Listening to Lin Ling's sworn words, Li Fan's divine awareness instantly locked onto the Dao child Liuli within the Spirit Wood Realm.
At this moment, her eyes were wide as she stood before a Heaven and Earth Furnace, gaze filled with curiosity.
*Just like the Seven-Colored Jade Void Flowing Light, it's a golden glow at the world level. This little creature really isn't simple.*
*With such a harmless look, even I nearly overlooked her.*
Li Fan could naturally tell whether Lin Ling was lying.
With a thought, an invisible pair of giant hands seemed to materialize in the Spirit Wood Realm, instantly seizing the Dao child Liuli and bringing her before Li Fan.
Liuli only felt her vision blur before her surroundings abruptly shifted.
Upon seeing Li Fan's face, a flicker of panic flashed in her eyes. She wanted to say something, her lips moving up and down, but not a single sound came out.
"From what I heard Zhong Shentong say before, when you were first fished out of the fishing pond, you were merely a transparent, glass-like fruit."
"To be able to reveal a golden light, this fruit of yours must surely be an exceptional tonic."
Li Fan had no intention of asking questions. Instead, his hands formed seals in rapid succession, laying down a cauldron-like formation around Liuli.
Sensing the scorching heat around her, the Dao child Liuli turned pale. Flailing her pale, tender little arms, she desperately tried to explain something.
Yet Li Fan paid her no heed whatsoever, appearing intent on refining Liuli right on the spot and devouring her outright.
The tremendous pressure surrounding her soon rendered Liuli completely immobilized. As if bound tightly by ropes, she hovered stiffly in midair.
Watching the seemingly helpless Dao child Liuli, Li Fan narrowed his eyes slightly and continued to ramp up the formation's output.
Within the cauldron formation, nine crimson fire dragons manifested. Roaring in unison, they spewed dazzling torrents of fire toward the bound Liuli.
Behind Li Fan, Lin Ling watched this scene, a chill gripping her heart as her body trembled faintly.
She had never imagined that the master would say nothing, without even half a word of interrogation, and simply proceed to roast Liuli alive!
With such ruthlessness and decisiveness, if he truly decided to kill her, he wouldn't hesitate for a second.
From that moment on, Lin Ling dared not harbor the slightest disloyalty.
Yet within the cauldron formation, the Dao child Liuli did not dissolve into ash amidst the flames as Lin Ling had imagined.
A burst of dark golden light suddenly erupted from her body, warding off the flames.
No matter how Li Fan drove the formation, he could not break through the defense of that dark golden light.
Li Fan gave a soft grunt and continued drawing upon the surrounding spiritual energy, ceaselessly generating molten flame to roast Liuli.
He was not truly trying to kill Liuli, but rather using this frog-in-boiling-water approach to force out her true form.
Inside the formation furnace, the two forces clashed in a prolonged deadlock.
Emitting the protective dark golden light seemed to impose a heavy toll on Liuli. Her eyes slowly closed, and her body gradually curled up like an infant, knees pulled to her chest, as if she had fallen into a deep slumber.
However, the surrounding dark golden light grew increasingly stable.
Beside the Dao child Liuli, it manifested as a six-petaled lotus!
Now that the Liuli lotus had formed, the flames spewed by the nine fire dragons could no longer threaten her in the least. They were easily repelled outside the Liuli lotus, and no matter how violently the fire raged, the Liuli lotus remained completely immovable.
"This is..."
No such thing seemed to exist in the Xuanhuang Realm; not even the *Heavenly Physician Immortal Scripture* contained any record of it.
It was likely an object originating from another cultivation world.
"Six petals should only be its juvenile state." Observing the Liuli lotus within the flames closely, Li Fan suddenly had an intuitive sense.
Having achieved his objective, Li Fan retracted his divine ability.
The nine fire dragons vanished in an instant, though the Dao child Liuli remained bound.
Li Fan's eyes narrowed slightly, his voice like rolling thunder echoing endlessly through the space: "Did you think that with this wretched lotus protecting you, I wouldn't be able to harm you?"
"Then you underestimate the cultivators of our Xuanhuang Realm a little too much!"
As he spoke, Li Fan released a ray of Seven-Colored Divine Light.
Wrapped within the divine light was precisely a small speck of gray mold.
Originally, two specks of gray mold had been cultured from the division; the larger piece had previously been used against Dharma Transmitter Jiang.
Although this remaining one was a bit smaller, the innate erosive power of the gray mold toward the world was not diminished in the least. The moment it appeared, even though it was enveloped in Seven-Colored Divine Light, the Liuli lotus sensed extreme peril!
Liuli's body trembled uncontrollably, and within the six-petaled lotus shielding her, the dark golden light swirled restlessly.
In the fleeting shift, a new petal seemed about to sprout.
Just as the Seven-Colored Divine Light was on the verge of colliding with the Liuli lotus, and the gray mold was about to be unleashed—
A cool, aloof female voice suddenly echoed in Li Fan's mind: "Wait!"
The Seven-Colored Divine Light halted in an instant.
"To think that this world has also been affected by the 'Mo' formula..."
*The 'Mo' formula...* Li Fan's heart stirred, though he kept his expression calm on the surface. "May I request Fellow Daoist to come out and meet face-to-face!"
The cool female voice hid no longer. The Liuli lotus slowly bloomed, and an illusory, dark golden figure materialized before Li Fan.
Even though her features were blurred and indistinct within the golden radiance,
the imperial aura she radiated was enough to attest to her status.
"Greetings, Fellow Daoist of the Xuanhuang Realm!"
"Fellow Daoist sneaked into my Xuanhuang Realm harboring hidden motives, it seems." Li Fan sized up the golden figure from head to toe, momentarily unable to gauge the other's true strength.
Having lost her human body and existing only in an energy form, standard logic dictated that she ought to be severely injured and forced into this state out of necessity. Yet Li Fan sensed no weakness from this golden figure; instead, it possessed boundless, surging vitality.
Tenacious and powerful.
The golden figure said apologetically, "It was not that I deliberately deceived you, but rather that I had no choice."
Before Li Fan could question her, she went on to explain: "Any cultivation world that still survives within the Sunken Star Sea holds utter hostility toward outsiders. In my current state, if I were to openly reveal my identity, I'm afraid I wouldn't survive for long."
"Sunken Star Sea?" Li Fan tilted his head slightly, asking tentatively.
"It is the collective term for all star domains affected by the Immortal Ruins."
As if realizing something, the golden light quickly added, "Each cultivation world refers to it by a different name..."
"I see. We cultivators of the Xuanhuang Realm call it the Pitch-Black Star Sea," Li Fan interjected smoothly.
"Pitch-Black..." The golden light was silent for a moment and sighed softly. "Indeed. The name is quite fitting."
"What is Fellow Daoist's name, and where do you hail from? Why did you appear in the fishing pond, and most importantly, were you the one responsible for the fishing pond's disappearance?" Li Fan fired off question after question, his tone and expression gradually turning cold.
Chapter 981