Chapter 1173: The Indestructible Grand Wish Body
Chapter 1173: The Indestructible Grand Wish Body
Li Fan had always been perplexed by the countless corpses within the Life and Death Reversal Grand Array.
Too many things just didn't add up.
For one, the sheer number of them was staggering. For another...
All the bodies were in a remarkable state of preservation.
They didn't look like the remains one would expect from a world-ending catastrophe.
"I originally suspected that the Rebirth Heavenly Venerable might be another alias for the Heavenly Doctor, but now..."
Recalling the horror of the formless monster, Li Fan couldn't help but question his own judgment.
"What was the connection between that monster and the Rebirth Heavenly Venerable?"
During his 119th simulation, a figure of white mist had materialized out of nowhere and instantly slain three Dharma Transmitters.
But afterward, the Dharma Transmitting Heavenly Venerable intervened, and the matter was quietly dropped.
"The Dharma Transmitters, the Heavenly Doctor, and the Rebirth Heavenly Venerable. There had to be some connection between the three."
"But that formless monster..."
In an instant, a torrent of thoughts flooded the mind of the Sacred Embryo Li Fan.
"Brother Li, for safety's sake, we should leave this place," Shang Shaojun's voice cut through his reverie.
The two of them retraced their steps, returning to the interior of the Yin-Yang Jade.
This time, however, they emerged directly upon the Ocean of Life, the counterpart to the Sea of Deathly Silence.
Moreover, a steady wind blew across the ocean's surface, funneling directly toward the exit of the Maze Domain.
"Is this... its way of showing us the door?"
They exchanged a glance, another jolt of surprise running through them.
Not daring to linger and press their luck, they had no choice but to make a rather sheepish exit.
"Whew." Leaving the Life and Death Maze Domain and returning to the white mist, Shang Shaojun felt no sense of relief from having survived a great peril.
Instead, a sense of dejection settled over him. "The Xuanhuang Realm hides far too many secrets."
"The formless being we just encountered... its power is surely no less than that of the mysterious figure who reshaped the world. Even if the Heavenly Venerable himself were to return, could he truly purge all of this...?"
Having witnessed so many things beyond his comprehension in such a short span, Shang Shaojun felt a profound sense of bewilderment.
The Sacred Embryo Li Fan quickly changed the subject. "What do you make of that formless being, Shaojun?"
"It didn't seem like a cultivator. If it were, it wouldn't have completely ignored us. It felt more like... something executing a fixed task."
"A monster?" Shang Shaojun finally managed, the word feeling inadequate.
"But even if it is a monster, it's one that could crush us without a second thought," he added with a self-deprecating laugh. "I guarded the Abyss of Roars for centuries, perfected my arts, and prided myself on having few rivals below the Longevity stage in the entire Xuanhuang Realm. Who knew that after traveling with you for barely a year, I'd encounter so many terrifying beings? Only now do I realize what a frog I've been, staring at the sky from the bottom of a well."
Li Fan offered some comfort. "It's not that you aren't strong, Shaojun. It's just that these old monsters are hidden far too well."
After a moment of contemplation, the Sacred Embryo Li Fan asked, "Are you feeling disheartened, Shaojun?"
"Not at all," Shang Shaojun replied, his spirits suddenly lifting after a brief moment of gloom. "As the old saying goes, omens and monsters appear when a kingdom is about to fall. The more chaos we see, the more it proves the Xuanhuang Realm is diseased to its very core."
"However, changing all of this with just the two of us... that will be difficult."
"We need allies," Shang Shaojun declared earnestly.
"I've been thinking the same thing. But finding people who are both trustworthy and capable... that's the hard part," the Sacred Embryo Li Fan sighed.
Shang Shaojun's gaze was sharp and intense as he stared out into the mist. "Actually, I have a few candidates in mind."
"Let's go. We'll head back first. Our travels have at least yielded some evidence. I'm fairly confident we can persuade them."
As they flew through the white mist, Shang Shaojun began to tell Li Fan about his prospects.
"The first is Diyi Jinglun. I wonder if you've heard of him, Brother Li?"
"He's only at the Soul Transformation stage, but his actual strength is by no means inferior to my own. He's a master of countless techniques, proficient in all forms of combat, and incredibly learned. A true prodigy of the Xuanhuang Realm. Most importantly, his loyalty to the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance is absolute. If we can bring him to our side, it might even come with a few unexpected benefits."
"There's another man, Ji Hongdao. He's a rare genius of formations. If not for his lack of seniority and connections, I believe he could have contended for the position of Chief of the Alliance's Array Strategy Hall. And besides formations, he is also an expert in artifact refining..."
Shang Shaojun continued, rattling off one name after another.
Every one of them was a name Li Fan knew well.
"Well, there is one other person we could consider. But..." Shang Shaojun hesitated.
"This one's origins are... complicated. His background is deeply entangled with other powers. Bringing him into this might not be a good thing."
Without beating around the bush, Shang Shaojun continued, "He may look like a mere child, but in a real fight, he's terrifyingly strong. Even at my Dao Integration stage, I'm not sure I could force him to reveal his full power. The problem is, his mind isn't all there. The moment he sees someone, he tries to drag them into a duel..."
Li Fan knew instantly who Shang Shaojun meant.
The Martial Fanatic, suspected to be the reincarnation of Zhang Qianmo.
Li Fan had once used his high-level clearance with the Heavenly Profound Mirror's core to look up information on the Martial Fanatic.
The Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance's official assessment was that he was a World Spirit incarnated as a human.
Though he possessed a human form, his behavior, habits, and thought processes were anything but human.
He was more like the physical manifestation of a natural law, a World Spirit personified.
The Martial Fanatic wasn't invincible, but his ability to learn was terrifying.
Any technique used against him in a fight, he would master almost instantly.
The Alliance had once tried to capture him for study.
But he had repeatedly vanished into thin air, even under strict guard and in plain sight.
He would reappear hundreds of miles away.
And he would have no memory whatsoever of his capture.
The Alliance had even dispatched several Dao Integration masters to kill him.
The Martial Fanatic was utterly annihilated.
Yet, not long after, he reappeared in the world, alive and well.
What's more, he had even learned some of the divine techniques of the very masters who had killed him.
Faced with such a thorny problem, and given that the boy only ever sought sparring partners and never did anything to endanger the Alliance, the headquarters decided to simply keep him under strict surveillance and otherwise leave him be.
Li Fan suspected the reason for the Martial Fanatic's bizarre abilities might be connected to Zhang Qianmo's Grand Wish Dharma Body.
The Grand Wish Dharma Body integrated with the world itself, becoming almost indistinguishable from a fundamental law of nature.
It was no wonder, then, that the Alliance had mistaken him for a World Spirit.
As for whether the Martial Fanatic was truly connected to Zhang Qianmo...
The striking resemblance between their faces said it all.
"Don't worry too much, Shaojun. We should welcome anyone willing to join. The more, the merrier. After all, if our plan fails..."
"...I'm afraid there will be no place left for us in the Alliance anyway," the Sacred Embryo Li Fan finished with a smile.
Shang Shaojun paused, startled for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
"Then let's pay them all a visit!"
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