What Truly Exists

In such a war-torn and barren place as Duizhou, Feisha Palace occupied an oasis at a transportation hub. How could a mere cowardly ancestor accumulate so much gold and silver? He probably didn't do much over the years. It's truly deserved that his entire family was wiped out.

As for those rogue cultivators from the Shazhou who came to besiege the area, they were so skilled at robbing, murdering, killing, sacrificing people, and annihilating sects that each of them probably had more than ten lives on their hands, and most of them were probably not good people.

Alright, since the world is in such chaos and everyone speaks only with the sword in their hand, then Li Fan will not be modest anymore.

At this moment, Li Fan sensed the rising murderous aura and knew it was a perfect night with a dark and windy day. So he unleashed his full power to test his current cultivation level and see how it went!

So he leaped out from the gold and silver mountain, transforming into the true form of Qiongqi, roaring to the sky, then whipping up a gale, soaring into the sky, stirring up the yellow sand within the magic array outside the Feisha Palace, transforming into a flying tiger of yellow sand, embodying the laws of heaven and earth!

This ability to manifest the heavens and the earth means using the primordial spirit of the Transformation Stage and powerful magic to completely seize control of a region and transform it into one's own domain.

In fact, the Tai Xuan Dao's method of transforming oneself into nature is the same principle. Li Fan had already memorized this method in Ghost Valley. At this moment, he was just taking advantage of the opportune time of the False Moon and the favorable terrain of the Feisha Palace's formation to make the scene bigger and test the limits of his output.

Thus, to the onlookers, the desert under the moonlight seemed to suddenly come alive, manifesting a tiger shape under the False Moon, roaring loudly, and unleashing a massive, earth-shattering sandstorm! It surged forth! In an instant, darkness enveloped the land, the yellow sand whistling fiercely, and the gale biting at their faces! Indeed, it wasn't just rolling yellow sand, but also a fierce gale of golden sand! It swirled like a thousand horses and galloping chariots, a cacophony of weapons! It annihilated all the unsuspecting rogue cultivators in the Feisha Palace! Even Nascent Soul Stage at the Nascent Soul stage didn't have time to escape before being pulverized by the gale!

The sprawling palaces and pavilions of the Feisha Palace were destroyed and submerged in the storm of metal and iron. A violent sandstorm swept through the area overnight, completely burying this oasis under the sea of sand!

Meanwhile, the Cao brothers, who had been squatting in the circle in the distance, their mouths full of sand, and who had witnessed the demon god's roar as a sandstorm engulfed the largest cultivation sect on the Shazhou and hundreds of cultivators, were completely dumbfounded.

Zhang Yanzhi, being Saintess maiden raised by the former Dharma King, possessed some knowledge. Upon seeing Li Fan transform into human form and fly back, she quickly bowed and said...

"Qiongqi Demon God! Unparalleled demonic arts! Boundless magical power! Invincible under heaven!"

Li Fan waved his hand, "It's so-so. This kind of skill is barely enough to protect oneself in the Central Plains."

Zhang Yanzhi glanced at his three pale-faced underlings, "... Divine Lord, you are too modest. When you casually slaughtered a group of cultivators, all you had to do was laugh. Otherwise, your murderous aura would be too strong and terrify us subordinates."

"Uh, is that so... Hehehe! I'm invincible!"

The Cao brothers also reacted with a start, shouting to vent their unease, "Unparalleled divine skill! Invincible under heaven! Unparalleled divine skill! Invincible under heaven!"

But this skill is by no means invincible...

Li Fan wasn't being hypocritical. He had just tested the output range of Qiongqi's ultimate magic attack and felt that among the group of Divine Transformation he had encountered before, it might not even rank in the top ten.

The "Heaven and Earth Transformation" technique is only good for easily defeating weak opponents; it's useless when crossing realms within the same realm. Moreover, compared to the Emei Sect's Han the Divine Lord's ability to boil the sea and casually stew hundreds of thousands of rotten fish and shrimp to death, the power of this "Sandstorm Funeral" technique is simply insignificant.

Although Qiongqi can transform into a gale at any time, making it somewhat unpredictable in battle, it probably won't gain much advantage against proper masters of the Xuanmen sect.

After all, even the old sages of the ancient Xuanmen sects could withstand hundreds of moves from Qingyue's sword, and she couldn't kill them instantly without the Tai Sha Sword Embryo. Qiongqi's clone, on the other hand, didn't have any ultimate skills, special moves, divine techniques, or Cultivation Method, so it would be very difficult for it to win in a head-on fight.

Moreover, the Qingyang Divine Transformation is also a body-refining Cultivation Method. Now, the Divine Transformation is the limit. No matter how strong it is, it can only further strengthen the Dao body, but it still cannot withstand the Divine Transformation Lord's slash.

Therefore, Li Fan objectively estimated that Qiongqi's current combat strength was probably similar to that of Wangshu when she was a Nascent Divine Transformation. Perhaps it would be a little stronger in a real fight, but it would be a step weaker than the strength of Senior Sister Yue Lanzi's Nascent Divine Transformation clone.

However, regardless of the circumstances, Qiongqi has already achieved the Divine Transformation stage and is capable of protecting itself. Now, Li Fan can basically rest assured and let this guy go off on his own.

Anyway, with the Saintess of the Divine Cult by my side, she can guide me and help me settle my merits. It's like the auto-pathfinding system in a fast-paced idle online game. I can just go directly to the destination and farm the merits. I can just use my Pure Void Spirit to check it out every day. It's like playing a mobile game. It's quite worry-free.

Zhang Yanzhi was overjoyed. This tiger was so obedient, voluntarily helping the cult with tasks and missions. It could be easily dealt with with just the position of altar master. It was much easier to serve than the other demon gods in the cult!

Thus, the disgraced Northern Saintess once again burst forth with motivation, voluntarily becoming Qiongqi's secretary and recruiting the three Cao brothers as her underlings, helping them plan monster-hunting and dungeon raids, and preparing for the establishment of a branch altar of the Divine Cult.

This at least solved the problem related to the religion, but new problems have arisen.

Qiongqi, the laborer, won't be back anytime soon, but Li Fan, having been warned by the fate of the Divine Transformation at the Feisha Palace, is now preoccupied with various cultivation practices and has no time to leave the mountain. So, there still needs to be a 'Li Fan' to continue doing all the miscellaneous tasks, such as educating disciples, collecting materials, conducting experiments, building fish farms, and taking the blame.

So Li Fan thought for a moment, then simply took the Azure Dragon's gourd, took another sip, and spat out a new clone.

Of course, it wasn't Zhu Long. This cruiser was fine hiding in the thunderclouds and playing around Ink Bamboo Mountain, but if such a big thing flew to the Central Plains, it would definitely be locked onto by the company instantly, and then their executives would come knocking on the door. So Li Fan used the Tai Su Transformation Technique to create a new clone.

However, speaking of Tai Su's clones, even the Five Mountain Gods, who are now considered useless, are looked down upon by Li Fan for their low potential. With his current high cultivation level, having become a king and ancestor, his clones should at least be Divine Beast of the level of Kun, Dragon, Zhuyin, or the Four Fiends and Four Gods to be worthy of him! It has to have style!

Imagine going out to discuss Daoist arts and engage in magical duels in the future, and suddenly transforming and saying, "Hey everyone, shout! This Thunder Monkeys is my Daoist body! Look how red my butt is!" Where would that leave the dignified Qingyue Ancestor's dignity...?

Of course, Li Fan wouldn't dare to risk his life by cultivating another Taotie as an avatar. The Qiongqi had already affected his state of mind multiple times, often causing him to have murderous intent and leading to a mental breakdown for many years. Cultivating so many more ferocious beasts would inevitably cause his Dao heart to become even more distorted.

Moreover, he heard that the Dharma King of the Divine Cult, his ten thousand-strong army, and the mountain where they were hiding had all been eaten by the Taotie.

Well, being a Dharma King really is a high-risk profession. Of course, it's also possible that something like Blood God Child or Blood Puppet clone would die, but Yao Xuanzhou still looks completely lost and disoriented, like he has some kind of psychological trauma. It seems the Abbot needs to give him a pat on the head to heal him...

However, on the other hand, that Taotie was indeed acting strangely.

The oppressive feeling that thing exerted on Li Fan last time was far greater than that of centipedes or dragon kings. Even the Mountain Lord, at his Enlightenment Stage, couldn't suppress it; the potential of monsters at the Four Fiends level is probably far beyond that of mere demon gods. So, Qiongqi should still have the potential to grow and develop in the future, right?

Therefore, to be on the safe side, raising only one of the Four Fiends would be enough. Li Fan ultimately consulted the Heavenly Book and notes of the Mo Shan lineage and decided to transform into a Divine Beast. Coincidentally, there was a Divine Beast breeding ground near Ink Bamboo Mountain, and Li Fan had also obtained a legitimate Divine Beast cultivation method. Wouldn't it be a waste not to create an clone?

Yes, it is the Southern Three Qi Heaven, the Fire Official's Palace, the Crimson Emperor's Palace, Mars, the Fire Virtue, and the Fire Phoenix and Vermilion Bird incarnations!!

Of course, it's a clone of the Vermilion Bird, not a clone of the Phoenix; there's actually a difference here.

The phoenix is a mythical bird and beast. The five-colored phoenix banner of the Immortal Palace features five different types of phoenixes, much like the distinction between Coiled Dragon and a serpent. The Vermilion Bird, Azure Dragon, Hooked Chen, Black Tortoise are the four renowned sacred beasts, possessing the power to transport and nurture life, born of heaven and earth, and protected and commanded by the Immortal Palace.

In the Ancient Immortal Palace era, when the five types of insects—robin, scaled, hairy, feathered, and insect-like—coexisted on the earth and were all called the Spirit Race, these four Holy Spirits, along with the Immortal Venerable of the Human Race, were said to be the five great divine bodies.

Just as Human Race cultivate the Immortal Venerable Body Refining Method, beasts cultivate the Gouchen Dao Body, snakes, insects, fish, and dragons cultivate the Azure Dragon Dao Body, and birds and other Demon Race Spirit Race such as demons and spirits can all cultivate to become Vermilion Bird Dao Bodies.

Of course, it's much easier for a phoenix to cultivate into a Vermilion Bird than for a sparrow to do so. The difference in difficulty is probably about the same as the difference between a Daoist disciple cultivating immortality and a useless person cultivating immortality.

Moreover, due to various reasons, cultivating from a phoenix to a vermilion bird is relatively the simplest, or rather, the method of inheritance and cultivation is the most complete. The Nangong Family not only preserved the fire escape Cultivation Method of visualizing a phoenix, such as the <Phoenix Profound Art>, but also had their own Demon Race cultivation method to further cultivate the phoenix into a vermilion bird Divine Beast.

Therefore, being in a position of proximity to the source makes it very convenient to cultivate this lineage of clone transformations in the Li Country.

Firstly, the Ten-thousand-mountains have many phoenix nests, from which one can obtain special products such as phoenix blood, phoenix eggs, and phoenix feathers. Moreover, the Ink Bamboo Mountain has dealt with the Nangong Family for many years, and the various autopsy and corpse reports are very detailed. There is also the complete <Phoenix Profound Art> given by the abbot, Li Fan's own True Yang Technique fire-type Cultivation Method, Li Tangtuan's primordial spirit reference, and many immortal weapons of the Nangong Family bloodline that can be used for disintegration. This Dao body will be very easy to cultivate.

It cost a total of 2400 mood points, plus a flower, and then Li Fan found the recently deceased Nangong Immortal Soldier Dao Body, ate some phoenix eggs exchanged from Ink Bamboo Mountain, and then he refined the Tai Su Dao Transformation Method, breaking through to a new Nascent Soul Realm clone Dao Body, the Vermilion Bird Dao Child!

Just as planned, the main task of this Vermilion Bird Daoist is to complete side quests, such as mining, gathering herbs, moving bricks, and building factories. Moreover, he will also be the first experimental subject apostle of the Celestial Immortal Independent System to test the completion of the independent system.

As for the experimental subjects, they don't need to be of too high a realm or too strong a power. The strength of a Nascent Soul Stage demon is enough. Moreover, Li Fan specifically made the Vermilion Bird Daoist's face look similar to the Nangong Family's, so that if anything goes wrong with setting up the factory and developing the system, and the company finds out, they can pin the blame on the Nangong Family and have them take the fall...

By delegating all the miscellaneous tasks to his clone, Li Fan was finally able to steal a moment of leisure to complete his daily routine before leaving his body to cultivate the next stage of the Ink Mountain Primordial Spirit Technique.

Now, his Divine Sense has become increasingly vast, and his emotional limit has reached 22k. However, the energy charging progress is less than halfway complete. Li Fan has also spent a lot of time studying on the moon and cultivating the <Substantial Matter> of the Ink Mountain Heavenly Book.

The term "thing" (物) refers to something that has substance and must be named accordingly. "Knowledge" (知) refers to using knowledge to discuss things, sketching the nature of all things. This nature has a reason for being so. It must have a tangible existence before it can be called a thing. If it lacks a tangible existence, then it is meaningless...

After completing the study of observation theory and methodology, we will now begin to introduce the worldview of the Moshan lineage. Although it may seem a bit convoluted and philosophical, it is actually not difficult to understand.

This is merely a definition of natural existence based on observation by the Moshan lineage, encompassing all matter, entities, forms, things, and existences outside of the subject; it is the broadest and most universal concept.

For example, 'thing' is the broadest and most universal concept, encompassing all things in the universe, equivalent to 'matter'. Matter, on the other hand, is a philosophical category that signifies objective reality. This objective reality is what humans perceive; it exists independently of our senses and is copied, photographed, and reflected by them. It merely describes the general natural laws governing the existence of matter.

The concepts of "things" and "real existence," or matter, entity, and existence, or matter, physical objects, and things, all share the same connotation: they are all objects that can be transformed by human cognition and practice.

'Li Fan cultivated <The Reality of Things>'

'The Cultivation Method is being evaluated'

'The Yuan Shen method, when observing a target through Gu Guan Method, has a certain probability of 'seeing the object.'

At first, Li Fan didn't understand what this move meant. But when he returned to his original body and tried to scan the people in Li Family Village with his Divine Sense, what he 'observed' was no longer just Qi and Divine Sense, but the true bodies of Qin Nanxin and the Yan sisters, their beating hearts, flowing blood, and the nascent souls that were circulating and breathing.

Li Fan understood.

Taking Qin Nanxin as an example, what he saw was not just Qin Nanxin as a 'person', but also Qin Nanxin as a 'being'.

Yes, everything in the Taiji Realm is subject to the category of 'things that can be modified'. Humans, demons, and even Ling Bao treasures are all 'things'.

The 'thing' of Tai Chi.

Conversely, things that are independent of human will, whose essence and operational logic cannot be understood, and which cannot be effectively reformed, are beyond our control.

Or, to put it another way, the category of all unknown things that 'cannot yet be effectively transformed'.

This is what is meant by the so-called "Non-Thing" of the Great Simplicity.

Yes, understanding 'existence' also means understanding 'non-existence'; touching 'reality' also means touching 'illusion'; seeing 'things' allows us to see 'Non-Thing'.

Of course, Li Fan's new skill is still 'seeing objects' rather than 'seeing Non-Thing '. He has never seen or analyzed those 'Non-Thing' before, so he naturally doesn't know their core, essence, or principles.

However, regarding all the things he had "seen" inside and outside Li Family Village, Li Fan was now able to fully understand the reason for their existence based on the principle that "things actually exist".

Okay, if we have to describe this new skill in the language of games, then Li Fan can now deal true damage, exploit weaknesses, and deliver a fatal blow to any target that is 'visible' with every move.

This is probably the 'one-hit kill' method that the mountain bishop used back then.

Of course, Li Fan's current damage output is already excessive, and this skill simply increases the damage ceiling of his maximum output. In reality, for Li Fan, the improvement is just the difference between killing in two moves and killing in one move.

Well, it's icing on the cake... Huh? Wait, damn it!

Li Fan suddenly opened his eyes, vanished from the quiet room, and landed in the epiphyllum field outside Li Family Village the instant he opened his eyes. Then he slowly approached and stared at the epiphyllum gazing at the moon.

Two of them had petals that had shrunk a little.

It wasn't that he was seeing things incorrectly; rather, after the update of the 'real existence' of the object, his blind eyes just happened to be able to catch a glimpse of it.

There were two people standing right here.

The two were at least one realm higher than Li Fan, so much so that his Divine Sense couldn't detect them at all, and he couldn't even catch a glimpse of their shadows when he chased after them.

He stood there, staring at Li Family Village.

What the heck?! Two Dao Lords???