"While this gloomy dark power may indeed help us escape the Immortal Ruins, that must be under the premise that we can safely control it."
"Otherwise..."
Li Fan looked grave. "If the world is corroded by this gloomy darkness, our fate might not be much better than falling into the Immortal Ruins."
Even as they spoke, as if fed by some nourishment, the gloomy darkness occupying half of Mo Rubin's body abruptly expanded once more.
It nearly swallowed the entire corpse whole.
Yet strangely, the rhythmic pulsation emanating continuously from his body never ceased.
In fact, it became even clearer than before.
Like the throbbing beats of a heart, it echoed throughout this Gloomy Dark Perilous Realm, giving Li Fan a growing sense of foreboding.
The several Dharma Transmitters in the group also sensed that something was amiss.
They promptly issued an order to pull back for the time being.
Only after fleeing some distance away did the intense unease in Li Fan's heart slowly dissipate.
"My recommendation is to seal off this perilous realm completely. Until we clarify the true nature of this gloomy dark power, no one should approach Mo Rubin's corpse lightly."
"Once I return, I will also report this discovery to the Federation immediately. If there is any news, I will inform you at once."
Seeing Li Fan being so cautious, Dharma Transmitter Zhou nodded in agreement on the surface, though inwardly she remained somewhat skeptical.
"Fellow Daoist, there is no need to be overly anxious. In any case, the property of this gloomy dark power to move away from the Immortal Ruins will not change. That inherently dictates that it will not invade the Xuanhuang Realm."
Seeing her reaction, Li Fan shook his head and said nothing further.
Now that Mo Rubin was dead, there was no need for Li Fan to linger here.
Though his journey of vengeance had ended anticlimactically, the discovery of this gloomy dark power was of great significance.
Taking his leave of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals' contingent, Li Fan swiftly convened the members from each division of the Federation and recounted his experience in the Gloomy Dark Perilous Realm.
"Gloomy dark power..."
It was Daoist Baihua who spoke first.
After all, as a figure who had survived from ancient times, Baihua might not possess great strength, but he was certainly well-versed and knowledgeable.
"I believe I once heard a fellow Daoist mention something similar back then."
"Back in those days, he personally witnessed his homeworld plunging into the Immortal Ruins from afar—a surreal spectacle where all things disintegrated to form a bizarre, distorted ring of light."
"According to his description, at the exact moment that cultivation world completely vanished into the Immortal Ruins, an enormous amount of matter seemed to erupt in the opposite direction."
"Undetectable to both the naked eye and divine sense, he was merely grazed by it, yet he was instantly grievously wounded. Even after recovering later, he was left looking neither human nor ghost."
Looking at the horrific image projected by Fellow Daoist Baihua—a cultivator whose face was riddled with writhing black voids—the crowd could not help but turn solemn.
Layman Qiaogong seemed to recall something as well. "Back when the power of the Immortal Ruins first enveloped the Ancestor, we actually felt confident about surviving the tribulation."
"Based on our calculations of the Ancestor's remaining physical durability at that time, it was sufficient to withstand the Immortal Ruins' pull. But later on, while the Immortal Ruins' attraction growing stronger was one factor..."
A look of sudden realization appeared on Layman Qiaogong's face. "The Ancestor's strength steadily waning was the fundamental cause! It was as if some vital component was continuously draining away, causing the Ancestor's body to slowly decay."
"At that time, the elders were completely baffled. In the end, they could only attribute it to the sheer might of the Immortal Ruins."
"Looking back now, what was lost was very likely this gloomy dark power."
After hearing the two of them speak, Li Fan pondered. "Do you mean to say that this gloomy dark power is actually part of the power system cultivators cultivate? It's just that because its nature is fundamentally opposed to the Immortal Ruins' pull, it was forcefully stripped away as the world approached the Immortal Ruins."
"In other cultivation worlds, the gloomy dark power would thus break away. But in the Xuanhuang Realm, for some unknown reason, it all gathered in one place, remaining bound to the Xuanhuang Realm."
"If the Xuanhuang Realm can one day free itself from the Immortal Ruins, the gloomy dark power should return to all things in the Xuanhuang world once more."
Having heard Li Fan's analysis, Layman Qiaogong and Daoist Baihua both nodded.
Just then, Liu Ruchen of the Medicine King Sect suddenly spoke up: "Although I have never seen this so-called gloomy dark power with my own eyes, I once read a legend in an ancient text."
"It circulated among various human lineages, and it concerns the origin of humanity."
"In the beginning, neither humanity nor the various cultivation worlds existed. Within absolute nothingness wandered only a scant few powerful beings. Later, one of them grew bored and used its own self as raw material to create and open up world after world."
"Gradually, the void filled. Attracted by these wondrous and bizarre worlds, the other beings followed suit. Taking themselves as archetypes, they created all kinds of distinct races."
"And the progenitor of humanity was the very one who originally created those worlds."
The crowd had clearly never heard this legend before, and all listened with keen interest.
"Although the world grew far more lively, these powerful beings soon discovered an anomaly: none of the existences they created could be immortal and imperishable like themselves. They were bound by the limits of a lifespan."
"The liveliness was only temporary; soon, the world would return to silence. Creating on occasion was an amusement, but to keep creating ceaselessly would become a burden."
"Thus, one after another, the powerful beings lost interest in the life they had wrought."
"Yet there was one who did not. Unwilling to watch its creations vanish like that, it actually defeated one of its companions, extracted power from its body, and bestowed it upon all creations in the world."
"Because of this, the living beings of the world gained the ability to reproduce."
Liu Ruchen paused right there.
The listeners were thoroughly engrossed and gestured with their eyes for him to continue.
Liu Ruchen shrugged. "That's all there is."
"The rest is just platitudes about offering thanks for the divine grace of creation."
"The reason I connect this with the gloomy dark power is that we might draw inspiration from it to study what impact losing or gaining this gloomy dark power actually has on us cultivators."
"If this gloomy dark power originally existed within our bodies and was merely precipitated out by the advent of the Immortal Ruins, does that not mean that we, today..."
"...are incomplete?"
"Compared to the cultivators before the Immortal Ruins appeared, how are we different?"
Hearing this, Layman Qiaogong's expression shifted slightly.
"I always wondered why my comprehension and creativity seemed far inferior to what they once were ever since the catastrophe of the Immortal Ruins struck."
"Could this be the reason?"
Chapter 1096