It is basically the threat of mutually assured destruction.
This is also the reason why the number of cultivators cannot be too few.
Li Fan's thoughts raced. Recalling Senior Sister Zhao's words and actions, he felt this deduction was extremely close to the truth.
But a question immediately followed.
Why did cultivators have weight?
It was understandable that heaven and earth had weight.
But how could a cultivator's physical body—
Suddenly, like a bolt of lightning splitting the fog, Li Fan understood.
If we're talking about practitioners of the old methodology, they naturally wouldn't have any weight to speak of.
But practitioners of the new methodology plunder heaven and earth.
They draw upon the spirit of heaven and earth, borrow the Curios of heaven and earth, peer into the laws of heaven and earth, seize the essence of heaven and earth, extract the marrow of heaven and earth...
They absorb a part of the world, making it part of themselves.
Thus, they naturally also gain the attribute of the world's “weight.”
It was not very noticeable among cultivators at the Golden Core realm and below.
But after reaching the Nascent Soul realm, when they devoured a grotto-heaven that originally belonged to heaven and earth, transforming it into their own domain, it became perfectly understandable.
Grotto-heavens...
The weight of the world...
Li Fan’s thoughts continued to wander.
According to the accounts of Linghu Chang of the Medicine King Sect, the Immortal Ruins above the Xuanhuang World should have existed even before the new methodology spread.
Back then, the Ten Immortal Dao Sects joined forces to prevent the Xuanhuang World from being devoured.
What exactly did the powerhouses who stood at the pinnacle of the cultivation world back then do?
Considering the current state of the Xuanhuang World, a bold conjecture couldn't help but arise in Li Fan's mind.
Back when I first learned of the new methodology from the Five Spirits Qi Sensing Method, I had doubts in my heart.
With cultivators plundering heaven and seize the earth so voraciously, it is truly a wonder that this world has endured for so long.
After delving deeper into the various secrets of the Xuanhuang World, I began to harbor my suspicions.
There were simply far too many grotto-heavens and minor worlds within the Xuanhuang World.
Great Xuan, the Li World, and countless other subsidiary worlds plus one grotto-heaven after another, each with its own distinct form...
It now appears these places may not have originally belonged to the Xuanhuang World at all.
Rather, they were likely captured from the void by the cultivators of the Ten Immortal Dao Sects long ago, to stave off being devoured by the Immortal Ruins.
1. 匹夫无罪、怀璧其罪 This famous proverb comes from The Commentary of Zuo (《左传》), an ancient Chinese historical text. It tells a story of a man whose only "crime" was owning a precious jade, which made him a target for those in power. ☜