Li Fan quietly surveyed his surroundings.
Following the shattering and dispersion of the Azure Nether Pearl, it felt as though an invisible boulder had plummeted into the rift hollow.
Ripples spread across the endless, maze-like subterranean rivers of the Star Sea depression.
An unfathomable aura surged within them, infusing the place with an inexplicable vitality.
It seemed the pearl's complete dissipation had activated something.
Li Fan faintly sensed that the rift hollow had subtly transformed.
"It seems that for ten thousand years, the Azure Nether Pearl has continuously released its energy outward. It was already nearing its limit, on the verge of being drained dry."
"Our approach was merely the final push," Li Fan sighed.
Mo Rubin had noticed this as well, and the agitated expression that had earlier breached his composure gradually eased.
Looking back across the rift depression, he too dizzily grasped the purpose of this place: to accumulate vitality and await the opportune moment to trigger it all at once, subsequently guiding the full resurgence of the Star Sea!
"Such an exquisite undertaking could never have been formed naturally by the Star Sea. Not to mention the Azure Nether Pearl serving as the catalyst for the vitality..." Mo Rubin's mind raced.
"Could this be Big Brother Xuanyuan's arrangement? But when on earth did he do it?"
"The Azure Nether Pearl was Big Brother Xuanyuan's most cherished treasure; he never parted with it. For it to be here... while Big Brother Xuanyuan vanished into that bizarre pond."
Mo Rubin's expression was racked with suspicion and uncertainty.
"This matter is indeed rather strange," Li Fan agreed, nodding. "Either King Xuantian did not vanish immediately on the day he was attacked, but instead fell into a deep slumber from severe wounds, and after waking up, set up this arrangement in the rift depression—perhaps the pool in the Xuanhuang Realm is connected to a rift here."
"Or, before the attack, King Xuantian had already entrusted the Azure Nether Pearl to someone else. And all these years, this person has been carrying out various plans to revive the Star Sea in his stead..."
"Utterly impossible!" Before Li Fan could finish, Mo Rubin subconsciously cut him off.
Li Fan fixed Mo Rubin with a meaningful gaze. "Brother Mo, could you tell me: among the Twelve Dharma Kings back then, whom did King Xuantian trust the most?"
"No need to say things like treating everyone equally. Varying degrees of closeness are the way of the Great Dao; even sages cannot avoid them."
Mo Rubin's face turned cold, hesitating to speak.
He then closed his eyes outright to conceal his internal turmoil.
Yet in the end, Mo Rubin did not evade the question. "I suppose if Big Brother Xuanyuan truly had someone he trusted above all others... it must have been Xing Wuque."
"Xing Wuque..."
Information regarding this Dharma King immediately surfaced in Li Fan's mind.
Completely limbless, his facial features destroyed. Always wearing a bronze fanged mask, scarcely ever speaking to anyone.
"In the Xuantian Sect, aside from Big Brother Xuanyuan, no one knew Xing Wuque's true identity. Just as you said, varying degrees of closeness exist. The Twelve Dharma Kings also split into small cliques based on our mutual relationships."
"Sun Xingwang and Sikong Lin were often together, speaking in riddles no one else understood; Gongye Tianzong and Tianxingke always had delightful conversations, exchanging cups of wine; Luo Yichen, Aunt Nie, and Ji Yuzhen—the Three Ladies always had an endless stream of whispered secrets..."
"Xing Wuque alone kept his distance from the other Dharma Kings, never taking the initiative to converse with anyone in the sect. Whenever he appeared, he was entirely solitary. Yet every mission assigned to him was executed without the slightest flaw and with supreme efficiency." A reminiscent look touched Mo Rubin's face.
"It was as if he were a machine that had severed all seven emotions and six desires, no longer living for himself."
"Perhaps for this very reason, Big Brother Xuanyuan trusted him most."
"Furthermore, on the day of the incident, Xing Wuque indeed did not appear to be within the sect," Mo Rubin frowned.
Li Fan nodded slightly. "If Xing Wuque truly took the Azure Nether Pearl back then, he must have spent all these years laboring on King Xuantian's missions. Brother Mo, do you possess any means of contacting Dharma King Xing?"
Mo Rubin shook his head. "Xing Wuque only ever communicated directly with Big Brother Xuanyuan. However..."
As if struck by an idea, Mo Rubin turned his gaze back to where the Azure Nether Pearl had dissipated.
"I wonder if you could once again apply the 'Manifest' character formula to the Azure Nether Pearl? We could surely follow the clues from there..."
"The Azure Nether Pearl is an immortal artifact; True Immortal seal characters may have little effect on it. Besides, it has already dissipated," Li Fan said, gesturing to the ripples still undulating around them.
"Dissipation does not equal disappearance. Even among Big Brother Xuanyuan's many treasures obtained from the Immortal Realm, the Azure Nether Pearl was among the most precious. How could it vanish so easily and completely?"
"The Azure Nether Pearl has not disappeared. Rather, it exists in another special form—transformed into vitality within this subterranean river..."
Mo Rubin spoke decisively, once again regaining the bearing of one of the Twelve Dharma Kings of the ancient Xuantian Sect. "Simply target this subterranean river of boundless vitality directly with the Manifest formula!"
Li Fan re-examined the boundless subterranean river within the rift, faintly catching his drift.
Rousing his spirits, he solemnly inscribed the "Manifest" character in midair once more. The instant the profoundly esoteric character took shape, it dissolved into the subterranean river like ink.
The regular rhythm of the echoing ripples was swiftly disrupted.
It was as though another entirely unrelated, independent fluctuation had emerged.
Li Fan and Mo Rubin followed the direction of the fluctuating ripples, advancing at high speed.
This time, they delved even deeper into the rift. Winding through countless twists and turns, it took a full thirty-odd days before they finally reached their destination.
"Careful, there seems to be the aura of a living person ahead!" Mo Rubin suddenly warned via voice transmission.
Li Fan had already raised the wooden sword phantom around them as protection and slowly approached.
At the end of the subterranean river sat a solitary figure.
His aura fluctuated erratically, and on his face was a fanged mask!
"Xing Wuque?" Seeing that familiar appearance, Mo Rubin could not help shouting aloud.
Yet after a momentary start, an odd feeling welled up in Li Fan's heart.
Xing Wuque had long lost all four limbs, whereas this figure clearly had limbs intact.
More importantly...
The garments he wore were intimately familiar to Li Fan.
They were identical to those of Xu Ke, who had previously vanished into the depths of the subterranean river!
*Is it Xu Ke?*
*Or is it Xing Wuque?*
*No wonder his aura felt so erratic earlier...* Li Fan mused, refraining from acting rashly.
After the brief shock, Mo Rubin also discerned the differences between this person and his old acquaintance.
Studying him carefully for a while, he made his assessment: "Similar, yet not quite. He seems to be in a curious state of fusion. Could it be that after all these years, Xing Wuque's lifespan was nearing its end, forcing him to employ a method of survival?"
Li Fan, however, could tell that this fusion was spearheaded by Xu Ke. Rather than Xing Wuque's survival, it was more like an inheritance.
*As expected of a Child of Destiny. Swept into this dead zone by the reverberating astral power, he still managed to stumble upon such a fortuitous encounter.*
*If Mo Rubin's earlier guess was correct, and Xing Wuque spent ten thousand years executing the tasks assigned by King Xuantian...*
*Xu Ke, too, shouldered the responsibility of suppressing the Xuanhuang malice alone for eternity because of Mr. Bai's dying wish.*
*In this regard, the two of them are remarkably alike. Perhaps this is precisely why Xu Ke was able to receive Xing Wuque's inheritance?* Li Fan privately pondered.
Mo Rubin shook his head slightly. "This new body is simply too weak to bear Xing Wuque's full might. But we can lend him a hand!"
With that, Mo Rubin unleashed a demon heart.
As it flew toward its target, the ferocious expression on the demon heart gradually dissolved.
It transformed into a faceless visage, then melted completely into a viscous gray liquid.
In an instant, it seeped into Xu Ke's body.
A moment later, Xu Ke's erratic aura began to stabilize.
"The Myriad Demon Hearts can not only harm others and perform body possession, but also avert calamity and save lives. Truly worthy of an immortal art of the Shenwu clan," Li Fan remarked upon seeing this. Not to be outdone, he shot out dozens of golden needles.
Just as he had helped Mo Rubin before, he channeled pure spiritual energy and soul power through the golden threads.
Aided jointly by two great experts, Xu Ke's integration with the bronze mask accelerated more than a thousandfold!
What would have taken at least several decades to fully absorb the inheritance now settled down before long, Xu Ke's aura gradually turning steady.
Li Fan and Mo Rubin waited in silence.
Finally, two beams of light ignited within the eyes of the mask.
Seeing the two before him, Xu Ke's body trembled slightly.
"Saint Teacher?!" he blurted out, his tone brimming with astonishment.
His voice and manner of speaking had grown entirely different from the Xu Ke of the past, yet the words themselves unmistakably revealed the true identity of the figure before them.
"Hmm?" Hearing a familiar voice utter such unfamiliar words, Mo Rubin was taken aback for a moment before realization dawned, and he looked toward Li Fan.
Only then did Li Fan put on an equally shocked expression, asking in apparent disbelief, "Xu Ke? How can it be you?!"
He looked completely oblivious to having known beforehand.
Mo Rubin asked in a cold voice, "You are not Xing Wuque? What did you do to him?"
A dangerous gleam flickered in his eyes, and it was only because Xu Ke was an acquaintance of Li Fan that he did not strike immediately.
"Senior Xing... had already reached his limit and passed away."
"By a twist of fate, I came across this mask and passed his trial, barely managing to inherit his mantle," Xu Ke said, his tone tinged with dejection.
Xu Ke recounted the entire course of events in detail.
It was just as Li Fan had suspected. Perhaps Xing Wuque had initially harbored thoughts of body possession and rebirth, but upon sensing how strikingly similar Xu Ke's life was to his own, Xing Wuque had ultimately chosen to let go.
Thus, fusion became inheritance.
"Senior's inheritance was simply too immense. Even though he opened it up for me to absorb, I could not take it all in at once and fell into a state of mental instability..."
"Fortunately, the two seniors came to my aid." Xu Ke bowed deeply.
Hearing the voice of an old companion speak to him this way, Mo Rubin felt rather unaccustomed.
Li Fan directly asked about the connection between Xing Wuque and the subterranean rivers in the Star Sea rifts.
"Senior Xing's inheritance seems to have deliberately concealed memories regarding this matter."
"However, through scattered fragments of memory, I can deduce the general outline."
"These subterranean rivers winding across the entire Star Sea were dug out inch by inch over all these years by Senior Xing, utilizing the power of the immortal treasure, the Azure Nether Pearl." Xu Ke's words instantly stunned both Li Fan and Mo Rubin.
"The subterranean rivers wind through the entire Star Sea. It is truly unimaginable that such an undertaking could be accomplished by the power of one person alone. But even though Senior intentionally excised it, the sheer volume of lingering memories of excavating the underground rivers undoubtedly proves his achievement," Xu Ke said with deep sorrow.
"Ever since Senior Xing received King Xuantian's orders all those years ago, he has held the Azure Nether Pearl and carried out this labor."
"For ten thousand years, he never paused for a single moment."
"Even with Senior's peerless cultivation, driving the immortal treasure Azure Nether Pearl took an immense toll. Without rest for ten thousand years, the wear and tear accumulated over endless time finally pushed him to his absolute limit..."
"Leaving behind regrets, he perished at the end of this subterranean river." With an expression of mourning, Xu Ke recounted everything.
Li Fan remained silent.
Though it sounded utterly absurd and irrational, if Xing Wuque truly had the disposition Mo Rubin described earlier, it might not be impossible after all.
Mo Rubin was shaken even more profoundly, hesitating several times before speaking.
He looked ahead to the end of the subterranean river. "Xing Wuque... to his death, failed to finish the task Big Brother Xuanyuan entrusted to him?"
Xu Ke nodded. "This is also what I must continue doing for the rest of my life. Having inherited Senior Xing's mantle, I naturally must help him complete what was left unfinished."
His tone was calm, yet unyielding.
Mo Rubin's expression shifted slightly at these words, regarding Xu Ke with utter disbelief.
"Absurd..."
"Setting aside the purpose behind doing this, the immortal treasure Azure Nether Pearl is already broken. With your current cultivation, how can you possibly carve out new subterranean rivers in the rift?"
Xu Ke did not waver in the slightest. "Persevering to fulfill Senior Xing's obsession is the meaning itself."
"As for the shattering of the immortal treasure..."
A dazzling azure radiance suddenly blazed from the mask on Xu Ke's face.
It was identical to what Li Fan had seen on the Azure Nether Pearl itself!
"Over ten thousand years of excavation, Senior had long transformed the act of forging subterranean rivers into instinct. Now that he has passed it on to me, even without the immortal treasure, I can do it!"
"It is merely repeating it once more ten thousand years later!"
Clear azure light shot from the mask, illuminating the end of the subterranean river ahead.
Under the joint witness of Mo Rubin and Li Fan, a new stretch of rift was indeed carved out by Xu Ke!
Yet after advancing less than thirty feet, the azure light abruptly broke off.
Xu Ke collapsed to the ground, utterly exhausted.
"At this rate, how many eons will it take you to finish?" Li Fan could not help but snort coldly.
"As long as there is progress each time, the day of completion will eventually come," Xu Ke said with a strained smile.
"Just as Senior Xing said, King Xuantian's instructions must have their purpose."
Chapter 1369