Chapter 908

Among all the feedback he sensed, the strongest came from Su Yuqing of the Great Li Realm.

Perhaps because she had truly gained tangible benefits in her cultivation, her faith in the True Immortal of the Compassionate Mortal World was the most pure and fervent.

Compared to before, Li Fan was now able to observe not just her surroundings, but—astonishingly—he could even faintly perceive some of the thoughts in her heart.

“Thanks to the blessings bestowed by the True Immortal, I was able to lead everyone safely back from the campaign against the Fire Realm.”

“This humble woman dares not break her promise. From this day forth, I vow to serve loyally at your side, unto death without regret.”

Su Yuqing bowed devoutly, knocking her head several times before the faceless stone statue she herself had carved.

At that moment, Li Fan sensed a strange force pierce through the restrictions of time and space and descend upon his body.

It was but the faintest trace—so thin it could almost be ignored compared to the boundless ocean of his own power.

Yet it bore some resemblance to the cultivation feedback from the Sitting Immortal Art, though its essence was entirely different.

When this energy entered his body, it remained clearly distinct from his spiritual power.

It did not surge toward his dantian, but instead crept toward his sea of consciousness.

But Li Fan, who had long been wary of the Faceless True Immortal, would never let it succeed.

Seven-colored divine radiance flared forth, weaving into layer upon layer of light cocoons that enclosed this alien energy.

Once sealed, its reaction surprised him.

It did not struggle violently, but instead settled down in silence.

Unlike his own spiritual power that glimmered with soft white light, this faint golden strand, though weak, gleamed like pure gold.

Its grade seemed even slightly higher than spiritual power itself.

Li Fan examined this golden energy quietly for a long time.

He knew that this was the result of the faceless stone statue’s effect—transforming Su Yuqing’s gratitude and devotion into substance.

“Could this be the legendary Power of Faith? Or perhaps the Vow Power of All Beings?”

“Or something else entirely?”

“…Too little information. For now, I’ll simply call it Vow Power.”

Li Fan’s expression grew solemn.

Even knowing that this golden vow power was like poisoned candy, at this moment he had no choice but to swallow it.

The idol’s link to him was already established. Unless he immediately severed the truth of his incarnation, no matter how far he was from the statue, this golden vow power would always flow into his body.

Moreover, it was not a one-time occurrence.

As Su Yuqing continued her devout prayers, before long, another thread of golden vow power condensed, following the same path toward Li Fan’s sea of consciousness.

“Killing Su Yuqing would be useless.”

“Those cultivators who swore vows before the statue—they’ve all essentially become machines generating golden Vow Power.”

“Though they cannot yet match Su Yuqing, with time, the faceless stone idol will seep deeper into their hearts.”

“One day, they too will reach this state.”

Li Fan narrowed his eyes. Though startled, his mind remained calm as he weighed countermeasures.

Once more he drew upon his Seven-colored Divine Light, carefully isolating the new golden vow power and merging it with the first.

His countless reincarnations, his relentless gathering of hidden truths across the worlds—none of it had been in vain.

Soon, he had already devised a way to counter it.

And after some experimentation—the results were astonishingly effective.

Li Fan released the seven-colored divine light’s seal over the golden power of vows, then forcibly guided that alien energy, slowly gathering it within his dantian.

Yet even then, the energy remained restless, surging about as though it wished to rush into his Sea of Consciousness.

Just then—

A phantom figure suddenly took shape inside his dantian.

Like a whirlpool, it drew in the golden vow power that was about to escape, swallowing it whole.

“As expected—it works.” Li Fan’s heart leapt with joy.

That phantom figure was none other than the Calamity Body, the technique he had once used to store overflowing cultivation whenever he hit a bottleneck.

It had been a long time since he was last trapped in such a bottleneck. With no surplus cultivation to overflow and be wasted, this method had not been used for ages.

But now, when confronted with the troublesome golden vow power, it showed astonishing effectiveness.

This secret art of the Calamity Body originated from the [Supreme Primordial True Scripture].

In the ancient cultivation world, there were occasionally cultivators whose advancement was too fast, causing their foundations to become unstable.

At such times, the cultivator needed to forcibly suppress their realm and solidify their Dao foundation.

Every sect had its own method.

The Taishang Sect’s method was to manifest a phantom figure within the dantian, to house excess cultivation.

Since the sect believed an unstable foundation was itself a form of tribulation, they called this phantom vessel the Calamity Body.

“The true inheritance of the Taishang Sect came from the Grand Mage of Heavenly Capital.”

“And the Grand Mage of Heavenly Capital, like the Xuantian King, possessed a Half-Immortal body. It is highly possible that he, too, gained many inheritances from the Immortal Realm during those ancient calamities.”

“No wonder this method can restrain even the golden vow-power, which clearly surpasses ordinary spiritual energy by an entire grade.”

So Li Fan reasoned to himself.

Now that the Calamity Body was taking in the vow-power, it was as if the golden energy had found its rightful home.

From then on, without Li Fan’s deliberate guidance, it flowed naturally toward the golden Calamity Body within his dantian.

Seeing this, Li Fan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“For now, the crisis is resolved.”

“This Calamity Body is an independent vessel. I can abandon it at any time, and it won’t affect my true body in the slightest.”

“Even if, in the worst case, it develops into a separate entity like Xu Bai of the 115th lifetime, it will lack its own will. That alone would make it far easier to deal with.”

“At present it is nothing more than a crystallization of energy, with no other abnormalities.”

After carefully examining and confirming this once more, Li Fan gave a small nod.

Deep down, he felt that as the golden vow-power accumulated further, the Calamity Body could even be detonated directly.

He could not be sure what the destructive force of such an explosion would be.

But he knew well that detonation was only the lowest, crudest method of using golden vow-power.

“Licking blood from the tip of a blade…”

Li Fan’s eyes turned dark and profound, as he murmured to himself.

He knew perfectly well the risks hidden behind this golden vow-power.

But with the [Truth] backing him, he didn’t have to cower before every possibility.

Just as he pondered how best to deal with this power in the future.

A sudden disturbance rose from within his body.

The source of the anomaly…

Was none other than the dark-golden skull sealed deep within the Five Elements Great Cave-Heaven, together with the gray mold festering inside it!

Perhaps because the Calamity Body had now accumulated a sufficient level of vow-power, even though the skull was sealed within the Cave-Heaven,

The gray mold sensed the presence of the golden vow-power.

Like a starving beast catching the scent of fresh blood—

For the very first time, the gray mold surged out from within the skull, madly crashing against the seven-colored walls of light around it.

The rainbow divine light was consumed at a terrifying pace.

Li Fan’s expression darkened. Mobilizing the spiritual power of the Five Elements Cave-Heaven, he quickly replenished the defenses with an unending stream of energy.