140: Famous in the world of immortal cultivation, undercurrents

The desolate mountain range was rarely visited by humans.

The Spiritual Qi was so thin, like freshwater diluted countless times, that even the lowest-tier Yao Beasts couldn't be bothered to inhabit it.

Within a valley eroded beyond recognition by wind, a natural Immortal Cave had formed in a concave section of the mountain wall.

At the entrance of the Immortal Cave, Su Meier was carefully mending a moon-white robe under the cold moonlight.

It was Lin Fan's robe.

After a series of intense battles in the Secret Realm of Souls, this magic robe was already tattered, with scorched marks from Heavenly Tribulation lightning still clinging to its hem.

Her movements were light and slow.

Her slender jade fingers held a fine needle spun from ice silkworm silk, carefully threading it through the warp and weft of the fabric.

Her expression was utterly focused, as if what she held in her hands was not a damaged piece of clothing, but the most precious treasure in the world.

Deep within the Immortal Cave, Lin Fan sat cross-legged.

His eyes were tightly shut, his breathing long and steady, and there were no Spiritual Qi fluctuations around him, making him look like a lifeless jade statue.

Su Meier's gaze would always, uncontrollably, drift from the robe in her hands to that figure.

She watched him.

She watched his profile, which was sharper and more profound than before.

He was clearly just sitting there, quiet and peaceful.

Yet, in Su Meier's heart, waves of indescribable sorrow and pity arose.

She knew what kind of exhaustion was hidden beneath that calm exterior.

Resisting the Heavenly Tribulation.

Confronting the Primordial Demon.

Condensing an Immortal Grade Nascent Soul.

These feats, enough to shake the entire Cultivation World and make any name go down in history, were all endured by this man alone, in just one day.

She had personally witnessed his near-death Undergoing Tribulation process.

She had also personally felt the suffocating despair when he was possessed by the Primordial Demon.

But she could do nothing.

She could only watch, cry, and pray like a helpless child.

This feeling of powerlessness, like a fine needle, repeatedly pierced her heart.

She blamed herself.

She blamed herself for her low cultivation, unable to share even a tiny bit of his pressure.

She blamed herself for her shallow knowledge, unable to offer even a single useful reminder when he faced a desperate situation.

All she could do, it seemed, was this:

Mending a robe for him.

Guarding the Immortal Cave entrance for him, driving away occasionally intruding wild beasts.

Preparing a bowl of the most ordinary rice porridge for him, boiled with mountain spring water, utterly devoid of Spiritual Qi.

Thinking of this, her nose tingled again, and her eyes welled up slightly.

She lowered her head, using the mending motion to discreetly wipe away the dampness from the corners of her eyes.

She didn't want him to see her weakness.

He had already borne too much; she couldn't add any more emotional burden to him.

Just then, Lin Fan's body trembled slightly.

He slowly opened his eyes.

There was no light inside the Immortal Cave.

But his eyes, as if containing two deep starry skies, glowed faintly in the darkness.

He didn't look at Su Meier.

His attention was completely immersed within his own body.

Within his Dantian and Purple Mansion, the Immortal Grade Nascent Soul had completely stabilized.

The miniature Nascent Soul was crystalline throughout, with a solemn and dignified appearance, and the wisp of Immortal Dao charm between its brows flowed slowly like a living thing, exuding a Dao rhythm that transcended the world.

And deeper within the Nascent Soul, the dark brilliance that devoured all things, formed by the Soul-Devouring Dao Body, quietly resided like a dormant giant beast.

The two were no longer simply coexisting at this moment.

Instead, it was a perfect, seamlessly integrated union.

Lin Fan's mind stirred.

The devouring power of the Soul-Devouring Dao Body, like thousands of invisible tentacles, instantly spread out.

In the valley, the chaotic Spiritual Qi floating in the air, and even the faint residual Soul energy emanating from some recently deceased and decaying vegetation...

At this moment, all were captured by that invisible devouring force.

They were forcibly pulled, decomposed, and purified.

All impure and chaotic parts were instinctively rejected and annihilated by the Dao Body.

Only the purest, most primordial Soul energy remained, flowing like a trickling stream into Lin Fan's body, eventually absorbed by the miniature Nascent Soul.

The entire process was shockingly efficient.

Lin Fan clearly felt his Divine Soul power continuously growing at a slow but incredibly steady pace.

This feeling was as if his entire being had transformed into a perpetual motion machine, constantly Cultivating on its own.

"So, this is the true use of the Soul-Devouring Dao Body."

Lin Fan murmured in his heart.

Previously, he had only passively used the Dao Body to devour the Soul attacks of enemies or refine powerful Soul Origins.

Now he understood.

When the Dao Body combined with the Immortal Grade Nascent Soul, it had transformed into a supreme Dao foundation that could actively draw all Soul-related energy from heaven and earth.

Its understanding of the Soul Law was already etched into Lin Fan's instincts.

He even had a feeling.

As long as he wished, he could easily peel away a living being's Soul, as simple as peeling flesh from a fruit pit.

This sense of control over the most core essence of life made his heart palpitate, and also made him feel an unprecedented power.

However, just as he was immersed in the joy brought by this new power.

Deep in his Sea of Consciousness, without any warning, some images flashed by.

These were fragmented, chaotic images, filled with an aura of destruction.

He "saw" the sky torn open with huge and ugly black gap.

Within the gap, indescribably huge and distorted shadows slowly writhed.

He "saw" the earth burning, countless living beings wailing, their Souls polluted by a gray mist, turning into walking corpses that only knew slaughter.

He "saw" some towering figures, seemingly Immortals of legend, battling those shadows.

But their Immortal Qi, upon contact with those shadows, quickly dimmed and decayed.

Ultimately, their Immortal bodies, too, turned into the dust of the Universe.

The images flashed by in an instant.

So fast that Lin Fan didn't even have time to capture any details.

But that desolate, despairing, and terrifying aura, like the coldest brand, was deeply etched upon his Divine Soul.

"Era Calamity..."

Lin Fan's brows furrowed tightly.

The Primordial Demon's final curse echoed in his ears once again.

He hadn't taken it to heart before.

But now, he had to face this issue squarely.

The stronger the power he gained, the more acute his perception of this world became.

He could clearly feel a heavy, cloud-like pressure enveloping the entire world.

It was a suffocating feeling, like the calm before a storm.

He realized that although he had achieved a huge improvement, he had also, as a result, been completely pushed into the eye of the storm.

He was no longer the nameless nobody who could hide in Qingyun Sect, relying on death to gain rewards.

The Immortal Dao aura on him.

His unique Soul-Devouring Dao Body.

In the eyes of those unknown, higher-dimensional existences, they might be like a bright lamp in the dark night, incredibly conspicuous.

The road ahead would only be more dangerous.

The enemies he would face would also be more numerous, stronger, and perhaps... completely beyond his current understanding.

A strong sense of vigilance arose from the bottom of his heart.

At the same time.

Tens of thousands of miles away from this desolate mountain range, in the core region of the Cultivation World.

An unprecedented storm was quietly brewing.

Crimson Sun Sect.

Inside the Sect Master's main hall, the atmosphere was as oppressive as stagnant, solidified water.

Old Ancestor Chiyang sat in the chief seat, his face pale; after escaping from the Secret Realm of Souls, he had locked himself in the hall and hadn't spoken a word for three days and three nights.

His eyes were hollow and unfocused.

In his mind, what repeatedly played was the figure bathed in lightning and Immortal Qi, who effortlessly "ate" the Primordial Demon.

And finally, that seemingly casual warning gaze that made his Nascent Soul tremble.

Fear still lingered in his heart, unable to dissipate.

Below, the few core Elders of the Crimson Sun Sect didn't even dare to breathe heavily.

They had already, one after another, heard scattered news from other channels that had spread from the Secret Realm of Souls.

Every piece of news made their scalps tingle.

"Sect Master, that... that Lin Fan, who exactly is he?"

Finally, an Elder couldn't help but break the deadly silence.

Old Ancestor Chiyang's body trembled violently.

A trace of spirit finally returned to his eyes, but that spirit was filled with extreme complexity.

There was fear, there was awe, but even more, there was an uncontrollable, pathological greed.

"Investigate!"

His voice was hoarse, like two pieces of sandpaper rubbing together.

"Use all the Sect's power to investigate this Lin Fan!"

"His Origin, his background, the Cultivation Technique he practices, all the secrets on him!"

"This Old Ancestor wants to know everything about him!"

The same scene was also playing out in Azure Mystery Sect, Tianyi Dao, and several other top Sects with Nascent Soul Old Monsters.

Those Old Monsters who had luckily escaped from the Secret Realm, after experiencing the initial fear and shock, all, by coincidence, harbored the same thoughts as Old Ancestor Chiyang.

Everything Lin Fan had displayed had exceeded their understanding of a "Genius."

That simply couldn't be explained by Opportunity or talent.

Behind it, there must be a shocking secret, enough to drive the entire Cultivation World into madness!

For a time, major Sects, Hidden Families, and intelligence organizations all began to operate frantically.

The name "Lin Fan," like a hurricane passing through, swept across the upper echelons of the entire Cultivation World in a very short time.

Countless spies, countless informants, began to search like mad for any clues related to this name.

And as the survivors described their experiences in the Secret Realm in more detail.

This storm also began to spread wildly from the upper echelons to the circles of ordinary Cultivators.

In a bustling Cultivator city.

The largest restaurant in the city, "Listening Wind Pavilion," was packed to the brim.

A storyteller, spitting and gesticulating, was enthusiastically recounting a recently arrived, world-shaking story.

"It is said that in the Secret Realm of Souls, the Primordial Demon descended, its terrifying power reaching the heavens! Old Ancestor Chiyang, Azure Mystery Sect Master, and a dozen Nascent Soul Old Monsters joined forces, but they were beaten back steadily, their blood staining the sky!"

"Just at this critical moment! A white-robed Immortal Lord appeared out of nowhere!"

"What's his name?" A Cultivator below eagerly asked.

"His name is Lin Fan!" The storyteller slammed his gavel, his voice like a great bell.

"That Immortal Lord Lin Fan, facing the monstrous demonic flames, disdained them! He extended a finger, drew upon the Nine Heavens Divine Lightning, and forcefully withstood that world-ending Heavenly Tribulation!"

"What?! Forcefully withstood the Heavenly Tribulation? How is that possible?!" The crowd below erupted in an uproar, filled with incredulous exclamations.

"What's that compared to this!" The storyteller proudly raised his head.

"The even more amazing part is yet to come! The Primordial Demon, seeing the unfavorable situation, transformed into a Source of the Heavenly Demon light, intending to possess the Immortal Lord! Guess what happened?"

"What happened?"

"That Immortal Lord Lin Fan actually opened his mouth, and with a gulp, he... he swallowed the Source of the Heavenly Demon whole!"

"Hiss—"

The entire restaurant instantly fell into a chorus of gasps.

All Cultivators, regardless of their cultivation level, were dumbfounded, their faces filled with absurdity and shock.

Swallowing the Primordial Demon whole?

Is this something a human could do?

"Is this... is this true or false? Isn't it too exaggerated?" Someone raised a question.

"Exaggerated? This is news from an Inner Sect Disciple of Azure Mystery Sect, absolutely true!"

"I heard that Immortal Lord Lin Fan eventually condensed the legendary Immortal Grade Nascent Soul, which is rarely seen even in ten thousand years!"

"My heavens! Immortal Grade Nascent Soul! Isn't that something only found in ancient legends?"

"It's more than just an Immortal Grade Nascent Soul! I heard from my cousin, who works at Tianyi Dao, that at the time, purple Qi came from the east for thirty thousand miles, golden lotuses fell from the sky, and the Great Dao harmonized! That scene, tsk tsk..."

Similar discussions were frantically playing out in every corner of the Cultivation World.

The name Lin Fan, from an unknown symbol, became widely known and household in just a few days.

Most ordinary Cultivators, upon hearing these legends, felt extreme reverence and worship.

They regarded Lin Fan as a peerless Prodigy rarely seen in a millennium, a rising new star of this era, and a new idol and goal for countless young Cultivators.

However.

In those dark, unknown corners.

Some ill-intentioned, highly cultivated powerhouses, upon hearing these rumors, revealed undisguised, greedy, eerie glows in their eyes.

Immortal Grade Nascent Soul.

The secret art of devouring the Primordial Demon.

A Physique capable of withstanding the Heavenly Tribulation.

Any one of these things was enough to make a Nascent Soul Cultivator take any risk.

They didn't believe in any Son of Destiny.

They only believed that Opportunity was to be seized.

An invisible undercurrent, targeting Lin Fan, was quietly gathering and surging deep within the Cultivation World.