Breaking the Star Sea Dao by Force

"The only thing left to do is dissect and analyze the remnants of these worlds. Perhaps that will allow me to deduce and reconstruct what this Pitch-Black Star Sea was like when it was whole." "Still, it is an entity several tiers higher than an ordinary cultivation world like Xuanhuang. Even from a corpse, there is much to be gained." The aura radiating from Sacred Embryo Li Fan shifted abruptly. Like an erupting surge of magma, his aura—already at the peak of Soul Formation—swelled several times over in a single breath. Unfortunately, the Sacred Embryo still could not escape the restrictions linking clone and true self. As if an invisible shackle had snapped into place, it forcefully crushed the surging aura back down. Sacred Embryo Li Fan let out a muffled groan and coughed up a mouthful of blood. Within the pocket world formed by the black sword inside his body, countless pitch-black fissures surfaced, as if it might collapse at any moment. Yet his eyes burned with excitement instead. "Heaven and earth are fractured, and the rules of the Dao are weakened." "Just as I thought, in this Pitch-Black Star Sea, it is truly possible for a clone to surpass its true self in cultivation!" Sacred Embryo Li Fan savored the jolt of that sudden expansion. It was like a brutal, overwhelming force smashing through the shackles of heaven and earth. "My driving force for the breakthrough fell just short. Collapsing halfway through invited a backlash." "If I build up a bit more momentum, I can shatter that shackle in one push." Li Fan suddenly remembered how his clone had previously practiced the Great Method of Devouring the Heavens and Consuming the Earth, ultimately forcing a breakthrough past the Heavenly Calamity. "This is what is called 'breaking the Dao by force.' In an ordinary great world, one could never possess such formidable power without being a True Immortal. But in the Pitch-Black Star Sea, where heaven and earth are crippled and deficient, the requirement is vastly reduced." "Back then, when my clone forcibly broke through the bottleneck of the Heavenly Calamity, it suffered a counterstrike from the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao in the form of that giant palm. In this Pitch-Black Star Sea, even a backlash like that might not descend." Much like Zhao Xian moments ago, Sacred Embryo Li Fan felt his heart brim with the joy of sudden enlightenment. "From one, all things follow. Since this inherent rule of the Dao can be broken, can others be broken as well?" "When a whale falls, ten thousand creatures thrive. The death of this star sea might be an unprecedented opportunity, rare in hundreds of millions of years, for the cultivators who survive to the end." "Chuanfa's immense might, far beyond that of ordinary cultivators—apart from the fact that all new dharma cultivators in the Xuanhuang Realm serve as his foundation—likely has everything to do with this as well." "Having lingered in the star sea for ten thousand years, he is probably infinitely close to the immortals of legend." ... The Sacred Embryo's realization in the Pitch-Black Star Sea struck Li Fan's true self with immense force as well. The discovery that the crippled state of the star sea's great world could actually benefit cultivators caused his aura to waver ever so slightly. This caught the attention of Dao Integration elders Hua Yueye and Zhang Xu. "Fellow Daoist Sun?" "It is nothing. I merely thought of my beloved wife back home and let my mind wander," Li Fan replied with an embarrassed tone. The two garrisons exchanged peculiar looks, then nodded in understanding. Having steadied his composure, Li Fan's true self suppressed the urge to charge out of the Xuanhuang Realm this very instant. "Opportunity and danger have always coexisted." "Though the Pitch-Black Star Sea today is a sacred ground for cultivation, it is undoubtedly fraught with deadly peril as well." "If the Sacred Embryo hadn't used a wonder of Heaven for Foundation Establishment, it would have perished long ago along the way. Facing those bizarre anomalies in the star sea, even the world formed by my Five Elements Great Grotto-Heaven wouldn't last long." The invisible void holes in the pitch-black void, the lethal black plague... Neither was something the present Li Fan could handle. "Gaining insights through the Sacred Embryo amounts to the same thing." Li Fan could only console himself with this thought. "Once those sixteen Dao Integration cultivators from the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals leave the Xuanhuang Realm, they should gradually discover this secret as well." "The question is, will they be able to return alive?" Li Fan held a pessimistic view regarding their fates. To Chuanfa, the cultivators of the Xuanhuang Realm were nothing more than tools. This summons would likely be no different. "Still, I can try to find a way to secretly learn how to leave the Xuanhuang Realm without relying on reverberating astral force." "The appearance of reverberating astral force in this lifetime was purely by chance; there is no guarantee it can be replicated in the future. Now that I know the importance of the Pitch-Black Star Sea, how could I let it slip by?" "Even if it is a closely guarded secret at this moment and impossible to investigate, several decades from now, or when Great Qi exerts pressure on the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals and war breaks out, no one will have the time to protect such secrets, and uncovering it won't be difficult." ... Even so, Li Fan maintained constant surveillance over those sixteen individuals. Through the small Heavenly Profound mirror, the divided soul left in the Sun Clan was already able to stably maintain a manifested form. With the divided soul's recovery in strength, Sun Luyao inside the Boundless Mirror also grew stronger day by day, his fusion with the mirror deepening noticeably. On this day, while peering into the Heavenly Profound Mirror, Sun Luyao suddenly mustered the courage to say to Li Fan, "Senior, I seem to have sensed the location of another Boundless Mirror fragment." "Perhaps after absorbing it, the Boundless Mirror's capabilities will improve even further." Previously, the Sun brothers had searched nearly the entire territory of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, and the fragment they recovered had indeed brought a qualitative transformation to the Boundless Mirror. If it could be restored a bit more, it truly might bring Li Fan an unexpected boon. Yet Li Fan's divided soul acted as though he had heard nothing. He patiently finished surveying the Heavenly Profound Mirror, still finding no information regarding the sixteen cultivators summoned by Chuanfa. Only then did he glance coldly at Sun Luyao. "Where is it?" Sun Luyao carefully transmitted the information he had sensed. "Oh?" Upon seeing the location Sun Luyao pointed out, Li Fan's divided soul was surprised. It was precisely within Baishi Grotto-Heaven, on the border of Shilin Province. The ruins of the Heavenly Mechanism Sect and the entrance to the Spirit Wood Realm were both located within that continuous subterranean network of karst caves. "I see." Li Fan's divided soul gave a flat reply, showing no inclination to set out in search of it. Sun Luyao did not dare ask further. Not until seven days later, when Sun Luyuan returned to the secret chamber and Sun Luyao obtained Li Fan's permission, did Sun Luyao rather urgently recount the matter once more. In stark contrast to Li Fan's indifference, Sun Luyuan was overjoyed. "If we can find another fragment, you might not have to endure such suffering anymore!" Sun Luyao nodded in agreement. "By the way, Brother, what was that old fellow Fu's reaction when he learned about the Heavenly Profound Mirror's clone?" Sun Luyao asked. Sun Luyuan's brows furrowed. "A human clone being born from the Heavenly Profound Mirror is an affair of grave consequence; it must be handled with great caution. I can understand why he hasn't made a move for now. What is strange, however, is that ever since our last meeting, I haven't been able to reach him at all." "You can't reach him?" "It isn't just Fu. Even the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals headquarters is temporarily closed to entry. Something of immense importance seems to be taking place."