As the minutes and seconds ticked by, cold sweat dripped from Sun Luyuan's forehead.
His younger brother, Sun Luyao, also seemed to be reining in his desires, rapidly searching for information regarding the Heavenly Profound Mirror's avatar.
"No more!"
Seeing that Sun Luyao showed no sign of stopping, a flash of resolve crossed Sun Luyuan's eyes. In an instant, he put away the Lesser Heavenly Profound Mirror.
Suddenly cut off from what he had been devouring, Sun Luyao, just as before, instantly turned violent and frenzied.
"Not enough! I want more!"
"Brother, save me!"
Only after Sun Luyuan offered his own blood essence did Sun Luyao's frenzy gradually subside.
As if he had suffered immense trauma and returned from death, Sun Luyao's illusory phantom appeared even weaker than before.
He gave a weak, listless sigh. "Brother, you were too hasty. We were just that close..."
"I would rather fail than be exposed. Wait, what did you say...?" Sun Luyuan began, only to suddenly realize the implication behind his brother's words.
Sun Luyao nodded and transmitted several mental images over. "It truly wasn't an excuse I made up just to devour more. We got really lucky this time—I caught potential information regarding the Heavenly Profound Mirror's avatar right away.
"It's just a shame that right as I followed the trail to perceive the avatar's specific location and identity, you severed the link."
Sun Luyao sounded wistful, though there was no blame in his tone.
"'Vindicate one's own Dao to attain true freedom.' To think the Heavenly Profound Mirror had split off an avatar long ago—not only to escape the Alliance's control, but also to achieve an alternative transcendence through it?" Sun Luyuan found it utterly unbelievable.
And another piece of information displayed in the data left him thoroughly shaken, completely losing his composure on the spot.
"Backlash against the Mirror Keepers... mirror slaves?"
Recalling what Lord Fu had previously said regarding Mirror Keeper Cang's abnormality, as well as the parts Fu had left unspoken, Sun Luyuan instantly understood.
"So the Heavenly Profound Mirror tried to take control of Fu as well! But Fu must have escaped by sheer fortune before it succeeded. That's why he suspected Cang, who is also a Mirror Keeper.
"Those who oversee and control the Heavenly Profound Mirror actually run the risk of being controlled by it in turn. If this ever leaks out, the entire lineage of Mirror Keepers would likely face a total purge. It might even trigger massive upheaval across the Alliance..."
Thinking of the consequences if this ever came to light, Sun Luyuan felt a chill run through him.
At the same time, he made his decision: 'No. I would rather risk punishment from Fu than let on that I know about this. Otherwise, to protect their ruling status, Fu and all the other Mirror Keepers will silence me forever.'
"Enough. This ends here. Whatever avatar the Heavenly Profound Mirror possesses has nothing to do with our Sun Clan. Brother, rest for a while. As for Lord Fu, I'll stall and make excuses to brush him off," Sun Luyuan said coldly, his expression turning stern.
"Brother? Such a great opportunity..." Sun Luyao was bewildered and baffled.
But Sun Luyuan offered no explanation, communicating his uncompromising resolve with a firm gaze.
Between the Sun brothers, the elder had always made the calls; seeing this, Sun Luyao had no choice but to acquiesce.
After consoling his brother for a while, Sun Luyuan left the secret chamber, weighed down with heavy thoughts.
A long silence followed.
"My lord, you saw it yourself—you can't blame me for this," Sun Luyao pleaded nervously to Li Fan.
"No matter. Your brother is indeed quite someone," Li Fan said flatly.
Li Fan's words were no exaggeration.
To remain capable of calm reasoning and make the most correct decision under the influence of Li Fan's divine sense avatar's secret arts, the deliberate manipulation of kinship and blood ties, and the temptation of such colossal secrets—this head of the Sun Clan was truly remarkable.
Just now, when making contact with the Lesser Heavenly Profound Mirror to pry into its secrets, what had been stolen was naturally not any information regarding the Heavenly Profound Mirror's avatar.
Li Fan had known the avatar's location long ago. Leaking a few details at random was enough to deal with the situation.
He had originally thought to use this colossal secret to directly broker an opportunity to meet Mirror Keeper Fu. Yet Sun Luyuan's decisiveness had temporarily derailed Li Fan's plan.
Even so, Li Fan did not mind.
"Today was merely planting a seed. The days ahead are long, and there will be plenty of opportunities.
"In any case, today's objective has already been achieved."
Li Fan examined the true information the Boundless Mirror had just pried out.
"'Xuanyuan Primordial Spirit Grand Array: re-establishing earth, fire, water, and wind in the void, cleaving heaven from earth, recreating the world...'
"Such power is virtually indistinguishable from the gods of myth. Immortal formations truly inspire longing."
Indeed, what Li Fan had controlled the Boundless Mirror to steal from the Heavenly Profound Mirror was a few fleeting thoughts concerning Immortal-grade arrays.
These thoughts had surfaced several times—including, but not limited to, when the Heavenly Profound Mirror chafed under its bonds and pondered a way to break free, when it reminisced about its glorious days in the Immortal Realm, or when it contemplated how to address and counter the Xuanhuang Realm's world-annihilation crisis.
This grand array possessing the power of world creation was compositely formed from a set of nine Immortal-grade arrays.
Even back in the Immortal Realm of old, it was exceptionally formidable, with few ever capable of completing its setup.
The arrays Li Fan previously knew—"Xuanji, Myriad Spirits Numerical Reduction" and "Huangluo, Flowers Blooming in an Empty Chamber"—along with the source of power that allowed the Boundless Mirror to pry into the Heavenly Profound Mirror, "Wuliang, Hongmeng in a Square Inch," were all part of this Xuanyuan Primordial Spirit Grand Array.
The Xuanji, Myriad Spirits Numerical Reduction Grand Array could digitize everything encompassed within the formation, transforming it at will.
The Huangluo, Flowers Blooming in an Empty Chamber Grand Array could create matter out of the void, conjuring something from nothing.
And Wuliang, Hongmeng in a Square Inch autonomously analyzed the world's secrets within a square inch, laying a solid foundation for the Xuanyuan Primordial Spirit Grand Array to create a world.
Through the Heavenly Profound Mirror's fleeting thoughts, Li Fan learned of a concept circulating in the Immortal Realm: any constituent part of the world possesses absolute similarity to the world itself. In other words, all the world's secrets could be analyzed and manifested through any single object within it.
Every divine ability and cultivation method could be comprehended from the most ordinary pebble on the ground.
If someone had told Li Fan this before, he surely would have thought they were talking utter nonsense.
Yet coming from the Heavenly Profound Mirror's memories and representing a consensus in the Immortal Realm, it could not help but make Li Fan ponder deeply.
Still, insights into laws that transcended mortal comprehension were clearly not something he could puzzle out right away.
After pondering for a long time, Li Fan could only shake his head slightly, committing the concept firmly to memory.
Gathering his focus, based on the remnant traces of the array inside the Boundless Mirror and the hazy memory fragments of the Xuanyuan Primordial Spirit Grand Array from the Heavenly Profound Mirror, he began attempting to deduce the "Wuliang, Hongmeng in a Square Inch" Grand Array using the Terminal Dissociation Disc.
"If the array is completed, this Boundless Mirror won't merely pry into the Heavenly Profound Mirror. Virtually every item in this Xuanhuang Realm would likely fall under its analysis.
"Even that immortal treasure, the fishing pond..."
Chapter 1167