Using the Great Dao of the heavens as one's physical body. Even Li Fan found it difficult to imagine such a powerful state. The Unnamed True Immortal of the present world had only achieved Dao Integration through one of the countless Daos between heaven and earth. If the realm Li Fan envisioned truly existed, then compared to it, the Unnamed True Immortal would be like an ant compared to a giant.
"One who achieves Dao through such power could traverse possibilities as easily as crossing a stream…" Li Fan mused. Suddenly, the image of the Black Heaven Healer abruptly descending from beyond the heavens in his past life, shattering several high walls and appearing out of nowhere, flashed through his mind.
"The Black Heaven Healer, the evil Su Bai, perhaps they've reached such a realm."
"However, they likely didn't follow the path of physical sanctification, but instead, constantly hunted down their counterparts from other possibilities, pushing their single Dao path beyond its limits and strengthening themselves."
"Making a single Dao path comparable to the sum of all other Daos. It's essentially the same result as unifying all laws within the physical body, just a different approach."
"It's hard to fathom just how many versions of themselves they've slaughtered…" Li Fan shuddered slightly, a chill running down his spine. The thought quickly faded, buried deep within his heart. His attention returned to the Great Dao Embodiment Technique.
Li Fan's deductions and conjectures were indeed correct, but they existed only in the ideal state of theory.
"To cultivate this technique to perfection, one must first constantly elevate Conscious Soul Formation until all the Great Daos between heaven and earth can be simultaneously reflected. This step alone is almost impossible."
"If one truly reached such a realm, they would already be invincible in the mortal world. Why bother pursuing physical sanctification?"
"It's still the same issue, seeking something far away when it's close at hand."
Since he was still far from the deduced realm, Li Fan naturally had many doubts. But just like with Conscious Soul Formation, the body-tempering method of the Great Dao Embodiment Technique offered a tangible improvement to his current strength. Therefore, Li Fan wouldn't abandon it. Future problems could be addressed in the future. After all, he had the means to start over at any time.
"Reflecting the Great Dao with consciousness is called Conscious Soul Formation. Accommodating the Great Dao within the physical body, wouldn't that be a Corporeal Nascent Soul in a sense?"
"It seems my New New Law requires not only reverse cultivation, but also simultaneous cultivation of different realms."
"Perhaps by perfectly mastering all realms simultaneously, I can glimpse the true meaning of 'Self as Foundation'!" Li Fan thought, shaking his head.
He was certain that none of those who contributed to the New New Law, be it Immortal Master Yin, the Sacred Emperor, or Su Bai, had ever envisioned such a cultivation method. This peculiar situation arose solely because Li Fan possessed the True Return supreme treasure, whose rank transcended the Heavenly Dao.
"True Return surpasses the Heavenly Dao. To put it simply, it's beyond the Three Realms and outside the Five Elements."
"Therefore, my foundation establishment is even more difficult than Resonance with the Dao. That's why I must go against the conventional path. As for others…"
The disparity between Li Fan and others in the Shuo Star Sea cultivating the Great Dao Embodiment Technique was, to some extent, telling.
Lost in thought, Li Fan gradually transferred the familiarity he had developed from tempering his body within his miniature Dao Net to the Shuo Star Sea Dao Net. He felt like a fish in water, a bird in the sky. He even had a faint feeling of returning to his familiar Xuanhuang World.
"Wonderful. Truly wonderful."
Moreover, this familiarity allowed Li Fan to disguise his true progress in body refinement.
"My method is purely brute force. If I were to consult the Creation Crucible Technique again…" The Creation Crucible Technique transmitted from his main body surfaced in his divine sense, word by word.
Li Fan took a deep breath, and his blood and Qi surged like a boiling cauldron. His body seemed to transform into a colossal furnace, refining his Qi and flesh. With a thought, this furnace settled onto the illusory Dao Net.
A Dao string suddenly flashed with blinding white light. The Dao Net trembled, and the power of the Dao string transformed into a giant hammer, slamming down upon the enormous furnace.
The furnace roared and rumbled. The exterior bore a faint mark from the impact, while the interior, using this immense force, accelerated the flesh refinement process several times over.
"Ding! Ding! Ding!" The clamor continued on the Dao Net, the intervals between the sounds slowly shortening.
In reality, Li Fan's face flushed slightly, as if he were severely injured. The flush quickly turned blue, then pale, then blood-red again, cycling endlessly in a bizarre manner.
"The Great Dao Embodiment Technique and the Creation Crucible Technique complement each other perfectly."
"The Creation Crucible Technique uses oneself as a furnace to unlock all hidden reserves and potential within the human body. Every refinement strengthens one's power, step by step. The drawback is its slow pace."
"The Great Dao Embodiment Technique, on the other hand, utilizes the Great Dao of the heavens to temper and supplement the body. When all Daos are unified within the body, physical sanctification can be achieved. The drawback is its difficulty and extreme danger."
"Combining these two, using the immense power of the Great Dao to strike the Creation Crucible, is hundreds of times more efficient than my previous method of simply shattering and replenishing flesh and blood!"
Li Fan visualized the faint marks on the surface of the Creation Crucible, the imprints left by the Great Dao. Previously, he needed to shatter and reconstruct his flesh hundreds of thousands of times to leave similar marks. Now, under the impetus of the Creation Crucible Technique, it took mere moments.
The Dao Net rumbled, and countless Dao marks appeared on the Creation Crucible. With each breath, the strength of Li Fan's physical body increased exponentially. And throughout this entire process, Li Fan felt no hunger, as if his body possessed an infinite source of power to replenish itself.
Immersed in the rapid advancement of his physical strength, Li Fan was almost lost in it until Nangong Hongzhao came to visit.
"Brother Ma, how is your cultivation going?"
"Just getting started. This technique is truly extraordinary, but also incredibly difficult to practice," Li Fan said weakly, his face pale, coughing softly.
Seeing Li Fan's unstable Qi and blood, as if he had just been struck by a great force and suffered considerable injuries, Nangong Hongzhao quickly expressed his concern: "There's no need to rush. The Profound Coffin case is still under investigation. Our leave won't end until a definitive conclusion is reached."
"Oh? It's been so long, and the Immortal Hunters haven't found anything yet?" Li Fan asked, surprised.
Nangong Hongzhao lowered his voice and sneered, "If they devoted all their efforts, it wouldn't be a problem. However, someone is obstructing the investigation. Before the investigation began, all of Yan Xuantai's records in the Dao Net were mysteriously erased. Someone capable of doing that…" Nangong Hongzhao fell silent for a moment.
Then, he whispered, "What's even more bizarre is that World Crossing Profound Coffin. After analyzing the records from our capture, they say the coffin at the scene was indeed the one the Immortal Hunters planned to use as Immortal Bait."
"The problem arose during the forging process."
"What should have been forged as mere bait actually became a tool for crossing worlds. And the most crucial part is that the one responsible for forging the coffin…"
Li Fan's eyes flickered. Seeing Nangong Hongzhao suddenly stop, he pressed, "What happened to him?"
"He's dead."
"Ah?" Li Fan feigned shock.
"He didn't die recently. He vanished after forging the nine bait coffins. These nine coffins have helped the Immortal Hunters capture dozens of Immortals, and there's never been an incident. That's why I was so confident before…"
"Moreover, the coffin we used this time had also been used as bait several times. There's never been a case of someone actually escaping to another world…"
Li Fan rubbed his forehead. "The more you say, the more complicated it sounds. Besides the coffin's forger, it probably involves high-ranking officials. After all, modifying Dao Net information…" He shook his head slightly. "No wonder they haven't found anything after so long."
"However… I have an idea."
Nangong Hongzhao paused, then said, "We're alone here, Brother Ma, feel free to speak your mind."
"Let's simplify the matter and focus on the core issue. The World Crossing Profound Coffin is used to escape to other possibilities. Yan Xuantai has been living in our Shuo Star Sea for many years, why did he suddenly go to such lengths and take such a huge risk to escape?"
"Yan Xuantai belonged to the Sacred Merchants. The Sacred Merchants vanished mysteriously. I heard that before they disappeared, they retrieved many of their external treasures. Could Yan Xuantai have learned something from the Sacred Merchants back then? Was his recent escape an act of desperation?"
"You're saying…" Nangong Hongzhao stared intently at Li Fan.
"Exactly. I suspect a great calamity will soon befall the Shuo Star Sea…" Li Fan murmured.
"Brother Ma, don't speak such nonsense!" Nangong Hongzhao interrupted sharply before he could finish.
However, Li Fan's reasoning wasn't without merit. The more Nangong Hongzhao thought about it, the more he felt it might be the truth hidden beneath the complexity. He seemed to recall something, his expression shifting several times.
"Brother Ma, keep these words between us. Don't repeat them outside. If something happens, even I won't be able to help you." With this warning, Nangong Hongzhao hurriedly left.
Before leaving, he left behind a scroll containing the Heng Clan's accumulated experiences and insights on cultivating the Great Dao Embodiment Technique. However, it only covered the initial stages of comprehending the Great Dao and reflecting it within oneself.
It seemed Nangong Hongzhao intended to use this as bait to further gain "Ma Tiande's" favor. Li Fan glanced at it and tossed it aside.
"Escape via the Profound Coffin, an inside accomplice in the Shuo Star Sea? Interesting."
Judging from the currently available information, the true power within the Shuo Star Sea likely resided with the Immortals who had descended to the mortal realm. The mortals in the forefront were merely puppets under their control.
"However, for Immortals to willingly allow mortals to act as their facade, there must be something about mortals that they fear…"
Li Fan suddenly thought of the invisible giant hand behind the Dao Net, and the four Unnamed True Immortals used as living pillars.
"A struggle between Immortals who've descended and those who remain True Immortals."
"And now, a defector has suddenly appeared on this battlefield."
"Escaping not to either side, but to other worlds beyond the known possibilities."
According to Nangong Hongzhao, the Immortals who survived the Dao Obliteration Calamity were deeply afraid of that past tribulation. The most powerful among them had long since fled.
Li Fan believed that the remaining Immortals, or perhaps former Immortals, must still harbor this fear, though they had been lulled by the false prosperity created by the Dao Net for tens of thousands of years, believing that it could truly withstand the Dao Obliteration Calamity.
However, the actions of the Sacred Merchants and Yan Xuantai's risky escape might have jolted them awake.
"Interesting."
"There are no eternal enemies. Perhaps the Shuo Star Sea and those True Immortals might actually cooperate again."
"After all, if one of the nine Profound Coffins could facilitate escape to another world, who's to say the others can't?"
A month later, the newly appointed Immortal Hunters' leave finally ended.
Li Fan and the others were summoned again. The speaker was the same burly man with the giant pillar on his shoulder.
He berated the new recruits, saying that regardless of the reason, such a blunder on their first mission was a display of incompetence. Therefore, they needed to "redeem themselves."
By hunting another Immortal!
"I will join you in this Immortal hunt."
"Our target is an old nemesis of the Immortal Hunters. This individual has eluded us several times. But this time…"
The burly man sneered, a glint of killing intent in his eyes.
"Senior Qian, may I ask who our target is this time?" Dao Yuan was the first to speak, as usual.
Dao Yuan clearly knew the burly man, addressing him by his surname before he had even introduced himself.
"This Immortal's Dao can sever all connections with the outside world, making them extremely difficult to find and track. Even traversing the Dao Net leaves no trace. We don't know their true identity, so we simply refer to them as 'Wuming' (Nothingness)."
"This Immortal, relying on the unique nature of their Dao, frequently infiltrates our Shuo Star Sea. They have disrupted our Immortal hunts numerous times. Therefore, we are determined to capture them this time!" The burly man declared gravely.
"Such a difficult task, entrusted to us?" Dao Yuan seemed stunned.
Not only Dao Yuan, but the other newly appointed Immortal Hunters were equally surprised.
"Don't worry. Precisely because you are new recruits, this Immortal won't know you. This gives you a greater chance of success. You only need to follow my commands and execute the Dao Net instructions. That 'Nothingness' Immortal will be trapped like a turtle in a jar!" The burly man said with utmost confidence.
Li Fan nodded along with the others. He glanced at Nangong Hongzhao and noticed he seemed distracted.
However, Li Fan was more concerned about the target of this hunt.
"Sever all connections with the outside world?"
For some reason, a defiant laughter echoed in Li Fan's ears.
"What does it have to do with me! What does it have to do with me!"
(End of chapter)