The moment Li Fan stepped into the Qi Refinement realm, he felt a profound transformation sweep through his being.
Spiritual qi churned and circulated within him, silently and subtly mending his once-weary, aging body. The fine wrinkles on his face vanished, and his skin smoothed out to a youthful texture.
A long-lost vitality surged within him, as if he had returned to his adolescence, brimming with boundless energy. He had been rejuvenated, and his physical constitution was enhanced tremendously.
Most importantly, Li Fan could now finally command the spiritual qi of heaven and earth.
He guided faint streams of qi and shaped them into various forms. However, this was just instinctual manipulation. To wield spiritual qi with true efficiency, he would need proper techniques.
After some experimentation, Li Fan dispersed the qi gathered in his hand and focused his attention on Return to Truth’s panel.
Name: Li Fan
Realm: Early-stage Qi Refinement realm
Biological Age: 47/199
Psychological Age: 510/2169↑
Upon breaking through to the Qi Refinement realm, Li Fan’s biological age had risen to a new limit of 199 years.
The Five Spirits Qi Sensing Method had mentioned that while a cultivator’s lifespan far exceeded that of mortals, it had greatly decreased since the ancient eras.
A Qi Refinement cultivator’s lifespan could not exceed two hundred years.
Even a Foundation Establishment cultivator could only extend their life by a little over a century before reaching their inevitable end.
Only by forming a Golden Core and glimpsing the laws of heaven and earth would one’s lifespan grow immensely, reaching five or six hundred years.
In stark contrast to his biological age, his psychological age had barely increased. Having already expanded it significantly through his practice of the Xuanhuang Heart Refinement Sutra, Li Fan wasn’t particularly surprised.
Next, Li Fan retrieved the Thousand Mechanisms Jade Cosmos Scripture from the Taiyan Boat.
He had obtained this Nascent Soul technique from Kou Hong long ago. But without divine sense, he had been unable to examine it, and it had always lingered in his thoughts.
Now that he had finally entered the Qi Refinement realm, Li Fan was eager to read its contents.
“Thousand Mechanisms Jade Cosmos Scripture, Nascent Soul realm technique. Current practitioners: 0.”
As he picked up the jade slip, a description of the technique flowed naturally into his mind.
Li Fan knew this was another change that had emerged after the Great Reformation, ever since immortal techniques could only be practiced exclusively.
He extended his divine sense into the jade slip. Instantly, a torrent of text and images flooded his consciousness.
It was his first time reading a jade slip, and the experience was disorienting. It felt as if a massive amount of information was being forcibly crammed into his skull, making his temples throb.
Fortunately, his divine sense was stronger than that of an average Qi Refinement cultivator. He adapted quickly and soon regained his composure.
He calmed his mind and spirit, focusing intently on studying the technique. After a long while, he finally grasped a general understanding of it.
The Thousand Mechanisms Jade Cosmos Scripture was a technique practiced by the ancient Heavenly Mechanisms Sect.
In ancient times, the principle of harmony between heaven and man was emphasized. The Heavenly Mechanisms Sect believed that all things in heaven and earth, like people, possessed their own consciousness, though it was difficult to perceive through ordinary means.
Just as a person emanates killing intent when harboring thoughts of murder, all things in creation occasionally activate subtle energy mechanisms.
When heaven activates its killing mechanisms, it brings about the withering of all things, the shifting of stars, and the altering of constellations.
When the earth activates its killing mechanisms, it results in the transformation of seas into mulberry fields, and the rising of dragons and serpents from the land.
By capturing and refining the various energy mechanisms of heaven and earth, one could trace them back to their source, achieving a state of resonance and unity with heaven and earth.
The Thousand Mechanisms Jade Cosmos Scripture was precisely such a technique—a method for sensing and refining these energy mechanisms for one’s own use.
Once mastered, this technique not only allowed one to borrow the killing intent of heaven and earth to harm enemies, but also enabled the calculation and prediction of future events through the extrapolation of energy mechanisms.
This technique was incredibly powerful, but cultivating it was equally perilous.
The will of heaven and earth was vast and immense; even a single strand of its energy mechanisms was a thousand times greater than that of a cultivator. Recklessly making contact with it could easily result in injury from the energy mechanisms themselves. One might even be assimilated without realizing it, becoming a puppet of heaven’s will.
Therefore, when the ancient Heavenly Mechanisms Sect practiced this technique, they did not choose to refine the energy mechanisms perceived from heaven and earth. Instead, they settled for secondary methods, employing various substitutes.
They nurtured their own killing intent, and drew upon the vibrant vitality of spring’s renewal, or sensed energy mechanisms from certain naturally spiritual objects.
By gathering countless energy mechanisms to conceal themselves, they achieved the goal of obfuscating the heaven’s mechanisms and sensing the will of heaven and earth.
In theory, cultivating this method to its highest level allowed one to merge with heaven and earth and become the embodiment of the Dao itself.
Unfortunately, it remained only a theory.
In practice, even with these clever workarounds, cultivating the Thousand Mechanisms Jade Cosmos Scripture was exceptionally difficult.
The ancient Heavenly Mechanisms Sect had a legacy spanning ten thousand years, with tens of thousands of cultivators practicing the Thousand Mechanisms Jade Cosmos Scripture. Yet their highest achievement was only reaching the Nascent Soul realm.
If that was the case even in those ancient times, it went without saying how much more challenging it would be in the current cultivation world, where malice from heaven and earth was omnipresent.
However, Li Fan had the assistance of Return to Truth, so he didn’t need to worry too much about the risks associated with cultivating this technique.
Li Fan pondered for a moment. Deciding on a primary cultivation technique was not something he needed to rush into.
He could first go to Myriad Immortals Island to observe the current state of the cultivation world before making a decision.
Thus, Li Fan arrived at the central array of Liuli Island, seeking an audience with He Zhenghao.
As soon as he reached the outskirts of the array, he found several servants already waiting for him.
Led by the servants, Li Fan once again met with He Zhenghao.
He Zhenghao no longer resided on the towering mountain peak from before, but on an utterly ordinary small hill that stood unremarkably amidst the surrounding mountains.
When Li Fan saw him, he was currently seated in a small pavilion at the hill’s summit.
“I sensed an unusual fluctuation in the island’s spiritual qi earlier and knew you must have made a breakthrough,” He Zhenghao said, looking at Li Fan with a pleased expression. “Although it took a while, you succeeded in the end.”
“Thank you for your guidance, Senior,” Li Fan said politely.
“It was nothing,” He Zhenghao replied with a smile, feeling a slight improvement in his own cultivation. “Have you come to me because you wish to go to Myriad Immortals Island?”
“Exactly. I have no more mundane affairs tying me down and am ready to depart at any time,” Li Fan nodded.
“Good. In that case, follow me.” In a flash, He Zhenghao appeared before Li Fan and grasped his shoulder.
“Do not resist.”
Hearing He Zhenghao’s words, Li Fan relaxed the spiritual qi that had instinctively risen to protect his body.
He Zhenghao carried Li Fan into the sky, flying upward at tremendous speed.
In the blink of an eye, they pierced through the sea of clouds and rose above the mountain range.
“Gather!” He Zhenghao formed a hand seal with one hand and pointed toward the endless mountains below.
Moments later, beams of white light shot forth from countless peaks, converging before He Zhenghao. They formed a massive sphere of light before him.
“Open!” He Zhenghao thrust his hand upward.
The light sphere accelerated violently, shooting straight up along the path he indicated.
In an instant, it formed a luminous pillar that pierced through heaven and earth. Then, it struck the sun hanging in the sky.
The sun’s surface distorted violently, then cracked apart, splitting into two halves.
A portal formed between them.
“Let’s go!”