Life and death are one

Perhaps because the Root of Heaven and Earth was afraid of damaging the newborn Five Elements Grotto-Heaven.

When Li Fan arrived near these five clusters of light, the suction force from the outside world suddenly decreased quite a bit.

This also avoided his fate of completely disintegrating in a short period of time.

At this moment, although Li Fan's body was only half of what it used to be, his four limbs were still complete. His overall body simply shrunk, becoming like a child of seven or eight years old.

It was both comical and eerie.

Fortunately, it did not affect his actual movements.

Silently gazing at the flickering five-colored light clusters not far away, Li Fan did not rush to deploy a secret technique to devour them.

Instead, he began to observe carefully.

The Root of Heaven and Earth was continuously "weaving" energy and Laws of the same attributes into the five grotto-heavens of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth amidst the flashing lights below.

The newborn and frail grotto-heavens also became increasingly complete and resilient because of this.

"If this space is regarded as a womb nurturing life, then the Five Elements Grotto-Heaven at this moment is a fetus that has just formed its rudimentary shape."

Now existing in the form of lines, Li Fan was much more acute to the aura fluctuations of the surrounding Laws than when he was in human form previously.

Witnessing the initial formation process of the grotto-heavens, ripples of comprehension flashed through his mind.

In his previous life, when that migrated "Five Elements Great Grotto-Heaven" ultimately annihilated due to the imbalance of the Five Elements.

Li Fan had once witnessed with his own eyes the terrifying scene within the black and white vortex that nearly destroyed everything.

Now seeing the Five Elements being born anew, comparing the two, he discovered that there were actually some similarities between them.

"Creation and annihilation…"

"Creation is the beginning of annihilation, and annihilation is the source of creation," Li Fan murmured softly, seemingly gaining some realization.

"Using the principle of the Five Elements generating each other and flowing endlessly, I drove the techniques of Ink Death and Celestial Killing to create a style of [Great Five Elements Extinction Sword]."

"And this principle of creation and annihilation…"

In an instant, his thoughts operated to the extreme.

Without the assistance of any external objects, Li Fan seemed to have fallen into a state of Epiphany.

He stood blankly beside the five-colored light clusters, motionless and solemn like a statue.

It was just that his body was not completely unresponsive to the outside world.

When particles occasionally whistled past and flew towards the Five Elements Grotto-Heaven, about to pierce through Li Fan who was blocking their path forward.

Li Fan's body, as if foreseeing the future, made strange twisting movements and instantly easily dodged the particles' attack.

And after safety was restored, it instantly returned to its original state.

Looking at Li Fan again, he remained immersed in his thoughts throughout, completely unaware of all his own actions.

Time passed.

Slowly, within the five-colored light clusters, scenery with richer details could be faintly seen.

Oceans, molten fire, trees…

Various Acquired Five Elements creations began to be born within the grotto-heavens.

Just like a fetus growing over ten months, gradually developing from an indistinguishable curled-up mass into the appearance of an infant.

Diverse scenes began to evolve within the grotto-heavens.

The radiance shrouding the outer periphery of the grotto-heavens also began to retract and contract, returning to the interior of the grotto-heavens.

And this light was like a natural, supreme tonic; after being absorbed, the scenes within the grotto-heavens changed at an accelerated rate a thousandfold.

Rumbling sounds faintly came from afar.

The grotto-heavens themselves also began "growing up", expanding towards their surroundings.

When they continuously expanded and touched other grotto-heavens, they slowly stopped.

It was just that the internal force urging them to grow had not been eliminated.

Amidst creaking extrusion sounds, the five grotto-heavens blended with each other, forming a natural formation and becoming indistinguishable from one another.

The Five Elements Grotto-Heaven was about to officially take shape.

"Splendid!" At this moment, Li Fan finally woke up.

On a face purely composed of lines, it was difficult to discern any expression of joy.

But clearly, his harvest this time was profound.

"That Divine Ability is indeed not suitable to be used here. We'll talk about it after going out!"

"For now, let's get down to business first!"

Reviewing the scenes recorded in the hua dao stone that he had missed due to his Epiphany, Li Fan nodded inwardly.

"I guessed correctly. Currently, the Five Elements Grotto-Heaven has not yet completely broken away from the [Root of Heaven and Earth]."

"Just like a mother's natural instinct to protect her young, once I try to devour it, it will inevitably provoke a full-force attack from the Root of Heaven and Earth."

"I'm afraid that even with Dao Integration cultivation, right here in its home ground, one would meet their doom on the spot."

"Therefore, my only opportunity is the exact split second when the Five Elements Grotto-Heaven breaks away from the maternal body, but before it descends into the Void Realm of the present Tianling Province!"

Comprehending this in his heart, Li Fan was neither sad nor happy as he awaited the arrival of that time point.

If it were any other Cultivator facing an opportunity that would cause lifelong regret if missed, no matter how outstanding their psychological resilience was, they would inevitably feel a bit apprehensive.

But for Li Fan, who possessed [Huan Zhen], it was merely an ordinary attempt among "infinite" tries.

Therefore, there were no ripples in his heart.

Like an excellent hunter, he patiently and quietly waited for his prey.

Who knows how much time had passed.

In the distance, the grotto-heaven scenes with diverse scenery seemed to be slowly turning transparent.

Within the [Root of Heaven and Earth], only the external circular outlines of the five grotto-heavens, connected to each other, remained straddling across space.

Boom…

The Five Elements Grotto-Heaven began to vibrate violently.

Concurrently, the interior space of the [Root of Heaven and Earth] was also shaking unceasingly.

It was as if the Five Elements Grotto-Heaven were struggling to break free from the maternal body's restraints and burst out.

In Li Fan's field of vision, those crisscrossing lines all became somewhat distorted.

"Ding!"

A sound like a zither string snapping suddenly rang out.

Li Fan saw that around the Five Elements Grotto-Heaven, a severed line seemed to appear out of thin air.

Even though it was fleeting, he was firmly convinced that it was not an illusion.

Sure enough, like a chain reaction, the sounds of snapping continued to ring out.

Above the Five Elements Grotto-Heaven, countless broken lines fluttered with the wind, only to dissolve and disappear in the blink of an eye.

The grotto-heavens shook even more violently.

"Right now!"

At this instant, Li Fan's body completely disintegrated.

The twisted, writhing lines, like countless venomous snakes, protected the Golden Core within his Dantian in their midst.

They sped rapidly toward the location where the Five Elements Grotto-Heaven was.

Seeming to have alerted the [Root of Heaven and Earth], during the flight process, the dissolution speed of the body's fine lines became increasingly rapid.

However, it could not stop Li Fan from approaching step by step.

When the Five Elements Grotto-Heaven was finally about to completely leave the space of the [Root of Heaven and Earth] in a split second.

On Li Fan's Golden Core, crisscrossing cracks emerged.

It looked as if the Golden Core was about to disintegrate at any moment, yet it remained condensed and refused to disperse.

Instead, ferocious "tentacles" crawled out from the fissures.

As if seeing delicious food, they bared their fangs and brandished their claws, impatient as they rushed toward the close-at-hand Five Elements Grotto-Heaven.

These tentacles were also the "Root of Heaven and Earth".

They did not refer to the beginning of creation here.

Rather, it was that "Root of Heaven and Earth" condensed within their bodies by the Cultivators of the world according to the Heavenly Venerable's New Law.