Chapter 176: Chapter 162: Laying the Foundation for Centuries to Come_3
Translator: 549690339
The piece of flesh swelled larger and larger. In a few breaths, it had grown to the size of half a human head.
His body was covered with such grotesque blood-coloured tumours, and at this moment, Li Fan looked like a monstrous creature.
Moreover, the blood-coloured tumours were still expanding.
Finally, with a “pop!”
The tumour had reached the limit that a Qi-refined body could bear and, like a balloon, it burst.
Pieces of flesh and blood splattered everywhere.
They splashed all over the small grass hut.
Li Fan was also drenched in his own blood and flesh.
But he remained undisturbed.
In his sea of consciousness, the Blue Flame Spirit surfaced.
At the same time, the Xuan Huang’s Heart-Refining Spell continued to rotate constantly.
Li Fan sank into a state devoid of worries, fears and horror.
However, in the Dantian, the shadow of [Real], allowed his body to collapse without changing its colour.
But after all, his physical Qi refined body was weak.
Gradually, Li Fan’s life force seemed to be there and not there.
Then it vanished.
In the last moment, Li Fan was silently chanting [Real].
The fifty-seventh time!
After six years, Li Fan tried again.
The white jade light ball was changing shape with Li Fan’s mental perception.
The tumours on Li Fan’s body were fluctuating.
After a long time, he failed again.
The fifty-eighth time.
Failure!
The fifty-ninth time.
Failure!
Failure after failure did not diminish Li Fan’s determination and belief.
He summarized his experiences and compared each process of establishing the Tao Foundation.
He found that when he intentionally manipulated perception, he was unexpectedly less persistent than when he was ignorant and in a state of chaos.
“[Real] blends with me. Although I can’t perceive it, my body itself is subtly influenced by it.”
“Establishing the Tao Foundation with my true consciousness is smoother than with my self-consciousness.”
In the seventy-fifth time of establishing the Tao Foundation, Li Fan had an epiphany.
Next, as he had anticipated.
The shape of the white jade light ball gradually became regular.
Every attempt was like a trimming, restoring it to its original shape.
The ninetieth time.
When the white jade light ball finally turned into an oval shape, it finally stabilized.
No more tumours appeared on Li Fan.
The light fluctuated, changing from imaginary to real.
It seemed about to manifest in the Dantian.
But…
Suddenly, Li Fan had an insight.
He was missing something.
It was as though something suddenly descended into the small grass hut on the Dissociative Mountain peak.
In an instant, Li Fan’s hair turned white.
His skin was shrivelled and wrinkled.
Terrifying grooves and cracks appeared on his face.
The muscles disintegrated, leaving only a layer of skin drooping off his skeletal frame.
His form was no longer human, looking horribly horrible.
Li Fan’s age was increasing rapidly, and in a moment, he would probably die of old age.
“Real!”
Li Fan did not hesitate.
From the ninety-first to the ninety-eighth time.
Every time Li Fan tried, he came so close to success in establishing the Tao Foundation through [Real].
The ninety-ninth time, he returned to the peak of Dissociative Mountain again.
“Where exactly is the discrepancy?”
Li Fan frowned slightly.
He knew that he was now just a hair’s breadth from the Tao Foundation.
But it was not something that could be resolved by simple attempts.
He needed a moment of insight to find the problem.
He had a feeling in his heart that the answer should be quite simple.
He was separated from it by a thin veil, and a poke would break it.
But now, Li Fan was still within this mountain, not recognizing its true face.
He could not find the solution.
Li Fan thought as he descended the mountain.
He wandered in the mundane world, searching for his answer.
At the same time, he observed the Da Xuan world without his influence for the first time.
In the fifth year, the Great Drought in Jiangnan.
A mob of refugees stormed the Langya King’s Mansion.
The Langya King’s Mansion suffered terrible losses.
Apart from King Langya who escaped through a dog hole and saved his life.
The rest of the people in the mansion were all brutally killed by the refugees.
When the news reached the capital, it caused a great shock.
The emperor flew into a rage and ordered the army to subjugate the refugees.
He also summoned King Langya to the capital to comfort him.
Since then, King Langya stayed in the capital city.
In the fifteenth year.
The emperor was suddenly afflicted with a serious illness.
Before his death, he summoned King Langya to the palace and passed the throne to him.
King Langya ascended the throne and changed the era to Xuanjing.
In the sixteenth year, rebellions broke out everywhere.
Emperor Xuanjing appointed his favored confidant as General Zhen Wei, leading the army to suppress the revolt.
It took General Zhen Wei three years to finally suppress all the rebellions.
He returned to the capital in glory.
Emperor Xuanjing ordered all officials to welcome him outside the capital city and to greet him with imperial rites.
General Zhen Wei accepted the honors with a proud face.
He did not dismount his horse when he met the officials, and he did not kneel when he met the emperor.
Emperor Xuanjing did not show any sign of displeasure. He extended his hand to help him down and welcomed him into the palace.
He hosted a grand banquet in his honor.
After the third round of drinks, the officials quietly withdrew.
A dozen axemen rushed in.
The drunken General Zhen Wei was instantly sobered up and confronted Emperor Xuanjing.
Emperor Xuanjing responded with silence.
Despite being remarkably brave, General Zhen Wei was full of sword wounds after being besieged by the axemen.
He was on his last breath.
Before he died, he pointed at Emperor Xuanjing and cursed with bitter hatred: “If there is a chance for me to come back, I will personally lead a grand army, flatten Xuan Jing, and make your skull my wine vessel to dispel the resentment in my heart!”
And then he fell under their swords.
Time seems to have stood still at this moment.
Li Fan, who had been watching silently all along, appeared at this point. His eyes were bright, and he seemed to suddenly understand.
“People of this world don’t have a chance to come back.”
“Neither does this world.”
“But I do.”
“My [Real]…”
“Beside above the world.”
The scenery around him blurred in an instant and Li Fan was back on the peak of Dissociative Mountain.
Li Fan invoked [Real] again.
“When the true becomes false, the false becomes true…”
“The false becomes true…”
He stared at the seven characters created by [Real], his mind clear and calm.
“I will establish the Tao Foundation using the rules of [Real] within this world!”
When the cup is filled, it flows over without hindrance.
The white jade light ball manifested in his Dantian in an instant.
The third anchor fell into place with a sound..