Chapter 218: Seated Discussion on Martial Arts

However, these recruitment notices only mentioned traveling together to Nine Mountains Prefecture.

The specific purpose was not clearly stated.

It was plainly a case of 'those who understand will understand.'

"It's only the anchor year 10 now, so there's no rush to go," Li Fan thought to himself.

"When Cloud Water Heavenly Palace opens in anchor year 11, I'll see if my Clone can get another Cultivation Technique from Qin Tang."

"Then I'll have the Clone make a trip."

Having made his decision, Li Fan temporarily put the matter aside.

He then turned to Jiang Zhengji of the Martial Arts Hall to inquire about how to improve his combat skills.

The reason for this was not just to enhance his actual combat strength.

Most importantly, Li Fan wanted to defeat Zhang Qianmo of the Purple Firmament Sect in the Realm of Fallen Immortals as soon as possible, to see if he could go elsewhere afterward.

Yes, Li Fan had discovered that he was trapped in Ningyuan City within the Realm of Fallen Immortals.

In this life, he had entered the Realm of Fallen Immortals three times.

The time-space node for logging in remained unchanged each time.

It was always before following Zhang Qianmo to Ningyuan City to collect the longevity fruits.

To break free from this situation, Li Fan made three different attempts.

The first time, he followed the 'plot' and pretended to die.

Then, while Zhang Qianmo was battling Song Hesong and others, he slipped out of Ningyuan City unnoticed.

Unfortunately, he didn't get far before Zhang Qianmo caught up.

Calling him a heretic, Zhang Qianmo killed Li Fan with a single Purple Firmament Divine Thunder.

The second time, Li Fan directly turned traitor. He secretly sent a message to Song Hesong, coordinating an internal and external attack on Zhang Qianmo.

Zhang Qianmo was severely injured, but Li Fan and the others were helpless against the Purple Core within his body.

After his Nirvana, Zhang Qianmo's strength greatly increased, and he easily killed Li Fan and the others one by one.

The third time, Li Fan simply made an excuse, saying he didn't want to go to Ningyuan City and wanted to return to the Sect.

Who knew that Zhang Qianmo's expression would immediately change, and without a word, he attacked.

Li Fan struggled with him for a long time but ultimately ended in defeat.

Every time, it was the same—truly frustrating.

Unfortunately, he was indeed no match for Zhang Qianmo.

Moreover, within the Myriad Immortals Alliance, methods to improve a Cultivator's combat skills were strictly confidential.

Even with Li Fan's current permission level of Derivative Ten, he still couldn't find any useful results.

So Li Fan had to try asking Jiang Zhengji of the Martial Arts Hall, just to see.

His answer was within Li Fan's expectations: "All the secret methods of the Martial Arts Hall are controlled and cannot be passed on."

"Fellow Daoist, I'm afraid I can't help you with this favor."

Having asked casually and not expecting much, Li Fan still politely thanked him.

Whether out of caution or curiosity, Jiang Zhengji sent another message after a while: "May I ask, Fellow Daoist, why do you want to improve your combat skills? As far as I know, you are only a Formation Master, right? Do you have some enemy?"

Li Fan's heart tightened, but he wasn't panicked. He replied, "No, not at all. I often spar with a friend but always lose. I'm just not convinced."

"Actually, improving my combat level isn't the point; I mainly want to beat him once."

After a moment, Jiang Zhengji replied, "Oh, I see. Everyone has a competitive spirit. I understand."

"I can't help you improve your combat skills. But if you want to defeat an opponent, I do have an idea."

Li Fan's spirits lifted: "Please, Fellow Daoist, tell me!"

"Our Martial Arts Hall has applied for a functional zone in the Tianxuan Realm, called 'Seated Discussion.'"

"Using the powerful deduction capabilities of the Tianxuan Mirror, we input the Realms, Cultivation Techniques, Divine Abilities, secret arts, etc., of both combatants in advance, and it can simulate the battle process."

"There's no need to know the specific content of the techniques; just describe the actual performance during the battle."

"Based on the strength of the description, the Tianxuan Mirror generates 'Virtual Discussants' of varying power."

"After creating your own 'Discussant,' you can not only spar with the 'Discussant' by creating a virtual version of yourself,"

"but also have your 'Discussant' fight against those of other Cultivators."

"This is what is called Seated Discussion."

"Of course, the Tianxuan Mirror will also adjust the strength of the created 'Discussant' based on reality. Exaggerations like a Golden Core Realm Cultivator casually tearing space apart are not feasible."

Li Fan listened and became very interested.

He couldn't help asking: "Is this function exclusive to your Martial Arts Hall? If I want to use it, is there a way?"

Jiang Zhengji replied immediately: "Hehe, although it's generally not open to outsiders, if an insider invites you, outsiders can use it too."

Saying this, he sent over a black-and-white icon.

Two figures sat on the left and right.

In the middle was an ancient 'Dao' character.

Li Fan touched it with his Divine Sense.

Then he received a prompt from the Tianxuan Mirror.

"[Seated Discussion] has been loaded. Inviter: Ten Thousand Immortals Island, Jiang Zhengji."

"Cultivator Li Fan, you have activated the [Seated Discussion] function."

"You are now given one free opportunity to create a Discussant and three free opportunities for mutual battles."

"From now on, you can view and use the Seated Discussion function at any time."

…

Li Fan keenly noticed words like 'free' and 'given,' and immediately understood the trick behind it.

But now, as a wealthy man, he didn't care about the consumption of Contribution Points.

He silently opened [Seated Discussion] and began to browse.

Instantly, a flood of information appeared before his eyes.

"(Dao Integration Realm) Senior Sister Zhao is number one under heaven! One sword, suppressing the Great Dao Sect, undefeated through the ages! Come fight if you dare!"

"(Nascent Soul Realm) Middle-aged Heavenly Desolate Emperor, dominating eternity, unmatched in the world. Already on a 33-win streak. All Fellow Daoists are welcome to challenge!"

"(Nascent Soul Realm) Middle-aged Heavenly Leaf Emperor, peerless in schemes, endowed with a sacred body. Not inferior to the Heavenly Desolate Emperor!"

"(Soul Transformation Realm) At the peak of immortals, proud in the world, with me Lan An, there is heaven! Newly created Discussant, one word: overwhelmingly powerful!"

"(Dao Integration Realm) Immortal Venerable Yulan, welcomes all [real] [Discussants] to challenge. Please, Discussants from fictional novels, don't apply for battles, okay? What's the point of indulging in fantasies all day? I won't agree."

…

Li Fan read through this information one by one and couldn't help but show a strange expression.

It turned out that most of the 'Discussants' created by Cultivators in Seated Discussion were fictional characters from novels.

For example, Senior Sister Zhao of the Great Dao Sect—Li Fan knew her.

She was the protagonist of The Secret History of Ancient Cultivation, which he had read.

This book, told from a first-person perspective, described how Senior Sister Zhao went from being an Outer Sect Disciple through various trials, step by step becoming an Inner Sect Disciple, True Disciple, Dao Son, and eventually the Sect Leader of the Great Dao Sect.

Unexpectedly, Senior Sister Zhao was quite popular.

In this [Seated Discussion], at a glance, dozens of Cultivators had chosen her as the prototype to create 'Discussants.'