"Or rather, a piece of the Heaven Fiend Sword."
A sharp gleam flashed across Li Fan's eyes.
An anima of Heaven and Earth using its own body as a cage to trap a broken sword billowing with fiendish aura...
The scene Long Yueyou described instantly reminded Li Fan of the Azure Wind trapping the sword above the Congyun Sea.
Yet unlike what Li Fan had witnessed back then, Long Jiuyuan's opportunity for Dao Integration had been in Tianling Province.
The anima of Heaven and Earth was also a black mire, not the Azure Wind.
And yet...
The central subject was astoundingly identical: a broken sword radiating surging fiendish aura.
Li Fan was almost certain that whether it was the one in the Congyun Sea or the one in Tianling Province, both belonged to the complete Heaven Fiend Sword.
"As the weapon of Old Man Yufu, the Heaven Fiend Sword shattered and scattered everywhere.
"Yet even these incomplete remnants can contend against animas of Heaven and Earth.
"Later on, the Heaven Fiend sword hilt was even able to break free of the Azure Wind's confinement. Over at the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace ruins, Taiyi had an agonizing time suppressing it and was forced into a deep slumber.
"If mere fragments are like this, just how formidable was the complete Heaven Fiend Sword?"
Li Fan felt a jolt of astonishment.
Counting what he knew now, there were already three fragments. Could there be even more elsewhere?
And what secret did the Heaven Fiend Sword harbor that compelled animas of Heaven and Earth to manifest and suppress it one after another?
Furthermore, what level of cultivation had the Heaven Fiend Sword's master, Old Man Yufu, attained?
"Yufu, the Heavenly Physician, the Master..."
Li Fan narrowed his eyes.
The three were clearly old acquaintances, yet their past was shrouded in extreme secrecy, as if perpetually veiled in a thick fog that no one could pierce.
Moreover, Li Fan had a faint intuition.
The secret between them was of vital importance to him!
"When bitter enemies meet, their eyes blaze red. When the three clash in this life before long, I hope I can catch a glimpse of the truth."
While continuing to monitor the situation on Long Yueyou's side via the Formless Killing Intent locked onto Zhou Kebao, Li Fan set off once again, flying toward his originally planned destination.
According to Long Yueyou's continued account, when Long Jiuyuan saw the broken Heaven Fiend Sword and the black mire locked in an impasse, he had also been immensely shocked.
However, he did not lose his reason to the temptation of an easily reachable Dao Integration opportunity right before his eyes.
Long Jiuyuan knew that the stalemate between the broken sword and the black mire had reached a delicate balance.
If he rashly attacked and shattered that balance, it would likely backfire, perhaps even provoking a joint onslaught from both the broken sword and the black mire.
After all, a Soul Formation cultivator meddling in a struggle at the Dao Integration level was nothing short of a provocation.
Thus, Long Jiuyuan made an instant decision. With his protective artifacts destroyed, he risked severe injury and fought his way out of the sea of black mire.
After a brief respite to regulate his breath, Long Jiuyuan laid down the Heaven-Severing Earth-Isolating Formation around the area.
This formation had only a single function: to sever the connection between the anima of Heaven and Earth and the world itself.
Although an anima of Heaven and Earth was the manifestation of a worldly law, once cut off, it would become like water without a source or a tree without roots; its strength would steadily dwindle through continual expenditure.
Originally, the black mire and the broken Heaven Fiend Sword were evenly matched. With the mire weakened, the Heaven Fiend Sword would have an opening!
Long Jiuyuan lurked nearby, quietly awaiting the change.
Sure enough, several months later, the black mire deep in the mountains seemed to boil, churning violently.
The anomaly persisted for nearly half a day. Finally, a sword silhouette broke through the black mire's cage, soaring into the sky before vanishing without a trace.
The sea of mire melted away like ice and snow, rapidly contracting inward until, moments later, it converged entirely into the humanoid form of the Black Mire.
Discerning the direction in which the Heaven Fiend Sword had fled, the Black Mire was just about to give chase.
Right at that moment...
Long Jiuyuan struck!
From the very first move, he unleashed his full power without holding back.
And the outcome of this battle was already foreordained.
The Black Mire was destroyed.
Long Jiuyuan succeeded in Dao Integration!
*I remember that during the great war of Tianling Province in my previous life, a Dao Integration powerhouse seemed to have fallen. I wonder if this newly ascended Dao Integration Immortal Venerable can escape that calamity.*
The thought flashed through his mind, and Li Fan's destination was already in sight.
It appeared to be a deserted, uninhabited island.
The island was not the point; the person on it was Li Fan's goal.
It was Han Yi, who had been missing for so long!
Ever since that day when he narrowly escaped with his life from Li Fan's hands and fled into the undersea ruins, he had never shown himself again.
Only recently did Li Fan sense that he had returned to the cultivation world.
He had not returned from the original deep undersea cavern, but had crawled out from ruins thousands of li away.
He had looked rather wretched, his clothes bloodstained and tattered.
He had also appeared severely injured and had been forced to find an adjacent island to rest.
After sensing the situation here, Li Fan had decisively tracked him down.
Concealing his figure, Li Fan watched Han Yi from afar.
After all this time, Han Yi was still lingering at peak Qi Condensation, having failed to achieve Foundation Establishment.
Yet there was an inexplicable aura about him that had not been there before.
Li Fan had not noticed it initially.
Now, however, Han Yi had lapsed into unconsciousness due to severe injuries, and this aura naturally manifested, helping him mend his body.
His pallor turned rosy at a pace visible to the naked eye. His originally faint breathing gradually grew steady and vigorous.
A look of intrigue flashed in Li Fan's eyes.
After pondering for a moment, Li Fan showed himself. He first used the Insect Binding divine ability to subdue Han Yi, then unleashed the Cloud Water Illusory Dream Technique to enter Han Yi's dream.
Perhaps because Han Yi had only just escaped a calamity, his mental defenses were surprisingly fragile.
Before long, Li Fan breached them.
In the illusory dream, Li Fan also learned what Han Yi had experienced during this time.
That day, after being sucked in by the undersea whirlpool that suddenly erupted, Han Yi had lost consciousness.
When he awoke, he found himself stripped naked and bound tightly.
Beside him, a crowd of terrifying creatures with human bodies and beastly faces had gathered.
They circled him, dancing and posturing, seemingly conducting some mysterious ritual.
In the center blazed a roaring fire.
It seemed they intended to use Han Yi as a sacrifice and cast him into the flames.
Han Yi had turned pale with fright and tried to break free.
To his despair, he discovered that there was not the slightest trace of spiritual energy around him.
Moreover, the spiritual energy within his dantian had inexplicably run dry long ago.
No different from a mortal, Han Yi could only watch helplessly as the beast-faced, human-bodied monsters cheered and carried him toward the raging fire.
Just when Han Yi thought he was doomed, the sky suddenly darkened.
A torrential downpour arrived without warning, extinguishing the fire in an instant.
Han Yi had been ecstatic.
The monsters, on the other hand, had been terrified.
Throwing Han Yi aside, they kowtowed repeatedly.
The downpour lasted for nearly half a day before stopping.
And throughout that half-day in the rain, the monsters had cowered and pleaded for mercy.
When the rain finally stopped, the monsters slowly dispersed.
And Han Yi, as the sacrifice, was naturally locked away once more.
Chapter 551