Chapter 253 The Lost Decade

Every time Li Fan awoke from his seclusion, he would glance at the Huan Zhen panel and calculate the time based on his physiological age.

One anchor year was equivalent to 20 years old, and so on.

In his twelfth life, he had checked the Huan Zhen panel many times.

However, when the time suddenly jumped from anchor year 29 to anchor year 39,

Li Fan failed to notice even the slightest anomaly.

Even when he reviewed his experiences in the twelfth life again and again, he didn't notice the 'missing decade' in his own life.

Part of this was due to a fixed mindset.

After all, in the cognition of most people, time is continuous and indivisible.

How could it be anchor year 29 one second and anchor year 39 the next?

Another, even more important reason, was that it was as if some existence had distorted his perception.

Making him inadvertently overlook this point.

This is what is called “seeing something strange and not being surprised”.

What exactly happened?

Who stole my time?

Li Fan couldn't help but fall into deep dread.

Because of the unknown, there is fear.

Heavenly Doctor is strong, indeed.

But at least there is a concrete image there.

Li Fan in this life is not his opponent.

But after ten, a hundred Reincarnations…

Under infinite Reincarnation, there will come a day when he grows to the same height as him.

And eventually defeat him.

But this unknown existence made Li Fan feel a sense of powerlessness for the first time.

He didn't even know what the other party was or how it stole the time that originally belonged to him.

What frightened Li Fan even more was that its various influences, even after Huan Zhen, still could not be shaken off.

This means that the other party is very likely something of the same rank as Huan Zhen.

At the very least, the other party's power is already very close to Huan Zhen.

This was the true source of Li Fan's fear.

All along, Huan Zhen was Li Fan's reliance for his hope of eternal life.

it was the source of Li Fan's confidence to remain composed no matter how powerful an enemy he encountered.

No matter how great the crisis, he would silently recite Huan Zhen.

Reality and illusion would transform, and everything would return to the starting point.

The crisis would naturally vanish without a trace.

But now, Huan Zhen's absolute dominant position was threatened…

He Zhenghao and He XinXin, the father and daughter beside him, also noticed that Li Fan's expression was off.

He XinXin was about to ask, but He Zhenghao pulled her back and shook his head.

Fear echoed in his heart, lingering for a long time.

Fortunately, Li Fan's will was tough after all.

Having experienced too many near-death situations, this was merely a not-so-fatal threat from a past point in time. Li Fan slowly calmed the fear in his heart.

He began to meticulously analyze and scrutinize the situation.

Soon, he noticed the abnormal phenomenon in this incident.

Straightening his face, Li Fan asked He Zhenghao, “Fellow Daoist He, may I ask about the origin of Xin Xin’s deduction technique? Could you reveal a bit about it?”

Although he said “ask,” there was an unmistakable sense of refusal in his eyes.

He Zhenghao hesitated for a moment, then had no choice but to explain, “My daughter’s deduction technique is called the Dao Net Heavenly Net.”

“it is a deduction Spell tailor-made based on her accompanying rare item, the Dao Wen Compass.”

“its specific quality can barely be considered half a Heaven's Wonder.”

At this point, a hint of pride involuntarily appeared on He Zhenghao’s face.

“Accompanying rare item?” Li Fan’s heart stirred.

In the Treatise on Rare Items, there were relevant records.

Some Cultivators are born with rare items of heaven and earth within their bodies.

These rare items all have their extraordinary aspects and are incredibly compatible with the Cultivator themselves.

However, this situation is extremely rare, and the book only mentions it briefly without much detailed description.

Anyone with an accompanying rare item in their body is nourished by the rare item’s Law from the womb.

Their cultivation speed is incredibly fast, and those who manage to survive and grow up safely are all Prodigies of their respective regions.

He hadn't expected He XinXin to be one of them.

No wonder she had already reached Foundation Establishment cultivation at such a young age.

Li Fan observed the young girl, thinking to himself.

He XinXin felt an inexplicable surge of nervousness as Li Fan stared at her.

“Xin Xin, please explain the general principle of the Dao Net Heavenly Net’s deduction to Uncle Li.”

He Zhenghao said.

He XinXin nodded upon hearing this. Out of trust in her father, she was not very guarded.

She then softly and gently began to explain to Li Fan.

“Humans live between heaven and earth, like living within a giant net.”

“Every action will affect the people, events, and objects around them.”

“Those who cannot Transcend will inevitably be affected by other people, events, and objects.”

“They intertwine and interact with each other, forming all matters in the world.”

“In worldly affairs, once something has happened, it will inevitably leave traces.”

“By observing these various traces left on the giant net, one can know all matters in the world.”

“This net is called the Dao Net Heavenly Net. The traces are called Dao Seal Etchings.”

…

As the young girl narrated, the doubts in Li Fan's heart were also resolved.

His time being stolen for ten years in Dao Source State was something that happened in his twelfth life.

He XinXin was merely a Foundation Establishment cultivator; no matter how gifted she was, it would be absolutely impossible for her to see through Huan Zhen and deduce events that happened nearly a hundred lives ago.

Even that unknown existence that stole his ten years of time was of an extremely high rank, and logically, He XinXin should not have been able to deduce it.

But she somehow managed to spot the clue.

This was because…

A bitten apple…

Is not the same as a whole apple.

Similarly, a being whose time has been stolen by this inexplicable existence must be different from other normal beings.

it must have been tainted with a unique aura.

Although Li Fan returned to the time before his time was stolen through Huan Zhen,

He was not able to completely shake off its influence.

Li Fan's complete unawareness of this beforehand served as corroboration.

He XinXin's Dao Net Heavenly Net did not directly deduce Huan Zhen, nor the unknown existence that stole the time.

However, by deducing Li Fan and perceiving its influence, she was able to reconstruct what had happened to Li Fan.

Li Fan even speculated that if He XinXin were to deduce any Cultivator within Source Dao Province, she would not be able to predict the same result as Li Fan.

That was something a Foundation Establishment cultivator could not perceive.

Even with the Dao Wen Compass, which was half a Heaven's Wonder, as her foundation, it wouldn't work.

If one had to make a comparison.

That unknown existence that stole time was like a black hole.

Silently hovering above Source Dao Province.

Every now and then, it would devour ten years of the entire province's time.

Under normal circumstances, its existence cannot be directly discovered through ordinary observation or deduction methods.

However, because of Huan Zhen, Li Fan escaped from this black hole.

But the black hole's influence did not disappear.

Thus, Li Fan was like the distorted light around a black hole.

Through him, it was possible to deduce its act of stealing time in Source Dao Province.