NOVPUBThe dark, mysterious robe was embroidered with nine golden dragons, entwined with each other.
The diadem’s pendants cascaded down, veiling the face and obscuring any glimpse of the features beneath.
"As expected of the Heavenly Emperor, a mortal can hardly expect to gaze upon the dragon countenance."
Sun Erlang felt Li Fan’s gaze upon him and his body trembled slightly as he instinctively lowered his head.
His voice hoarse, he said, "Reporting back to my teacher, I am incompetent. I only managed to break through to the first level of the Energy Refining Stage yesterday."
"Considering the scant amount of Spiritual Energy gathered within the Royal Palace, managing to attract and introduce it into your body in such a short time was no easy feat," Li Fan did not reprimand but rather nodded in reassurance.
On hearing this, Sun Erlang’s face showed even more a look of guilt, "If not for the teacher passing on the [Mystic Yellow Immortal Heart Incantation], I fear that at this moment I would still be affected by the poison within my body, unable to embark on the Immortal Path."
Having said this, Sun Erlang kowtowed several times in deep gratitude.
Li Fan did not stop him.
Once Sun Erlang stood back up, Li Fan continued indifferently, "How is the overall progress of the Forbidden Army in learning the Immortal Heart Spell?"
"As of yesterday, a total of one hundred and sixty officers and soldiers have successfully initiated, shedding their mortal forms. Those who failed the test have all been dealt with cleanly," Sun Erlang’s eyes briefly showed a hint of reluctance, but he quickly concealed it.
"You all will be the main force in My conquest of the Ten Thousand Realms in the future; you must diligently cultivate day and night without slackness."
"As for the issue with Spiritual Energy, you need not worry. In three days, you shall personally take this Immortal Boat to the Eastern Ruin Abyss," Li Fan said.
With a casual gesture from Li Fan, a wooden boat about thirty feet in length materialized before Sun Erlang.
The Wooden Boat was covered with silver lines, emitting an aura of profound mystery.
"Truly a treasure belonging to immortals. To entrust such a treasure to me, my respected master is indeed confident," Sun Erlang thought with a chill in his heart, hastily nodding in agreement.
Simultaneously, the Immortal Boat flew into his embrace.
A sense of it obeying his command instantaneously emerged in Sun Erlang’s mind.
"You may leave," Li Fan’s voice sounded just as Sun Erlang was experiencing the marvel of the Immortal Boat.
Sun Erlang bowed and took his leave.
The entire Royal Palace’s back garden was left with only Li Fan.
Beneath the diadem and within the shadows, the faceless visage appeared eerie and forbidding.
"Heh, if it weren’t for the fact that this world is destined not to last long, and I thus resort to trying to pass on the law directly to others, I might not have discovered for quite some time that the [Mystic Yellow Immortal Heart Incantation] is not subject to the restriction of Incompatible Cultivation."
"Is the Immortal Heart Spell not classified under cultivation techniques, or is it a special privilege left by the Great Supreme Lord Xuan Huang to the Xuan Huang Heaven Path?"
"Regardless, the future plan of selecting the right person to succeed as the Great Supreme Lord Xuan Huang seems to be much easier than I imagined."
Li Fan’s thoughts slowly shifted as he flashed to the top of the [Holy Emperor Seat] standing in Xuanjing City.
Threads of faint Spiritual Energy nourished Li Fan’s body.
Thus, his realm at the Final Stage Foundation Establishment did not regress due to the lack of Spiritual Energy.
After cycling through life and reincarnation over a hundred times, reaching the realm of God Transformation and capable of standing shoulder to shoulder with Unity-Path cultivators, Li Fan now, although he had returned to the Foundation Establishment Stage, saw the world with different eyes than before.
For instance, a seemingly insignificant mortal Mini World like Da Xuan was not entirely void of Spiritual Energy, since it was still connected to the Xuanhuang World.
It was merely due to the unique structure of the Small World itself, coupled with the seal of the Immortal Forbiddance Formation, that the Spiritual Energy is extremely scarce, almost to the point of nonexistence.
Cultivators could not use it in the usual manner, except for those creatures with long lifespans who could, over time, accumulate bit by bit and capture a limited amount of Spiritual Energy. 𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓹𝓾𝒷.𝓬𝓸𝓂
Like the serpent on the Dissociation Mountain, which was hundreds of feet long.
"The extraction of an entire world’s Spiritual Energy is barely enough to keep a Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator alive..."
"But borrowing a bit from the Xuanhuang World shouldn’t be a problem."
The Tai Yan Boat entrusted to Sun Erlang by Li Fan had new Array Techniques added to it for the purpose of it automatically flying into the Xuanhuang World, absorbing Spiritual Energy to store and then return.
Inside the Tai Yan Boat, Sun Erlang naturally could not see the things outside. All he needed to do was to take the boat near the Abyss.
Though with Li Fan’s current level in Array Path, the act of stealthily extracting Spiritual Energy from the Xuanhuang World under the cover of Array Techniques was unlikely to be discovered.
But it was not a long-term solution.
To create Spiritual Energy out of nothing still depended on the Dao Yi Bug.
The Dao Yi Bug was a unique Exotic Beast that Li Fan could not create.
However…
Li Fan skipped over the prompt that asked if he wanted to keep the choices from his previous life and looked at his panel.
Name: Li Fan
Realm: Final Stage Foundation Establishment
Physiological Age: 20/399
Psychological Age: 1399/9999
Void Energy Infusion Progress: 3%
Anchor Point Energy Infusion Progress: 0%
Current Number of Anchor Points: 3
Current Number of Usable Anchor Points: 1
Bound Items: Xuantian Mirror Origin (Remnant), Tai Yan Boat, Ten Thousand Beasts Crystallize, Ten Thousand Souls Blood Essence, Stone of Transformation, Final Separation Disc
...
"Physiological Age has returned to the expected 399 years of the Foundation Establishment Stage, but it’s not worth fussing over. I should have achieved Even True long before my time runs out," Li Fan said.
"As for the Psychological Age limit, it did not increase accordingly, even though I had once broken through to God Transformation, which suggests I’ve hit a certain threshold..."
Li Fan only glanced briefly at these details before moving on.
He focused instead on the number of anchor points and the bound items.
Originally, the number of usable anchor points was two, but after absorbing the nascent Five Elements Cave Heaven, it had increased to three.
Now, only one remained.
That was because Li Fan used a blank anchor point to complete the replacement of bound items.
"The Golden Seal of the Jade Realm of a Thousand Mechanisms" was replaced with Xuantian Mirror Origin.
The Halted Monument (Damaged) was replaced with Ten Thousand Beasts Crystallize.
Anchor points were not easy to obtain, but in the process of absorbing the nascent Five Elements Cave Heaven and generating anchor points, Li Fan gained a new understanding of the nature of anchor points.
Natural Treasures, the Golden Core Technique, along with the Nascent Soul Cave Heaven.
The reason why Even True needed to absorb such things as anchor points could very likely be because Even True was making up for a lack of understanding regarding "external objects."
Just as the Tianxuan Mirror ascended by measuring Heaven and Earth, Even True did so crudely, through devouring and extracting experiences.
"So it’s precisely the opposite of what I initially thought," Li Fan mused.
"The closer things are to the essence of the world, the more energy infusion progress they provide. Foundation Establishment Strange Objects and the Golden Principle Elixir are too insubstantial to satisfy the needs of Even True."
"Therefore, the number of anchor points generated from their absorption is limited."
"On the contrary, the Nascent Soul Cave Heaven, the Change of Life, and even the Essence of Heaven and Earth, provide a substantial amount of energy infusion progress."
"Having the formidable Xuanhuang World to nourish me, the number of anchor points isn’t a particularly pressing issue at the moment," Li Fan concluded.
Thus, Li Fan did not hesitate to immediately use the anchor point replacement feature.
The Xuantian Mirror Origin was acquired by chance in his previous life.
And the Ten Thousand Beasts Crystallize...
In his previous life, before executing the End of The World Plan, Li Fan had visited various Small Worlds for a final inventory.
The Ten Thousand Beast Wheel was part of the loot obtained from the Empire and from Xu Ke.
Li Fan’s thoughts slowly drifted back to those times.
"The Alliance of Thousands of Immortals launched a sudden attack, and the Union headquarters were destroyed?" Little Green’s face turned deathly pale upon hearing the words from Li Fan.
"If I hadn’t cut off the connection between the Spirit Tree Realm and you in time, the Empire would probably be in ruins by now," Li Fan sighed softly.
The Imperial Daughter and Little Red looked at each other, both filled with fear.
"But you needn’t worry too much. Although the Spirit Tree Realm was destroyed, the majority of the headquarters’ members escaped safely and have gone into hiding for the time being. Once the storm passes, the Union will be able to rise again instantly," Li Fan said, deceiving them with an unchanged expression.
Upon hearing this blatant lie, the people from the Empire actually felt reassured.
As Li Fan listened to the Empire’s report on their recent situation, he entered the Empire Treasury.
