"The King of Profound Heaven's transmission..." Li Fan feigned deep contemplation, sighing a moment later. "It must be a secret that only a True Immortal could ever touch."
"Could it be information about the culprit responsible for the King of Profound Heaven's disappearance?"
Mo Rubin shook his head. "Groundless speculation is pointless. While there is no way to know what Big Brother Xuanyuan transmitted back then, this message sent through the Eye of the Tian Beast might point us in the right direction." Saying this, Mo Rubin operated the Eye of the Tian Beast once more.
The countless bubble projections around them froze, then rushed backward at high speed, as if the Eye of the Tian Beast itself were shuttling straight forward through the Star Sea.
"This is the trajectory of Big Brother Xuanyuan's transmission as it traversed the Star Sea all those years ago."
"The High Wall traps all living beings in the Pitch-Black Star Sea. Perhaps this transmission was the only thing to escape the Star Sea in ten thousand years."
"I can calculate the exact point where the transmission broke through the High Wall, and then we can go there in person to investigate," Mo Rubin explained slowly.
Li Fan frowned. "At most, that transmission might have left a slight trace upon the High Wall. Could it really have blasted a hole through it?"
Mo Rubin gave an enigmatic smile and asked softly in return, "Why couldn't it?"
"Do you know what the High Wall truly is, Fellow Daoist?" Seeing Li Fan's startled expression, Mo Rubin asked solemnly.
Li Fan replied, "Though called a high wall, it is in truth the end of the Star Sea, where no path lies ahead. Yet this end was fabricated out of nothing, obstructing the road that once existed—like a high wall descending from the heavens to seal off the Star Sea."
"Indeed. The High Wall is not a physical creation, but a rule. Since the transmission Big Brother Xuanyuan sent to the Faceless Immortal most likely broke through the High Wall and reached beyond the starry skies, it means..."
"The rule was broken." A sharp gleam flashed in Mo Rubin's eyes.
At that moment, Li Fan understood as well.
"If that broken rule in the High Wall has not been repaired over the past ten thousand years, it might very well be an opening leading outside the High Wall!"
"Yet... is that possible?"
"After so much time has passed, could the breach in the High Wall still exist?" Li Fan remained skeptical.
Mo Rubin chuckled. "That will depend on our luck. The omen of the Dao Annihilation's descent will soon engulf the Star Sea. If we still cannot find a way to cross the High Wall..."
"Then I fear only death awaits us." His smile turned cold.
Hearing this, Li Fan's expression grew equally grave.
Mo Rubin cupped his hands. "The journey to the border of the Star Sea is vast and distant. I saw earlier that your escape arts are peerless, Fellow Daoist, so I would like to ask for your assistance."
Li Fan responded solemnly, "Of course."
A viscous membrane covered them both.
Moments later, they had already departed the interior of the Eye of the Tian Beast and arrived in the Pitch-Black Star Sea. The wooden sword phantom silently unsheathed, enveloping Li Fan and Mo Rubin.
Mo Rubin pinched an incantation gesture. Suddenly, the center of his forehead split open, and an oval, brownish-yellow eye emerged.
To Li Fan, this eye felt identical to the Eye of the Tian Beast they had just occupied.
"This is one of the auxiliary formations of the Eye of the Tian Beast. It attaches an observation point to one's body, serving to guide our way through the Star Sea," Mo Rubin explained as he directed the brown eye to release a beam of light.
It did not illuminate the pitch-black starry sky; perhaps only the two of them could see it, extending straight into the depths of the void to point the way.
"Follow it, Fellow Daoist."
"If there are hazardous zones where the remnant power of True Immortals converges along the way, the Tian beast's guidance will steer around them."
As if validating Mo Rubin's words, the straight beam ahead suddenly bent into a curve, seemingly evading some obstacle before continuing deep into the Star Sea.
Li Fan waved a hand. "No need to go through such trouble."
The wooden sword phantom abruptly accelerated, neither dodging nor evading, charging straight toward the danger zone marked by the Eye of the Tian Beast.
Mo Rubin's face changed slightly. Yet before he could speak, he discovered in utter astonishment that in merely an instant, they had surged across a vast distance in the Star Sea.
As for the perilous area barring their way, the wooden sword phantom traversed it without suffering the slightest impact.
And so, a somewhat comical scene unfolded. The guiding beam of the Eye of the Tian Beast repeatedly twisted and curved ahead, while the wooden sword phantom simply pressed forward without ever taking a detour. The beam had no choice but to adjust constantly, shifting the direction of its guidance.
Moreover, the wooden sword phantom flew so fast that the guidance from the Eye of the Tian Beast would occasionally vanish for a time. Li Fan had to pause and wait for it to reappear.
In this manner, the two rushed toward the border of the Star Sea at breakneck speed.
"I originally thought your escape arts were formidable, Fellow Daoist, but I never expected them to surpass my expectations by this much! To think you can actually ignore the remnant power of True Immortals amassed in the Star Sea..." After lingering in shock for a long time, Mo Rubin finally came to his senses and marveled in admiration.
"It is merely that I have made further gains recently. My lifespan, which was nearing its end, even increased a bit because of it," Li Fan replied flatly.
Mo Rubin's gaze swept back and forth across Li Fan's face, but in the end, he said nothing more.
Protected by Li Fan's escape arts, what should have been a treacherous journey across the Star Sea turned into a smooth, peril-free thoroughfare.
Nearly a day passed, and they had already crossed the Sea of Relics and the Great Wall of Remnant Worlds, arriving at the border of the Star Sea.
The guiding beam from the Eye of the Tian Beast gradually grew indistinct, prompting Li Fan to slow his pace.
Even though the core of the wooden sword phantom lay in the transformation of truth and falsity, existing between the illusory and the real, crashing headlong into the High Wall at such high speed would likely leave him severely injured on the spot.
Mo Rubin used the Tian beast's attached eye to observe their surroundings. A miss by a hair could lead to an error of a thousand li. They were simply too far from the Xuanhuang Realm; even if the calculations at the starting point held no flaws, slight deviations in the final destination were inevitable upon reaching this border of the Star Sea.
"It should be... nearby."
Before Mo Rubin's words finished, the wooden sword phantom steered by Li Fan came to an abrupt halt.
"No road ahead; the High Wall has arrived."
Those eight words instantly made Mo Rubin's expression turn solemn.
"Please move along the boundary, Fellow Daoist. If I observe any traces of that transmission from back then, I will immediately alert you."
Li Fan nodded to indicate he understood.
It was not that he deliberately put on an aloof facade, but rather that the remnant power of True Immortals pooled beneath the High Wall was on an entirely different scale from that in the ordinary Star Sea.
Furthermore, without the Great Wall of Remnant Worlds to resist and mitigate it, relying solely on oneself to withstand this immense might forced even Li Fan, who now commanded supreme escape arts, to concentrate with all his strength.
Taking arduous steps, they searched along the High Wall. It was unknown how much time passed, yet Mo Rubin still had not found their target.
Li Fan, however, felt a faint sense of dizziness welling up. An inexplicable sense of dread surged in his heart, urging him to flee.
Yet his instincts signaled no crisis; it was purely an unprompted inner sensation. Li Fan endured it, contemplating the cause of this internal change.
Before long, a realization struck him: *This is an illusion of the High Wall collapsing and crushing down upon me from having stayed beneath it for too long. It is because the gap between my own momentum and that of the High Wall is simply too vast.* Having grasped this, Li Fan felt slightly reassured.
Since no real danger would befall him, he simply turned a blind eye to the abnormalities in his mind and continued exploring the High Wall.
However, Li Fan had clearly underestimated the oppressive power of the High Wall's momentum. After another cup of tea's time, the dread in his heart grew even more severe.
The Xuanhuang Immortal Heart Incantation completely lost its efficacy, and the pressure even began to hinder the flow of spiritual energy within his body and the turning of his thoughts.
Li Fan was horrified to discover that his stature and height had imperceptibly shrunk slightly under the crushing weight of the High Wall's momentum.
Upon further inspection, he found it went beyond just his body—his divine soul and even his cultivation strength were likewise being compressed and reduced.
It was as though the High Wall were truly collapsing right onto his head! Li Fan stopped pushing himself and temporarily retreated, drawing away from the High Wall.
"This is the first time I have stayed so close beneath the High Wall for so long." Only after his body returned to normal did Li Fan let out a long breath.
Looking at Mo Rubin, his condition was even worse than Li Fan's. Perhaps due to observing the High Wall for an extended period, the Tian beast's attached eye on Mo Rubin's forehead seemed to be squeezed forcefully by a hand, slowly shutting.
The degree to which it remained open had shrunk by nearly half compared to before, and Mo Rubin's body trembled uncontrollably, as though he had encountered something utterly terrifying.
Seeing this, a trace of doubt flitted through Li Fan's mind. Given Mo Rubin's disposition, even if he witnessed the High Wall with his own eyes, he should not be frightened to such an extent.
In the end, it was Mo Rubin who spoke up and explained the reason.
"My myriad demonic hearts all beheld the High Wall. Thus, their emotions were multiplied tens of thousands of times upon me..."
"Forgive my shameful display, Fellow Daoist." Mo Rubin gradually regained his composure.
Li Fan took no offense. "It is an entity far beyond the mortal realm to begin with. As long as you are unharmed, that is what matters."
"Did you find any traces of the King of Profound Heaven's transmission?"
To Li Fan's surprise, Mo Rubin actually nodded. "I compared the stretch of the boundary we passed along. Indeed, I found one spot that differs from the rest."
"However, the sample size is too small to be certain. Next, we must at least inspect the entire range locked on by the Eye of the Tian Beast."
"That sounds fair." After resting for a while until both returned to their peak condition, they set out once more.
Yet when they stood beneath the High Wall again, Li Fan's expression suddenly shifted drastically.
Because he discovered that, without any preamble, the crushing sensation from earlier surged up once again!
Their previous rest had not dispelled the oppression brought about by the High Wall's momentum. Returning to the foot of the High Wall, they directly inherited their previous sensations, once again bearing the immense, boundless majesty of the High Wall!
Mo Rubin's body trembled violently. The terror on his face revealed that he was experiencing the exact same plight as Li Fan.
"Since retreating was useless, we can only endure," Mo Rubin said in a halting, shivering voice.
Li Fan closed his eyes, forcefully suppressing the various discomforts in his heart. Guided by the Tian beast's attached eye, he trudged forward along the wall with great difficulty.
Advancing step by step, he felt as if he were shrinking smaller and smaller, while the High Wall loomed ever more colossal, breeding even deeper dread in his heart.
Fortunately, the area they needed to survey was not exceptionally vast.
"As expected, that location we encountered earlier is different from the rest of the High Wall. Hurry!" The Tian beast's eye, nearly shut completely, cast a dim beam of light to guide Li Fan forward.
Weighed down by the High Wall's momentum, as his strength was continuously diminished, the effectiveness of the wooden sword phantom's escape art also steadily waned.
Li Fan had a premonition that if he remained any longer, he might become unable to sustain the wooden sword phantom.
Without the escape art to assist him, he would not be able to flee from the foot of the High Wall. And as the High Wall's pressure mounted with every passing moment, he would ultimately be crushed out of existence by the wall.
His only recourse would be using True Reversion to preserve his life.
Fortunately, before that came to pass, Li Fan brought Mo Rubin to their destination at last.
It truly was merely a single point. One among the endless endpoints in the boundless Pitch-Black Star Sea. Without specific guidance, trying to find its exact location under the crushing momentum of the High Wall would be nothing short of a pipe dream.
Yet the King of Profound Heaven's transmission from all those years ago had turned the impossible into reality.
Originally, Li Fan had planned to flee with his escape arts before his power was exhausted. But the moment he set foot on this point...
The momentum of the High Wall remained. However... it ceased to accumulate.
It was as though they had returned to the very first moment they stood beneath the High Wall.
Li Fan and Mo Rubin glanced at each other, both seeing the wild joy in each other's eyes.
"Just as I thought! The rule of the High Wall was pierced by Big Brother Xuanyuan's transmission!"
Li Fan chimed in as well. "This place is like a weakness, a flaw in the High Wall. For one thing, we can at least stay here indefinitely to study the High Wall. Otherwise, to say nothing of studying it, even approaching it for an extended period would be an extravagant hope."
Mo Rubin narrowed his eyes, his face entirely swept with rapt fascination. He stared blankly, as if seeing hope of escaping the Pitch-Black Star Sea.
A demonic heart flew out from within his body, bearing an expression identical to Mo Rubin himself, and reached out its hand to touch the end of this space-time.
One quarter of an hour, two quarters, three...
Mo Rubin's expression gradually stiffened.
Because he felt nothing at all.
Indeed, after expending so much effort to reach the exact spot where the King of Profound Heaven had pierced the wall all those years ago, Mo Rubin still could perceive nothing when facing this flawed High Wall.
Even a flawed High Wall was not something that beings below the level of True Immortals could touch. Having realized this truth, a shadow of gloom could not help but cross Mo Rubin's face.
Not only Mo Rubin, but even Li Fan failed to comprehend anything from this supposed loophole. Ahead was still only the void's end—unfathomable and incomprehensible.
Whether it possessed a flaw or not was impossible for them to discern directly; they could only sense it obliquely through the concrete effects the High Wall exerted on them.
Naturally, Li Fan was unwilling to accept this. A thought immediately surged within him to use the Ascent Dharma Formation to elevate his own momentum, narrowing the gap between himself and the High Wall to get a glimpse of the truth.
However, considering that Mo Rubin was right beside him and activating the Ascent Dharma Formation would certainly draw his attention, Li Fan temporarily suppressed the idea.
*I will look into it next time, when I come alone.*
With nothing left to do but sigh before the wall, the two fell silent for a time.
Yet the High Wall's pressure did not lessen in the slightest because of their silence. Soon, it once again reached an unbearable point.
With no other choice, Li Fan had to take Mo Rubin and temporarily retreat back to a safe zone.
Chapter 1353