Chapter 1452: Refining the Great Furnace with the Dao Net

To use the Great Dao of the Heavens as one's physical body.

Even Li Fan found it difficult to imagine just how formidable such a realm would be.

In the present age, those known as Nameless True Immortals had merely attained the Dao through one of the countless Great Daos between heaven and earth.

If the realm Li Fan had speculated about truly existed, then compared to it, a Nameless True Immortal would be like an ant beside a manifested entity, with a difference as vast as heaven and earth.

"For someone who proves the Dao through sheer force, crossing possibilities would probably be as easy as stepping across a stream..."

As Li Fan thought this, the scene from his previous life suddenly surfaced in his mind. The Darkened Heaven Doctor had abruptly arrived from beyond the heavens, breaking through several High Walls before suddenly descending.

"The Darkened Heaven Doctor and Evil Su Bai may have already reached such a realm."

"However, they probably did not take the path of sanctifying the physical body. Instead, they continuously hunted down their other selves from different possibilities, allowing a single path of the Dao to break through its limits and thereby strengthening themselves."

"Making a single Dao path equal to the sum of all other Great Daos. In truth, this follows the same destination as having all laws return to one through the physical body."

"It is simply impossible to imagine how many versions of themselves they have slaughtered..."

Li Fan was momentarily lost in thought, and an indistinct chill arose within his heart.

However, this thought merely flashed through his mind before quickly sinking into its depths. His attention soon returned to the [Great Dao Embodiment Body Art].

Li Fan's deductions and conjectures were indeed correct, but they only described an ideal state that existed purely in theory.

"If one wishes to cultivate this technique to perfection, the first step is to continuously raise one's Consciousness Soul Transformation, until one can simultaneously reflect all the Great Daos between heaven and earth. Just this single step is almost impossible."

"If one could truly reach such a realm, one would already be invincible in the mortal world. Why would one still need to pursue sanctifying the physical body?"

"Once again, it is a case of abandoning what is near to pursue what is far."

Because the realm described by his deductions was still far beyond his reach, Li Fan naturally had many doubts in his heart.

But just like Consciousness Soul Transformation, the method of tempering the physical body through the Great Dao Embodiment Body Art brought genuine improvements to Li Fan's current strength.

Therefore, he would not simply abandon it.

If problems arose in the future, he could deal with them then.

After all, he possessed the means to start over at any time.

"Reflecting the Great Dao through the mind is called Consciousness Soul Transformation. If the physical body accommodates the Great Dao, would that not be a Corporeal Nascent Soul in a certain sense?"

"It seems that this new cultivation method of mine not only needs to be cultivated in reverse, but also requires the simultaneous cultivation of different realms."

"If every realm could simultaneously reach the utmost perfection, perhaps I could catch a glimpse of the true [Foundation Establishment with Myself]!"

Li Fan secretly shook his head.

He was certain that neither Yin Shangren, nor the Holy Emperor, nor Su Bai, nor any of the others who had contributed to perfecting the new cultivation method had ever imagined that it could be cultivated in such a manner.

The reason such an unusual situation had appeared with Li Fan was entirely because he possessed the Supreme Treasure [Truth], whose rank was infinitely high.

"[Truth] transcends the Great Dao of heaven and earth. In ordinary terms, it means stepping outside the Three Realms and no longer belonging to the Five Elements."

"Thus, the difficulty of my Foundation Establishment is even greater than Resonating with the Dao. That is why I must proceed in the opposite direction. As for everyone else..."

The difference between Li Fan and the others in the Shuo Star Sea who were simultaneously cultivating the [Great Dao Embodiment Body Art] was enough to demonstrate this to some extent.

As countless thoughts flashed through his mind, this clone of Li Fan slowly brought the familiar sensation produced by continuously tempering himself within his miniature Dao Net completely into the Dao Net of the Shuo Star Sea.

Like a fish returning to water, like a bird soaring into the sky.

Li Fan even faintly felt as though he had returned to the Xuanhuang Realm, a place with which he was incomparably familiar.

"Wonderful. Truly wonderful."

Moreover, because of this familiarity, Li Fan could still disguise himself as he pleased, preventing others from discovering the true progress of his Body Refinement.

"I have been relying entirely on brute force and clumsy methods. If I refer to the [Creation Furnace Technique] once again..."

Within his divine sense, the Creation Technique transmitted by his true body appeared word by word.

Li Fan took a deep breath. In an instant, his blood and Qi seemed to boil, surging violently throughout his body.

His body seemed to transform into an enormous furnace that reached the heavens and earth, refining all the aura and flesh within him.

With a thought, this great furnace seemed to settle upon an illusory Dao Net.

One of the Dao strings suddenly flashed with dazzling white light.

Then the Dao Net trembled, and the power of the Dao string transformed into a gigantic hammer that crashed violently down upon the enormous furnace.

The furnace thundered and roared without end.

Its exterior was struck, leaving behind a faint mark. Within, however, the immense force accelerated the process of refining his flesh several times over.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

The sounds continued without pause throughout the Dao Net. Moreover, the intervals between each strike gradually shortened at an extremely slow pace.

In the real world, a faint flush visibly appeared on Li Fan's face.

It looked as though he had suffered a severe injury.

Then the flush quickly turned cyan, followed by deathly pale white. After that, it once again became blood red.

The cycle repeated endlessly, becoming increasingly strange.

"The Great Dao Embodiment Body Art and the Creation Furnace Technique. These two techniques can truly complement each other."

"The Creation Great Furnace uses the self as a furnace, unlocking every hidden reserve and potential within the human body. It advances one step at a time. Every refinement makes one's strength slightly greater. Its weakness is simply that it is slow."

"The Great Dao Embodiment Body Art, on the other hand, borrows the Great Daos of the Heavens to temper and supplement oneself. When all the Great Daos return to one's body, the physical body can become sacred. Its weakness is that it is difficult and incomparably dangerous."

"When the two are combined, using the tremendous power of the Great Dao to strike the Creation Great Furnace, compared to my previous method of simply shattering and replenishing my flesh, the efficiency is more than a hundred times greater!"

Li Fan visualized the faint marks protruding from the surface of the Creation Great Furnace within his mind.

They were precisely the marks left behind by the Great Dao.

Previously, his flesh had needed to be shattered and reconstructed tens of thousands of times under tremendous pressure before leaving a mark of similar depth.

But now, under the activation of the Creation Furnace Technique, it took no more than an instant.

The Dao Net thundered, and countless Dao marks appeared upon the Creation Great Furnace.

With every breath Li Fan took, the physical strength of this body continued to increase at a rate hundreds or even thousands of times faster than before.

Moreover, from beginning to end, Li Fan felt no hunger whatsoever.

It seemed that the human body truly possessed an inexhaustible source of power that could continuously replenish itself.

Li Fan became completely immersed in the explosive growth of his physical strength, almost unable to pull himself away.

Until Nangong Hongzhao came to visit.

"Brother Ma, how is your cultivation going?"

"I have only just entered the threshold. This technique is indeed extraordinary, but it is also truly difficult to cultivate."

Li Fan's face was pale. He lightly coughed and spoke in a somewhat weak voice.

Seeing that Li Fan's blood and Qi were unstable, as though he had just been struck by tremendous force and suffered a serious injury, Nangong Hongzhao hurriedly expressed his concern.

"Do not push yourself too hard. The Mystic Coffin Case is still under investigation. Until a final conclusion is reached, our leave will not end."

"Oh? So much time has already passed, yet even with the abilities of the Immortal Hunters, they still have not figured out what happened?"

Li Fan was somewhat surprised.

Nangong Hongzhao lowered his voice and sneered, “If we devote all our strength, there naturally would be no problem. Unfortunately, someone interfered from within. Before the investigation even began, all of Yan Xuantai’s records in the Dao Net had already been mysteriously erased. Those capable of doing this…”

Nangong Hongzhao suddenly fell silent for a moment.

Then he whispered, “Even more strange is that, the Mystic Coffin of World Traversal. After analyzing the records left behind during our attempt to capture him, it is said that the Mystic Coffin at the scene of the incident was indeed the same one that had been planned to serve as Immortal Bait before the Immortal Hunt.”

“The problem arose during the process of forging the Immortal Bait.”

“What was supposed to be merely bait actually became a tool for World Traversal. Most importantly, the person responsible for forging this coffin…”

Li Fan’s eyes flickered. Seeing Nangong Hongzhao suddenly stop speaking, he pressed, “What happened to him?”

“He died.”

“What?” Li Fan immediately revealed a startled expression.

“He did not die recently. After forging the nine Mystic Coffins that served as bait back then, he disappeared from the world. These nine Mystic Coffins have helped the Immortal Hunters tear apart immortals dozens of times over the years, and no accidents ever occurred. That was why I was so certain back then…”

“Moreover, the Mystic Coffin we used this time had also been used as bait several times before. Yet there had never been an incident where someone truly escaped by Traversing World…”

As Li Fan listened, he rubbed his forehead. “The more you tell me, the more complicated this matter seems. Besides the person who forged the Mystic Coffins, it probably also involves the higher powers of the Administration Council. After all, only someone with sufficient authority could modify information within the Dao Net…”

Li Fan shook his head slightly. “No wonder we have been unable to uncover even a rough idea of what happened after investigating for so long.”

“However… I do have an idea.”

Nangong Hongzhao was stunned, then said, “There are only the two of us here. Brother Ma, if you have something to say, speak freely.”

“Why don't we simplify the matter and focus only on its core? The Mystic Coffin of World Traversal is used to escape to another place where one might avoid disaster. Yan Xuantai has lived in our Shuo Star Sea for many years. Why would he suddenly go to such great lengths and take such an enormous risk to flee?”

“Yan Xuantai belongs to the Sacred Shang. The Sacred Shang mysteriously disappeared back then. I previously heard that before they vanished without a trace, they even recalled many extraordinary treasures that had once been left outside. Could Yan Xuantai have learned something from the Sacred Shang back then? Could his recent escape have been something he was forced to do?”

“You mean…” Nangong Hongzhao suddenly stared intently at Li Fan.

“Exactly. I suspect that a great calamity will soon descend upon the Shuo Star Sea…” Li Fan whispered.

“Brother Ma, you must not speak recklessly!” Before he could finish, Nangong Hongzhao sternly interrupted him.

However, there was indeed some logic to Li Fan’s deduction.

The more Nangong Hongzhao thought about it, the more he felt that this might truly be the truth hidden beneath the chaos. As if he had thought of something else, the expression on his face changed several times within the span of a few breaths.

“Brother Ma, what you said here is fine to tell me. But absolutely do not speak of it outside. Otherwise, if something really happens, even I will not be able to help you.” After giving this warning, Nangong Hongzhao hurriedly left.

Before departing, he also left behind a scroll containing the Nangong family’s accumulated experiences and insights from successive generations of cultivators regarding the [Great Dao Embodiment Body Art].

However, it only covered the initial stages, concerning how to comprehend the Great Dao and reflect it upon one’s own body.

It seemed Nangong Hongzhao intended to use this as bait to continually increase 'Ma Tiande’s' favorable impression of him.

Li Fan merely glanced at it before setting the insights aside.

“Someone escaped in a Mystic Coffin. Could there be an insider within the Shuo Star Sea? Interesting.”

From all the information currently known, the true ruling force of the Shuo Star Sea should be those True Immortals who had transformed themselves into mortals.

As for the mortals who appeared on the surface, they were merely puppets controlled by those True Immortals.

“However, for those True Immortals to willingly allow mortals to serve as their public representatives, there must be something about mortals that makes them wary…”

Li Fan suddenly thought of the invisible giant hand behind the Dao Net.

As well as the four Nameless True Immortals who had been used as living anchors.

“Immortals who transformed themselves into mortals, the immortals of the past, and the group that remains True Immortal even now are engaged in a struggle.”

“Yet now, a fugitive has suddenly appeared on this battlefield.”

“He did not flee toward either side, but instead toward other worlds beyond the possibilities of either side.”

According to what Nangong Hongzhao had said, the immortals who survived the Dao Annihilation Calamity were deeply terrified of that great calamity from the past.

The strongest among them had already fled far away.

Li Fan believed that this fear must still exist within those who remained, whether they were mortals or immortals.

It was only that, after tens of thousands of years, they had been deceived by the false prosperity created by the Dao Net.

They seemed to have truly believed that they could resist the Dao Annihilation Calamity with the so-called Dao Net.

However, the Sacred Shang, and now Yan Xuantai’s desperate escape, might suddenly awaken them from their dream.

“Interesting.”

“There have never been eternal enemies in this world. Perhaps the Shuo Star Sea and those True Immortals really can cooperate once again.”

“After all, among the nine Mystic Coffins, one was capable of escaping by World Traversal. How can we know that the others are necessarily incapable of doing the same?”

One month later.

The vacation period for the newly recruited Immortal Hunters finally ended.

Li Fan and the others were summoned once again. The one who addressed them was the same burly man who had previously carried the enormous pillar on his shoulder.

The man gave the newly recruited Immortal Hunters a fierce reprimand, declaring that regardless of the reason, making such a serious mistake during their first mission proved their incompetence.

Therefore, everyone would now have to “make amends through meritorious service.”

They would hunt immortals again.

“This time, I will accompany you in hunting the True Immortal.”

“Our target is an old adversary of the Immortal Hunters. On the previous occasions, this person managed to escape by sheer luck. But this time…”

“Hmph.” The burly man sneered coldly, a trace of killing intent flashing through his eyes.

“Senior Qian, may I ask who our target is this time…” As before, Dao Yuan was the first to speak.

Dao Yuan was clearly already acquainted with the burly man. Before the latter had even introduced himself, Dao Yuan had already addressed him by his surname.

“This immortal’s Dao can sever all connections with the outside world. He is extremely difficult to locate or track. Even when moving and wandering through the Dao Net, he leaves behind no traces whatsoever. We do not know his true identity, so we refer to him only as the [Devoid] Immortal.”

“Relying on the special nature of his Dao path, this immortal frequently infiltrates our Shuo Star Sea. Several of our previous Immortal Hunting operations were disrupted by him. Therefore, we have finally made up our minds this time. We must capture this immortal!” the burly man said in a deep voice, his expression solemn.

“Such a difficult mission, and you are entrusting it to us?” Dao Yuan was somewhat astonished.

It was not only Dao Yuan. The other newly recruited Immortal Hunters were similarly surprised.

“Rest assured. Precisely because you are newly recruited and this immortal knows nothing about you, we actually have a greater chance of success. You only need to follow my orders and cooperate by issuing Dao Network commands. That [Devoid] Immortal will surely be a turtle trapped in a jar!” the burly man said with absolute confidence.

Li Fan nodded along with the others in agreement.

His gaze inadvertently swept past Nangong Hongzhao, and he noticed that the man seemed somewhat absent-minded.

However, what Li Fan cared about more was the target of this Immortal Hunt.

“Sever all connections with the outside world?”

For some reason, a wanton laugh suddenly echoed in Li Fan’s ears.

“What does it have to do with me? What does it have to do with me?”