Chapter 1183: Secrets of the Relic Sea
Chapter 1183: Secrets of the Relic Sea
Although he had resolved to seek out this other surviving civilization for news of the Star Sea's great powers, the Sacred Embryo Li Fan had no intention of recklessly marching up to their doorstep.
After all, he had journeyed across more than half of the Darkest Star Sea, a perilous trek that forced him to continuously sever parts of his spiritual soul to fend off the encroaching corrosion of the strange void-black disease. As a result, his strength had been severely diminished.
If his attempt to gather intelligence failed and he was carelessly captured, wouldn't that be the greatest joke of all?
"If a civilization could survive here, they must have methods to ward off the various strange corruptions of the void. I'll lie low for now, slowly recover my strength, and then decide my next move."
In an instant, the Sacred Embryo Li Fan had settled on a plan.
First, he touched a finger to the space between his brows, placing a powerful restriction within his already exceedingly fragile spiritual soul. At the slightest hint of trouble, he could trigger it to self-destruct, obliterating his soul in an instant.
Only then did Li Fan conceal his form and begin to explore the vast ocean of relics.
He chose not to follow the furtive figure he had seen earlier, suspecting it might be a ploy to lure enemies into a trap. Instead, the Sacred Embryo Li Fan picked a different direction and began his deep exploration.
Or so Li Fan thought.
But after more than ten days of continuous searching through the Relic Sea, he had found no trace of formations or any other sign of civilization. He couldn't even sense a flicker of life.
It reached a point where the Sacred Embryo Li Fan began to wonder if the shadowy figure he'd seen before was merely a figment of his imagination.
But he did not give up. Like a patient hunter, he remained concealed in the shadows, waiting for his prey to emerge.
Another seventeen days passed before his patience was finally rewarded.
A small team of three cultivators appeared. They were clad in strange armor, moving back-to-back with extreme caution.
The manner of their appearance, however, truly took Li Fan by surprise.
The positions of the silent, lifeless relics floating in the void suddenly shifted, and a passageway materialized out of thin air.
Once the trio had emerged, the lifeless relics shifted back to their original positions, and the entrance to the passageway vanished.
Li Fan narrowed his eyes, his gaze sweeping over the area, taking in every cultivator's relic floating nearby.
After a moment, realization dawned.
"Ingenious! It wasn't an isolated formation. It was built upon the foundation of these naturally floating relics, modified to blend almost perfectly with the surroundings."
"More importantly..."
The Sacred Embryo Li Fan slowly drifted closer to the floating relics.
"These artifacts, remnants from shattered cultivation worlds, are all tainted to some degree with the power of the True Immortal Scripts. This creates a natural shield, effectively blocking a cultivator's spiritual sense. That's why I couldn't find their hiding place despite searching for so long..." Li Fan understood in a flash.
In truth, the formation's design was rather ordinary. However, by incorporating the power of the True Immortal Scripts—the very power that had shattered countless worlds—its complexity was elevated by several orders of magnitude. Even with his current mastery of the Dao of Formations, Li Fan could see no easy way to dismantle it.
Of course, he could still break it by force if he chose to ignore the potential side effects from the relics. But that would run completely counter to his plan of remaining hidden and gathering intelligence.
Li Fan glanced at the entrance to the hidden passageway and ultimately dismissed the thought of forcing his way through.
Instead, he trailed the trio, observing them carefully.
Aside from their peculiar armor, the three cultivators looked no different from the people of the Xuanhuang Realm.
Their purpose for venturing out seemed to be scavenging for materials in the Relic Sea.
However, the items they sought struck Li Fan as rather strange.
The objects appeared to have nothing in common. Fragments of magical artifacts, chunks of ruined buildings, and even the desiccated bones of cultivators—all were targets for their collection.
Instead of placing the items in storage rings, they used a black rope to bind them together, towing the collection behind them.
"This scene..." Li Fan paused, slightly taken aback.
It reminded him of the Dharma Spreader, who had used golden chains to haul fragments of worlds through the void.
"Could there be a connection?"
Several hours later, with more than twenty relics tied up behind them, a disagreement seemed to break out among the three cultivators.
Ultimately, however, they followed their leader's decision and abandoned the search.
Taking their haul with them, they turned and flew back toward the entrance of the passageway.
Seeing this, Li Fan followed quietly behind them.
It seemed there was a limit to how far the three cultivators would venture from their hiding place; they had not traveled far. Soon, they were back before the hidden passageway.
He watched as the armor of one of the cultivators began to flash with rhythmic bursts of light.
Li Fan sensed a peculiar rhythmic fluctuation emanating from the armor.
As if a mechanism had been triggered, the surrounding lifeless relics shifted rapidly, and a circular entrance silently appeared.
The three cultivators hauled their collection of over twenty items and flew inside.
Li Fan, still concealed, moved to follow them in.
But just as he reached the entrance, a piercing alarm suddenly blared.
Li Fan's heart leaped. He instantly attached a pre-prepared sliver of his spiritual consciousness to one of the relics.
His true self, meanwhile, rapidly retreated into the distance.
Because the sliver of his consciousness remained, the alarm did not cease even as the Sacred Embryo Li Fan departed.
The three cultivators nervously scanned their surroundings. Finding no sign of an intruder, they turned their attention to the items they had just collected.
After a brief discussion, they separated the relics and tried bringing them through the entrance one by one.
Eventually, they identified the one to which Li Fan's consciousness was attached.
Instead of destroying it, they hurled it with all their might deep into the Relic Sea.
With the source of the threat gone, the alarm fell silent.
Only then did the trio turn and go back inside.
From a distance, Li Fan watched the passageway slowly close. He still decided against forcing an entry.
"Interesting. Their security measures were actually able to detect me."
With a flicker in his eyes, he approached the discarded relic.
"Just as I thought, there's something peculiar about this. On the surface, the influence of the True Immortal Scripts remains, but in reality, the power clinging to it is almost negligible."
"My frail sliver of consciousness wasn't harmed at all during that time..."
Recalling the fragment of his consciousness, Li Fan casually picked up the relic and examined it closely once more.
It appeared to have once been a command flag artifact, but the banner had long since rotted away, leaving only a bare pole.
All of its spiritual essence was gone, and it could no longer perform its original function.
"Why would they collect something like this?"
(End of Chapter)
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