Chapter 1322: The Divine Tree Hides an Immortal Script
Chapter 1322: The Divine Tree Hides an Immortal Script
“There’s a compassionate look about him. He hardly seems like a treacherous villain,” Li Fan remarked.
Jian Daosheng snorted. “That’s what we on the Immortal Boat thought, too. Goes to show you can’t judge a book by its cover!”
Zhong Daogong, however, inquired, “Can he be tracked by his appearance alone? Or will you require additional means?”
“A personal belonging of the scoundrel would be ideal. But if not...”
“It’s no matter.”
Li Fan’s expression was one of absolute confidence in the “Great Qi’s immortal artifact.” “His appearance and life story will be more than enough to deduce his location and track him.”
“However,” he added, “I will need to return to the Great Qi to submit my report.”
Li Fan’s words caused a small rift to form among the elders of the Immortal Boat.
Several other elders nodded in agreement. “Indeed. Our initial plan was to eliminate him to prevent our research from leaking. But from what we’ve seen, the Great Qi’s research has much in common with ours. And they don’t seem to guard their legacy as jealously as we do...”
“Moreover, from his words, the Great Qi’s cultivation world is vast and hardly lacking in resources. Everyone, don’t forget the trade that is our Immortal Boat’s lifeblood! ‘Trading between worlds, a path through eternity.’ That has been our creed since ancient times. Killing him brings no benefit. If we befriend him, we might even escape our current predicament!”
“Don’t forget the plan! It requires us to collect as many True Immortal Scripts as possible. At our current pace, it would take several hundred more years to complete. But if we could supplement our collection with that of the Great Qi civilization, we might be on the verge of achieving our goal!”
...
The elders’ arguments were reasonable and well-founded. Gradually, even those who had insisted on executing Li Fan afterward began to waver.
After all, only by carefully weighing the pros and cons could they lead the Immortal Boat further. Stubbornness and an inability to adapt would only lead them to ruin. This was a lesson the Mysterious Immortal Boat had learned through countless tribulations on its difficult path to survival.
In the end, it was Zhong Daogong who made the final call, unifying their opinions. “Let’s first see what power this True Immortal Script truly holds.”
While the elders of the Immortal Boat deliberated, Li Fan had already finished making his selections in the secret vault.
He had chosen the three items that had piqued his interest earlier: the bronze cast crane, the seven-colored flowing light, and the bowing servant puppet.
“Friend, are you certain about these items? Once chosen, the decision cannot be changed,” Zhong Daogong reminded him with a smile, his gaze sweeping over the objects.
Li Fan nodded in confirmation.
Zhong Daogong then joined the other elders, and together they cast a spell in the void, summoning a sheet of white paper.
The Severed Arm from the Hundred Rumors Immortal Record was manipulated, its palm pressing down upon the white sheet.
In an instant, the blank surface was stained black with ink.
Three profound patterns formed, closely resembling True Immortal Scripts, yet cruder and bearing the distinct features of the three items.
At the same moment, Li Fan noticed that the three items he had selected in the secret vault vanished into thin air after a faint ripple in space.
It was as if they had been etched onto the white paper.
With a grand wave of his hand, Zhong Daogong rolled up the imprinted paper and held it in his grasp.
He looked at Li Fan. “The items you require are here. Once the transaction is complete, they will be yours!”
“Excellent! I appreciate your directness!” Li Fan said, his eyes filled with admiration.
“I had originally planned to reveal everything only after seeing the Immortal Boat’s genuine script. But now, it seems letting you all have a proper look first wouldn’t hurt,” Li Fan declared, his tone tinged with excitement.
“You and I are both researchers of the True Immortal Scripts. I imagine the heartfelt thrill upon witnessing these great scripts is something we share. As they say, to glimpse the Dao in the morning is to be content to die by nightfall!”
“I fear there isn’t enough room to display its power within the Immortal Boat. Perhaps we should move to the void outside?” Li Fan suggested eagerly.
Having gone through so much trouble to lure Li Fan onto the Immortal Boat, the elders had no intention of letting the tiger out of its cage.
Zhong Daogong waved his hand dismissively. “We can do it right here, using the [Myriad Law]. Rest assured, the Severed Arm in this secret vault has fused with thousands of fragmented characters. Their mutual constraints will minimize the influence of the True Immortal Script.”
Li Fan looked somewhat disappointed. “And here I was hoping to show you all what I’ve learned...”
Zhong Daogong formed another seal, and the Severed Arm exploded with a deafening boom. It disintegrated into countless incomplete character structures, like swarms of tadpoles that sealed off the space in all directions.
They formed a cage of True Immortal Scripts.
“You may begin, my friend.”
As Zhong Daogong spoke, the eyes of every elder on the Immortal Boat were locked firmly on Li Fan.
Li Fan cleared his throat, his expression turning solemn. “Fellow Daoists, let me state again that the True Immortal Script I am about to depict is a recreation from my own comprehension and memory. It can't compare to the original version from the Immortal Realm, and there will even be some deviation from the one stored in the Great Qi's immortal artifact...”
“But please, rest assured. My skill is considered top-tier in all of the Great Qi. I will not disappoint you!”
After a long-winded preamble that thoroughly whetted the appetites of the Immortal Boat’s crew...
Li Fan finally unfurled the scene of the endless green field with the surging arc of light once more.
Amidst the shifting lights and shadows, an impossibly profound character officially appeared before everyone.
Boom!
The instant the character for [Creation] descended, the characters that had been drifting aimlessly in the surrounding cage erupted into a violent frenzy.
Many of them broke free from the cage’s structure, converging on the radiant [Creation] character at the center.
Even as a mere phantasmal projection of light, it drove the script fragments mad.
The Severed Arm began to spontaneously disintegrate, forcing the elders of the Immortal Boat to divert some of their attention to stabilizing it.
But in truth, just like the characters, the elders’ focus was uncontrollably drawn to the script of [Creation]!
“He wasn’t exaggerating! This single character is worth more than all the others combined!”
“Creation... It’s actually Creation!”
“The Immortal Boat is saved!”
...
The elders of the Immortal Boat had been immersed in the study of True Immortal Scripts for most of their lives; their comprehension was naturally profound. Upon seeing the true form of [Creation], they all quickly discerned its true meaning.
Every last one of them cried out in shock, losing their composure without exception.
In the face of the ultimate truth of the Great Dao, so-called poise was nothing but an illusion.
With the attention of the elders completely captivated, Li Fan quietly observed and analyzed the guardian of the Immortal Boat’s secret vault—the Severed Arm.
He had to admit, the security method of fusing all treasures into a single entity using fragmented characters was truly ingenious.
Even with the intention to steal, with his vast knowledge from countless reincarnations and the Final Dissociation Disc in his possession, Li Fan couldn't immediately find a suitable way to break it.
But now, with the appearance of the [Creation] script, the characters making up the Severed Arm were breaking apart and converging on it of their own accord.
This allowed him a glimpse into the Severed Arm’s specific composition.
“It would be difficult to shatter this arm in an instant. However, snatching a few key items from within should still be possible,” Li Fan mused internally, running deductions.
The [Creation] True Immortal Script was incredibly profound, not something that could be comprehended in a day. The elders of the Immortal Boat were completely absorbed in it.
Seeing Li Fan just waiting quietly to the side, they didn't spare him any extra attention. This gave him ample time to analyze the Hundred Rumors Immortal Record.
“This one, this one, and that one... I should probably take them all later...”
Li Fan had, of course, sensed the murderous intent the elders held for him.
Not that he had any good intentions himself.
Taking advantage of the chaos caused by [Creation] in the secret vault, Li Fan had already quietly set his plundering measures in place.
He used identical fragmented True Immortal Scripts to blend seamlessly into the Severed Arm, a perfect deception.
The longer the elders remained engrossed in comprehending [Creation], the more elaborate his hidden preparations became.
And the more items he would be able to plunder later.
“No need to make a move just yet,” Li Fan thought, his eyes narrowing slightly as his hands continued their clandestine work.
In a flash, more than thirty days had passed.
Zhong Daogong was the first to awaken from his state of comprehension. He seemed dazed for a moment, then let out a long sigh of relief.
He then bowed to Li Fan. “Many thanks, Fellow Daoist!”
“To witness [Creation] with my own eyes is a blessing from the heavens! If not for your generosity, I fear I would never have had such an opportunity in my entire life!”
Li Fan accepted the praise calmly, then waved his hand. “It was merely a transaction!”
Zhong Daogong shook his head. “How can mere mortal objects compare to [Creation]? In this trade, our Immortal Boat has gained an immense advantage!”
Li Fan laughed heartily and said no more.
The other elders of the Immortal Boat also gradually emerged from their meditative states.
They too first bowed slightly to Li Fan, after which their gazes met, and then all fell upon him in unison.
The meaning in their eyes was nearly identical.
They wanted to see a purer, more complete version of [Creation].
As the saying goes, desire is a bottomless pit. Having witnessed the True Immortal Script Li Fan had written and faintly sensed the infinite power it contained, a deeper need inevitably surged within their hearts.
“Fellow Daoist, I wonder... the [Creation] within the Great Qi’s guardian immortal artifact...”
“Might we be able to see it?” Jian Daosheng asked in a very amicable tone.
Hearing this, Li Fan put on a troubled expression. “Even in our Great Qi, only direct descendants who pass numerous verifications are qualified to glimpse the artifact’s true memory. All others learn through layers of secondhand transmission...”
Li Fan observed the expressions of the Immortal Boat elders and said with a smile, “I completely understand your feelings. However, this is only our first transaction. Perhaps as we have more contact in the future, your request to view it might be granted?”
The elders’ expressions varied upon hearing his words.
They began to confer privately once more.
“Elder Zhong, what now?”
“We certainly can’t kill him! We must maintain contact with the Great Qi, in hopes of obtaining a more complete [Creation]...”
“Indeed. Compared to this [Creation], all other True Immortal Scripts seem somewhat insignificant.”
“The Great Qi is willing to share even [Creation] with outsiders. In comparison, our Immortal Boat seems truly petty.”
After witnessing the power of [Creation], the attitude of all the Immortal Boat elders had uniformly shifted.
Seeing this, Zhong Daogong had already made up his mind.
“As agreed, we will now lead you to see that genuine True Immortal Script,” he said to Li Fan, a smile on his face.
“Although this original script may not compare to the [Creation] you have shown, it is, after all, the work of a True Immortal. I believe it will certainly bring you some inspiration,” Zhong Daogong said with great confidence.
“Oh? In that case, I can hardly wait.”
Feeling the hidden preparations he had left within the Severed Arm, Li Fan returned the smile.
He followed the Immortal Boat elders, temporarily leaving the secret vault.
They traveled from the very top of the divine tree all the way to its heart.
Within a space shrouded in a green mist, a ruin was suspended in mid-air.
Countless branches extended from above, spreading into the trunk of the divine tree.
On the ground of the ruin, a True Immortal Script was inscribed.
However, it was obscured by the branches of the divine tree, preventing a full view.
The moment he saw the ruin, Li Fan’s heart stirred.
The architectural style of this place was remarkably similar to what he had once seen on the lands of the Immortal Ruins.
“A ruin from the Immortal Realm?” Li Fan couldn’t help but turn and ask, feigning great surprise.
“You have a keen eye, friend.” The elders of the Immortal Boat were also quite surprised that Li Fan could recognize the ruin’s origin. In their minds, their evaluation of the Great Qi civilization rose yet again.
“That’s right. This ruin fell from the upper realm back when the Immortal Path was severed,” Zhong Daogong said in a low voice.
“At that time, news of the Immortal Path’s severance had not yet spread throughout the Star Sea. Thus, no one expected that this structure, appearing so suddenly, would be related to the Immortal Realm. But the True Immortal Script inscribed within it brought about a great calamity.”
“It was only ten thousand years later that our Immortal Boat discovered the source of that calamity in the ruins of the Star Sea.”
The elders of the Immortal Boat jointly formed a seal, and the divine tree branches entwined around the ruin’s ground slowly loosened.
The true form of the Immortal Script was revealed.
Perhaps because too much time had passed, and the divine tree had been absorbing its power day and night, the fluctuations emanating from the character were almost negligible.
But this did not prevent Li Fan from discerning the character’s meaning in an instant.
[Ancient].
“Ancient...” Li Fan muttered, using his hand as a brush to try and trace it.
The [Ancient] character on the ruin’s floor seemed very similar to the [Chaos] character he had seen in the white mist Maze Domain.
A True Immortal Script is a description of a Great Dao.
But as long as it wasn't a direct manifestation of the Dao itself, it would exhibit different characteristics depending on who wrote it.
Having studied True Immortal Scripts for many years, Li Fan could clearly distinguish such features.
This [Ancient] character and the [Chaos] character were written by the same person.
But they did not share the same origin as the [Hunger] character from the Immortal Ruins.
“If I’m not mistaken, [Ancient], [Chaos], and the countless world-ending True Immortal Scripts that have caused disasters in the Darkest Star Sea were all the work of the same person. The goal was to plunge the Star Sea into turmoil.”
“Meanwhile, the [Hunger] character in the Immortal Ruins might have just been for a True Immortal’s personal Dao enlightenment.”
“Although their intentions were different, they led to the same outcome: the shattering of the Star Sea and its descent into complete, dead silence.”
“In the eyes of a True Immortal, cultivators like us are truly no different from ants...”
A myriad of thoughts flashed through Li Fan’s mind in an instant.
“This genuine script, though its energy fluctuations have all but dissipated, still has a wondrous use.”
Just then, Li Fan suddenly heard Zhong Daogong say this.
Recommending a friend's book.
Title: "The Gods and Buddhas Are Actually Myself"
Synopsis: Tame dragons and subdue tigers, slay ghosts and capture demons, chant the names of gods and buddhas, and open a new heaven for the sun and moon!
(End of this chapter)
Comments