In the dark void, several Realm-Rifting Whales were chasing and playing with one another.
If one looked closely, one would discover a black-feathered, red-tailed bird perched upon the back of one of them.
The bird strolled leisurely across the creature's broad back, seemingly quite content.
Yet the Realm-Rifting Whale remained completely oblivious.
This black-feathered, red-tailed bird was, of course, Li Fan.
Having traversed the Immortal Severing Formation with practiced ease, he was struck by a sudden whim upon seeing the pod of Realm-Rifting Whales.
He had wanted to test the actual deceptive efficacy of the Crucible Myriad Forms Technique.
Hence this little performance.
"Realm-Rifting Whales are exceedingly sensitive to external auras, able to track even mortals across ten thousand li.
"I've come so close, yet they haven't shown the slightest reaction. To them, I must be no different from a real bird."
Li Fan was thoroughly satisfied with the test results.
Spreading his wings, he took off swiftly, departing from the pod and heading toward the entrance to the Xuanhuang Realm at the bottom of the Abyss of Ruins.
"If Great Xuan truly breaks free from the Xuanhuang Realm through the efforts of the Realm-Rifting Whales, will it be captured directly by the Immortal Ruins? Just like the Medicine King Cauldron?
"Back then, whose handiwork was this pod of Realm-Rifting Whales?
"Still, it probably wasn't the work of the Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao. They know of the Immortal Ruins' existence; allowing the Realm-Rifting Whales to carve away small worlds would be nothing short of digging their own graves, wouldn't it?"
The light of the cultivation world lay not far ahead. Looking back at the seemingly tireless Realm-Rifting Whales, a thought suddenly crossed Li Fan's mind.
It flashed by in an instant, and his flight did not pause for a second.
The next moment, Li Fan emerged once more over the vast, open ocean.
Sea and sky merged into one, caressed by a light, salty breeze.
Li Fan drew a deep breath and murmured, "The blue sky truly is a much nicer sight."
Having spent centuries trapped beneath the oppressive world smothered by the Profound Net, only now, having returned to the beginning, did Li Fan truly appreciate the precious value of such unfettered freedom.
Rather than heading off to join the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals right away, Li Fan took his bearings and flew toward the border between the Congyun Sea and Shilin Province.
His destination was none other than the Heavenly Mechanism Sect ruins within Baishi Grotto-Heaven.
The very place where Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi had once found the Golden Chapter of Thousand Mechanisms and the Jade Cosmos.
In the previous lifetime, with Linghu Chang's help, Xiao Heng had unearthed several other cultivation techniques from those ruins in addition to the Golden Chapter.
Including the secret technique [Covering the Sky with One Hand].
Naturally, Li Fan could not afford to miss it.
Though he appeared to be merely an ordinary bird, Li Fan flew at no slow pace.
Over twenty days later, Li Fan arrived outside Baishi Grotto-Heaven.
The so-called Baishi Grotto-Heaven was a colossal underground karst cave located on the borderlands of Shilin Province.
Within the cave, countless paths branched and crisscrossed.
Every so often, the passage would open up into a sprawling subterranean hall.
These chambers bristled with jagged, grotesque rocks, growing wildly downward from the ceilings and outward from the walls.
In all manner of shapes resembling men and beasts, they inspired an unsettling chill.
Many cultivators had lost their way within, never to return.
Just how vast this Baishi Grotto-Heaven truly was, no one knew.
As one of Shilin Province's well-known perils, even though many suspected secrets might lie hidden there, exceedingly few cultivators were willing to venture in.
As Li Fan pressed deeper into the cave system, he did not run into a single soul.
The deeper he went, the more convoluted the pathways became.
Often, a single junction offered as many as seven or eight different forks.
Furthermore, it was not merely one's divine sense that suffered interference.
The cave system itself would occasionally shift.
A route walked without trouble on the way in would vanish without a trace when one tried to return.
To make matters worse, the rock throughout this cave was remarkably tough, rendering it impossible to force a new passage through sheer force.
This was precisely why Baishi Grotto-Heaven was considered so perilous.
"According to Linghu Chang, this Baishi Grotto-Heaven was likely formed after the death of the ancient exotic beast known as the [Guiyuan Toad].
"Guiyuan Toads dwell deep underground and feed upon mountain rivers and earth veins. They are notorious destroyers of terrain, capable of hollowing out the subterranean expanse of an entire province."
Li Fan recalled the accounts that Han Wuyou had heard.
"However, everything has its natural counter.
"Within its body, there often exists a symbiotic creature known as the [Stone Spirit Worm].
"The Guiyuan Toad is greedy by nature, devouring earth veins without the slightest restraint, sometimes even gorging itself to death.
"And in most cases, they cannot digest and absorb the power of the earth veins in time,
"causing vast swathes of earth-vein stone to congeal inside them.
"These Stone Spirit Worms love feeding on earth-vein stone. While helping relieve the Guiyuan Toad's digestive strain, they never have to worry about finding food.
"A perfect symbiotic relationship.
"The labyrinth of tunnels in Baishi Grotto-Heaven was most likely excavated by these Stone Spirit Worms."
Flying forward, Li Fan kept a sharp eye out in the shadows for a Stone Spirit Worm.
Less than half a day later.
"Found you!"
Li Fan reverted to his true form, and the Five Elements Annihilation Sword slid silently from its sheath.
A deep hole instantly appeared in the tunnel's stone wall.
A grayish-green figure flashed, darting deep into the rock wall in an attempt to flee.
"Insect Binding!"
Li Fan promptly unleashed the divine ability, capturing it.
A chubby, grayish-green giant worm, roughly the size of a human infant, appeared before Li Fan.
Unable to move, it let out a flurry of shrill chirps.
Li Fan gave it a gentle tap, producing a dull thud.
The flesh all over the Stone Spirit Worm's body quivered continuously, but under Li Fan's stern warning, it quickly grew docile.
Channeling spiritual energy into its body, Li Fan closed his eyes to comprehend the worm's physical structure.
Although it could devour earth-vein stone, its physiological complexity was simpler even than that of the ordinary bird he had transformed into earlier.
Before long, Li Fan released his bind.
In the next breath, shrouded in golden light, he assumed the form of a Stone Spirit Worm.
The original fat worm plopped to the ground and, paying no mind to this newly appeared fellow creature, burrowed frantically into the earth to escape.
Not long after the hole it excavated appeared, right before Li Fan's eyes, it slowly sealed itself shut.
"This place is strange indeed. The Guiyuan Toad is dead yet acts as if alive. Without a special method, exploring it would truly be troublesome.
"As for now, though..."
Li Fan shook his worm body and plunged headfirst into the stone wall.
The impossibly hard rock now felt like a deliciously crunchy feast.
With utmost ease, Li Fan carved out a passage.
Fixing the approximate location of the Heavenly Mechanism Sect ruins in his mind, Li Fan forged straight ahead in that direction.
Seven days later.
In a completely enclosed subterranean cavity,
a faint rumbling suddenly echoed from within the stone wall.
Before long, the Stone Spirit Worm that was Li Fan burst rudely through the surface.
He landed on the ground with a thud.
Belly upturned, he lay motionless.
Only after the earth-vein stone inside him had been fully digested into energy did Li Fan finally revert to human form.
"I actually ate until I was stuffed."
Li Fan shook his head, utterly speechless at himself.
Chapter 420