Chapter 1184: The Source Power of Immortals
The command flag itself was made of rather common materials, possessing no inherent value that would make it stand out in this vast sea of relics.
"Could it be," Li Fan wondered, "for the power of the True Immortal Script etched upon it, a power whose dangerous side effects have finally faded?"
A thought struck Li Fan, and in an instant, he understood.
Gently caressing the command flag, he felt a familiar aura emanating from it.
"The Chaos Character..."
"But with the passage of time, even the power of a True Immortal Script must eventually reach its end."
The complete character for 'Chaos' materialized in his mind's eye. A moment later, Li Fan’s hand, in his saint embryo form, stiffened slightly as it gripped the command flag.
He realized that, just a moment ago, the final trace of power clinging to the banner had completely vanished.
In its place, his own comprehension of the Chaos Character had, astonishingly, deepened ever so slightly.
However, since Li Fan's own grasp of the Chaos Character was rudimentary at best—little more than rote imitation—the change felt surprisingly distinct. He caught it in that fleeting moment.
"It can actually be used as a material for Dao enlightenment?"
Li Fan's saint embryo was inwardly shaken. Now, as he gazed upon the countless relics drifting in the void, he saw them with entirely new eyes.
"Unfortunately," he mused, "it seems only relics where the power of the True Immortal Script is on the very brink of fading can serve as nourishment for enlightenment. Any stronger, and they would likely cause harm instead. The key is finding a way to distinguish them..."
His saint embryo form turned its gaze toward the hidden sanctuary.
For the better part of the following year, Li Fan remained concealed in the shadows. Each time a group of cultivators ventured out to gather relics, he repeated his previous maneuver.
He would dispatch a sliver of his divine sense to attach itself to the collected artifacts.
His purpose was twofold: first, to study the alarm's trigger mechanism, and second, to acquire any relics suitable for enlightenment on the True Immortal Scripts.
Back in the Xuanhuang Realm, the Final Dissociation Disc within his true self's sea of consciousness worked tirelessly, analyzing the unknown formation.
Meanwhile, by studying the eight relics he had acquired, Li Fan's saint embryo grew more certain of his initial assessment.
The other surviving civilization in this Darkest Star Sea was collecting these artifacts specifically to study—and perhaps even harness—the power of the True Immortal Scripts.
"To think they have a way to gauge the intensity of this power..."
"It seems their capabilities should not be underestimated."
Of the eight relics, three were imbued with the essence of 'Chaos' and two with 'Hunger'.
As for two of the others, they had been influenced by different True Immortal Scripts, ones he did not yet recognize.
And Li Fan soon discovered a crucial difference between them.
He had personally witnessed the true forms of the 'Chaos' and 'Hunger' scripts. Even if they were merely facsimiles of unknown origin, he had still gained a general understanding of their source. This allowed him to smoothly absorb the residual power from the corresponding relics, converting it into nourishment for his enlightenment.
The situation with the other two relics, however, was completely different.
Relying solely on their faint, fading power, he found it difficult to even perceive their fundamental nature, let alone begin to comprehend their essence.
When it came to utilization, the efficiency was thousands upon thousands of times lower than with the 'Chaos' and 'Hunger' relics.
"This is the difference between a top-down and a bottom-up approach. Knowing the original intent of a True Immortal Script is like viewing the world from a mountaintop; grasp the fundamental principle, and a hundred other things become clear."
"But to start from nothing, groping in the dark like a blind man trying to describe an elephant... to explore and research on one's own..."
"The difficulty is astronomical! To attempt to probe the power of a True Immortal with mere mortal means is pure folly..."
At the same time, a new line of thought occurred to Li Fan.
"Not every cultivator is fortunate enough to have the opportunity to witness the original intent of a True Immortal Script firsthand."
"The Chaos Character is hidden within a warped Maze Domain, deep inside the white mist; an ordinary person could go their entire life without finding it. As for the Hunger Character, it's inscribed upon the Immortal Ruins themselves! To even look upon it means death. If not for the [Truth], I would never have been able to master it."
"Then there's the 'Submerge' Character, which I stumbled upon by sheer coincidence inside a golden skull in a shattered small world..."
As Li Fan contemplated the unknown civilization hidden in the darkness, an idea naturally began to form.
"Hoarding a rare commodity can lead to great profit, as they say. The value of these original scripts... it might be even higher in this civilization than I ever imagined."
...
More than a month later, the Final Dissociation Disc finally cracked the alarm's trigger mechanism.
To be on the safe side, Li Fan's saint embryo didn't test it personally.
Instead, he once again used a sliver of his divine sense to probe the way.
Over the past year, though he had severed numerous portions of his soul, the vicinity of this civilization's sanctuary seemed to contain a peculiar power.
It was capable of repelling the various strange corruptions of the void, allowing his saint embryo to recover quickly.
Severing a piece of his divine sense was now little more than a minor discomfort.
The Final Dissociation Disc proved its worth.
This time, the relic bearing his divine sense successfully passed the inspection and entered the tunnel.
His connection to it weakened considerably, but he could still faintly perceive the situation inside the hidden base.
The three-person relic-gathering team continued to tow their haul with the black rope, passing through three separate security checkpoints in the tunnels before finally reaching a safe area.
They couldn't wait to shed their armor, complaining aloud as they did.
"The useful relics near the Immortal Boat are getting scarcer and scarcer. We barely found anything this time..." one grumbled.
"On the next mission, we'll probably have to venture beyond the safe zone," another added.
"Have we really been docked here for a hundred years? I wonder why we haven't moved on."
"I heard there was a plan to change our mooring, but then something happened a while back..."
"Hush! Best not to talk about that. Wu Xing got ten years of confinement just for mentioning it."
Taking the hint, the three of them wisely dropped the subject.
Carrying their latest haul, they continued deeper into the sanctuary.
"Immortal Boat?" Li Fan mused, having overheard their conversation.
After traversing a long, narrow, dimly lit passage, the view ahead suddenly opened up.
They had emerged into a stunningly beautiful valley, with verdant mountains and crystal-clear streams.
An old man with a mane of white hair stood waiting for them, holding a strange, book-like artifact in his hands.
"Let's see what you've brought this time..." the old man began, his face wreathed in a smile. But when his eyes fell on the meager number of relics behind them, his expression instantly soured.
"Forgive us, Elder. Our luck was exceptionally poor on this expedition," the oldest of the three cultivators explained with a bitter smile.
The elder shook his head and sighed, but ultimately, he didn't press the matter.
The book-like artifact in his hand emitted a beam of light that swept over the relics, enveloping them completely.
As the light retracted, the inspection of the artifacts appeared to be complete.
"Try to make up for the shortfall next time."
"You all know the Immortal Boat's condition. Coming up short by one or two items each time might be manageable for now, but if this continues, won't we all be the ones to suffer in the long run?" the elder huffed.
The older cultivator didn't argue, merely nodding in agreement.
"Take these relics to the Broken Immortal Tower for me," the elder then commanded.
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