My Longevity Simulation

Chapter 1303: Looking Back and Reviewing

Three years anchored, atop Jieli Mountain Peak.

Li Fan, who had been sitting in meditation and deep thought, suddenly opened his eyes.

His mind had been disturbed, and he could no longer maintain calm.

Letting out a long breath, he slowly stood and walked out of the wooden cabin.

He came to the cliffside and gazed into the distant sea of clouds. Mountain winds surged in waves, making his robes flap loudly.

Only after nearly half a day did Li Fan’s state of mind gradually return to peace.

Over these past three years, this scene had not happened for the first time.

Unlike before.

When Li Fan successfully used [Truth] and came back to one year after his anchor point this time, the experiences of the previous reincarnation still continued to deeply affect him.

It was not the passive influence of falling into the True Immortal’s net. Rather, the problem lay in Li Fan’s own mentality.

Even with the protection of the Xuanhuang Immortal Heart Mantra, he could not escape it.

Whenever he sank into concentration for long, from the depths of his mind, the image would uncontrollably emerge.

In endless darkness, Cat Treasure leaping upward, then swallowing the figure of the True Immortal from the Immortal Ruins.

Cold sweat would instantly drench him, and his mind would fall into chaos.

He could no longer maintain a tranquil state.

“Cat Treasure, Cat Treasure…”

Li Fan’s gaze flickered as he repeatedly muttered those two words.

Cat Treasure clearly possessed three abilities: item replication, lifeform simulation, and marrow cleansing.

Yet when it had first been fished out from the Fishing Pond, it had only been of white quality.

The Fishing Pond was faintly the creation of an nameless True Immortal who had already comprehended the Dao of Fishing.

And something capable of deceiving the Fishing Pond, how could it possibly be simple?

Cat Treasure feeding on source power essence also further demonstrated its extraordinary nature.

Only, whether it was the Holy Emperor acting as a chess piece, or Li Fan who considered himself the chess player, neither had anticipated...

That Cat Treasure would be such a terrifying creation.

Where immortal power reached, it was as though a True Immortal had personally descended.

Even though it was not the True Body, merely a projection, it had still suppressed the Immortal Descent, All Things Return to Void grand formation that had shattered the Xuanhuang Realm with a casual movement. 𝑅àN𝖔ᛒËŞ

In stark contrast were the three Supreme experts of the star sea.

Even exhausting all their strength, they could only barely survive within the Immortal Formation.

The gap between Supreme cultivators and True Immortals could not be measured by reason.

And Cat Treasure, which could swallow a True Immortal projection in a single bite...

Its true strength was impossible to imagine.

In the previous life, Li Fan used [Truth] at the moment the suction force of the Immortal Ruins vanished, the High Wall collapsed, and the Star Sea fell into turmoil.

His instinct to survive had allowed him, after the initial shock, to temporarily suppress the fear in his heart.

Only in this life did he finally come back to his senses.

And feel overwhelming lingering fear.

He had once faced a True Immortal from the Immortal Ruins directly.

Even if it had been through a clone, even if [Truth] carried many side effects afterward, Li Fan had still successfully returned.

So when the True Immortal descended in the previous life, Li Fan had remained shocked but composed, merely maintaining vigilance instead of immediately using [Truth].

His purpose had been to pry more secrets about True Immortals.

He never expected...

That the descent of the True Immortal would reveal Cat Treasure’s true nature.

The True Immortal from the Immortal Ruins, capable of destroying the Xuanhuang Realm with a single glance, had not even been able to react before being swallowed in one bite by Cat Treasure.

If Cat Treasure had set its sights on Li Fan, how could he possibly have survived?

A hundred lifetimes of planning had nearly vanished in an instant, condemning him to eternal ruin.

How could that not fill Li Fan with lingering fear?

“I originally thought I had already been cautious enough.”

“I believed I had basically probed the depths of the Xuanhuang Realm. That from here onward, there would be far less to fear. I did not expect that beyond the High Wall, I would receive such a tremendous shock…”

Ignoring the still flickering [Truth] inheritance option prompts before his eyes, Li Fan returned to the wooden cabin.

Inside the room were wooden cats carved from timber, filling every corner. Their forms varied, vivid and lifelike.

Yet all of them were incomplete half-finished products, missing limbs, making it impossible to see the cat’s original appearance from the sculptures.

These had all been personally carved by Li Fan over the past three years.

Without using spiritual energy, made entirely by hand.

Li Fan stared at them for a moment, then selected another suitable block of wood and picked up the carving file resting nearby.

He began carving patiently.

Li Fan was using this method of recreating Cat Treasure through wood carving to directly confront the deepest fear in his heart, in hopes of eliminating Cat Treasure’s influence over him.

It had indeed shown some effect.

Compared to three years ago, the frequency with which Li Fan awoke from nightmares of Cat Treasure had greatly decreased.

However, Li Fan clearly knew that if he wished to truly resolve this “heart demon,” it would still require a long period of time.

And so he took this opportunity to carefully review and reflect.

At the final moment of the previous life, the Star Sea had fallen into turmoil.

The impact from the collapse of the High Wall caused many of the powerful cultivators who had survived within the world-exterminating immortal formation to be unable to withstand it, turning to ash.

At that time, Li Fan’s divine sense clone, positioned at the core of the immortal formation and borrowing the formation’s remaining power, had faintly sensed something.

The turbulence in the Star Sea had not been caused entirely by the collapse of the High Wall.

There was also the reason of some existence descending abruptly. Like a massive boulder plunging into a deep pool, it splashed up countless waves. In the already turbulent Darkest Star Sea, it stirred wave after monstrous wave.

This was a major upheaval in the Darkest Star Sea, one that had not appeared in the ten thousand years since the Immortal Path was severed.

Amid such chaos and danger, because of his decisiveness and vigilance, Li Fan had indeed successfully returned through [Truth].

But the scenes he experienced during [Truth] were different from before.

This was also the deeper reason why, over the past three years, Li Fan had never truly been able to calm his mind.

Under normal circumstances, the scene during [Truth] would be that the surrounding world dimmed, as if covered by a layer of misty water, making everything indistinct. Once [Truth] activated, all images would freeze, shatter, and fly into his mind.

When facing overwhelmingly powerful threats, such as when the True Immortal of the Immortal Ruins destroyed the Xuanhuang Realm with a single glance, or when the Faceless True Immortal tracked him down, these terrifying existences could move within the frozen scenes surrounding [Truth]. However, they moved very slowly, as if the inside and outside of [Truth] belonged to different spacetime layers.

But the [Truth] scene Li Fan experienced in his previous life was completely different.

The scene outside [Truth] seemed unaffected and remained frozen as usual. However, the surrounding images, as if wrapped in mist, flickered from time to time. Brightness fluctuated uncertainly, like an old television losing its signal.

At that moment, Li Fan’s thoughts were almost completely blank.

He had absolutely no means of resistance. Like someone awaiting judgment, he could only wait for his final fate to descend.

Fortunately.

[Truth] ultimately activated successfully, and Li Fan once again returned to Anchor Year 1.

When that incomparably familiar scenery appeared before his eyes, Li Fan nearly collapsed from exhaustion, cold sweat pouring down his body.

Thinking of this, the file in Li Fan’s hand slipped, and the originally perfect little wooden cat carving was instantly ruined.

Li Fan tossed it aside, then took out another block of wood and began carving again.

He cast aside all distracting thoughts from his mind and focused with utmost seriousness.

When a statue highly resembling Cat Treasure, but missing both ears, finally took shape, Li Fan felt his heart calm considerably once more.

He began reviewing the experiences of his previous life.

The greatest gain from that previous life was naturally learning of Cat Treasure’s existence and gaining a concrete understanding of what lay beyond the High Wall.

In the past, Li Fan had even planned that, if given the chance, he might use the legacy left behind by Mr. Bai to cross the High Wall. But for now, he had temporarily abandoned that thought.

Although what lay beyond the High Wall was terrifying, its actual impact on Li Fan at present was not particularly great.

After all, judging from Cat Treasure’s behavior, the only beings truly worthy of its notice were existences at the True Immortal level.

Li Fan was still far too far from the True Immortal realm.

Because he was too weak, there was no need for needless anxiety.

As for the origins of the terrifying and awe-inspiring Cat Treasure, based on the experiences of his previous life, Li Fan had two guesses.

First, Cat Treasure might originally have been a creation of the Nameless Immortal who created the Fishing Pond.

It might even be an extension of that Nameless Immortal’s power.

The Fishing Pond and Cat Treasure likely were not unique, nor limited to a single location.

Their mission would be to search the world for surviving True Immortals.

Once traces of them were found, the Nameless Immortal would descend and devour them.

Just like the fate of those Fish Kings Li Fan saw in the Fish Stabilize Pond of the Congyun Sea back then.

But there was one problem with this theory.

Things were devoured because they had value.

The Fish Kings were divided and consumed because they had been nourished by the spiritual energy of the cultivators participating in the fish competition. To the other Fish Kings, they were supreme nourishment.

But for an Nameless Immortal who had already comprehended a Dao path and transcended existence, ordinary True Immortals seemingly held no value worth devouring.

“Unless the true targets are True Immortals like the one from the Immortal Ruins, those who have comprehended the Dao for ten thousand years and are on the verge of advancing. In that case, it might be possible to seize their understanding of the Dao and possess a second, or even more, Dao paths…”

True Immortals were already unimaginably distant. As for the Nameless True Immortal, there was even less information available.

Li Fan could only make reasonable deductions based on his previous understanding of how things worked.

Besides the possibility that Cat Treasure was an extension of the Nameless True Immortal, there was a second guess.

The reason Cat Treasure appeared inside the Fishing Pond was because its true target was the Nameless Immortal who entered the Dao through fishing.

The Fishing Pond plundered treasures from the starry sky. After sensing its power, Cat Treasure disguised itself as prey, willingly taking the bait and entering the Fishing Pond. Its goal was to find the Nameless Immortal behind the Fishing Pond.

As the saying goes, the fisher may also become the one being fished.

However, while idly waiting for prey to take the bait, it happened to discover another True Immortal. That counted as an unexpected delight.

Judging from Cat Treasure’s expression at the end of the previous life, it did not seem picky.

It was equally delighted by the appearance of the True Immortal from the Immortal Ruins.

What the second theory implied was far more terrifying than the first.

After all, Li Fan had long since known of the Nameless Immortal’s existence.

The Nameless Immortal realm is still above the True Immortal. Instantly killing a True Immortal would naturally be within reason.

But if the second speculation is true...

Then it would mean Cat Treasure is very likely only a vanguard.

A hunter deployed by a civilization beyond the High Wall, specifically used to hunt True Immortals, or even Nameless True Immortals.

Li Fan recalled the scene from the end of the previous life, when Cat Treasure leapt upward and headed toward the Immortal Ruins.

“I could not sense the specific situation inside. But the gradual disappearance of the Immortal Ruins’ suction force already proves certain facts.”

“There were no fluctuations from any battle at all...”

“The True Immortal within the Immortal Ruins likely did not manage much resistance before being captured.”

The reason Li Fan used the word captured rather than perished...

Was because he had clearly sensed the process of the Immortal Ruins’ suction slowly disappearing.

It was as if the source of that suction was being slowly dragged into a swamp, gradually vanishing.

Rather than the suction instantly disappearing the moment the True Immortal perished.

“If this speculation is true, then the collapse of worlds beyond the High Wall and the turmoil in the Star Sea are proof that the force behind Cat Treasure descended in order to capture True Immortals.”

“To be able to create something like Cat Treasure, that force beyond the High Wall must have developed to an unimaginable level.”

“Capturing True Immortals must be profitable.”

“If a True Immortal has any value, first would be immortal spiritual qi, second would be the Dao of the True Immortal itself...”

As Li Fan thought, he placed another newly carved little wooden cat statue in position.

His heart grew calm once again.

After the fear was dispelled, some thoughts surfaced in Li Fan’s mind.

“Thinking about it carefully, Cat Treasure’s discovery is not entirely bad news for me.”

“At the very least, I now possess a means to restrain True Immortals. I now have the capital to overturn the table if talks break down.”

“Unlike before, when if a True Immortal descended, I could only flee in disgrace by returning to [Truth].”

Li Fan’s gaze flickered.

“The only thing I need to watch out for is the exposure of [Truth].”

“From the scenes experienced during the final [Truth] in the previous life, the civilization behind Cat Treasure actually possesses power sufficient to affect [Truth].”

“It is not something like True Immortal power directly acting on me, thereby affecting the activation of [Truth].”

“It truly affected [Truth] itself.”

“Even if it was only slight fluctuations in the scenes of [Truth]...”

“If I want to borrow Cat Treasure’s power, then using clones becomes unavoidable.”

At this thought, Li Fan could not help but frown slightly.

In the previous life, his main body remained unmoving within the Derivation Law Jade space.

He split off many separate individuals, plotting in secret.

The Holy Emperor clone, the Holy Embryo, multiple divine sense incarnations...

Although no major overall problems occurred, subtle loss of control still appeared.

For example, the Holy Emperor clone displayed relatively strong moral principles. Although those had been settings Li Fan forcibly imposed during the clone’s creation, they eventually created an irreconcilable contradiction with the main body. Later, he directly and completely severed contact with the main body.

As a result, the main body’s perception was cut off. Some details of the battle against the Immortal Ancestor and the Heavenly Doctor remained unknown because of this.

Another example was the divine sense incarnations, whose mental stability was even worse than the main body or clones. Their emotional fluctuations were sometimes far too intense, completely contrary to the main body.

Although Li Fan could completely control every word and action of the divine sense incarnations, he could not fully eliminate this mental instability.

Aside from the factor that divine sense incarnations were merely strands of divine sense and inherently too weak...

Li Fan had also vaguely realized the fundamental reason why the divine sense incarnations from the previous life were so emotionally unstable.

It was precisely the Xuanhuang Immortal Heart Mantra.

First, the Holy Embryo transmitted the Xuanhuang Immortal Heart Mantra to the Qingxuan Army guarding the Chizha Abyss.

Then the Holy Emperor bestowed the Immortal Heart Mantra upon the Great Qi Imperial Guard.

The number of living beings cultivating this method together exceeded one hundred thousand.

At first, Li Fan did not think broadly spreading the Immortal Heart Mantra would have any effect on him.

But reality proved him wrong.

Ever since he stepped onto the immortal path, the Xuanhuang Immortal Heart Mantra had accompanied him all the way.

With cultivation that had already fused into instinct, it had gradually become faintly integrated with his very being.

After he spread it outward, the effect of the Xuanhuang Immortal Heart Mantra in maintaining mental stability was correspondingly affected.