"Purple Sky Purification, penetrating the divine soul..."
In an instant, a soul-observing technique of only tens of thousands of words appeared in Li Fan's mind.
"Junior brother, wait for me here. I'll be back in no time!" Zhang Qianmo said, not waiting for Li Fan's response, and floated away.
"Purple Sky Observation Soul..." After carefully reading this unique soul-searching technique of the Purple Sky Sect, Li Fan had already grasped most of it.
In the technique, it was explicitly stated that in the current cultivation world, there was constant strife among major sects, righteous and evil cultivators, and various demonic beasts. Killing, seizing treasures, soul-searching, and soul-refining were all common occurrences.
Soul-searching, in particular, involved reading the memories of the opponent's divine soul in various ways, with different styles according to the habits of various sects.
Some methods were cruel and ruthless, causing permanent damage to the divine soul during soul-searching. Even if the person survived, they would be like a dementia patient, unable to care for themselves.
Others were more ingenious, not only searching the memories but also modifying and distorting them, imprinting spiritual marks and turning the original enemy into the most loyal servant.
The soul-searching technique of the Purple Sky Sect, however, was the most moderate and peaceful.
It wouldn't cause significant damage to the divine soul, only subjecting the individual to pain similar to being struck by Purple Sky Divine Thunder during the process. With careful recuperation afterward, the soul could recover.
But from that point on, an inexplicable fear would be left in the heart. Sensing the presence of a member of the Purple Sky Sect, one would feel like encountering a natural enemy, lacking the courage to resist.
Li Fan, like Zhang Qianmo, extended his hand like a claw and grabbed one of the captives.
Activating the Purple Sky Observation Soul technique, countless scenes surged like giant waves in an instant.
Similar to the Situational Decree he had witnessed through soul refinement, the Observation Soul technique could vividly display memories.
Scenes unfolded one after another, and Li Fan disregarded irrelevant details, only focusing on relatively important parts.
This Foundation Building cultivator was named Liu Tu.
Over forty years ago, he was just an ordinary villager in the mountains.
One day, while hunting in the mountains, he lost his way and accidentally entered a hidden valley.
To his surprise, the secluded valley, usually rarely visited by people, was today filled with many individuals. Some were powerful cultivators, while others were ordinary mortals like the village farmer.
At this moment, they were sitting together, attentively listening to a passionate speech from a young cultivator in front.
"Decades ago, I was just like the majority of you here, a powerless commoner unable to control my own destiny. Although I aspired to cultivate the path of immortality, I lamented the lack of spiritual roots, preventing me from practicing."
"Fortunately, I witnessed the Immortal Sage spreading the Dao and obtained an unparalleled technique."
"From then on, I no longer needed spiritual roots to cultivate!"
"In just a short ten years, I have already achieved the Golden Core realm!"
"The Immortal Sage said: The path of immortality is..."
Under the live teaching of the young cultivator, dozens of people among the commoners, surprisingly, condensed the roots of heaven and earth, stepping into the Foundation Building stage.
Liu Tu listened with fascination. Although his aptitude was slightly inferior and he couldn't directly condense Qi, he memorized the "Five Spirits Inspiring Qi Method" in his heart.
After returning home, in less than half a month, he successfully attracted Qi into his body, becoming a true cultivator.
Afterward, Liu Tu found and joined the spontaneously formed organization of new technique cultivators, the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals.
Choosing the most popular "Heavenly Net Divine Art" as his main cultivation method, after five or six years of practice, Liu Tu built his foundation using the miraculous item, the "Spiritual Herb from the Mountains."
After that, Chu Liang found him, and they agreed to ambush Zhang Qianmo and Li Chen, the two senior brothers, who were here to collect life fruits.
The titles of inner disciples of the Purple Sky Sect made Liu Tu somewhat fearful. However, with the Golden Core cultivator Song Hesheng as the leading elder and the temptation of the profound skill "Purple Sky Divine Thunder Technique," Liu Tu reluctantly agreed.
After all, in the intelligence reports, these two members of the Purple Sky Sect were only at the late Foundation Building stage.
Who would have thought that they would encounter Zhang Qianmo, the monstrous freak capable of Foundation Building defeating Golden Core...
"Bang!"
With the completion of the soul-searching, Liu Tu, who was now limp, was thrown to the ground by Li Fan. Li Fan then pressed his throbbing temples.
Stabilizing his turbulent and surging divine soul.
The soul-searching technique was incredibly versatile, allowing the user to glean all the secret memories from the opponent's mind.
However, it was not without its risks.
The consumption of one's own divine sense was also extremely alarming, as in the case of Li Fan, who had overused it.
Moreover, if one encountered a wolf in sheep's clothing, appearing completely subdued but seizing the opportunity during soul-searching to launch a lethal counterattack.
If caught off guard and unable to defend, one's own divine soul would suffer heavy damage, and there was even a risk of being "counter-soul-searched."
"Although I am just a divine sense incarnation within this Fallen Immortal Realm, with less intense divine sense than my original body, the consumption of this soul-searching is still a bit too high." Recalling Zhang Qianmo's relaxed demeanor just now, Li Fan couldn't help but suspect if he had used the technique incorrectly.
However, after reviewing Li Chen's memories and thinking it over, Li Fan understood.
At this point in time, the major sects and great factions spared no effort in cultivating elite disciples.
All kinds of talents and treasures were abundant, and various secret techniques were almost freely chosen.
From practical sparring, refining divine sense, to personal guidance and mentoring from the elders of the sect, as long as one performed exceptionally well, these were the nourishment for rapid growth and strength improvement.
On the contrary, in today's cultivation world, a well-rounded cultivation method was deliberately divided into several different parts, blatantly restricting the strength of cultivators.
Want to strengthen yourself with exceptional talents and treasures? Want secret techniques to deal with enemies?
Alright, first complete tasks, accumulate contribution points.
Contribution points accumulated, yet still unable to find it.
Oh, it might be that your permission level is not enough. Do some more meritorious tasks and accumulate for a few more years!
...
Although I don't know the situation with the Five Elders, I think it shouldn't be much different.
In the eyes of Zhang Qianmo, most cultivators at the intermediate level probably couldn't even be considered as loose cultivators.
After all, according to Liu Tu's memories, the initial Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals provided techniques that included various mystical arts.
Take the most practiced "Heavenly Net Divine Art" for example; its contents encompassed everything from concealing breath, escape techniques, refining divine sense, strengthening the body, Qi cultivation, pill refining, talisman crafting, array formations...
Every detail was covered.
It could be considered the best introductory cultivation technique.
Although it might not be top-notch in every aspect, it excelled in comprehensiveness.
Li Fan couldn't estimate how expensive this technique would be in the current Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals.
This was just one of the dozens of techniques freely provided at this time in the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals.
The comparison made Li Fan couldn't help but exclaim, "Damn, how did the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals become like this?"
The gap was already significant compared to the loose cultivators at this time, not to mention the elite disciples of major sects like Zhang Qianmo.
Although Li Fan possessed the precious treasure Zhen and had experienced countless reincarnations, his divine sense had not been systematically strengthened.
He hadn't had the chance to replenish it with heavenly treasures.
So there was still a considerable gap between him and Senior Brother Zhang.
Li Fan checked his own situation, and his brows slightly furrowed.
"Due to excessive consumption of divine sense, the time I can stay in this Fallen Immortal Realm has sharply decreased."
"Originally, I could maintain it for about half a month, but now it's only seven or eight days."
"However, according to what Chen Ying said, I already have some gains. I can leave the Fallen Immortal Realm early."
"Just need to reverse simulate the ritual in my mind."
"But I don't know if it satisfies the conditions to bring items back to reality."
To bring items and information from the Fallen Immortal Realm back to the real world, specific conditions must be met.
What these conditions were, Chen Ying didn't elaborate when she introduced them.
Currently, the Tianxuan Mirror couldn't find any information about the Fallen Immortal Realm, so Li Fan had to explore on his own.
"The higher the value of the item, the more difficult it is to bring it back."
"Forget about 'Heavenly Net Divine Art' for now. If I can bring back 'Purple Sky Observation Soul,' my goal will be achieved."
"What are the conditions? Kill Zhang Qianmo?"
At the moment, Li Fan was clueless.
"Anyway, let's go back to reality first."
"Maybe I can recall the specific content of the Observation Soul technique in reality?"
After a moment of contemplation, Li Fan made a decision.
He directly reversed the ritual in his mind.
A dizziness struck, and in an instant, the surrounding scenery shattered like starlight.
Li Fan's consciousness returned to the Tianxuan Mirror.
Li Fan began to carefully recall various scenes from this journey to the Fallen Immortal Realm.
Specific events, every conversation with Senior Brother Zhang, were vividly remembered.
But when he tried to recall 'Purple Sky Observation Soul' and 'Heavenly Net Divine Art,' he couldn't remember anything.
All effort was in vain.
"Indeed, it's not so easy."
"I already have the treasure in my hands, but it's like a flower in the mirror or a moon in the water, unattainable."
"This feeling is really unpleasant."
"Better go in again and look for specific conditions."
Fortunately, the last time he actively exited, the required time interval for reentry had been greatly shortened.
During this waiting period, Li Fan purchased a Symbol of Authority, disguised himself as a Golden Core cultivator, and then bought a Shape-shifting Pill. After disguising himself, he arrived at Dingyu Island.
Affected by the incident with the Spirit Mist Grass, there were fewer cultivators gathered here.
Li Fan randomly chose a fish to bet on, then subtly inquired about information regarding the Fallen Immortal Realm from the surrounding Golden Core cultivators.
After some small talk, Li Fan learned that each time they entered the Fallen Immortal Realm, the location varied.
Sometimes, they entered directly into a battle between righteous and evil factions and were easily killed by powerful individuals on the battlefield.
Sometimes, if luck was on their side, they occupied the body of a disciple from a certain sect. However, finding the conditions to bring out the technique in just a short ten days was quite difficult. They could only regretfully watch the technique disappear from their memories.
(End of this chapter)