Having been shown a world far beyond his comprehension, where True Immortals were mere ants, and beings like Transcendents, Upstream travelers, and even those who could stand against the Mountain and Sea existed, Xuanyuan Tuo was overwhelmed.
Fortunately, he was no ordinary cultivator. Such a drastic shift in perspective could have broken a lesser being.
He steadied himself and asked, his voice hesitant, "What was the Profound Heaven King's message? Something important enough to warrant such a dangerous transmission…" Just moments ago, he had been plotting the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance's rise, exploiting the Ten Sects' distraction. Now, having glimpsed the true nature of the world, such schemes seemed meaningless. If the entire mortal realm was doomed, what was the point? He finally understood why his ancestor had vanished.
Li Fan, observing his changing expression, nodded internally. "You're right. Xuanyuan Hong only cared about the survival of all beings. His message must be related to this. He didn't anticipate the changes that would occur in his absence, making his message incomprehensible even to his own descendants."
Shame washed over Xuanyuan Tuo. "Even with your guidance, Senior, I am too weak to follow in his footsteps."
Li Fan waved his hand dismissively. "With me here, you have nothing to fear."
Xuanyuan Tuo's relief was short-lived.
"But you are weak, not just in cultivation but also in character. You need to prove yourself. Otherwise, even if you could travel Upstream or traverse possibilities, you wouldn't be able to aid Xuanyuan Hong."
"Your wisdom is profound, Ancestor," Xuanyuan Tuo replied, suppressing his frustration.
"The Ten Sects control the world Xuanyuan Hong once ruled. Emulate him. Conquer them. If you can't even overcome this obstacle, any grander ambitions are meaningless. You'll just die."
"I won't disappoint you, Ancestor," Xuanyuan Tuo said, his expression serious.
"This is your task, not mine," Li Fan corrected him. "You can choose any method to prove yourself. I won't interfere. The goal is to become a powerful being like Xuanyuan Hong. You're just a Dao Integration cultivator now. How you reach that level is up to you."
Understanding dawned on Xuanyuan Tuo. He recalled the legends of his ancestor, his own ambition rekindled.
"The Ten Sects…" A cold glint flashed in his eyes.
"Xuanyuan Hong's Daoist Sound isn't just a message. It can influence the future from the past, change reality through illusion. Watch closely."
As Li Fan spoke, Xuanyuan Tuo felt a slight dizziness. Then, he realized his memories had changed. Li Fan had spoken those words the moment he appeared, but he hadn't understood their meaning until now, the loop closing as time caught up.
"Is this… Ancestor's power?" He was stunned. Compared to this reality-bending Daoist Sound, his new cultivation method seemed like a child's game.
"The Dao is about essence, not quantity. Mastering this Daoist Sound would allow you to crush the Ten Sects effortlessly." Li Fan's form began to fade, leaving behind a single disc.
"When you succeed, hold this Supreme Dao Scripture and call for me. I'll appear."
His voice vanished. Xuanyuan Tuo held the disc, gazing at the brilliant Dao Starry Sky within.
"The Supreme Dao Scripture… it seems…" He recalled the rumors of the Xuanhuang True Immortal. "I understand now. I was puzzled by his sudden ascension. But with someone like Ancestor guiding him, it's not surprising."
His confidence renewed, he began plotting the Ten Sects' downfall. Then, his expression changed. He looked towards the direction Li Fan had vanished.
"My Heavenly Profound Mirror…" He hesitated, holding the Supreme Dao Scripture. He didn't dare summon Li Fan to demand its return.
"It's just an artifact. True power comes from within." He took a deep breath, suppressing his frustration.
He didn't know that Jing Xuan, the Heavenly Profound Mirror's spirit, was wailing, "Spare me, Immortal!" He had thought being stripped of his hard-earned adaptations to the mortal realm was the worst possible outcome. Now, in Li Fan's hands, he realized his suffering had just begun.
Li Fan seemed to understand the Heavenly Profound Mirror better than he did, effortlessly bypassing its defenses and entering its core. Then, a figure, almost identical to Jing Xuan but lacking his vitality, appeared before him.
Jing Xuan instantly understood. Li Fan was creating a new mirror spirit to replace him.
A wave of terror, unlike anything he had ever experienced, washed over him. He had to prove his worth, his unique value, before it was too late.
"Spare me, Immortal! I can help you find the Profound Heaven King's companion!"
The creation process paused, and Jing Xuan breathed a sigh of relief.
"Why his companion, and not the Profound Heaven King himself?" Li Fan's voice was cold.
"The Profound Heaven King's departure was… hasty. I don't know his whereabouts. But his companion…"
"Before she left, she used a technique to… split off a part of me, creating another mirror, identical to me. She named it 'Profound Heaven,' and renamed me 'Heavenly Profound.'" Resentment colored his voice. "Though I don't know where they went, I can sense their location through this connection. I could feel the other me growing stronger, far surpassing me. I was a dim star, and she… was like the moon. This disparity terrified me, accelerating my adaptation to the mortal realm. I knew that if I became fully mortal, I would no longer be her equal, losing any chance of… competing."
His resentment towards his other self seemed to surpass his fear of Li Fan. He rambled on, lost in his bitterness.
Li Fan hadn't anticipated this. He paused the creation process, examining the Heavenly Profound Mirror. Though faint, he could see traces of a "copying" technique on its surface.
"Even for me, perfectly replicating the Heavenly Profound Mirror and creating a near-identical spirit isn't easy. Xuanyuan Hong's methods are truly impressive."
The Profound Heaven King's companion, though unnamed, was likely an ordinary mortal. Such a powerful technique must have been a gift from Xuanyuan Hong.
"Knowing his character, he wouldn't bring her with him to a dangerous place. They're likely separated."
He wasn't interested in tracking down someone's lover. But this copying technique… intrigued him. The Heavenly Profound Mirror, even among immortal artifacts, was unique. To be so easily replicated by a mortal… This technique resembled his own Interplay of Truth and Illusion.
He carefully examined the traces on the mirror, still present because it hadn't fully adapted to the mortal realm. He reconstructed the event.
A blank sheet of paper appeared, covering the original Profound Heaven Mirror. A delicate hand pressed down on it, and a copy of the mirror materialized on the paper.
"Far superior to the First Grand Celestial Venerable's method of separating their mortal and immortal selves. It resembles the Two-Part Immortal Seed." He had initially dismissed the Ten Sects' artifacts, but this connection to the Profound Heaven King changed his perspective.
He retrieved the Two-Part Immortal Seed from the Ten Sects' heavily guarded vault and compared it to the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
"Wait… this…" Jing Xuan's surprised exclamation confirmed Li Fan's suspicions.
According to the Ten Sects, they had obtained the Two-Part Immortal Seed during their conquest of the Twin Heavens World, a small but unusual world, its structure not the typical heaven and earth, but heaven and heaven, a mirror dividing the world in two, creating mirrored copies of everything, even its inhabitants. Aware of their counterparts, their fates and even their lifespans intertwined, they could temporarily merge in times of danger, doubling their strength, but at the cost of their individual identities, slowly being drawn towards their other selves.
This unique structure was due to the Two-Part Immortal Seed. The Twin Heavens World had once been ordinary, then, one day, it had been violently folded, causing widespread death and destruction. The survivors awoke to find another sky, another world, mirrored above their own. Their ultimate fate was to merge with their counterparts and be absorbed by the Two-Part Immortal Seed.
Though the Twin Heavens World was destroyed after its conquest, the Ten Sects had kept the Seed as a last resort, a way to create a perfect copy of themselves, reducing the risk of making difficult choices.
Li Fan examined the Seed. While the Heavenly Profound Mirror bore the marks of copying, the Seed was clearly the result of folding.
"Using the Heavenly Dao as paper, reshaping it with a single hand… Impressive." Even Li Fan, capable of reversing time, was awed by this "paper folding" technique. It was clearly beyond the scope of Primordial Possibility's remnants. He had never encountered it in his past lives, only glimpsing its traces after traveling back ten thousand years.
"So, the Profound Heaven King's companion… wasn't ordinary." He stroked his chin.
"But it's too early to conclude anything." For now, his priority was forging his own path.
But the path wasn't clear. Traversing possibilities, reversing time, mastering the Interplay of Truth and Illusion… all seemed viable, yet all were fraught with difficulties. He was at a crossroads.
Logically, the Interplay of Truth and Illusion was the most powerful, a Dao on par with the Mountain and Sea. But True Return was dormant. Without its guidance, comprehending the Interplay was like building a castle in the air, its foundation gone. He needed… stepping stones.
(End of Chapter)