"It's conceivable. After all, when cultivators practice new methods, the resources of heaven and earth are completely integrated with their bodies, becoming indistinguishable from themselves. If those resources are forcibly extracted again, it would be almost equivalent to shattering and tearing them apart."
Li Fan spoke coldly.
"This Dharma Transmitter Zheng truly is a rare talent. If there were a chance, I would really like to meet him for a while." Li Fan sneered.
Mo Rubin shook his head. "Because his proposal was rejected, Zheng returned to his own small world in anger and has refused to see anyone since. In the short term, there probably won't be any opportunity. Perhaps in the future—before we depart—we can make some final arrangements."
Li Fan nodded in agreement.
After finishing this conversation, Li Fan returned to the Spirit Wood Realm with the nine dissociation disks.
Inside the underground secret chamber, he carefully set up multiple layers of protective formations.
Only then did he take out the nine newly born dissociation disks and place them before him.
He no longer suppressed the devouring impulse surging within his sea of consciousness. The terminal dissociation disk flew out on its own, like a beast starved for ages. Its aura flared violently as it stared at its "self" within this world.
Without Li Fan's restraint, the terminal dissociation disk would have already lost control and devoured the nine disks in an instant.
Yet Li Fan remained perfectly calm.
The question was simple:Should the terminal dissociation disk devour the nine fragments one by one now, or should it wait until the nine merged into a complete dissociation disk before consuming it?
The answer was obvious.
Li Fan exerted tremendous willpower to suppress the terminal dissociation disk.
He then began to actively guide the fusion of the nine disks.
At its core, the fusion of the nine disks was a brutal process—the weak perished, and the strong survived.
For Li Fan, who had personally experienced the unification of nine disks in a previous life and whose understanding of formations far surpassed that of this era, this was trivial.
He randomly selected one of the nine disks as the "chosen one" and held it in his palm.
With a flick of his finger, the terminal dissociation disk suspended in midair emitted a pure white radiance.
Within that light flowed countless formations—ones that had not yet been recorded in the dissociation disk at this point in time.
Normally, these formations would require the dissociation disk to painstakingly learn, analyze, and deduce on its own over an extended period.
Now, Li Fan forcefully poured them all into the chosen disk.
This was the essence of destructive nurturing.
As the newborn dissociation disk absorbed more and more formations, its brilliance intensified at a rate visible to the naked eye.
The remaining eight dissociation disks sensed imminent danger.
They frantically accelerated their own deduction speeds to the limit.
But how could they compare to the chosen disk, which sat comfortably while being fed an overwhelming torrent of knowledge?
Within the time it took to brew a cup of tea, the first dissociation disk was eliminated.
After devouring its companion, the chosen disk grew even stronger.
The speed at which it absorbed information increased further.
Its consumption of the remaining dissociation disks accelerated rapidly.
Finally—
After half a day, the ultimate victor emerged.
The complete dissociation disk of this world was born.
Li Fan did not immediately devour it.
Instead, like a patient gourmet, he repeated the earlier process, carefully tempering the newborn disk with source power until its structure was fully stabilized.
Only when everything was complete did he finally release his suppression of the terminal dissociation disk.
The so-called "lucky survivor," having barely emerged from a life-and-death struggle, instantly fell into the hands of the true mastermind behind it all.
Li Fan seemed to hear the faint sound of chewing.
It was as if he also heard the unwilling, furious wail of the newborn dissociation disk.
But its fate had already been sealed.
Like returning to nature, all brilliance gradually washed away. The terminal dissociation disk—once faintly radiant—slowly grew subdued as it absorbed its counterpart.
It looked as though it had been weathered and polished by endless years.
Plain. Unremarkable.
Although the derivation process was temporarily interrupted by the fusion, Li Fan could clearly sense that an unimaginable transformation was occurring within the terminal dissociation disk.
In the blink of an eye, the world seemed to turn upside down.
As the terminal dissociation disk completed its evolution, an inexplicable fluctuation spread outward.
It was strikingly similar to the moment when the Spirit Wood Realm itself had been upgraded—the entire world trembled faintly.
All living beings within the realm felt an instinctive sense of dread, knowing that something extraordinary was occurring.
Yet, due to Li Fan's deliberate concealment, none could pinpoint the source.
Changes continued.
On the surface of the disk, mysterious natural patterns spontaneously emerged.
Before Li Fan could observe them clearly, they retreated and vanished from sight.
With the blessing of those fleeting patterns, the aura of the terminal dissociation disk became even more profound and unfathomable.
In the sky above the Spirit Wood Realm, a void suddenly tore open.
It seemed as though something from beyond the heavens was about to descend.
Li Fan raised his head, anticipation stirring in his heart.
Yet to his surprise—
The void persisted for a long time, but the expected transformation never arrived.
The terminal dissociation disk hovered endlessly at the threshold, perpetually one step away from completion.
An invisible barrier seemed to block its ascent.
Its aura surged, then ebbed.
The opening in the sky gradually shrank.
Eventually, it vanished completely.
All abnormal phenomena surrounding the terminal dissociation disk faded away.
Li Fan held the newly transformed terminal dissociation disk in his hand, deep in thought.
"Something is missing."
"It seems that the severing of the immortal path also affects pure artifacts."
After soothing the lingering unwilling emotions occasionally emanating from the disk, Li Fan began testing its capabilities.
Although it had not completed its ascension to the level of an immortal artifact, its performance far surpassed the past.
The most obvious improvement was that the speed at which it analyzed the [All Souls Return Number] formation had increased severalfold.
Even more astonishing—
While analyzing, it could simultaneously conduct independent deductions.
At the same time, it still possessed sufficient capacity to continue the previous task of breaking the Heavenly Master's prohibition.
What truly shocked Li Fan was that he could clearly sense—
This was not the terminal dissociation disk's full output.
It was still holding back.
Li Fan estimated that after devouring its other self, the overall derivation efficiency of the terminal dissociation disk had increased by more than tenfold.
"This…"
Though it had not reached the level of an immortal artifact, Li Fan was certain—
At this moment, the terminal dissociation disk stood at the absolute pinnacle of mortal creations.
In terms of pure formation derivation, it was likely no weaker than certain immortal artifacts.
The results far exceeded his expectations.
"Does the fusion of the self truly produce an effect far greater than one plus one?"
Li Fan fell into deep contemplation.
Li Fan had also experienced the fusion of identical entities.
For example, the Huandao Stone, the Stopped Remnant Monument, and similar items.
However, the effects produced by their fusion were clearly far inferior to that of the dissociation disk.
"Perhaps it's because the dissociation disk had already reached the pinnacle of mortal formations. Even though it failed to advance after devouring its other self, it nevertheless completed a qualitative transformation."
"There are many artifacts like the dissociation disk in this world—standing just one step away from ascension. Yet because the immortal path has been severed, they are forced to stagnate forever."
"After all, even in the 115th generation, the Tianxuan Mirror required the mobilization of all cultivators within the Immortal Alliance, along with the exploration of tens of thousands of small worlds, merely to achieve the grand goal of advancing its form. Such a feat is not something everyone can accomplish."
"But the integration of the two, achieved with the help of Huazhen, allows one to cross this chasm directly."
"This may well be the simplest large-scale method in the present world for creating power approaching that of immortals."
Countless possibilities suddenly surfaced in Li Fan's mind—along with projections of how various items might behave after fusing with him.
The Yanfajue, the wooden sword, even the Creation Stone…
As for whether an item that had already undergone fusion could be strengthened further by merging with itself again—
That still required verification.
However, Li Fan suspected it would not work.
"The core issue is that the immortal path has been severed. The energy of immortal spirits no longer exists."
"Once the roots are gone, quantity becomes meaningless."
With that, his thoughts gradually settled.
After leaving the secret chamber, Li Fan first began rectifying and reinforcing the Spirit Wood World's protective formation.
This refinement took even longer than the original construction.
It was almost equivalent to rebuilding the formation from scratch.
Yet the entire process proceeded silently.
No living beings within the Spirit Wood Realm were disturbed.
Only when the formation was fully established did the subtle shift in the realm's aura alert Daoist Baihua and several other beings at the Dao Integration level or above.
Li Fan stood beneath the sky, his eyes closed.
Even without relying on spiritual perception or sight, simply through resonance with the world-protecting formation, the entire Spirit Wood Realm unfolded within his mind in perfect detail.
No creature could escape his perception.
With the support of this new formation, Li Fan could annihilate any being within the realm instantly—without lifting a finger.
"The difference between immortals and mortals truly is like an abyss."
"I regard the creatures of the Spirit Wood Realm as ants. Immortals must view me in exactly the same way."
"If I had not spoken the truth…"
Li Fan let out a soft sigh.
In theory, the newly deployed Spirit Wood World Protection Formation had not yet reached its limit.
However, due to the absence of materials unique to the immortal realms and the lack of immortal spirit energy, its current state left little room for further advancement.
After completing preliminary tests on the dissociation disk's capabilities, Li Fan returned to the secret chamber.
He continued refining the dissociation disk's analysis of the All Souls Return Number, while simultaneously overseeing its progress in breaking the restrictions imposed by the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Lord.
Although the terminal dissociation disk possessed terrifying computational power—already ranking at the foremost level in the world—it was still, at its core, an inanimate object.
Without Li Fan's guidance, it might easily stray into erroneous paths.
Formations knew no boundaries, and Li Fan became completely immersed in his work, unaware of the passage of time.
On this day, a sudden intuition stirred within him, pulling him from his research.
"Fifteen years of anchoring completed. The Medicine King Cauldron returns."
Calculating silently, Li Fan confirmed it was time.
A sharp glint flashed through his eyes.
He halted his work and instantly departed from the Spirit Wood Realm.
He arrived at Cangwu Abyss, at the predetermined landing site of the Medicine King Cauldron, and waited quietly.
Looking toward the depths of the abyss, Li Fan's expression grew solemn.
With his current strength, there was still room for improvement.
Yet whenever that thought surfaced, an inexplicable sense of unease followed.
Li Fan immediately suppressed it.
As the distracting thoughts were erased by the Xuanhuang Immortal Heart Curse, a deep light appeared in his eyes.
"That inexplicable pull is not an illusion."
"If my guess is correct, Cangwu Abyss—like Cong Yunhai—is a massive remnant of other immortal worlds."
"And perhaps not only that. The bottom of the abyss may also be connected to the depths of the white mist."
Li Fan slowly surveyed the floating ruins scattered around him.
In ancient times, Cangwu Abyss did not exist.
Cong Yunhai had been formed by a single palm strike, and Cangwu Abyss by a single step.
This was clearly the process of the Xuanhuang Realm merging with and devouring other immortal worlds—with the Transmission of the Law playing a decisive role.
"The Xuanhuang Realm cannot digest these worlds through its own power alone. It requires assistance from the Transmission of the Law. That fact alone explains many things."
Though Cangwu Abyss undoubtedly concealed countless secrets, Li Fan had no intention of investigating them now.
He simply waited patiently for the return of the Medicine King Cauldron.
In his memory, deep into the night, a blazing meteor streaked across the sky.
Moments later, it plunged straight toward Cangwu Abyss.
Upon reaching Li Fan's location, the Medicine King Cauldron halted midair, concealing its presence.
"Hm?"
Li Fan's expression subtly changed as he examined the landing point.
After repeatedly comparing it with the memories recorded by the Dao Transformation Stone, he confirmed—
The position where the Medicine King Cauldron landed in this life had shifted slightly.
Only by three inches.
Such a deviation would have gone unnoticed by anyone else.
"Was it affected by an unknown external force during its return?"
"Or…"
"Has the **position—or scale—of the Xuanhuang Realm itself changed?"
An unease rose in Li Fan's heart.
He instantly reviewed all events of this life, isolating possible causes for the deviation.
Several candidates emerged, though no definitive conclusion could yet be drawn.
He set the matter aside for now.
Activating the miniature Medicine King Cauldron, Li Fan entered the interior of the True Medicine King Cauldron.
To gain control of the cauldron, one had to enter the control chamber.
Li Fan was already prepared.
With a subtle thought, he separated a trace of immortal essence from within himself and infused it into the Gate of Life and Death outside the chamber.
Before the cauldron's return, Li Fan had cultivated the Jingshi Immortality Sutra.
Though its active effects had faded, a considerable reserve of immortal essence remained stored within his internal cave.
The Jingshi Immortality Sutra could only be cultivated by true disciples of the Medicine King Sect.
Having passed verification, Li Fan entered the control chamber.
It resembled a void.
Nothing existed there—except for a faint, indistinct figure.
That phantom was Liu Ruchen, the long-deceased leader of the Medicine King Sect.
His features were no longer discernible.
Yet when he glanced at Li Fan, the identity of a true Medicine King Sect successor was immediately confirmed.
Scenes began to surface within the void.
They depicted the moment when the Medicine King Sect was nearly consumed by the Immortal Ruins after being expelled from the Xuanhuang Realm—
And how Liu Ruchen, together with many elders, sacrificed their lives to preserve the Medicine King Cauldron.