The people from the Celestial Vessel saw nothing amiss with Li Fan's request.
However, they also put forward a condition of their own: "The True Immortal seal characters are the absolute secrets of our Celestial Vessel. Although this place lies deep within the uninhabited Star Sea, we must still guard against eavesdroppers and prying eyes."
"Therefore, we must also set up an array here!"
Li Fan chuckled. "As you please. If you find laying the array taxing, I would be happy to lend a hand."
The elders of the Celestial Vessel snorted coldly, ignoring his banter.
Joining forces within the "illusion array" Li Fan had arranged, they laid down another layer of formations. Only after deeming everything foolproof did they commence the official exchange.
"This old man is Jian Daosheng. Please instruct me!" Without any superfluous pleasantries, Jian Daosheng, the Chief of the Celestial Vessel's Immortal Pivot Court, solemnly inscribed a True Immortal seal character on the spot.
Perhaps seeking to suppress Li Fan's arrogance and seize the upper hand from the start, the True Immortal seal character he chose was indeed extraordinary. During his previous life's studies aboard the Celestial Vessel, Li Fan had never had the chance to encounter it—even after becoming Ai Tianjue's disciple and practically a member of the vessel's core echelon.
Murky, dark lines slowly drifted through the void. The moment the character formed completely, it was as though a blazing sun had risen, illuminating the dark expanse of the Star Sea where Li Fan and the Celestial Vessel elders stood.
This True Immortal seal character brought more than just a shift between light and shadow. Under its radiant glow, it actually infused the utterly dead Pitch-Black Star Sea with a faint trace of vitality!
*A True Immortal seal character with positive effects?* Li Fan's heart stirred, his expression immediately growing grave.
Paying no mind to Jian Daosheng's smug demeanor, Li Fan focused intently, channeling his full attention into the True Immortal seal character.
With Li Fan's current breadth of knowledge—especially having glimpsed Creation and that mysterious character that forged the bloodline of Great Heavenly Venerable Xuanhuang—his ability to analyze True Immortal seal characters was virtually unmatched in the entire Pitch-Black Star Sea.
He carefully comprehended the character, which constantly shifted and flowed yet remained aloft like a scorching sun. In less than the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the original meaning of the True Immortal seal character surfaced in Li Fan's mind.
[?].
Like a sun rising in the east, qi resounding, myriad things reviving...
These myriad visions and more converged to form this unique True Immortal seal character.
*So that's how it is.*
Having unraveled the [?] character, Li Fan finally solved a question that had lingered in his heart for a long time.
Just what had allowed the Xuan Celestial Vessel to survive from the Star Sea's ruin all the way to the present day?
At first, Li Fan had assumed it relied on the Celestial Vessel Divine Tree formed from the Seed of Transformation. But after spending several years aboard the vessel, he had gradually noticed inconsistencies.
The Celestial Vessel Divine Tree had to continually absorb curios such as the Dao-Chasing giants and the Human Emperor Rabbits to supply the vessel with sufficient energy. This proved that the Divine Tree alone was not enough to offset the vessel's routine consumption.
Over the past ten millennia, the Divine Tree had not constantly absorbed external energy. During those dormant gaps, what on earth had ensured its vigorous growth?
Furthermore, the vibrant, warm environment within the vessel, resembling a normal cultivation realm, did not seem like something a mere extraterrestrial divine wood could furnish. If nothing else, even the true form of the Celestial Vessel Divine Tree—the extraterrestrial divine wood of the Divine Wood Sect from the Xuanhuang Realm—had never possessed such miraculous capabilities in antiquity.
Today, with the revelation of this [?] character, the puzzle was finally solved.
It was precisely this True Immortal seal character, embodying the phenomenon of the rising sun, that had provided a livable environment for the Celestial Vessel for so long.
*This is the very foundation of the Xuan Celestial Vessel's survival, an undeniable treasure. Yet this bunch actually brought it out right off the bat...*
*It seems they have no intention of letting me leave.* Having spent a lifetime mingling among them, Li Fan knew the temperament of these elders all too well. They valued the True Immortal seal characters and the vessel's future far above their own lives. Yet now they were willingly sharing a top secret tied to the vessel's very destiny...
Even if it was ostensibly "one character for another," it was extraordinarily suspicious.
*Unfortunately, your scheme is doomed to fail. You might manage to stir up trouble, but if you want to keep me here... humph!*
In Li Fan's eyes, the array the elders had joined hands to set up was like child's play, riddled with flaws. Moreover, with peerless escape techniques at his disposal, he was eighty percent confident he could make a leisurely escape even if a True Immortal descended. He had no fear whatsoever of an ambush from the Celestial Vessel elders.
Feigning utter ignorance of their plot, Li Fan continued to focus on deciphering the [?] character.
Yet as his examination deepened, he discovered something amiss.
The [?] character indeed represented the phenomenon of the morning sun. A rising sun was gentle, but only by the standards of the Immortal Realm.
To the living beings of the lower realms, even the gentle warmth of an Immortal Realm dawn was far beyond what they could endure. Were the [?] character to descend in full, rather than bringing vitality, it would likely incinerate a world into an inferno in the blink of an eye!
*So this isn't a True Immortal seal character with inherently beneficial effects either. It still signifies ruin and disorder. The people of the Celestial Vessel merely reduced its similarity and completeness, curtailing its power to turn harm into benefit.*
*Marvelous. As expected of a faction that survived the Great Calamity; they truly possess some tricks,* Li Fan praised inwardly. Outwardly, however, his expression darkened drastically. His cold gaze swept across the Celestial Vessel elders. "Something isn't right here, is it?"
"The completeness of this [?] character isn't even at ninety percent! Do you take me for a fool who can't tell the difference?"
Li Fan put on a display of incandescent fury, followed by utter disappointment. "Forget it! To think you were such untrustworthy individuals. The exchange is off!"
The people from the Celestial Vessel had never expected Li Fan to see through the true nature of the [?] incantation so quickly. Shaken, Jian Daosheng hastily explained, "Fellow Daoist, you misunderstand! It is not that this old man was deliberately hiding anything. In truth, for us in the lower realms, a [?] character with thirty percent similarity is far more useful than one of higher completeness!"
"Of course, if you insist, Fellow Daoist, displaying the complete [?] character is no trouble at all."
With that, Jian Daosheng inscribed the [?] character once more.
In the void, even with the Approximation Method significantly dampening the True Immortal seal character's might, Li Fan still felt the gentle warmth in the air transform into a suffocating heatwave the instant the character took shape. Vitality vanished in a flash, replaced by chilling, grim murderous intent.
Li Fan committed the complete [?] character to memory, then said, "Very well. I must admit you were right."
"Since it was a misunderstanding, let us continue our exchange!"
Hearing Li Fan's words, the Celestial Vessel elders all breathed a secret sigh of relief.
Li Fan cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention. "Gentlemen, watch closely!"
With strokes like soaring dragons and darting snakes, the character for 'Fall' was inscribed in an instant.
The moment the 'Fall' character appeared, the expressions of the Celestial Vessel elders turned subtle—especially Ai Tianjue's.
He stared blankly at the character suspended in the void before him.
He likely had never imagined that the True Immortal seal character he had researched most deeply would be written out first by his opponent.
*Its degree of completion far exceeds the Celestial Vessel's current progress—it is likely close to ninety percent. This...* An inevitable sense of hollow loss welled up in Ai Tianjue's heart.
In truth, what Ai Tianjue did not know was that the 'Fall' character Li Fan had just inscribed had not actually reached ninety percent resolution. Having learned it from Ai Tianjue decades later in his previous life, Li Fan's own analysis of 'Fall' was only around eighty percent.
However, drawing on his understanding of Creation, the mysterious character representing the divide between immortal and mortal, and even a sliver of the Transformation of the Real and False, Li Fan had restructured and adapted the 'Fall' character.
Imbued with the aura of a deeper level of power, the 'Fall' character Li Fan inscribed appeared far more "advanced"—even resembling the true concept of 'Fall' more closely than the original character itself.
Li Fan had previously been uncertain whether such a method could fool the people of the Celestial Vessel. But judging from their expressions now, it was entirely feasible.
He sneered internally, growing increasingly confident in the smooth progression of his plan.
"Gentlemen, how does this character for 'Fall' look?" Li Fan called out in a clear voice.
Though they desperately wanted to claim that the 'Fall' character overlapped with the vessel's own research, their progress was objectively inferior to his. In the short term, the Celestial Vessel elders could not possibly elevate their comprehension of the character to Li Fan's level.
The Celestial Vessel elders exchanged glances. After conferring among themselves, they ultimately decided to swallow the bitter pill in silence.
Now, it was the Celestial Vessel's turn once more.
Lu Yuzhi of the Severing Immortal Tower inscribed the True Immortal seal character for 'Solitude'.
Although Li Fan's mastery of this character still surpassed that of the Celestial Vessel, he refrained from pushing things too far, wanting to play the long game and land the bigger prize.
He muttered with feigned reluctance, "The character for 'Solitude' is not uncommon in the Star Sea. However, our progress is indeed inferior to yours."
Li Fan cupped his hands. "I have learned much!"
This time, the Celestial Vessel had pulled back a round.
The elders could not help but sigh in relief.
After all, up until now, the Celestial Vessel had suffered significant losses in the exchange. Turning the tables here was finally a promising start.
When Li Fan's turn came, the character for 'Suppression' descended into the world.
This 'Suppression' character also stemmed from the Celestial Vessel's research. Originally, its degree of resolution had not even reached one third, being entirely unsystematic.
In his previous life, Li Fan had taught this incomplete 'Suppression' character to Sun Tianci, who, through his extraordinary comprehension, took its deduction a step further.
In this lifetime, Li Fan had added his own insights to reconstruct, extrapolate, and essentially fabricate a polished version.
He intended once again to test the depth of the Celestial Vessel elders' expertise.
And the result...
After a round of discussion, Zhong Daogong and the others accepted the True Immortal seal character Li Fan provided.
Li Fan remained silent on the outside, but everything was clear in his mind: *It seems the Xuan Celestial Vessel truly has never come into contact with True Immortal seal characters of the Creation tier.*
*A top-down mimicry and fabrication is simply not something they can see through in a short time.*
*Of course, given enough time, they might notice a few clues...*
As Li Fan pondered, the Celestial Vessel presented another True Immortal seal character.
The instant the character appeared, both the array the Celestial Vessel elders had laid down together and the "illusion array" Li Fan had set up began to tremble in unison.
As a consummate grandmaster of formations, Li Fan keenly sensed that under the influence of this new True Immortal seal character, the finest units sustaining the array structures were beginning to disintegrate.
Li Fan was suddenly startled.
One had to know that what he had seemingly laid down with a wave of his hand was by no means a simple illusion array.
Rather, it was a pseudo-immortal array combining degraded versions of two immortal-grade grand arrays: Desolate Decay, Flowers Blooming in an Empty Chamber, and Immortal Descent, All Things Return to the Void!
It concealed killing intent within formlessness, capable of silently annihilating every enemy entering the array.
Yet an array of this caliber was affected by a weakened True Immortal seal character to the point of structural damage...
*If the full might of this True Immortal seal character were unleashed, my pseudo-immortal array would likely shatter in a snap of the fingers.* Having made arrays his most important trump card, Li Fan's heart turned exceedingly grave.
He set about repairing the crumbling formations while simultaneously studying the newly revealed True Immortal character.
*Without a doubt, it specifically counters formations.*
*With a True Immortal seal character like this, no wonder the Celestial Vessel's formation skills are so mediocre.*
*It is hard to say whether the vessel's display of this character carries an intent to intimidate me.*
*Just learning this character makes this entire trip worthwhile.* Li Fan was thoroughly satisfied with this exchange.
At the same time, he gradually unraveled the true meaning of the character before him.
[Dissociation].
The instant he comprehended the character's original Dao intent, Li Fan thought of his treasure, the Terminal Dissociation Disc.
*Perhaps my Dissociation Disc today is similar to the Dharma Deduction Jade, an aspect of the Great Dao projected from the bottom up.*
*Perhaps I can attempt to peer into this Dao of Dissociation through the Dissociation Disc.*
...
As he mastered more True Immortal seal characters, Li Fan gradually realized that what was truly powerful was not the seal characters themselves, but the Great Dao they pointed toward.
The True Immortal seal characters were merely a shortcut, a tool to help ordinary mortals—and even ordinary immortals—touch the Great Dao.
*Likewise, World Curios and Eternal Lingering Thoughts are similar shortcuts.*
*Their essence is fundamentally interconnected.*
*The Dao-Inscribing Immortal.*
Li Fan suddenly recalled that Nameless True Immortal who was said to have inscribed thousands of Daos, making them more "approachable."
*Different Daos cannot be cultivated together. Yet this Dao-Inscribing Immortal managed to understand so many Daos to such an extent...* It was truly somewhat beyond Li Fan's current comprehension.
...
Li Fan's fleeting thoughts did not disrupt the exchange taking place in the void.
Using characters like 'Chaos,' 'Submersion,' and 'Void,' along with 'Forgetfulness' learned from the Celestial Vessel in his previous life, Li Fan nearly drained the vessel dry of the research foundation it had accumulated over thousands of years.
Of course, characters such as 'Chaos' and 'Submersion' were not the complete forms he had witnessed, but weakened versions he had subtly modified.
Aside from [?] and 'Dissociation', Li Fan had gained knowledge of two more characters: 'Cold' and 'Mourning'.
By this point, both sides had virtually exhausted their reserves.
The atmosphere in the void gradually grew tense and delicate.
"Gentlemen!"
Li Fan spoke first, breaking the stalemate.
"I must admit, your research into the True Immortal seal characters is truly not inferior to that of our Great Qi."
"I truly never expected that within the Star Sea, another surviving civilization on equal footing with ours still existed..." Li Fan sighed with deep emotion.
Suddenly, his demeanor shifted. "However, there are disparities even among True Immortal seal characters!"
"All the True Immortal seal characters we have exchanged so far, added together, likely cannot compare to the one I am about to show you!"
A single sentence, shocking as thunder on dry ground.
The Celestial Vessel elders instantly suppressed all their calculating thoughts, staring blankly at Li Fan.
"Fellow Daoist, one should not make wild assertions."
Chapter 1319