Grand Xuan Kingdom, Xuanjing City, Imperial Advisor's mansion.
Li Fan was holding his wine cup, looking at the civil and military officials who had come to celebrate his birthday in the hall. Even though he was now old, he could not help but feel smug in his heart.
It should be noted that today, nine out of ten court officials packed the Imperial Advisor's residence!
To think that Li Fan was just a poor scholar when he first came into this world.
Over the past fifty years, he had gone from having nothing to being an immensely powerful official. His story would be enough to write a novel with millions of words.
When life is like this, what more could one ask for?
Li Fan stroked his beard and drank the wine in his cup.
"To the birthday of the Imperial Advisor!"
The crowd of officials present congratulated in unison.
Li Fan's pride swelled.Just then, a burst of discordant exclamations suddenly came from outside.
"Quickly look! What is that!"
"Streams of fire are falling from the sky; this is auspicious! Quickly go tell the Imperial Master!"
"How come it seems to be flying towards our Imperial Master's residence?"
......
Hearing the clamor outside the manor, Li Fan frowned.
The lobby, which was still somewhat lively, abruptly quieted down.
Li Fan got up and took the lead to walk out.
However, before he had the chance to scold his subordinates and express the dissatisfaction in his heart, he was captivated by the scenery in the sky.
Far away in the sky, two silver-colored lights, one after the other, like meteors, were speeding towards the manor.
"This is..." Li Fan froze.
The two meteors arrived above Xuanjing City in the blink of an eye and abruptly stopped.
At the same time, a voice like thunder descended from the sky and exploded in everyone's ears.
"Dao Xuanzi! Do not overstep your bounds!"
......
The people present were horrified. A few people even called out, "Immortal master!" and directly fell to the ground in obeisance.
And a word that had been suppressed in the depths of his memories and was almost on the verge of being forgotten was suddenly popping out of Li Fan's mind.
"Cultivator... immortal cultivator!" Li Fan was stunned and muttered, "How is this possible..."
The two immortal cultivators in the sky obviously didn't care what the crowd of mortals below thought.
Only another voice rang out, "Kou Hong! Do you think I will let you go just because you escaped to this Land of Immortal Extinction? Hand over the technique you obtained that day, or I won't rest until you're dead!"
"Ridiculous! It's because of the lack of a Golden Core technique that I've been trapped in the Foundation Stage for nearly a hundred years. I'm about to turn into withered bones; my end is approaching. However, I have now finally obtained a Golden Core technique. How could I possibly hand it over to others!" Kou Hong snorted coldly, his tone full of disdain.
"Indeed!" Dao Xuanzi sighed, "A Golden Core technique with no other practitioners, an irreplaceable treasure. Although many Golden Core techniques exist, innumerable cultivators are stuck at the Foundation Establishment stage!"
Dao Xuanzi's tone suddenly turned ferocious, "In that case, now that the gate to longevity is in front of me, how could I possibly let you off the hook, and how could I possibly not overstep my boundaries!"
Kou Hong laughed out loud, "It's just a single technique! It's ridiculous that despite how you and I have been brothers for a hundred years, we're now fighting to the death for a chance of survival!"
Dao Xuanzi laughed coldly and did not reply.
Kou Hong suddenly said, "I know I'm no match for you, and I'm sure I won't be able to escape today. But there are so many mortals here, and I don't know if you can withstand such a concentration of Immortal-Mortal Miasma!"
Dao Xuanzi immediately changed color: "Kou Hong! What do you want to do?"
Kou Hong laughed madly, "I'm just seeking a ray of hope!"
Listening to the conversation between the two immortal cultivators above his head, Li Fan felt dread in his heart. However, before he could react, he saw a crimson flame explode above Xuanjing City.
"Boom, boom, boom, boom!"
Deafening rumbles erupted in Li Fan's ears, and his sight instantly turned blood-red. A moment later, he fainted.
......
It took some time for Li Fan to wake up.
At first, he was a bit dizzy. It was only after a long time that he remembered what had happened.
Li Fan coughed and spat out a few mouthfuls of blood, trembling as he climbed up and looked towards his surroundings.
It was still nighttime, and the formerly luxurious Imperial Master's mansion had already become a ruin.
The surrounding air was full of the unpleasant smell of burnt corpses.
The civil and military personnel of the dynasty who celebrated a few moments ago were all dead.
Li Fan's wives, concubines, and five sons were not spared either.
Li Fan's aged face betrayed no emotion. His gaze was dull.
After standing in place for a long time, he dragged his weak body out of the Imperial Master's mansion.
Xuanjing City, which was incredibly prosperous and lively a few moments ago, had become a hell of blood and fire. There were broken bodies and collapsed buildings as far as the eye could see.
The people who survived the calamity must have been less than one in a hundred.
All this was because of the two "immortal masters" who suddenly came down.
Li Fan lost his strength and casually sat down in a broken wall corner.
His hearing had long been destroyed in the violent explosion just now. However, it mattered not.
At this moment, he only wanted to laugh.
How could there be immortal cultivators in this world?
Ever since he became an official, he had used the power in his hands to search for traces of any immortal Dao that might exist.
After he became an Imperial Master and ruled ten thousand people, he rummaged through the entire world!
His rule extended as far north as the Ice Sea, as south as the Great Ocean, as east as the Ruins Abyss, and as west as the Lian Shan Mountains.
There was no trace of an immortal's existence in the entire Grand Xuan!
But today, several years after his hope had died, two immortal cultivators descended from the heavens and came to him. Without a second thought, they twisted everything he possessed to pieces.
Is this immortality?
And where do immortals come from?
The anger and unwillingness that filled his heart turned into endless bewilderment.
Heaven's will was wrong!
At the same time, Li Fan felt incomparably fortunate.
He was glad that before he died, he finally confirmed the existence of immortals!
Otherwise, wouldn't he have to waste another fifty years after he started his next life?
That's right! How was he, a mere mortal, able to go from being a humble scholar to being an Imperial Master? How could he not have something to rely on?
This was also the reason why he was able to survive a narrow escape from the immortals.
"[Truth]!"
Li Fan murmured in his heart, and the scenery around him suddenly dimmed. It was murky and hard to see as if a thick water curtain separated them.
"Truth to lies, reality to dream."
Six prominent words lit up in the darkness, then quickly dispersed, turning into a curtain of light.
"Charging complete."
"Virtualize the current scene and return to the initial anchor point?"
Small letters appeared one after another.
At the same time, images appeared one after another, spreading over the entire light screen rapidly.
It was the fifty years of Li Fan's life in this world.
Li Fan froze for a long time as he looked at himself in the various images.
[Truth]
That was the name Li Fan gave to this rare treasure he carried with him.
It had only one function: transforming truth into falsehood and reality into emptiness!
The so-called transforming of the real into the imaginary meant transforming everything that Li Fan had experienced into a simulated illusory experience, causing Li Fan to return to the anchor point he had initially set up when he had just traveled to this world.
In fact, this timeline was Li Fan's second life.
Although Li Fan had great aspirations in his first life, he could not achieve them because of his lack of talent. After failing to pass the imperial exams repeatedly, he finally quit studying to become a merchant after turning thirty. He ran a small business, became an ordinary rich man, married, had children, and lived a normal life. It was only when he was dying of old age that he finally awakened [Truth].
This was Li Fan's second life, an unstoppable journey towards success.
It was a pity that it was ruined now.
After pondering momentarily, Li Fan did not choose to end this life immediately. Before that, he still had a few things to do.
Turning off the light screen and returning to reality, Li Fan steadied himself and dealt with the aftermath of Xuanjing's heavy damage.
After gathering the people who had survived, Li Fan stabilized the people's hearts through his years of prestige.
Even though Li Fan could not hear, he could still find a pen and paper. Although communicating was a bit troublesome, it did not hinder Li Fan's orders from being conveyed.
First, Li Fan ordered his garrison battalion outside the city to come to Xuanjing City as soon as possible to maintain order after the disaster. Then, he sent orders to the neighboring towns to transfer food, provisions, and officials to Xuanjing.
Most of the buildings in Xuanjing were destroyed, and after the garrison battalion took over Xuanjing, Li Fan stayed in the barracks to preside over the aftermath.
Li Fan's decree constantly transported materials and talents from the neighboring cities towards Xuanjing City.
After a month, the ruined Xuanjing City had slightly recovered some of its lively atmosphere.
Only after the Grand Xuan Kingdom had finally recovered from the strike by the immortals did Li Fan begin to order the people to collect information about the two immortals that appeared that night.
This included where they came from, where they traveled to, and whether they had any other conversations.
Unfortunately, after several months of investigation, nothing else was found besides knowing that the two immortals seemed to have appeared from the direction of the Ruins Abyss in the east.
Li Fan's hope of profiting from both immortals dying didn't seem to happen.
"Shouldn't have expected such a thing." Li Fan sighed in his heart. "In that case, nothing is left for me in this world."
Standing in the newly built Imperial Master's mansion, Li Fan again turned on [Truth].
"Virtualize the current scene and return to the initial anchor point?"
Li Fan no longer hesitated and chose yes.
On the light screen, countless lifelike images stood still simultaneously. Subsequently, this life's glory and wealth shattered like an illusion, transforming into countless streaks of light that flew into Li Fan's mind.
Scene after scene flashed before Li Fan's eyes like a flickering lantern. Finally, the stage was fixed on the two immortal cultivators facing each other on top of the Imperial Advisor's mansion.
"Dao Xuanzi, Kou Hong." Li Fan softly recited the names of the two. "Fifty years later, I will be waiting for you here in Xuanjing City."
"Riches and wealth are but meaningless pursuits to me." Li Fan's consciousness gradually became blurry, but his will remained stronger than ever.
"In the next life, I will capture immortals!"
The light in his mind gradually disappeared, and Li Fan slowly fell into a deep sleep.