Li Fan had lived through hundreds of simulation cycles, and the divine abilities he had mastered were beyond the imagination of ordinary cultivators.
"Chaos," the Great Five Elements Annihilation Sword, the Heaven-Overturning Palm, the Congyun Sword...
Each one had allowed him to slay enemies above his own cultivation level.
The divine abilities of ordinary demonic beasts held no interest for him. But this nine-headed bird was clearly an exception.
Li Fan had a premonition that the nine-headed bird stood at a higher rank than even the Kun-Peng.
Let's see what surprises this Ye Feipeng will bring me.
After testing the nine-headed bird's baleful qi, he retrieved a mass of Kun-Peng essence blood from his storage ring.[1]
By periodically drawing a trace from Ye Feipeng's body for contemplation, Li Fan had made meaningful progress in his research into the power of the Kun-Peng.
He activated the Furnace of Myriad Forms. Inwardly, his stomach silently transformed into that of the Kun-Peng exotic beast while his outward appearance remained unchanged.
After savoring the wondrous properties of the Kun's stomach for a moment, Li Fan smiled faintly, produced several high-grade spirit stones, each equivalent to one hundred contribution points, and swallowed them in a single gulp.
Almost instantly, the spiritual qi within the stones was depleted, absorbed, and converted, with an efficiency several times greater than that of ordinary cultivation methods.
It couldn't compare to the madness of the Heaven-Swallowing, Earth-Devouring Grand Art, but it was astonishing all the same.
No wonder Ye Feipeng's cultivation speed grew faster and faster in his previous life. Such a unique ability truly cannot be underestimated.
He then activated the Mountain-Sitting Art, intending to test the current upper limit of Kun Devours.
Once the spiritual qi was fully converted into his own spiritual power, Li Fan produced a pile of top-grade spirit stones. A single one was equivalent to one thousand contribution points; the stack before him represented fifty to sixty thousand in total.
He did not hesitate. He opened his mouth and tossed them all in. The pile vanished into his stomach like rivers swallowed by the sea.
Boom!
A torrent of pure spiritual qi erupted from his belly.
Li Fan's expression shifted. He pushed the technique to its limits, straining to convert the incoming flow.
But the spiritual qi surged like a mountain flood, relentless and without end. His attempt to convert it was like trying to douse a cartload of burning firewood with a cup of water.
Fortunately, his cultivation of the Creation Forge Technique had considerably strengthened his physique, and his meridians held against the overwhelming current without sustaining injury.
Even so, letting it rampage unchecked within him was not a solution.
To avoid drawing attention, his avatar moved to Tian Yang's side. He transformed the nearly out-of-control spiritual qi into Congyun Swords and drove them into the puppet's body in a rapid series of strikes.
After several consecutive blows, the riotous spiritual qi was finally spent, and calm gradually returned.
The brilliant flashes of sword light, for all their spectacle, did not leave even the faintest mark on Tian Yang's body.
Tian Yang tilted his head, regarding this senior brother of his with mild puzzlement. Thinking Li Fan wanted to spar, he raised his fist.
"Heh, Little Junior Brother, don't misunderstand. I just had a slight mishap while cultivating." Li Fan smiled and waved him off.
Tian Yang gave him a concerned look.
After placating him for a while, Li Fan returned to the secret chamber.
Although I've simulated the Kun-Peng's stomach and obtained that astonishing devouring speed, a cultivator's body cannot compare to that of a primordial demonic beast. I simply cannot convert the absorbed energy into nourishment fast enough to strengthen myself. But if I cross-referenced it with the Heaven-Swallowing, Earth-Devouring Grand Art...
His eyes narrowed slightly as an idea took shape.
Refining a technique was not something that could be accomplished in a single day. Using the Unity of Dao Transformation and Mind, he split off a portion of his consciousness and set it solely to deducing the matter.
He then turned to experimenting with the divine ability Peng Soars.
This time, no skeletal wings sprouted from his back. Instead, Li Fan began darting and weaving through the confined space of the hidden chamber. His speed increased steadily until he was little more than a blur, exceeding the limits of what the naked eye could follow.
After a good while, he finally stopped, satisfied.
Good. Peng Soars, combined with the incomplete Purple Firmament Divine Lightning Evasion, more than doubles my flight speed. It will only improve as my research into the Kun-Peng essence blood advances.
He did not test Startling Peng Transformation next. That divine ability, which involved fully transforming into the form of a demonic beast, was something he kept at a careful distance. Its power might be considerable, but accidentally triggering Senior Brother Zhang's Vow Dharma Body would be a truly lamentable outcome.
In truth, the ability from Ye Feipeng's previous life that interested Li Fan most was Bloodline Transference.
Judging by Ye Feipeng's later behavior, Bloodline Transference did more than alter a person's physical constitution. It could subtly reshape their thinking, gradually remaking them into a pure demonic beast.
Ye Feipeng's shift in terminology from "demonic beast" to "sacred beast" was a perfect illustration of this. It was not difficult to imagine that if Ye Feipeng ever encountered a Kun-Peng, he would display a degree of loyalty rooted in the depths of his bloodline.
And what Li Fan currently lacked was precisely a method like this for controlling people
For now, he relied purely on foreknowledge to coerce and entice. It worked, but failure was always possible. It was not nearly as reliable or reassuring as a secret art of that nature.
Bloodline Transference... I'll have to wait until the Kun-Peng bloodline within Ye Feipeng grows purer before I can comprehend it. And I should purchase more qi-and-blood replenishing pills.
He handed over the remaining pills in his storage ring and delegated the task of regular blood extraction to Tian Yang, then made his way back to Myriad Immortals Island at a leisurely pace.
He did not return to the Tianxuan Mirror. Instead, he went directly to Thousand Li Hall.
Nearly two years had passed with no reply regarding the excavation of the Mini Medicine King Cauldrons he had entrusted to Jiao Xiuyuan. Finding this strange, Li Fan decided to pay him a visit in person.
When Jiao Xiuyuan saw him, his expression faltered. His eyes flickered, and a trace of awkwardness crept onto his face.
"Fellow Daoist Jiao," Li Fan said, "have you perhaps forgotten something?"
Jiao Xiuyuan let out a hearty laugh and produced a chair from somewhere, urging Li Fan to sit.
"What's going on?" Li Fan already had a suspicion, but he held his tongue, watching Jiao Xiuyuan for a long moment before he spoke.
Jiao Xiuyuan grew visibly uncomfortable under the scrutiny. He quickly shut the shop door and lowered his voice. "It's not that I was deliberately brushing you off. I truly have difficulties I can't speak of!"
"Fellow Daoist Jiao, with your capabilities, I find it hard to believe that anything within the Medicine King Sect ruins could stump you." Li Fan remained skeptical. "Thousands of years have passed. Even if there were restrictions in place, they would have failed by now."
"That's true." Jiao Xiuyuan shook his head. "The problem is, someone else snatched them first."
Li Fan's expression grew serious. "What do you mean?"
Another unknown variable had appeared.
"Just as I was about to pinpoint the location of the Mini Medicine King Cauldrons, people from the Myriad Immortals Alliance Garrison Command suddenly showed up."
1. Please note that baleful aura has been changed to baleful qi ☜