Chapter 215: This Life Ends in Mystery

A faint light swept through, and over forty thousand sheets of paper suddenly floated up.

Inside the Tianxuan Mirror, Li Fan felt that these papers before him seemed to move slightly.

After a moment, a thick "book" appeared before Li Fan.

"Decryption complete. Required Contribution Points deducted: 28,000."

"That was too fast!" Li Fan clicked his tongue in amazement.

Just now, the scene of flying pages was definitely not Li Fan's illusion.

Rather, the speed of movement exceeded Li Fan's perception limit, so he couldn't see the trajectory of the paper at all.

"Times have changed! Yi Xing!"

"In the past, without knowing the key, ordinary Cultivators could never open the Heaven Lock Treasure Box you left behind."

"But now, everyone can use the Tianxuan Mirror. This encrypted treasure box is defenseless before the Tianxuan Mirror!"

"The Tianxuan Mirror is truly a marvelous treasure!"

Li Fan sighed inwardly, opening the now-unrestricted Heaven Lock Treasure Box.

Inside were only two items.

A Jade Slip and a sparkling stone emitting deep blue light.

The blue light flickered gently, as if breathing.

Looking closely, countless images seemed to play endlessly within the stone.

"This is the hua dao stone!"

Although it had taken some effort, Li Fan joyfully held the hua dao stone in his hand, having finally obtained what he desired.

"I wonder what quality this hua dao stone left by Yi Xing is."

He once again let the Tianxuan Mirror act as the appraiser.

"hua dao stone (Low Grade), convertible to 150,000 Contribution Points."

The Tianxuan Mirror dutifully displayed the result.

Li Fan decisively chose to refuse the conversion, pondering to himself.

"Although it's Low Grade, it should be sufficient for me now. Such a small stone is actually more expensive than a Golden Core Stage Cultivation Technique."

"No, Jiao Xiuyuan said that this hua dao stone has no market price. 150,000 is just the theoretical purchase price from the Tianxuan Mirror."

"Trying to buy it at the same price is simply a fool's dream."

Sure enough, Li Fan searched within the Tianxuan Mirror.

Many Cultivators had posted messages seeking to purchase hua dao stones.

The proposed transaction conditions were no longer just Contribution Points, but mostly equivalent rare treasures from heaven and earth as exchanges.

"This can be considered the most valuable thing I have right now."

Li Fan happily put away the hua dao stone first, then read the Jade Slip left by Yi Xing.

The Jade Slip contained no Cultivation Techniques or secret arts.

Mostly it was Yi Xing's random notes and reflections before his death.

And from the words, Li Fan learned about the life of Yi Xing, a Disciple of the Taiyan Sect, during the Great Migration era many years ago.

At that time, under the influence of the rule of incompatible cultivation methods, extremely tragic mutual killings had already occurred in many Schools within the Cultivation World.

Some thousand-year-old Immortal Sects were even wiped out overnight as a result.

The Taiyan Sect was no exception.

However, most members of the Taiyan Sect favored deduction and calculation techniques and were not keen on fighting and conflict.

The internal strife was quickly suppressed by the Taiyan Sect Master, Zuoqiu Shang.

Although this peace was destined not to last, it managed to hold for a while.

And just as this brief peace was about to disappear, the Immortal-Mortal Miasma broke out.

incompatible cultivation methods only caused stagnation in Realm.

But infection with the Immortal-Mortal Miasma meant actual death.

All Immortal Cultivators clearly understood the relative importance.

Thus, they could no longer care about internal strife.

Instead, they turned to deal with the Immortal-Mortal Miasma.

The history during this period was consistent with what Li Fan had previously understood.

First, there was indiscriminate slaughter of Mortals, then realizing something was wrong, the massacre of Mortals was urgently halted.

Subsequently, the infamous [Great Migration Plan] was proposed.

Those who had not entered the Qi Refining Stage were all forcibly relocated to surrounding Small Worlds and grotto-heavens.

At that time, Yi Xing was actually already at the Qi Refinement Late Stage.

However, he still volunteered to be responsible for the migration of Mortals in the Taiyan Sect and nearby areas.

In his notes, Yi Xing confessed.

Although the process of Cultivators killing each other was forcibly stopped due to the outbreak of the Immortal-Mortal Miasma,

it was foreseeable that soon, the true era of slaughter and darkness would completely descend.

By then, he, a mere Qi Refining Cultivator, would surely be among the first to be slaughtered.

So he might as well take this opportunity to flee with the Mortals to the surrounding Small Worlds.

With the might of an Immortal, commanding the people,

he could establish a foundation in this Small World.

Then, he would abolish his own Cultivation Technique to ensure peace.

In this way, he might even live longer than if he stubbornly stayed in the Cultivation World.

Thus, Yi Xing established a Mortal Dynasty in this desolate Small World.

Knowing that immortality was hopeless, as soon as Yi Xing became emperor, he mobilized the people to build his tomb.

And, while his cultivation was still intact, he set up an illusion array inside the tomb,

concealing his true burial chamber.

When Yi Xing grew old and the Spiritual Qi within him completely disappeared, becoming a full Mortal,

the aging process accelerated rapidly.

He began to miss the days he spent in the Taiyan Sect.

On the verge of dying of old age, he went alone into the tomb, sealed it shut,

and then sealed the hua dao stone,

hoping that someday a Disciple of the Taiyan Sect might come to this Realm and bring the hua dao stone back to the Sect.

…

"I didn't expect Yi Xing to have such a past."

"This man was quite wise and made the right choice. He retreated bravely and successfully escaped the Great Dark era."

"However, it seems that the number of Cultivators who chose to flee back then might not be small."

"Those with ability, like Liu Ruchen of the Medicine King Sect, directly tore through the Void and escaped the Xuanhuang World."

"Those who settled for less, like Yi Xing, fled to the surrounding Small Worlds."

Li Fan also recalled the farce He Zhenghao mentioned about the Small World counterattacking the Cultivation World five hundred years ago.

"Perhaps there were influences left by the fleeing Cultivators back then…"

After musing for a moment, Li Fan put away the Jade Slip and slowly retracted his wandering thoughts.

"I've obtained the hua dao stone, but how do I use it? Yi Xing didn't leave behind the secret art of [Divine Unification of Transformation Dao]."

Out of caution and secrecy, Li Fan did not ask Jiao Xiuyuan.

Instead, he searched within the Tianxuan Mirror.

Sure enough, although it was an ancient Sect secret art, the key to this art was the hua dao stone, not the technique itself.

Without the hua dao stone, [Divine Unification of Transformation Dao] was completely useless.

And after so many years of development in the Cultivation World, the methods for using the hua dao stone were not limited to just [Divine Unification of Transformation Dao].

Moreover, since the secret art had no restriction of incompatible cultivation methods, its price naturally wouldn't be too high.

Li Fan spent only 30,000 Contribution Points, equivalent to the price of a Golden Core Stage Cultivation Technique,

and after signing a confidentiality commercial contract, he learned the secret art.

"Touch it with the spirit, fuse it with calculation."

"Unite object and self, transform into the Dao as one."

Li Fan placed the deep blue hua dao stone on his brow,

activated the secret method, and slowly began to cultivate.

The Fusion of mind and hua dao stone was a slow process.

Time quietly passed as Li Fan cultivated the secret art.

In the blink of an eye, it was the anchor year 11, the time when the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace opened.

Although Li Fan was now wealthy, he didn't want to waste the task of the Cloud Water Diagram worth 100,000 Contribution Points.

So Li Fan used his Clone to go to the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace.

First, he faced Qin Tang's trial again.

However, with the main body in cultivation, the will of the Clone was inevitably affected,

not as perfect as when Li Fan had previously focused entirely on it.

But with a pot of good wine, he managed to turn the tide.

Again, he ranked first among all the examinees.

This time, Qin Tang did not teach the Cloud Water Illusion Dream Art, only a Golden Core Stage Cultivation Technique called "Stepping on Waves in the Vast Sea."

Although Li Fan was a bit regretful, he had no choice.

This Clone only had Qi Refining cultivation; obtaining a Golden Core Technique was already generous of Qin Tang.

He chatted with Qin Tang for a while and then broke free from the illusion a bit later.

After avoiding other Cultivators, Li Fan headed straight for the Taiyi Hall.

Without the Azure Flame Illusion Spirit, the Clone struggled to pass through the Sword Forest before Taiyi Hall.

"Lin Fan, Disciple of the Dharma Transmission Hall of Cloud Water Heavenly Palace, requests an audience with the Ancestral Master Taiyi!"

The Clone shouted while circulating the newly learned "Stepping on Waves in the Vast Sea."

The Turtle-Snake Monster awoke from its slumber.

It was still somewhat confused, but the aura of Qin Tang's personal technique on the Clone was unmistakable.

After identifying it for a while, Taiyi handed over the small Cloud Water Heavenly Palace glowing with multicolored light to Li Fan.

Having obtained the Cloud Water Diagram, to avoid complications, the Clone immediately returned to the Tianxuan Mirror without stopping.

He chose to complete the task.

The Tianxuan Mirror's reaction was exactly the same as in the twelfth life.

"Unable to verify the authenticity of the Cloud Water Diagram. Please wait."

After a long silence,

the Tianxuan Mirror's voice sounded again.

"The task publisher… requests to visit your space. Do you accept?"

Li Fan naturally agreed.

After a moment, the white-haired old man, the Heavenly Doctor, appeared before Li Fan with a kind face.

After bowing respectfully, Li Fan handed over the multicolored model.

The Heavenly Doctor took the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace, examined it carefully, and was filled with emotion.

After a long time, he asked, "What is the current scene inside the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace?"

Li Fan answered truthfully one by one.

Upon hearing this, a strange expression emerged in the Heavenly Doctor's cloudy eyes.

He fell into another long silence.

Based on the experience of the twelfth life, next, the Heavenly Doctor would issue another errand task,

asking Li Fan to place a white jade statue in the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace.

It was this white jade statue that would, five years later, attract the ox-cart-pulling scholar.

After a great battle between the two sides, the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace would be resealed.

The Heavenly Doctor remained silent for a long time, seemingly lost in memories.

Li Fan had no choice but to wait patiently.

However, at this moment, events took a completely different turn from before,

far beyond Li Fan's expectations.

The long-silent Heavenly Doctor suddenly looked up, staring at Li Fan.

His expression was somewhat strange as he asked, "Young friend, what are you expecting?"

Li Fan's mind shook violently.

Because he was horrified to find that his body was completely out of control.

His mouth opened and closed, and he actually blurted out the secrets hidden in his heart without reservation!

"I'm waiting for you to give me a new task, to make another trip to Cloud Water…"

His voice was stilted and strange, as if he were a controlled Puppet.

Somewhat comical, somewhat horrifying.

Inside the Tianxuan Mirror, Li Fan's main body was jolted awake from cultivation.

Without hesitation, he directly activated the secret art of the Heaven Stealing Sun Swapping Art,

sacrificing the life of the Clone.

"…Heavenly Palace, place the jade statue inside…"

The Clone's words were cut off mid-sentence as its life force visibly declined.

The speech was directly interrupted, and it seemed it would soon die.

The white-haired old man revealed a slight sneer.

He gently pointed in the air from afar.

The Clone's body, already infinitely close to death, was forcibly saved in an instant.

"…As a reward, you will give me a copy of the Heavenly Doctor Immortal Scripture…"

The Clone struggled between life and death to finish the sentence,

then completely turned to ashes.

Having obtained the answer, the Heavenly Doctor was stunned for a moment, showing a hint of surprise.

Then, as if he understood something, a smile bloomed on his aged face.

"Good!"

At the moment the Clone died completely, the warning in Li Fan's heart still did not dissipate.

Without hesitation, he immediately chanted in his heart,

"Huan…"

In the Tianxuan Mirror space where he was, it seemed a rift was forcibly torn open.

In the rift, the figure of the Heavenly Doctor was faintly visible.

"…Zhen…"

The Huan Zhen command had been uttered, but the surrounding scene did not immediately turn to nothingness as before.

It was as if he had fallen into a quagmire, or as if the connection had been severed.

The Heavenly Doctor's gaze had already penetrated the rift and descended upon Li Fan.

At this moment, over the past two years since entering the Cultivation World,

the accumulated charging progress of [Huan Zhen] plummeted instantly.

The inexplicable obstruction vanished.

The surrounding scene became illusory again, and Li Fan's consciousness sank into darkness.