Chapter 105: Longevity in Heaven and Earth

"Defying the principles of heaven and earth…"

Li Fan whispered slowly; halfway through, the rest was only recited in his heart.

"…to prove longevity!"

Since entering the Cultivation World, Li Fan had seen Soul Transformation Stage Cultivators uprooting mountains in battle, and had also seen the Crimson Flame Burning Sea of the Dao Comprehension Realm.

But none were as shocking as this moment, glimpsing a mere fragment of the Eternal Celestial Venerable amidst signs that defied common sense.

This power that invisibly and imperceptibly influenced and changed all Cultivators in heaven and earth was far more powerful than simple destruction.

"It is only because the Crimson Flame Burning Sea in my memory is a disaster that happens in the future that I was not affected by this power."

"That's why I can perceive the influence this Eternal Celestial Venerable has exerted on the world through a comparison of before and after."

After a long time, Li Fan slowly dispelled the fear brought by the sudden realization that he was living under the shadow of a giant entity at all times.

In this Cultivation World, Golden Core Stage Cultivators are generally honored as Immortal Masters, Nascent Soul Stage as True Lords, Soul Transformation Stage as Immortal Lords, and Dao Comprehension Realm as Immortal Venerables.

And finally, the supreme powerhouses are called Eternal Celestial Venerables.

Most Eternal Celestial Venerables in the world are elusive, like dragons whose heads are seen but not their tails.

Ordinary Cultivators find it difficult to know even how many there are or what their specific titles are.

"Under the influence of this Eternal Celestial Venerable, Cultivators throughout the world will slowly forget the disasters that have occurred. Or rather, not just disasters. It seems that any collective memories that bring pain are under the influence of His authority."

"It's as if this Cultivation World really is a Worry-Free Paradise…"

Li Fan analyzed slowly in his heart, while also gaining some realization.

In this world, the malice of heaven and earth toward Cultivators is so great, and the conflict between heaven and immortals is so sharp.

But the Cultivators he had met—Kou Hong, Dao Xuanzi, He Zhenghao, Yuwen Xing, and so on—

—were almost never the type to harbor deep-seated hatred or want to destroy the heavens at every turn.

They all intentionally or unintentionally ignored the malice of heaven and earth.

At most, they just lamented the difficulty of the immortal path, and some were even cheerful all day long…

This might very well be the work of that Eternal Celestial Venerable.

Is it so that the world's Cultivators can Cultivate better?

Or is there some other purpose?

Li Fan had never hesitated to speculate about others with the worst intentions.

…

Longevity was the ultimate pursuit of Li Fan's continuous Reincarnations.

But at this moment, Li Fan was still too far from his goal.

Staying grounded and cultivating steadily step by step was what he should do now.

Recovering from the shock brought by the Eternal Celestial Venerable, Li Fan began to search for information on the ancient Body Transformation Dao.

It wasn't top secret; he found the relevant information easily.

The Body Transformation Dao was not a Sect that specialized in mechanics.

Instead, the Disciples within the Sect all practiced a special technique: Body Transformation Other Freedom.

It allowed one to entrust their mind and soul to external objects.

After entrusting, one could not only manipulate it but also completely synchronize with the sensations of the object.

Upon reaching the highest Realm, one could even discard their own body and become an Incarnation of the entrusted object.

The reason it was so easy to find information was not because the Body Transformation Dao technique was so powerful.

But because…

Within the tianxuan mirror, there were indeed many vivid accounts describing male and female Cultivators using the Body Transformation Dao to entrust themselves to all sorts of strange objects to perform acts of Yin and Yang union.

The variety was so great that even Li Fan couldn't help but click his tongue in wonder.

After browsing for a while, Li Fan shook his head and closed it.

"It seems that Immortal Master Tianyang buried the Puppet in the undersea fire vein before his death and set up arrangements, finally entrusting his soul to the Puppet."

"Thousands of years have passed, and the Puppet has grown by absorbing Earth Fire day and night. Immortal Master Tianyang has also transformed from a Cultivator who was stuck at the Golden Core Stage into a powerful existence capable of battling an Immortal Lord."

"Although he now seems to have lost his sanity and can only act on instinct."

"But he probably won't regret it."

"Tianyang's life was second to none."

"He's barely lived up to those words."

After his lament, Li Fan began his secluded cultivation.

Watching the Soul Transformation battle had given him some insights.

He must not be far from touching the Bottleneck.

The facts were just as he expected.

As if everything fell into place, after five days, Li Fan felt that the Spiritual Qi in his body had reached saturation.

Both the Thousand Machines Jade Universe Golden Chapter and the Heaven Stealing Sun Switching Art had reached the Perfection of the Late Stage of Qi Refining.

He could not advance another inch.

Fortunately, what surprised Li Fan was that…

As soon as he touched the Bottleneck this time, he vaguely sensed where his Opportunity lay.

Moreover, the journey would certainly be safe despite the risks, turning bad luck into good.

After making some preparations, Li Fan immediately prepared to set off.

Before he could leave, a profound and mysterious insight suddenly flooded into his mind.

It was Li Fan's Clone, who had been in an Epiphany for a long time, finally emerging from seclusion.

It was truly a double blessing; when one thing goes well, everything goes well.

It couldn't help but give Li Fan the feeling that the heavens and earth were working together in his favor.

Calming his mind, Li Fan carefully experienced the Divine Ability his Clone had realized during this enlightenment.

All things in the world are interconnected.

Linked together, from life to death.

This Life and Death Chain technique that Li Fan realized could be said to be an enhanced and upgraded version of the Formless Killing Intent.

By setting a specific person as the 'Death' target, one can trace back along all connections to sense the weakest and most fatal 'Life' link.

By cutting off this thread of life, one can imperceptibly drive the target toward death.

Formless Killing Intent requires locking onto the target.

And the opponent's strength cannot exceed Li Fan's by too much; otherwise, Li Fan will suffer a backlash.

And there is a risk of being detected by the opponent.

The Life and Death Chain is different; it only requires knowing that the opponent exists.

And it can almost ignore the gap in cultivation Realms between the two.

As long as there is sufficient information, even a Qi Refining Cultivator can slay a Nascent Soul.

Take this Tianyang Grotto-heaven as an example.

If Li Fan wanted to kill a Nascent Soul True Lord, he wouldn't need to act himself. He would only need to activate the Life and Death Chain to trace back all the possibilities of that person's connection with the Tianyang Grotto-heaven.

Find the most suitable one among them.

Secretly nudge that Nascent Soul True Lord to develop the idea of exploring the Tianyang Grotto-heaven.

Then, this Nascent Soul True Lord would perish within the Tianyang Grotto-heaven.

Although the Life and Death Chain is powerful, its activation also requires certain conditions.

That is, the 'Death' link must be determined first.

In other words, one must determine how the opponent dies before tracing back.

And this 'method of death' must also be effective.

For example, if Li Fan set it so that the Nascent Soul True Lord's Spiritual Qi accidentally went into chaos during flight, causing him to lose control, fall from the sky, and plummet to his death.

It is indeed possible for this to happen.

But to bring about such a result, the complexity of the backward deduction required is not something Li Fan can currently handle.

Therefore, the Life and Death Chain cannot be activated.