A multitude of Dao Integration corpses drifted in disarray, bobbing like kites pulled on strings. The expressions on their faces remained frozen in the joyous relief of having escaped catastrophe.
"Damn it..."
Seeing these faces—vibrant and alive only moments ago, now utterly rigid in death—Guan Xingxiu could endure it no longer. The Falling Star Divine Sword transformed into a beam of golden light, slashing straight ahead.
A teal-robed figure abruptly appeared, blocking the sword light's path.
Ice crystals blooming like flowers materialized at the figure's fingertips. The surrounding air seemed to freeze solid, and with it, the Falling Star Divine Sword was halted in midair, frozen stiff.
"Is that... Qingshuang?"
Seeing this figure that was simultaneously familiar and alien, Xu Guanhai could not help crying out in shock.
The one who had cast a technique to stop the Falling Star Divine Sword was none other than Dao Integration cultivator Qingshuang, who had been completely drained and slain shortly before.
Only...
Guan Xingxiu narrowed his eyes, unable to conceal the shock in his heart.
"Old Guan, be careful! That isn't Ji Wantao himself—it's an anima of Heaven and Earth!" Xu Guanhai noticed the anomaly in an instant and shouted a warning.
The five surviving Dao Integration cultivators suddenly felt their nerves pull taut once more.
Upon closer inspection, they discovered that this anima of Heaven and Earth Qingshuang no longer bore an indistinct, blurred face. Instead, it closely resembled the visage of Immortal Venerable Qingshuang, Ji Wantao, when he was alive.
What terrified them even more was that from the back of this new anima of Heaven and Earth Qingshuang, a slender thread stretched out, extending into the void.
The thread was identical to the lethal implements the flying boat had previously used to slaughter the Dao Integration cultivators.
As they confronted the vessel, numerous slender threads emerged from nothingness.
Familiar faces seemed to drift forth from the shadows, surrounding the five survivors on all sides.
Sun Luchang turned pale, his body trembling uncontrollably. "How is this possible? Dying is one thing, but an anima of Heaven and Earth can actually be extracted and refined? What kind of demonic art is this...?"
Zimei, however, looked thoughtful. "We are far from the Xuanhuang Realm here, so the law of returning one's Dao to Heaven naturally loses its effect. If certain special means are employed, it might not be impossible to disguise oneself as the Heavenly Dao and receive these animas of Heaven and Earth."
Xu Guanhai gave a bitter laugh. "Old Guan, looks like we're truly doomed this time. One or two animas of Heaven and Earth might not scare me, but so many of them... not to mention this terrifying flying boat."
A glint of resolve flashed in Guan Xingxiu's eyes. "Then let's destroy this monster first!"
"Hold on!" Just as the Falling Star Divine Sword was about to pierce the flying boat's deck, Blue Feather barked a sharp command to halt him.
Blue Feather strode forward, interposing himself before the gathered animas of Heaven and Earth, and said in a deep voice, "Query current task completion probability."
The floating animas of Heaven and Earth froze into complete stillness. A moment later, the Wangzun flying boat's frigid voice echoed out:
"Current task feasibility: extremely high."
"Current energy reserve: sufficient."
"Energy replenishment plan aborted."
...
As the cold pronouncements echoed, the drifting, expressionless animas of Heaven and Earth were dragged by those slender threads back into nothingness.
A crisis that had seemed inescapable dissolved into thin air just like that.
Sun Luchang wiped cold sweat from his brow and let out a long breath, still finding it hard to believe. "It's... it's resolved just like that?"
Blue Feather's expression did not soften in the slightest. "It's only temporary. It appears that so long as energy is sufficient and we do not attempt to flee, it will not attack us."
Guan Xingxiu nodded, saying coldly, "Yet once its energy runs low, it will inevitably hunt and absorb us again. Hmph. To think we were esteemed ministers of the Alliance, only to become fodder for a magical device in this freezing void. How ironic..."
Zimei said nothing, her expression equally grim.
Only Xu Guanhai offered a wry smile. "To think we get to live a little longer—that's already a gain. Relax a bit, everyone. Since this thing swallowed so many Dao Integration cultivators at once, maybe it'll manage to hold out until we meet the Heavenly Venerable himself?"
"Besides, those people earlier were ambushed. If the five of us combine our strength and guard each other, we might just successfully escape this damned place," Xu Guanhai added via divine sense transmission.
"I possess the Tiandu Martial Arena," Blue Feather said. "If I deploy the Martial Arena Barrier, it should buy us a substantial amount of time."
"This place is not fit to linger in. How about we rest and recover for a period, then break out together?"
"If we stay, we die. Let's risk it!"
...
As they conversed, time slowly drifted by.
Once they had all restored themselves to peak condition and made their move, the operation went far more smoothly than they had imagined.
Not only did no animas of Heaven and Earth emerge to obstruct them, but even the Wangzun flying boat itself seemed made of paper, easily torn to shreds.
"We... we're out?" Sun Luchang was stunned.
"No!" Guan Xingxiu stared grimly at the surrounding void. "We're still inside the flying boat! We've been imprisoned!"
The Falling Star Divine Sword flared with blinding brilliance, attempting to illuminate this dark space.
Yet just like the true void of the starry sea, this place seemed boundless. The radiance of the Falling Star Divine Sword was like the glow of a firefly, extinguished in an instant.
"Go!" Guan Xingxiu refused to give up, directing the Falling Star Divine Sword to shoot rapidly into the darkness.
Unexpectedly, once it flew out, it never returned, completely swallowed by the darkness.
The others also sensed that something was amiss and cast their various techniques, but without exception, none could break free from this void cage.
"That damned thing never planned to let us go from the start! While we were planning our escape, it struck first and ambushed us!" Sun Luchang said venomously.
"This place seems to be some sort of formation. It shares similarities with the Liangyi Microcosmic Formation from ancient legends," Xu Guanhai observed after examining their surroundings for a while.
He then added with regret, "A pity I am not versed in formations; otherwise, I could try to break it."
"I don't understand formations either."
"..."
The group fell silent, their gazes collectively turning toward Blue Feather.
This veteran Dao Integration cultivator had lived for thousands of years; surely he must know at least a little about formations, right?
Under the expectant gazes of the other four, Blue Feather shook his head helplessly. "I do know a bit about formations, but this formation's caliber... is far beyond this old man. I cannot see through it," he admitted frankly.
In an instant, despair crept into everyone's hearts.
A deathly silence enveloped the group.
"The formation here is an absolute enclosed space. I cannot discern an exit. However, if that Wangzun flying boat wishes to exterminate us, it will inevitably have to open a breach. When that time comes, that will be our opportunity."
After a moment, Blue Feather spoke again, reigniting their hope.
"I will deploy the Martial Arena. Everyone, enter to take shelter, lest the flying boat ambush us again."
As he spoke, a circular structure manifested in the dark void.
Having no better alternative, the group could only fly inside.
As the entrance closed, the five looked at one another, and a surge of fighting intent instantly welled up in their hearts.
"Old Blue, can you control this treasure? Now isn't the time for a spar! If we waste our energy, what will we do when the flying boat makes its move?"
"Holy crap, Old Guan, why are you ambushing me?!" Xu Guanhai yelled in alarm.
Even as the five forcibly suppressed the agitation in their hearts, they could not stop themselves from exchanging blows.
Blue Feather explained somewhat helplessly, "This treasure was personally passed down by the Archmage back then. Once inside, one is forced to spar continuously until departing. It is the nature of the treasure, impossible to control. The reason I didn't take it out earlier was precisely because of this."
"However, the sparring intensity can be adjusted. I've already lowered it to the minimum. Everyone, do not repress the fighting intent in your hearts. Just strike casually to maintain a state of engagement. Given the supplies we brought, we need not worry about energy consumption."
After a flurry of chaotic exchanges, the group finally adapted.
While conducting lightweight sparring, they engaged in calm discussion.
"Warming up like this isn't bad either. At least it ensures we'll be in peak form whenever we need to strike," Xu Guanhai said, making the best of the situation.
Sun Luchang sighed continuously. "It's been a long time since I traded blows with anyone like this. Fellow Daoists, please go easy on me..."
Guan Xingxiu steered the conversation back to business: "In this dire straits, we will only have one chance. Therefore, we must have a clear understanding of each other's strongest techniques."
Guan Xingxiu's words earned everyone's agreement.
He took the initiative to speak first: "My strongest strike is something I comprehended here in this starry sea not long ago. It is called 'Sword Dividing the Star River.' Watch out!"
Guan Xingxiu let out a soft shout and slashed out a beam of sword light. In an instant, boundless starlight seemed to be born from within it.
The star-severing sword did not strike the other four; it slammed violently against the sky of the Martial Arena.
The firmament shook, fissures appearing across it before rapidly knitting closed.
Guan Xingxiu praised, "Fine treasure!"
The remaining four then each demonstrated their own trump cards.
As they practiced together, their mutual coordination grew increasingly seamless.
They even collaboratively deduced a combined attack technique.
Inside the void confinement formation, the passage of time went unnoticed.
The five Dao Integration cultivators were like whetstones honing a blade, nurturing their essence, energy, and spirit.
They waited only for the opportune moment to strike their most devastating blow.
After an unknown length of time...
A tremendous vibration startled them.
It was not a tremor of the Martial Arena, but of the entire dark void outside the arena—or rather, it originated from the Wangzun flying boat itself.
Through their prolonged sparring and coordination, the five had achieved a tacit mental resonance.
In an instant, they reached a consensus, waiting for an opening to appear.
Without warning, the darkness vanished, and light returned.
They seemed to be back inside the flying boat's cabin.
Having suffered a loss once before, the five did not hesitate for a second.
The ultimate combined attack they had brewed for so long was unleashed directly.
"Sword Dividing the Star River!"
"Evening View of the Starry Sea!"
"Feather Extinction!"
...
Roars rang out simultaneously as five radiant lights merged into one, crashing violently against the flying boat's wall.
Yet a scene that drove them to despair unfolded.
A black aperture mysteriously manifested on the wall, directly swallowing the massive destructive power of the five-man combined strike.
The aperture slowly closed, and the wall returned to its original state.
Meanwhile, the killing move they had painstakingly practiced was rendered like a complete joke, unable to cause even the slightest bit of damage.
All five turned deathly pale.
Guan Xingxiu's Dao heart was thoroughly cracked, his body swaying unsteadily.
"How is this possible?" Completely unable to accept what had occurred, he muttered blankly to himself.
With their strongest strike falling flat, the five felt their hearts turn to ash, scarcely able to muster the will to resist any longer.
Soon, however, another violent tremor from the Wangzun flying boat jolted them awake.
"Wait! Is the exterior of the flying boat under attack?"
"A void catastrophe?"
The five immediately came to their senses, expressions of wild joy breaking across their faces.
"We still have a chance!"
By now, they also noticed anomalies about the vessel.
Those animas of Heaven and Earth absorbed previously did not appear.
The flying boat also seemed to have undergone a fierce battle, with faint, minute cracks visible on the walls.
Just as the five stood in astonishment and suspicion, the Wangzun flying boat's icy voice rang out once more:
"Third engagement with unknown starry sea civilization."
"Reserve energy depleted."
"Deduction complete: probability of victory in subsequent combat is zero."
"Executing contingency protocol..."
"Transmitting data..."
"Initiating vessel self-destruct..."
The flying boat's announcement caused the surviving Dao Integration cultivators to turn pale with horror.
"Not good!"
Blue Feather instinctively deployed the Martial Arena, enveloping the five within once again.
The other four also unleashed their respective techniques to protect themselves.
"Initiating... ini... ini..."
Yet another astonishing thing occurred: the Wangzun flying boat's voice seemed to encounter some form of interference, stammering and repeating endlessly.
Yet no explosion arrived.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
Above the flying boat, massive booming sounds echoed again.
Amid billowing dust and smoke, a circular breach suddenly appeared. More than thirty unknown beings clad in peculiar armor filed in through the opening.
They were well-trained, ten of them splitting off to surround Blue Feather's group while the rest continued exploring deeper into the vessel.
"Brother Blue Feather, you are well-traveled and knowledgeable. What do you make of the current situation?" Xu Guanhai asked via divine sense transmission.
Guan Xingxiu offered hesitantly, "An unknown civilization of the starry sea?"
"Quite possible. Let us not act rashly. Let's see if we can communicate first."
After all, the Wangzun flying boat, against which they had been utterly helpless, had been effortlessly breached by this group of mysterious people. Their strength was evident.
If fighting could be avoided, it was best avoided.
After a brief discussion, Blue Feather spoke up: "Fellow Daoists, we bear no malice..."
The response from the other side came swiftly, delivered in the exact same language: "Cut the chatter and stay quiet!"
"Brother Liu, we can't breach their defensive treasure for now. Should we use the immortal seal script again?"
"No rush. Just keep them trapped. We'll decide after we tow this flying boat back."
...
"Immortal seal script?"
Blue Feather and the others exchanged glances.
Time slowly passed in this bizarre atmosphere.
A slight tremor of the Wangzun flying boat broke the stalemate.
"Phew... we can remove our defenses now."
Amid sounds of relief, another contingent arrived within the Wangzun flying boat and took over.
Leading them was a long-haired man clad in a peculiar Daoist robe, wearing half of a broken black jade hairpin in his hair.
Although the aura emanating from this man was at the Dao Integration realm—just like Blue Feather and the others—it was mingled with another mysterious power.
It caused the five Dao Integration cultivators from the Xuanhuang Realm to instinctively feel a faint sense of peril, as though confronting a terrifying catastrophe in the boundless, dark void.
"Fellow Daoist..."
Blue Feather and the others attempted to communicate with the long-haired Dao Integration cultivator.
Yet the man acted as if he could not hear them at all, merely muttering to himself, "It truly turned out as Brother Zhao predicted. A vessel was indeed captured in that direction. This hasn't happened in thousands of years."
"Keep a close watch on them!"
Blue Feather and the others wanted to speak further, but the long-haired man cast a casual glance at them.
Within his pitch-black pupils, a character eerily materialized.
It flashed into the minds of Blue Feather and the others, swelling in an instant until it seemed as vast as heaven and earth, consuming all they could see, feel, and hear.
Sight failed; hearing ceased.
They plunged into boundless darkness.
To outside observers, the long-haired Dao Integration cultivator had merely glanced at them, yet Blue Feather and the other four looked as though struck dumb, standing frozen in place.
A hush fell over the area. Only after the long-haired Dao Integration cultivator departed did the others begin whispering among themselves.
"Elder Wang is growing stronger and stronger. Those were genuine Dao Integration experts, after all!"
"What bullshit Dao Integration? Without understanding the power of True Immortal seal characters, what difference is there between them and Golden Core or Nascent Soul cultivators like us? They just have slightly more brute strength, that's all."
"Makes sense."
...
The long-haired Dao Integration cultivator hurried back. The captured flying boat would naturally be inspected and received by dedicated specialists.
Although the vessel's craftsmanship was indeed remarkable, it lacked the critical fluctuations of a True Immortal seal character's power.
Thus, its true value was fairly mediocre.
What occupied the long-haired Dao Integration cultivator's thoughts right now was another matter.
Zhao Xian of the Dao Confirmation Academy had actually accurately predicted the arrival of this flying boat from the depths of the starry sea...
How had he managed that?
Could it be that he had secretly comprehended the power of another True Immortal seal character?
The long-haired Dao Integration cultivator was utterly perplexed. He subconsciously touched the broken half of the black jade hairpin atop his head.
*He remained dormant for seven or eight years—is he finally about to reveal his brilliance?*
*First, he broke through to Soul Formation in the morning and reached Dao Integration by evening, utterly shattering the vessel's understanding of cultivation speed. And now he has comprehended an entirely new True Immortal seal character...*
The long-haired Dao Integration cultivator walked briskly, swiftly returning from the vessel's docking port to the Severing Immortal Tower.
Inside a quiet, dimly lit secret chamber, he found Zhao Xian, whose hair was similarly disheveled.
"Brother Zhao," the long-haired Dao Integration cultivator said softly, devoid of his previous arrogance.
Zhao Xian paid him no heed, keeping his eyes closed in contemplation. From time to time, his fingers traced light motions in the air, his lips murmuring inaudible incantations.
Rather than taking offense at being ignored, the long-haired Dao Integration cultivator watched with rapt attention, silently studying the trajectories traced by Zhao Xian's fingers.
After an unknown period, Zhao Xian finally spoke: "Was that flying boat found?"
The long-haired Dao Integration cultivator nodded.
"That vessel came from the other side of the starry sea, where the former Xuanhuang Realm was located."
"The Xuanhuang Realm, like our Celestial Vessel, managed to survive the Great Tribulation. They still retain a considerable wealth of resources..."
A look of astonishment flashed across the long-haired Dao Integration cultivator's face.
Zhao Xian continued, "Unfortunately, the Xuanhuang Realm is far too distant from us, and too close to the Immortal Ruins."
"For the Celestial Vessel to make a journey there would actually not be worthwhile. Of course, the specifics are up to the Council of Elders to decide."
As Zhao Xian spoke, he handed a mote of light to the long-haired Dao Integration cultivator.
After examining the information inside, the long-haired Dao Integration cultivator's breathing grew somewhat hurried.
"Brother Zhao, may I ask how you perceived all of this?" he asked in a low voice before departing.
Zhao Xian smiled faintly. "Vast as the starry sea may be, in the eyes of a True Immortal, it can be taken in with a single glance. Wang Hai, when you comprehend True Immortal seal characters, do visions not surface in your mind as well?"
Naturally, Wang Hai would not admit to lacking such visions, so he nodded. "So that's how it is. Brother Zhao's talent is truly extraordinary!"
Zhao Xian accepted the praise placidly, then handed over another mote of light. "These are my newest insights. After reviewing them, submit them to the Council of Elders."
Wang Hai accepted it like a priceless treasure, instantly casting aside his earlier unease and eagerly inspecting its contents.
"Brilliant! Truly brilliant!"
Wang Hai became utterly entranced, lost in fascinated absorption.
Only after a long while, when the broken black jade hairpin atop his head trembled faintly as if on the verge of breaking free, did Wang Hai snap back to his senses.
"Brother Zhao is truly a genius!" This time, Wang Hai bowed with sincere reverence before departing with immense excitement.
Zhao Xian—or rather, Sacred Embryo Li Fan—watched Wang Hai's retreating figure, sensing the twisted silhouette gradually losing control under the influence of the True Immortal seal character's power, and let out an imperceptible smile.
Due to the disparity in the flow of time, nine full years had elapsed since Zhao Xian broke through to Nascent Soul and was accepted as a core disciple of the Dao Confirmation Academy.
The real Zhao Xian, influenced by the illusions woven by Sacred Embryo Li Fan, had lived in constant tension, terrified that the Xuan Celestial Vessel would be destroyed in the future. Even with Li Fan's assistance, inner demons frequently arose.
Even when Sacred Embryo Li Fan's divided strand of divine sense was on the verge of being completely exhausted, Zhao Xian's condition had shown no improvement.
Moreover, having repeatedly exhibited anomalies, he had drawn the suspicion of the Academy's Third Elder, nearly exposing Li Fan's existence.
From this, Li Fan had vaguely perceived the difference in cultivation between the Xuan Celestial Vessel and the Xuanhuang Realm.
Cultivators on the Celestial Vessel were exceptionally susceptible to inner demons, whether breaking through bottlenecks or engaging in ordinary practice.
These inner demons originated from the Dao of the starry sea, directly afflicting the cultivator's very being.
Each time Li Fan helped intercept them, the frequency of their recurrence only escalated.
Furthermore, as Zhao Xian's actual cultivation realm grew stronger, the power of these inner demons multiplied by the day.
Thus, Li Fan simply stopped wasting effort on him and directly used the Dao Pill technique he had learned on the Xuan Celestial Vessel.
Fusing divine sense, he supplanted him entirely.
This cut off the emergence of inner demons at the root.
Zhao Xian's innate aptitude could only be described as decent.
To Li Fan's surprise, however, once the Dao Pill was consumed and he inherited Zhao Xian's body, he also inherited the inherent traits of the Celestial Vessel's natives.
He, too, was beset by inner demons as he cultivated.
Yet unlike Zhao Xian, Li Fan had weathered countless tribulations; his willpower was extraordinarily resolute.
Ordinary inner demons could not shake him in the slightest.
Consequently, his cultivation proceeded without impediment.
According to his plan, he lurked within the Dao Confirmation Academy, ravenously absorbing the technical accumulation the Celestial Vessel had amassed over millennia.
Later, he took the initiative to volunteer as the Academy's representative at the Severing Immortal Tower.
His purpose was to study and test what the Severing Immortal Tower claimed to be a harmless method of utilizing the power of True Immortal seal characters.
The Severing Immortal Tower had not lied.
They had indeed mastered an ingenious method allowing mortal cultivators to wield a portion of a True Immortal seal character's power.
Just as the Dao Integration cultivator named Wang Hai had subdued Blue Feather's group of five in a single move earlier.
The crucial element lay in the broken black jade hairpin he wore.
This hairpin was a realm-destroying relic salvaged by the Celestial Vessel from expansive ruins. Over countless years of exposure to True Immortal seal characters, its form had retained traces of the Dao corresponding to those characters.
At the same time, it had been relentlessly washed by the Reverberating Astral Force echoing through the void.
The collision between these two distinct True Immortal powers gave rise to the unique nature of this black jade hairpin.
The "Dao entering" method mastered over the years by the Celestial Vessel's Immortal Pivot Court likewise relied on these realm-destroying relics to grasp the residual power of True Immortal seal characters.
However, they exclusively selected relics influenced by a single True Immortal power.
The deeper one entered the Dao, the tighter the shackles of the True Immortal seal character became. Not only would the body undergo terrifying transformations, but the mind would also be affected, driving the cultivator mad.
The Severing Immortal Tower had inadvertently discovered relics bearing remnants of two True Immortal seal character powers.
They invoked and studied one of them while treating the attached Reverberating Astral Force as an "anchor."
Whenever they entered the Dao too deeply, they could trace back the influence of the Reverberating Astral Force to pull themselves out of the Dao-entered state.
Doing so meant that, at the extreme limits, the power they commanded was inferior to that of the Immortal Pivot Court.
However, its advantage lay in safety, allowing it to be popularized among the vast majority of cultivators.
Even a mere Nascent Soul cultivator, aided by a specialized realm-destroying relic and a period of tempering, could instantly trigger and unleash the power of a True Immortal seal character.
And if engaged in combat within the starry sea, where the surrounding environment happened to retain corresponding True Immortal seal character power...
Its might could only be described as dreadful and awe-inspiring—far surpassing the limits of ordinary Dao Integration cultivators on the Celestial Vessel.
The introduction of this method allowed the Severing Immortal Tower to rise swiftly, almost entirely supplanting the Immortal Pivot Court to become the true de facto ruler of the Celestial Vessel.
Even so, considering that extreme circumstances still required the power of veteran Dao-entered practitioners, the Immortal Pivot Court was retained.
After infiltrating the Severing Immortal Tower, Li Fan had personally attempted "entering the Dao" using an anchor.
Yet having witnessed the full outbreak of authentic True Immortal seal characters, how could he look favorably upon such opportunistic tricks?
What truly interested him here was their research into various True Immortal seal characters.
Because Celestial Vessel cultivators could only reverse-engineer the source power of True Immortal seal characters through realm-destroying relics, it was akin to blind men feeling an elephant; differing perspectives yielded a wide variety of interpretations.
Li Fan, an eyewitness to the real thing, was able to pick out the accurate versions from a pile of conjectures.
Those characters whose complete forms he had seen—such as Hunger, Chaos, and Sunk—went without saying.
Characters encountered while traversing the starry sea, such as Solitary, as well as Fallen and Void...
They truly felt to Li Fan like priceless treasures.
Though True Immortal seal characters manifested power in diverse forms, they all originated from the hand of the Dao-Inscribing Immortal.
In a sense, they shared common foundations.
Having mastered four or five correct answers, Li Fan found it much easier to identify the versions closest to the truth within the Severing Immortal Tower's research.
This was the fundamental reason why, disguised as Zhao Xian, he was consistently able to submit so-called "insights."
In truth, True Immortal seal characters lived up to their name: even versions deduced from manifestations of power were comparable to supreme offensive divine abilities.
When Sacred Embryo Li Fan practiced them outside the Celestial Vessel, the resulting destruction left him secretly astonished.
Yet among the numerous documents in the Severing Immortal Tower, what intrigued Li Fan most were their speculative studies regarding the categorization of True Immortal seal characters.
Chapter 1281