Once, twice… Li Fan's divine sense swept over the storyteller repeatedly, but found nothing to explain the Immortal Array's misjudgment.
"Perhaps it's not him…" He frowned, examining nearby objects. His gaze landed on the storyteller's striking block, a dark, seemingly ordinary piece of wood. But the moment he picked it up, a coolness washed over his soul.
"Hmm?"
Since comprehending the Boundless Completion Method, his soul had been at its peak, constantly replenished by the Five Elements. Further improvement required a breakthrough in his cultivation realm. His soul's strength hadn't increased since reaching the Nascent Soul realm.
But now, as the coolness seeped in, he felt his soul solidifying, the bottleneck loosening.
"What is this?" Surprise mingled with caution. His soul was already comparable to a Longevity realm cultivator in Xuanhuang. Further progress was incredibly difficult.
"The Profound Immortal Vessel's vault contained countless treasures, yet none were useful to me. And Xuanhuang still holds hidden wonders…" He carefully isolated the striking block with an Immortal Array before searching the storyteller's memories for its origin.
It wasn't a family heirloom, but something he had crafted from a tree in his courtyard. Li Fan brought the storyteller, whose name was Ge Daoquan, to his home. The lush tree still stood in the courtyard.
The moment they entered, Li Fan felt a difference, like stepping into the shade after walking under the scorching sun. It was simply… comfortable. An ordinary cultivator would have groaned in relief.
Li Fan took a deep breath, cautiously approaching the tree. Its leaves rustled without wind. He had encountered many unusual trees in his past cycles: the ancient Spirit Tree, Heavenly Radiance Tree, and Earth Vein Tree of Xuanhuang, along with the life-giving Fusang Tree, and the Divinewood Sect's divine tree within the Profound Immortal Vessel.
But this tree was different. The ancient trees and the Fusang all possessed consciousness, a sense of sentience. But this one… was purely a tree.
Pure, but not ordinary.
The rustling leaves calmed his restless mind. He didn't know the tree's name, nor did he care. He sat beneath it, meditating. A gentle breeze rustled the leaves, and dozens of them drifted down, entering his body like streams of light. He closed his eyes.
Ten days later, he opened them. The exhaustion accumulated from centuries of struggle, the constant fear of encountering powerful beings, the near-death experiences and the lingering fear after activating True Return… all vanished. He felt refreshed, rejuvenated, as if he had just woken from a long, restful sleep.
He looked at the tree. It was no longer special, just an ordinary tree.
He recalled the images he'd seen during his slumber – the tree's memories.
A streak of light fell from the sky, landing near the tree. It was a charred, bloodstained sphere, seemingly lifeless. Over time, the outer layer peeled away, revealing a baby. The baby didn't cry, but looked around, then crawled resolutely in a specific direction, vanishing from the tree's view. The discarded outer layer dissolved, nourishing the tree.
…
The sky was filled with explosions and fire, a scene of brutal war. A figure appeared near the tree.
"A tree?"
"Is the tracker malfunctioning?"
"This damned place…" The man held a mechanical, one-eyed doll. Its golden eye pointed towards the tree. Confused and anxious, the man fiddled with it, but the doll's gaze remained fixed. He cursed, throwing the doll to the ground.
A cultivator in the sky seemed to notice him. The man's expression changed, and he vanished in a flash of golden light.
Time passed, and the doll was buried. The scars of the war faded. Mortals passing by felt a sense of peace, and some decided to settle down, forming a small town. Ten generations lived near the tree, each one content and optimistic, facing hardships with a smile.
Then, a member of the eleventh generation, seeking a livelihood, became a storyteller. Needing a striking block, he carved one from the tree.
…
Li Fan's thoughts raced. He began digging around the tree, knowing his divine sense was useless. He soon found the mechanical doll, buried for centuries but still pristine, untouched by time. However, its third eye was closed, unresponsive to his attempts to activate it.
He examined the doll, sensing a familiar aura.
"Falling to the Mortal Realm…" His expression turned serious. After a moment of contemplation, he made a decision. He retrieved the White Ring, Falling to the Mortal Realm, and aimed it at the doll.
The White Ring was the embodiment of the [Innate] Dao law. For over a decade, Li Fan had studied it, trying to comprehend the Dao, but to no avail. It was as if… the Innate Dao was already complete, inaccessible to others.
He hadn't forced the issue. Since True Return had bound the ring, he could still utilize its power.
The ring's white light enveloped the doll. Instead of being annihilated, the doll remained unharmed. It wasn't immune to the ring's power. The light, upon contact, had turned green, sparing the doll.
Bathed in the green light, the doll reactivated, flying to Li Fan's palm and opening its third eye. It scanned its surroundings, rotating faster and faster, like a spinning top, seemingly out of control.
"Is it broken?" He frowned, allowing it to spin.
He looked at the tree.
"A century ago, the doll pointed towards the tree because it had absorbed the remnants of the sphere, including the baby's outer layer."
"That material must have awakening, enlightening properties."
"But the effect has weakened over time, especially after I absorbed some of it, so the doll is now searching for something else."
"Even a fraction of its power had such a profound effect on me. I can only imagine its original potency."
Li Fan's eyes gleamed. "The White Ring reacted to the doll. They share the same origin…"
"My previous theory was correct. The prisoner in the Netherworld Prison came from beyond the barrier." His expression turned grave.
The man in the tree's memory was the skeletal figure he'd seen in the Netherworld Prison, the cultivator calling himself Qin Zhuang.
"I searched his soul, but found no such memory."
"He concealed his true past. Impressive." Instead of anger, Li Fan felt a thrill.
"He thought he was flawless, but everything leaves a trace."
"Normally, these traces are difficult to find. But within the Myriad Xuanhuang Beings Grand Formation, where all are equal, they are revealed!"
He recalled the baby in the tree's memory.
"Qin Zhuang… I'll call him that for now."
"He came here searching for the baby."
"So the baby also came from beyond the barrier?"
"Qin Zhuang is connected to the Heavenly Sword Sect. Could the baby be a descendant as well?" Countless questions filled his mind.
This time, the Netherworld Prison was within the array. Qin Zhuang was trapped, but like before, he wouldn't reveal anything.
"Two failures in a row…"
"It seems the ability to resist illusion arrays is common beyond the barrier." He pondered, deciding not to capture and interrogate Qin Zhuang yet.
"If he can withstand even an Immortal Array, physical torture would be useless."
"I need more… specialized methods. Perhaps after Dao Integration."
…
He looked at the spinning doll. It showed no signs of stopping. He observed carefully.
"It's not just spinning. There are variations in its speed."
"It's like…"
"It's detecting multiple targets located throughout Xuanhuang?" He reached an astonishing conclusion.
"Wait, could it be…" A thought struck him. To test his theory, he carried the doll, flying in a specific direction. As he approached his destination, the doll's rotations aligned with his direction.
He finally arrived, looking at the now-still doll with a knowing smile.
The wooden building before him bore a sign: Thousand Li Hall!
The doll's third eye stared at Jiao Xiu, who was asleep inside, then slowly closed, as if depleted of energy.
"That baby… was him."
"Jiao Xiu, from beyond the barrier?"
"But he's not immune to the array like Qin Zhuang…" Li Fan's thoughts churned. He closed his eyes, entering the Myriad Xuanhuang Beings Grand Formation with the doll.
Within the array, Jiao Xiu was conducting business as usual. The moment Li Fan appeared, he stopped, his gaze fixed on the doll.
Li Fan pretended to leave.
"Fellow Daoist, please wait!" Jiao Xiu called out, blocking his path.
"Since you're here, why not come in and sit for a while?" He smiled, his dark face radiating warmth. A true merchant, he avoided looking at the doll.
Li Fan put the doll away, sighing. "It's a family heirloom. I was thinking of selling it, but I've changed my mind."
"Farewell!" He bowed, turning to leave.
"Don't be in such a hurry, Fellow Daoist. Your face… it feels familiar. Tell me your troubles. If I can help, I will." Jiao Xiu puffed out his chest, radiating righteousness.
Li Fan hesitated, then sat down. Jiao Xiu discreetly closed his shop, focusing his attention on Li Fan.
"To be honest, Fellow Daoist, I've been having a recurring dream since I was born."
Li Fan paused, then spoke, capturing Jiao Xiu's attention. "In the dream, I see a light descending from the sky. A baby crawls out of a sphere…"
He observed Jiao Xiu carefully, but he didn't react as expected.
"I suspect the dream is related to this doll, passed down through my family," Li Fan continued.
(End of Chapter)