Chapter 60 – Review and Planning

…

【This simulation has ended.】

【You may select one of the following options to retain:

1. One item held by yourself during this simulation.

2. Your own cultivation realm from this simulation.

3. The simulation memory of one person closely connected to yourself during this simulation. This memory can be inherited by that person.

4. Forgo the above choices and accelerate charging progress.】

Slowly regaining consciousness, Li Fan felt his twenty-year-old youthful body. Looking at the surroundings that were both familiar and foreign, it took him a long while to fully come back to his senses.

His previous life had lasted only forty-eight years, yet to Li Fan, it felt longer than all nine lives before it combined.

Apart from the cultivation world being far more extraordinary and complex than his mortal life in Great Xuan, another key reason was his near-assimilation when he communed with the Azure Sea Pearl’s will to perceive the flow of heaven and earth’s vital energy.

Of course, having set foot in the cultivation world for the first time, his gains were by no means ordinary.

Li Fan looked at the first option—the items available for selection.

The storage ring purchased from the Celestial Mystery Mirror, along with various texts, went without saying. The Heavenly-Earthly Wonders—the Halt Stele Fragment and the Azure Sea Pearl—were also prominently listed.

Li Fan focused his intent on the Azure Sea Pearl. An understanding dawned upon him: if he chose the Azure Sea Pearl, what he would receive was the largely formed Azure Sea Pearl from when his lifespan was nearly exhausted in his previous life.

Having merged his consciousness with the Azure Sea Pearl for over a decade, Li Fan was intimately familiar with its power.

Though tempted, Li Fan resolutely chose the second option—retaining his cultivation realm.

After all, cultivation was the foundation of everything. A mere mortal holding a treasure would only invite disaster.

Besides, Li Fan knew that the Azure Sea Pearl was still on Flowing Cloud Island at this point. He could simply go retrieve it when the time came.

As Li Fan made his decision, two familiar streams of spiritual energy appeared out of thin air within his dantian.

At the same time, Li Fan’s expression shifted.

He suddenly realized that at this moment, he was still nothing more than a mortal.

His body was still filled with Mortal Taint. If these suddenly appearing streams of spiritual energy clashed with it, the consequences could be dire.

Fortunately, what Li Fan feared did not come to pass.

A mysterious fluctuation descended upon Li Fan. Moments later, the spiritual energy within his dantian surged forth like a mighty river, sweeping through his entire body, transforming his physical form, and elevating his cultivation realm.

Early Qi Refining stage, mid Qi Refining stage, late Qi Refining stage!

In mere breaths, he had achieved the realm that in his previous life had required painstaking effort and every last drop of his lifespan to reach.

Li Fan’s aura gradually stabilized.

Yet his face bore an expression of profound shock.

Not because he had achieved the late Qi Refining stage in an instant, but because of that mysterious fluctuation!

Li Fan clearly felt that from the moment that fluctuation descended, the Mortal Taint within his body had vanished in an instant—dissipated completely without a trace!

Its effect far surpassed the forceful expulsion through the Body-Purifying Spirit Pool formation array in his previous life.

“That fluctuation…” Li Fan carefully recalled the fleeting wave, vaguely sensing something familiar about it.

“It’s the will of heaven and earth—the power of the Laws!” Li Fan’s eyes snapped open in sudden realization.

Through the Azure Sea Pearl in his previous life, he had observed the circulation of heaven and earth’s vital energy for over a decade. Though he was still far from being able to refine and control it, recognizing it when he encountered it was well within his ability.

“If the Mortal Taint represents heaven and earth’s will to eternally separate the mortal and the immortal, then the fluctuation just now was its exact opposite.”

“The Mortal Taint that has plagued the cultivation world for over a thousand years—just like that, it vanished so effortlessly.”

“Return to Truth truly is inconceivable.”

“If I could master this method of purifying the Mortal Taint…” Li Fan’s thoughts surged with excitement.

It was a long while before he gradually calmed himself.

A tower of nine stories begins with a heap of earth. With mere Qi Refining cultivation, trying to replicate that power of the Laws was nothing but a fool’s dream.

He still had to take things one step at a time.

Li Fan opened the Return to Truth panel and reviewed his previous life.

Name: Li Fan

Realm: Late Qi Refining stage

Biological Age: 20/199

Psychological Age: 531/2300↑

Unreality Charging progress: 0%

Anchor charging progress: 51%

Current number of anchors: 1

Bound items: 《 The Jade Realm Thousand-Arts Golden Canon 》, Taiyan Vessel, Halt Stele Fragment (damaged)

Techniques: Xuanhuang Heart-refining Mantra, Minor Ripple Water Art, The Jade Realm Thousand-Arts Golden Canon

“The path of cultivation is exceedingly arduous. Especially in this world, where cultivators plunder from heaven and earth, and mortal danger lurks everywhere.”

“In my previous life, I had just entered the cultivation world when I met Su Changyu. I thought his resolve was extraordinary—single-mindedly pursuing the Dao, he was certain to achieve great things. Who could have imagined he would inexplicably die within mere days?”

“On the contrary, it was the unassuming Xiao Heng beside him who possessed heaven-defying talent. In just a few years, he was poised to establish his Dao Foundation.”

“Both He Zhenghao and I believed he would surely achieve the path to Golden Core within his lifetime. But who could have foreseen…”

“Heaven and earth had long since laid their killing intent. The teeming masses of the Layered Cloud Sea—whether riding high or fallen low, whether cultivator or mortal—were all destined to perish.”

“Only the ordinary fisherman Zhang Haobo, having escaped that calamity, stumbled upon another fortuitous encounter and became a Foundation Establishment cultivator.”

“Nothing is more unpredictable than the affairs of this world.”

Recalling his previous life, Li Fan was overcome with endless emotion.

Then, a thread of doubt rose in his mind.

“Just as I once told Xiao Heng—if the authorities intend to hunt down bandits, they would never let the bandits know in advance. Heaven and earth versus cultivators are precisely like the authorities versus bandits.”

“So when heaven unleashes its killing intent to slay cultivators, cultivators naturally cannot perceive it. That’s why when I asked the Celestial Mystery Mirror whether any disaster was coming, it answered that there was none. It had simply been shrouded by heaven’s secrets.”

“Then why did the Thousand Splendors Merchant Association seem to have advance knowledge, ordering all their people to withdraw from the Layered Cloud Sea?”

“And why didn’t they warn the Myriad Immortals Alliance, instead standing by as countless lives were lost?”

“There must be something more to this. If the opportunity arises in this life, I must get to the bottom of it.”

After deliberating for a long while more, Li Fan laid out his plans for this life.

“The cultivation world is extraordinarily dangerous. Until the Unreality Charging is complete, it’s best not to venture there rashly.”

“Now that I’m cultivating the Xuanhuang Heart-refining Mantra, the charging speed has greatly accelerated. It shouldn’t take twenty years like before. Within ten years, I should be able to reach one hundred percent.”

“That means this time, I’ll arrive in the cultivation world a good ten-plus years earlier than in my previous life.”

“I recall that during those years, some major event occurred in the Layered Cloud Sea. This will be the perfect opportunity to plan ahead.”

“And after the Layered Cloud Sea dried up in my previous life, I saw the hidden treasures concealed beneath the various islands. Now, no one knows of them. If the chance arises, I should claim them one by one.”

“The Xuanhuang Heart-refining Mantra helped me overcome crises time and again in my previous life. It’s truly an extraordinary technique, and there seem to be deeper secrets behind it. I must cultivate it diligently and not grow complacent.”

“As for the Crimson Flame sea-burning catastrophe—whether I choose to flee alone or make it known to all…”

“I can only adapt when the time comes…”

…

In his previous life, Li Fan had plunged headlong into the unfamiliar cultivation world, only managing to cultivate to the late Qi Refining stage before perishing after forty-eight years.

But in this life, armed with foreknowledge, Li Fan was certain he could go much further.