Chapter 5 – Unexpected Turmoil

【This simulation has ended.】

…

Li Fan, having regained consciousness, was still immersed in the power of Daoxuanzi’s final sword strike.

“So this is what a cultivator at the grand completion of Foundation Establishment is capable of…” Li Fan’s heart was filled with shock.

Kou Hong’s earlier display of power — capable of annihilating the entire city of Xuanjing with a mere gesture — had already left Li Fan in awe. But Daoxuanzi’s final sword strike made Li Fan deeply feel his own insignificance.

Like an ant before a tidal wave. From Li Fan’s perspective, he simply could not comprehend that strike, could not perceive its full scope.

And yet even that fleeting glimpse was enough for Li Fan to understand the chasm between a mortal and a cultivator at the grand completion of Foundation Establishment.

“If not for the Mortal Taint, even if I were reborn a hundred times over, scheming with every trick imaginable, I still wouldn’t be able to pose a threat to them.” Li Fan silently counted his blessings, while also feeling deeply puzzled and alarmed.

“What exactly is the Mortal Taint? Don’t cultivators grow step by step from ordinary mortals? How can mortal blood have such a terrifying restraining effect on cultivators?” The implications hidden behind this couldn’t help but set Li Fan’s imagination racing.

However, Li Fan quickly forced down these swirling thoughts.

“First, let me review the gains and losses of this life.”

Watching scene after scene flash across the light screen, Li Fan pondered silently.

“The ambush against Daoxuanzi and Kou Hong went largely as I predicted. First, I used bullets soaked in death row prisoners’ blood to drain their strength, then used the matter of the Core Formation technique to shake their resolve, and finally used the blood rain as the finishing blow to weaken them to their limit before capturing them alive…”

“What I didn’t expect was how devastating the Mortal Taint’s restraining effect on cultivators would be — it directly caused Kou Hong to perish, body and soul.”

“Even more beyond my plans was the bond between these two. I had thought their talk of being brothers for a hundred years was mere lip service, but it turns out their relationship truly was extraordinary. When attacked, Daoxuanzi called out to warn Kou Hong. Knowing he couldn’t escape death, Kou Hong willingly gave the Core Formation technique to Daoxuanzi.”

“When Daoxuanzi saw Kou Hong die from the sneak attack, unable to accept it, he abandoned any chance of survival and unleashed that mutual-destruction sword strike to avenge Kou Hong… All of this proves that there truly was an extraordinary friendship between the two…”

“If that’s the case, then how could the two of them have fought each other to the death over a single Core Formation technique?” Li Fan grew even more perplexed.

Suddenly, he recalled those initial scenes when he first encountered the two.

“The path to Golden Core — there can only be one…” Li Fan’s expression turned thoughtful. “Immortal arts cannot be cultivated simultaneously…”

“If even sworn brothers are like this, then what kind of world must the cultivation world outside truly be?”

Li Fan had a premonition that the cultivation world of this world might be completely different from what he had imagined.

“No matter how dangerous the road ahead, my resolve will not waver. Besides, with 【Return to Truth】 at my side, as long as I’m careful enough, no predicament should be able to stop me.”

After wavering for only a moment, Li Fan’s determination solidified once more.

“In this so-called immortal-barren land, if I want to seek the path of immortality, I still need to work from Kou Hong and Daoxuanzi. Last time I chose to ambush them both simultaneously. Perhaps this time, I can try to win one of them over.” His mind raced, and in an instant, Li Fan had already conceived several plans for dealing with them.

Though the other party were lofty Foundation Establishment cultivators, Li Fan felt little fear. In fact, he didn’t even seriously regard them as proper “opponents.”

It wasn’t that Li Fan was arrogant — it was that 【Return to Truth】’s ability to start over endlessly was simply too heaven-defying!

A mere Foundation Establishment level of cultivation — how could it compare to fifty years of foreknowledge and countless opportunities for trial and error?

After the simulation ended, Li Fan once again chose the option to accelerate the Turn Reality into Illusion charging progress.

Name: Li Fan

Realm: Mortal

Biological age: 20/86

Psychological age: 216/1080↑

Turn Reality into Illusion charging progress: 30%

“This time the psychological age cap only increased by a few decades. Looks like it’s approaching the upper limit.” Li Fan had long been mentally prepared for this, so he didn’t pay it much mind.

“If I count the life before I transmigrated, this is already my fifth life. The path to immortality — how arduous it truly is.” Li Fan sighed. “I hope these fifty years won’t be wasted.”

Li Fan once again initiated the fifty-year wait.

Like a pre-programmed routine, everything proceeded in orderly fashion.

Take the imperial examinations. Pass with honors. Become the top scholar.

Serve as county magistrate. Mine minerals. Manufacture firearms.

After killing the Langya Prince and taking his place, Li Fan inevitably grew somewhat impatient.

Ten years was too long. Every day he didn’t control the realm, he had to remain holed up in the Jiangnan region. If he could have an extra ten years to mobilize the resources of the entire realm, his plan to capture the two cultivators alive would have that much better a chance of success.

And so, Li Fan decided to send a trusted confidant to infiltrate the palace and secretly administer slow-acting poison to the emperor.

Who could have foreseen that this very decision would send ripples across still waters?

As it turned out, although Li Fan’s confidant’s poisoning went undetected, the emperor was in the prime of his youth and health. When his body suddenly began declining day after day, he became paranoid and suspicious.

He suspected someone was secretly trying to harm him. And his primary suspect was none other than his closest brother — the Langya Prince.

This led to a critical consequence: In anchor year +7, when the emperor lay on his deathbed, he did not pass the throne to the Langya Prince. Instead, he passed it to the Prince of Runan, who had always been known for his carefree and frivolous nature.

Fortunately, Li Fan’s planted agents in the palace relayed the news in time. Upon hearing it, Li Fan immediately sprang into action.

On one hand, he dispatched subordinates to assassinate the Prince of Runan along his route to the capital. On the other hand, acting in the Langya Prince’s name, he proclaimed that the emperor had been killed by treacherous ministers at his side. Under the banner of “Pacifying the Nation’s Crisis,” he led the army he had built over the years in a forced march, storming into the capital before anyone could react and seizing the court by military force.

Such drastic measures naturally came with numerous consequences.

First and foremost, the court ministers refused to submit. The emperor’s dying edict had named the Prince of Runan as successor. For the Langya Prince to act this way — wasn’t it outright rebellion? Though the ministers dared not openly resist under the pressure of Li Fan’s military might, passive resistance and quiet obstruction were well within their capabilities. Some even secretly contacted regional princes, urging them to march their armies on the capital to “restore order.” Li Fan showed no mercy, executing a batch of them before barely managing to intimidate the rest into compliance. With the behind-the-scenes assistance of his father-in-law, the Chief Grand Academician, it took several months before the situation was barely stabilized.

But during those months, turmoil had already erupted across the Great Xuan Kingdom. Regional princes declared independence one after another, ignoring all imperial edicts.

Li Fan had no choice but to dispatch troops to suppress them one by one.

Though firearms were powerful, their numbers were limited. Combined with the vast territory of the Great Xuan Kingdom, the campaign required considerable effort.

Between military affairs and governance, Li Fan was run ragged.

He stayed busy for a long time before finally resolving all internal and external troubles by Anchor Year 22.

By this reckoning, compared to what would have happened had he patiently followed the original step-by-step plan, he had actually taken several years longer to gain full control of the realm.

“I need to be more cautious. I need to be more patient.” After everything settled down, Li Fan could only sigh ruefully and take the lesson to heart. “A hair’s breadth of deviation leads to a thousand miles of error. If there are too many variables, the advantage of my foreknowledge shrinks dramatically.”

Fortunately, it had all been nothing more than minor turbulence, not enough to affect the bigger picture.

Once things were back on track, the gears of time spun rapidly forward, and in the blink of an eye, it was Anchor Year 35.

That year, Li Fan left Xuanjing, traveling over a thousand li to personally visit the Ruins Abyss in the east.