Chapter 1321: The Mystery of the Controlled Dharma Spreader
As expected of the Xuan Shang Immortal Boat's secret vault, a treasure trove passed down since ancient times, the Hundred Rumors Immortal Record boasted a truly impressive collection of wonders.
The Xuanhuang Realm, as the sole survivor in the Darkest Star Sea, had accumulated the essence of the entire cosmos. And Li Fan, having lived a hundred lifetimes, had turned the Xuanhuang Realm upside down in his explorations. Ordinary hidden treasures could hardly catch his eye.
Yet, as he strolled through this place, Li Fan still found several items that piqued his interest.
For example, there was a crane that appeared to be cast from bronze. According to the information in the Hundred Rumors Immortal Record, this bronze crane was actually forged from the fragments of numerous immortal artifacts. Though it lacked their supernatural abilities, its material composition made it impossibly durable. All manner of divine abilities and techniques were powerless to harm it in the slightest. While not eternally indestructible, it had at least weathered the calamity that destroyed the Darkest Star Sea without a scratch.
"The Tianyang immortal puppets I forged in previous lives were limited by mortal materials. Even with the infusion of Source Power essence, they still couldn't break the mortal limit. That they could hold off the Dharma Spreader for a time was a testament to Tianyang's unyielding combat will. However, if I were to incorporate this material into the smelting process..." A flicker of thought crossed Li Fan's mind.
Another example: a stream of seven-colored light. It looked remarkably similar to the [Seven-Colored Glazed Armor] that Zhong Shentong had fished from the Fishing Pool. However, the Seven-Colored Glazed Armor was created when a great cultivator collected and refined the seven streams of light that illuminated the Chongyan cultivation world. It was a manifestation of the Heavenly Dao, containing the world's origin. But this stream of light in the Hundred Rumors Immortal Record was the remnant of an unknown cultivation world after its natural end. It could be considered the corpse of a cultivation world.
Li Fan had personally refined the Seven-Colored Glazed Armor before. In his perception, although the essence of these two seven-colored streams was different, they were faintly connected.
"Perhaps it involves the evolution of a world from death to life..." Li Fan, who had long since claimed the Fishing Pool as his own in this life, naturally conceived the idea of collecting both seven-colored lights for a detailed comparison.
"It must also be related to a Dao Chronicle Projection," Li Fan noted, remaining expressionless, his gaze not lingering on the figurine for a moment longer.
...
Li Fan continued his patient selection in the immortal boat's vault, shadowed constantly by three of its elders.
They did not disturb him, only watching his every move in silent, intense scrutiny.
"It seems the thief from back then truly cost the immortal boat dearly," Li Fan suddenly paused and remarked playfully. "Even with the Broken Immortal Tower as an extra precaution, you gentlemen still seem worried."
Gan Jingda, Nangong Lie, and Lu Yuzhi remained perfectly still, their gazes fixed on nothing, pretending they hadn't heard a thing.
"I wonder, what exactly did the immortal boat lose all those years ago?" Li Fan asked casually, resuming his search for treasures.
"Hmph..." Upon hearing this, most of the immortal boat elders showed looks of indignation.
Zhong Daogong's voice echoed from a distance. "The past is not something one wishes to revisit. But since so many years have passed, if you are interested, fellow Daoist, there's no harm in telling you."
"Among the supreme treasures lost back then, the most precious was an item known as the [Ice Crystal Immortal Amber]," Zhong Daogong's tone was tinged with nostalgia.
Jian Daosheng, the chief of the Broken Immortal Tower, seemed to have personally experienced the incident. He sighed suddenly, "Even now, the dreamlike, mesmerizing image of the [Ice Crystal Immortal Amber] occasionally surfaces in my mind. My only regret is that I wasn't more forceful back then, that I didn't step in to prevent it. My failure led to tragedy."
The other elders also sighed in lament.
Li Fan grew curious. "Ice Crystal Immortal Amber? The name alone sounds beautiful. But what exactly is it?"
Zhong Daogong explained, "The Ice Crystal Immortal Amber is, in truth, a frozen cultivation world. Its origin involves an extremely rare celestial phenomenon in the star sea of ancient times."
Li Fan's curiosity deepened. He asked humbly, "I would be honored to hear the details."
"The star sea of that era was nothing like the dead silence of today. Besides countless cultivation worlds, vibrant and unique, there were also numerous cosmic phenomena that would appear from time to time."
"Leaping sky-whales, stampeding star-steeds, yin-yang vortexes..."
"When these phenomena erupted, they would often cover an entire star domain, affecting dozens of cultivation worlds. Some would merely display spectacular sights on a world's celestial curtain, while others would bring world-ending calamities!"
"The [Crystalline Wind] was one of the latter."
"A wind of ice, appearing from nowhere, would descend without warning. It blew from the starry sky down to the land. Wherever the frigid wind passed, Soul Transformation, Dao Integration, and even Longevity cultivators had no time to react before being instantly frozen. All living beings, and even the world itself, were turned into ice sculptures by the breath of the Crystalline Wind." Zhong Daogong tapped a finger lightly, and a horrifying image of a world frozen by the icy wind appeared above the vault.
"The frozen cultivation world would then remain in the star sea, isolated and silent. It would never see the day it thawed. Any being that tried to approach would be affected by that absolute cold—either escaping gravely injured or becoming an eternal ice sculpture themselves."
Watching the scene above, Li Fan frowned slightly. "I understand the 'Ice Crystal' part now. But what does 'Immortal Amber' signify?"
It was Jian Daosheng who answered Li Fan's question. "If it were merely a frozen world, the Xuan Shang Immortal Boat wouldn't have considered it a supreme treasure. In truth, while the probability of a [Crystalline Wind] event was low, given the vastness of the star sea and the accumulation of tens of thousands of years..."
"The number of worldly ice sculptures in existence wasn't exceptionally small."
"The reason the one our immortal boat collected was so valuable was because of a very special existence within that frozen cultivation world." Jian Daosheng's tone grew distant, as if he had traveled back in time.
"The [Crystalline Wind] blew down from the starry sky. The world should have been turned into an ice sculpture in an instant. However, a phantom-like figure appeared in that world, attempting to block the icy wind..."
"But how could a cosmic phenomenon be stopped by a mortal cultivator? It's said that during the most violent outbreaks of cosmic phenomena back then, even True Immortals had to retreat, let alone us mortal cultivators."
"So the outcome was obvious. The act of saving the world was nothing more than a mantis trying to stop a chariot—a futile act of self-destruction. But, it did manage to stall it for a fraction of a second... The world was no longer frozen in an instant, but gave its inhabitants a single moment to react."
Jian Daosheng's voice was filled with emotion. "It was this momentary change that created a completely unique ice sculpture. In the face of a world-ending disaster, the expressions of the living were varied. Some were terrified, others were in despair, some saw the figure and felt a glimmer of hope, while others were in disbelief... It was a true illustration of what it means to be a multitude of sentient beings."
"If that were all, it would at most be a slightly rarer frozen world. It wouldn't deserve the name [Immortal Amber] from our immortal boat."
Jian Daosheng continued, "The reason we used the word [Immortal] in its name was because of that phantom figure that tried to stop the [Crystalline Wind]."
Hearing this, Li Fan couldn't help but guess, "Could it be that a True Immortal was actually sealed within that frozen world?"
Jian Daosheng shook his head. "No, not that. If a True Immortal were sealed inside, our immortal boat probably wouldn't have dared to keep it on board. But, in terms of value, that figure might have been even more precious than a True Immortal. After all, before the immortal path was severed, cultivators ascended to become immortals from all worlds."
"But a physical, tangible [Heart Demon] was truly unheard of, a rarity throughout the ages!"
Li Fan's eyes narrowed slightly upon hearing this. "A Heart Demon? A physical one?"
In his previous life, while cultivating in Zhao Xian's body, Li Fan had already experienced the torment of the star sea's Heart Demons. As long as one's cultivation continued, the Heart Demon would accompany the entire journey, relentless and unceasing. Even if suppressed by external forces, it would soon return with a vengeance, growing more intense each time. In his last life, it was precisely because Zhao Xian couldn't shake off the Heart Demon's interference, which affected his progress, that an impatient Li Fan had simply used the Dao Pill technique to possess him.
And this was the Heart Demon under the shattered laws of the star sea.
Even weakened several times over, it could still have such a significant impact on a cultivator's practice. One could only imagine how terrifying the Heart Demon must have been when the laws of the ancient star sea were intact.
No wonder the ancient cultivators paled at the mere mention of the Heart Demon, something everyone sought to avoid.
However, what Li Fan had experienced through Zhao Xian's body were merely various illusions erupting from within his mind. He had not seen the true source that caused the illusions.
"A Heart Demon should be a type of law. How could it have a physical form?" Li Fan put on a look of amazement and disbelief.
"That is precisely what made the [Ice Crystal Immortal Amber] so incredibly precious. If one hadn't seen it with their own eyes, no one could imagine that such a marvel existed in this world."
"After collecting the Ice Crystal Immortal Amber, the immortal boat spent decades in discussion. We finally confirmed the identity of the phantom figure in the ice world as a Heart Demon. We theorized that this Heart Demon was an embodiment of the Heart Demon law from another cultivation world. We just don't know why it left its original world and met with such an undeserved calamity."
Zhong Daogong suddenly spoke up again. "Regarding that point, the immortal boat actually had a reasonable hypothesis. A Heart Demon is formless and intangible, unbound by space, able to travel freely across the star sea. Without the limitations of a physical body, it can even appear directly within a cultivator's mind. It's not uncommon for cultivators to be influenced by a Heart Demon, losing their sanity and becoming like a different person. The invasion of a Heart Demon can be seen as the most superior form of possession."
"This physical Heart Demon, though very special, still couldn't escape the inherent nature of a Heart Demon. Traversing the star sea to find a suitable host to parasitize is its instinct. Perhaps that's why it appeared in that frozen world."
"Furthermore, given the level of power it displayed when the world was being frozen, it's possible this physical Heart Demon had the strength to corrupt not just cultivators, but even a world's Heavenly Dao consciousness."
"To beguile the Heavenly Dao of other worlds and replace them... perhaps it would be more appropriate to call it a [Sky Demon]."
...
Zhong Daogong spoke eloquently, his words laced with regret over the loss of the treasure.
Li Fan, however, felt a stir in his heart.
The image of the Dharma Spreader's shell gradually dissolving under the world-ending storm of the immortal array in his previous life flashed through his mind, revealing the transparent figure within.
The moment Li Fan saw that transparent figure, a faint sense of familiarity washed over him.
It wasn't that Li Fan had seen this transparent figure before.
Rather, he had come into contact with the aura of its "kin."
The familiarity came from Tian Jue, Tian Yu, Tian Yin, and the Heavenly Doctor.
Or, to be more precise...
It came from the Tianfa Realm.
"Sky Demon..."
Li Fan might have just figured out why the Dharma Spreader had infiltrated this place all those years ago.
"The Sky Demon is also one of the Venerables of the Tianfa Realm?"
"The Venerables of the Tianfa Realm execute the Dao on behalf of Heaven. And the Sky Demon is the manifestation of the Dao of the Heart Demon."
"But due to its unique nature, the Sky Demon roamed the star sea and was rarely in the Tianfa Realm. It even had the misfortune of encountering an extremely rare cosmic phenomenon and suffering the fate of eternal ice."
"If the Dharma Spreader hadn't rescued it later, it would likely have remained frozen forever, reduced to a collector's item for the immortal boat."
"But why did the Dharma Spreader rescue the Sky Demon? And why was he later corrupted by it?"
The image of the Heavenly Doctor suddenly appeared in Li Fan's mind.
From their interactions in the previous life, the Dharma Spreader was clearly under the Heavenly Doctor's control.
Previously, Li Fan had speculated that the Dharma Spreader was a clone refined by the Heavenly Doctor.
But now, it seemed their relationship might not be so simple.
"The Dharma Spreader, Xuanyuan Tuo. Perhaps a reincarnation of the Xuantian King..."
"For the first half of his life, he was just a mortal. Then, he suddenly awakened, as if some consciousness had traveled from afar and possessed him." Li Fan's eyes narrowed.
...
"Regardless, I now finally understand why the Dharma Spreader was controlled by the Heavenly Doctor. The [Sky Demon] lurking deep within his divine soul is the culprit."
Li Fan then recalled that Heart Demons no longer existed in the current Xuanhuang Realm.
Perhaps it wasn't just because of the Dharma Spreader's New Method.
With a physical Heart Demon like the [Sky Demon] present, it was natural that no smaller Heart Demons would descend to interfere.
His thoughts churning, Li Fan listened to the end of the elders' tale and couldn't help but sigh with genuine sympathy. "In that case, it was truly a remarkable treasure. To have it stolen like that is indeed infuriating."
"What did the thief look like? Is he still alive today?" Li Fan asked.
"If there's enough information, perhaps my Great Qi can help track down this culprit."
Zhong Daogong's eyebrows shot up. "With the True Immortal Scripts?"
Li Fan shook his head. "No. It's the combined power of our world-protecting immortal artifact and our formations. It's all quite profound; I can't explain it in detail."
Though his explanation was vague, the power of [Creation] he had previously demonstrated had already proven the depth of the Great Qi civilization. Therefore, Li Fan's words did not arouse suspicion among the immortal boat's members.
After all, Li Fan hadn't made any guarantees, only saying "perhaps."
The elders of the immortal boat conferred for a moment. So as not to arouse Li Fan's suspicion, they displayed the image of the thief from back then.
It was, as expected, the Dharma Spreader.
However, the recorded image kept by the immortal boat was subtly different from the Dharma Spreader he had seen in his previous life.
His expression was far more vivid, as if they were two different people.
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