Sending a Pot

Originally, I went out to find armor, but I ended up going through a tribulation, updating a system, and picking up my child. In the meantime, I also brought back a bunch of random stuff like books, moths, and junk magic items to Ink Bamboo Mountain.

Xiao Hanzhen refused to leave, so Li Fan let her go. He put the moths in the Epiphyllum Forest to raise, and Li Fan was too lazy to sort out the other valuables one by one. He just dumped them at Li Family Village, had two foxes help him sort them out, and then flew to the Celestial Realm to deliver the note written by Zhi Jingzi to the sword-making workshop.

Upon seeing the writing and calculating the cause and effect, Xuan Tian indeed rushed out without even bothering to forge the sword.

Where is this person?

"It is said that he fled to Sanyuan."

Li Fan understood Xuan Tian's reaction and briefly explained the information concerning "Seventh Friend", "Zhi Jingzi", and "Chen Jinu" to Xuan Tian.

"He now calls himself Huangfu Jing, Bai Family also entered the Daoist path at Hengshan. It's likely that he's been secretly taking care of Huangfu Jing's descendants all these years."

Back in the day, when Brother Yan was in the Luo Sect and in the South Border, he probably received some kind of secret favor from him. At least it seems that this bastard hasn't done anything to wrong the Beichen Sword Sect. Xuan Tian, if you want to spare his life, I'll give him a chance to dissolve his body."

The Profound Heaven Sword Intent circled around Li Fan once.

"Hey, you're pretty capable now, aren't you? Breaking through to a new technique and awakening the true essence of Emei, you think you can take my Sword Sect's abilities for granted!"

Li Fan shrugged. "I didn't mean that. I just meant that next time we see him, everyone will have to go all out. There won't be any room for holding back. Only one Sword Sect disciple will survive. Be prepared."

Xuan Tian was silent for a moment, then said, "... Hmph, I've seen plenty of things like this. Do I need you to remind me? Fine, once sword immortals reach your level, they truly have no other choice but to fight to the death. Perhaps infighting among fellow disciples is the destiny of my Sword Sect. I won't interfere in the grudges between you juniors; settle them yourselves."

Li Fan nodded, agreeing with what Xuan Tian had said. He assumed Chen Jinu felt the same way.

The sword path of the Beichen Sword Sect is about breaking through between life and death. Once you reach the Enlightenment Stage, you need to take it a hundred feet further, and many times the only way is to fight among your fellow disciples.

So whether it's Benshan or Waishan, righteous or evil, whether the word "Qi" comes first or "sword" comes first, these are all just pretexts for fighting. Once everyone starts fighting, there's no need to worry about camaraderie or hesitate.

So no matter how nicely they talk about eliminating demons and protecting the righteous path, in reality, they are just washing their swords with the blood of their fellow believers to prove their own path.

To overcome calamity with a sword, to prove one's path through killing—that is the way.

Xuan Tian said, "Originally, you could have learned the Nine Luminaries Sword Scripture after you reached the Divine Transformation. However, since you two have a long-cherished wish to Mingmen with swords, it would be too biased for me to further guide you on the crucial points of the Sword Sect's secret techniques. If you have no chance of winning, you won't be able to become a killing calamity."

Moreover, by forging the Tai Sha Sword Embryo, you are also opening up new methods for my Sword Sect. I will pass on to you all the sword techniques I have comprehended during my five hundred years of confinement before the Void Star. I hope that in this battle, you can verify the mysteries of the old and new sword scriptures and carry forward the legacy of my Sword Sect."

"Hiss... The Void Star Technique that Xuan Tian comprehended! Isn't that the <Xuan Tian Void Star Great Slaughter Sword Scripture>?! Roar! Come on, come on!"

Li Fan was just worrying about how to continue cultivating the True Yang Technique now that his True Yang Heart had been melted by Xuan Tian, when unexpectedly, Xuan Tian really came to his rescue! Good for him!

So Li Fan and Xuan Tian immediately began discussing the Xuan Tian Void Star Sword Manual in the deep space of the Celestial Void Abyss.

It must be said that Xuan Tianzhen truly deserves to be called a genius unparalleled throughout history. Trapped five hundred years before the Tai Su Dao Ancestor's Void Star, he wasn't thinking about how to escape back, but rather about cleaving the Void Star with his sword and shattering the universe—can you believe it?

Unfortunately, the Sword Ancestor Xuantian at that time could only handle beings of six or seven dimensions at most, while these Dao Ancestors were all extra dimensions beyond the twenty-seventh dimension, beings capable of breaking through membranes and gates. So, just as Chen Jinu's sword intent couldn't penetrate Li Fan's star core, Xuan Tian could probably kill beings within the six or seven dimensions he could reach, but he was helpless against the true forms of those Dao Ancestors who were far beyond his perception.

Wow, that's some seriously amazing skill from the blind monk! I need to keep practicing... Oh right, speaking of which, isn't there a Blood Pool in Ink Mountain on the Moon that requires Divine Transformation to enter? I guess I can enter that now too. Alright, another dungeon to farm...

Of course, Xuan Tian had carefully studied a set of things. After all, he had spent five hundred years close to the Void Star, so he must have studied it more thoroughly than the people of the Luo Sect. So this didn't seem like a discussion of swordsmanship, but more like a university lecturer explaining the trajectories of celestial bodies and the knowledge of particle emission and transition.

Fortunately, Li Fan's comprehension was up to par, and he had already been exposed to the eleventh dimension, so he could barely understand what Master Xuantian was saying, and he didn't fall into confusion like "Where am I? Who am I? How come there's a blackboard full of writing in the blink of an eye???" in the blink of an eye.

To be honest, with the system offline and no intelligent assistance, Li Fan's comprehension is quite limited. He can only spit out the Tai Sha Star Core and use it as a flying sword to circle around. However, this is a genuine Black Hole Sword Technique with formidable power, so it's not bad.

Xuan Tian's learning ability is truly remarkable. He has supplemented his knowledge with a lot through the system and, after observing Li Fan's star core, he said he has gained a great deal.

"The principle of membrane jump you mentioned shouldn't be a direct dimensional ascension of the entity itself, but rather a change in dimensional link through manipulation of the star core, releasing a field of force. I can improve it a bit more for Luna. As long as she can resist the pull and not fall into the star core, and maintain a close orbital posture, she should be able to jump to the membrane with you."

"That's amazing... but why can the Kun jump along with it?"

"The Kun is a creature that forcibly possesses the physical body. After all, it is Divine Beast born from the Great Dao, capable of shattering the void at will. You should show it some respect and not treat it like a mere baggage all the time."

Kun agreed, saying, "Yes, that's right."

"..."

Xuan Tian, "However, the star core you cultivated is truly unbelievable. It can actually access spaces outside the Immortal Path and even accomplish something as unbelievable as membrane jumps. There are truly heavens beyond heavens."

Unfortunately, that's where it ends. These past few days, while I was forging the sword, I kept thinking about it. I realized that with the things in this Taiji Realm, it would be impossible to break through the membrane and cause real damage to those Non-Thing. No matter how much we slay demons and monsters, in the end, we can only kill some clones and projections.

"If I had a truly exceptional sword, how could I have been helpless against the Demon Ancestor for five hundred years..."

"A fine sword... Oh, speaking of which, I have a pot, it's pretty good. The system said it can directly pass through membranes, it's even more powerful than a Kun!"

Xuan Tian was shocked and circled around the Kun. "What!? There's actually such Heavenly Treasure! Where is it! Quickly bring it out for me to see! Maybe I can reforge the sword!"

The Kun spread its two fins, indicating that it had no idea.

Li Fan was sweating bullets. Damn, this broken pot had actually become a hot commodity. Well, since he was going to pay with the pot anyway, he might as well bring it over and show it to Xuan Tian.

However, both of his previous pure spirits had been destroyed, making communication with his clone difficult. Li Fan dared not rashly leap forward, as a miscalculation could destroy all of Qiongqi's clones, which would be a great loss. Therefore, he placed his main body in the Celestial Realm for Xuan Tian to observe and study at will, while he arranged and performed a ritual to send his spirits out of his body to seize Qiongqi's clones.

The moment Li Fan opened his eyes, he felt extremely hungry, his stomach practically sticking to his back; even his tiger-head-like face looked haggard. He had fasted for twenty-one days; whether this would grant him immunity to three attempts at possession was unknown, but he could at least eat three cows.

This time, the main body has undergone a major update. Only the Tai Sha Star Core remains of the main body, and the outer part is just a humanoid container. Naturally, all the Tai Su Dao Body that was cultivated before has been fused and absorbed, collapsing and shrinking into the star core.

Daoist Qiongqi's side was indeed affected and severely impacted. Only Qiongqi Guiche's primordial spirits remained in the Divine Court, and even the Qiankun Twin Dragons disappeared.

Without wasting words, Li Fan broke through the barrier and opened the surrounding machine-made mummified corpse canisters. He removed their batteries and drank them voraciously, replenishing his energy with the highly concentrated, asphalt-petroleum-like poisonous solution. He drank forty canisters before wiping his mouth, letting out a burp, and spitting out a nine-headed crow.

Okay, later we'll find a blood puppet or something to disintegrate the Guiche and train it into an clone. The main body is too advanced, with black holes and superstrings; one wrong move and it'll crash. It's better to have multiple escape routes.

Qiongqi's mischief prompted Zhang Yanzhi and the Mummified Corpse King to rush over and await orders.

"Hurry, hurry, take me to the main altar! I want to become the leader of the cult!"

This side quest has been dragging on for too long, and Li Fan is getting impatient. Once he uses the pot to exchange for the position of altar master and obtains the God Lord Jade, he can retrieve the immortal silk hidden in the Divine Sect's secret vault back to Ink Bamboo Mountain, and then his main body can jump over and snatch the pot.

Well, he kept his promise and handed over the pot, and he didn't say that he couldn't take it back, right? If he's lucky, he might even kill the Octopus-headed Sergeant in the legion, eliminating another major threat to Ink Bamboo Mountain. Wouldn't that be great?

Zhang Yanzhi also knew that the worst thing you could do when serving a demon god who was on a whim was to displease him, or he would swallow you whole without even chewing. The only option was to go along with him. So he immediately accompanied Li Fan as they flew toward the headquarters of the cult.

This time, they went to the Great Guangming Temple in the Tianshan Mountains, which was guarded by the Light Dharma King. It had been captured and rebuilt several times by the Xuanmen. In terms of grandeur, it was certainly not as good as the Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land that the immortal Immortal Palace and Xuanmen had cultivated for generations. In terms of prosperity, it could not compare with the densely populated Central Plains.

The main reason is that the Great Guangming Temple is the place where the original deity attained enlightenment. It has been the main altar of the religion for generations, and contains many ancient city ruins and forbidden areas of the religion. Therefore, as long as it can be reclaimed, the successive Sect Leader and Dharma Kings of the religion will rebuild the main altar and restore the glory of the religion.

At this time, the city was almost entirely inhabited by followers of the Divine Cult, all dressed in their blood-red robes. Even Li Fan, a demon god, was given a protective robe to change into, showing a strong emphasis on organizational cohesion...

Because there had been prior arrangements, and the entire city of Feilai had Saintess playing the xun (a type of ancient Chinese wind instrument) and acting as guides, Li Fan didn't encounter any trouble throughout the journey. Nor did any trouble actively provoke the demon gods protecting the faith. He smoothly met a handsome man with a large beard in a temple.

"Respected Demon God, my name is Ali, and I am the sergeant you spoke with."

This guy is probably of mixed blood, and he's cultivated to the Golden Core realm. His Divine Sense fluctuations are also quite good. It's just unknown whether he's using his true form or a blood puppet at this moment.

"Here, your pot." Li Fan casually handed over the pot. "Where else would you find something like this? Let me get it for you."

Ali was caught off guard when the pot was thrust into his arms, and he even forgot his words for a moment. He obviously didn't expect this demon god to be so honest, giving him the pot as soon as he said he would, and even volunteering to contribute to the cause of the cult and the legion. He was deeply moved.

"Don't worry, Demon God. I will be the first to ask you for help as soon as I have any news. You want to be the altar master, right? Leave it to me. It just so happens that my Divine Sect conquered the old territory of the Qingyang Sect a few years ago. It would be most appropriate for you, Demon God, to manage it."

The Light Dharma King is currently in Kunlun, working with other deities to suppress the remnants of the Demonic Sect. Once the Dharma King returns, we'll go through the formalities before arranging for you to be promoted to the position of Altar Master of the Divine Sect..."

"Remnants of the Demonic Sect? Do you need my help?" Li Fan's eyes lit up.

Ali shook his head and said, "The Demon God probably wants to gain merit again, but let's forget about it this time. Among those demonic cultivators, there are Emei masters protecting them, and even the gods can't do anything to them; they can only force them to retreat. Besides, we can't interfere in this kind of battle between high-level cultivators."

As he spoke, Ali snapped his fingers, summoning a drone spider. He then placed the pot in the spider's mouth and let it carry it away.

Li Fan sensed the opponent's fluctuations, calculated their location, and was preparing to use his true form to jump over, kill the person, steal the pot, and run away.

Ali suddenly turned to Zhang Yanzhi, who was sitting to the side, munching on roujiamo (Chinese hamburger), drinking milk tea, and sucking on grapes, and said, "Saintess Highness, I'd like to inform the Demon God about the legion."

Zhang Yanzhi kept talking, then waved his hand to indicate, "Go ahead, go ahead."

So Ali gestured for Li Fan to enter, saying, "Lord Demon God, you are now the leader of my cult. Why not consider joining my legion?"

Li Fan asked curiously, "You just casually recruit people from the Divine Cult like this, don't they care?"

Ali laughed and said, "Our goals are not conflicting, and the cooperation is very pleasant. Why would the lords care? Actually, Demon God, you have reached this level, so you should know that there is more than just the Taiji Realm in this universe."

The Divine Cult is an organization within the Taiji world, while our Legion is a grand alliance comprised of many similar local organizations across various worlds, working together and sharing technological and military support. If you wish, you can join our Legion and travel to other worlds to gain experience."

Li Fan narrowed his eyes, "... You... can travel to other worlds?"

Ali nodded. "Of course, our legion has a special technology, similar to the Divine Cult's method of soul possession, which can project the soul onto a physical vessel in another world. Although it cannot directly communicate with the physical body, we have found that the Divine Cult's soul possession method is extremely special, and it is equally effective for cultivating one's Dao heart and soul cultivation in other worlds."

Originally, they fled to another world to cultivate in order to escape the extermination of the Demonic Sect, but now the Divine Sect is a core ally of our legion. There are countless members of the Divine Sect cultivating throughout the vast universe. As long as we gather them together and descend upon the Taiji Realm, those Demonic Palaces and Demonic Sects will be utterly vulnerable in front of our Divine Sect's army."

Ali led Li Fan to the backyard and showed Li Fan the device, which resembled a sleep pod from a science fiction novel. He also waved his hand, bringing up a bunch of holographic images that displayed various strange-looking 'container entities' such as blood puppet slaves, clones, metal mummies, bio-monsters, and Tai Su Non-Thing.

Some of the footage was live satellite footage, showing tens of thousands of monstrous, ghoul-like creatures slaughtering an army and breaching a city.

"You see, the False Moon has become increasingly stable recently. Our legion's information channels can now maintain direct connections for tens of thousands of people. The Divine Cult is currently experimenting with slaughtering the alien nation in the west and capturing a million people. With these resources, the cult members lost in the battles of the Ten Ultimate Formation and Juelong Ridge can be replenished immediately."

Li Fan watched silently as those alien mortals were slaughtered and exterminated by the Divine Cult's Golden Core and Nascent Soul Realm soldiers and magical beasts, and finally understood. The Divine Cult, with the support of its legions, had long been preparing for a full-scale war, and was only now holding back its massive military buildup, waiting for the Grand Tutor and Hengshan to fight to the death, until blood flowed like rivers...

For a moment, Li Fan was also at a loss.

Holy crap, this cult has partnered with the legion to go public first! Their Blood God Child is immortal and can reincarnate at will, and their equipment containers are straight off the production line. This is practically a dimensional reduction attack! How are we supposed to fight this...?

Unexpectedly, Ali spoke up itself.

"There's a small problem now. Do you remember that lady from the company? She originally contacted me wanting to switch to the Legion, but it seems she triggered a non-compete agreement and was removed from the job. So, according to the rules, the company will send a manager down soon."

Li Fan noticed something was off about the other person's voice and gave him a strange look.

Ali, though still smiling, had pale lips and his forehead was covered in cold sweat.

"That idiot was foolish enough to let the firewall block her. She probably still has our communication records. If the company's executives find out here, it'll be all over. I need to escape to another world immediately, so I'd like to ask you to keep some of the legion's personal belongings for me. They're all similar to that pot."

Even the legion's apostles cannot trust these things—no, it's precisely because they are other apostles that they cannot trust them. However, they are of little use to you, Demon God. Just let me hide in your territory and help guard them. Rest assured, before I leave, I will definitely help you secure the position of altar master!"

"... Oh, okay, is the company some kind of terrifying demon?" Li Fan pointed to the hellish scene on the screen, "Even more terrifying than this?"

Ali swallowed hard. "Yeah, it's worse than death. At least you can be reincarnated after death. But if you fall into the company's hands, you're stuck being a corporate slave for eternity. You can't even die if you want to until you pay off your debts."

Damn, now that you mention it, it's actually quite scary...