Chapter 216: Patiently Doing Old Things (Combined Chapter)

Disintegration Mountain Peak.

[Huan Zhen]'s automatic protection allowed Li Fan to escape from the Heavenly Doctor's sight and successfully return to the anchor point.

The illusory scene became real again. Li Fan quickly scanned his surroundings, confirming he had returned to the third anchor point.

Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

A moment later, the fear of narrowly escaping death from the white-haired old man belatedly arrived.

It descended upon his heart, causing it to beat violently.

Like someone drowning for a long time finally surfacing, Li Fan uncontrollably gasped for air.

After a long while, he slowly emerged from the terror of surviving a calamity.

"The Heavenly Doctor, above Dao Integration…"

Replaying the scene in his mind repeatedly, Li Fan's face darkened.

He never imagined that this [Heavenly Doctor]'s strength would be so terrifying.

Far surpassing that black-robed Dao Integration Cultivator in Yuandao Province.

The Heavenly Doctor seemed able to see through people's inner thoughts.

At that time, his Clone merely had a fleeting thought in his mind, and yet he detected the anomaly.

What was more frightening was that he used some unknown method to make the Clone unresistingly and without concealment spill everything in his heart.

Then, the resurrection, tearing through space in an instant, and finding Li Fan's true body's location.

All these methods exceeded Li Fan's current understanding.

"With the Heaven Stealing Sun Switching Art, the true body and the Clone can be seen as two unrelated individuals."

"How did he determine my identity?"

"The Tianxuan Mirror, as the Foundation of the Myriad Immortals Alliance, should be secure."

"When I joined the Myriad Immortals Alliance, the Tianxuan Mirror itself said that cultivating in the mirror space was completely safe from attacks."

"But this Heavenly Doctor forcibly broke into my cultivation space, and the Tianxuan Mirror showed no reaction."

"When the Tianxuan Mirror introduced him, it didn't even mention his name."

"Who exactly is this old man?"

The more Li Fan thought, the more incredible it seemed.

At the same time, waves of lingering fear surged in his heart.

If he hadn't been cautious, knowing the old man's terrifying strength, and always used his Clone to interact with him.

If he hadn't sensed something wrong and activated [Huan Zhen] without a moment's hesitation.

If [Huan Zhen] hadn't accumulated some charge progress and its automatic protection had taken effect.

He would have been completely finished this time.

Falling into the hands of this mysterious old man, he would surely be unable to keep any secrets and ultimately face death.

"This Cultivation World is too treacherous. Even with a treasure like [Huan Zhen], I tread with difficulty. One misstep and I'll shatter into pieces." Li Fan felt a chill in his heart.

Beyond his shock, Li Fan also engaged in self-reflection.

Since stepping into the Cultivation World, with the help of [Huan Zhen], his path of cultivation had not been too rough.

The last time he escaped from a Dao Integration Cultivator had even made Li Fan subtly develop a mindset of 'underestimating the heroes of the world.'

Thinking carefully, those great powers who had survived from the [Great Tribulation era], [Great Plague era], and [Dark era] until now.

How could they possibly be simple characters?

He possessed the secret of [Huan Zhen]. It was fine as long as he stayed out of the sight of great powers.

But if he, with his low cultivation, ignorantly lingered before them.

That would truly be a path to death.

"From now on, I must be even more cautious." Li Fan sighed inwardly.

"Forget those 100,000 Contribution Points for the Cloud Water Diagram."

After deep reflection and summary, his thoughts calmed slightly, and he suddenly remembered the Heavenly Doctor Immortal Scripture he had once read.

As a medical text, its研究对象 was not only humans.

But also various plants and animals in the world.

The book stated that the Way of Medicine largely lies in the four characters: 'Look, Listen, Ask, and Feel.'

"Look, Listen, Ask, Feel…" Li Fan murmured repeatedly.

"Look, he saw the anomaly in the Clone's mind."

"Ask, he got the honest answers from the Clone."

"Feel, a finger in the air brought the dead back to life."

"Listen, in an instant he discovered the relationship between the true body and the Clone."

"What a 'Look, Listen, Ask, Feel.'"

"What a Heavenly Doctor."

…

The Heavenly Doctor made Li Fan deeply understand for the first time the terror of the high-level Cultivators in the Xuanhuang World.

However, recognizing the gap did not make him lose confidence.

"With [Huan Zhen] in hand, as long as I don't die, accumulating strength through countless Reincarnations, one day I will catch up and surpass them."

Li Fan silently said to himself, burying all thoughts about the Heavenly Doctor deep in his heart.

He then examined the options of Huan Zhen.

When the third anchor point was set, his cultivation was at Late Stage Foundation Establishment.

His previous life lasted only a hasty two years before being abruptly cut short.

He hadn't broken through a minor Realm, so Li Fan naturally wouldn't choose that option.

He decisively chose the first option: retain one item in his possession, the hua dao stone.

After making his choice, Li Fan first checked the Huan Zhen panel, which he hadn't looked at for a long time.

Name: Li Fan

Realm: Late Stage Foundation Establishment

Physiological Age: 20/399

Psychological Age: 1212/3700

Virtualization Charge Progress: 0%

Anchor Setting Charge Progress: 1%

Current Number of Anchors: 3

Currently Available Anchor Settings: 0

Bound Items: Thousand Machines Jade Universe Golden Chapter, Taiyan Boat, zhibu remnant stele (Damaged), Blood Essence of Ten Thousand People, hua dao stone

Cultivation Techniques: Profound Yellow Heart Refining Mantra, Cloud Water Illusion Dream Art, Heaven Stealing Sun Swapping Art, Thousand Machines Jade Universe Golden Chapter, Yi Ling Illusion Art

Divine Abilities: Chain of Life and Death, Formless Killing Intent, Insect Binding

The upper limits of physiological and psychological age had stopped increasing.

They should only change significantly after breaking through to the Golden Core Realm.

Anyway, over two thousand years of Reincarnation time was definitely enough for Li Fan.

Besides the techniques listed in the technique list, Li Fan also mastered two exclusive techniques: Sea Quelling Divine Sword and Canghai Treading Waves.

The Sitting Mountain Art, an internally designated cultivation method.

Two secret arts: Soul Transformation Dao One and Purple Sky Soul Search.

Zhang Zhiliang's Infinite Formation Legacy.

The monstrous nature of [Huan Zhen] was fully revealed at this moment.

Not counting the ninety-nine lives spent building the Foundation with Huan Zhen, Li Fan's actual effective Reincarnations in the Cultivation World, up to now, were only four.

Four Reincarnations had made Li Fan's accumulation rich beyond any Foundation Establishment cultivator.

…

"The time waiting for [Huan Zhen] to finish charging can be used to Cultivate the Divine Unification of Transformation Dao technique."

Thinking this, Li Fan moved his mind, and the deep blue hua dao stone appeared in his hand.

After setting up some precautions near Disintegration Mountain to prevent Mortals from accidentally entering,

Li Fan placed the hua dao stone on his brow, slowly merging his Divine Thought with it, entering a cultivation state.

Time passed in the mountain, and in the blink of an eye, it was anchor year 5.

On this day, as Li Fan's Divine Thought completely merged with the hua dao stone,

A dazzling blue crystal suddenly appeared at the Dantian on his brow.

His thoughts flowed, and he carefully sensed.

After a moment, Li Fan quickly noticed the difference from before.

A joyful expression appeared on his face: "The ancient secret art is truly extraordinary!"

After cultivating [Divine Unification of Transformation Dao], not only was his thinking and calculation speed more than a hundred times faster than before,

But he could also recall all the scenes he had experienced at will in an instant.

As if reliving them personally, vivid in his mind.

Li Fan squinted his eyes. The Heavenly Doctor Immortal Scripture that the Heavenly Doctor had imparted to his Clone with a finger on his brow during their first encounter,

Now, under the powerful calculation and processing ability of the hua dao stone, slowly reappeared.

It took nearly a year for Li Fan to fully memorize the Heavenly Doctor Immortal Scripture.

Of course, memorization did not mean proficient application.

Just as there was a huge gap between Li Fan's theoretical knowledge of formations and his actual formation-setting skills.

"It is indeed just a pure medical scripture, not very helpful for cultivation." Li Fan shook his head with some regret.

"The techniques of 'Look, Listen, Ask, Feel' in the book are far inferior to the Heavenly Doctor's methods."

"However…"

"The Heavenly Doctor seems to have entered the Dao through medicine. This Heavenly Doctor Immortal Scripture must be the Foundation of all his life's learning."

"If one day, I find an unparalleled Prodigy and teach them this medical scripture,"

"It might be possible to emulate the Heavenly Doctor's story."

"But it certainly cannot be done in the Xuanhuang World. Perhaps in a remote Small World far from the Cultivation World, I could try."

Temporarily putting it aside, Li Fan suddenly thought of the Taiyan Sect's deduction technique.

The Celestial Mystery Sect's Thousand Machines Jade Universe Golden Chapter, when cultivated deeply, could also calculate the future.

But that was through sensing Qi and deducing.

The Taiyan Sect's deduction technique, on the other hand, pushed calculation ability to the extreme, exhausting all possibilities to find the one that best matched the future trend.

"Actually, these two deduction techniques are not necessarily contradictory."

"On the contrary, they can complement each other. Qi-based deduction determines the general vague direction. Taiyan divine calculation precisely predicts the future."

"Hehe, but neither can compare to my [Huan Zhen]."

"What deduction technique could be more accurate than coming from the future and experiencing it firsthand!"

On a whim, Li Fan drifted down the mountain.

Great Xuan, Jiangnan, Hanguang City.

Recently, a strange event occurred in this city, the wealthiest under heaven.

A mysterious person called the Divine Calculator passed through, setting up a stall for fortune-telling.

He only performed three divinations a day.

He charged no fee, only choosing people to calculate for.

At first, the city's residents thought this Divine Calculator was just a charlatan with empty gimmicks.

Because his divinations were sometimes accurate, sometimes not.

But over time, the success rate of this Divine Calculator's divinations grew higher and higher.

Whether it was where lost items were, the whereabouts of missing children, inquiries about marriage, or the gender of an unborn child,

All were accurate without error.

Gradually, this Divine Calculator's reputation began to grow.

Within Guanghan City, everyone, regardless of age or gender, regarded him with awe and respect.

One day, a noble arrived in Guanghan City for leisure. After hearing about this, he became interested.

He then disguised himself in plain clothes and, accompanied only by a trusted subordinate, came to the Divine Calculator's stall.

They saw the Divine Calculator lying on a long chair, resting with his eyes closed.

"Fellow Daoist, have you finished your divinations for today?" The noble had already inquired about the rules before coming and asked aloud.

Without even opening his eyes, the Divine Calculator said lazily, "You're asking knowingly. If I were done, I would have packed up and gone home. Would I still be here?"

The noble felt a bit embarrassed upon hearing this.

However, the trusted subordinate was furious to see his master insulted.

Ignoring the Divine Calculator's reputation, he was about to smash the stall.

The noble reached out to stop his subordinate and said, "In that case, please perform a divination for me, Fellow Daoist."

Still with his eyes closed, the Divine Calculator said, "I already calculated that you two would come and have prepared a divination for you in advance."

"In the small wooden box at the upper left corner of the stall, there is a slip of paper. You'll know upon seeing it."

The subordinate sneered disdainfully, "Playing tricks!"

The noble, however, looked solemn and thanked the Divine Calculator.

Then he opened the wooden box, took out the slip, and slowly unrolled it.

As soon as he saw the writing on the slip, his face turned pale.

Shocked, fearful, and joyful, his hand went limp, and the slip fell to the ground.

Seeing this, the noble, disregarding his dignity, quickly crouched down to pick up the slip.

He clutched it tightly in his hand, afraid that others might see it.

His body trembled with excitement as he silently repeated the sixteen characters on the slip.

"Lurk for nine years, await the time. On your brother's death day, become emperor."

Seeing his master so composed, the subordinate felt puzzled.

Since that tragic day, little could change his master's expression.

Could it be that this Divine Calculator truly had some skill?

He wondered what was written on the slip given to his master.

The noble paid no attention to his subordinate's thoughts.

Taking a deep breath to calm his excitement, he prepared to bow solemnly to the Divine Calculator.

However, he was astonished to find that the Divine Calculator, who had been there just a moment ago, had suddenly vanished before his eyes!

Both the noble and his subordinate were terrified.

Could it be that gods and spirits really exist in this world?

With heavy hearts and lost spirits, the two returned to their residence and went to their respective rooms to rest.

But the subordinate unexpectedly found an extra slip of paper in his pocket, appearing at some unknown time.

Out of curiosity, he opened the slip.

Upon seeing the writing, he was bewildered.

It read two lines of poetry.

"Peace is supposed to be achieved by generals, but generals are not allowed to see peace."

The subordinate silently repeated the words, then instinctively tore the slip into pieces and swallowed it.

…

Above Guanghan City, after witnessing the subordinate's reaction, Li Fan couldn't help but reveal a faint, enigmatic smile.

"Back then, I heard your dying words and had an Epiphany, successfully building my Foundation with [Huan Zhen]."

"Now, performing a divination for you repays that favor."

"I hope you have a different fate in this life."

The two people he divined for today were naturally the Prince of Langya and the future General Zhenwei who would suppress the rebellion.

Li Fan, disguised as the Divine Calculator, traveled far and wide to comprehend the art of divination.

After settling in Guanghan City, his deduction skills improved daily.

By chance, he encountered the Prince of Langya and his subordinate, two familiar faces, and on a whim, he orchestrated today's events.

Acting on impulse, he resolved a karmic tie.

Li Fan's thoughts flowed smoothly, and he felt elated.

He no longer lingered there and returned to Disintegration Mountain.

Scenes from this period flashed through his mind, and Li Fan formed his own understanding of the so-called art of deduction.

"In Guanghan City, my Divine Sense enveloped everyone and everything within the city."

"With the terrifying calculation ability of the hua dao stone, I saw even the smallest details."

"Regarding matters within this city, with all causes present, I could predict them with near certainty."

"But the world is not just one city. Guanghan City is located at the confluence of canals, with thriving water transport."

"Merchants and travelers come and go endlessly; tens of thousands pass through daily."

"These are what we call variables."

"The more variables, the lower the accuracy of my calculations."

"Besides external influences, the unpredictability of the human heart is also a variable."

"As the number of people and the scope of the city expand, the variables to be processed increase."

"At this point, relying solely on calculation ability for deduction yields minimal results."

"One still needs the support of a deduction technique."

Having understood this principle, Li Fan did not deliberately seek out a deduction technique.

To put it bluntly, the art of divination was merely a casual attempt by Li Fan to pass the time while waiting for [Huan Zhen] to recharge.

He would go with the flow and not force it.

The most important thing was still improving his cultivation Realm.

Li Fan silently set a goal: in this life, he would definitely break through to the Golden Core Stage!

…

Time passed, and soon it was almost the anchor year 9.

Huan Zhen was about to finish recharging. Li Fan visited Yi Xing's grave again and retrieved the Heavenly Lock Treasure Box.

He didn't forget to take the bound zhibu remnant stele and the Fusion stone from Qian Hong's grave.

Then, as usual, he swept through and filled the Taiyan Boat.

With everything ready, Li Fan broke through the Immortal Severing Grand Formation and returned to the Cultivation World.

Li Fan felt that his plans from the previous life were mostly fine until encountering the Heavenly Doctor.

And this life's starting cultivation level was the same as the previous one, with no better entry point.

Considering that changing his actions might lead to unexpected variables,

Li Fan decided to follow the same pattern and repeat the events of the previous life.

Kill the giant Luli Fish, obtain the exquisite Luli Pearl, and ensure the Spirit Mist Grass incident occurs.

Then, through He Zhenghao, join the Myriad Immortals Alliance.

Do the blue blood coral mission, use the Azure Flame Illusion Spirit as bait, and befriend Chen Ying of the Medicine Hall.

Kill Sikong Yi and obtain the heaven stealing sun switching token.

Scare He Zhenghao into suspending his smuggling business.

Loan Spirit Mist Grass from the Azure Wind Hall.

Join the Myriad Immortals Alliance, and with the help of the Seven Qiao Exquisite Heart, successfully pass the Heart Questioning Platform test.

Do merit missions to increase authority level.

In the Spirit Mist Grass turmoil, make a huge profit with no capital.

Using Zhou Qingang's spy matter, coerce He Zhenghao into signing a work contract.

Re-learn the Sitting Mountain Art and purchase the Vanguard Realm.

Sneak into the Li Realm alone, causing Ye Feipeng, Xiao Heng, and others to be stranded on an isolated island again.

Entrust Jiao Xiuyuan to excavate the Small Medicine King Cauldron.

…

Repeating the process of the previous life only took a year or two.

Li Fan was very patient.

However, with the experience of the previous life, Li Fan made slight adjustments to a few matters.

First, during the Spirit Mist Grass turmoil, he knew exactly when the Tianxuan Mirror would issue the announcement.

But to avoid suspicion, Li Fan cautiously sold all 2,900 Spirit Mist Grass plants in batches before the price rose from 320 to 350 points.

He earned a total of 980,000 Contribution Points.

Second, when refining his Clone this life, Li Fan used a Heaven and Earth Spiritual Object purchased from the Vanguard Realm.

The Clone's cultivation level immediately rose to Middle Stage Foundation Establishment.

Afterward, he bought the White Bone Vanguard Realm, and the Clone played the role of the skull to deceive Xiao Heng and the others.

He clearly explained the power of the Myriad Immortals Alliance and urged Xiao Heng to prioritize improving his cultivation.

He only needed to act as an ordinary Loose Cultivator with a fortuitous encounter.

Additionally, to prevent accidents, Li Fan did not choose to buy techniques from the Tianxuan Mirror this time.

He passed the Sea Quelling Divine Sword to Xiao Heng and the Surging Waves on the Vast Sea to Ye Feipeng.

It would still be some time before Su Xiaomei and Su Changyu could start cultivating.

As long as he found ownerless techniques before that, it would be fine.

The main body and the Clone could each get some benefits from Qin Tang's place to solve the problem.

However, considering the potential need for many techniques in the future, Li Fan felt he needed to find a stable channel to purchase techniques outside the Myriad Immortals Alliance.

After thinking, Li Fan's Clone contacted Jiao Xiuyuan.

Soon, the other party replied.

"Uh, Fellow Daoist wants to buy Golden Core techniques? Why not buy them from the Tianxuan Mirror? Could it be that you haven't found a suitable one?"

"Hehe, I don't sell techniques here. I can't handle such big deals."

"But if Fellow Daoist really has a need, I know a place that can meet your requirements."

"The Myriad Law Trading Company, have you heard of it, Fellow Daoist?"

Li Fan was slightly startled, and a very similar name, differing by only one character, immediately came to mind.

"Is this Myriad Law Trading Company related to the Wanhua Merchant Guild?" Li Fan asked.

"That's right. Actually, the Wanhua Merchant Guild is the Myriad Law Trading Company, but it specializes in Mortal business, so it took another name." Jiao Xiuyuan replied.

"Myriad Law Trading Company…" Li Fan couldn't help but recall that before the Crimson Flame Burning the Sea descended, the Wanhua Merchant Guild received a notice to evacuate entirely from the Congyun Sea.

"This Myriad Law Trading Company has some skills."