The next moment...
Li Fan abruptly snapped back to his senses, checking his forward flight.
Looking back, he saw the black "spatial gateway" sitting right behind him.
There had been no teleportation at all. Everything he had just experienced had merely been an illusion flashing through his mind the moment he passed through the black "tunnel."
"No, that's not right..."
Li Fan mulled over what he had seen and felt.
It had been far too real!
If anything, it felt even more authentic than being inside the Fallen Immortal Realm.
"Rather than calling it an illusion, it was more like a direct interaction of consciousness..." Li Fan narrowed his eyes as the blue crystal in his mind flickered repeatedly.
Scene after scene from moments ago resurfaced in his thoughts.
However...
It was like the difference between experiencing something firsthand and watching it through a recorded image.
The sensations between the two were worlds apart.
The mystical wonder of black and white lines interweaving and colliding within that gray expanse could no longer be recaptured, no matter how hard he tried.
He could only reminisce faintly, relying on the impressions left in his memory.
By this point, the other formation trainees present also came back to their senses.
Some stared in shock at the black tunnel, which had fulfilled its purpose and was steadily shrinking.
Others even wore expressions of slight bewilderment.
"While the impressions are still fresh in your minds, go back and engrave them into your memories—comprehend them well."
"Oh, and one more thing..."
"It might take you some time to readjust your bodies,"
Ji Hongdao said with a smile.
Hearing this, Li Fan felt a sudden jolt of alarm.
Only then did he realize that the world before his eyes had become just like earlier—nothing but black and white.
It had lost all color.
What unnerved Li Fan even more was that, without Ji Hongdao's reminder, he would not have noticed at all, as if he had naturally seen the world that way from birth.
"Assimilation? Mental influence?"
"As the foundational pillar of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, the Heavenly Profound Mirror truly is extraordinary."
If Li Fan had previously viewed the Heavenly Profound Mirror merely as a transcendent-grade magical treasure,
then now, in his eyes, it was no different from the powerhouses lurking behind the scenes.
When he had first laid eyes on the Heavenly Profound Mirror, covetous thoughts such as "A treasure like this rightfully belongs to me" had still welled up in his heart.
Now, however...
Even if the true body of the Heavenly Profound Mirror were placed right before him, he might not dare to take it.
At least not yet.
"What do the black and white lines represent? And what does the surrounding iridescent world signify?"
Having returned to his courtyard in the branch academy to rest, Li Fan remained deeply immersed in the shock of having witnessed the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
While Li Fan was diligently contemplating the final stage of the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation,
over in the Congyun Sea,
the long-anticipated spectacle finally raised its curtain once more.
Just as it had occurred in the twelfth life.
In the pitch-black, silent depths of the night, a blazing sun manifested by Immortal Venerable Jinri suddenly vaulted into the sky.
"Since you came begging for this old man's help, I shall lend you a hand. As for whether you succeed, that will depend on your own fortune!"
Immortal Venerable Jinri's aged voice echoed across the Congyun Sea.
Then, the sunlight flared with ferocious brilliance, laying bare all creation!
Everything hidden in the dark was exposed in minute detail, completely revealed.
The sun rising in the dead of night made the realm as bright as day.
The living beings of the Congyun Sea jolted awake from their slumber one after another,
looking up toward the heavens in sheer terror.
And so, inevitably, sharp-eyed cultivators caught sight of a scarlet figure standing silently high in the sky.
"Anima of Heaven and Earth, Crimson Flame!"
A piece of information surfaced in the minds of every cultivator who gazed upon her.
Irresistible greed surged within their thoughts, and like moths to a flame, they soared toward Crimson Flame in the sky, heedless of death.
On Wanxian Island, the turmoil lasted for a brief moment as well.
However, the protective barrier formed by the Seven-Colored Immortal-Felling Formation quickly expanded, cutting off the cultivators' line of sight.
At this moment, Li Fan's clone walked out from the Heavenly Profound Mirror and looked up at the sky.
Under the collective gaze of the shaken cultivators, against the backdrop of death anomalies left by countless cultivators who had perished in their greed, the Soul Formation Immortal Lords who had been lying in ambush for so long boldly struck.
The first to act was still Immortal Lord Ziyun.
A dazzling river of stars composed of countless shimmering starlights interwoven with the golden sun.
With brilliant radiance, it formed a cage, trapping Crimson Flame who had just descended into the world.
"Strike!"
A furious roar rang out.
Five silver beams appeared out of nowhere from parts unknown, piercing through Crimson Flame's limbs and chest in an instant.
Arrows impaled her form, silver radiance erupting like iron chains to bind Crimson Flame securely in place!
"Hmm?"
"This Immortal Lord Haoxuan seems to have made considerable progress in strength?"
Watching this unfold, Li Fan narrowed his eyes, somewhat surprised.
Crimson Flame glanced sideways slightly, the flames enveloping her flaring violently.
Under the scorching heat, the air warped and blurred.
The shackles formed by the silver arrows also rapidly deteriorated.
Not only that, Crimson Flame flicked her fingers repeatedly.
Instantly, six tiny, leaping sparks detonated and whistled through the air, shooting in different directions.
One surged toward the vast starry river, causing the stars to dim.
One flew toward the great sun in the sky, its flames blazing proud, stripping the celestial sun of its luster.
One detonated in the void ahead, causing the entangling silver chains to loosen.
The remaining three forced out Tianyang, Hongxi, and Lancang, blasting all three into view.
Crimson Flame paused slightly, swapping places with one of the flames to appear right beside Immortal Lord Lancang in a flash.
Scarlet flames leaped and coalesced into a giant hand, preparing to crush Immortal Lord Lancang in its grip.
In the blink of an eye, the tables turned.
"How did this furnace tender get so formidable as well?" Li Fan was genuinely startled this time.
In the twelfth life, Crimson Flame had been utterly suppressed by the five Immortal Lords.
Who could have imagined that in this lifetime, she would gain the upper hand so effortlessly?
"Perhaps it is because the five Immortal Lords all made gains from the battle in Tianling Province. Their strength is considerably greater than before."
"Yet to think Crimson Flame's combat prowess has inflated even more drastically..."
"Wait..."
Li Fan paused, a thought striking him.
"Five Immortal Lords whose combat power surged significantly, plus Zhang Zhiliang, the Soul Formation formation master waiting for his chance."
"And on top of that, Ye Feipeng, who merged with Kunpeng bloodline and has the full support of the Congyun Sea."
"The overall power latent in this sea territory is leagues beyond what it was in the twelfth life."
"Perhaps because it is too formidable, exceeding a certain threshold..."
"The will of Heaven and Earth sensed this, deemed that the original Crimson Flame could not accomplish the task of boiling the sea, and thus granted her an enhancement?"
"What on earth are the animas of Heaven and Earth...?"
In the spark of a flint, just as Li Fan caught an inkling of the truth, Crimson Flame's attack was about to crash upon Immortal Lord Lancang.
Yet amidst the fiery glow, Lancang's features were faintly visible—devoid of even the slightest hint of fear.
Space twisted and fractured as a golden sheen reflected across it.
In an instant, Immortal Lord Lancang vanished from his spot.
In the sky, only Zhang Zhiliang's calm voice echoed:
"Fellow Immortal Lords, attack without worry. As long as I am here, it will be impossible for her to harm any of you."
Chapter 302