Chapter 1343: Forging Immortal Realm Fragments
Chapter 1343: Forging Immortal Realm Fragments
Realm Fragment Great Wall.
Li Fan controlled the phantom of his Wooden Sword, carrying Nangong Lie and the other two elders from the Mysterious Immortal Boat as it moved slowly through the area.
"Brother Li, your escape technique is truly heaven-defying. It's not only incredibly fast but also lessens the effects of the Echoing Star Power. With its protection, our search for the grey chess pieces should go much more smoothly," Nangong Lie remarked with admiration.
Lu Yuzhi agreed, "Indeed. Otherwise, just resisting this terrifying suction force would drain most of our strength."
Xu Gongding remained silent, his gaze sweeping across the outer void as he diligently searched for any trace of the grey chess pieces.
The connection between artifacts of the same set wasn't enough to pinpoint an exact location, only vaguely indicating a general area.
Within the Realm Fragment Great Wall lay a continuous expanse of countless world fragments.
And the grey chess pieces were hidden among these fragments, disguised as ordinary objects.
The task was made even more difficult by the fact that one's divine sense was hampered here, making the search increasingly arduous.
Having now experienced it firsthand, Li Fan finally understood the Heavenly Doctor's predicament.
It was understandable, then, why it had taken thousands of years to collect the fragments of the Tianfa Realm—a task that was still incomplete.
Fortunately, the mysterious power the grey chess pieces used for concealment was so unique that, once you knew what to look for, their abnormality could be spotted at a glance.
There was no need to worry about missing one during the search.
Their luck proved to be quite good, for just three days later, they found the first lost piece.
It lay quietly in a field of earthen ruins, a rust-spotted bronze chariot.
Five magnificent warhorses stood before it, their heads held high.
The surface of the chariot was covered in the marks of blades and swords, bearing the weathered look of countless battles.
Instead of reverting the chariot to its original form there in the void, the four of them simply collected and stored it, planning to hand it over to the Mysterious Immortal Boat's council of elders upon their return.
Buoyed by their initial success, the group's spirits were high. For the next ten days, the phantom Wooden Sword moved relentlessly, weaving through the Realm Fragment Great Wall.
They found three more disguised pieces.
They were a broken sword, a seemingly ordinary wine gourd, and a small wooden boat.
"I can't go on. I need to rest," Li Fan said suddenly, his face pale and his voice weak, just as they were about to press forward.
Lu Yuzhi realized, "It's our fault for being thoughtless. Such a heaven-defying divine ability must consume an immense amount of energy. It's no wonder you've reached your limit after using it continuously for days..."
Nangong Lie asked with concern, "How long do you need to rest, Brother Li? Without the aid of your escape technique, our search will be far too slow!"
Li Fan wore a solemn expression as he assured them, "Don't worry, give me three days, and I'll recover. The consumption of spiritual power is secondary; the main issue is the immense strain on my mind."
Lu Yuzhi first lavished praise on Li Fan, then used the opportunity to inquire about the principles behind his escape technique.
The elders of the Mysterious Immortal Boat had long coveted Li Fan's miraculous movement technique with the phantom Wooden Sword.
However, Li Fan, who was usually generous in sharing his knowledge, had remained extremely tight-lipped about this particular divine ability, refusing to reveal even the slightest detail.
The elders of the Mysterious Immortal Boat hadn't given up, trying to probe for information at every opportunity.
This time, however, Li Fan's secretive stance seemed to have loosened slightly.
"My escape technique is formed from the condensation of two supreme Dao intents," he began. "The first is the Sword. It embodies an indomitable momentum, a courageous surge forward."
"As for the second..."
Li Fan paused, building their anticipation. Then, in an unhurried tone, he continued, "It is [A thousand miles in a moment]! The ends of the earth are but a step away. Crossing the Star Sea is an immensely long journey, but if the distance is merely a single step, then it can be reached in a single stride!"
He then proceeded to explain these two supreme true intents to them in detail.
The three elders listened intently, nodding repeatedly as they fell into deep thought.
Li Fan, however, wore an enigmatic smile.
He hadn't distorted or fabricated anything in his explanation. With the elders' insight, any falsehoods would have been easily detected.
Li Fan had merely omitted the most crucial component.
The core of the divine ability was the [True False Transformation].
The Way of the Sword, 'a thousand miles in a moment'—without the core support of the True False Transformation, it would be impossible to achieve what Li Fan did, completely ignoring the myriad dangers and remnant True Immortal power permeating the Star Sea during his flight.
Li Fan had done this precisely to use this intentionally "leaked" divine ability to distract the three elders.
And his true objective, of course, was the four chess pieces they had found.
Perhaps he had been truly traumatized by the Dharma Spreader incident back then, because even though the four people searching for the pieces this time were, in theory, almost incapable of betraying the Mysterious Immortal Boat, the boat's council had still established a rule of joint custody.
Each of the four controlled a fragment of a sphere. When the four fragments were combined, they formed a sealed storage space where the collected chess pieces were kept.
Only by working together could the four of them retrieve the sealed pieces.
Otherwise, they could only observe and supervise.
Initially, the four of them had kept their attention on the chess pieces, glancing at them from time to time. But after Li Fan inadvertently and proactively revealed the secrets of his supreme escape technique, the other three elders inevitably became distracted, trying to comprehend what he had taught them.
Thus, Li Fan had more time to study the mysteries of the grey chess pieces without the others noticing.
"To transform again from their grey chess piece form requires a vast amount of energy support."
"Spiritual power won't work, nor will the power of a True Immortal."
"And yet, the Mysterious Immortal Boat silently transformed it into that armored, keratinous form..."
"It seems there are still treasures hidden in the second and third levels of the Mysterious Immortal Boat's secret vault!"
Li Fan snorted coldly in his mind as his divine sense swept repeatedly over the four chess pieces.
"Forged from a 'World,' perhaps they are pieces that have lost their value and turned to ash."
"If the Heavenly Doctor's *Mending the Heavens* scripture compares a world to a person, then the being who forged this set of chess pieces viewed the world as an 'Artifact.'"
"Although a person and an artifact are different, the fundamental principles are interconnected."
"The prerequisite for modification is complete mastery of its fundamental mechanisms..."
Sensing the four creations before him, Li Fan silently recited the *Mending the Heavens* scripture in his mind.
Then, after Li Fan's comprehension and adaptation, the tiny characters transformed into a new chapter.
"It was just a matter of following the template, changing the principles of the human body into the methods of artifact forging."
"Although some parts were forcefully converted and made no sense at all, the vast majority..."
"...was effective!"
Li Fan's eyes lit up slightly.
In his vision, the four objects within the sealed space began to change.
The concrete forms of the broken sword, the chariot, and the others vanished.
In their place appeared a network of intersecting horizontal and vertical lines, all glowing.
These lines all originated from a common starting point.
And beyond these lines were even more numerous and complex lines, these ones dim.
"The starting point of the lines is the original grey chess piece form."
"And those dim lines represent the other forms the pieces can switch to."
"It's too beautiful..."
Li Fan was almost lost in the sight.
He had once directly faced the fundamental principles of the Xuanhuang Realm.
The intersecting lines that formed the countless different beings and varied landscapes of the world crisscrossed between heaven and earth. Li Fan had originally thought that the world's principles were complex enough.
But compared to what was unfolding before him from the grey chess piece...
"What constitutes the Xuanhuang Realm is only a small fraction of this."
"The rest was forged by a True Immortal using the laws of the Immortal Realm, something beyond the mortal world!"
Li Fan felt an inexplicable shock in his heart.
"By observing these, perhaps I can vaguely touch upon a corner of the former Immortal Realm!"
Li Fan closed his eyes, pretending to rest. In truth, he was trying to conceal the monstrous waves that had suddenly surged within his heart.
The Immortal Realm had suffered the Dao Annihilation Calamity and had been destroyed for over ten thousand years.
Everything about the former Immortal Realm had become a thing of the past.
Even the True Immortals of old were now exceedingly rare, hunted by the civilizations beyond the High Wall.
But now, Li Fan had discovered fragments of the Immortal Realm, forged and hidden using a special method.
Or perhaps, calling them "fragments" was something of an exaggeration.
They were merely lower cultivation worlds that had been processed and forged, with some higher fragments of Immortal Realm law integrated into them.
Nevertheless, for the descendants living ten thousand years later, after the path to immortality was severed, this still held extraordinary significance.
Especially for Li Fan.
"The fragments of law contained in a single piece are too few."
"But what if it's an entire set?"
"Sun Piao Miao founded the Medicine King Sect. Judging from his medical principles alone, his understanding of the world and the Heavenly Dao might not be inferior to the Heavenly Doctor's."
"If I can perceive the mystery of these pieces, there's no reason Sun Piao Miao couldn't. Especially since he used such a special method—a travelogue—to leave the secret for his successors."
"If I could really use fusion to recreate these fragments of the Immortal Realm..."
A flash of inspiration suddenly struck Li Fan's mind.
"Could this be, in a sense, a plan to preserve the flame?"
But just an instant later, Li Fan naturally thought of a use for these grey chess pieces.
"My grand plan for the ascension of the Xuanhuang Realm is already quite complete."
"But if I could add some fragments of the former Immortal Realm..."
"The laws of the Immortal Realm would act like heavenly pillars, reinforcing the principles of the Xuanhuang Realm."
"Its ascension into a true Immortal Domain would be just around the corner!"
Li Fan quickly deduced the possibilities, and the result made his heart race.
"Besides, if the Mysterious Immortal Boat really did manage to collect all the grey chess pieces, they would likely lose their ambition to cross the High Wall."
With his keen insight, Li Fan had naturally seen that Zhong Daogong's earlier words were merely a temporary appeasement.
"However, for this matter, I'll need someone to play along with my act."
After some thought, a plan had already formed in his mind.
Another day later, Li Fan pretended to have barely recovered.
He briefly sensed the locations of Master Yin and Bai Hua, then commanded the phantom Wooden Sword to fly in their direction.
As it happened, his direction of travel overlapped with the sensory range of one of the chess pieces.
Therefore, he aroused no suspicion from the elders of the Mysterious Immortal Boat.
"Huh? This part of the Realm Fragment Great Wall... it seems a little different," Li Fan remarked mid-flight, his voice tinged with surprise and uncertainty.
His words instantly startled the three elders, who had been secretly trying to comprehend the Dao.
They carefully investigated the area, then shook their heads in confusion. "Could it be that you're over-exhausted, Brother Li, and are seeing things?"
"We don't feel anything out of the ordinary."
Faced with their doubt, Li Fan maintained a grave expression but couldn't explain what he felt.
The three elders exchanged a look and couldn't help but grow tense.
Li Fan's sudden tension didn't seem feigned.
Sometimes, a cultivator's baseless premonitions could be more accurate than active investigation. Not daring to be careless, they became highly alert, guarding against any potential disaster.
But perhaps Li Fan was just being paranoid.
An incense stick's worth of time passed, and still, nothing unusual happened.
The tense elders finally began to relax again.
"It seems you were worrying too much, Brother Li!" Nangong Lie said with a laugh.
Li Fan sighed. "Perhaps."
They continued their search within the Realm Fragment Great Wall.
Not long after things had settled down, Li Fan was suddenly startled again.
"Something's wrong! Be careful!"
Startled, the elders' auras surged violently, their True Immortal Scripts ready at a moment's notice.
However...
after looking around and waiting for a long time, still nothing happened.
The three elders stared at Li Fan.
Li Fan said, looking a little embarrassed, "I don't know what's wrong with me today. My heart is pounding, and I feel as if disaster could strike at any moment."
"You may not know this, but my spiritual intuition has always been extremely accurate. It's thanks to this keen sense that I've been able to avoid many deadly situations in the past..."
"I have no choice but to trust it!" Li Fan said with a wry smile.
Lu Yuzhi offered some comfort. "It's fine. It's good to be cautious. Perhaps the mental strain from traveling earlier was too great, and you haven't fully recovered. Why don't you rest for a while longer?"
Li Fan shook his head. "Stopping would only make me more uneasy. Let's keep going."
The three elders couldn't very well refuse.
They had no choice but to follow Li Fan.
After Li Fan cried wolf twice more, the three elders grew weary of his false alarms.
Nangong Lie looked as if he wanted to speak but held his tongue.
Lu Yuzhi was carefully choosing his words, preparing to advise Li Fan to take a proper rest.
Little did they know, Li Fan had already located Master Yin and Bai Hua.
And he had successfully and covertly made contact with them.
Their communication was completed swiftly.
Before the three elders, Li Fan's expression changed dramatically once again. "Watch out!"
This time, the elders not only failed to take precautions but actually laughed in exasperation. "Brother Li, you..."
Before he could finish, a terrifying aura of death swept over them in an instant.
As if they had personally fallen into a scene of world annihilation, all four of them froze for a moment.
At the same time, their life force began to drain away at an alarming rate.
While they stood stunned, the sealed sphere containing the four grey chess pieces, which they jointly guarded, inexplicably went out of control.
It tumbled out into the void.
"Not good!" Nangong Lie's expression changed drastically as he instantly snapped out of his stupor.
He immediately unleashed the [Town] character seal, striking out in the direction the death aura had come from.
However, the attacker seemed to have anticipated his move and had already fled the area.
Nangong Lie's attack hit nothing.
Lu Yuzhi also came to his senses. When he saw how rapidly their life force was draining, his expression changed dramatically.
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