The ancient stone slab ensconced at the center of the formation was just like the Nine-Star Red Bead Li Fan had previously seen in the ruins of the Xuanhuang Realm-Protecting Immortal Array.
The only difference was that the Nine-Star Red Bead had long since vanished without a trace, whereas this ancient stone slab remained prominently in place.
Li Fan narrowed his eyes, attempting to read the carvings upon the slab inside the array.
The stone slab stood motionless, yet the lines engraved across its surface seemed to shift continuously, elusive and indistinct.
This immediately reminded Li Fan of the Beilin Immortal Realm bronze coin he had encountered before.
"It seems to be a method of recording unique to the Immortal Realm. Only the contents etched onto this slab..."
"Are far more complex!"
A flicker of interest stirred within Li Fan, but he did not rush to decipher it. He keenly perceived that the array before him seemed to possess a certain misleading effect. What one peered at through the formation was not necessarily the truth.
With the assistance of the Dissevering Disc, Li Fan began to analyze the formation before him.
"There is no immortal spiritual energy. It seems that for the sake of concealment, it does not even possess the most rudimentary spiritual power. What on earth has sustained this array's continuous operation for so many years?" After some examination, Li Fan's curiosity was thoroughly piqued.
Li Fan's current mastery of formations undeniably ranked him as a grandmaster of array dao. He was even capable of fusing and deducing immortal arrays according to his own needs. Yet he had never before seen a formation of this type.
"It isn't that the operational cost of the array is negligible enough for a single object to support it. The might of this array..." Li Fan mused, tentatively using his spiritual energy to conjure a small bird, intending to fly it into the formation.
It encountered no resistance whatsoever.
Yet the moment it crossed the boundary of the array, the spiritual bird vanished into thin air without warning.
Li Fan's pupils constricted sharply.
He had been completely unable to perceive how the bird he controlled had disappeared.
Li Fan snapped his fingers lightly, and thousands of birds surged toward the formation in a dense, dark cloud.
Under Li Fan's exquisite control, the total spiritual energy contained within every single bird was minuscule, held below a specific threshold to ensure it would not provoke a stronger defensive reaction from the array.
Without exception, all met the exact same end.
Li Fan meticulously observed the process of the birds' disappearance.
"The spiritual energy wasn't 'consumed.' Rather, the foundation sustaining the existence of the spiritual energy was drained away..."
When the flock of birds had entirely perished, Li Fan gained a faint realization.
This array actually gave him a sense of familiarity.
Li Fan then conducted experiments using physical objects: rocks, Dharma treasures, vegetation, and live birds.
The results were virtually identical.
Anything that entered the array vanished into nothingness.
Li Fan's expression grew solemn. "Everything tested so far has belonged to the realm of the 'mortal.' What if it is related to the 'immortal'?"
Golden Source Power essence transformed into a slender dragon, hurtling into the formation. The air warped as if scorched by flames. Then the golden light faded away, meeting the exact same fate!
Afterward, Li Fan brought out a mass of True Immortal flesh and blood. Strands of golden thread pierced into the meat. Like a marionette, the True Immortal flesh and blood wobbled and slowly stepped into the formation.
The golden threads Li Fan used to control it snapped in two. Yet the True Immortal flesh and blood that entered the array underwent a change distinct from all the mortal objects before it.
The flickering patterns on the stone slab resting quietly within the array suddenly froze for an instant.
In that split second, Li Fan vaguely saw what looked like a bolt of lightning ignite across the slab, striking straight toward the mass of True Immortal flesh and blood.
The bizarre, enigmatic aura of the True Immortal flesh and blood abruptly vanished. No longer belonging to the ranks of immortality, it was reduced to mere mortal matter in the blink of an eye.
Then it dissipated into the formation!
This shift occurred in a mere instant. At a glance, it looked as though the True Immortal flesh and blood had been unable to endure even a moment in the array, just like all the mortal test subjects before it.
Yet Li Fan had sensed it acutely.
Li Fan repeated the operation, unceasingly testing the array with True Immortal flesh and blood. He hoped to seize that fleeting opportunity to clearly see the flash of lightning.
"That light glowing on the stone slab seems to be one of the patterns from the former Immortal Ascension Platform imprinted by Xuanhuang's Heavenly Dao? It can actually reduce the immortal to the mortal?"
Li Fan was deeply shaken.
However, he also understood that what he was using for the experiment was not a true 'immortal,' merely mindless flesh and blood revived from the corpse of a True Immortal.
It could not be compared to a True Immortal at all.
Nonetheless, the terrifying regenerative and defensive capabilities of True Immortal flesh and blood had already been verified on the Tianyang immortal puppet. It ignored virtually all mortal offensive methods and even possessed a degree of immunity to the influence of True Immortal seal characters.
Yet such a transcendent, terrifying entity possessed no resistance whatsoever before the lightning pattern on that stone slab.
"If it can reduce the immortal to mortal, why couldn't it elevate the mortal to immortal?"
"The Immortal Ascension Platform... the Immortal Ascension Platform..."
His previous conjecture seemed to have found some degree of validation. Looking at the stone slab not far away, Li Fan grew increasingly excited.
After continuing his attempts for a while, consuming nearly a tenth of his stored True Immortal flesh and blood without gaining anything further, Li Fan had no choice but to abandon this clumsy method.
The lightning-like pattern on the stone slab appeared for far too brief an instant. Furthermore, what was visible through the array suffered a degree of distortion. Attempting to see it clearly like this was nothing short of a pipe dream.
"In my previous world-destroying iterations, the Xuanhuang Realm was reduced completely to nothingness. Yet I never detected the existence of this array or the stone slab."
"This array must not be fixed in place. Instead, it behaves like a living entity; if it encounters an insurmountable situation, it executes a strategic retreat..."
"Requiring no power source to sustain it, yet capable of relocating itself in times of crisis. This array is truly miraculous!" Li Fan marvelled.
"Since a brute-force breach is out of the question, it seems I must send the little turtle."
With a thought, a flash of blue light appeared beside Li Fan.
Supreme Qiushui materialized, holding the little Tian beast by the scruff of its neck.
"Greetings, Eldest Master." Qiushui remained exceedingly respectful.
Upon seeing the little Tian beast baring its teeth and grimacing at Li Fan, Qiushui slapped it right on the head.
Energy surged—it was no mere show, but a strike delivered with full force!
The little Tian beast was instantly left dizzy and disoriented.
Under ordinary circumstances, even a being transformed from an Immortal Realm jade pendant would suffer severe injuries from such a blow.
Yet in this lifetime, the little Tian beast had devoured four Immortal Territory chess pieces in succession. Endowed with the laws of an Immortal Territory, its constitution had developed to an unimaginable degree.
With only an aggrieved whimper, the little Tian beast recovered.
Under Qiushui's compulsion, it shrank its head toward Li Fan in a gesture of greeting.
"Indeed, everything has its vanquisher," Li Fan mused with an inward nod.
Perhaps because both were manifestations in living form, through prolonged intimacy, the little Tian beast had come to regard the Dao child Qiushui as something akin to a parent.
Under Li Fan's orders, Qiushui had constantly fed it Immortal Territory chess pieces and taken it wandering across the Star Sea in the hope that its keen instincts would yield discoveries, further cementing the role of 'parent.'
Consequently, the little Tian beast obeyed Qiushui almost implicitly.
With a faint thought, Li Fan directed the little Tian beast through Qiushui to crawl toward the stone slab surrounded by the array.
Before this array, the little Tian beast's sharp instincts seemed to lose their efficacy.
It was as if struck blind, appearing completely oblivious to the uncanny array until now.
Only when it slowly crept up to the perimeter of the array did it suddenly snap to alertness and halt.
It stared ahead in bewilderment, its eyes filled with vigilance.
The little Tian beast refused to proceed, but Qiushui urged it on incessantly.
After a moment's hesitation, the little Tian beast's eyes emitted a faint, mysterious silver starlight.
After observing intently for a long while, the little Tian beast finally pressed forward, reluctant and begrudging.
"Just as I anticipated. The little Tian beast was originally formed from an Immortal Realm item, so it possesses a certain resistance to this array. Having swallowed four Immortal Territory chess pieces, its constitution has undergone a qualitative leap; it should be able to withstand the array's attacks!" Li Fan's eyes gleamed.
The little Tian beast crawled very slowly.
It stared at the stone slab not far ahead, a flicker of confusion crossing its gaze. It seemed to feel an inexplicable familiarity toward the slab.
Hence, it resisted even more.
Once again, Qiushui stepped in, appealing to emotion and enticing it with benefits, finally convincing the little Tian beast to continue advancing.
Li Fan waited quietly for the little Tian beast to retrieve the slab.
Meanwhile, he continued examining the uncanny formation.
After all this time, Li Fan had begun to discern where that familiar sensation originated.
It stemmed precisely from the array mechanism that severed the foundation of an object's existence!
Through the rift basins spread across the Pitch-Black Star Sea ran dark rivers of life force, blanketed by a power that extracted vitality. By cutting off the foundation of an entity's living existence, this power was the very reason life force converged in the rifts. The decaying green vigor cloaking the Thousand-Eyed Desolate God of the Xuan Celestial Vessel likewise devoured the underlying mechanics of whatever it touched.
Even...
The invisible high wall enclosing the Pitch-Black Star Sea.
It could similarly be regarded as directly wiping out the foundation upon which the concept of 'forward' existed.
"All of these can be viewed as the absence of essential elements of existence."
"It shares the exact same essence as the array before me!"
Li Fan's eyes flashed as a tempest of thoughts surged through his mind, connecting countless threads in an instant.
"These should all belong to methods once employed by the Immortal Realm."
"It is even possible that those beyond the high wall wield such divine abilities today."
"Judging by the clues gathered previously, when King Xuantian laid these hidden preparations, he should have still been only a half-immortal. Without immortal spiritual energy, how did he manage to accomplish all this?"
The little Tian beast remained within the array.
Provoked by its continuous presence, the array operated in a manner that allowed Li Fan to see it even more clearly.
Even the symbols on the stone slab at the center of the array were revealed in ever greater numbers.
Among the increasingly frequent flashes of patterns, Li Fan caught sight of a design strikingly similar to the Close Horizons Array!
"Because I am peering through the array, what I see is distorted, so it doesn't align perfectly. But this further validates my conjecture!"
"This stone slab replicated by King Xuantian indeed preserves the complete engravings of the Immortal Realm's Immortal Ascension Platform."
"These engravings encompass virtually everything. Each one corresponds to a certain power that originally belonged to the Immortal Realm."
"Such as Close Horizons. Or reducing the immortal to mortal, and elevating the mortal to immortal!"
Li Fan's heart surged with excitement. The further the little Tian beast advanced, the greater the pressure it seemed to endure. Its movements grew increasingly sluggish, nearly grinding to a complete halt!
It was barely a single step from the stone slab, yet the little Tian beast rolled its eyes and flatly refused to go on!
No matter how urgently Qiushui urged it, the creature refused to budge.
Looking through the array at the numerous patterns on the slab—their flickering and shifting having almost stabilized into a constant display—Li Fan knew the little Tian beast was not holding out for a better bargain or playing tricks.
Rather, it had truly reached the limit of what it could bear.
Dull muffled pops seemed to sound across the little Tian beast's body. Traces of its flesh and blood were being shaved away by the array's power.
A glint of terror surfaced in its eyes, and it sought to give up and retreat.
Qiushui was helpless to stop it; even dangling the promise of three Immortal Territory chess pieces proved utterly futile.
Right at that moment, Li Fan formed an incantation gesture with both hands.
Just as the little Tian beast was about to turn back, its body froze.
Then, completely out of its own control, it began crawling forward once more!
A trace of the inherent savagery of a ferocious beast flashed in its eyes. It growled continuously, venting boundless fury.
Yet it could not break free from the restraint of Li Fan's art.
This very incantation was something Li Fan had secretly learned from Mo Rubin's art used to manipulate the Eye of the Tian Beast.
Whether it was the ancient realm-guarding divine beast of the Xuantian Sect or this newly born little turtle before him, their true forms were both manifestations of the jade pendant King Xuantian had brought down from the Immortal Realm.
In truth, they could be regarded as the exact same creature.
A control method effective against the Xuantian Sect's Tian beast naturally worked on this little turtle as well.
Li Fan had already tested it in secret beforehand.
Otherwise, he would never have simply allowed the little turtle to devour four Immortal Territory chess pieces unimpeded.
Under Li Fan's ruthless compulsion, disregarding its worsening wounds, the little Tian beast finally crawled up to the stone slab.
Using its comparatively diminutive body, it hoisted the stone slab onto its back.
Carrying it, the beast emitted low roars as it slowly retreated.
Upon the slab, countless patterns shifted unpredictably.
The little Tian beast's flesh and blood were shaved away inch by inch, disappearing into nothingness.
By the end, nothing remained but an empty shell, along with the Eye of the Tian Beast sheltered by the silver starlight in front.
Bearing the slab, it advanced slowly yet with absolute determination.
After who knew how long, it finally crawled out of the area engulfed by the uncanny formation.
The moment it exited the array, the little Tian beast collapsed entirely from exhaustion, unable to move another inch.
Qiushui hurried forward to receive it.
Li Fan fixed his gaze upon the stone slab on the beast's back. The patterns upon it had completely extinguished, and its sacred, solemn presence had vanished alongside them.
It appeared utterly mundane, no different from any ordinary mortal object.
With a flick of his hand, Li Fan tossed an Immortal Territory chess piece to the little Tian beast, which had rendered great service but now lay on the verge of death.
He then lifted the stone slab into the air with his power, scrutinizing it closely.
Chapter 1401