It was evidently a top secret of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals.
It was hidden extraordinarily deep; even though a portion of the Hongmeng Square grand array had already been repaired, the Boundless Mirror still found the search exceedingly difficult.
It also had to stay vigilant against being detected by the Heavenly Profound Mirror, and amid the continuous searching, the Boundless Mirror gradually began to run beyond its capacity.
The mirror's body began to shudder violently, and faint cracks even appeared across its surface.
Sun Luyuan watched with bloodshot eyes, several times wanting to stow the small Heavenly Profound mirror away.
Yet the resolute conviction conveyed by Sun Luyao stopped him each time.
"Brother, I can hold on a bit longer."
"I've already found some clues—we can't let all our previous efforts go to waste!"
"Brother, I can do it!"
Listening to Sun Luyao's voice, thick with almost uncontrollable agony, Sun Luyuan's wavering resolve hardened.
Time seemed to stretch out interminably; Sun Luyuan felt as if a knife were twisting in his heart, sitting on pins and needles.
Besides fearing that his younger brother would be unable to endure and have both form and spirit extinguished, he also worried about being discovered by the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
At last, the Boundless Mirror took the initiative to cut off the devouring black light.
The wondrous small mirror could no longer even remain levitating, clattering to the floor with a loud clang.
Sun Luyuan hurriedly brought out a reserve of essence blood to pour over it.
Only after quite a while did the Boundless Mirror shakily recover a fraction of its strength.
"How did it go...?" Sun Luyuan hardly dared to ask.
"Brother, mission accomplished."
Fortunately, his brother had not let him down. The instant he heard those words, Sun Luyuan breathed a sigh of immense relief.
Yet after reviewing the top-secret information his brother had uncovered, his expression shifted continuously.
"Fu's suspicions were correct—Cang really has been brought under control in turn."
"Weidu..."
"It seems internal affairs among the Mirror Keepers are even more tangled than we imagined," Sun Luyao's shadowy form said feebly. "Brother, our Sun Clan is still too weak. One misstep, and we will be torn to shreds."
"Don't worry. Leave the rest to me," Sun Luyuan said in a deep voice.
"By the way, Brother. Could you leave the small Heavenly Profound mirror behind this time?" Sun Luyao suddenly asked just as Sun Luyuan prepared to leave.
Sun Luyuan could not help hesitating.
"Don't worry, Brother. I haven't lost control. In fact, after pushing my limits during these recent probes, my mastery over the Boundless Mirror has deepened for some reason. I was thinking that whenever I have spare strength, I could try a few more times. That way, I'll be even more proficient in the future..."
In the end, Sun Luyuan was persuaded by his brother's earnest words.
Furthermore, his condition was indeed far better than during his previous loss of control after ending an exploration.
Thus, after repeated exhortations, he left the small Heavenly Profound mirror behind.
Not long after Sun Luyuan hurried away, an illusory figure floated out from the Boundless Mirror and entered the small Heavenly Profound mirror.
Moments later, beams of light flashed repeatedly as large quantities of soul-nourishing supplies were purchased and retrieved.
Li Fan's divided soul devoured them greedily, quickly reversing its previously weakened state.
Possessing the origin of the Heavenly Profound Mirror, he could siphon massive amounts of supplies through the small mirror without anyone ever noticing.
At that moment, Sun Luyao's figure also drifted out.
Looking at Li Fan, he was filled with dread.
These soul-nourishing treasures were useless to him.
Yet this lord's casual guidance allowed his fusion with the Boundless Mirror to proceed far more smoothly.
That was something he and his brother had spent centuries striving to achieve without success.
This lord's terrifying might was beyond question.
In Sun Luyao's eyes, he was far more terrifying than any Mirror Keeper.
And so, his own submission seemed only natural.
Brother, you can understand me too, can't you? Sun Luyao thought silently.
The agony he had displayed earlier before Sun Luyuan had naturally been an act.
Though it had taken some effort, it had gone off without real danger.
It was just that the information this lord had taken such pains to uncover puzzled him somewhat.
"Sixteen cultivators, summoned by Chuanfa, to depart Xuanhuang for the outer realms."
To Sun Luyao, this did not seem particularly strange.
Yet in Li Fan's eyes, its significance was entirely different.
Even as his divided soul slowly recovered, Li Fan pondered the matter.
Chuanfa would actually break all precedent to summon cultivators to leave the Xuanhuang Realm?
What is going on here?
With his strength, even if the Alliance quickly cultivates these sixteen into Dao Integration, they would be nothing more than ants.
Nor did he select from among the Alliance's existing Dao Integration cultivators.
Li Fan recalled the sleeper agent he had placed, Yang Fei.
There seemed to be nothing extraordinary about him.
Li Fan was not worried that Yang Fei might expose him if he truly met Chuanfa, because Yang Fei himself did not even know he was a spy for the Great Qi Sacred Dynasty.
Yang Fei was genuinely a cultivator of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals; he had simply befriended a pair of fellows who had deeply researched the Alliance Grand Examination prior to taking it, allowing him to correctly predict several test questions.
"One thing is certain: Chuanfa summoning these sixteen cultivators must be related to that reverberating astral force roiling the Xuanhuang Realm.
"Only, what on earth has Chuanfa encountered that he would actually require these sixteen cultivators?
"Furthermore, the reverberating astral force near the Immortal Ruins has already vanished. Just how are these people going to leave the Xuanhuang Realm?"
The matter was far too secretive; even the records within the Heavenly Profound Mirror were sparse.
"A pity my sacred embryo is far away on the other side of the star sea. Otherwise, I could trail behind them to investigate."
At this thought, Li Fan's train of contemplation paused slightly.
He suddenly recalled that Chuanfa's purpose in the Pitch-Black Star Sea was to collect fragments of various cultivation worlds.
And the sacred embryo's current location was the Sea of Relics, where the mysterious reverberating astral force had drawn and amassed the relics of cultivators throughout the star sea.
If relics gathered there, could fragments of cultivation worlds be doing the same?
Beyond the Sea of Relics, does another Sea of Remnant Realms exist?
On the other side of the star sea, dormant and hidden outside the Xuan Celestial Boat, Sacred Embryo Li Fan suddenly opened his eyes.
His gaze seemed poised to pierce through the endless ruins and darkness, looking deep into the Sea of Relics.
Could it be that right now, I am already very close to Chuanfa?
Li Fan could not help thinking.
If my deduction is correct, then by waiting here patiently, I might even cross paths with those sixteen cultivators from the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals.
Taking it a step further: an existence as formidable as Chuanfa, roaming the Pitch-Black Star Sea for thousands of years, could not possibly be ignorant of the celestial boat civilization hidden here. The two sides might have crossed paths long ago.
It's just that the celestial boat may not know Chuanfa's true identity.
Although from the information currently available the celestial boat civilization appeared frail and fragile, being able to endure for ten thousand years in the Pitch-Black Star Sea, and even dabbling in the power of True Immortal seal characters...
The celestial boat's peak power was certainly not to be underestimated.
"Zhao Xian's cultivation is too low, and what he knows of the boat's past is limited.
"It seems I will need to accelerate his growth a little."
Chapter 1203