Pulling his thoughts together, Li Fan held the bronze coin of the Beilin Immortal Domain tightly in his palm, attempting to discern the purpose of this immortal coin.
"It can't really be nothing more than currency, can it?"
Li Fan had a lingering intuition that this coin concealed other secrets.
He first tried infusing and activating it with Source Energy essence.
However, Source Energy essence was merely the energy form in the lower realm closest to immortal spirit power; that did not make it equivalent to true immortal spirit power.
When faced with an authentic creation of the Immortal Realm like the Beilin immortal coin, it naturally proved useless.
Waves of Source Energy essence surged like a tide, only to crash fruitlessly against the coin's surface, unable to penetrate within.
Li Fan stored the Source Energy essence away. After a brief contemplation, he stepped out into the void beyond the Xuanhuang Realm.
Activating the Ascending Formation, he attempted to observe it once more from an elevated dimensional perspective.
Sure enough, it differed from what he had seen under normal conditions.
As his own stature and momentum rose, the side of the bronze coin bearing the ever-shifting tableau flickered at an increasingly slower pace, while more and more of the panorama was revealed simultaneously.
Moreover...
Upon the celestial canopy above the panorama of the Beilin Immortal Domain, a vague silhouette faintly materialized!
Its features were indiscernible, but with just a single glance from Li Fan, the spiritual energy within his body began to boil uncontrollably.
In a split second, he could no longer sustain his elevated stature and tumbled back to his original mortal state.
Yet the boiling of the spiritual power inside him did not cease.
Li Fan frowned slightly and attempted to exert greater power to forcefully suppress this unnatural boiling.
That decision, however, was like carrying firewood to put out a fire.
As if ignited by a nameless flame, it burned relentlessly until all the spiritual power within his body and his physical form were entirely reduced to ashes.
Only then did it come to an end.
Not long after, amidst a peculiar ripple, Li Fan's body manifested once more in the void.
Within a breath, the spiritual power in his body was brimming again.
"Not only my spiritual power and flesh, but even my divine soul was almost swept up in it."
"Fortunately, I acted decisively and severed the connection between my divine soul and my body in time."
After inspecting his new body's condition, Li Fan looked solemn.
"A mere glance at that silhouette..."
"Is this the retribution for a mortal creature presuming to pry into the countenance of a True Immortal?"
"Had I not possessed an extraordinary ability to preserve my life, any contemporary Dao Integration cultivator in the Xuanhuang Realm would scarcely have survived this punishment."
"That figure is certainly no ordinary True Immortal. The Nameless Realm..." Li Fan thought thoughtfully.
Temporarily sealing the Beilin immortal coin, Li Fan was in no hurry to fuse the Immortal Realm fragment.
Instead, after suppressing it within the Daqi pocket world, his true body leisurely made its way toward the Xuan Celestial Vessel.
At the same time, he did not forget to halt the arrangement of the Juntian ritual to avoid arousing the vessel's suspicion.
Along the way, Li Fan sensed the subtle changes that had occurred in his body recently.
Even though the changes were minuscule, Li Fan's mastery over his own form had long reached the point of seeing through everything as clearly as a blazing fire, so he naturally perceived them without trouble.
He touched his face. "It is actually warping toward the appearance of that Thousand-Eyed Desolate God... Is this the price of employing a Desolate God's power?"
"I haven't even participated in it personally; I was merely influenced by the prior Juntian ritual."
A fleeting look of intrigue crossed his face. Playing his part to perfection, Li Fan first returned to the Xuan Celestial Vessel's original position.
Finding no trace of the vessel, he stood dazed for a while.
Only then, using the mutual resonance of the Juntian ritual, did he track down the vessel's new hiding place.
The vessel's gates were tightly shut, and not a single elder came out to receive him.
Li Fan feigned anxiety and directly stimulated his aura as a reminder. After waiting a bit longer and seeing no response from the vessel, he prepared to force his way in.
Only then did Zhong Daogong's somewhat frail voice drift out: "Do not worry, we are fine."
"It is merely inconvenient to meet for the time being..."
Li Fan first let out a sigh of relief, but upon hearing Zhong Daogong's words, his expression turned somewhat indignant: "After the Juntian ritual, our fortunes have long been intertwined as one. Do you still not trust me?"
Zhong Daogong sighed and explained, "Not at all, not at all. Have you truly not noticed the changes upon your own body?"
Li Fan wore an expression of astonishment. After inspecting himself, his body shuddered violently: "What on earth happened?"
Only then did Zhong Daogong slowly recount the full tale of their bizarre encounter with the immortal puppet.
Li Fan's expression shifted continuously, his mouth opening and closing as if words failed him.
"Fortunately, that puppet was also severely injured. At the final moment, it only snatched away the last Go stone and an Immortal Realm bronze coin, without causing greater devastation to the vessel. Otherwise, my death ten thousand times over would not atone for my guilt."
"Most importantly, we underestimated the power that immortal puppet could unleash. Never did we imagine that an existence capable of contending with a Desolate God still remained in the modern star sea," Zhong Daogong said with a soft cough.
After a prolonged silence, Li Fan said, "Even if I had been there, I fear I would have fallen for their scheme as well. After all, it was an immortal puppet immune to True Immortal seal characters and backed by genuine True Immortal flesh and blood..."
"Could it be that a civilization entirely surpassing our vessel and Great Qi is hiding in the star sea?" Li Fan acted shaken.
"I fear that is precisely the truth," Zhong Daogong said, his tone shifting. "Now that this civilization has gathered all the Go stones, they will likely devote all their energy to reconstructing the former Immortal Domain. They will not target us again in the short term."
"Did you leave behind no means of tracking them? Losing such a supreme treasure like this leaves a bitter taste."
"Even if we couldn't defeat them, tracking them down to probe their reality and stirring up a storm would at least show that our Xuan Celestial Vessel is not to be trifled with," Li Fan hummed.
Zhong Daogong did not rebuke Li Fan, keeping his expression calm as he said, "Our skills were simply inferior. The Xuan Celestial Vessel has always prioritized survival and does not engage in petty spites. Besides, none among us has managed to comprehend your earth-shattering escape technique to this day."
Li Fan was left speechless.
"The Thousand-Eyed Desolate God is one of our vessel's ultimate trump cards. Though it can unleash immortal-grade power, it requires a lengthy preparatory process. Furthermore, one must face the Desolate God's backlash afterward..."
"The reason we cannot meet with you for now is that, as a link in the Juntian ritual, you were not influenced by the Thousand-Eyed Desolate God. You act like an anchor, retarding the process of our mutation," Zhong Daogong briefly explained.
"Remaining outside actually benefits our recovery."
Li Fan nodded, accepting this explanation.
"Is there any help you need? I recall a Dao Sovereign of Great Qi once researched topics regarding mutations caused by the influence of True Immortal power..."
Zhong Daogong paused, seemingly hesitating for a moment.
In the end, he declined Li Fan's goodwill: "There is no need to worry. After dealing with the power of True Immortal seal characters for countless years, we have ample experience of our own."
Li Fan sighed with a hint of regret: "Very well. I came here at great risk only out of concern for the vessel's safety. After all, the ritual is currently being executed in secret..."
"At present, the ritual has covered three hundred million people. If all proceeds smoothly, that number can still multiply three- to fivefold," Li Fan reported his progress.
A note of joy finally crept into Zhong Daogong's voice: "Excellent. That will surely compress the star sea's backlash to the minimum."
"This was merely a minor interlude with no major consequences. The big picture must remain our priority; nothing must go awry with the ritual. You should return as soon as possible!"
His words made it abundantly clear that he was issuing an order to see Li Fan out.
'It seems they are suspicious of me after all. Being in an extremely weakened state, they dare not let me enter.'
'Yet, because the Juntian ritual still requires me to harvest sacrifices, they won't openly turn hostile.'
Li Fan saw through it clearly and was just about to cup his hands in farewell when—
Boom!
A tidal shockwave swept out from the distant high wall, arriving in the blink of an eye.
It moved too quickly, and needing to conceal his true strength before the vessel, Li Fan pretended he could not react in time.
Enveloped by the impact, he was dragged thousands of li across the star sea before barely steadying his footing.
Meanwhile, the concealed Xuan Celestial Vessel was blasted straight out of its cloaked state by this bizarre, overpowering shockwave.
Like a lone skiff amidst tempestuous waves, it rocked violently without pause.
"What happened?"
Looking somewhat disheveled, Li Fan flew back near the vessel, staring in the direction of the high wall where the shockwave originated, his voice full of shock and uncertainty.
The Xuan Celestial Vessel's inhabitants were equally bewildered.
"Such an anomaly... according to the vessel's records, it seems to have occurred only thrice before..."
"We have no clue regarding its source either."
"What a pity. If we were not currently recovering from severe wounds, we would trace it to its origins no matter what."
Following the disturbance, the other elders of the vessel emerged one after another.
All of them appeared short of breath and visibly enfeebled.
Li Fan sensed the receding ripples, discovering that as they propagated through the star sea, their power decayed drastically. It seemed the residual True Immortal power pervading the star sea acted as an obstacle to their passage.
"I'll go take a look!" Li Fan cupped his hands toward the vessel and volunteered.
"Rest assured, if I cannot find the source, I will return immediately!"
Without waiting for the vessel's response, Li Fan spurred his wooden sword phantom, speeding toward the direction from which the disturbance had come.
He swiftly traversed the Great Wall of Remnant Worlds and followed the residual energy ripples across the star sea, drawing near the source.
Yet Li Fan's expression could not help but turn grave.
For he realized that this terrifying disturbance seemed to have originated precisely from the flaw in the high wall!
This realization made Li Fan's heart leap.
He involuntarily accelerated his flight.
A few breaths later, when Li Fan arrived at the flaw in the high wall, he discovered that Mo Rubin—who was supposed to be comprehending the secrets of the wall—now had only half of his head remaining, unconscious.
The wooden sword and Dao-comprehension phantom Li Fan had left behind remained on the scene.
They appeared completely unaffected by the preceding wave of disturbance.
'No wonder I didn't notice it earlier...'
'What happened? Can the high wall retaliate and harm people on its own? Could Mo Rubin truly have comprehended something?'
Li Fan's thoughts raced. After a brief inspection, he found that Mo Rubin had merely suffered grave injuries and had not perished. Only then did his heart settle slightly.
Just as he was about to examine the flaw in the wall again, his expression shifted slightly.
He faintly perceived a familiar aura rapidly approaching the area!
'The Heavenly Physician?!'
'Did he rush here after sensing that disturbance as well?'
Li Fan pondered for a moment and quickly made a decision.
There was no need to clash directly with the Heavenly Physician right now. If the man discovered his covert plan to sublimate the Xuanhuang Realm, it would introduce needless variables.
The wooden sword phantom flickered, swiftly taking Mo Rubin's half-head and fleeing the scene.
'Strange. The Xuan Celestial Vessel said they had observed such bizarre ripples a few times before.'
'If this disturbance was triggered by Mo Rubin comprehending the flaw in the high wall, does that mean someone did the exact same thing in the past?'
Connecting this with the Heavenly Physician's swift arrival, Li Fan faintly understood.
'Could the Heavenly Physician have discovered the high wall's flaw long ago?'
'And perhaps even comprehended it more than once, reaping gains from it?'
'He truly is not to be underestimated. Even with an immortal formation in my hands, I must remain wary.' Li Fan was deeply shaken.
Flying past the Great Wall of Remnant Worlds into an empty, desolate region of the star sea, Li Fan finally began treating Mo Rubin's injuries.
Infused with vast amounts of spiritual power and divine soul energy, Mo Rubin gradually woke from his comatose state.
Flesh and blood slowly regrew across his body.
"Ugh..."
Mo Rubin opened his eyes in dazed confusion. Seeing Li Fan's concerned face, he froze for a moment.
Then he snapped his head around, inspecting his surroundings.
"Huh? Wasn't I beneath the high wall?"
"You were severely wounded. Fortunately, I discovered you in time," Li Fan explained simply.
As if triggering a missing patch of memory, Mo Rubin's body jolted violently as though struck by lightning.
"What on earth happened? The state you were in just now was utterly tragic. What could have wounded you to such an extent?" Li Fan stared intently at Mo Rubin.
Mo Rubin opened his mouth, but no words came out.
"While you were unconscious, a peculiar ripple swept across the star sea."
"And that exact same ripple has been recorded three times in the past..."
"Do you know what that signifies?"
Li Fan's words brought a look of utter disbelief to Mo Rubin's face.
After a long contemplation, Mo Rubin spoke slowly: "To tell the truth... I am not entirely certain either."
"I only remember that as I was comprehending the secrets of the high wall, I seemed to suddenly understand something."
"I cannot put into words what I comprehended."
"I only felt that at that instant, like a fish leaping from the ocean or a bird piercing the azure sky, I seemed to behold a vista utterly different from anything before..."
Mo Rubin's tone was somewhat trance-like. He furrowed his brows, straining to recall the sensation from that moment.
"And then, I lost consciousness and blacked out."
Li Fan could not help asking, "Without putting up even the slightest resistance?"
Mo Rubin shook his head.
'That eerie ripple decays rapidly as it travels through the star sea. When it reached me beside the celestial vessel, its intensity was already that terrifying. One can only imagine what kind of earth-shattering power erupted directly at the high wall. If it truly is as Mo Rubin described, could it be a self-defense mechanism triggered by enlightenment?' Li Fan pondered silently.
By this point, Mo Rubin had also realized something: "You carried me away... Does that mean someone went to investigate the flaw in the high wall?"
"Indeed. And that person's strength is immense. I fear he is above both of us," Li Fan said with a heavy tone.
Mo Rubin's expression shifted repeatedly.
"No, I must return to the flaw in the high wall immediately. I have a premonition that my previous comprehension is receding like a tide. If I cannot use the aura of the high wall to preserve that insight, all my previous efforts will be washed away!" he said with resolute determination.
Saying this, without caring how Li Fan might react, he charged straight toward their destination.
Charging forward despite knowing a formidable, unknown enemy lay ahead was completely contrary to Mo Rubin's usual style. This showed just how monumental the allure of the high wall's secrets was to cultivators.
It had reached a point where it could sway one's sanity.
After a moment's thought, Li Fan decided to follow.
The wooden sword phantom enveloped the two of them, while Source Energy essence formed an immortal formation to conceal their auras.
"Actually, returning now is also an opportune moment. Once the other party investigated and found no one, he would instinctively attempt to track us for a while. He will certainly never expect us to turn right back..."
As they spoke, the two had already returned to the flaw in the high wall.
The Heavenly Physician's figure was indeed nowhere to be seen.
Just as Mo Rubin was about to step forward, Li Fan reached out to stop him.
Only after careful scrutiny did they notice that the void ahead was clung with strands of thread like a spider's web.
Adhering to the invisible high wall, they heavily concealed the flaw's location.
This sight caused both Li Fan and Mo Rubin to draw a sharp breath.
"This..."
Both of them had personally experienced the transcendent nature of the high wall.
Mo Rubin in particular had spent month after month meditating beneath it. He knew full well that with his strength, merely staying beneath the high wall for an extended period was exceedingly difficult.
Leaving one's own energy and traces on the high wall was even more out of the question.
"Such a figure has actually emerged in the star sea?"
After his initial shock, Li Fan quickly regained his clarity: "It is merely a temporary measure. Those golden threads are dissipating naturally."
"We only need to wait a moment."
Mo Rubin said in a deep voice, "The problem is, I cannot wait."
"Presumably, whoever laid this trap had an experience of enlightenment similar to mine. He knows that simply stalling me for this period is enough..."
"And..."
Mo Rubin glanced around. "I fear that person hasn't gone far either; he is waiting nearby for us to take the bait."
Even as he said this, Mo Rubin was already involuntarily stepping toward the flaw encircled by golden threads.
The aura on his body, growing increasingly difficult to suppress, revealed that his reason was steadily succumbing to desire.
Frowning in deep thought, Li Fan ultimately sighed: "Very well. Then I shall accompany a gentleman at the risk of my life."
"I will hold him off!"
"You must act fast; I may not be able to delay him for long!"
Before his words finished echoing, strands of golden thread flew out from Li Fan's body.
Within the void, they wove together into an exquisite, profoundly mysterious pattern.
'Let the Heavenly Physician test the mettle of my Perplexing Xuanhuang All Living Beings Formation!'
Li Fan sneered inwardly.
Though he did not wish to clash with the Heavenly Physician prematurely, he was by no means afraid of him.
Especially with the dual empowerment of his escape technique and the immortal formation, Li Fan was confident he could suppress the Heavenly Physician for a short time!
Having obtained Li Fan's promise, Mo Rubin no longer held himself back.
"Demonic Heart, Immortal Will!"
He barked softly.
In an instant, thousands upon thousands of faces surged from Mo Rubin's body like a massive storm cloud before a tempest.
Each bore a different expression.
Like moths to a flame, they swarmed toward the golden threads left behind by the Heavenly Physician.
Under the cover of the myriad demonic souls, Mo Rubin's true body crept quietly toward the high wall.
Buzz...
A sound like the plucking of a zither string suddenly resonated through the star sea.
Before the army of demonic souls could reach the Heavenly Physician's golden threads, a great number of them melted like snow under direct sunlight.
Yet they did not vanish completely, leaving behind faint, blurred silhouettes.
A closer look revealed that a slender golden thread was embedded within each of these silhouettes.
The golden threads connected these demonic souls, causing them to turn traitor in an instant.
They crashed violently against the demonic souls under Mo Rubin's control.
"Mortal tricks, dare you vie with immortal arts?"
Mo Rubin snarled.
His eyes instantly sank into an eerie, silent darkness.
An invisible mirror quietly materialized in the area under his gaze.
It reflected every demonic soul seized by the Heavenly Physician's golden threads.
The mirror erupted with black light, solidifying from ethereal to tangible.
Then, the demonic souls within the mirror once again displayed Mo Rubin's own countenance!
Even though the golden threads still pulled at their interiors, they were forcibly possessed by Mo Rubin once more!
Relying on the cover of these undying and imperishable demonic souls, Mo Rubin successfully breached the outer perimeter left behind by the Heavenly Physician.
Seeing the flaw in the high wall within arm's reach, Mo Rubin suddenly realized he could no longer move.
Transparent needles had pinned themselves into his body at some unknown moment.
At first, there was only one.
Then one became two, two became four.
As if possessing a will of their own, they proliferated by instinct, soon pinning every acupuncture point across Mo Rubin's entire body.
The slightly ferocious expression on Mo Rubin's face seemed to freeze over as well.
Observing this while laying down the formation, Li Fan considered stepping in to assist.
Yet he found that he had still underestimated Mo Rubin, an ancient Dharma King of the Xuantian Sect.
The moment Mo Rubin came to a standstill, all the invisible needles were quietly stained with a wisp of pitch-black.
Like a muddy swamp, it crept upward relentlessly.
Looking closer, one would find that the blackness was formed by Mo Rubin's manifesting demonic souls!
However, compared to the ones Mo Rubin had released earlier, these were entirely devoid of reason. Only mad destruction remained in their eyes as they gnawed ceaselessly at the sealing needles.
Once a needle was devoured by a demonic soul, it was pulled from his flesh.
The demonic soul would then fly toward the other needles, assisting in their corrosion.
Consequently, the sealing needles unraveled faster and faster.
Within a few breaths, Mo Rubin had dismantled them all.
'The Ten Thousand Tribulations Undying Demonic Heart Immortal Art is truly worthy of being an Immortal Realm technique personally selected for Mo Rubin by King Xuantian. Truly extraordinary!' Li Fan praised inwardly as he watched Mo Rubin break through the array.
Having repelled the sealing needles, the final layer of defense left by the Heavenly Physician stood before Mo Rubin.
Meanwhile, Li Fan, having successfully laid out the formation, had already sensed the Heavenly Physician's aura not far away.
"No matter if you are the strongest in the star sea, you must still take a stroll through my Xuanhuang All Living Beings Formation!"
A fierce gleam erupted in Li Fan's eyes.
Looking at the distant figure with sweeping white hair, Li Fan seemed to recall the scene when he had first encountered this peerless supreme expert of the Tianfa Realm.
Source Energy essence was continuously drawn forth, and the Terminal Dissociation Disc ran at its absolute limit.
The myriad details concerning the Tianfa Realm gathered over a hundred reincarnations flashed across his mind in an instant.
"Have a taste of this wondrous world I tailored just for you!"
"Formation, open!"
Amidst Li Fan's roaring cry,
an invisible ripple instantly enveloped the flying Heavenly Physician.
A look of bewilderment crossed the man's face.
Then, darkness fell before the Heavenly Physician's eyes, and he lost consciousness.
When he woke again, he felt dazed for a while.
Next, an utterly innocent voice stirred him awake.
"Exalted One! Exalted One!"
The Heavenly Physician looked toward the source of the voice.
It was an adorable young girl. She appeared barely ten years old, yet she was already at the Nascent Soul realm.
"Su Xiaomei."
Information regarding this young girl instantly surfaced in the Heavenly Physician's mind.
'Two worlds merged, and two consciousnesses of the Heavenly Dao attached themselves to a mother and daughter.'
'Endowed with extraordinary talent, naturally unburdened by the immortal-mortal miasma—the perfect constitution dreamt of by countless living beings.'
'Immortal-mortal miasma?'
The Heavenly Physician suddenly felt a slight sense of dissonance.
Yet after a brief bout of dizziness, he recalled what had transpired over the past ten thousand years.
In the life-and-death decisive battle between the Tianfa Realm and the Xuanhuang Realm back then, the Tianfa Realm had ultimately secured the final victory by a stroke of luck.
The Tianfa Realm successfully devoured the Xuanhuang Realm, gaining the resource replenishment of an entire cultivation world and temporarily escaping the Immortal Ruins.
Yet the price paid was horrific.
Among the Exalted Ones of the Tianfa Realm, apart from him, Tianjue, Tianyin, Tianyu, and all the others had fallen in battle.
And the cultivators of the Xuanhuang Realm, in their final moment of despair, had used the Xuanhuang Realm as a sacrifice to unleash a fatal blow.
Heaven and Earth principles like the immortal-mortal miasma and dharmas cannot be practiced concurrently were quietly planted into the Xuanhuang Realm like poison.
Even the most fundamental principles of cultivation had secretly changed.
Because he had fallen into a coma from grave injuries, he failed to notice in time.
When he woke from his slumber, the Tianfa Realm had undergone earth-shattering changes.
Because dharmas could not be practiced concurrently, cultivators slaughtered one another.
The Tianfa Realm, already desolate after the great war, was pushed to the brink of having its heritage severed.
Fortunately, after a period of slaughter, the surviving cultivators had enough cultivation techniques to practice.
The killing stopped, but the cultivators had lost mutual trust.
Upon a wasteland, they lived guarded, isolated lives.
During this time, the surviving cultivators in the star sea also discovered this remnant land of the Tianfa Realm.
Their original homelands had already been destroyed in the star sea's great calamity. Thus, they arrived one after another and settled here.
Over the ten thousand years, the entire star sea had been shifting.
The suction of the Immortal Ruins drew in everything in the star sea at all times.
The Tianfa Realm, which had narrowly escaped back then and now served as the final paradise of survival in the star sea, was inevitably drawn to the edge of the Immortal Ruins.
Teetering precariously, it faced the risk of utter destruction at any moment.
When the Heavenly Physician woke, this was the scene that met his eyes.
Though deeply shaken, he immediately took remedial action.
Through various means, he finally persuaded several Longevity realm powerhouses across the Tianfa Realm to temporarily unite.
They formed a loose alliance.
Gathering the cultivators of the Tianfa Realm, they supported mortals in cultivation.
The Tianfa Realm slowly regained its vitality, yet those Longevity realm powerhouses harbored their own hidden motives.
Faced with the sinking colossus that was the Tianfa Realm, thoughts of fleeing on their own had already begun to sprout among them.
And the Heavenly Physician had to save a Tianfa Realm such as this.
Chapter 1363