Chapter 21 – Arriving in the Cultivation World
by spirapiraChapter 21 – Arriving in the Cultivation World
“So this is the cultivation world…”
The Taiyan Vessel broke through the immortal-barren grand formation and emerged amidst a stretch of continuous mountain ranges.
Below was a bottomless sinkhole, from which emanated an aura faintly similar to the Ruins Abyss.
Mountains rose and fell in succession, wreathed in clouds and mist—a magnificent sight.
Atop the tallest peak, a colossal city stood suspended in midair.
Li Fan wanted to laugh, but all that came was uncontrollable coughing and mouthful after mouthful of blood.
He was already too old.
He had been teetering on the edge of death to begin with, and the pressure from crossing the immortal-barren grand formation had thoroughly destroyed what remained of his vitality.
Still, being able to glimpse the cultivation world before dying—this life had not been lived in vain!
“Return to Truth!”
……
【This simulation has ended】
After the darkness faded, Li Fan’s consciousness gradually returned.
Reflecting on how in his previous life he had exhausted every effort, tried every method, yet still failed to break through the immortal-barren grand formation—only to stumble upon the solution by pure accident at the very end.
Li Fan couldn’t help but sigh at the unpredictability of fate.
What left an even deeper impression was that final moment when he looked back at the swarm of Rift Whales.
“Just how much did the cultivators of old hate mortals? Not content with banishing them all and sealing them away with the immortal-barren grand formation, they even deployed that many Rift Whales…”
“No wonder the darkness layer is so vast—larger than all the previous layers combined. It must have been carved out of the void by the Rift Whales over these thousands of years.”
“The distance keeps growing. Given enough years, the immortal-barren land might truly drift away from the cultivation world entirely…”
All manner of thoughts churned in Li Fan’s mind, but he pressed them down one by one.
What replaced them was a joy he simply could not suppress.
Nine cycles of reincarnation. Nearly five hundred years of time. He had finally touched the threshold of cultivation.
The road ahead would undoubtedly be even more difficult.
But Li Fan’s heart in pursuit of immortality would not waver in a hundred lifetimes, nor would he harbor a single regret!
……
Returning to the present, faced with the post-simulation choices, Li Fan found himself in a rare state of indecision.
According to his previous plan, he had intended to choose accelerating the charging progress. The sooner he finished charging Return to Truth, the sooner he could head to the cultivation world.
Indeed, even though the path to the cultivation world was now clear and free of any danger, Li Fan still resolved to play it safe and only set out once he had the ability to start over.
After all…
The path of immortality was fraught with difficulty! And this cultivation world looked decidedly unfriendly toward mortals.
Safety first—nothing wrong with that!
But when Li Fan saw the list of available items, he hesitated.
Because listed prominently among them was the Halt Stele Fragment.
After some deliberation, Li Fan decided to keep the stele fragment.
He wanted to use this opportunity to verify a certain hypothesis.
Name: Li Fan
Realm: Mortal
Physiological Age: 20/86
Psychological Age: 483/1116
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)
……
Li Fan’s tenth life thus began.
During the first twenty years of waiting for charging to complete, Li Fan followed the established historical trajectory with practiced ease.
In this period, he only did a few things that wouldn’t affect the course of history, preparing for his future journey to the cultivation world.
Anchor Year Three. Li Fan arrived outside Qian Hong’s tomb.
He paused in thought for a moment, then chose not to use the Mortal Taint to break open the tomb. Instead, he directly retrieved the Halt Stele Fragment from Return to Truth.
When the stele fragment that Li Fan had brought from his previous life appeared in the world, a peculiar change occurred.
The fragment became shrouded in a layer of soft white light, looking somewhat ethereal.
Shortly after, it began to slowly dissipate, like a block of ice under the scorching sun.
Li Fan then ordered his men to storm Qian Hong’s tomb by force.
Just as Li Fan had expected, the Halt Stele Fragment inside Qian Hong’s tomb had become significantly more powerful!
“Just as I thought! Immortal arts cannot be cultivated in duplicate, and the same applies to extraordinary artifacts of heaven and earth.”
“Two identical artifacts should never exist in this world, yet I used the power of Return to Truth to conjure a second one out of thin air. The consequence is that the two artifacts spontaneously merge, ultimately becoming one.”
“As for which one vanishes and which one remains…”
“Naturally—the strong survives, the weak disappears!”
Li Fan narrowed his eyes and ordered his subordinates to begin breaking the tomb with the Mortal Taint spray.
The strengthened Halt Stele Fragment proved formidable indeed. Even with the Mortal Taint deployed, it took considerable effort to gradually whittle down its power.
Clad in steel armor, Li Fan entered Qian Hong’s tomb and fixed his gaze on the Halt Stele Fragment.
Its appearance hadn’t changed much—it merely looked slightly less broken than before.
“Return to Truth still can’t absorb it. It seems this is only a quantitative change, not yet reaching a qualitative transformation.” Li Fan silently lamented.
After ordering his men to carry the stele fragment out of the tomb chamber, the destructive force that had swirled around it vanished abruptly.
This suited Li Fan perfectly.
He stored the enhanced Halt Stele Fragment inside the Taiyan Vessel, saving it as an asset for his future journey to the cultivation world.
Anchor Year Twenty. Return to Truth was about to finish charging.
Li Fan ruthlessly purged a batch of corrupt officials, local tyrants, and wealthy strongmen, seizing all the gold, silver, and jewels their families had accumulated over generations.
This was because he would still need to deal with mortals after reaching the cultivation world, so gold and silver had to be prepared in advance.
Moreover, cultivators occasionally mixed gold and silver into their artifact refining, so there was no need to worry about these treasures becoming worthless in the outside world.
Besides wealth, food was also indispensable.
But grain was the foundation of the nation, and Li Fan’s demands were simply too enormous.
Officials submitted memorials in droves to oppose him, and merchants in the capital even seized the opportunity to drive up grain prices, hoping to make a fortune.
Li Fan didn’t waste words. During the morning court session, in front of every civil and military official, he expanded the Taiyan Vessel to its maximum size and suspended it above the imperial palace.
The enormous Taiyan Vessel floated above Xuanjing City like a dark cloud.
Countless citizens fell to their knees and kowtowed at the sight, while the court officials, witnessing Li Fan display such immortal-like powers, all changed their expressions and swiftly reversed their positions.
The various complaints that had arisen from Li Fan’s killing spree and wealth confiscation vanished in an instant, and everyone even eagerly volunteered to help Li Fan procure grain.
With the officials’ willing assistance, and after executing another batch of profiteering merchants, the Taiyan Vessel was finally packed to the brim.
All preparations complete, Li Fan had no more attachments to the mortal world.
He piloted the Taiyan Vessel and arrived once more above the Ruins Abyss.
Opening his mind, he set the Taiyan Vessel to autopilot at a constant speed.
The entire journey took only a few hours, yet to Li Fan, it felt longer than the hundreds of years he had lived through before.
After the interminable wait, Li Fan finally crossed the immortal-barren grand formation and arrived in the cultivation world!
Once he adjusted to the tearing sensation of crossing between the two worlds, Li Fan excitedly peered out from the Taiyan Vessel.
However, when he saw the surrounding scenery clearly, Li Fan was completely dumbfounded.