The material of the command banner itself was utterly ordinary, possessing no special value among this vast sea of relics that would warrant it being singled out.
"Could it be because of the power of the True Immortal seal character upon it, whose backlash has already faded?"
A thought struck Li Fan, and he understood in an instant.
Caressing the banner gently, he sensed a familiar aura.
"The 'Chaos' Formula..."
"Yet with the passage of time, even the power of a True Immortal seal character must eventually reach its end."
The complete character "Chaos" surfaced in his mind. A moment later, the hand with which Sacred Embryo Li Fan held the banner stiffened slightly.
He had just discovered that the very last wisp of power clinging to the banner had completely dispersed.
In its place, his comprehension of the "Chaos" Formula had faintly deepened!
It was a minuscule improvement.
Yet Li Fan's grasp of the character Chaos had merely remained at the most rudimentary level of slavish imitation, so the change seemed relatively distinct, immediately caught by his senses.
"It can actually serve as material for comprehending the Dao?"
Sacred Embryo Li Fan could not help feeling shaken. Looking again at the countless floating relics drifting around him, his gaze was completely different.
"Unfortunately, it seems only relics where the power of the True Immortal seal character is on the verge of fading can serve as sustenance for enlightenment; otherwise, one risks suffering severe harm instead. As for how they tell the difference..."
Sacred Embryo Li Fan cast his eyes toward that concealed hiding place.
For the next six-plus months, Li Fan remained hidden in the shadows. Each time cultivators ventured out to scavenge relics, he followed the same pattern, dispatching a divided soul to attach itself to the scavenged items.
This served two purposes: first, to study the mechanism that triggered the alarm, and second, to acquire any relics carrying True Immortal seal characters for enlightenment.
Back in the Xuanhuang Realm, within the sea of consciousness of Li Fan's original self, the Terminal Dissociation Disc was working at full throttle to analyze the unknown formation.
Meanwhile, through studying the eight relics he had obtained, Sacred Embryo Li Fan grew even more certain of his judgment.
The other surviving civilization within the Pitch-Black Star Sea scavenged these relics precisely to study, and even harness, the power of True Immortal seal characters.
"To actually possess a means of assessing the level of this power..."
"It seems their strength cannot be underestimated."
Of these eight relics, three stemmed from Chaos and two from Hunger. As for the remaining two, they had been influenced by another, currently unknown True Immortal seal character.
Li Fan also noticed a difference between them.
He had personally seen the original forms of the True Immortal seal characters for Chaos and Hunger. Even if they had been copies made by who knew whom, he nonetheless possessed a general understanding of their source essence. Consequently, he could smoothly absorb the lingering power from the enlightenment relics, turning it into fuel for his own comprehension.
The other two relics were completely different.
Relying solely on that faint residue of power on the verge of vanishing, it was difficult even to perceive its nature, let alone grasp its fundamental essence.
Harnessing them was over ten thousand times less efficient than dealing with Chaos and Hunger.
"This is the difference between working from the top down and working from the bottom up. Knowing the true original intent of a True Immortal seal character grants a commanding vantage point, where understanding one unlocks everything."
"Yet if one begins from utter ignorance, groping like the blind touching an elephant, slowly researching and exploring on one's own..."
"It is as hard as ascending to the heavens! To presume mortal strength could decipher the power of a True Immortal..."
At the same time, Li Fan grew thoughtful.
"Not every cultivator is blessed with enough fortune to lay eyes upon the true original intent of a True Immortal seal character."
"The 'Chaos' Formula was hidden within the Contorted Lost Domain amidst the white mist—an ordinary person could never encounter it in a lifetime. And the 'Hunger' Formula was inscribed upon the Immortal Ruins! To gaze upon it meant death. Had I not possessed True Reversion, I never would have been able to master it."
"There is also the 'Mo' Formula, which I stumbled upon by pure chance within a golden skull in a shattered pocket world..."
Looking at the unknown civilization concealed in the dark, a thought naturally came to Li Fan.
"As the saying goes, rare goods are worth hoarding. The value of these true original intents to this civilization may be far greater than I imagined."
***
More than thirty days later, the Terminal Dissociation Disc finally cracked the alarm's triggering mechanism.
To be safe, Sacred Embryo Li Fan did not test it in person, still probing with a divided soul instead.
Over the past six-plus months, though he had severed numerous pieces of his soul, a strange power seemed to suffuse the vicinity of this civilization's sanctuary.
It could ward off the encroaching void anomalies, allowing Sacred Embryo Li Fan to recover quickly. Slicing off divided souls had become nothing more than a passing sting of pain to him.
The Terminal Dissociation Disc was indeed trustworthy.
This time, the relic bearing his divided soul successfully passed the inspection and entered the interior of the passage.
His perception weakened considerably, yet he could still faintly discern the conditions within the refuge.
The three-man scavenging squad continued forward, dragging their bundle with the black rope. Only after passing the security checks of three separate passages did they finally enter a safe zone.
They could not wait to shed their armor, complaining endlessly.
"Useful relics near the celestial vessel are growing scarcer and scarcer. We barely found anything this time..."
"Next time we head out on a mission, we'll probably have to leave the safe zone."
"We've been moored here for a century, haven't we? I wonder why we haven't moved on."
"I heard there were plans to change berths, but a while ago..."
"Shh, better not talk about it. Wu Xing was put into solitary confinement for ten years just for bringing that up."
The three tactfully changed the subject.
Carrying their haul, they proceeded deeper into the refuge.
"A celestial vessel?" Li Fan thought to himself upon hearing their remarks.
After passing through a long, dim passage, the view ahead suddenly opened up.
They had arrived in a lush, picturesque valley with green hills and clear waters.
Ahead stood a white-haired elder holding a peculiar, book-like magical artifact, awaiting the three of them.
"Let's see what we have this time..." The elder had initially worn a smiling face, but upon seeing the meager number of relics behind them, his expression instantly darkened.
"Elder, please forgive us. Our luck was truly terrible this time out," the oldest of the three cultivators said with a wry smile.
The elder shook his head and sighed, ultimately saying no more.
The book artifact in his hand cast a beam of light, enveloping all the relics.
As the beam withdrew, the inspection of the relics seemed to conclude.
"Try to make up for it next time."
"You all know the situation aboard the vessel. Coming up short by an item or two each time might be fine in the short term, but if it drags on, won't every one of us suffer for it?" the elder said with a cold snort.
The older cultivator did not argue, nodding repeatedly.
"Help me deliver these relics to the Severing Immortal Tower," the elder instructed.
Chapter 1184