slight halt.
The docent ahead turned back with some surprise.
"Is there a place to rest here?" Li Fan asked apologetically.
The black-robed docent looked at the aged Li Fan, whose hair was stark white. He showed an understanding expression and led Li Fan to a sealed chamber.
It was simply decorated, furnished with a table and chairs.
"You may rest here. Whenever you wish to resume the tour, contact me using this jade token."
Handing Li Fan the jade token inscribed with the characters B-3, the docent quietly departed.
Li Fan took a deep breath, digesting the information transmitted back from Xiao Heng and the others.
The Immortal Ruins?
He narrowed his eyes.
An extremely powerful gravitational force, an entity that devours everything and can even distort space and time. Within a certain proximity to it, a moment becomes a thousand years.
This is... a black hole? Or rather, a force extremely similar to a black hole.
Is that mysterious entity above Yuandao Province related to the Immortal Ruins?
As Li Fan was sorting through the information, he suddenly paused.
Wait. The Xuanhuang World below, constantly at risk of being drawn in and devoured by the Immortal Ruins.
And the anomalous reaction of the Xuanhuang World after the cultivators died.
In an instant, combined with his experiences in Tianling Province, all the clues connected into a single thread.
A logically consistent conclusion formed in Li Fan's mind, one that could reasonably and completely resolve the doubts he had harbored before.
To avoid the fate of the entire Xuanhuang World getting devoured by the Immortal Ruins above, it needs to maintain a certain amount of its own “weight.”
And cultivators are an extremely important component of that weight.
When cultivators die on a large scale, the Xuanhuang World becomes that much lighter.
Thus, it is pulled slightly closer to the Immortal Ruins.
If the number of cultivators in the Xuanhuang World falls below a certain threshold, then the entire Xuanhuang World will plunge completely into the Immortal Ruins.
By then, even an Eternal Heavenly Venerable would likely be unable to escape destruction.
This is why Ji Hongdao's deterrent works.
It is basically the threat of mutually assured destruction.
This is also the reason why the number of cultivators cannot be too few.
Li Fan's thoughts raced. Recalling Senior Sister Zhao's words and actions, he felt this deduction was extremely close to the truth.
But a question immediately followed.
Why did cultivators have weight?
It was understandable that heaven and earth had weight.
But how could a cultivator's physical body—
Suddenly, like a bolt of lightning splitting the fog, Li Fan understood.
If we're talking about practitioners of the old methodology, they naturally wouldn't have any weight to speak of.
But practitioners of the new methodology plunder heaven and earth.
They draw upon the spirit of heaven and earth, borrow the Curios of heaven and earth, peer into the laws of heaven and earth, seize the essence of heaven and earth, extract the marrow of heaven and earth...
They absorb a part of the world, making it part of themselves.
Thus, they naturally also gain the attribute of the world's “weight.”
It was not very noticeable among cultivators at the Golden Core realm and below.
But after reaching the Nascent Soul realm, when they devoured a grotto-heaven that originally belonged to heaven and earth, transforming it into their own domain, it became perfectly understandable.
Grotto-heavens...
The weight of the world...
Li Fan’s thoughts continued to wander.
According to the accounts of Linghu Chang of the Medicine King Sect, the Immortal Ruins above the Xuanhuang World should have existed even before the new methodology spread.
Back then, the Ten Immortal Dao Sects joined forces to prevent the Xuanhuang World from being devoured.
What exactly did the powerhouses who stood at the pinnacle of the cultivation world back then do?
Considering the current state of the Xuanhuang World, a bold conjecture couldn't help but arise in Li Fan's mind.
Back when I first learned of the new methodology from the Five Spirits Qi Sensing Method, I had doubts in my heart.
With cultivators plundering heaven and seize the earth so voraciously, it is truly a wonder that this world has endured for so long.
After delving deeper into the various secrets of the Xuanhuang World, I began to harbor my suspicions.
There were simply far too many grotto-heavens and minor worlds within the Xuanhuang World.
Great Xuan, the Li World, and countless other subsidiary worlds plus one grotto-heaven after another, each with its own distinct form...
It now appears these places may not have originally belonged to the Xuanhuang World at all.
Rather, they were likely captured from the void by the cultivators of the Ten Immortal Dao Sects long ago, to stave off being devoured by the Immortal Ruins.
1. 匹夫无罪、怀璧其罪 This famous proverb comes from The Commentary of Zuo (《左传》), an ancient Chinese historical text. It tells a story of a man whose only "crime" was owning a precious jade, which made him a target for those in power. ☜