"As the body turns into the cosmos, the mind gallops through the starry river. Taijia boundless, the spirit roams; Taijia immutable, the spirit transforms; Taijia devoid of emptiness, the spirit divines..."
The hymn-like chant that Zhong Daogong opened with was none other than the Taijia Divine Technique—obtained by Master Yin from the black and white twin pearls and later passed on to the Celestial Vessel by Li Fan!
Only before, it had been a fragmented remnant. Now, this divine ability specially meant to communicate with the Star Sea's consciousness had been completed after thorough study by the elders of the Celestial Vessel.
Combined with the power of True Immortal seal characters and amplified by the ceremony, its potency had multiplied by more than hundreds or thousands of times!
Zhong Daogong led the chant, and the elders of the Celestial Vessel harmonized in sequence.
Like a magnificent symphony, it echoed throughout the Star Sea.
Banners inscribed with fused True Immortal seal characters fluttered amid the chanting. Viewed from above, certain characters on the banners flickered brightly in resonance as the syllables shifted.
It was as though a colossal beast forged from countless characters were breathing in and out!
Watching from outside the ceremony, Li Fan was struck with sudden realization, grasping what that peculiar sensation he had felt earlier truly meant.
The character "Equalize" lay concealed among the fused and superimposed True Immortal seal characters present, biding its time.
Waiting only for...
The Star Sea's consciousness to be forced into connection and descend, after which it would erupt without warning!
The Juntian Ceremony that the Xuan Celestial Vessel had prepared for so long was, in truth, just that plain and rudimentary.
Yet accomplishing it was far from as easy as it appeared.
Take the first step alone—forcing communication with the Star Sea's consciousness. That had already far exceeded the capabilities of the Taijia Divine Technique. Li Fan had used this technique before, leveraging the ten thousand years of goodwill accumulated by the destroyed Taijia Realm to secure a promise from the Star Sea's consciousness to intervene once and aid in Xuanhuang's sublimation and revival.
Since then, the Star Sea had offered no further response.
Now, however, the Taijia Divine Technique—modified by the people of the Celestial Vessel—actually established a direct bridge between cultivators and the Star Sea, forcing the Star Sea's core intent to cast its gaze here!
As their chanting grew ever more grand, Li Fan could faintly sense a massive vortex forming above the ceremony.
Unlike the deathly silent Pitch-Black Sea, brilliant light flickered and boundless vitality surged within the vortex. Faint, incomprehensible rumbles and whispers echoed out from it.
The surrounding space of the Star Sea groaned and creaked as if bearing an unbearable weight.
Inside Li Fan's body, a corresponding anomaly surged forth.
It was identical to what had happened after he saw the figure of a True Immortal through that Immortal Realm bronze coin. His spiritual energy, physical body, and divine soul all boiled, as if they could be vaporized away at any second!
"Only, when facing the True Immortal phantom before, I was virtually powerless to resist. But now..."
Li Fan took a deep breath and forcefully suppressed the anomalies within him.
"Though the pressure of the Star Sea is immense, it still falls short of a True Immortal.
"Vast and magnificent though it is, it cannot compare to dimensional elevation and qualitative change!"
As many thoughts crossed his mind, Zhong Daogong's voice suddenly rang in his ears: "Fellow Daoist, why haven't you entered the ceremony yet?
"Your contribution was paramount in bringing the Juntian Ceremony to fruition. Now is the time to reap the harvest!"
It wasn't just Zhong Daogong's voice—Jian Daosheng, Nangong Lie, and all the other elders of the Celestial Vessel spoke in unison!
It seemed both an invitation and an ultimatum.
"All the elders of the Celestial Vessel came out, leaving their interior vacant. They cannot leave an unpredictable variable like me outside, lest unforeseen trouble arise?" Li Fan gave a cold internal snort.
"Then I shall not decline!" Utterly fearless, he called out clearly and flew into the ceremony.
There was no need for him to seek out a suitable spot.
The moment he flew in, Li Fan felt countless banners spinning and shifting their positions, taking him into the ceremony!
Chanting poured in from all sides, compelling him to unconsciously harmonize with the chorus!
With everyone in place, this long-prepared Taijia ceremony finally reached its zenith. Within the vortex dotted with violet-gold essence, the howling sounds of wind and thunder suddenly went quiet.
Even the vortex itself fell into a state of absolute standstill.
The scene before all the individuals in the ceremony abruptly shifted. It was as if they leaped upward, jumping outside the Star Sea to be granted an audience with this Star Sea itself.
If the earlier Taijia Divine Technique had merely communicated indirectly with the Star Sea like sending messages, then right now, they had forced open the doorway between mortal and Star Sea, meeting it eye to eye!
A sensation he had not felt in a long time—of having every inch of himself laid bare and scrutinized—welled up in Li Fan's heart.
Even though he was supremely confident that the wondrous treasure Trueness within him would not be discovered by a mere consciousness of a single Star Sea, Li Fan was still on maximum alert, having already summoned the Trueness interface, ready to trigger Revert to the True at any moment.
Just as Li Fan anticipated, the Star Sea's consciousness was completely blind even to the black mist that presaged the Dao Annihilation Tribulation, let alone Trueness.
The Star Sea's consciousness did not linger particularly on Li Fan, but rather evenly directed its wrath toward every elder of the Celestial Vessel in the ceremony.
After all, being forcibly contacted by creatures like mere ants was an outright humiliation to the Star Sea's consciousness. For now, it simply waited to see what these ants wished to convey, before bringing down its thundering fury.
However...
The ants did not truly want to communicate.
Amid the brilliant chant, tens of thousands of banners fluttered without wind. As each banner rippled continuously, the portions exposed by their folds instantly coalesced into a single whole.
The character "Equalize," hidden beneath tens of thousands of True Immortal seal characters, finally bared its formidable presence!
It was as though an invisible shackle suddenly linked the immense Star Sea consciousness above the vortex to the ants in the ceremony below.
At this moment, the ants stood upon the shoulders of the Star Sea, looking down upon all living beings.
Li Fan had once embodied the Canghai Pearl, embodied the Heavenly Dao of a pocket world, and even had his mind connected with the Xuanhuang Realm.
Yet none of those could compare to the exquisite sensation of this moment.
The vast Star Sea was no longer boundless. Instead, it was like a part of his own body, fully within view at a glance. The Star Sea was no longer pitch-black and dead; in every breath, one could feel the infinite vitality gathering beneath its stillness.
Even the various laws that constituted the Star Sea were no longer so elusive. Like the hairs and pores upon one's body, he needed only cast his gaze downward to take them all in.
Wherever his thoughts reached, he could observe every corner of the Star Sea through its eyes.
At this moment, under the effect of the "Equalize" formula, everyone in the ceremony truly attained equal standing with the Star Sea. They saw what the Star Sea saw and felt what the Star Sea felt.
Like all the elders of the Celestial Vessel, Li Fan was hopelessly immersed in this marvelous state. He even specifically turned his gaze toward the center of the Star Sea.
Sure enough, from the Star Sea's perspective, no black mist existed in the central astral region.
Instead, vitality lay latent, awaiting revival—a scene of immense promise!
Naturally, Li Fan had no kindness in his heart to offer a warning. Seizing this once-in-ten-thousand-years opportunity, he comprehended the Dao of the Star Sea as much as possible, while also feeling somewhat curious about the Star Sea's reaction.
Ordinarily, having been plotted against by ants using the "Equalize" seal character, the Star Sea's core intent ought to be beside itself with fury.
Even if it could not break free from the Equalize formula immediately, it should at least make a token struggle.
Yet right now, the Star Sea was terrifyingly calm.
It was not the calm before the storm, gathering strength.
Rather, it truly did not harbor the slightest hint of rage.
Why was that?
Doubt surged in Li Fan's heart.
Under the influence of the True Immortal seal characters, the Star Sea's consciousness was connected to everyone in the Juntian Ceremony.
Thus, with little effort, Li Fan followed the Star Sea's thoughts and glimpsed what it was thinking.
"This is..."
"While we are prying into the Star Sea, the Star Sea is also prying into us?!" Li Fan was jolted with sudden horror.
In Li Fan's past perception, transcendent existences like the Star Sea's source or True Immortals would never pay attention to mortal ants. But the Pitch-Black Star Sea's current behavior completely overturned that understanding.
Toward the ants' act of equalizing heaven, the Star Sea showed no resistance whatsoever. In fact, it actively embraced it!
Just as Li Fan and the others were engrossed in the Star Sea's perspective, the Star Sea's consciousness seemed intensely intrigued by the lives of the ants.
Thus, the two sides existed in a delicate balance, mutually experiencing each other's existence.
However, given the disparity in their sheer scale, this balance was destined not to last long.
While the Star Sea remained unscathed, drastic changes erupted among the cultivators in the ceremony.
Li Fan had once become the Canghai Pearl and observed the shifts of the Congyun Sea. Compared to mountains and seas, a cultivator's lifespan was like a fleeting flower. And compared to this starry sky, the birth and destruction of worlds were but the blink of an eye.
Viewing all things through the eyes of the Star Sea naturally meant enduring the temporal evolution of the cosmos.
Even with hundreds of millions of living beings in the Xuanhuang pocket world as sacrifices, it had only bought them a few brief instants.
Soon, decrepitude descended upon the people of the Celestial Vessel.
"Hold on! The power drawn from equalizing the Star Sea is pouring into our bodies! As long as we absorb this power, we will have nothing to fear from aging of this magnitude!" The people of the Celestial Vessel seemed to have anticipated this, and Zhong Daogong sent a divine sense transmission to remind them.
Yet like Li Fan, they had never expected that the Star Sea would take an interest in this group of transgressors.
It was not merely that they had actively reached out to the Star Sea's core consciousness—the Star Sea had actively reached toward them as well.
The original plan was for the Star Sea to resist while they pressed deeper.
Now, however, both sides had taken a step forward.
This resulted in cosmic-level erosion nearly twice as severe as they had estimated!
"Not good!"
The people of the Celestial Vessel soon realized this development. Seeing the hair and bodies of everyone in the ceremony turning white, terror crept across their faces.
Yet the elders were all resolute and decisive figures. After grasping their current predicament and conferring for merely a moment, they reached a unanimous agreement.
"Things have come to this; the Juntian Ceremony must not stop. Abandoning it halfway will only bring greater loss!"
"Some of us must be sacrificed to buy more time until the Star Sea's power completes its infusion."
After a brief silence, someone let out a low chuckle: "This old man has lived long enough in this life. Living another ten or twenty years would be a waste anyway. If I can help the Celestial Vessel obtain the Star Sea's creation, I, Gan Jingda, will die with no regrets!"
Before his words faded, and before anyone could respond, Gan Jingda's life aura had already dissipated.
The remaining people in the ceremony felt a sudden surge of life energy appear out of thin air within their bodies.
"An old friend has passed away; lingering in this world would only bring sorrow. Better to depart, better to depart! I leave the future of the Celestial Vessel to you all!"
"My talents are shallow; let me go first!"
"Everyone, you must succeed! I go now!"
"I really didn't want to die yet. But counting down the list, all of you who remain are more valuable than I am... There's no other way. Who told my luck in this life to be so rotten?"
...
Figure after figure within the ceremony willingly relinquished their vitality. Catalyzed by the power of time, they turned into fine powder and drifted away on the wind.
One after another, the final words of the Celestial Vessel elders echoed in the ears of the survivors.
Sensing the life force of their companions welling up like spring bamboo shoots within them, the survivors felt their hearts shatter in overwhelming grief.
Yet thanks to their sacrifice, just before the backlash of attaining equal standing with the Star Sea could consume them entirely, the mighty power obtained from equalizing the Star Sea finally descended.
From the violet-gold starlight vortex, dozens of torrents suddenly split off.
They poured into the bodies of the cultivators who still endured within the ceremony.
That was the true source power of the Star Sea. Though in terms of "quality" it might not match a True Immortal, in sheer "quantity," it surpassed even a True Immortal!
It was a completely different sensation from facing a True Immortal.
The vast source of the Star Sea poured downward.
Under the scour of this mighty power, the bodies of the surviving Celestial Vessel elders gradually dissolved.
Yet their vitality did not vanish as a result; instead, it grew even more vigorous.
They were no longer decrepit, their appearances frozen at the final moment before the infusion began, shrouded in violet-gold radiance that obscured the details.
As the Star Sea's mighty power poured in incessantly, their luminous bodies expanded in tandem.
Gradually, they transformed into giants towering across the Star Sea.
The emotions stirred by their comrades' sacrifices, the thrill of their gains, and every other turbulent feeling slowly settled into stillness.
...
Li Fan watched with his own eyes the entire process by which this group of bizarre beings was born.
Ever cautious, Li Fan naturally did not directly absorb the Star Sea source power raining from above as the Celestial Vessel elders had. Instead, he isolated and preserved it with an immortal formation, further sealing it beneath the Transformation of Real and Unreal so that it vanished from the Star Sea, undetected even by the Star Sea's consciousness.
Another ingredient added for refining the pill of Xuanhuang.
Yet Li Fan felt little joy. Instead, he gazed with gravity at the starlight figures manifesting one after another before him.
Once their starlight bodies were fully achieved, their connection to the "Equalize" formula severed automatically. At this moment, Li Fan was the only person left in the ceremony.
"They cannot be communicated with.
"Have they even lost their former subjective consciousness? No, it's still there! It's just that all human emotional fluctuations have been suppressed to the absolute extreme. They have become much more like the 'Star Sea.'
"So similar to the Heaven-and-Earth Essence of the Xuanhuang Realm..."
Li Fan looked back toward the gradually closing violet-gold vortex.
He could faintly sense that the Star Sea's own power had not diminished at all despite this equalization.
"It's not that the Equalize formula failed.
"Rather...
"No matter how you divide infinity, it is still infinite!"
Chapter 1374