The True Immortal was enraged to the extreme, driving the downpour into an even more violent frenzy.
Beads of water pierced through the deluge like cascading curtains, carving the grueling battlefield into fragmented sectors.
Amidst the pervasive torrential rain, Li Fan glimpsed through the gaps that among the cultivators seizing this critical opportunity to besiege the True Immortal, more than a dozen could not withstand the crushing water pressure and were ground into dust in an instant. Then, the powder of their bones mingled with the rain, writhing before unexpectedly coalescing into "rain-men"!
Drawing upon the omnipresent downpour across the battlefield, they converged on Li Fan from all directions in a flash.
Feigning utter shock, Li Fan held his umbrella and transformed his body into a beam of light, rapidly slipping out of the encirclement. His speed was so astonishing that it even outpaced the falling rain!
Truly: through the pouring storm he passed, not a single drop wetting his clothes.
Having fled into the distance to a temporarily safe spot, Li Fan looked at the True Immortal, who still glared fixedly at him, and sneered. He pointed a finger once more: "Shave hair!"
The voice seemed imbued with a bizarre magic. It caused the bodies of everyone present to stiffen slightly, their siege pausing for a fraction of a second.
The True Immortal's eyes bulged with bloodshot rage, and he erupted into an earth-shattering roar once more.
"Kill you! Kill you! Kill you...!"
His resentment reached the heavens, his fury boiling.
The heavy rain, which had originally fallen evenly everywhere, now seemed drawn by some irresistible force. Like water spouts, it howled together and surged directly toward Li Fan.
Yet this act of retaliation could not halt the Dao Net command Li Fan had already dispatched.
Invisible ripples of the Dao Net spanned the battlefield in an instant, descending upon the True Immortal once more. It was as though countless pairs of shears were simultaneously trimming his hair and beard. As the battered obstructions were gradually shorn away, this True Immortal's true face was finally revealed.
Even if his visage was somewhat gaunt, his extraordinary handsomeness remained evident. However, massive, unhealing wounds that cut deep to the bone covered his torso and limbs. Flesh squirmed incessantly, but an inexplicable force constantly suppressed its regeneration.
As if by telepathy, the remaining besieging cultivators directed all their spells and divine arts straight at these wounds.
The True Immortal let out a piercing shriek in response.
Not far off, merely holding an umbrella was no longer enough for Li Fan to ward off the towering water spouts. The heavy downpour crashed from all sides, eroding his physical form and consciousness. The sounds reaching his ears were drowned out by the roar of the rain, and his field of vision was swallowed by dense sheets of water.
Even draped in a tightly protective raincoat, Li Fan still felt as though he was slowly being excised from the world around him.
Just like dust in the mortal realm, he was being washed completely away by this storm!
*Is this the Dao of "Rain"...?*
*If I do nothing more, I might truly vanish from this world, every trace of my existence washed away like dirt in a storm.*
*Even while shackled by the Dao Net, this True Immortal can still unleash such divine might. In his prime, he was certainly no weakling!*
Standing in the deluge and experiencing the Great Dao's divine art at close range, Li Fan gained considerable insight.
At the same time, along with flashes of inspiration sparking in his mind, another shower of rain manifested around him. The trajectory of these falling drops was diametrically opposite to that commanded by the True Immortal. As raindrops collided, the wind and rain around Li Fan instantly subdued.
Even if it could not completely neutralize the True Immortal's divine power, paired with the protection of his raincoat, it was enough to keep him safe and unharmed.
As Li Fan continued to contemplate the Dao of Rain surrounding him and watched the unhinged True Immortal fighting off the siege nearby, a sudden sense of vigilance welled in his heart.
*It was merely having his armor stripped and being left naked.*
*Compared to being captured alive by mortals, such humiliation is entirely inconsequential. This gold-armored True Immortal's reaction is far too shameful—screaming and raving, completely unhinged as if he had lost his mind...*
*That hardly befits someone capable of comprehending such a divine art.*
*Wait, no!*
A chill ran through Li Fan's mind as the truth struck him.
Looking across the battlefield, the golden armor and hair that had been shorn away by his "Strip Armor" and "Shave Hair" techniques had vanished without a trace, completely unnoticed!
*Losing his composure was merely bait to draw everyone's attention, all so he could slip away while everyone was distracted.*
Li Fan's thoughts raced. He was about to connect to the Dao Net here and activate the divine ability "Bind."
Yet on second thought, this was not an actual battlefield for slaying a True Immortal; it was merely a recruitment trial for the Immortal Hunt held by the Shuoxing Sea Governing Council.
With so many people watching, could a mere True Immortal really escape?
*This must be a bonus test. If I point it out, it will inevitably draw extra attention from the Governing Council. But if I pretend not to know...*
Hesitating for only a moment, Li Fan chose to display his uniqueness.
Stepping into the air, he shouted, "Everyone, be careful! Don't let him slip away!"
Then, his gaze swiftly swept across the surroundings as he chanted with solemn gravity, "Bind!"
The Dao Net manifested across the battlefield rustled as though swept by a sudden gust of wind. The interwoven strings of Dao grew distinctly clearer.
Vibrating faintly, they radiated a brilliant silver light. The golden armor, beard, and hair that had scattered toward the edges of the battlefield were all locked down and bound in an instant!
*Buzz!*
The Dao strings trembled violently, reflecting the True Immortal's frantic struggle.
Only now did the cultivators on the battlefield wake up as if from a dream. Some continued to besiege the True Immortal's physical body, while others rushed to block and intercept the golden armor and hair.
The outcome was clear; the True Immortal had completely lost any hope of turning the tables, doomed to fall before these mere ants...
With a flash of radiance, the dying True Immortal vanished directly from sight.
It was not that he had escaped; rather, the second trial had concluded.
Li Fan felt the strange looks directed at him by the surrounding cultivators from time to time, but he merely responded with a placid smile.
"The Third Trial..."
"Survive!"
Before the cold voice could even finish speaking, the Dao Net—which had previously served merely as a backdrop—came crashing directly down from above. Resembling a collapsing heaven, its intersecting Dao strings loomed like giant boulders and sheer cliffs.
In this sudden catastrophe, dozens of cultivators met violent ends on the spot. By all appearances, they were not teleported away on the brink of death; they had genuinely died!
The very Dao Net they relied on had now turned into a murderous weapon. The participating cultivators could only rely on their own skills to evade this sudden calamity.
However...
The cultivators of the Shuoxing Sea, especially those attending the Immortal Hunt selection, based nearly their entire cultivation and power on Daoyuan symbols and Dao Net commands. Stripped of the Dao Net's amplification, their available methods were pitifully meager.
How could they survive under such a cataclysmic collapse?
Aside from the standouts of major factions, the rest were killed on the spot within a short span.
The survivors could only struggle bitterly against the overwhelming onslaught of the collapsing Dao Net. As the collapse worsened, fewer and fewer safe spots remained.
Gradually, everyone was backed into a corner.
Relying on his Light Transformation Escape Technique, Li Fan handled it with relative ease. Yet looking at the brutal reality where only sixteen people remained, including himself, doubt crept into his mind.
*The past Immortal Hunt selections were never this strict. Has some major upheaval occurred in the Shuoxing Sea recently?*
The sheer brutality of this trial had clearly exceeded the expectations of everyone present. The composure they had once shown was entirely gone, replaced by uncontrollable panic.
Deploying every trick at their disposal, they fought desperately to stay alive in this apocalyptic scene.
"Ah!"
Another person was crushed to death by a falling Dao string.
Right before Li Fan's eyes, their soul was extinguished, transforming into specks of light that dissolved into the Dao Net.
Yet that single glance allowed Li Fan to spot a clue.
Li Fan had witnessed the demise of countless living beings. This "death" happening before him was subtly different from the true fall of a cultivator.
With a stir of realization, Li Fan understood.
*I see. This trial seems to test survival, but in truth, it tests how one dies. Surviving a catastrophe like the collapse of the Dao Net without relying on its power would require one's personal cultivation and attainment to reach an uncanny realm. Cultivators of the Shuoxing Sea study the Dao Net from childhood; it is virtually impossible for them to complete this trial...*
*Anyone capable of holding out to the very end would likely be an undercover infiltrator from outside realms!*
*Dying actually passes the test. Those who survive to the end would probably be detained and subjected to rigorous interrogation.*
In that brief contemplation, Li Fan grasped the genius of the trial.
*Of course, dying too quickly won't do either. That first batch of people was probably genuinely killed. Still, lacking even a shred of responsiveness when disaster struck, they deserved their fate. Only those who 'die' at just the right moment—neither too early nor too late—can be chosen.*
Viewing the trial from the perspective of the examiner rather than the candidate, Li Fan quickly deciphered the logic behind it.
Thus, he gradually feigned exhaustion, slipping into a perilous predicament. To be fair, even if one could deduce the truth behind the trial, facing the crashing Dao strings made it extraordinarily difficult for an ordinary person to abandon resistance and calmly embrace death.
Between life and death lay immense terror.
The scene of the Dao Net bearing down naturally provoked an instinctive impulse to struggle for survival.
Even for someone like Li Fan, who had walked the precipice of life and death for countless years and narrowly escaped doom time and again, when he sensed the silvery-white Dao string descending upon him, he still almost gave in to the urge to break free and flee the impact zone.
Fortunately, he forcibly suppressed that instinct.
He allowed the Dao string to grind him to dust.
Instantly, endless silver light flooded his vision.
Li Fan's divine sense seemed to lose consciousness.
Amidst that void of awareness, Li Fan vaguely sensed a colossal will sweeping across his mind.
Driven by instinctive vigilance, Li Fan stilled his mind completely, sinking into boundless tranquility. In that split second, he concealed himself within the miniature Dao Net tucked away inside his divine sense, while casually floating Ma Tiande's lifetime memories to the surface.
The miniature Dao Net and the real Dao Net were both rubbings of the Great Dao, fundamentally indistinguishable. As it blended seamlessly, even that colossal will failed to notice anything amiss after a brief gaze.
Once the chilling pressure of being watched by a terrifying monster in the shadows lifted, Li Fan "returned from the dead," regaining his physical form and consciousness.
He was no longer in the previous trial space, having arrived upon a circular enclave floating in the void. Outside the enclave stood numerous figures. Their faces were obscured, but they all gazed at the remaining participants, pointing, chatting, and laughing among themselves without any malice.
Li Fan glanced around.
He found that the other survivors had yet to recover their wits, appearing dazed and disoriented.
From time to time, figures flickered into existence within the circular enclave.
Only after the time it took to drink half a cup of tea, when all participants had arrived, did that announcing voice sound once more. This time, however, it lacked the prior coldness and severity, carrying a faint touch of warmth instead.
"The Final Trial: Combat!"
Li Fan understood in his heart: *Reaching this stage probably means we have passed the trial. This so-called combat is more likely meant to determine our rankings.*
It had to be said that those who remained for this round were undoubtedly among the foremost prodigies of the Shuoxing Sea.
Though they had barely regained their senses, the moment the command was issued, they instinctively launched ambushes against the "enemies" beside them.
Naturally, Li Fan was attacked as well.
Moving like lightning, he effortlessly dodged all assaults.
At the same time, he barked, "Strip armor!"
The cultivators targeting Li Fan stiffened slightly and retreated en masse without prior consultation.
Everyone present was clever; they all knew this final trial was merely a formality. Losing a match was one thing.
Those spectating around them were clearly their future colleagues in the Immortal Hunt. If one were stripped bare and left stark naked in front of them, how could they face each other in the future?
Thus, under the deterrent of the Dao of "Strip Armor," everyone tacitly avoided choosing Li Fan as an opponent. They only launched occasional sneak attacks from afar, all of which Li Fan dodged with ease.
This combat trial stopped short of true harm.
Before long, the results became clear.
Above the circular enclave descended a curtain of light, displaying the names of everyone present.
From top to bottom, twenty-eight names in all.
Ranked comprehensively based on their performance across the four trials.
The name Ma Tiande was ranked fifth.
*It must have been my performance in the second trial during the hunt for the True Immortal that boosted my score.*
Li Fan looked toward the top of the list. Nearly all the gazes in the area gathered on that individual.
It was precisely the cultivator who had previously manifested the wind divine ability to blow back the True Immortal's rain.
Surname Dao, given name Yuan.
Slender of build with deep, penetrating eyes, he showed no unease under the crowd's scrutiny, smiling and cupping his hands in greeting.
Recalling the intelligence he had reviewed earlier, Li Fan remembered this person's background.
He hailed from the Shuoxing Sea's Myriad Dao Palace.
For the Myriad Dao Palace to dare take "Dao" in its name, it naturally possessed ample backing.
Originally a remnant faction that had survived from another ruined sea of stars, it had managed to secure a firm foothold despite facing covetous eyes on all sides.
Rumor had it that they had made monumental contributions to the establishment of the Dao Net. Today, they stood as an entity on equal footing with the Sword Domain and Blade Island.
"Now that you have joined the Immortal Hunt, you must act according to orders from this day forth."
"Those who disobey shall be executed without mercy."
"Next comes the first mission you must face."
Hearing this, the expressions of those present turned somewhat subtle.
None had expected that after joining the Immortal Hunt, they would be thrust into a mission before receiving any training.
"Half a day ago, a True Immortal was lured by the immortal bait we laid down, traversed the Annihilation Lands, and entered the area covered by the Dao Net."
"He is now not far from the Shuoxing Sea."
"This True Immortal is heavily injured, and the Dao he cultivates is 'Yi.' He is perfectly suited to serve as practice for your first hunt..."
A figure stepped out from among the spectators outside the circular enclave.
Though short in stature, he was packed with dense, tempered muscle. Wearing a blood-red short tunic, he carried a black stone pillar on his shoulder, presenting an exceedingly bizarre appearance.
"I hope your first hunt meets with swift success!" The blood-clad burly man grinned fiercely, patting the stone pillar on his shoulder.
Chapter 1446