My Longevity Simulation

The Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao of this era had yet to undergo the transformation brought about by the Immortal Ancestor's new cultivation method, which inverted the natural order. Moreover, its former rulers, the Immortals of the Immortal Realm, had already perished along with the destruction of the Immortal Realm. It could be said that this particular point in time was when the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao was at the height of its power.

Although it might not necessarily be able to detect that Li Fan had come from the future, it could still sense the unusual aura of an outsider emanating from him. Naturally, when Li Fan attempted to comprehend the Dao of the Xuanhuang Realm, it instinctively resisted him.

However, given Li Fan's level of cultivation, the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao could not simply stop him by refusing to grant him access. Even though the present Li Fan had been washed away by the River of Time and reduced to a state no different from an ordinary mortal, he still possessed countless methods to deal with the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao.

"With the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao rejecting me, I will encounter resistance at every turn in my cultivation. Achieving half the result with twice the effort. Fortunately, this is not difficult to resolve. As the saying goes, if Heaven refuses to grant it, I shall simply take it myself!"

With his extensive experience in cultivating the new cultivation method, Li Fan could still forcefully comprehend the Heavenly Dao even in a mortal body. Moreover, at this point in time, the Immortal Ancestor should have only just begun spreading the Dao. He was still merely the Dharma-Transmitting Immortal Venerable.

As long as Li Fan attained Longevity before him, he could replace him and become another Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable!

However, doing so would also entail enormous risks.

The Immortal Ancestor was actually the Heavenly Doctor using the Heavenly Demon to control the body of Xuanhuang native Xuanyuan Tuo. When the Ten Great Immortal Sects investigated his identity, the fact that he was disguised as a native of the Xuanhuang Realm initially prevented them from treating him as a genuine enemy. This bought the Immortal Ancestor precious time to develop and establish himself.

But if someone like Li Fan, an undisguised outsider, stepped forward and attempted to take the lead, he would probably immediately face the most brutal suppression from the combined forces of the Ten Great Immortal Sects.

Until he recovered his cultivation, Li Fan still had some reservations about confronting the Ten Great Immortal Sects at the height of their power.

"Besides, both the new cultivation method and the old path have numerous shortcomings. Even after reaching great mastery, one can at most throw one's weight around within the Xuanhuang Realm. The moment one leaves this world, one's strength will be drastically diminished."

"Far inferior to my Myriad Aspects Dao Net."

"Unfortunately..." Li Fan sighed inwardly.

Putting aside the fact that he had lost the insights needed to construct the Dao Net and would have to observe and rebuild it from scratch, the most important issue was that the power of the core Ink Death Celestial Spirit had also been washed away during the calamity of the merging of Mountains and Seas.

"However, perhaps I can use the power of Illusion Is Also Truth to manifest it once again. That way, I will no longer need to push the Xuanhuang Realm through another ascension and transform it into an Immortal Domain."

Thus, after going around in circles, everything ultimately came back to comprehending the Great Dao of Xuanhuang. Only after creating the foundation upon which the transformation between illusion and reality could operate would Li Fan's various methods have any use.

"With the rejection reaching this extent, even drawing Qi into the body is extraordinarily difficult. It is no easier than when I first began cultivating."

"Fortunately, traces of the Great Dao of Longevity still remain within my body. Perhaps I can use them as a breakthrough point."

When Li Fan formally restarted his cultivation journey and once again experienced the extremely powerful rejection exerted by the Xuanhuang Realm, he felt both furious and perplexed.

It was understandable that the Heavenly Dao instinctively rejected outsiders. However, to suppress him to this extent...

"This does not seem to be entirely the work of the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao itself."

"It feels as though someone is manipulating and directing it from behind the scenes."

Li Fan suddenly raised his head once more, a realization emerging in his heart.

"Who could it be? Who possesses the authority to control the consciousness of the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao at this particular point in time?"

Several figures flashed through his mind. Eventually, his thoughts settled upon a particular scene.

It was a scene from one of his past simulations, when Li Fan had pushed the Xuanhuang Realm to ascend and transform into an Immortal Domain.

At that time, even the endless vitality drawn from the Star Sea had been insufficient to sustain the transformation of the Xuanhuang Realm into an Immortal Domain. Thus, Li Fan had performed a ritual to summon the lingering imprints and illusory manifestations left behind in the world of the Xuanhuang Realm by the successive generations of Xuanhuang Great Celestial Venerables.

There had been eight such illusory figures standing between Heaven and Earth.

The one at the very end was the Wuming Great Celestial Venerable, whose existence Li Fan himself had brought about.

Before Wuming was Su Bai.

And before Su Bai...

It was not the Xuantian King.

Between the Xuantian King and Su Bai, there existed another mysterious Great Celestial Venerable whose identity was unknown. Only his figure could be seen. His face was nothing but a blank void.

This Great Celestial Venerable seemed to have appeared out of thin air and vanished just as mysteriously. Apart from the illusory imprint of a Great Celestial Venerable, he had left behind no other traces whatsoever. Li Fan had once attempted to investigate him, but even with his Half-Immortal methods, he had found nothing.

"At this point in time, before Su Bai comprehends the Dao and succeeds to the position of Great Celestial Venerable, that mysterious figure should still be the one in power..." Li Fan pondered.

"With an extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon invading, it is only natural for the Great Celestial Venerable to instruct the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao to retaliate. After all, that is part of his responsibility. However, does this not mean that every time I forcibly comprehend the Dao, I will be exposing myself to considerable danger?"

Li Fan's heart tightened.

Although he had not exposed his identity for the time being, every attempt to forcibly comprehend the Dao could be regarded as sending a conspicuous signal to the outside world.

At a low cultivation realm, this might not be a problem. However, once he reached the Nascent Soul or Soul Transformation realm, his presence would be as conspicuous as a beacon shining in the darkness. It would inevitably attract the attention of that mysterious Xuanhuang Great Celestial Venerable.

Of course, this did not necessarily mean that Li Fan would be doomed if that happened. As long as he revealed that he had come from the future and was shouldering the responsibility of saving the mortal world's Mountains and Seas, then, considering the exceptionally high moral standards required of anyone appointed as a Xuanhuang Great Celestial Venerable, there was a good chance that Li Fan would be allowed to live.

However, Li Fan was naturally unwilling to take such a risk.

Entrusting his life and future to someone else's moral standards was certainly not something a prudent person would do.

"Who would have thought that even the seemingly simple path of cultivating anew would be fraught with so many difficulties?"

Li Fan could not help rubbing the space between his eyebrows.

"I wonder how the other Upstream Travelers have dealt with this problem."

...

After pondering the matter carefully for half a day, Li Fan finally settled upon a temporary direction for his cultivation.

Since he could not actively comprehend the Dao of Heaven and Earth himself, he would have to borrow the insights that others had already obtained.

As it happened, Evergreen Valley was on the eve of an impending storm. It was the perfect opportunity to conduct an initial experiment.

Relying on the methods of Illusion Is Also Truth, Li Fan borrowed quite a few resources from Evergreen Valley's sect treasury. Afterwards, he went to the Artifact Refining Workshop and persuaded the formation master Wang Yi to painstakingly forge a hundred thin plates, each roughly the size of a palm.

"Brother Ping, what exactly do you intend to use these things for? They can neither protect you nor be used to attack your enemies."

Wang Yi wiped the sweat from his forehead and asked with a thoroughly perplexed expression.

Li Fan did not answer the talkative formation master's question. He merely smiled and used Illusion Is Also Truth to distort the other party's memories of him.

"Hm? Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"Get out, get out! Don't disturb me while I'm studying the sect's grand formation!" Wang Yi rudely chased Li Fan, a complete stranger, out of the room.

Evergreen Valley had many alchemy cultivators, but artifact refiners and formation masters were exceedingly rare. Wang Yi held a relatively high position within the sect. He was accustomed to ordering around newcomers like Li Fan, who appeared to be nothing more than a newly admitted disciple.

Li Fan quietly withdrew, leaving behind Wang Yi, who was suffering from aching limbs and extreme exhaustion, completely unable to make sense of what had just happened.

After returning to his residence, Li Fan laid out the hundred thin pieces before him one by one.

Holding spirit stones in his hand, he began refining them further.

Half a day later, the hundred originally bare and unadorned pieces had undergone a complete transformation.

At the center of each thin piece, four large characters, [Supreme Dao Scripture], had been engraved in a script resembling True Immortal seal characters.

Countless intricate patterns and illustrations of strange beasts filled the areas surrounding the four immortal characters. Looking closely at the background, one could vaguely make out the scenery of continuous mountains and vast seas.

However, these mountain and sea landscapes were extremely well concealed, hidden within the complex and ornate patterns. Ordinary people would find them almost impossible to detect.

After finishing the engraving of all one hundred pieces, Li Fan had completely exhausted every spirit stone on his person.

He himself was also nearly on the verge of collapse, even feeling faintly as though he might lose consciousness at any moment.

Although part of this exhaustion came from forcibly creating something out of nothing with a mortal body, the main reason was that these hundred [Supreme Dao Scriptures] represented the culmination of Li Fan's current attainments in formations.

Their level far surpassed that of countless generations in the present era. Although they were mortal formations, their capabilities were comparable to Immortal-grade formations!

Because he had lost many of his insights into the Dao, Li Fan's actual attainments in formations had suffered a tremendous decline. Less than one-tenth of their former power remained.

However, his formation principles and methods were still intact.

Thus, with the help of Wang Yi, a formation master of Evergreen Valley, he had constructed numerous basic formations. He then rewove and recombined these formations, transforming the ordinary into something extraordinary.

Ultimately, this resulted in the creation of these hundred [Supreme Dao Scriptures].

Although each was merely a small, thin piece, it possessed countless wondrous applications.

Most importantly, it could serve as a medium through which its holder could communicate with Li Fan in real time, even across the High Wall and the Star Sea!

The name Supreme Dao Scripture was certainly an exaggeration, but it was not entirely baseless.

Anyone who obtained this scripture could seek its guidance whenever they encountered difficulties or confusion while cultivating or comprehending the Dao.

No matter what question they asked, they would receive an answer.

With Li Fan's experience of reincarnating through countless lifetimes, cultivating the True Immortal Dao once more, and personally witnessing the fusion of the three Great Daos of Mountains and Seas, Longevity, and [Truth], he possessed an extraordinary breadth of knowledge.

He was not exaggerating when he said that, throughout the entire Yuanchu Possibility, there was practically no question he could not answer. Let alone within a mere Xuanhuang Realm.

In other words, anyone who obtained a [Supreme Dao Scripture] would effectively gain an unparalleled expert as a personal cultivation instructor. The benefits this could bring to their cultivation went without saying.

If Li Fan had not temporarily found himself in such an awkward predicament, he would never have come up with this mutually beneficial arrangement.

After resting for a short while, Li Fan began putting his plan into action.

Naturally, he had no intention of distributing all the Supreme Dao Scriptures at once. When it came to comprehending the Dao, quality mattered more than quantity.

"Brother, please wait!"

Bai Lishan, the chief senior disciple of Evergreen Valley, heard someone calling out and turned around.

He saw a cultivator beckoning him toward a secluded corner. After leading him there, the cultivator mysteriously took out a thin piece.

"You are..."

Bai Lishan found the other party somewhat familiar. He seemed to be someone from the sect, but Bai Lishan could not immediately recall his identity.

Before he could think too deeply about it, his attention was drawn to the thin piece in his hand.

"This item is called the Supreme Dao Scripture. It contains boundless mysteries. Although I was fortunate enough to obtain this treasure, I know that I am not blessed enough to make proper use of it. Therefore, I have decided to offer it to you, Senior Brother..."

Li Fan spoke in a low voice.

Bai Lishan found this somewhat amusing.

Judging from the other party's aura, he was merely a Qi Refining cultivator. Yet he actually dared to make such grand claims, calling this an unparalleled treasure.

Nevertheless, the name Supreme Dao Scripture did sound rather impressive.

As Bai Lishan carefully examined the thin piece, he gradually became engrossed in the profound mysteries concealed within its intricate patterns.

Only after finally recovering his senses did he realize that the cultivator who had presented him with the treasure had already disappeared without a trace.

"His name was..."

"What was it again?"

Bai Lishan frowned, discovering that no matter how hard he tried, he simply could not remember.