A Leap Across the Membrane

Perhaps his intelligence dropped as soon as the AI assistant went offline. Although the system explained a lot about this dimension and that dimension to Li Fan didn't understand much of it. But after all that talk, Li Fan now vaguely felt that his Dao body was very strong and his Divine Sense was also awesome. But he had no idea what kind of amazing functions he had or how to use them.

That sounds impressive, but if he could interfere with eleven dimensions simultaneously, all that talk would just mean he'd smash his opponent from three dimensions into two with his fists...

To put it simply, you spent tens of thousands of dollars on the latest desktop computer with top-of-the-line specs, but all you do is play games like Dou Dizhu (a card game) and watch live streams... well...

Anyway, Li Fan now has control of the latest and coolest machine in the Taiji Realm, the 'Qingyue', but for now it can only be used as an excavator. I'm afraid no cultivator in this world has the experience or ability to guide him in its operation.

As for Li Fan to go into seclusion to comprehend the Dao and develop all the functions of 'Qingyue' on his own, it would probably take thousands or even tens of thousands of years of painstaking research and effort before he could achieve anything.

But it doesn't matter, Li Fan has the system to cheat with. Once the system is updated to a brand new version of the company-grade processor, his intelligence will be back online, and he'll be able to unleash 'Qingyue's' true fighting power!

... perhaps.

Oh, right, it can't be said that Li Fan only liked female streamers and played Texas Hold'em after using 'Qingyue's' equipment. Li Fan actually mastered a new skill.

For example, teleportation.

Or rather, a transition occurred on the membrane.

Having accumulated rich experience in Moon Worship Dreams, Five Elements Escape Method, Tai Sha Sword Rainbow, Tai Xuan Gate Transformation, and being possessed by the Thousand-Faced Immortal, coupled with his recent experiment inside the Closed String, Li Fan has now mastered a higher-dimensional and faster movement technique than any escape method.

In simple terms, it involves first calculating the frequency of the target string, then increasing its dimension through string transformation, finding the intersection point with the target string on the membrane, and then jumping there. By reducing the dimension back, instantaneous movement in three-dimensional space can be achieved. Of course, this is on the membrane, which is fundamentally different from going to the other side of the membrane through a 'doorway'. It's like the difference between eleven dimensions and twenty-seven dimensions.

Yao Xuanzhou, "...Huh???"

"Didn't you just ask me where I came from? So I said... never mind, that's irrelevant. What's going on now?"

Li Fan looked Fourth Department, and with a sweep of his Divine Sense, he discovered that they were now on the banks of the Li River, not far from the spot where his explosion had occurred. There was a boat on the river, and the Abbot and the Hengshan Sect Leader were playing chess again; it was unclear why they were so addicted to chess. Meanwhile, a group of old Nascent Soul Stage from Louguan Dao of Ink Bamboo Mountain Lou Guan Dao Yao Xuanzhou, were facing off against the experts from the Shangqing Palace of Hengshan across the river, resembling a negotiation between gangsters. Zhi Jingzi was also absent; he had probably indeed fled with his tail between his legs.

"Qingyue, what's wrong with you? Is this... a clone of Weichen Yunzhuan?"

Yao Xuanzhou could no longer see through Li Fan's cultivation level, but as a disciple of the abbot, he had profound attainments in alchemy and could still recognize that Li Fan's human form was shaped using the Emei micro-dust alchemical method.

"Ah, right, right, clone, clone! My true form is too primordial and too deeply entrenched in the Dao; releasing it would destroy the world, so I've already sealed it away. Abbot, you can rest assured."

Seeing that Li Fan was still in the same state, Yao Xuanzhou felt somewhat relieved. "Good, Qingyue, no, Grandmaster, it is truly a blessing for our righteous path that you have survived this calamity and sealed the Blood Demon. By the way, we previously joined forces to subdue those demonic children and had Real Person Liang enter the formation to assist you. I wonder if he is currently..."

Li Fan was taken aback and fell silent. No wonder Lu Hansheng and those demons were able to enter the formation.

Yao Xuanzhou understood and sighed, "Is that so? Life and death are predestined, and fate is unpredictable. Whether one transcends tribulation or not cannot be forced. We cultivators are all prepared to perish. You should try to accept it."

Li Fan nodded. "Real Person Liang perished together with the Wisdom Dharma King. Master Liang was like a mentor to me. I will remember his teachings and be grateful for everyone's help. In the future, I will definitely carry on the ancient lineage of Lou Guan and work together to protect Lou Guan."

Yao Xuanzhou nodded in agreement. "I appreciate the Grand Master's kindness, but we are all from the same sect, so there's no need for such formalities. Besides, the times have changed. From now on, we will all need to deduce the new Tai Su method. We don't need to be bound by ancient texts; let's see what fate brings."

That might not necessarily be an ancient book. The book that Lao Liang passed on to him might not only be the fake sword technique written by Profound Heaven Sword Method Zhi Jingzi, but also, thinking about it carefully now, the ancient alchemy method of Lou Guan in the "Huashu" can actually be cultivated by using evil energy, and it fits so well with the cultivation of the Tai Su Dao Body. It's possible that Lu Hansheng impersonating Lou Guan and passing on the celestial book of the Thousand-Faced Immortal...

"... But I've been out for quite a while now, and the abbot and the others are still playing chess?"

"Oh, it's not about that, it's about flood control," Yao Xuanzhou explained. "Your previous spell destroyed the Blood Demon's body, creating a huge crater not far from the Li River. Last time, the Abbot arranged for Uncle Zheng to control the flood, but it failed. This time, Uncle Zheng proposed digging a canal to divert the Li River water to this area to form a lake."

Li Fan understood; diverting the Li River water here could alleviate the flooding in the downstream Xun Kingdom. He also bowed and paid his respects to Zheng Zhenren, who was introduced by Yao Xuanzhou.

This Master Zheng's cultivation level was generally below average. He looked like an old farmer, and he was originally an old farmer. He was a tenant farmer of Lou Guan in the past. Later, when the abbot revived Lou Guan, he also helped a lot. Because he was old, the abbot passed on the teachings to him on his behalf. He learned the cultivation method and struggled to reach the Nascent Soul Realm. Usually, he was responsible for training disciples for Lou Guan in Li Country and dealing with some minor and minor monsters. He spent most of his time cultivating in the world.

"This is a good thing! The people of Xun Kingdom are also suffering from floods, so let's join forces to control the floods. What's the point of talking about it?" Li Fan asked curiously.

Yao Xuanzhou shook his head and sighed, "The Xun Kingdom's army, supported by Hengshan, is currently attacking Jiangling by water. It seems the city is about to fall. What will they think if we come upstream to control the floods at this time?"

Moreover, if the river were diverted and its course changed, this area would be flooded temporarily, but it would all become fertile farmland in the future. In addition, it would create another barrier between the Li Kingdom and the Xun Kingdom, which would be a great benefit to the Li Country.

But the water supply in Xun Kingdom will inevitably be reduced. Flooding is only temporary, but changing the waterway will have a lasting impact. Who knows how much the arable land in Xun Kingdom will be reduced after this change? How can they agree to that?"

So, are we just going to abandon the millions of disaster victims to their fate? Well, even if the people suffer a little more, they can always pull through.

Li Fan suddenly realized

"Wait a minute, if that doesn't benefit the Xun Kingdom, what are they still talking about? There's nothing left to discuss, isn't there? And what's with flooding Jiangling? Isn't Jiangling the territory of the Zhen Country's prince? Why are they fighting over it?"

Yao Xuanzhou couldn't quite explain the current chaotic situation outside, so he handed a copy of the official gazette to Li Fan to read himself.

Okay, as mentioned before, Jiujiang Prefecture Xun Kingdom and Jiangling Prefecture Zhen Country face each other across the river, with Nan Suwei to the north, making it a strategically important location. Now that everyone has turned hostile and started fighting, there's no need to talk about propriety or shame anymore.

Li Fan had seen it when he went on a trip before. The King of Xiangdong of Zhen Country built a city and stockpiled grain, recruited soldiers and horses, and made Jiangling Prefecture as solid as a bucket. He also colluded with Xun Kingdom, and his rebellious intentions were obvious. After Hou Gu rebelled, he naturally declared himself king and joined the Xiao Family's great escape.

Although he had started preparing troops much earlier than his brothers who were good-for-nothings, and had even won over a trusted general like Wang Juncai, the Prince of Xiangdong had once taken the lead and gained a huge advantage. He even defeated Hou Gu's rebel army and besieged Taicheng. It seemed that he was about to break through the city, eliminate the traitors, and unify the Zhen Country.

The massive army assembled by the Three Kingdoms suddenly swept in from the north, swiftly conquering the Zhen Country. In just a few battles, they wiped out the unprepared and caught off guard Xiangdong King's main force, instantly shattering the Zhen Country's unification ambitions.

Seeing Xiangdong King's sudden defeat, Xun Kingdom decisively tore up its agreement with Zhen Country, disregarding the long-standing alliances and friendly relations. They stabbed Xiangdong King in the back, launching a surprise attack and surrounding his weak rear base, Jiangling. This clearly indicated their intention to control Jiujiangkou, preventing the Sanyuan army from annihilating Zhen Country and then sweeping along the river to invade Xun Kingdom.

Having been defeated by the surprise attack of the Sanyuan army and then surrounded by the Xun Kingdom, the Xiangdong King's army was now completely wiped out and could no longer fight. His loyal ministers and generals were nowhere to be found, and he could only lead his personal troops to defend the isolated city. He was about to be defeated by a water attack and would soon follow in his father's footsteps.

What? You're asking what manifestation is doing?

Manifestation in the cultivation of immortality...

Yes, Penglai Mountain is closed.

Although the powerful clans of Zhen were still sailing overseas and traveling east to the immortal mountains to avoid disaster, Penglai had already informed Yuntai Peak, taking the lead in sealing off the mountain and no longer interfering in the grudges and disputes of the Central Plains, thus handing over Zhen to the Three Realms.

Of course, it wasn't a simple "handover." If it weren't for the secret negotiations with Penglai, where both sides had reached a considerable understanding, why would the Grand Tutor have directly led out his massive army to conquer the entire land?

"Hengshan has suffered heavy losses, and Xun Kingdom doesn't have enough cultivators to help. They are also struggling in the battle at Luofeng Mountain and don't have the troops to fight Li Country on the western front. So the abbot has already spoken: the flood must be controlled, whether they want to or not. Now we are discussing the scale of the flood control and how much food to give them as compensation for changing the waterway."

Huh? It's rare to see the Abbot show such strength... Oh, but then again, Li Fan won this round in the end.

Thinking of this, Li Fan felt a little relieved. Zhi Jingzi was seriously injured, a number of demons had died, Hengshan was in a mess, and the pressure on Li Country should be greatly reduced.

However, Li Fan has now truly upgraded his high-dimensional perspective, and his computing power has greatly increased. With a thought, he calculated in his mind and discovered that Jiangling actually holds a connection with him.

Come to think of it, he also threw away quite a few friends he'd only met once to those three greedy bald men at the Iron Buddha Temple. He wondered what had become of Yang Sheng and Gray-Headed Man, whether they'd escaped or not... Oh right, there were still two of his apprentices in Luo Feng, and a bunch of moths... Wow, a forgotten side quest suddenly resurfaced; maybe it was fate...

Without hesitation, Li Fan teleported instantly to Jiujiang.

What a coincidence! Just as I jumped over, I witnessed the fall of Jiangling City and the grand scene of the Prince of Xiangdong setting himself on fire.

The abbot and the Hengshan sect leader had probably been playing chess for half a month, waiting for this.

So Li Fan floated in the sky, watching as the Prince of Xiangdong, engulfed in flames, flew past him with a "thud" and fell to his death.

What, do we have to help him out or something...?

Li Fan had seen Jiangling City before. It was a city with high walls and deep moats, heavily guarded. However, the Xun Kingdom was across the river and had probably been planning how to break through the city for a long time. It was clear that they had put in a lot of effort.

Taking advantage of the flooding of the Li River, the Xun Kingdom's cultivators and army built dikes and mounds along the river, flooding the city with the river water. They breached the outer three layers of city walls, and then used their naval warships to sail directly into the city, exchanging fire with the arrow towers on the walls. Jiangling City was already short-handed, and with its fortified city breached, the defenders surrendered one after another, jumping into the water to escape.

Seeing that the tide had turned and defeat was inevitable, the King of Xiangdong set fire to the royal palace and city within the city. Fire burned on the water, obscuring the sky and sending clouds of smoke soaring into the heavens! The smoke caused birds to fall into the water and drown, and countless corpses floated on the river, with demons and evil spirits mingling with the fish and feeding on the dead.

The soldiers on the warships were even more terrifying than the demonic corpses. They paid no heed to the surrendered soldiers' kneeling pleas for mercy, brandishing swords and firing arrows indiscriminately. Whether they surrendered or not, they were all beheaded and limbs severed, slaughtered without mercy, venting their anger at the palace being flooded and burned, and at the fact that they had not been able to obtain any spoils of war.

The general of Xun Kingdom did not stop them. After all, supplies were limited, and there was no need for so many mediocre surrendered soldiers. So they were killed.

There were no civilians in the city. After all, Jiangling didn't have enough military rations to distribute to peasants. The city's population had probably been wiped out long ago. It's unknown whether they were conscripted to go north to be minced meat, had their property robbed and driven to Li Country to farm, or were used as cannon fodder when the city was Oldest One closed and defended. Those who were slaughtered were either the royal guards, palace servants and eunuchs, or the civil and military officials and their female relatives under the command of the Prince of Xiangdong.

In short, everyone understands the horrific scenes that occur when a dynasty collapses.

Li Fan sensed the general location and then flew into the fire. At this time, the chaotic soldiers who were looting in the city and the defeated army who were fighting desperately were still fighting for the gold and silver treasures in the palace. From time to time, cultivators flew up and down to escape and chase, risking being shot down by crossbows to compete for a chance.

Li Fan didn't find Yang Sheng and the others, but he vaguely sensed that there was something in the palace that he was connected to. So he carefully searched and found someone he had met once before.

I encountered her before in Lei Marsh; she was Xiao Hanzhen, the daughter of the Prince of Xiangdong, who was currently escaping from the palace. Although she had also reached the Golden Core realm by consuming elixirs and had even disguised herself as a eunuch to try and escape, how easy is it for a Golden Core cultivator to escape from a large army? Besides, this isn't a TV drama; are the soldiers blind enough not to recognize a woman disguised as a man?

As a result, Xiao Hanzhen not only failed to escape, but was also shot in the shoulder by an arrow and fell to the ground. When she retreated to the palace, she was chased by the chaotic soldiers. As the daughter of the Prince of Xiangdong, her main purpose in cultivating immortality was to preserve her youth and beauty. Did she really expect to have many female generals? If she were caught, her fate would probably be worse than death. Now she was truly desperate and ran wildly through the fire like a madwoman, while the pursuers behind her were getting closer and closer.

Could this opportunity be her?

Li Fan thought for a moment, then made a move to try and calm her down. However, the Dalu Jing Tian Finger pierced through her chest with a 'BIU' sound, severely injuring Xiao Hanzhen, who fell to the ground vomiting blood and unconscious.

Li Fan Fanhan—no, he wanted to be a hero and save the damsel in distress.

The pursuing soldiers were startled by the sudden appearance of another person and instinctively drew their bows and shot!

Li Fan then carefully waved his hand, creating a gust of wind that blew away the scattered arrows... and also carried away the chaotic soldiers and most of the palace, which were swept away by the gale and fell more than a hundred meters away...

Li Fan broke out in a cold sweat. No... wait a minute... he had clearly controlled his Dao Breath and reduced his power to the minimum... it seems he can't act rashly.

So Li Fan carefully lifted the Kun out of his arms, pointed to Xiao Hanzhen on the ground, and said, "Swallow it."

His microscopic body can leap across membranes, and the Kun, a naturally born divine Divine Beast, is probably a projection of some kind of high-dimensional creature. But Xiao Hanzhen's physical body is so weak that it can't even withstand a poke; it would probably die after a jump.

Kun grunted and grumbled for a while, expressing its dissatisfaction with Li Fan's behavior of using its storage bag.

Li Fan said, "What do you want to eat? It's on me."

So Kun said he wanted to eat tofu, and then sucked Xiao Hanzhen into his mouth in one gulp.

Just as Li Fan was about to leave, he suddenly felt something was wrong. Kun was able to escape the explosion with those magical treasures, so it should be able to send the items to different dimensions. He also realized that he could no longer sense Xiao Hanzhen's Divine Sense fluctuations from the world.

But now Li Fan discovered that the opportunity he had sensed earlier still existed within the Xiangdong King's Mansion. What was going on? Wasn't it referring to Xiao Hanzhen? Had he saved the wrong person?

But Li Fan couldn't sense anything more precise, and the Si Nan was wandering aimlessly.

Li Fan thought for a moment and said to Kun, "Spit her out again."

Kun rolled his eyes and spat out the wet Xiao Hanzhen.

"Ahem, Princess, Princess, is there any treasure in your palace?"

Xiao Hanzhen death.

Li Fan was afraid that he would be stabbed to death with one finger, so he gave Kun a wink.

Kun understood, then slapped Xiao Hanzhen's face twice with its tail, scaring her into screaming.

"Don't kill me! Don't kill me! My father has already used up all the family's gold and silver to recruit soldiers! He's already given away all the Heavenly Treasure of Penglai to win them over! Besides some tattered books, we really have nothing left! Please spare my life!"

Book?

Li Fan realized what was going on. Damn, the ones burning the brightest were those bamboo scrolls and slips! He thought they were just firewood brought from the palace! And many of them were ancient bamboo slips! How could there be so many? There must be at least 100,000 scrolls! Hey, it's quite bizarre that a vassal king would have so many books.

Among these books, there might be some celestial scriptures or something he's destined to encounter. He certainly wouldn't find them by searching volume by volume now, but books are precious things. The Xiao Family has a long tradition of learning, with generations of immortals serving as prime ministers in the celestial Immortal Palace, and these are classics passed down to the present day. It would be a shame to discard even one of them...

Um...

Li Fan thought about it and decided it wasn't a big problem, so he said to Kun.

"Alright, let's swallow her."

"Help! Help me! Help me, waah!"

Kun rolled its eyes, sucked Xiao Hanzhen back in after spitting her out, and then heard Li Fan say to it.

"Swallow all these books, leave not a single one behind."

The Kun was dizzy with anger.