All of this happened because of two so-called “Immortal Masters.” Two cultivators.
Weakened and exhausted, Li Fan slumped against a shattered wall.
His hearing had been destroyed by the blast. But it no longer mattered. At this moment, all he wanted to do was laugh.
How could cultivators exist in this world?
From the moment he had gained power, he had used his influence to scour the land for any trace of the immortal path.
Once he became the Emperor’s tutor, standing above all others, he had searched the entire realm. From the frozen seas in the north to the boundless oceans in the south, from the Abyssal Chasm in the east to the endless peaks in the west, not a single trace of immortals had ever been found in all of Great Xuan!
And yet, now, in his twilight years, long after he had given up hope, two cultivators had descended from the heavens and obliterated everything he had built.
So these were immortals?
Where did they come from?
Rage and bitterness churned within him, only to dissolve into utter bewilderment.
The heavens were mocking him!
And yet, he also felt an overwhelming sense of relief. Relief that, before his death, he had finally confirmed the existence of immortals!
Otherwise, in his next life, would he not have wasted another fifty years in futile searching?
Indeed! Li Fan, a mere mortal, had risen from a lowly scholar to the Emperor’s tutor. How could he not have his own trump card?
It was also how he had narrowly escaped death at the hands of the immortals.
Li Fan silently recited a short phrase.
Return to Truth.
The world around him dimmed, phantasmagoric and slightly out of focus, as though viewed through a thick, rippling curtain.
[When truth becomes falsehood, falsehood becomes truth.]
Seven glowing words appeared in the darkness before scattering into a shimmering screen.
Then, two lines of text appeared in succession.
[Charging complete.]
[Virtualize current scenario and return to the initial anchor point?]
At the same time, countless images flashed across the screen. Fifty years of Li Fan’s life replayed in an instant.
He stared at the scenes, lost in thought.
Return to Truth.
This was the name Li Fan had given to the esoteric gift he possessed.
It had but one function: to turn truth into falsehood, and real into fake!
To “turn real into fake” meant transforming all of Li Fan’s lived experiences into a simulated illusion, allowing him to return to his initial anchor point: the moment he had first transmigrated into this world.
In truth, this was already Li Fan’s second life.
Though he had harbored grand ambitions in his first life in this world, he was just an ordinary man. Repeated failures in the imperial examinations had forced him to abandon his scholarly pursuits by thirty. He had turned to business, becoming a modestly wealthy man, marrying, raising children, and living out an unremarkable life. It was only on his deathbed, as illness claimed him, that he awakened Return to Truth.
Thus began his second life. It was a meteoric rise, unstoppable.
Yet now, it seemed he had wasted it.
After a long moment of pondering, Li Fan chose not to end this life just yet. There were still matters to settle.
Dismissing the screen, he returned to reality and forced himself to focus on managing the aftermath of Xuanjing’s devastation.
Gathering a few lucky survivors, he relied on his prestige built over decades to stabilize morale.
Though deafened, he could still write. Communication was cumbersome, but his orders were still carried out.
First, Li Fan ordered his trusted garrison stationed outside the city to rush to the capital of Xuanjing and restore order. He then dispatched decrees to neighboring cities, commanding them to mobilize grain supplies and officials for Xuanjing’s relief efforts.
With much of Xuanjing lying in ruins, Li Fan remained stationed at the garrison camp, personally overseeing the city’s recovery.
Under his direction, resources and personnel poured into Xuanjing City.
A month later, the ruined city showed faint signs of life.
Only after the Great Xuan Kingdom had somewhat recovered from the havoc did Li Fan finally issue orders to gather intelligence on the two immortals who had appeared that night.
Where had they come from? Where had they gone? Had they spoken further during their chase?
Yet after months of investigation, the only clue was that they had likely emerged from the Abyssal Chasm in the east. Nothing else.
Li Fan’s hope that the two immortals had perished together went unfulfilled.
I should never have expected such luck. He sighed inwardly. In that case, there is nothing left for me in this life.
Standing in the newly rebuilt Grand Preceptor’s estate, Li Fan activated Return to Truth once more.
[Virtualize current scenario and return to the initial anchor point?]
Without hesitation, he selected “Yes.”
On the screen, countless vivid images froze. Then, like bursting dream bubbles, the glory and wealth of this life shattered, exploding into streaks of meteors that flooded Li Fan’s mind.
Scenes flashed before his eyes like a revolving lantern, finally settling on the image of the two cultivators locked in a standoff high above his estate.
“Dao Xuanzi. Kou Hong.” Li Fan whispered their names. “Fifty years from now, I will be waiting for you in Xuanjing once more.
“Wealth and honor are but fleeting clouds.” His consciousness blurred, yet his resolve burned brighter than ever, and his goal was unprecedentedly clear.
“In my next life, I will hunt immortals!”
As the lights in his mind faded, Li Fan slowly slipped into slumber.