"The murmuring sound appears within the sea of consciousness of every cultivator who has entered the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance headquarters."
"Although it only exists in their memories, seemingly harmless, the power it accumulates could eventually free Xuanyuan Tuo. And with its insidious nature, many cultivators could be drained by a single memory." Li Fan's eyes flickered.
The Immortal array shrunk into a point of light, pulling the still-unconscious Xuanyuan Tuo and the illusory Heavenly Demon into Li Fan's hand. He then suppressed them within his own body.
Turning towards the Xuanhuang World, Li Fan calmly extended his right hand.
His True Immortal presence loomed over the Star Sea.
His palm, like a descending deity, stretched across the vast expanse.
From the edge of the Star Sea, Li Fan struck the Xuanhuang World with a single palm.
He didn't use any Immortal techniques, relying solely on his superior position for a top-down attack.
The True Immortal in the Immortal Ruins was deep in meditation. Li Fan had confirmed multiple times that only True Immortal level energy fluctuations, or those related to the Dao Obliteration Calamity, could disturb him.
Even the world-destroying Immortal Descent, All Things Return to the Void formation had only warranted a cursory glance from a projection of his consciousness.
Li Fan's attack precisely targeted the four central regions of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance within the Xuanhuang World.
The attack wasn't directed at the Immortal Ruins, and no energy leaked outwards.
The True Immortal remained oblivious as Li Fan's giant hand descended.
No anomalies appeared in the Xuanhuang World's sky.
Only the four central regions of the alliance suddenly trembled violently, as if struck by an apocalypse.
Li Fan's fingers pierced the Star Sea, sensing and probing.
These four regions were an extension of the Heavenly Profound Mirror's internal space within the Xuanhuang World.
When Li Fan first entered the alliance headquarters, he had seen countless black and white lines crisscrossing within the Heavenly Profound Mirror. The lines collided, the colors intertwining and forming void-like points. These countless points flickered, constantly extending outwards into the void, eventually transforming into color.
Back then, he didn't understand this strange phenomenon. Now, he realized it was the Heavenly Profound Mirror's way of deconstructing the Xuanhuang World.
With a glint in his eyes, Li Fan's five fingers, like blades, severed the connection between the Heavenly Profound Mirror and the Xuanhuang World.
Then, he clenched his fist and pulled.
Feeling a slight resistance, he exerted more force.
His hand instantly traversed space and time, returning to the edge of the Star Sea from the Xuanhuang World.
Like retrieving something from underwater.
Within his palm, an ancient bronze mirror flickered, struggling.
Narrowing his eyes, Li Fan sensed faint lines extending from the Heavenly Profound Mirror towards the Xuanhuang World.
"These are the restrictions placed by the Legacy Transmitter, and the connections between the Heavenly Profound Mirror, his human incarnation, and the various regional Heavenly Profound Mirrors."
"As expected of a former Immortal Artifact, maintaining such stable connections across the vast Star Sea even during such a dramatic shift."
Li Fan was impressed.
He referred to it as a former Immortal Artifact because he sensed no Immortal spiritual energy within it.
The Immortal Artifacts within the Grand Celestial Venerable's legacy, despite being used for generations, still retained traces of Immortal spiritual energy.
But the Heavenly Profound Mirror seemed completely severed from it.
"Transformed from Immortal to mortal, in a sense."
"An incomplete severing is no severing at all. Perhaps this is the only way to truly evade the Dao Obliteration Calamity." Recalling the Grinding Wind Disaster he had seen within the Unmeasurable Mirror and other remnants of Immortal Artifacts within the Xuanhuang World, Li Fan pondered.
With a thought, a white ring flew out, binding the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
He extended a strand of his divine sense, cautiously entering the mirror.
Aware of the imprinted murmuring sound, he had to be careful.
Even a single strand of his divine sense, now at the Immortal level, surpassed all mortals.
With the Heavenly Profound Mirror seized by an unknown force, the alliance headquarters was in chaos. The Legacy Transmitter had established the headquarters within the mirror for maximum security.
Yet, this seemingly impenetrable defense was breached in an instant!
Despite facing an unimaginable power, the alliance members didn't surrender.
The Legacy Transmitters gathered.
Formations and restrictions activated, the headquarters entered a state of high alert.
However…
To Li Fan, these measures were childish.
He could destroy all their defenses with a single thought, using just a strand of his divine sense.
But he didn't.
His divine sense infiltrated undetected.
It manifested a body within the Heavenly Profound Mirror, sensing a subtle power enveloping him, trying to pull him into the illusion of the Legacy Transmitter's memories.
While the murmuring sound was an Immortal-level technique, channeled through the Legacy Transmitter, it was effective against mortals, but not against a Half-Immortal like Li Fan.
With a single thought of resistance, he broke free from its pull.
Contact was a two-way street.
While the murmuring sound attempted to influence him, Li Fan had, on some level, "seen" and "heard" it.
To Xuanyuan Tuo, it was meaningless murmuring.
But to Li Fan…
…it was the chanting of sacred scriptures!
"…Empty words, life and death. Intent, spirit, body, soul, born from chaos, returning to chaos."
"Existence is eternal. Loss is also existence."
Perhaps because it was channeled through Xuanyuan Tuo, even with his best efforts, Li Fan could only discern fragments.
The rest was a blur of rapid chanting.
This sacred, eerie chanting wasn't from a single being, but a chorus of countless voices.
To his unease, he recognized the voices of some acquaintances.
Not just their tone, but words they had spoken to him.
"Daoist Xuan, you've gone too far!"
"Late Qi Refinement realm at twenty-nine…"
"Young friend, what are you hoping for?"
"Tian Yang will never be inferior!"
…
And so on.
Not just from this life, but from his previous reincarnations.
Blurry figures, lacking faces but easily recognizable, appeared in his sea of consciousness.
Under the influence of the chanting, Li Fan felt a sensation similar to what Xuanyuan Tuo had experienced.
He felt he could influence these people through their phantom memories!
Within the Heavenly Profound Mirror, Li Fan's divine sense incarnation stood still, meditating.
Outside, his true body was on high alert.
The chanting, able to conjure images from his past lives, was extraordinary.
While it didn't necessarily mean it had discovered the secret of his reincarnation, Li Fan couldn't be too careful.
Immortal array rings surrounded him, ready to activate True Return at any moment.
Fortunately, the worst-case scenario didn't occur.
Remaining vigilant, Li Fan synchronized with his divine sense incarnation.
As he listened, a sense of familiarity washed over him.
After a moment, a faint voice emerged from his memories.
"Dao, ancient times. Hardship, annihilation."
"Cultivate thoughts and actions, connect with intent, towards the divine."
"A thousand soul shifts, a hundred spirit turns."
"No blame."
…
This voice resonated alongside the chanting.
They didn't interfere with each other, but instead, both became clearer!
It was as if two figures stood before Li Fan, one on his left, one on his right, each imparting profound truths.
After a brief pause, he recognized the source.
It was the Immortal technique chanted by the Grand Magus of Tiandu when facing the Grinding Wind Disaster during his life as the Sacred Emperor.
In his previous previous life, when the Wordless Stele threatened to absorb everything, the Grand Magus had also chanted this protective technique.
Back then, Li Fan had tried to memorize it, only to be mocked by the Grand Magus.
He didn't understand why at the time. Now, as an Immortal, he realized that, like the chanting, while mortals and Immortals heard the same sounds, there were crucial differences.
"Dao's birth, ancient transmission. Sorrow and hardship, Dao's annihilation."
"Cultivate chaotic thoughts and actions, connect with the Dao's intent, towards the divine spirit."
"A thousand soul shifts, a hundred spirit turns."
"Infinite, boundless, no blame."
…
The difference between the mortal and Immortal perceptions was vast!
Li Fan was deeply shaken, immersing himself in this true protective technique.
"My body hasn't changed."
"But the chanting's influence over me has diminished…"
With a flash of inspiration, Li Fan began chanting the protective technique himself.
The unsettling feeling induced by the chanting slowly receded.
He hadn't even been fully aware of this subtle fear until it vanished.
"If I were only exposed to one of these sounds, even as a Half-Immortal, I would be trapped. But with both resonating, they seem to create a balance."
"They counteract each other, leaving me unharmed."
Li Fan breathed a sigh of relief.
True Immortal level powers were truly insidious. He couldn't afford to be careless.
"The Grand Magus's chant is a protective Immortal technique."
"Perhaps this is why he could remain hidden within the Xuanhuang World, undisturbed."
Having experienced the protective technique's power, Li Fan looked at the chanting again.
"Influencing and altering reality through phantom memories…"
Looking at the countless figures within his sea of consciousness, his gaze settled on one.
He focused his intent…
There were no energy fluctuations, not even at the mortal level.
But something extraordinary happened.
On Glazed Glass Island within the Xuanhuang World, He Zhenghao stared at his regional Heavenly Profound Mirror. Due to the upheaval caused by Li Fan's attack and the disappearance of the alliance headquarters, the prices of all goods had spiraled out of control.
"Damn it, they won't even let us sell!"
"This is my life's work!"
He Zhenghao's eyes were bloodshot, on the verge of madness.
Suddenly, his face turned pale.
His mind felt as if it had been split open. He collapsed.
After a long while, he slowly recovered, drenched in sweat.
"Spirit Mist Grass?"
"All my contribution points recouped?"
"Mountain and River Hidden Dragon Technique?"
…
He Zhenghao stared blankly at the memories flooding his mind.
"Am I hallucinating from the shock?"
The memories were so complex and chaotic it took him a while to sort them out.
"This… feels too real. As if I experienced it myself. What's going on?"
The more he pieced together, the more shocked and disbelieving he became.
"But… the Mountain and River Hidden Dragon Technique? Isn't that the technique I've always dreamed of?"
A sudden realization struck him.
"This… couldn't be real, could it?"
He cautiously wrote down the words from his memories.
He only managed to write the beginning before his body froze.
"There's no mistake, this is the real Mountain and River Hidden Dragon Technique."
"It appeared in my mind? I just saved hundreds of thousands of contribution points?!"
His heart pounded.
But then, remembering the strict enforcement of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance's Guardians' Hall, he deflated.
"Wait, the alliance headquarters is gone! The alliance is in chaos, who cares about leaked techniques…"
"In these turbulent times, perhaps this is our opportunity."
A dangerous glint appeared in He Zhenghao's eyes.
"Heavenly Profound Spirit Sealing Formation?"
As he continued sorting through the memories, he found more surprises.
…
At the edge of the Star Sea, after altering He Zhenghao's memories using the chanting, Li Fan himself underwent a peculiar change.
He sensed traces of spiritual power within his body.
(End of Chapter)