Chapter 1159: The Immortal Artifact, Immeasurable Mirror
Flashes of silver light, like a volley of celestial thunderbolts, rained down one after another.
Under that brilliant divine might, the humanoid figure shrouded in the black mirror went from cursing to wailing, and then from wailing to begging for mercy.
But Li Fan's avatar had no intention of showing any leniency from the start.
Unlike a full clone, a divine sense avatar could not draw upon the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to recover. Its stored power diminished with every use, so it had to ensure its actions were decisive and flawless.
The silver lightning acted like a great millstone, grinding away at the humanoid black mist.
Meanwhile, Li Fan's avatar seized the opportunity, forming a series of hand seals and employing the technique of "Array Refining" in an attempt to seize control of the black mirror.
The black mirror was an ownerless object, but having been periodically irrigated with the blood of the Sun family's disciples, it had developed a profound and subtle connection to the clan.
Under normal circumstances, only a member of the Sun family could use or refine it.
However, Li Fan's mastery of formations, fortified by the accumulated knowledge of several lifetimes from the Final Dissociation Disc, had reached an almost supernatural level.
In fact, as Li Fan's avatar was refining the black mirror, even Sun Luyuan, who shared a special connection with it, remained completely oblivious.
As time trickled by, the black mirror quietly changed hands, unnoticed by anyone.
Li Fan's avatar materialized into a solid form and casually tossed the black mirror in his hand.
He could feel the black mist figure—the mirror's "artifact spirit"—cowering inside, trembling with fear.
It was filled with dread and apprehension toward him.
Li Fan couldn't care less about its feelings. He narrowed his eyes, and in a fleeting instant, he learned the entire history of this treasured heirloom of the Sun family.
More than a thousand years ago, the Sun brothers, Sun Luyuan and Sun Luyao, stumbled upon a slightly damaged bronze mirror during an expedition into some ancient ruins.
At first, the two brothers thought it was just an ordinary antique and paid it little mind. But a baffling event occurred when they brought it into the Heavenly Profound Mirror's space to sell it.
The Heavenly Profound Mirror seemed completely blind to the bronze mirror, or rather, it completely ignored its existence! Although it was physically present within the Heavenly Profound Mirror's space, it simply would not appear on the list of items for sale.
After confirming this repeatedly, the two brothers realized they had found a true treasure.
Next, they tried all sorts of methods to uncover the correct way to use this miraculous bronze mirror. But at the time, they were merely Golden Core cultivators, lacking both the strength and the knowledge to succeed.
It wasn't until a century later.
The elder brother, Sun Luyuan, found a miniature grotto-heaven and planned to use it to break through to the Nascent Soul realm.
Sun Luyao stood guard for his brother. Despite their caution, fate intervened. They alerted another passing cultivator who was at the peak of the Golden Core realm.
The difference between Golden Core and Nascent Soul was as vast as the heavens and the earth.
With a chance for a breakthrough right before his eyes, the other Golden Core cultivator naturally wasn't going to give up.
To ensure his brother's successful advancement, Sun Luyao held back the enemy's assault with his very life.
By the time Sun Luyuan successfully broke through to the Nascent Soul realm and furiously struck down the other cultivator, Sun Luyao's injuries were too severe. He was on the verge of death, beyond saving.
Just as Sun Luyuan was overcome with grief, he suddenly discovered that the bronze mirror he always carried with him was finally reacting!
At the brink of death, Sun Luyao's soul escaped into the bronze mirror, where it was preserved.
Although he could never again leave the mirror, it was far better than being separated by death forever.
As his soul merged with the bronze mirror, Sun Luyao learned all of its secrets.
The mirror's true name was the [Immeasurable Mirror], a supreme treasure bestowed upon the Xuanhuang Realm's [Immeasurable Sect] by the Immortal World in a distant age.
But as ages passed, this immortal artifact had somehow become damaged and incomplete, losing the vast majority of its former power.
Even its original artifact spirit was long gone, leaving only an empty shell in the world.
Yet, it had once been an existence beyond the mortal plane.
After a new soul merged with it, it still displayed some incredible abilities.
For example...
When brought into the Heavenly Profound Mirror, it could steal all sorts of information.
And, for instance, after accumulating energy for a period, the Immeasurable Mirror could release faint projections of light and shadow.
These projections depicted events that might happen in the future!
Though they didn't understand the principle behind it, this discovery sent the Sun brothers into a state of ecstasy.
With the aid of the Immeasurable Mirror, the Sun brothers began their legendary rise.
But gradually, they also discovered the mirror's unsettling aspects.
Due to the damage it had sustained, the mirror's incompleteness also affected Sun Luyao within it. His soul was slowly eroding, and despite trying every method he could think of, Sun Luyuan could not stop it.
It was only by a stroke of luck that he discovered he could use his own blood essence to slow the process of his brother's soul dissipating.
If only that were the end of it.
After reaching the Nascent Soul realm, cultivators of the New Method anchored their existence to a grotto-heaven, becoming nigh-immortal. Squeezing out some blood essence was manageable.
The real trouble with the Immeasurable Mirror was its tendency toward self-destruction.
It was as if it had once suffered an unimaginable catastrophe. The scenes of the future projected by its [Immeasurable Light] would, after a few iterations, always lead to the same conclusion.
Endless darkness, a great cataclysm, a field of absolute nothingness.
It seemed to be the ultimate fate of the entire world, and no matter how many futures the Immeasurable Mirror projected, it could never escape this outcome.
And each time it "awakened" from this vision of annihilation to perform another divination with the Immeasurable Light...
The Immeasurable Mirror itself seemed to become tainted by the black ruin of its own prophecy, growing a shade darker each time.
Over the past thousand years, although the Sun family had used the Immeasurable Mirror's power to grow from an obscure, minor family into a colossal power with four Dao Integration cultivators...
And though Sun Luyuan himself had advanced from a Nascent Soul cultivator to a great Dao Integration master...
He was still powerless to stop the Immeasurable Mirror's descent into ruin.
The only solution he could find was to locate the mirror's missing fragments and help it become whole again.
Over the years, using the resonance between the main body and its parts, he had actually managed to find another fragment of the Immeasurable Mirror.
But this only slowed the rate of destruction; it did not solve the fundamental problem.
The abilities the Sun family displayed during their rise had long ago been noticed by interested parties.
Setting aside the numerous outsiders with ulterior motives, the Sun family's greatest benefactor, the one who enabled their rise, was one of the highest authorities in the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance.
A Mirror Holder.
One of them, named [Fu], learned of the Immeasurable Mirror's existence.
But he didn't seize it. Instead, he even funded the Sun family's ascent.
He was interested in the Immeasurable Mirror's ability to infiltrate the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
"A damaged immortal artifact, though incomparable to a true Heavenly Profound grand artifact, still has its merits."
"Find a way to restore its power as much as you can."
"A day may come when we Mirror Holders have use for it."
Sun Luyuan knew this was a gift laced with deadly poison, but he had no choice but to accept it.
According to his original plan, the Sun family should have developed as discreetly as possible.
But his plans were not to be.
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