"So that is why the Star Sea's consciousness had so little reaction to the Celestial Vessel members' defiance in 'Equalizing,' and even willingly embraced it..."
"Beyond the mortal perspective being novel to the Star Sea and something it was curious to peer into, more importantly, the Juntian Ceremony had truly had no impact on the Star Sea at all!"
"A true infinity!"
As long as something was not infinite, no matter how immense the quantity, even if divided equally with just a single person, the result compared to the original value was destined to be drastically diminished. It would never be possible to remain completely indifferent to one's own loss, as the Star Sea's consciousness was doing right now.
"How can this be?" Li Fan's heart was filled with disbelief and shock.
The emergence of this concept of "infinity" had completely exceeded his knowledge and comprehension.
Although the Pitch-Black Star Sea was vast and boundless, Li Fan could now cross it with ease. This was in terms of quantity.
The Star Sea was ravaged by the power of the True Immortal seal characters, its order utterly destroyed and its vitality dormant. This was in terms of quality.
Whether in terms of quantity or quality, no matter how one looked at it, this Star Sea had nothing to do with "infinity."
Yet, watching the purple-gold vortex close as the ceremony ended, seeing the eighteen surviving elders of the Celestial Vessel transformed into eighteen shining giants straddling the starry sky, and sensing the majestic, boundless might upon them that was virtually equal to this Star Sea itself, Li Fan could not help but believe in the "infinity" of the Star Sea's power.
In an instant, he recalled the secrets of the Immortal Realm that Mo Rubin had mentioned before, which he had heard from Xuanyuan Hong.
"It is said that the Immortal Realm is a wondrous sacred domain with infinite resources."
Like a thunderclap, these words echoed continuously through Li Fan's mind.
Previously, Li Fan had more or less thought this was an exaggeration and embellishment on Xuanyuan Hong's part. But now, it seemed Xuanyuan Hong had very likely spoken the truth!
If even the Star Sea could achieve "infinity," what of the Immortal Realm that stood exalted above it?
If one first accepted this established fact, then what had to be faced next was: why?
Setting aside the Immortal Realm for the moment, just how was this Pitch-Black Star Sea before him linked to "infinity"?
As the purple-gold vortex closed completely and he faced the eighteen giants of starlight, Li Fan's thoughts raced.
"The High Wall merely locked away the living beings within the Star Sea, but for the Star Sea itself, it did not effect a total division."
"The Pitch-Black Star Sea inside the High Wall and the Star Sea outside the High Wall are in truth still one whole. It is only that right now, this sealed-off region has developed a relatively independent consciousness."
"That is one possibility."
"Yet... if that is the case..."
Li Fan gazed at the starlight giants before him, evaluating their strength.
Perhaps because they had only just been born, they stood in the starry sky somewhat bewildered, seemingly pondering what course of action to take next.
The auras upon them were gradually turning inward.
Their blurred figures grew increasingly distinct, and faces intimately familiar to Li Fan quietly emerged one after another.
Their radiant, starlit bodies also temporarily dimmed, eventually turning pale blue and translucent.
Within, one could vaguely discern bones and meridians formed of countless stars and worlds.
"These starlight giants are to the Star Sea what the Heaven-and-Earth Essence is to the Xuanhuang Realm."
"Having lost the characteristics of cultivators and retaining only a sliver of subjective consciousness, they have been utterly assimilated by the Star Sea..."
"Perhaps they could be called Star Spirits."
The immortal formation was quietly laid around him, concealing his tracks. Li Fan secretly observed this peculiar form of life.
"In the Xuanhuang Realm, though the Heaven-and-Earth Essences vary in strength according to their celestial duties, they generally range between Soul Formation and Longevity."
"Yet these Star Spirits before me..."
"Relying solely on the infinite power of the Star Sea they can mobilize, they are enough to crush any cultivator who has not become a True Immortal. The limit of the Star Sea is the Star Sea itself. They can be called 'Supreme'!" Li Fan recalled the Heavenly Physician's memories he had glimpsed within the illusion formation.
Although he deemed these Star Spirits to be in the Supreme realm like the Heavenly Physician, Li Fan did not believe they could fight on equal terms with him.
"If it came to a real fight, let alone the Heavenly Physician, even I would have countless ways to handle them!"
"Yet victory and defeat are completely meaningless!"
"The Star Sea is infinite. That means these Star Spirits cannot be killed by ordinary means."
"Even the True Immortal seal characters that brought disaster upon this Star Sea only temporarily withered its vitality. On the timescale of the Star Sea, tens of thousands of years are merely a fleeting instant before vitality fully recovers."
"Perhaps only that Dao Annihilation Calamity, which could bring ruin to the Immortal Realm..."
Li Fan thought again of the various anomalies that had frequently appeared throughout the Star Sea during ancient times.
"'One is All.' If the power of the Star Sea is truly infinite, then if the Star Spirits or the Star Sea's anomalies erupt with full force, they can all be regarded as the Star Sea itself!"
"An endless number of Supremes... No wonder the cultivators of the world speculated that even True Immortals would steer clear of those terrifying anomalies."
Although True Immortals were transcendent beings, if an infinite number of Heavenly Physicians besieged one, they might well inflict heavy injuries or even capture him!
A thousand thoughts flashed through Li Fan's mind in an instant.
While he was pondering, the eighteen Star Spirits finally made a move.
Some looked toward the Xuan Celestial Vessel concealed not far away; some looked toward the High Wall at the border of the Star Sea; and others gradually swept their gazes across the entire Star Sea.
"If before, the Star Sea's consciousness needed the power of cultivators to revive itself, now it can repair itself through the Star Spirits."
"Although the Star Spirits still retain the obsessions they held in life, they must now act in accordance with the Star Sea's will."
...
Li Fan had not forgotten why he had infiltrated the Celestial Vessel in this lifetime.
Aside from coveting the numerous treasures in the Celestial Vessel's secret reservoir, what was more important was to use the Celestial Vessel as a vanguard to explore as far as possible beyond the High Wall.
Now, the elders of the Celestial Vessel had all become Star Spirits, possessing power rivaling the Star Sea. They were fully capable of executing the plan they had devised back then: emulating the Shang Celestial Vessel and ramming into the High Wall.
Seeing that these Star Spirits were about to be driven by the Star Sea's consciousness to depart for various parts of the Star Sea, how could Li Fan squander such a golden opportunity?
Taijia Divine Technique, Celestial Vessel perfected deduction version—coalesce!
In a brief span of time, this divine ability used to communicate with the Star Sea manifested once more.
Only this time, the target Li Fan sought to communicate with was not the Star Sea's primordial true intent, but the eighteen Star Spirits before him!
Compared to the Star Sea itself, Star Spirits formed from cultivators were far easier to communicate with.
The moment the radiance of the Taijia Divine Technique appeared, it caught the attention of the Star Spirits.
Li Fan's consciousness instantly linked with theirs as well.
If these Star Spirits were still human, seeing that Li Fan—who had performed the ceremony alongside them—had neither fallen nor transformed into a Star Spirit, but was instead still alive and kicking, they would surely have erupted in fury, suspicion, and other emotions.
Far from communicating, drawing swords against him directly would have been completely normal.
Yet right now, Li Fan felt no emotional fluctuation whatsoever from these eighteen Star Spirits.
"Celestial Vessel... beyond the High Wall."
"Cherished friends... sacrifice."
"Do not forget!"
Having grasped the essentials of communicating with the Star Sea, Li Fan spoke with concise simplicity.
As if recalling their memories from life, their human faces grew much clearer in an instant.
Halting their original movements, they looked toward Li Fan one after another, filled with hesitation.
"To abandon it halfway is to sacrifice in vain!"
"With the aid of the Star Sea's power, leaping the Celestial Vessel across the High Wall is as easy as turning a palm!"
Under Li Fan's persuasion, the former obsessions and thoughts of the Star Spirits were gradually reviving.
Sensing the thoughts of the Star Spirits, Li Fan continued to urge them on:
"Even if the Star Sea can revive, that will be hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of years later. You elders have already become Star Spirits and cannot protect the Celestial Vessel at all times. Where should the Celestial Vessel go in the future?! Are you going to just watch them die like this?"
The Star Spirit that Zhong Daogong had become was swayed in the end.
Intermittent thoughts were transmitted across.
It felt completely different from communicating with a living cultivator.
Without the slightest emotional ripple, the Star Spirit of Zhong Daogong stated several facts:
With the passage of time, their original consciousness would inevitably grow weaker and weaker, until they ultimately became Star Spirits belonging entirely to the Star Sea. Though they still had a certain degree of subjective consciousness remaining, they could not defy the Star Sea's will and were not their own masters.
However, mobilizing the Star Sea's power to help the Celestial Vessel cross the High Wall was something the Star Sea's consciousness might not oppose.
True Immortal seal characters were detested by the Star Sea's consciousness. The Star Spirits could no longer use them.
To successfully cross the High Wall according to the plan, they still needed Li Fan's help to preside over it.
...
More and more Star Spirits temporarily recovered their thoughts, reaching a consensus with Li Fan.
Using this period of lingering consciousness, the Star Spirit of Zhong Daogong entrusted the Celestial Vessel's top-secret plan for crossing the High Wall entirely to him.
Flanked and guarded by the eighteen Star Spirits, the Celestial Vessel was dragged near the trace left when the Shang Celestial Vessel had breached the High Wall back then.
"There is not much time left. Let us begin as soon as possible."
Li Fan nodded slightly and looked toward several dozen sheets of white paper that suddenly drifted out from the Celestial Vessel.
They appeared entirely blank, yet one could faintly see imprints upon them as though they had been written over tens of thousands of times.
All of these were the painstaking creations of the Celestial Vessel's elders over the years: continuously tracing, contemplating, and discussing, restoring all known True Immortal seal characters as close to their primordial states as possible.
"The abilities of these old foxes truly cannot be underestimated!"
"After receiving my guidance, they quietly advanced their research on True Immortal seal characters this much in such a short time!"
"The Celestial Vessel of this lifetime is far stronger than the one that perished in panic beneath the immortal formation in the last!"
"Not only is their heritage profound, but their capacity for study and advancement is terrifyingly formidable."
Li Fan looked at those characters, both familiar and strange, his heart trembling.
The engravings upon the white paper were like molds forged through endless tempering by the Celestial Vessel's elders. Li Fan did not need to familiarize himself with them or write them out; as long as he poured energy directly along the engravings, True Immortal seal characters would manifest on their own!
"This is probably the insurance left behind by the elders of the Celestial Vessel. With these True Immortal seal character imprints, even if the Council of Elders was wiped out, the Celestial Vessel's heritage would not be completely severed. Given time, it might not be impossible to return to their peak..."
Thinking this, the spiritual power within Li Fan surged forth like swimming dragons, pouring into every character mold respectively.
Only someone with Li Fan's profound foundation could support such a feat. The Five Elements Great Grotto-Heaven and the Xuanhuang World-Extinction Transformation made Li Fan alone comparable to an entire cultivation world.
For any normal cultivator, the moment spiritual power was injected, they would probably be drained completely dry by the True Immortal seal character engravings before them. Even a Star Sea Supreme like the Heavenly Physician might not be able to sustain such consumption!
The majestic power within Li Fan's body was converted entirely into the driving force for the True Immortal seal characters to take shape.
The eighteen Star Spirits now commenced their next move as well.
They unleashed continuous long howls one after another, taking turns in succession to elevate the momentum of the Celestial Vessel step by step, like climbing a staircase!
These were not true roars, but rather a kind of oscillation, like great waves laden with the power of "infinity."
When Li Fan ascended, he had required the flesh and blood of a True Immortal as a medium. But right now, the eighteen Star Spirits were relying purely on the endless Source Power of the Star Sea to forcibly elevate the Celestial Vessel's momentum higher and higher!
And from start to finish, the auras emanating from these Star Spirits showed no fluctuation whatsoever, as if the cost of ascension was not even worth mentioning to them.
Still retaining their living memory of the Shang Celestial Vessel's impact point, once the Star Spirits lifted the Xuan Celestial Vessel and raised its momentum to a certain height, they climbed no further.
They merely continued their unending howls, maintaining the vessel's momentum.
At the same time, this served as heavy hammers repeatedly striking Li Fan's heart, urging him that it was time for the next step.
This was Li Fan's first time facing and truly experiencing the might of the Star Sea directly. Feeling slightly alarmed, he forcibly suppressed the boiling blood throughout his body.
"What a pity. Ramming into the High Wall leaves their fate completely unknown. The many treasures inside the Celestial Vessel will all be reduced to ash along with this impact!"
Even with such thoughts, there was no hesitation in his movements. Looking at the talisman papers of True Immortal seal characters before him, fully charged yet still sealed, he made a sudden grasping motion with his hand.
He compressed them all together, crumpling them into a "paper ball."
Then he hurled it violently toward the Celestial Vessel surrounded by the eighteen Star Spirits.
Chaotic and terrifying, power representing the level of a True Immortal was swept along, hurtling toward the Xuan Celestial Vessel.
"Detonate!"
Li Fan roared in his heart, retreating rapidly at the same instant.
A storm of True Immortal seal characters detonated beneath the Celestial Vessel with a thunderous blast.
The power, capable of temporarily sweeping away and destroying the Star Sea's vitality, caused the blue bodies of the eighteen Star Spirits to flicker erratically. Yet their movements did not slow in the slightest. With infinite Star Sea power continually replenishing them, the Star Spirits remained indestructible even when facing this storm of True Immortal seal characters head-on.
Under their control and guidance, the erupting power of the True Immortal did not destroy the Xuan Celestial Vessel directly. Instead, it served as the final boost for the vessel's ascension.
It made what was originally an impossible goal for living beings within the Star Sea become possible in this single instant!
"A truly transcendent might, rivaling a True Immortal! A supreme power sufficient to cross the High Wall!"
As one of the instigators, Li Fan watched from afar as the storm detonated at the High Wall, and above the storm, the Xuan Celestial Vessel soaring straight up.
In his heart, an uncontrollable excitement could not help but surge.
After who knew how many cycles of reincarnation, at last...
He had reached the possibility of catching a glimpse beyond the High Wall.
Long before, when helping the Xuan Celestial Vessel rebuild its defense system, Li Fan had already secretly laid down hidden measures.
What the Celestial Vessel saw would likewise be seen by him, Li Fan!
Everything was prepared.
The Celestial Vessel was about to collide head-on with the High Wall.
And right at this moment...
The eighteen Star Spirits formed from the elders of the Celestial Vessel seemed to sense some extremely terrifying existence.
They, who were the least likely to flee the battle, vanished without a trace in the span of a single breath.
Yet the Xuan Celestial Vessel continued to ram toward the invisible High Wall.
And likewise, it vanished within this Pitch-Black Star Sea.
Leaving only Li Fan behind, his face full of bewilderment.
Even though he had witnessed the entire process of the vessel ramming toward the High Wall, he had not sensed even the slightest hint of danger.
Furthermore...
The measures he had left inside the Xuan Celestial Vessel had served no function at all.
Chapter 1375