A black light flashed into existence, completely soundless.
It did not stir even the slightest fluctuation of spiritual energy.
Had Li Fan not been the originator of this black beam, watching with his own eyes as it burst forth from within his body, he would hardly have sensed it at all, even at point-blank range.
When the black light came into contact with the mountain, no earth-shattering explosion rang out.
The hard rock melted away like snow before heat.
The black light did not slow in the slightest, boring straight downward into the depths of the earth.
Everything in its path was eroded away, reduced to nothingness.
In the blink of an eye, a bottomless, pitch-black hole barely two fingers wide appeared before Li Fan.
Under Li Fan's divine sense, the black beam was still penetrating the mountain, plunging endlessly downward.
However, annihilating every bit of matter it touched did not mean the black light suffered no consumption.
Compared to when it had first shot out, in just a few breaths of time, the Great Five Elements Oblivion Sword—having bored completely through the mountain's core—had already consumed more than half of its energy.
"I wonder how my Oblivion Black Light compares to Zhong Shentong's Seven-Colored Divine Light—which of us would come out on top?"
As the black light finally faded beyond the reach of his divine sense, Li Fan surveyed his handiwork—a miniature abyss—and could not help but wonder.
"When Zhong Shentong unleashes his Seven-Colored Divine Light, it floods the heavens endlessly. Until the enemy falls, the onslaught never ceases."
"Let's see where my limit lies now, with the Five Elements methods serving as my energy foundation."
Without pausing, he flicked his fingers repeatedly with both hands.
Beams of pitch-black light, like arrows of total obliteration, flashed within the mountain and bored downward.
In truth, the Great Five Elements Oblivion Sword was the tangible manifestation of the Heaven Fiend and Mo Sha methods within Li Fan's Nine-Method Golden Core; it did not strictly have to be released from his fingers.
Any part of his body—such as his eyes or his feet—could unleash it.
It was just that flicking a beam of black light from his fingertips was far more in keeping with his aesthetic tastes regarding slaughter.
Inside Li Fan's body, the power of the Five Elements swirled like a vortex, generating endlessly.
It supplied an inexhaustible driving force for the Great Five Elements Oblivion Sword.
After roughly the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Li Fan had hollowed out nearly the entire mountain, yet he felt he was nowhere near his limit, still possessing plenty of energy in reserve.
Yet Li Fan was still forced to halt his rabid, relentless barrage.
For what restricted him from continuing was not energy depletion, but...
A surge of violent frenzy welled up within Li Fan's heart, driving him to annihilate every single thing before his eyes.
Both of his eyes had been completely overtaken by a profound, abyssal blackness, startling to behold.
This impulse to obliterate everything in the world had not appeared suddenly.
Rather, it had accumulated bit by bit as Li Fan unleashed one beam of the Great Five Elements Oblivion Sword after another.
At first, he could barely suppress it through his own willpower and the Xuanhuang Heart-Refining Incantation.
Gradually, however, the violent urge piled up until it coalesced into a raging tempest of thoughts.
It came close to occupying his entire mind.
The shred of reason remaining in Li Fan's heart told him that this state was his current limit.
Only then did he cease his assault, channeling the power of his secret reservoir and the Blue Flame to gradually suppress the turmoil within his mind.
After an unknown stretch of time, the madness in Li Fan's eyes finally faded away completely.
His mind regained its clarity, and Li Fan slowly exhaled a breath.
"Although this Five Elements Oblivion Sword is powerful, its backlash cannot be underestimated."
"Still, for me, it's manageable enough."
"If I truly run into an opponent that cannot be defeated even after bombarding them with this Oblivion Black Light for so long, I'd probably need to consider using True Reversion right away."
With the test complete, Li Fan rose and prepared to leave this honeycombed mountain interior.
"Young man, that sword art of yours isn't bad."
Right then, an aged voice abruptly spoke from behind him.
Li Fan's body froze instantly.
Even so, he firmly suppressed the urge to immediately trigger True Reversion and whipped his head around to look.
An old man wearing a straw hat and a coir raincoat had appeared inside the hollowed mountain without him noticing.
At that moment, he was crouching down, examining the destructive traces left behind by the Great Five Elements Oblivion Sword.
On his back rested a fish creel woven from yellow bamboo strips.
Something inside seemed to be struggling ceaselessly, but Li Fan could not see what it was.
"Old Man Yufu?"
The elder's attire was simply too distinct, causing the name to spring into Li Fan's mind at once.
Recalling what he had learned through the Heavenly Profound Mirror, Li Fan breathed a slight sigh of relief.
At least for now, Senior Yufu didn't seem to harbor any malice.
Without dropping his guard entirely, Li Fan offered a salute and said respectfully, "Greetings, Senior."
Yufu did not answer, still intently studying the empty abyss around them.
Li Fan dared not leave on his own, so he could only wait patiently.
After a while, the elder brushed his hands together and straightened up.
"Ah, alike, but not it," he murmured softly with a shake of his head.
He then looked at Li Fan and asked with interest, "Young man, you know me?"
"This junior has indeed heard of Senior Yufu's great name," Li Fan replied candidly.
At the same time, within his dantian, an image of the Seven-Apertures Exquisite Heart faintly surfaced upon his Golden Core.
"'Yufu'..."
"If you want to call me that, it isn't wrong."
"After all, most people in this world call me that."
"'Drifting with the world, unburdened by things'—there's nothing wrong with that."
The old man's expression suddenly turned a bit lonesome.
"Pity is, I know that isn't my true name."
"Yet now, when even I have forgotten my own name, how can I demand anything of others?" Old Man Yufu said with self-deprecating irony.
Hearing this, Li Fan did not know how to respond and could only remain silent.
Old Man Yufu seemed lost in reminiscence, dazed for a brief moment.
Soon recovering his wits, however, he looked at Li Fan and asked, "Young man, what is the name of that sword art you just displayed? Where did you learn it?"
Here it comes... Li Fan's heart tightened as the elder finally came to the point.
Not daring to be slow, he answered, "This sword art was created by this junior. Based on its characteristics, I named it the Great Five Elements Oblivion Sword."
Old Man Yufu's eyes lit up. "Five Elements Oblivion Sword—that's a fine name."
"Though that 'Great' you tacked onto the front is a bit unearned," the old man criticized bluntly.
"Still, it's only natural for the young to be full of vigor." As though reminded of something, a trace of confusion flickered across Old Man Yufu's eyes again.
Li Fan could already tell that Old Man Yufu was indeed just as rumors described.
His mental state was somewhat unwell.
Not daring to disturb him, Li Fan stood quietly to the side.
Chapter 324