"I'm kept under tight watch these days and can't look at much. So this thing isn't of much use anymore. If you want it, I can give it to you," the Heavenly Profound Mirror's avatar said with a smile, meeting Li Fan's gaze.
Given how proactive the avatar was, who could have expected that Li Fan would flatly refuse?
Seeing Li Fan's guarded expression, the avatar was momentarily at a loss for words.
"Rest assured, there is virtually no connection between secondary bodies and me anymore. Think about it: would you humans ever want any further connection with your own bodily waste?"
"Though the phrasing is a bit crude, the principle is the same," the avatar said slowly.
In Li Fan's sea of consciousness, the Terminal Dissociation Disc gave off strange waves of fluctuation.
Fortunately, the moment it began to stir, Li Fan suppressed it. Otherwise, he might very well have given himself away before the mirror's avatar.
Still, carrying a Heavenly Profound secondary body and standing right before the Heavenly Profound Mirror without the other party noticing undoubtedly corroborated what the avatar had just said.
"In that case, it would be impolite to decline," Li Fan said, reaching out to take it.
The avatar did not go back on its word, handing the Heaven-Measuring Shuttle right over.
The instant he grasped the Heaven-Measuring Shuttle, Li Fan felt as if he had plunged into an endless world of mirrors.
Each square mirror face displayed a different scene.
Myriads of mirror faces joined together, capturing everything currently taking place within the Xuanhuang Realm.
"It looks similar to the Genesis Stone Slab from before. However, the slab recorded everything permanently, whereas this Heaven-Measuring Shuttle has no ability to preserve images."
"And trying to find the desired information from this boundless sea of mirrors..."
Li Fan narrowed his eyes, attempting to absorb all the mirror scenes into his mind.
Yet after only a moment, the Dao Transformation Stone showed signs of disintegrating.
"It's too much of a strain. I fear only the Dao Transformation Mother Stone could manage it."
Li Fan sighed inwardly, withdrawing his divine sense from the Heaven-Measuring Shuttle.
"How does it feel?" the Heavenly Profound Mirror's avatar asked with a smile, seemingly having anticipated that Li Fan would hit a wall.
"Not bad. It satisfies my voyeuristic habit quite nicely," Li Fan remarked, putting on an insatiable look.
The avatar was momentarily struck speechless. "You're someone standing at the pinnacle of cultivators in the Xuanhuang Realm, after all..."
Li Fan met this with hearty laughter.
The two lapsed into silence once more.
After a while, seeing that Li Fan still hadn't departed, the avatar asked in some puzzlement, "Is there anything else?"
Li Fan looked as if he had just woken from a dream. "Ah! If you hadn't mentioned it, I almost forgot!"
"We're risking our lives for your freedom while you sit leisurely here waiting to reap the rewards. Don't you think that's a bit inappropriate?" Li Fan asked with an earnest expression.
"Always out for personal gain, I see." The avatar seemed to have seen through Li Fan's character long ago and showed little anger.
"This Heaven-Measuring Shuttle was something you gave me on your own. It can't count toward the compensation," Li Fan added.
Seeing his shameless, impervious stance, the avatar felt a surge of helplessness.
Still, who told them to be "partners" right now?
After pondering for a moment, the avatar finally decided to part with some benefits to send this fellow away.
"Last time, you asked me for information about the Grand Star-Crossing Array. While the array's full details are only recorded with the main body, I happen to have a formation here that bears a striking resemblance to it."
"Coincidentally, it belongs to the very same set of arrays as the Xuanji, Myriad Spirits Numerical Reduction I transmitted to you before."
"Fobbing me off with formations again?" Li Fan grumbled, but his eyes were already glued to the avatar's fingers.
Feeling somewhat helpless, the avatar snapped off a finger and tossed it over.
"There. I need some time to recuperate, so don't come bothering me unless something is truly wrong," he said in a rather frail voice.
Having obtained the reward, Li Fan did not pester him any longer.
Cupping his hands in salute at once, he took flight and vanished.
"Is he genuinely greedy, or just putting on an act?"
"Is it a performance, or his true colors showing through?"
"I thought I saw him clearly, but now he's actually become somewhat impenetrable."
After Li Fan left, the Heavenly Profound Mirror's avatar surprisingly murmured such words to himself.
"Venture through the sea of stars together, eh..."
Recalling Li Fan's earlier proposition, the avatar fell into deep thought.
...
Inside a secret chamber in the Spirit Wood Realm.
Suppressing the surges of excitement coming from the Terminal Dissociation Disc, Li Fan read through the information on this second Immortal-grade array.
"Huangluo, Flowers Blooming in an Empty Chamber."
A sharp gleam flickered in Li Fan's eyes. "It truly belongs to the same set of formations. Incredible as ever."
The Xuanji, Myriad Spirits Numerical Reduction Grand Array could digitize everything encompassed by the formation and transform it at will.
Meanwhile, the Huangluo, Flowers Blooming in an Empty Chamber Grand Array could create things out of thin air and bring existence from nothingness!
For example, everything within the Xuanhuang Realm: as long as one mastered the fundamental principles behind all things in it and possessed an ample supply of immortal power, one could recreate a brand-new Xuanhuang Realm in the void!
The Vast Sea Pearl, Yanfa Jade...
All manner of rarities from the Xuanhuang Realm could be reproduced in a single thought!
"It seems somewhat akin to the fallen immortal's single eye reflecting the Xuanhuang Realm."
"However..."
A trace of doubt flitted through Li Fan's mind. "This array is indeed incomparably wondrous, but how does it relate to the Grand Star-Crossing Array?"
Recalling the scattered descriptions of the Grand Star-Crossing Array, Li Fan scrutinized the Flowers Blooming in an Empty Chamber Grand Array once more, yet still failed to find any point of similarity.
Thus, he could only utilize the Terminal Dissociation Disc to analyze it.
Having absorbed another Immortal-grade array—especially one originating from the same source—the Terminal Dissociation Disc's analytical speed rose by another tier.
Even so, it still took a full seven days before Li Fan finally obtained a possible answer from it.
Before Li Fan's eyes, he seemed to see once again those dark golden chains extending out from the Xuanhuang Realm, traversing endless void to capture numerous cultivation worlds.
"So that's how it was..."
"Such things should exist only in the Immortal Realm..."
"The mortal realm possessed none of the materials required to forge those dark golden chains. Yet in those days, the King of Profound Heaven possessed learning that bridged the divine and mortal realms. Having comprehended this Flowers Blooming in an Empty Chamber Grand Array, he somehow managed to create them in the mortal realm through the method of conjuring from nothingness, accomplishing something that should have been entirely impossible..."
Gradually coming to understand, Li Fan could not help but feel a renewed sense of admiration for the King of Profound Heaven.
"Only by achieving a complete breakdown of its power's essence can one create things out of the void. Seen this way, back then the King of Profound Heaven was indeed not far from the realm of immortals—just one final step away. Were it not for the lack of immortal spiritual qi, he likely would have been an extraordinary presence even among immortals."
As the Terminal Dissociation Disc continued its analysis, Li Fan gained a deeper appreciation for just how wondrous and vast the Flowers Blooming in an Empty Chamber Grand Array truly was.
And so, toward the King of Profound Heaven—who had relied on his own power through self-study to master numerous legacies of the Immortal Realm—Li Fan felt even greater admiration.
"No wonder even after so many years, the Dharma Kings of the Profound Heaven Sect still hold him in such reverence."
Chapter 1023