Chapter 1119: The Battle of Two Heavenly Venerates
The moment he saw the stark naked man with long black hair, Li Fan was almost certain of his identity.
It had to be the inexplicably vanished Eastern Extremity Heavenly Venerate.
But to think that a dignified Longevity Heavenly Venerate had been turned into something akin to a marionette on strings.
How could such a sight not instill a deep, chilling fear?
"No wonder there's practically no information to be found on the Eastern Extremity Heavenly Venerate. Not even through Mo Rubin, who inherited all the memories after possessing a Dharma Transmitter, or via the Tianxuan Mirror."
"And no wonder all the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance cultivators withdrew when a Heavenly Venerate made his move. This secret is too horrifying. If they hadn't left, they would have likely been silenced for good."
Although he was being controlled, the Eastern Extremity Heavenly Venerate's instincts seemed to remain.
Faced with the crimson flames erupting from Tianyang, a being with the power of the Longevity realm, his long hair abruptly grew longer still. It morphed into a host of colossal, dark beasts that swarmed forward to extinguish the fire.
Before the towering form of the heaven-cleaving titan, the Eastern Extremity Heavenly Venerate looked as insignificant as an ant.
The blazing crimson flames covering Tianyang's body were intense enough to scorch and distort the surrounding space, yet the Eastern Extremity Heavenly Venerate remained utterly unaffected.
He seemed to exist entirely apart from this dimension.
His lips parted slightly, as if he had spoken. In that instant, a large section of Tianyang's body caved in without warning. The puppet's body couldn't help but shudder violently.
Tianyang let out a furious roar, and his form snapped back to its original state.
Then, his body exploded into countless sparks of fire, which surged like a tidal wave toward the black-haired Heavenly Venerate.
The crimson fire moved like a dragon, incinerating everything in its path.
The countless strands of black hair that had branched off from the Eastern Extremity Heavenly Venerate also caught fire, the blaze spreading rapidly toward his main body.
Just then, the Eastern Extremity Heavenly Venerate's pitch-black eyes shifted slightly.
The myriad black-haired monsters that had been reduced to ash astonishingly reappeared from within the flames.
No matter how many times Tianyang's crimson fire burned them away, they always managed to revive themselves.
If he couldn't even inflict permanent damage on the transformed hair, there was no hope of harming the Eastern Extremity Heavenly Venerate's true body.
Though Tianyang roared, his voice thick with unwillingness, he could not change this fact.
"Tianyang possesses the power of the Longevity realm, but it was forcibly engineered with Source Power Essence. He lacks the true divine abilities of a Longevity cultivator. He can bully Dao Integration cultivators without any trouble, but against a genuine Longevity Heavenly Venerate..."
"He's completely outmatched," Li Fan observed inwardly, shaking his head slightly.
"Moreover, this Eastern Extremity Heavenly Venerate doesn't seem to be a weak one. The sense of pressure he gives me is even stronger than Senior Sister Zhao's."
During the brief clash between the two Longevity realm experts, Li Fan had faintly sensed the workings of the world's principles.
This sensation was particularly intense when those black-haired monsters were reborn from the flames.
"Is this the principle that the Eastern Extremity Heavenly Venerate reversed?"
After a moment of contemplation, Li Fan had a dawning realization.
"The principle of reversing the development and transformation of things?"
"Is this why the Dharma Spreader was so ruthless with him?"
"If the Eastern Extremity Heavenly Venerate had fully established his Dao, he might have been able to directly overturn the rules established in the Xuanhuang Realm by the Dharma Spreader..."
With his extensive experience in peeking into the Heavenly Dao, Li Fan's sensitivity to the principles of heaven and earth was second to no Dao Integration cultivator.
His deductions, made from such close and detailed observation, were unlikely to be wrong.
"To be able to create the Pure Body Spirit Pool for mortals, this Eastern Extremity Heavenly Venerate was likely a figure much like Mr. Bai. What a pity..."
"Not only forgotten by the world, but he himself is now in a state worse than death, reduced to the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance's final, hidden puppet," Li Fan lamented with a slight shake of his head.
"This is the fate of the weak. But it will never be mine."
"Dharma Spreader Heavenly Venerate..."
"Hmph."
The cultivators of the Spirit Wood Realm were completely unable to intervene in the battle between Tianyang and the Eastern Extremity Heavenly Venerate.
Even if they wanted to help, they were powerless.
This remained true even when they combined their strength, amplified by Li Fan's formations.
Before they could even get close to the battlefield, the shockwaves from the clash sent their spiritual energy into a chaotic boil, destabilizing their auras.
"Is this the power of the Longevity realm?"
Complex emotions flickered across their faces.
A hint of despair even surfaced in the depths of their eyes.
The Holy Embryo Li Fan, however, remained emotionally detached, making his judgments with cold precision.
"Although Tianyang can still hold on for now, the outcome is already sealed."
"It seems there's no escape. But to be able to witness the deepest secret of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance is absolutely worth it."
"I just wonder who in the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance is pulling the strings behind the Eastern Extremity Heavenly Venerate. Is it Dharma Transmitter Jiang? Or that Di Sanmo?"
As he was gradually pushed into a losing position, Tianyang, acting on Li Fan's suggestion, turned his attacks toward the thousands of invisible threads behind the Eastern Extremity Heavenly Venerate.
He was attempting to uncover information about the manipulator.
Unfortunately, the power of these invisible threads was clearly a tier above even that of a Longevity Heavenly Venerate like the Eastern Extremity.
How could someone like Tianyang possibly probe their depths?
His efforts were futile. Tianyang once again let out a roar of bitter frustration.
...
Within the Gloomy Prison.
Sensing the complete severing of his connection with the Holy Embryo, Li Fan's main body, which had been feeling somewhat at ease, couldn't help but feel his mood turn heavy.
The complete annihilation of the Spirit Wood Realm demonstrated the immense gap between the high-level combatants of the Xuanhuang Realm.
But what concerned Li Fan even more was the information hidden behind this event.
"To be able to reduce a powerful Longevity realm expert to such a state..."
"I had already estimated the Dharma Spreader's strength to be as high as I possibly could. But now it seems his power is even more terrifying than I imagined."
"Even if he hasn't ascended, he must be infinitely close."
"The term 'Longevity' is no longer adequate to measure him."
"If he is in the Xuanhuang Realm..."
Li Fan's brow furrowed tightly. "Even amidst the struggle between the two True Immortals, he might not have lacked the ability to save the Xuanhuang Realm."
"Hmm... I can't rule out that possibility."
"It seems my world-ending plan for this life will have to be postponed for a while longer."
"Fortunately, time passes quickly here in the Gloomy Prison."
Li Fan's complicated emotions finally began to settle.
While reviewing the experiences of this lifetime, Li Fan began preparations for his final plan.
Time flowed on. He didn't know how long had passed.
The arrival of a new prisoner in the Gloomy Prison startled Li Fan from his seclusion.
Both his arms had been severed, and only one of his eyes remained.
The newcomer was a wretched sight, his hair disheveled and his face caked with dried blood.
It was an old acquaintance of Li Fan's.
Kou Hong.
His brother, Dao Xuanzi, who was usually inseparable from him, was nowhere to be seen.
Even as he was being escorted, Kou Hong remained indomitable.
He was shouting a stream of curses, venting his hatred for the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance.
Li Fan listened for a good while before he understood.
It turned out that after the headquarters of the Federation of All Worlds in the Spirit Wood Realm was eradicated root and stem, the scattered members of the Federation had also been hunted down without mercy.
Comments