Chapter 60: Review and Strategem

[This simulation has ended]

[You may choose one of the following options:

1. Retain an item you possessed in this simulation.

2. Retain your cultivation level in this simulation.

3. Retain the simulated memories of one closely associated individual. These memories can be inherited by that person.

4. Forfeit the above choices to accelerate charging process.]

Consciousness returned slowly. Eventually, Li Fan felt himself regain the youthful vigor of his twenty-year-old body.

Meanwhile, his eyes took in his surroundings. They were both familiar and strange, and it took him a long moment to fully reorient himself.

Though his previous life had spanned only forty-eight years, it felt longer than all nine of his previous lifetimes combined.

This was not only because his experiences of the cultivation world were far more complex and extraordinary than his mortal life in Great Xuan, but also because of those final moments merged with the consciousness and will of the Deepsea Pearl. While sensing the energy mechanisms of heaven and earth, he had nearly been assimilated by it.

Of course, this first real venture into the cultivation world had yielded remarkable gains.

Li Fan’s attention turned to the first option, the items he could choose.

The storage ring purchased from the Tianxuan Mirror and the various books went without saying. The Curios of heaven and earth were also listed: the Halt Stele Fragment and the Deepsea Pearl.

His focus settled on the Deepsea Pearl, and he understood instinctively: if he chose it, he would receive the pearl that was almost fully formed at the end of his previous life.

After spending over a decade merged with its consciousness, Li Fan was acutely aware of its power.

Though tempted, he resolutely chose the second option: to retain his cultivation level.

After all, personal strength was the foundation. A mere mortal wielding a treasure was nothing but an invitation for disaster.

Besides, Li Fan knew the Deepsea Pearl was still at Liuyun Island; he could retrieve it when the time came.

As he made his choice, two familiar strands of spiritual qi materialized within his dantian.

Simultaneously, Li Fan’s expression shifted.

He suddenly remembered that he was still a mortal. His body was saturated with Immortal-Mortal Miasma. If this spiritual qi conflicted with it, the consequences could be dire.

Fortunately, his fears were unfounded. An inexplicable fluctuation washed over him, and moments later, the spiritual qi in his dantian surged out like a raging river, flooding through his entire body. Where it passed, it transformed his physique and elevated his cultivation realm.

Early-stage Qi Refinement realm... Mid-stage Qi Refinement realm... Late-stage Qi Refinement realm!

In the span of a single breath, he achieved the cultivation level that had taken his previous self a lifetime of struggle to reach.

Li Fan’s aura stabilized, but his face remained etched with awe. Not because of the instantaneous leap to late-stage Qi Refinement, but because of that inexplicable fluctuation!

He felt it clearly—the moment that fluctuation touched him, the Immortal-Mortal Miasma within his body vanished in an instant, completely eradicated.

Its effect far surpassed the forced expulsion achieved through the Body Purification Spirit Pool array in his previous life.

That fluctuation...

Li Fan pondered the fleeting sensation, finding it vaguely familiar.

It’s the will of heaven, the power of its laws!

The realization struck him.

In his previous life, he had spent over a decade using the Deepsea Pearl to observe the operation of heaven and earth’s energy mechanisms. While far from capable of controlling them, he could still recognize them.

If Immortal-Mortal Miasma is the will of heaven and earth that divides immortals from mortals, then that fluctuation is its complete opposite.

The plague that troubled the cultivation world for thousands of years was wiped away so effortlessly.

Return to Truth is truly unbelievable.

If I can control this method of purifying the Immortal-Mortal Miasma...

Li Fan’s thoughts raced with possibilities.

It took him a long while to calm down.

A tower nine stories high begins with a mound of earth. With his current cultivation at the Qi Refinement realm, attempting to replicate that power would be nothing short of delusional.

He had to take this step by step.

Li Fan opened Return to Truth’s panel, reviewing his current status.

Name: Li Fan

Realm: Late-stage Qi Refinement

Biological Age: 20/199

Psychological Age: 531/2300↑

Virtualization Charging Progress: 0%

Charging Progress of Next Anchor Point: 51%

Anchor Points In Use: 1

Bound Items: Thousand Mechanisms Jade Cosmos Scripture, Taiyan Boat, Halt Stele Fragment (Damaged)

Techniques: Xuanhuang Heart Refinement Sutra, Lesser Water Manipulation Art, Thousand Mechanisms Jade Cosmos Scripture

The path of cultivation is exceedingly difficult. Especially in this world, where cultivators plunder heaven and earth, and killing mechanisms permeate the world.

When I first entered the cultivation world in my previous life, I met Su Changyu. His single-minded devotion to the Dao and his exceptional will made me believe he was destined for greatness. Who could have imagined he’d die mysteriously after just a few days?

On the contrary, that unremarkable Xiao Heng by his side possessed heaven-defying talent. In just a few years, he showed promise of establishing his Dao Foundation. Both He Zhenghao and I believed he would undoubtedly reach the Golden Core realm within his lifetime.

But who could have guessed that heaven and earth had long laid its killing mechanisms?

All living beings in the Congyun Sea, whether on the path to success or failure, whether cultivator or mortal, were already destined to die.

Only that ordinary fisherman, Zhang Haobo, escaped the calamity and became a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

There is truly no better example of the unpredictability of fate.

Recalling his previous life, Li Fan felt numerous emotions welling up within him.

Then, a trace of doubt arose.

Just as I told Xiao Heng before, if government officials intended to surround and kill bandits, they won’t let the bandits know in advance. The relationship between this world and cultivators is much like that between the government and bandits.

So when heaven unleashes its killing mechanisms, intending to exterminate cultivators, cultivators naturally cannot perceive it. That’s also why when I asked the Tianxuan Mirror if there were any disasters in the near future, it answered that there were none. Its prediction was obscured by heaven’s mechanisms.

However, the Wanhua Trade Association seemed to have detected the calamity long ago, ordering all their members to withdraw from the Congyun Sea. How did they do it?

And why didn’t they warn the Myriad Immortals Alliance, just sitting back and watching countless lives perish?

There must be something fishy going on. In this life, if I have the chance, I must get to the bottom of this.

After pondering carefully for a long time, Li Fan began making plans for this lifetime.

The cultivation world is incredibly dangerous. It’s better not to set foot there rashly before virtualization charging is complete.

Now that I cultivate the Xuanhuang Heart Refinement Sutra, the charging speed has greatly increased. It shouldn’t take twenty years to reach 100% anymore. Ten years should be enough.

This way, I should be able to arrive in the cultivation world over a decade earlier than my previous life

.

From what I remember, something major seemed to have happened in the Congyun Sea during those ten-plus years. I can make plans early.

After the Congyun Sea dried up in my previous life, I saw numerous treasures concealed around each island. No one knows about them yet. If the opportunity arises, I should retrieve them one by one.

The Xuanhuang Heart Refinement Sutra aided me time and again in my previous life, helping me break free from various predicaments. This technique is truly extraordinary, and there seems to be more to it than meets the eye. I must cultivate it diligently and not grow lax.

As for Crimson Flame that scorched the sea... should I choose to flee alone, or reveal it to the world...?

I’ll have to adapt to the circumstances when the time comes...

In his past life, Li Fan had plunged headfirst into the unfamiliar world of cultivation. He only reached the late-stage Qi Refinement realm and lived for forty-eight years before perishing.

But in this life, armed with foreknowledge, Li Fan believed he could go much further.