The culprits behind the extinction of all vitality in the sea of stars within the High Wall were not only the Immortal Ruins, but also numerous True Immortal seal characters.
All had come from the hand of Immortal He Gan.
When Li Fan had made contact with the primal true intent of the sea of stars, he had felt its towering hatred toward this Immortal He Gan.
Though True Immortals regarded all living beings as mere ants, they never did meaningless things.
Transcribing numerous True Immortal seal characters and casting them out to run rampant across the starry skies, and doing so while fleeing the upper realm in utter disarray...
Li Fan surmised that this was likely how Immortal He Gan sought to comprehend the Dao.
"First, use this method to generate countless entangled karmas out of nothing. When one can completely detach oneself from this karma, that will mark the great culmination of their enlightenment."
"Severing every connection to the outside world..."
Recalling that wild, uninhibited laughter once more, Li Fan grew even more certain of his judgment.
"If my guess is right, the 'Wu' whom the Immortal Hunters intend to hunt this time is very likely the Immortal He Gan I know so well.
"It is just that I still cannot confirm whether this Immortal He Gan is the Faceless Immortal who once saved King Xuantian's life."
Li Fan had once suspected that Immortal He Gan and the Faceless Immortal were the same person. Back then, when his Sacred Sovereign clone had seen the faceless statue, it had sensed an aura remarkably similar to the one felt when probing Immortal He Gan. The same sensation had surfaced within Li Fan's true body as well.
Curiously, however, that thought had arisen only when he first laid eyes on it. Now, when Li Fan compared the two again, he found himself hesitating, unable to be sure.
...
The burly man surnamed Qian was still explaining the precautions for this hunt to the assembled Immortal Hunters.
"As for this Immortal 'Wu', I cannot reveal too much to you.
"His methods of infiltration can only be described as unfathomable. Moreover, his perception of any connection between his own existence and the outside world is extraordinarily sharp. If I were to tell you his detailed information, drawing so many people into entanglement all at once would inevitably put him on guard.
"What you must do is assist me in weaving a great net. Then, wait patiently for him to walk right into it!"
Immortal Wu was clearly stronger than the previous two Immortals, Xi and Yi. Hearing this, the newly inducted Immortal Hunters felt both excitement and a measure of apprehension. After all, the setback during their first expedition had left more or less of a psychological shadow on them.
"By the way, my name is Qian Ruochang. You can call me Boss Qian. Heheheh..." Amid meaningful laughter, the burly man gave his name.
Afterward, he led the group straight out to take part in the mission.
They traversed the Dao Net and soon reached their destination.
"This place is..."
"The Myriad Stars Tomb?"
Unlike the vibrant vitality found in the various territories of the Shuoxing Sea, a decaying, deathly aura permeated the starfield ahead. Even from a great distance away, everyone instinctively felt uncomfortable.
Li Fan had been in the Shuoxing Sea for some time now and was no stranger to this region known as the Myriad Stars Tomb.
Though both were lands where vitality was extinguished, there were still differences between the Myriad Stars Tomb and the Annihilation Lands. The Annihilation Lands were forbidden grounds caused by the Dao Annihilation Tribulation, where the very concept of existence had been erased.
The Myriad Stars Tomb, on the other hand, was a destroyed stellar domain caused by factors other than Dao Annihilation.
The factions within the Shuoxing Sea were not entirely native inhabitants of this celestial realm. Rather, they were refugees from countless starfields gathered together.
Across the boundless lower sea of stars, aside from vast swathes of Annihilation Lands, there was an intermingling of the Myriad Stars Tomb and living territories. The Shuoxing Sea was one such living land.
Although vitality was dead in the Myriad Stars Tomb, the Dao Net could still extend over it.
As for the Annihilation Lands...
Where the Great Dao ceased to exist, even the Dao Net was forced to halt.
"Boss Qian, that Immortal Wu wouldn't happen to be hiding here, would he?" someone could not help asking.
Qian Ruochang chuckled. "In a godforsaken dump like the Myriad Stars Tomb, how could a True Immortal possibly hide here? I brought you here to look for good stuff."
Hearing this, Dao Yuan's eyes showed a curious glint. "I once heard that in the Myriad Stars Tomb, deathly qi has swirled and gathered for millions of years. As the saying goes, extremes turn into their opposites; it is entirely possible that boundless vitality could be born amidst endless deathly energy..."
"You've got some insight, kid. But our goal this time isn't vitality. It's this..."
While speaking, Qian Ruochang had already led the crowd deep into the Myriad Stars Tomb.
Although the Dao Net still covered this place, traveling through it met with obstacle after obstacle compared to ordinary, living starfields. Their speed slowed more than a hundredfold.
At times, it even seemed as though some barrier blocked the way ahead, forcing everyone to detour.
Suddenly coming to a halt, Qian Ruochang pointed lightly toward his front left.
Then, he violently hurled the stone pillar resting on his shoulder.
In that instant, every novice Immortal Hunter could feel the Dao Net being pulled by a tremendous force, shaking violently.
The tremor was even more intense than the one caused by Nangong Fusheng's arrival earlier.
Everyone turned to look at Qian Ruochang, faces filled with shock.
No one had expected this seemingly easygoing Boss Qian to possess such terrifying strength.
Li Fan, however, fell into thought. This phenomenon was not because Qian Ruochang's strength surpassed Nangong Fusheng's.
Rather, they had arrived at a weak zone of the Dao Net.
The power anchoring the Dao Net upon the Great Dao of heaven and earth was greatly diminished within the Myriad Stars Tomb. Naturally, the same amount of force would trigger a far greater disturbance.
The stone pillar flew out, churning continuously through the dark, extinguished void.
Li Fan's senses were sharper than the others'.
In the pitch blackness, he seemed to see several drifting, dead worlds accidentally collide with the stone pillar. Under the churning of that titanic force, they vanished completely.
Only a few tiny black specks, almost negligible in size, flew out from the shattered corpses of those dead worlds. Following the colossal stone pillar, they drifted toward Qian Ruochang.
Watching these small black specks, Li Fan felt a sense of deja vu rise unbidden.
They were remarkably similar to the black qi produced after True Immortal flesh and blood was broken down by Descend into the Mortal Dust!
Li Fan maintained his composure, pretending to be ignorant of their danger as he stepped closer out of sheer curiosity to observe them.
Upon closer inspection, Li Fan noticed the differences between these black specks and that black qi.
Black qi was the harbinger of the Dao Annihilation Tribulation. Anyone whose strength reached a certain realm would inevitably feel an inexplicable sense of impending crisis upon seeing it.
Yet these black specks before him...
Li Fan studied them for a long time, only feeling a slight nausea and discomfort in his heart. There was no frightening, ominous premonition.
And Qian Ruochang's subsequent words provided Li Fan with the answer.
"These can be regarded as the corpses of cultivation worlds.
"Just like when a mortal dies, their flesh and blood return to heaven and earth in short order, leaving only white bones to endure for ages.
"These black specks are the most fundamental, purest parts—akin to World Bones. They will not linger in the world for long, so we must harvest them quickly." As Qian Ruochang spoke, he extended the stone pillar again, churning the void repeatedly.
In a short time, he gathered fifteen black specks.
What appeared to be simple movements seemed to take an immense toll. Qian Ruochang was already panting heavily, drenched in sweat.
He had no choice but to stop and rest.
"You, eat one."
Qian Ruochang flicked one of the black specks through the air toward Dao Yuan.
Dao Yuan's expression shifted slightly, but he did not hesitate for long. Under everyone's stunned gazes, he endured the discomfort, opened his mouth, and swallowed the World Bone into his belly.
From the expression on Dao Yuan's face, one could see just what kind of torment it was to swallow a World Bone raw.
Yet once it entered his belly, the effects were immediately apparent.
"Why do I feel like Brother Dao..."
"Has faded a bit?"
"Indeed, I feel he has grown somewhat blurry."
"This... if you hadn't pointed it out, I almost overlooked Brother Dao entirely! He is clearly standing right here, yet it feels as though he doesn't exist at all!"
The crowd noticed the abnormality one after another, crying out in astonishment.
Only then did Qian Ruochang smile and explain, "These World Bones are the cornerstones of a cultivation world's evolution. They are the deepest layer of a world's mechanisms, the part closest to the Great Dao itself. After you swallow them, before the World Bone completely returns to heaven and earth, you will be influenced by its power—just like ice melting into water, blending into the world.
"Your nature as a 'person' is obscured by the 'world.' Naturally, ordinary sensory perception will find it difficult to discern you."
Qian Ruochang distributed the World Bones to everyone in the order previously established during the assessment.
Li Fan received his early on and swallowed it down.
The instant the black speck was absorbed, various illusions surfaced before Li Fan's eyes. They were scenes that this cultivation world had once experienced in life.
In the lower sea of stars, it was not an unusual tale.
A world originally thriving and prosperous. Then one day, a rift suddenly tore open in the sky.
Several figures emerged from within.
Their overwhelming pressure instantly caused eight or nine out of ten living beings in the world to perish miserably.
Yet those figures had no intention of restraining their might. Or rather, they had no time to spare for such trivial matters.
They themselves...
Were also fleeing in utter panic and disarray.
Seventeen figures darted out of the rift one after another.
It was not until the last figure forcefully sealed the rift that the catastrophe came to a stop.
He seemed slightly dazed in his panic.
Glancing across the cultivation world below, which had already been reduced to a devastated wasteland by the True Immortals' fallout, he shook his head slightly.
With a gentle wave of his hand, he erased every surviving being across the lands.
Not even a corpse remained.
The cultivation world itself could not endure such crushing pressure and fractured into pieces, collapsing entirely.
As though he had merely done something insignificant, that final figure drifted away.
...
Li Fan awakened from the illusion.
This was one of the origins of the many dead worlds within the Myriad Stars Tomb.
"The lower sea of stars was never a place for immortals to inhabit. When forced to flee here, they naturally brought devastating ruin upon the mortal natives."
Li Fan felt no indignation or rage.
The weak were meat for the strong. What was more, when an apocalyptic tribulation arrived, desperate fugitives regarded survival as their sole priority.
As for anything else...
None of it mattered.
He settled his mind, feeling the changes naturally occurring within his body after consuming the World Bone.
Just as Qian Ruochang had said, it was like ice entering water.
Through the World Bone's connection to the Great Dao of heaven and earth, he seemed to slowly dissolve into this starry sky.
"If I were to communicate with the sea of stars right now, I likely would not even need the Taijia Divine Technique to effectively connect with its primal consciousness.
"Furthermore, I can feel that my connection to the Dao Net has grown even closer..."
Within Li Fan's divine sense, the miniature Dao Net shone brilliantly.
What had originally been merely an illusory projection now seemed to possess a true physical substance in part.
Even if only a small fraction, it brought about an almost qualitative transformation.
However, with others beside him at the moment—especially Qian Ruochang, whose strength was suspected to approach the Nameless realm—Li Fan did not study it in detail for now.
"The Dao comprehended by that Immortal 'Wu', those so-called karmic ties, only targets the living beings of this world. He has yet to achieve transcendence, and thus cannot sever his ties to heaven and earth. By relying on the World Bones to submerge ourselves within the Great Dao, we should be able to greatly reduce the chance of him detecting us," Qian Ruochang said, swallowing a World Bone himself.
After gathering enough for all the new Immortal Hunters, he did not halt.
Instead, he continued to lead them deeper into the Myriad Stars Tomb.
"Hiding ourselves is merely the first step of the hunt.
"As for the second, we must prepare traps and weapons capable of severely wounding or even killing our prey." Qian Ruochang's voice took on a faint gloom.
"True Immortals cultivate the Great Dao of heaven and earth, seeking transcendence. The best weapon against them is something that can damage and destroy the Great Dao!"
...
At these words, the Immortal Hunters present all paled.
Li Fan had assumed Qian Ruochang would next speak of things related to the Dao Annihilation Tribulation.
To his surprise, it was something else entirely.
Qian Ruochang's tone shifted. "However, what our Dao Net relies upon is also the power of the Great Dao of heaven and earth. An action that harms the enemy while destroying oneself must be treated with utmost caution. Yet from this Myriad Stars Tomb, we can find a similar alternative.
"As I mentioned just now, within the Myriad Stars Tomb, the corpses, flesh, and blood of cultivation worlds have completely dissolved and returned to heaven and earth, leaving only their bones behind.
"This power that catalytically digests and devours the flesh and blood of cultivation worlds is precisely the weapon we need!
"The Great Dao, from top to bottom, is fundamentally one entity. Mortal cultivation worlds are nonetheless manifestations of the Great Dao.
"A force that can revert the Great Dao from its evolved manifestations back into nothingness can likewise inflict grievous wounds upon a True Immortal who cultivates the Dao!"
...
Qian Ruochang spoke continuously.
Hearing this, Li Fan grew pensive and suddenly spoke up, "Boss Qian, by your reasoning, wouldn't this power that eliminates the flesh and blood of cultivation worlds also be able to heavily damage the Dao Net?"
The other Immortal Hunters looked at Li Fan with strange expressions.
Qian Ruochang, however, clapped his hands hard. "Precisely! But rest assured, where the Dao Net differs from a True Immortal lies in its comprehensive scope, as well as its ability to repair itself at any time.
"Since we have the confidence to wield it as a weapon, we do not fear anyone using it against the Dao Net!
"Besides, utilizing this bizarre power in the Myriad Stars Tomb is a recent breakthrough of ours..."
Qian Ruochang's words suddenly broke off.
He glanced toward his front left, his playful expression turning grave.
"Look closely, everyone. That is the power of digesting a world's flesh and blood that I spoke of..."
Qian Ruochang forcefully hurled the stone pillar from his shoulder.
It seemed to carry tremendous momentum.
Yet as it streaked through the void, it moved completely without a sound, stirring up no commotion whatsoever.
After circling around, it returned just like that.
Li Fan, however, keenly noticed that the stone pillar appeared to have shrunk by a noticeable margin.
Chapter 1453