Chapter 613: Binding Truth To Dao Unity

Thousands of years ago, the Heavenly Venerable Dao Teacher rose from obscurity and imparted to all living beings a new methodology that plundered heaven and seized earth.

From that moment on, innate aptitude ceased to be a barrier to entry. Everyone could cultivate!

The Xuanhuang World was thus altered forever.

In the beginning, the cultivation world did experience a brief golden age in the wake of the new methodology's spread.

Nascent Soul cultivators were as common as dogs, and Spirit Transformation cultivators roamed the earth in abundance.

But just as Li Fan's Kun-Peng essence blood experiment had demonstrated, such unrestrained proliferation and devouring was bound to provoke backlash from heaven and earth.

The emergence of the restriction known as the Exclusivity of Techniques struck the cultivators of that era like a hammer blow to the skull. Then the Immortal-Mortal Miasma descended without warning, delivering the killing stroke.

Following this, the Xuanhuang cultivation world entered the long and protracted Dark Ages.

It was the Dao Teacher who gathered the surviving cultivators and rebuilt the Myriad Immortals Alliance upon the wasteland of what remained.

The origins of the Heavenly Venerable Dao Teacher had always been a mystery. Neither the Ten Immortal Dao Sects of old nor the cultivators of the present day had ever managed to ascertain his background.

His learning encompassed the workings of heaven and affairs of humans, his power suppressed the entire world, and he was as elusive as a dragon.

Even if the world wished to probe his identity, it was as unreachable as trying to stroke the open sky by raising a hand.

Had he been born with this knowledge? Could he truly have created this world-shaking methodology without a master?

What was his purpose? If he truly acted for the sake of all living beings, why was he nowhere to be found when the great calamity descended and the people suffered, only to reappear thousands of years later? Where had he gone in the interval?

And where was he now?

The Dao Teacher was shrouded in far too many secrets for the world to fathom.

But at this moment, as Li Fan contemplated the Bloodline Transference divine ability, the previously suppressed insight resurfaced.

With it, he began to discern the Heavenly Venerable Dao Teacher's likely strategy.

Every cultivator who practiced the new methodology was like a drop of mutated essence blood assimilated by the Dao Teacher. Originally part of the world, they had instead become aberrations that devoured it from within.

Does the Dao Teacher seek to dominate the Xuanhuang World through this method, the way I manipulate cultivators through Bloodline Transference? Judging by the present result, he has already succeeded. All affairs of the Xuanhuang World lie within the palm of his hand.

Li Fan couldn't help but feel a flicker of admiration.

The Heavenly Venerable Dao Teacher had not always been so powerful, Li Fan was certain of that. It was even possible he had once been an ordinary Dao Unity cultivator.

But through this method, he had carved a unique path and accomplished the feat of a snake swallowing an elephant, becoming in less than a thousand years an existence that transcended the Xuanhuang World itself.

And yet Li Fan felt that dominating the Xuanhuang World was not the Dao Teacher's ultimate goal. It was more likely a necessary step toward some greater objective—much as Li Fan's use of Bloodline Transference on the Medicine King Sect cultivator before him was not simply about control, but about securing someone who could help refine the Longevity Pill.

Then what was the Dao Teacher's final objective?

Li Fan's mind drifted to the figure he had glimpsed within the Immortal Ruins, and a chill moved through him.

Could it be that the Immortal is not dead, and seeks to use the power of an entire world to be reborn?

The possibility cannot be ruled out. So-called innate knowledge, even if it exists, surely has its limits. For someone to be as monstrously talented as the Dao Teacher... either he is a transmigrator like myself, or a reincarnated cultivator like Senior Brother Zhang.

Or he came from outside entirely, whether an Immortal descending to the mortal world, or a stowaway from another cultivation world altogether.

The thoughts churned without settling.

It wasn't until the Medicine King Sect cultivator, already corrupted by his essence blood, slowly began to stir that Li Fan's attention was pulled back.

"You are..." Xia Ye looked around in a daze, his mind in disarray.

He could only remember that shortly after leaving the Xuanhuang World, the Medicine King Cauldron had begun to shake violently. Then Sect Leader Liu Ruchen had activated the Oneiric Seasons Array, and he had been forced into slumber.

Judging by his surroundings, they were not inside the Medicine King Cauldron.

Where was this?

And... Xia Ye's gaze drifted to the figure not far away. An inexplicable sense of familiarity stirred in his chest.

"You're awake."

The voice was extraordinarily pleasant. The tension in Xia Ye's chest eased at once, and he found himself relaxing without meaning to.

Li Fan then recounted what had happened. He had seen a fiery meteor fall from the sky. It had resonated with a small cauldron he had obtained by chance, so he came to investigate.

Entering the cauldron, he found all the room hatches tightly sealed—all except the one where Xia Ye lay which was open for unknown reasons. Finding Xia Ye severely injured, he had brought him out for treatment.

"Thank you, Senior." Xia Ye subconsciously ignored the many inconsistencies in the story, his voice thick with gratitude.

In the conversation that followed, he received one shock after another.

"What? This is the Xuanhuang World? How did we come back?"

"Several thousand years have already passed?"

He didn't doubt a word Li Fan said. He was simply unable to accept the reality of it.

"It was inconsiderate of me. I should have waited until you'd recovered a little more before telling you the truth. Rest for now. I'll keep watch. There's no need to worry." Li Fan kept his voice gentle.

Xia Ye nodded, visibly overwhelmed by the kindness of a stranger. He lay down on the stone bed in the secret chamber and was soon asleep again.

He didn't treat me as an outsider at all, despite knowing nothing about me. Is this the power of Bloodline Transference? Li Fan's eyes gleamed.

It is unexpectedly effective and works immediately too. Though that's probably because this boy is only at the Foundation Establishment realm. The higher the target's cultivation, the longer it should take to fully alter their thinking.

He considered this for a moment, then retrieved an azure fruit from his grotto-heaven domain.

The fruit seemed to exist between reality and illusion, fading from Li Fan's palm at regular intervals before reappearing moments later.

The Truth-Binding Fruit. Li Fan regarded this treasure from the Five Elders Council in his hand, then stepped back into the Medicine King Cauldron.

Following Linghu Chang's memories, he located Liu San, a Dao Unity elder of the Medicine King Sect. With great care, he activated some arrays without disturbing the man's sleep.

He pressed the green Truth-Binding Fruit to his own forehead and murmured, "I am Liu Yihang of the Medicine King Sect, adopted son of Sect Leader Liu Ruchen. Having received the Sect Leader's final decree, I now assume control of the Medicine King Sect..."

A faint, nearly imperceptible light flowed from his sea of consciousness into the fruit.

A moment later, the Truth-Binding Fruit shed its intangible quality and became indistinguishable from ordinary fruit. But it now emitted a peculiar, enticing fragrance so potent that even Li Fan had to swallow against the urge to take a bite.

Resisting the temptation, Li Fan applied slight pressure, crushing the Truth-Binding Fruit into a green liquid. Then he fed it to the unconscious Liu San.

While deactivating the Oneiric Seasons Array in the area, Li Fan also activated the internal protective arrays of the true Medicine King Cauldron. He then moved outside the door and waited patiently.

Not long after, Liu San began to stir.

Unlike Xia Ye's groggy awakening, Liu San was alert the instant consciousness returned. His eyes snapped open with a sharp gleam, and he sat upright at once, divine sense sweeping out to probe his surroundings.

Upon seeing Li Fan standing at the doorway, a flicker of astonishment crossed Liu San's face.

"Young Master, you're awake too?"

The question was instinctive.

Relief moved quietly through Li Fan. He discreetly shut down the remaining arrays and said, his voice grave, "Something terrible has happened."

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