Chapter 1300: The Golden Needle Reverses Xuanhuang
"The Observer is bound by a mission from the Immortal Realm; it might even be a direct creation of a True Immortal. It's not something we can fight with mortal strength."
"The path to the Immortal Realm may have been severed long ago, but as long as these beings exist, they will forever be committed to their mission. And that, paradoxically, is where our hope for escape lies..." Zhong Gongdao wrote swiftly in the air.
"This Observer of the Xuanhuang Realm doesn't seem to attack proactively. We should be safe for now, as long as we make no noise and avoid drawing its attention. However, remaining in this cauldron isn't a viable long-term strategy. I can feel my life force draining away, and the rate is slowly accelerating the longer we stay."
"The Observer is concerned only with its mission. We must quickly ascertain what that mission is. Only then can we devise a plan to escape..."
The crowd looked up, their gazes piercing through the hull of the Mysterious Immortal Boat to fix upon the terrifying figure at the cauldron's edge, stirring the liquid within.
"Do not stare, lest you invite disaster," Elder Gan Jingda declared, and with a wave of his hand, he shielded everyone's line of sight.
Nangong Lie from the Dao Proving Academy, his expression grave, wrote an inquiry: "What if we use the power of the True Immortal Script to create a diversion? Is there any hope of breaking free then? The Observer may be powerful, but surely it cannot withstand the might of a True Immortal?"
Zhong Gongdao shook his head slightly and explained, "It's true that it likely cannot completely withstand the influence of the True Immortal Script. The Character of Oblivion I just unleashed proved as much. However, it has inextricable ties to the Immortal Realm. Compared to mortal cultivators like us, the Observer possesses a certain degree of resistance to the power of a True Immortal."
"After being struck by the Character of Oblivion, this Observer merely forgot what had just happened; it never left the cauldron..." The implication in Zhong Gongdao's words was clear.
Zhong Gongdao continued, "And we must consider what comes after we escape this place. If we exhaust our entire reserve of the True Immortal Script, how will we possibly contend with the Dharma Spreading Heavenly Venerate of the Xuanhuang Realm?"
"He's right! We have a score to settle. Even if we can't seize any immortal spiritual energy, we must plunder the Xuanhuang Realm for resources!" declared the master of the Star Forging Workshop, his face a mask of ferocity.
...
After a period of deliberation, the elders of the Mysterious Immortal Boat reached a consensus. They would first dispatch scouts to fly out of the cauldron and investigate the surroundings, hoping to determine the terrifying Observer's mission. Simultaneously, they had to be ready for discovery at any moment, prepared to fight for their lives in a final, desperate struggle.
Shortly after, a group of twenty cultivators left the vessel, flying out toward the rim of the cauldron.
Some were caught by an unseen vortex within the cauldron before they could even clear its edge, dragged down into the liquid, and vanished without a trace.
Of those strong enough to make it out, the vast majority were instantly detected by the formless Observer. Their life force was ripped from their bodies, and they were crushed into tiny spheres.
Only a single scout managed to escape the Observer's range, but he never returned.
The Mysterious Immortal Boat sent out another hundred cultivators.
This time, three scouts successfully completed their reconnaissance. But as they attempted to return to the cauldron, all three were detected by the Observer without exception.
Crushed into spheres, they died in an instant.
"This is just sending them to their deaths! It's not a solution!"
"We should just fight it!"
"But the weak can't even escape the cauldron, and the strong are instantly detected by the Observer..."
"Especially the Dao Integration elders. For them to go would be suicide!"
...
Within the Immortal Boat, the atmosphere plunged back into despair.
Just then, Zhao Xian—the body Li Fan's holy embryo had possessed—stepped forward.
Li Fan looked to Ai Tianjue and wrote with resolute determination, "Master, I wish to try."
A wave of emotion washed over the faces of the elders from the Broken Immortal Tower.
They held this exceptionally talented junior in the highest regard.
Ai Tianjue raised a hand, denying Li Fan's request.
The Broken Immortal Tower was now the supreme authority on the vessel, and Li Fan was one of its core disciples. It was only natural that he would receive some preferential treatment.
Overruling all objections, Zhong Gongdao dispatched another reconnaissance party, this time three hundred strong.
The result, however, was the same: total annihilation.
Watching one vibrant life after another get mercilessly crushed into a sphere by the unfeeling Observer, a chilling dread accumulated in the hearts of the crew, reaching a critical threshold.
When Zhong Gongdao prepared to issue the next order, he looked at the trembling cultivators before him, saw the utter despair in their eyes, and faltered.
It wasn't that his heart had softened; rather, a seed of doubt had taken root in his mind—was there any point to these sacrifices?
At that moment, Li Fan stepped forward once more.
"Elder Zhong, I am willing to try." Though a flicker of fear initially crossed Li Fan's eyes, it was swiftly replaced by unshakable resolve.
The elders of the Broken Immortal Tower saw the looks in the eyes of cultivators from the other factions and sighed to themselves.
Ultimately, they consented to Li Fan's request.
After a brief farewell to his masters, Li Fan flew out of the Mysterious Immortal Boat at a steady pace, the eyes of every person on board fixed upon him.
"Brother Tianjue, you have taken a fine disciple," Elder Zhong remarked to Ai Tianjue, a rare initiated conversation from the stoic man.
Ai Tianjue nodded slightly, his expression a mixture of pride and concern.
He watched Li Fan successfully exit the giant cauldron and breathed a sigh of relief.
What followed was a long, tense wait.
As time stretched on, there was still no sign of Li Fan's return.
The flickering flame of hope began to die.
Just as Zhong Gongdao concluded that Li Fan, too, had perished and was preparing to dispatch a final scouting party...
...a figure brazenly flew right past the Observer stirring the water in the cauldron.
It descended from above and landed back on the Mysterious Immortal Boat!
It was Li Fan!
With the Observer looming above, no one dared to make a sound, but the expressions on their faces spoke volumes of their elation.
After sacrificing nearly five hundred of their core members, they had finally found a glimmer of hope.
They flocked around him like moths to a flame, escorting him to the center of the assembled elders.
Without resting, Li Fan immediately began to recount his findings, using his finger as a brush to swiftly write out everything he had seen.
"Nine Yin-Yang Pearls?"
"Each one containing... endless frozen corpses?"
...
The scene Li Fan depicted left everyone on the vessel aghast.
The elders of the Immortal Pivot Academy, however, frowned slightly, as if recalling something. They beckoned Zhong Gongdao over, and after a brief exchange...
...Zhong Gongdao addressed the crowd. "Everyone, we may have found a way to escape this place!"
"This Observer's mission..."
"...is likely to collect different 'specimens'."
Zhong Gongdao's expression held no joy, despite having found a potential path to freedom. It was grim.
"Different specimens? Elder Zhong, what do you mean by that?" the crowd asked, their faces filled with confusion.
Zhong Gongdao turned to the white-haired head of the Immortal Pivot Academy. "Academy Head Jian, perhaps you should explain."
All eyes turned to Jian Daosheng.
Jian Daosheng's eyes held a distant, reminiscent look as he began to write, "In the ancient age of cultivation, the Star Sea flourished, and countless cultivation worlds teemed with life. Yet we of the Xuan Shang Immortal Boat have always been content to drift through the Star Sea, never settling in one place..."
"The world believes that the people of Xuan Shang are driven by profit, which is why we travel between realms seeking immense wealth. But..."
"Wouldn't a fixed world as a base be more beneficial for trade? Every life on the Mysterious Immortal Boat is tied to this single vessel. The Star Sea of that era, while not as perilous as today, was still fraught with dangers for those who sailed it year-round."
"Yet we chose to wander the Star Sea rather than settle in a single world."
"This is because the Xuan Shang Immortal Boat was built by a group of cultivators who had escaped from a cultivation world that had an Observer."
A wistful look crossed Jian Daosheng's face as he continued writing for the stunned crowd. "Cultivators view mortals as livestock to be penned and raised. But in the eyes of the Immortal Realm, their treatment of cultivators is perhaps even worse."
"Almost every prosperous cultivation world shows traces of the Immortal Realm's surveillance. Even in those remote, nameless worlds, no one can guarantee that an immortal won't suddenly descend and interfere. What our Xuan Shang ancestors discovered that made them flee their home is lost to time. But what is certain is that it was out of fear of the Immortal Realm, of being raised like cattle, that they decided to live upon this boat."
"At its peak, the Immortal Boat's population was never more than a million. Perhaps because our numbers were so small, for a very long time, we were indeed left alone by the powers of the Immortal Realm."
Jian Daosheng then steered the topic to the reason for his conclusion. "From the scene Zhao Xian described, the frozen bodies within those nine Yin-Yang Pearls must be the cultivators who have existed in the Xuanhuang Realm from ancient times to the present."
"Not just those who have died, but all who have *existed*," Jian Daosheng emphasized.
"That's why the disciples who tried to escape by concealing their life force failed."
"The most reliable way to escape from this Xuanhuang Observer is to disguise ourselves as one of the cultivators already existing within those nine frozen Yin-Yang Pearls."
...
The crew members exchanged uncertain glances.
But the Immortal Pivot Academy had governed the boat for thousands of years before the Broken Immortal Tower. Trusting their judgment, the crowd decided to attempt this method.
Fortunately, when Li Fan had scouted the area, his spiritual sense had swept across the endless frozen ocean, memorizing the features of more than enough cultivators.
After successfully applying their disguises, the first batch of cultivators set off.
They did not move with Li Fan's brazen confidence, but crept forward with painstaking caution.
And just as predicted, the formless Observer seemed completely oblivious to their presence.
The entire team of thirty successfully escaped the nightmarish cauldron.
With the method's feasibility proven, the Mysterious Immortal Boat accelerated its evacuation.
After the last crew member had escaped, the Observer's act of stirring the giant cauldron finally came to an end.
It seemed to raise a hand and slap the side of the cauldron.
Amidst a tremendous resonant sound, the giant cauldron began to shrink.
The Observer slapped it again and again, and the cauldron grew smaller and smaller until it became a tiny, crystalline, transparent bead.
Within the bead, the cauldron's former contents had transformed into a tranquil ocean.
Having completed its task, the Observer stood motionless for a moment. After a long while, it seemed to remember its mission.
With thundering footsteps, it departed from this space.
The crew of the Mysterious Immortal Boat, who had watched the entire process with bated breath, let out a collective sigh of relief once they were sure the Observer was gone.
However, to avoid drawing it back, they continued to communicate through gestures.
"Elder Zhong, we've scouted the area. This is a sealed space with no exit."
"We still haven't figured out how the Observer left."
...
With a legacy spanning thousands of years, the people of the Mysterious Immortal Boat worked in concert and quickly determined that the exit from this place lay within the nine Yin-Yang Pearls.
After carefully selecting one, the Mysterious Immortal Boat flew inside.
When they witnessed the endless corpses on the frozen ocean with their own eyes, an irrepressible fear still gripped their hearts.
Now inside the Yin-Yang Pearl, far from the Observer, they could finally communicate with their spiritual sense.
"Why would the Xuanhuang Observer collect so many corpses?"
"This place... it seems to be a profound formation."
"It seems the Xuan Shang ancestors' decision was the right one. In the eyes of a True Immortal, cultivators are no different from livestock."
...
The crew conversed amongst themselves.
"Master, are the records of what the Xuan Shang ancestors discovered truly lost?" Li Fan, however, sent a private message to Ai Tianjue.
Li Fan had keenly observed the earlier exchange between the Academy Head Jian and the elders of the Broken Immortal Tower, which prompted his question.
A trace of hesitation flickered in Ai Tianjue's eyes.
Normally, Li Fan would not be privy to such a secret of the Immortal Boat. But he had just risked his life to scout a path for them and had successfully brought back critical information.
It was no exaggeration to call him the savior of the Mysterious Immortal Boat. As such, there was nothing to hide.
After consulting with the other elders and receiving their permission, Ai Tianjue finally answered, "The Academy Head did not lie. The ancestors' testament is indeed no longer on the Mysterious Immortal Boat..."
Li Fan, however, caught the underlying meaning in his words. "Not on the *Mysterious* Immortal Boat. Master, are you saying..."
"It's on the Shang Immortal Boat?"
Ai Tianjue nodded. "Back then, the Immortal Boat was torn apart by internal conflict and split in two. Although our Mysterious Immortal Boat managed to secure the Hundred Rumors Immortal Record, the most important parts of the Xuan Shang Immortal Boat fell into the hands of the Shang Immortal Boat."
Even with Ai Tianjue's disposition, a hint of regret colored his tone as he spoke of the matter.
"The most important parts?" Li Fan's eyes gleamed.
"Years ago, after our Xuan Shang ancestors left their homeland, they feared being pursued by Observers, or even True Immortals. As they drifted aimlessly through the Star Sea, they were also desperately searching for a way to completely break free from the grasp of True Immortals," Ai Tianjue said, a flicker of yearning in his eyes.
"As the saying goes, there is a world of difference between immortals and mortals. Even a Dao Integration cultivator is but an ant before a True Immortal. To escape a True Immortal by ordinary means is a fool's dream..."
"But the Xuan Shang ancestors actually did it."
A flash of understanding crossed Li Fan's eyes. "Immortal artifacts?"
"Correct. And there was more to it than that," Ai Tianjue said wistfully.
"As you know, in ancient times, some cultivation worlds had very close ties to the Upper Realm. As ages passed, some immortal artifacts were scattered about. The Xuan Shang Immortal Boat traversed the Star Sea, collecting these artifacts. Moreover, they attempted to analyze the power of these immortal artifacts, to make it their own..."
"They must have achieved some results back then. Unfortunately, before they could turn their research into practical applications, a great change occurred in the Star Sea," Ai Tianjue sighed.
"Internal strife broke out on the Xuan Shang Immortal Boat, and it split in two. We, the Mysterious Immortal Boat, seized the vast majority of the stored resources, which became the Hundred Rumors Immortal Record. The Shang Immortal Boat, on the other hand, took the research findings from that time, as well as an unknown number of immortal artifacts..."
Li Fan was slightly taken aback. "So, in that internal conflict, our Mysterious Immortal Boat was actually the loser?"
Ai Tianjue nodded. "You could say that."
Li Fan fell silent for a moment.
He thought to himself, "No wonder everyone on the Mysterious Immortal Boat has always been so secretive about any information concerning the Shang Immortal Boat."
After a while, Li Fan, still looking perplexed, asked again, "The Xuan Shang Immortal Boat drifted through the Star Sea for so long. Why would it erupt into internal conflict just because of some calamity?"
"Even when faced with a near-hopeless situation like the one with the Observer, we on the Mysterious Immortal Boat didn't descend into infighting. The Xuan Shang Immortal Boat of the past couldn't have been worse than us, could it?"
"That's because the leaders of the Xuan Shang Immortal Boat back then were about to commit a suicidal act of madness, taking the entire boat with them," Ai Tianjue said coldly.
"Hmm?"
"They were going to steer the Xuan Shang Immortal Boat straight into the High Wall, attempting to break out of this Star Sea." After a short silence, Ai Tianjue spoke slowly.
Li Fan was stunned.
...
While the crew of the Mysterious Immortal Boat was still searching for a way out from within the Yin-Yang Pearl, the changes in the Xuanhuang Realm had already entered a new phase.
The Saint Emperor, who had been locked in a fierce battle with the Dharma Spreading Heavenly Venerate, couldn't help but divert his attention to the strange sight in the sky.
The fusion of the many realm fragments was largely complete.
The white mist barriers that had once spanned the heavens and earth shattered under the immense internal pressure of the Xuanhuang Realm's growth and decay.
For the first time, an endless, unified sky, encompassing all provinces, was revealed to the cultivators of Xuanhuang.
The scattered immortal spiritual energy in the world had been completely absorbed by the heavens and earth of Xuanhuang.
The cultivators slowly awoke from their greed and madness.
They stared blankly at the pristine sky they had never seen before, rooted to the spot.
*Rumble...*
Amidst a faint tremor of the heavens and earth, it was as if something had been activated.
Streaks of light flashed across the sky and vanished.
Even with the Saint Emperor's power, he could not discern their true nature.
The attacks from the Dharma Spreading Heavenly Venerate grew fiercer. Li Ping could feel that his opponent was no longer holding back.
Understanding that the most critical moment was at hand, the Saint Emperor exerted all his strength, attempting to stall the Dharma Spreading Heavenly Venerate.
The rumbling of the world grew louder.
A sudden sense of unease welled up in the Saint Emperor's heart.
Looking at the sky, Li Ping felt as if he were inside a massive formation.
It was as if the entire Great Qi world was enveloped within the Heaven and Earth Myriad Spirits Array.
The moment this thought occurred to the Saint Emperor, an extremely subtle wave of consciousness flickered in his mind.
It came from the Xuanhuang Realm itself!
Though it vanished in an instant, Li Ping could discern the meaning the Heavenly Dao of Xuanhuang was trying to convey.
Danger! Flee!
Li Ping was bewildered. The Xuanhuang Realm was stronger than ever before.
Where could this danger be coming from?
In the moment of Li Ping's hesitation, a golden light suddenly shot in from beyond the heavens.
Like a golden needle, it flew with incredible speed and plunged violently into the earth of Xuanhuang!
The rumbling of the Xuanhuang Realm ceased abruptly.
It was as if this single needle had forcibly interrupted the world's process of transformation!
A surge of anger rose in the Saint Emperor's heart.
Starlight erupted around him as he instantly flashed past the Dharma Spreader.
He arrived before the golden needle.
Coating his hand with Source Power Essence, he tried to pull the golden light from the earth of Xuanhuang.
To the Saint Emperor's astonishment, however, this needle, which had clearly come from beyond the heavens, seemed to be part of the Xuanhuang Realm's own meridians and blood vessels. It was completely fused with the world.
As he exerted a slight force, the ground beneath his feet trembled violently.
Mountain ranges buckled, and the power of the earth veins spewed forth.
Seeing this, the Saint Emperor involuntarily relaxed his grip, abandoning the attempt to pull it out by force.
And while he was attempting to pull out the needle, countless more golden needles rained down from beyond the heavens like a meteor shower.
One by one, they inserted themselves into the earth of Xuanhuang, following some profoundly mysterious arrangement.
Not only was the Xuanhuang Realm's transformation interrupted...
...vortexes appeared in the sky, and the immortal spiritual energy that the world had already absorbed was being forced out again.
Where the golden needles were planted, wisps of white mist began to emerge once more.
Like a sharp scalpel, it began to carve up the land of Xuanhuang anew.
A strange power was slowly enveloping the Xuanhuang Realm.
The living beings within the Xuanhuang Realm, upon seeing the re-released immortal spiritual energy, did not scramble for it madly.
Instead, their minds grew hazy, their senses blurred.
Many creatures simply collapsed to the ground, falling into a deep sleep.
None were able to witness this utterly miraculous celestial phenomenon firsthand.
"Heavenly Doctor!!" The Saint Emperor now understood the culprit behind this event.
He looked up at the sky, trying to locate his opponent.
However...
The Dharma Spreading Heavenly Venerate's attack arrived in a flash.
This time, he held nothing back.
The absolute limit of power that the Xuanhuang Realm could withstand erupted forth.
"Since the Heavenly Venerate has arrived, why do you not bow!"
The Dharma Spreader's icy voice echoed simultaneously.
It seemed to emanate from every corner of the world at once.
The Saint Emperor's body froze for an instant.
It was as if he were facing the direct gaze and questioning of every cultivator of the New Method in existence.
The countless eyes of the masses were like chains, binding him tightly.
"So the Xuanhuang Realm is the Dharma Spreading Heavenly Venerate's home ground..." A flash of understanding crossed the Saint Emperor's mind.
"However, in this Xuanhuang Realm, I too have an ally!" The Saint Emperor's robe of starlight surged.
He roared, "Mo Rubin, how long are you going to stand by and watch!"
Although he didn't know where this Law King of the Xuantian Sect was hiding...
...Li Ping was certain that when the great change in the Xuanhuang Realm occurred, he would be watching everything from some hidden corner.
From his brief exchange with Mo Rubin, Li Ping could tell that this Xuantian Sect Law King didn't particularly care about who was the orthodox ruler of Xuanhuang.
As long as the world under his feet remained intact, that was all that mattered.
He was more concerned with finding the missing Xuantian King and leaving this Darkest Star Sea.
So, regardless of whether Mo Rubin responded, the Saint Emperor roared in his heart, "Dao One!"
The spiritual energy between heaven and earth instantly came alive.
Released through the Five Elements Great Cave-Heaven and having already spread throughout the world with the Xuanhuang Realm's untamed growth, the Dao One worms now answered the Saint Emperor's call.
They transformed from inert to animate, surging like a tide into the Saint Emperor's body.
Like an abyss swallowing the sea, the Saint Emperor's body began to expand as the worm-infused spiritual energy poured in.
One hundred feet, one thousand feet, ten thousand feet...
The Dharma Spreader's chains that bound him shattered into dust in an instant.
In the blink of an eye, the Saint Emperor had transformed into a true, colossal giant whose head touched the sky and feet stood upon the earth.
He reigned supreme over the land of Xuanhuang.
And still, the infusion of worm-infused spiritual energy did not stop.
It was as if he truly intended to devour all the spiritual energy of the Xuanhuang Realm in a short time!
As his body continued to expand, the vast, merged Xuanhuang Realm slowly shrank in the Saint Emperor's eyes until it was the size of a room.
The Dharma Spreader's attacks became less difficult to withstand.
The Saint Emperor now had the spare capacity to look beyond Xuanhuang and search for the Heavenly Doctor's location.
"I'll hold him off!"
At that moment, Tianyang's voice suddenly rang out.
He blocked the path of the Dharma Spreading Heavenly Venerate and said to the Saint Emperor.
"Go without worry."
"Even the Dharma Spreading Heavenly Venerate won't be able to kill me in a short time."
Tianyang was no longer in the form of a young child, but had transformed into a puppet of interlocking dark gold and crimson red.
It was the size of an ordinary person.
"Take this!" The Saint Emperor handed the white ring to Tianyang, then flew out of the Xuanhuang Realm, following the trail of the still-falling golden needles to find the Heavenly Doctor's whereabouts.
He tried to intercept the golden lights mid-flight.
But the needles came from beyond the heavens, too fast, too numerous.
There was simply no time to block them.
Only by finding and dealing with the source of the needles could he stop this.
Watching Tianyang already engaged in battle with the Dharma Spreading Heavenly Venerate, and sensing no trace of Mo Rubin's appearance...
...the Saint Emperor couldn't be bothered with anything else and headed back towards the starry sky.
The worm-infused spiritual energy rapidly dissipated upon entering the void.
If not for the fact that the Dao One worms had also gained some benefit when the Xuanhuang Realm ascended by absorbing immortal spiritual energy...
...their death rate would likely be even faster now.
The Saint Emperor knew he had to find the Heavenly Doctor's tracks as soon as possible.
Unfortunately...
This expert, who was also faintly at the 'Supreme' realm, seemed to have no intention of revealing himself and fighting him.
He remained hidden all this time.
The Saint Emperor also discovered that these golden needles seemed to have been laid out in advance.
They weren't being launched from a single point in the starry sky.
Rather, countless needles came from every direction.
They fell with pinpoint accuracy into the Xuanhuang Realm.
The Saint Emperor felt an immense frustration, as if he possessed incredible strength but had nowhere to use it.
An image of the sealed Immortal Calamity and the Grandmaster's remains outside the Great Qi small world suddenly appeared in his mind.
He faintly felt the urge to undo the seal and detonate it.
"Hmm?"
The Saint Emperor was quickly shocked by his own thought and forcefully suppressed it.
"How could I have such an idea?"
The thought vanished in a flash, and the Saint Emperor had no choice but to continue searching for the Heavenly Doctor.
As the golden needles continued to fall, the Xuanhuang Realm gradually returned to its original state.
Between heaven and earth, white mist barriers rose again, dividing the provinces.
The restless Xuanhuang Realm seemed to have been sealed by the golden needles, falling into a deep slumber.
The Saint Emperor's helplessness had reached its peak.
He glanced down at the Xuanhuang Realm below once more...
...and his heart suddenly trembled.
Because he abruptly realized that the Xuanhuang Realm had not completely returned to its original form.
Instead...
That feeling of being inside a formation had not faded!
On the contrary, as time went on, it grew even stronger!
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