Li Fan's thoughts surged, yet his hands never paused.
He separated the myriad Xuanhuang World-Extinction Transformations from Mo Sha's true form.
Every single one of these transformations could foster a formidably skilled Xuanhuang Soul Formation cultivator.
"Though called World-Extinction, they are actually transformations of life.
"I might as well gather them first. Even if the Xuanhuang Realm is elevated into an Immortal Domain in the future, releasing them all at once would throw the Xuanhuang Realm into instant chaos!"
With that in mind, Li Fan sent golden threads darting forth, wrapping around and sealing the many World-Extinction transformations to suppress them within his body.
"As for Mo Sha..." Li Fan's expression grew solemn once more.
The dark shadow, which had previously been ground down until barely a tiny speck of ink remained, had actually restored itself completely in a short time after getting a momentary respite.
Endless and ceaseless, it continued to erode everything around it.
"'One is All.' It truly lives up to being a weakened, rehearsal version of the Dao Annihilation Tribulation. Unless it is wiped out utterly, leaving even a sliver will allow it to stage a swift resurgence!"
Li Fan recalled everything he had seen regarding Mo Sha in the past.
Mo Sha rarely struck, but each strike shook heaven and earth, wiping out an entire province.
Even when the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals and the Five Elders Association detected Mo Sha's emergence, they would choose to avoid it and let it run rampant.
"Those five old tortoises have probably long sensed Mo Sha's extraordinary nature. It is by no means comparable to ordinary Heaven-and-Earth Essence.
"Mo Sha is integrated into the Xuanhuang Realm's laws of heaven and earth, which caused the Xuanhuang Realm to develop a corresponding resistance. Even if it annihilates everything, vitality will ultimately return.
"If that is truly the case, doesn't that mean once Xuanhuang is elevated to an Immortal Domain, it will possess the power to resist the Dao Annihilation Tribulation?" Li Fan's heart stirred.
"The True Immortals of the past must have designed it this way. Of course, whether it will actually succeed remains to be seen in this lifetime."
After pondering at length and running numerous tests to gradually grasp Mo Sha's various properties, Li Fan brought it to the center of the Star Sea, near the sea of black qi.
The surging black qi devoured the surrounding Star Sea at a steady pace. While the Star Sea consciousness remained oblivious, Li Fan's brows furrowed deeply at this continuous black qi that grew increasingly soul-shaking.
Even with the layers of golden threads sealing it, Mo Sha instantly grew more "lively" the moment it sensed the presence of the nearby black qi.
Originally curled into a ball waiting for an opportunity to break through, it was now thrashing left and right, recklessly slamming against the golden threads in a desperate bid to break free.
"As expected!" A sharp gleam flashed in Li Fan's eyes.
Having verified that Mo Sha indeed shared a connection with the Dao Annihilation Tribulation, and noticing that at such close proximity the sealed Mo Sha seemed to be drawing some kind of energy from the endless sea of black qi, Li Fan did not dare linger any longer and promptly departed.
He sent Mo Sha back to the Congyun Sea in the Xuanhuang Realm.
Still waiting for it to advance into a Heaven and Earth Immortal Soul so he could use it for Dao Integration, Li Fan naturally could not kill it now.
Breaking free, Mo Sha searched across heaven and earth but could not find the enemy who had sealed it earlier. It could only vent its boundless fury upon Hongxi and the Congyun Sea.
Pity poor Hongxi, who had just integrated with the Dao and was returning to Wanxian Island, receiving the devout worship of the cultivators across the Congyun Sea.
Suddenly, a swath of ink spread across the horizon, and then shrouded and engulfed everything.
Although Mo Sha had only made brief contact with the black qi, subtle changes had nonetheless occurred within it. Not only Li Fan, but even the Xuanhuang heaven and earth seemed to have sensed this.
Mo Sha's world-extinction act was not carried out to completion. Just as the Congyun Sea was eroded down to its final, thin layer of bedrock, Mo Sha was forcibly recalled by the will of heaven and earth.
"Its actions were far swifter and more brutal than before.
"Moreover..."
Li Fan flashed over to what little remained of the Congyun Sea and examined it closely.
Though Mo Sha had receded, a corrosive power still lingered, preventing the Xuanhuang Realm's vitality from rekindling.
"This conflicts with the Xuanhuang Realm's original purpose. It sent Mo Sha to wipe out everything precisely for the complete integration afterward. But now..."
Li Fan extended his right index finger and pressed it against the bedrock of the Congyun Sea.
*Sizzle...*
A sound like scorching fire or strong acid corroding flesh rang out.
A destructive power of nothingness actually traced along the contact point, beginning to devour Li Fan's body and divine soul.
Just like before when he had touched Mo Sha.
"Its true form was recalled, yet power still remains.
"For a Heaven-and-Earth Essence, this should be virtually impossible. Yet now it has actually happened...
"Even without fully coming into contact, there are already signs of losing control?"
Chipping off a large chunk of the Congyun Sea's last remaining bedrock to take back for study, Li Fan did not relax his furrowed brow.
Having perceived Mo Sha's possible true nature, the strand of unease in Li Fan's heart—stemming from Revert to the True's spontaneous simulation of a lifetime—did not fade; instead, it grew even more intense.
Setting aside all matters at hand for now, he habitually went to where Mount Jieli had once stood.
He sat cross-legged at the center of the Sermon Platform and pondered.
"I must still trust my intuition.
"This degree of unease has never occurred before, even across so many cycles of reincarnation.
"The source of this unease...
"It must trace back to that inexplicable, spontaneous simulation by Revert to the True.
"Under normal circumstances, if I don't actively invoke Revert to the True, it is impossible for it to begin a new round of simulation directly.
"The three-pronged tree left by Sun Piaomiao definitely touches upon resonance with a Great Dao, or might even be a Great Dao itself. That is why absorbing it caused Revert to the True to undergo such a bizarre change.
"Actually, Revert to the True spontaneously simulating a lifetime isn't the terrifying part. What is truly terrifying is that I didn't retain any memories whatsoever."
A dark shadow passed over Li Fan's face.
"So far, every simulation by Revert to the True has been based on me as the subject. Every cycle of reincarnation has been my personal experience.
"Yet now, Revert to the True is still one with me, showing no signs of getting out of control.
"So there is only one possibility. In that simulation, due to some unexpected turn of events, I...
"Died."
A cold glint flashed across Li Fan's eyes.
His body stiffened abruptly for a moment before he continued his train of thought: "Before I died, I didn't even have time to actively invoke Revert to the True.
"It was Revert to the True itself that reversed everything back.
"Therefore, the experiences of that lifetime exist only within Revert to the True, not in my own lived experience.
"Only when it consumed Kou Hong's near-Eternal Remnant Thought did Revert to the True spit out those memories."
His thoughts flickered. Having deduced this conclusion, the unease in Li Fan's heart suddenly eased a little.
Even if it hadn't disappeared completely, he had at least clarified the likely reason.
"I... have already died once?"
Li Fan felt a coldness in his heart unlike anything he had felt before.
"So those vague memory fragments I learned from Revert to the True weren't experienced in this lifetime. They happened in that lifetime where I died.
"Right now, I am proceeding along that original trajectory.
"If I don't make changes...
"It is a dead end!"
As if envisioning the scene of his future downfall, Li Fan felt a sudden wave of relief instead.
"In short, in this lifetime, after Revert to the True absorbed the three-pronged tree, it triggered a simulation. The 'me' in that simulation was unaware that a fork had occurred, and continued carrying out the original plan—pushing the Xuanhuang Realm to elevate into an Immortal Domain, and integrating with the Dao using a Heaven and Earth Immortal Soul.
"Unaware of the hidden crisis, even with thousands of preparations, he still died in failure."
Li Fan exhaled a long breath.
"The three-pronged tree is truly a divine object. Had it not been for this advance simulation, I might have followed in the footsteps of that failure.
"I wonder if Revert to the True will still be willing to absorb it again in the next lifetime?"
Li Fan's thoughts quickly returned to the matter at hand.
If all of Li Fan's deductions were true, then a life-and-death question now lay before him.
Just what was it that brought about the death of Li Fan in the simulation?
Li Fan now had immortal arrays and supreme escape arts to protect him.
He also had Tianyang and Qiushui, two Supreme protectors.
Even if the Dao Integration plan failed, it shouldn't be to the extent that he wouldn't even have time to react and invoke Revert to the True.
"In truth, there really aren't many things that can truly threaten me.
"Inside the high wall: the True Immortal of the Immortal Ruins, the True Immortal corpse and survival will in the Xuanhuang Sea of Endless Gloom, and the black qi representing the Dao Annihilation Tribulation.
"Outside the high wall: all unknown entities."
At this thought, Li Fan paused, and then a flicker of realization crossed his face.
"And... one of the primary materials for elevating Xuanhuang into an Immortal Domain: the Immortal Domain fragments left by Sun Piaomiao."
Pondering over it, after ruling out all other possibilities, only these suspicious targets remained.
"The Dao Annihilation Tribulation—a horrific catastrophe specifically targeting the Immortal Realm. Even if there is no sign of its full descent right now, with only endless black qi showing, there is no guarantee that it won't suddenly occur the instant I push Xuanhuang to elevate into an Immortal Domain.
"Even countless True Immortals of the past failed to escape it. Caught off guard, I would probably not escape death either."
Li Fan first identified the greatest possibility that caused his failure.
"As for the two True Immortals—one dead and one alive—in the Sea of Endless Gloom and the Immortal Ruins, blocking them with the Xuanhuang Array of All Living Souls should be able to stall them for an instant.
"The factions outside the high wall... with the high wall itself acting as a screen, going by the experience of the previous lifetime, I should also have enough time to react. But that is still not enough!
"When the high wall collapses and the Star Sea is shaken, I must whip up monstrous waves in the Star Sea to obscure sight from the outside!" Li Fan instantly thought of the boundless vitality in the ravine depression and the Form of Living Beings.
"The arrival of forces outside the wall will inevitably pose an extreme threat to the Star Sea itself. Catalyzing it with the Taijia Divine Technique...
"The boundless power of the Star Sea should be able to delay the outside forces for a while."
After this contemplation, Li Fan added another pile of preparations to his to-do list.
"Lastly, there is that Immortal Domain formed from many chess pieces.
"Although I previously attempted to fuse it and got more than halfway through without sensing the presence of a True Immortal inside, seeing only a pure Immortal Domain world,
"thinking about it now, that was still a bit reckless."
Li Fan looked grave: "After all, for a True Immortal, concealing themselves from my perception would not be difficult at all.
"Without fully unfolding the Immortal Domain, how can I be sure whether it is truly safe?
"Either way, it's just wasting one cycle of reincarnation and twenty or thirty years."
As he thought, Li Fan had already made up his mind.
No matter what, he had to fully unfold the Immortal Domain within the chess pieces first to determine its safety.
"The reappearance of the Immortal Domain will inevitably shake the Star Sea.
"I must find a secure place and prepare early.
"If a True Immortal truly lurks within, I will decisively Revert to the True, and find another method to anchor the world's momentum in the next lifetime.
"If there is nothing amiss inside, all the better..."
Li Fan still wanted to minimize the impact of unfolding the Immortal Domain.
"Use the low elevation of the depression to offset the high elevation of the Immortal Domain.
"The ravine depression, the lowest point of the Star Sea, should be an exquisite location.
"Moreover, the ravines are intricate and complex, combined with the Form of Living Beings, they should partially confuse any potential enemies."
Thus, Li Fan went beneath the Star Sea once more.
He did not disturb Xu Ke, who was still tirelessly excavating.
He arrived at roughly the dead center of the explored area, ensuring as much as possible that he would be undisturbed by outside factors.
With unprecedented seriousness, Li Fan slowly laid down layers of immortal arrays.
Exerting every means at his disposal, Li Fan decisively restarted the unfolding of the Immortal Domain.
*Buzz, buzz...*
Within the immortal array, a great gale seemed to blow, ruthlessly battering and raging.
The formations Li Fan took pride in were like a dilapidated thatched hut, utterly incapable of holding out for long and teetering precariously.
Li Fan had no choice but to continuously patch and mend with essence of original force, stalling for as much time as possible.
With rapt attention, he stared fixedly at the overlapping, blurred light and shadow at the center of the immortal array.
Like a person, yet not a person.
Like a landscape, yet not a landscape.
Just as he had seen before.
Only, the previous unfolding of the Immortal Domain had been disrupted and cut short by the black qi in the center of the Star Sea.
This time, under the control of Li Fan's will, it was able to continue!
Boundless, innumerable rays of light bloomed from the Immortal Domain.
Li Fan faintly saw that those figures were clearly profoundly mysterious glyphs.
They scattered outward and then, like melting in water, turned into countless crisscrossing lines, propping up heaven and earth!
Countless glyphs surged from the boundless light.
More and more horizontal and vertical lines intertwined, weaving the world brighter and more vivid.
An Immortal Domain was about to be born within the Pitch-Black Star Sea!
Li Fan already felt the various changes occurring within the Star Sea.
Including, but not limited to, the awakening of the True Immortal of the Immortal Ruins, the shock of the Heavenly Physician and Chuanfa, and the shaking of the Star Sea consciousness.
Yet at this moment, he had no leisure to care about any of them.
His gaze was merely locked onto the taking-shape Immortal Domain.
He wanted to determine whether Sun Piaomiao's Immortal Domain fragments concealed any other entities besides the laws of the Immortal Realm!
"The emergence of an Immortal Domain creates an even bigger commotion than I imagined!
"It seems that even if there is no danger within the Immortal Domain, I cannot stay in this lifetime for long.
"Still, it's hardly an anticlimactic ending. After all, I avoided a deadly trap. All I need to do in the next lifetime is follow the established steps and repeat them!"
Li Fan's thoughts flashed like lightning.
And now, as the Immortal Domain bloomed like fruit emerging from a blossom, about to burst out of the Star Sea ravine depression and return to the normal Star Sea,
Li Fan finally saw clearly the phantom silhouette that emerged at last within the Immortal Domain.
A Wordless Stele, towering between heaven and earth in the Immortal Domain!
Chapter 1382