[This simulation has ended.]
...
Li Fan regained consciousness.
He stared fixedly at the scene on the light screen where the Taiyan Boat shattered to pieces, a thick dread lingering in his heart, refusing to dissipate for a long time.
"What on earth was that thing?" Li Fan wondered inwardly.
When Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi previously crossed the Immortal Severing Formation, they had not encountered this creature in the Darkness layer. Why was it different for him?
Could it simply be his bad luck?
Li Fan didn't think so.
How vast was the Darkness layer in the Immortal Severing Formation? The tiny Taiyan Boat inside it was practically a drop in the ocean.
Yet this unknown existence had found him with such pinpoint accuracy...
"Nine times out of ten, it is a measure aimed solely at mortals.
"It seems waiting until the thick mist clears and light shines from the bottom of the Ruins Abyss before exploring is the safest approach.
"Even though I fell short at the final step, the gains from the last life truly exceeded expectations far beyond measure..."
Li Fan calculated inwardly, then chose to retain the "Taiyan Boat."
Name: Li Fan
Cultivation Realm: Mortal
Physiological Age: 20/86
Psychological Age: 333/1113↑
Reversion Charging Progress: 0%
Anchor Charging Progress: 1%
Current Anchors: 1
Bound Items: *Golden Chapter of Thousand Mechanisms and the Jade Cosmos*, Taiyan Boat
...
Looking at the diminishing increase in his psychological age ceiling, Li Fan also felt a faint pressure.
Fortunately, the cultivation world was within arm's reach. As long as he left this land severed from immortality, the sky was the limit, as free as a bird!
Amid such anticipation, Li Fan's seventh life began.
Before [True Reversion] finished recharging, Li Fan was resolutely unwilling to take any risks.
Thus, he still intended to spend his first twenty years following the script he had already played out several times.
Anchor Year 3: Li Fan once again went to Wen County in Jiangnan to lie low.
Anchor Year 4: Leading his trusted confidants, he secretly arrived at Qian Hong's tomb.
This time, he used a spray containing immortal-mortal miasma to slowly corrode it until the power of the Step-Halting Broken Stele was weakened to the point where it could no longer pierce steel armor.
Donning steel armor, Li Fan entered the tomb and placed his hand upon the stele.
"Discovered chargeable item: Step-Halting Broken Stele (Damaged)."
"Proceed with charging?"
The prompt from [True Reversion] appeared right on cue.
"A pity there's still some wear and tear," Li Fan lamented inwardly, choosing yes.
The Step-Halting Broken Stele gradually dissolved into nothingness, vanishing completely.
And after absorbing the Step-Halting Broken Stele, the anchor charging progress of [True Reversion] increased directly by 25%.
"Just three more times and I can unlock the second anchor?" Li Fan was overjoyed, yet he also faintly sensed it wouldn't be quite so simple.
"Excessive speculation is useless anyway. I'll know once I take another trip in the next life."
The other items in Qian Hong's tomb held no more value for Li Fan. Only after ordering his men to reseal the tomb did he depart.
Anchor Year 5: Li Fan ultimately couldn't resist and came to the Eastern Ruins Abyss.
"Just one look first. I won't go down," Li Fan told himself.
Gazing out over the boundless sea of mist, his sight seemed to pierce through infinite barriers of space to reach straight to the bottom of the Ruins Abyss.
Standing for a long time, as howls of gale swept by, the pervasive thick mist gradually dispersed, and the peril-fraught Immortal Severing Formation also seemed to lose its danger.
"At this very moment, if I pilot the Taiyan Boat, I can travel smoothly straight to the cultivation world, can't I?" A thought suddenly sprang up in Li Fan's mind and could no longer be suppressed, swelling madly until it swiftly occupied his entire psyche.
"Indeed, I've waited for so long already. Must I really wait another fifteen years?
"So what if [True Reversion] hasn't finished charging? Cowering and shrinking like this, how can I ever achieve the Great Dao?
"I already probed it once in my last life. As long as I carefully evade that unknown monster in the Darkness layer, I can leave this godforsaken place!"
...
A clamor of chattering voices rang continuously in Li Fan's ears. His eyes gradually lost focus, turning completely bloodshot, as if bewitched by these voices.
Step by step, Li Fan walked forward, drawing closer and closer to the Endless Ruins Abyss.
Just as Li Fan was about to be drawn into the abyss and shattered to pieces,
a brilliant light suddenly erupted from the bottom of the Ruins Abyss, piercing through the Immortal Severing Formation and reflecting in Li Fan's eyes.
The madness-inducing crimson was temporarily suppressed, and the four large characters—"The Immortal Dao Is Dead"—abruptly appeared in Li Fan's vision.
*Boom!*
All those fanatical thoughts in his mind—the reckless urge to chase the path of immortality, even the impulse to leap into the abyss—vanished completely without a trace.
"What was that?" Coming back to his senses, Li Fan broke into a cold sweat.
In his eyes, the tranquil abyss had suddenly turned into a lurking beast of prey, its maw already agape, hungering to devour him.
Li Fan immediately spun around and fled without looking back.
After a long time, the thick mist reconvened.
From the bottom of the Ruins Abyss came the faint, furious roar of a beast.
...
Fifteen years later, Anchor Year 20.
[True Reversion] was finally fully charged.
Bolstered by this confidence, Li Fan finally returned to the Ruins Abyss.
Recalling the scene from that year, even though so much time had passed, Li Fan still felt a lingering dread.
"It seems my guess was correct. That monster in the Darkness layer truly bears tremendous malice toward mortals. Perhaps its very mission is to devour every mortal who approaches this place."
Dangerous as it was, Li Fan would never abandon the path to immortality.
Hesitating no more, Li Fan piloted the Taiyan Boat, arriving at the Thunderstorm layer without mishap along the way.
Instead of continuing downward, Li Fan halted right above the Darkness layer, waiting patiently.
"*Wuuu...*"
A great wind gradually rose.
Under the influence of this inexplicable gale, the rabid thunderstorm also began to subside, gradually weakening.
Specks of starlike light emerged from the darkness, then merged together into a continuous, vast tableau.
Li Fan did not look at this inverted marvel; instead, taking advantage of the precious, fleeting light, he searched for the monster lurking in the darkness.
Unfortunately, he found nothing at all!
Seeing the light about to fade, Li Fan gritted his teeth. Hesitating no more, he pushed the Taiyan Boat to full throttle, hurtling fiercely toward the bottom of the Ruins Abyss.
That bizarre cry rang out once again, arriving beside him in an instant.
Right at that moment, Li Fan abruptly reversed the Taiyan Boat's charge entirely.
Tracing a graceful curve, the Taiyan Boat—which had been plunging straight downward—now flew upward at several times its previous speed!
Upward, and further upward!
With full power engaged, amid an enraged roar, the Taiyan Boat drove back into the Thunderstorm layer!
Relying on the final, fading sliver of light, Li Fan looked down from above and finally saw the true face of the monster in the darkness.
It was a gigantic whale, colossal beyond words. Even though Li Fan was already a great distance away, he still could not take in its entire form.
Even just its gaping maw filled Li Fan's entire field of view.
Seeing its prey return to the Thunderstorm layer, the giant whale grew frantic with rage, yet could only swim and loiter, unable to advance.
After letting out several roars to vent its displeasure, it reluctantly closed its maw and vanished into the darkness.
Chapter 19