An Edict from the Immortal Realm

A fissure spanned across the sky of the Xuanhuang Realm. Countless rays of sacred golden light burst forth from the rift, gilding the entire world in gold. Heavenly petals drifted down, and auspicious clouds filled the sky. A hazy figure rose from the earth, drifting slowly toward the fissure. The silhouette shone with a brilliant, dazzling seven-colored luminescence. As the figure ascended into the rift, a misty rain descended from within. Drop by drop, trickle by trickle, it nourished all living things. Under the nourishment of this rain of immortal spiritual energy, an almost visible transformation swept through the entire Xuanhuang Realm in an instant. The world grew more vibrant and full of vitality. The living beings of the earth, nurtured by the rain of immortal spiritual energy, grew wiser and more naturally gifted. The joyful consciousness of countless masses spread across heaven and earth. Even the world itself shared in this joy! ... "This is..." "Ascension?" An ancient term—one that cultivators could never forget—flashed through Li Fan's mind. The era before the immortal path was severed lay far too distant in the past. So distant that now, one could catch only a glimpse of that golden age of ancient cultivation between the lines of ancient records. And now, Li Fan was fortunate enough to witness with his own eyes a cultivator of the Xuanhuang Realm ascending! His heart shook, utterly captivated. "So when a cultivator ascends, the entire world gains unimaginable benefits alongside them." "The more cultivators who ascend, the stronger the foundation of their cultivation world becomes." "The Xuanhuang Realm once saw quite a few cultivators ascend. No wonder..." The phenomenon of the cultivator's ascension lasted for the span of a cup of tea. The sky's fissure slowly closed, and the golden light gradually faded. At the very last moment, a scroll drifted down from within. Unfurling against the wind, it revealed itself across the horizon. "Cultivator of the Xuanhuang Realm... cultivated for eight hundred and sixty-five years, attained mastery over creation, achieved the Dao, and ascended." "This immortal edict is hereby conferred to honor this feat." "The immortal path is arduous, yet the spark never dies; let those who follow strive on." ... The characters on the scroll were blurred and indistinct, particularly the ascendant's name, which was missing entirely. Yet it broadly outlined the life and deeds of the cultivator who had ascended to immortality, as well as the Immortal Realm's encouragement to the cultivators of the Xuanhuang Realm below. "Could this scroll be the Immortal Scroll Edict handed down by the Immortal Realm back then?" Li Fan stared intently at the seemingly ordinary scroll, waves of emotion churning within him. "Still, why does the format of this Immortal Scroll Edict feel somewhat familiar?" "It is practically identical to the phenomenon that occurs when a cultivator dies today. So it wasn't something the Heavenly Dao came up with on a whim—the template had existed all along." "The only difference is that one was a commendation from the upper realm, while the other is the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao mocking cultivators." Li Fan gave a slight shake of his head. "Even so, judging from the wording of this Immortal Scroll Edict, the Immortal Realm was extremely welcoming—even encouraging—toward cultivators ascending." "The rain of immortal spiritual energy that fell upon ascension was likely a form of reward." "And yet at some point in time, something unknown suddenly happened to the Immortal Realm. Not only was the immortal path severed, but even True Immortals had to scatter and flee..." Li Fan narrowed his eyes. Only after a long while did he rein in his thoughts. He looked back at the Immortal Scroll Edict before him. "To take it, or not?" A dilemma immediately presented itself to Li Fan. "Even if I fail, I can always start over in the next life." "As long as I can lay eyes on the Immortal Scroll Edict myself, this trip won't have been in vain." Without agonizing over it for long, Li Fan reached out, channeling boundless divine power, and in an instant shattered the restrictions enshrouding the two treasures. However, when he attempted to subdue and claim them, a bit of trouble arose. Both the Desolate God Seal and the Immortal Scroll Edict were items from the Immortal Realm. They were not ordinary mortal objects that could be claimed at will. With Li Fan's current power as Heavenly Venerable Xuanhuang, taking just one of them would have been smooth and steady, without alarming the cultivators of the Tianshu Sect. However, attempting to forcibly take both at once proved somewhat strenuous, inevitably creating considerable disturbance. The first to notice the anomaly was the third item in the secret vault: the wooden box. As if sensing that its two longtime companions had broken free, the unknown entity sealed within the wooden box suddenly grew agitated. It began emitting rapid, faint noises. Countless illusions swarmed forth, constantly flickering before Li Fan's eyes. Li Fan's movements in claiming the two treasures could not help but pause for a fraction of a second. "Insolent brat, how dare you!" A furious bellow immediately rang out like an exploding thunderclap. Then, the formidable auras of five Longevity realm cultivators abruptly appeared, locking onto Li Fan from afar as they rushed toward the secret vault at full speed. "What a nuisance," Li Fan thought with slight resignation. A moment later, however, he completed the retrieval of the scroll and the Desolate God Seal. Looking at the five Longevity cultivators who had already charged into the Tianshu Courtyard, he shook his head slightly. Then, under the watchful eyes of everyone present, his figure vanished into thin air. With several successive teleports, he traveled all the way from the Tianshu Sect to the southwestern border of the Xuanhuang Realm, finally shaking off the pursuit of the five Longevity experts from the Tianshu Courtyard. It was not that Li Fan was no match for these Longevity cultivators, but fighting them served absolutely no purpose. Li Fan examined the two treasures he had plundered. Setting the Desolate God Seal aside for now, Li Fan slowly unfurled the Immortal Scroll Edict. "What a pity..." Once he clearly saw the contents within the scroll, Li Fan let out a sigh. As it turned out, this scroll was identical to what was preserved in the Xuanhuang Realm's Heavenly Dao memories! Incomplete and blurred! "It exceeds the upper limit of what Heavenly Venerable Xuanhuang can trace." "If that's the case, then this Desolate God Seal is also merely hollow form, unable to truly manifest the power of an immortal artifact." Li Fan suddenly lost interest. "Never mind. To learn information about so many immortal artifacts all at once is already no small feat." "Having their sect's vault plundered is such a humiliating matter that the Tianshu Sect will definitely not broadcast it; they'll only investigate in private. It will likely take some time before the other sects of the Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao learn of this. I must hurry." Li Fan's figure flickered, and he arrived at the hiding spot of the next immortal artifact. This time, learning from his past mistake, Li Fan did not bother with other treasures in the vaults. He focused solely on swift, decisive strikes, stealing the immortal artifacts one after another. In the end, it took him a mere three days to successfully gather every single immortal artifact recorded in the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao's memories. It could be said that there was not the slightest difficulty; any normal cultivator who possessed Mr. Bai could easily have accomplished it. "Strange. If so, what exactly is this trial of becoming Great Heavenly Venerable Xuanhuang testing?" Looking at the thirteen immortal artifacts of various shapes and forms before him, Li Fan fell into deep thought. At the same time, under the relentless urging of the Xuanhuang Realm's Heavenly Dao in his mind, Li Fan received the next phase of his "main quest." "With the power of Xuanhuang, detonate the immortal artifacts. Clad in immortal might, leap over the immortal wall, and be carefree and unrestrained ever after..." Feeling the anticipation and joy stirring within him, Li Fan could not help his breathing quickening slightly.