Li Fan grimaced, grinding his teeth. "Fellow Daoist, do you know the horror of having the same dream your entire life?"
"It's this cursed doll! I want to be rid of these nightmares, so I came to your Thousand Li Hall."
"But it's a family heirloom. My ancestors instructed me to safeguard it…" He feigned a conflicted expression.
Jiao Xiu frowned. "Ancestral instructions are important, but your own life is more important."
"This thing is definitely cursed, an ominous object. But don't worry, Fellow Daoist, my Thousand Li Hall is always fair. I won't lowball you."
Li Fan hesitated. "I can sell it, but I'd like to know its secrets first. Otherwise, I can't face my family."
"Can I take a closer look?" Jiao Xiu asked tentatively.
Li Fan seemed reluctant, but handed him the doll. Its energy was depleted, so it remained inert in Jiao Xiu's hands.
Jiao Xiu examined it, his brow furrowed.
"Can you tell anything?" Li Fan asked.
"Judging by its appearance, it seems to be from the ancient Dust Abyss. It's said their cultivators all possessed True Immortal bloodlines, three eyes, and numerous innate divine abilities…"
"But the material… I've never seen anything like it." A strange expression crossed his face.
"The Dust Abyss?" Li Fan pretended ignorance.
"It's an ancient secret. Besides, that world is long gone. It's normal that you haven't heard of it." Jiao Xiu waved his hand dismissively, his attention still on the doll.
Li Fan subtly manipulated the illusion array. The doll's third eye suddenly opened, shooting a beam of golden light towards Jiao Xiu.
Both men cried out in surprise. When they looked again, the light was gone, as if it had been an illusion.
"Fellow… Fellow Daoist, are you alright? That golden light… wasn't my imagination, was it?" Li Fan asked nervously.
Jiao Xiu nodded gravely. "I saw it too. Was it targeting me…?"
His words triggered something in Li Fan. "That's right! Whenever I thought about selling this doll, I felt uneasy. It wasn't until I reached your Thousand Li Hall that I finally made up my mind."
His expression turned fearful. "Could you be… connected to this doll?"
Jiao Xiu didn't answer, carefully examining the doll, his expression growing more serious.
"This thing… might be alive." After a long silence, he finally spoke.
"What?" Li Fan feigned shock, staring at the doll.
"It seems… some unimaginable technique was used to transform a living Dust Abyss cultivator into an object."
"Though transformed, it retains its power and divine abilities as a cultivator with a True Immortal bloodline!" Jiao Xiu declared.
"That's… impossible! Transforming a living being into an object… even the Legacy Transmission Celestial Venerable couldn't do that. Besides, didn't you say the Dust Abyss was destroyed?" Li Fan expressed doubt.
"Beyond Xuanhuang?" Jiao Xiu muttered.
Then, as if to prove his point, he retrieved a green bottle, pouring a drop of viscous green liquid into the doll's mouth, wincing slightly.
"This is pure life essence. An inanimate object wouldn't react to it."
"But a living being would instinctively absorb it."
As if confirming his words, the doll's two normal eyes snapped open, absorbing the liquid. Li Fan still didn't sense any life force, but he watched as the doll reactivated.
Its target was Jiao Xiu. Its third eye shot out a golden beam, binding him like a chain.
"Fellow Daoist, are you alright?" Li Fan asked nervously, making no move to help.
Bound by the golden chains, Jiao Xiu remained motionless, unresponsive.
"Don't worry, such a petty trick can't hurt me!" Jiao Xiu's voice echoed from a corner of the room.
Li Fan turned to see a withered branch sprouting from the floor. The branch grew, transforming. Another Jiao Xiu emerged.
"Are… are you a man or a ghost?" Li Fan stammered, feigning terror.
"Just a simple clone technique," Jiao Xiu said reassuringly.
Another golden beam shot from the doll's third eye, capturing the new Jiao Xiu.
"Fellow Daoist!" Li Fan trembled, ready to flee.
"Don't panic!" Another voice called out.
A third Jiao Xiu appeared, only to be bound as well.
"Let's see how many you can shoot!" Ten voices echoed angrily.
Branches sprouted throughout the hall. Ten identical Jiao Xius appeared.
The doll seemed momentarily confused, then shot out three more golden beams before falling dormant again, seemingly exhausted.
"You're not catching me that easily!" Jiao Xiu scoffed. Seven voices echoed his words.
Six of the clones reverted to withered branches, disappearing into the floor. The remaining Jiao Xiu approached the six bound figures, touching the golden chains.
"This thing…" His hand passed right through them.
Li Fan, intrigued, also tried, but couldn't touch them either.
"It seems to be an innate divine ability of Dust Abyss cultivators."
"Quite impressive." Jiao Xiu sighed, unable to interact with the chains.
"Jiao… Jiao Fellow Daoist. It seems… the doll is really targeting you."
"Could the baby in our ancestral dreams be you? Did the doll come to our world to capture you?" Li Fan's voice was filled with mock fear.
"But that doesn't make sense. You're too young. The timeline doesn't match. Could it be the baby's descendant?" He scrutinized Jiao Xiu.
"I… am that baby," Jiao Xiu admitted frankly.
"What?" Li Fan's eyes widened.
"I've lived far longer than most, but I spent most of that time in an unconscious, instinctive state." Jiao Xiu's tone was matter-of-fact.
"Actually, I have vague memories of my early childhood, buried deep within my mind. This incident has brought some of them back." His voice turned distant.
"Are you truly a cultivator from another world?" Li Fan stared intently, a mixture of curiosity and excitement in his eyes.
"I suppose… so," Jiao Xiu hesitated, then nodded. "I don't remember anything before emerging from that sphere. But if the doll came from beyond Xuanhuang, then I must have as well."
"No wonder I instinctively sought body multiplication techniques. Was it to escape capture?"
Li Fan marveled. "It's incredible that you survived as a baby and even built this business."
Jiao Xiu shrugged. "It wasn't that difficult. Ever since I gained consciousness, as long as I followed my instincts, things worked out. Except for business, of course."
"Making money is hard!" He sighed, a slightly incongruous remark.
"I wanted to solve my own problems, but I've inadvertently dragged you into this. If not for me, the doll wouldn't have awakened and found you." Li Fan feigned guilt.
Jiao Xiu was philosophical. "What's meant to be will be. Besides, this might be a blessing in disguise."
Li Fan raised an eyebrow. "How so?"
"Living in Xuanhuang for so long, I've inevitably followed the path of defying the Heavenly Dao."
"It helped me survive. Without the Celestial Venerable's new methods, I probably would have died as a child."
"But it also sealed away the knowledge of my homeland."
"If not for today…" He trailed off, lost in thought, as if trying to recall something important. His eyes grew brighter.
Li Fan sensed a profound, fluctuating aura emanating from him. Jiao Xiu looked around, a look of realization dawning on his face.
"Stop!" Li Fan said coldly just as he was about to break free from the illusion.
Jiao Xiu's vision shattered.
"Jiao Fellow Daoist! Jiao Fellow Daoist!"
"What are you spacing out for? Are you selling those miniature Medicine King Cauldrons or not?!" An impatient voice called out.
Jiao Xiu blinked, memories flooding back. He had unearthed some high-quality miniature Medicine King Cauldrons from an ancient ruin. They were valuable artifacts, capable of storing items and cultivating spiritual plants.
"Yes, of course I'm selling…" he replied instinctively.
Then, he remembered. A cultivator skilled in divination had told him about a fiery meteor that would soon return to Xuanhuang. The meteor was likely the true Medicine King Cauldron, carrying the remnants of the Medicine King Sect. The miniature cauldrons would be the keys to accessing its treasures. Their value would skyrocket!
"I'm not selling!" His heart pounded at the thought of immense profit. He changed his mind.
"What? You're going back on your word?" the other cultivator exclaimed.
Jiao Xiu quickly gathered the cauldrons, closing his shop. He began plotting how to maximize his profits.
"Hmm?" He felt like he'd forgotten something important, but dismissed it in his excitement.
…
Outside the array, in the real Xuanhuang World, Li Fan examined the golden chains, a thoughtful expression on his face.
Though it had happened within the array, the doll's reaction was real. It had absorbed life force, channeled from the array itself, not from Jiao Xiu's bottle, and reactivated. The golden chains it had produced, now solidified in mid-air, resembled the Healer's golden threads, but were fundamentally different.
The Healer's threads were his own manipulation of the Dao's laws.
But the doll's golden light…
"…was a law itself."
"It definitely comes from a Dust Abyss cultivator's divine ability."
Li Fan wasn't interested in this mysterious three-eyed race. No matter how powerful they once were, they were now reduced to mere puppets. He was more interested in the technique that had transformed them and the force behind it.
"Mao Bao, Falling to the Mortal Realm, and now this three-eyed doll."
"Beyond the barrier, life transformed into objects, laws transformed into objects…"
"They've truly mastered the manipulation of external forces." Despite the unease, he felt a sense of awe towards this unknown civilization.
"Compared to the White Ring, this doll's creation is relatively crude. Perhaps this is a weakness I can exploit."
(End of Chapter)