Chapter 1175: The Two Suspected Immortals of the Star Sea
Chapter 1175: The Two Suspected Immortals of the Star Sea
In fact, the "perhaps" was unnecessary.
If the Xuanhuang Realm truly began to tremble, he could be almost certain that some action of his in this lifetime was the cause.
"The source of the tremors in the Xuanhuang Realm must be the pull of the Immortal Ruins."
"And that was the crux of the matter. How could he, of all people, possibly have an impact on the Immortal Ruins?"
Memories from his current life raced through his mind.
Eliminating all the impossible options left Li Fan with a few prime suspects.
The mysterious figure in the Abyss of Roars who had reimplanted the world fragment.
The formless entity in the Life and Death Maze Domain that collected the corpses of cultivators.
The migration and relocation of the Five Elements Great Cave-Heaven.
With his current power, neither Li Fan's true self nor his avatars could affect the Immortal Ruins in the slightest.
However, his actions could influence the destinies of powerful beings who *could* shake the Immortal Ruins, thereby causing a deviation.
"It's only a little over a month away. All I can do is wait patiently."
The Sacred Embryo Li Fan remained silent.
As the entire Immortal Alliance entered a state of high alert, so too did the Great Qi Sacred Dynasty.
An imperial edict had been issued not long ago, announcing that the Sacred Emperor would be testing a divine ability in the void beyond the borders of Great Qi. It warned that this might cause minor tremors, which were to be considered normal and no cause for alarm.
The people of Great Qi now worshiped their Sacred Emperor with a near-fanatical devotion.
Naturally, they accepted his every word as truth.
Far from feeling anxious or afraid, the populace was filled with eager anticipation, curious about the power of their Emperor's techniques.
In a secret chamber beneath the Sacred Emperor's throne.
Master Yin stood face-to-face with Li Ping.
"Those young ones you sent me last time are quite talented indeed," Master Yin began. "Some are even more brilliant than I'd anticipated. Two of them have already succeeded in establishing their foundation through me. I expect the others will follow suit soon."
"It certainly helps smooth their cultivation path if they accept from the outset that establishing their foundation through me is the one true way."
Master Yin first summarized his recent progress before his tone shifted abruptly. "I've been feeling rather restless lately. I hear you plan to test some new ability? Do it as far away as possible. Don't end up destroying this little world."
"I've grown rather fond of this place," Master Yin added softly.
Li Ping nodded, his mind reeling. *Master Yin is a World Ghost, a parasite living within the Xuanhuang Realm. If even he can sense something amiss, then the Xuanhuang Realm is truly headed for disaster.*
Amidst widespread anticipation, time trickled by.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to anyone, over a hundred stone puppets had quietly ascended to the skies above the Xuanhuang Realm.
They positioned themselves at the very edge of the world, where a single step would mean plunging into the endless void.
They remained just inside the boundary of the Xuanhuang Realm, safe from the pull of the Immortal Ruins.
From this high vantage point, they could observe the Xuanhuang Realm in its entirety.
These puppets were, naturally, Li Ping's creation.
Their sole purpose was to observe and record the impending tremors of the Xuanhuang Realm.
The puppets floated silently, awaiting the foretold event.
The day he had predicted drew ever closer.
Then one day, it happened. Li Fan's true self in the space of the Deduction Jade, the Sacred Embryo Li Fan outside the Abyss of Roars, his divine sense within the Immeasurable Mirror, and the Sacred Emperor Li Ping in the Great Qi Sacred Dynasty—
all of them felt it at the exact same instant.
They looked toward the sky in unison.
In the lifetime of the Heavenly Profound Spirit Locking Array, Ji Hongdao had once annihilated the cultivators of an entire province, using a suicide tactic to force the Longevity-stage One Heart Heavenly Venerate to retreat to the Five Elders Council.
At that time, the Xuanhuang Realm had suddenly lightened, losing the anchor of so many cultivators at once.
It had trembled violently, roaring and rumbling.
Every living being within it had felt a sense of impending doom, as if they would perish in the very next moment.
Li Fan had experienced that sensation firsthand.
Now, the feeling was a hundred times more intense.
BOOM!
Without warning, the Xuanhuang Realm began to lurch violently.
It was as if a giant were tearing the entire world apart with its bare hands.
Fissures spiderwebbed across the land from every corner, spreading rapidly. In an instant, once-smooth plains were scarred and broken.
Countless mountain ranges fractured, some collapsing entirely into chasms that yawned open in the ground.
If the chaos on the surface wasn't enough to strike fear into the hearts of cultivators living in the floating cities, then the transformation of the White Mist Barrier sent a shiver of uncontrollable terror through every cultivator in the Xuanhuang Realm.
The White Mist Barrier, which stretched between heaven and earth like an eternal, unchanging monument, began to bend and fracture.
White mist billowed out from its previously contained region, spreading in all directions.
It devoured the lifespan of every living thing in its path.
The very borders of the provinces shifted.
Through the eyes of his hundred puppets high above, Li Fan saw the event with even greater clarity.
The life-devouring white mist surged as though drawn by something outside the Xuanhuang Realm.
Yet, constrained by some unseen force, the mist could not escape the world's confines.
This tug-of-war between two opposing forces was what caused the White Mist Barrier to rupture.
As the world convulsed, the spiritual energy grew wild and violent.
Li Fan could clearly see storms, infernos, lightning strikes, and floods erupting across the Xuanhuang Realm below.
All manner of calamities descended at once.
Fueled by the chaotic spiritual energy, they were hundreds, even thousands of times more powerful than normal.
And still, the Xuanhuang Realm continued to shake.
This catastrophe seemed poised to last much longer than anyone had anticipated.
Finally, the cultivators of the Immortal Alliance sprang into action.
They flew out from their floating cities to quell the raging spiritual energy and attempt to repair the damage caused by the violent tremors.
With the world shaking around them, their progress was slow and difficult.
There was, however, no immediate mortal danger.
Still, the constant trembling of the world inspired an irrepressible terror in all who lived within it.
Most cultivators could do nothing but pray for the disaster to end, their minds blank with fear.
Beyond that, they were helpless.
Li Fan, however, had witnessed true apocalyptic events.
A few tremors were nothing compared to an immortal from the Immortal Ruins obliterating the Xuanhuang Realm with a single glance. The difference was night and day.
Thus, he could ignore the cataclysm and observe with perfect composure.
"Strange..."
"The source of the pull that's shaking the world..."
Li Fan suddenly felt a sense of discord.
With a single thought, the hundred stone puppets at the world's edge drifted away from the border and out into the endless void.
Without the protection of the Xuanhuang Realm, the puppets were caught in a powerful current, pulled uncontrollably in a single direction.
But as they accelerated away from the Xuanhuang Realm, Li Fan confirmed the anomaly he had sensed.
The force causing this massive tremor was not coming from the Immortal Ruins.
It was coming from the depths of the Darkest Star Sea!
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