Chapter 1353: A Single Line Through the High Wall
“The Xuantian King’s message...”
Li Fan appeared lost in thought, then sighed after a moment. “It must be a secret that only True Immortals are privy to.”
“Don’t tell me it’s information about what—or who—caused the Xuantian King to disappear?”
Mo Rubin shook his head. “Baseless speculation is pointless. While we can’t know the exact content of Brother Xuanyuan’s message, the very fact that it was sent through the Tian Beast’s Eye might give us a direction.”
With that, Mo Rubin began to operate the Tian Beast’s Eye again.
The myriad bubble-like screens surrounding them came to a halt.
Then, they began to recede rapidly, as if the Tian Beast’s Eye itself were hurtling straight forward through the Star Sea.
“This is the trajectory of Brother Xuanyuan’s message as it traveled through the Star Sea back then.”
“The High Wall traps all life in the Darkest Star Sea. Perhaps this message is the only thing to have escaped the Star Sea in ten thousand years.”
Li Fan frowned. “At best, the message would have only left a mark on the High Wall. You can’t be suggesting it actually punched a hole through it, can you?”
Mo Rubin offered a cryptic smile and asked quietly, “And why couldn’t it?”
“Do you know what the High Wall truly is?” Mo Rubin asked, his tone turning serious as he saw the astonishment on Li Fan’s face.
Li Fan answered, “It’s called the High Wall, but it’s really the end of the Star Sea—a point where the path forward simply stops. This end, however, was artificially created, blocking what was once an open road. It’s like a wall that descended from the heavens to seal off the entire Star Sea.”
“Exactly. The High Wall isn’t a physical structure; it’s a rule. A fundamental law. And since Brother Xuanyuan’s message to the Faceless Immortal almost certainly broke through that wall and reached the void beyond, it means...”
“...that the rule was broken.” A sharp glint flashed in Mo Rubin’s eyes.
Understanding dawned on Li Fan.
“If that point where the rule was broken hasn’t been repaired in ten thousand years,” Li Fan realized, “it could be a gateway to the other side of the High Wall!”
“But... is that possible?”
“So much time has passed. Could a breach in the High Wall truly remain open?” Li Fan voiced his doubt.
Mo Rubin smiled faintly. “That will depend on our luck. The Dao Annihilation is coming, threatening to swallow the entire Star Sea. If we don’t find a way to cross the High Wall soon...”
“...then I’m afraid death is the only path left for us.” His smile was chilling.
Li Fan’s expression grew just as grim.
Mo Rubin clasped his hands in a formal gesture. “The edge of the Star Sea is a vast distance from here. I have seen your movement arts, and they are peerless. Therefore, I must ask for your help.”
“Gladly,” Li Fan responded solemnly.
A viscous membrane enveloped them both. Moments later, they had departed from the interior of the Tian Beast’s Eye and were floating in the Darkest Star Sea.
The phantom of the Wooden Sword emerged, silently enveloping both Li Fan and Mo Rubin.
Mo Rubin formed a hand seal and cast a spell. His forehead suddenly split open, and an oval, ochre-colored eye emerged from the parting flesh.
To Li Fan, the eye felt identical to the Tian Beast’s Eye they had just left.
“This is one of the Tian Beast’s Eye’s auxiliary arrays,” Mo Rubin explained. “It allows me to affix one of its observation points to my body, which can then serve as a guide for navigating the Star Sea.”
As he spoke, Mo Rubin directed the ochre eye to emit a beam of light.
The beam didn’t illuminate the blackness of space. It seemed visible only to the two of them, stretching straight into the cosmic depths, pointing the way forward.
“All you need to do is follow it.”
“The guide will also steer us clear of any dangerous zones where the remnant power of True Immortals has gathered.”
As if to prove his point, the beam of light, which had been perfectly straight, suddenly curved. It appeared to bend around some unseen obstacle before straightening out and continuing its path deeper into the Star Sea.
“That’s too much trouble,” Li Fan said with a wave of his hand.
The Wooden Sword phantom abruptly accelerated, making no attempt to dodge. Instead, it charged straight for the dangerous region flagged by the Tian Beast’s Eye.
For a split second, Mo Rubin’s expression flickered.
But before he could utter a word, he was stunned to find that they had crossed a vast distance through the Star Sea in a single instant.
As for the dangerous region that had been in their path, the Wooden Sword phantom had passed through it as if it weren’t there, completely unaffected.
This led to a rather comical scene.
The guidance beam from the Tian Beast’s Eye twisted and veered constantly ahead of them.
The Wooden Sword phantom simply flew straight ahead, refusing to take a single detour.
The beam had no choice but to constantly adjust its path to keep up. The Wooden Sword phantom moved so fast that at times, the guiding light would vanish completely, struggling to recalculate.
Li Fan would then have to pause and wait for it to reappear.
And so, the pair sped toward the edge of the Star Sea.
“I knew your movement arts were formidable, but I never imagined they were *this* powerful! You can simply ignore the residual power of True Immortals gathered in the Star Sea?” Mo Rubin exclaimed in awe, finally recovering from his initial shock.
“I’ve just made some recent breakthroughs, that’s all,” Li Fan replied, his tone placid. “My lifespan was nearly exhausted, but this has given me a little more time.”
Mo Rubin studied Li Fan’s face, his gaze searching, but ultimately, he said no more.
Protected by Li Fan’s movement arts, what should have been a perilous journey across the Star Sea became a perfectly safe, unimpeded highway.
Nearly a full day passed, and they had already crossed the Relic Sea and the Realm Fragment Great Wall.
They arrived at the edge of the Star Sea.
By then, the guiding beam from the Tian Beast’s Eye had grown faint and indistinct.
Li Fan slowed their pace accordingly.
The core of the Wooden Sword phantom was the principle of True False Transformation, allowing it to exist between reality and illusion. Even so, if he were to crash into the High Wall at such a velocity...
...he would likely be grievously injured on the spot.
Mo Rubin scanned their surroundings with the attached eye of the Tian Beast.
As the saying goes, a tiny error at the start can lead to a massive deviation at the end. They were so far from the Xuanhuang Realm that even if the initial calculations were perfect, their destination at the edge of the Star Sea was inevitably going to be slightly off.
“It should be... nearby.”
Before Mo Rubin had even finished speaking, the Wooden Sword phantom under Li Fan’s control came to an abrupt stop.
“There is no path ahead. We have reached the High Wall.”
Those words made Mo Rubin’s expression instantly turn grave.
“Please, follow the boundary,” Mo Rubin requested. “If I spot any trace of the old message, I’ll let you know at once.”
Li Fan nodded to show he understood.
He wasn’t trying to be cold or distant. The truth was, the concentration of True Immortal remnant power at the foot of the High Wall was on an entirely different order of magnitude compared to the rest of the Star Sea.
Without the Realm Fragment Great Wall to absorb and weaken it, he had to face this immense force with his own power. Even Li Fan, with his peerless movement arts, had to focus all his efforts on the task.
They moved along the High Wall, every step a struggle.
An unknown amount of time passed, yet Mo Rubin still hadn’t found what he was looking for.
Li Fan, however, was beginning to feel a faint sense of vertigo.
An inexplicable panic rose within him, a primal urge to flee.
Yet his instincts screamed no danger; it was merely a baseless feeling. Forcing himself to endure it, Li Fan tried to understand the source of this internal shift.
A short while later, understanding dawned. “I’ve been under the High Wall for too long. It’s creating the illusion that the wall is collapsing down on top of me. It’s because the disparity between my own presence and the sheer immensity of the High Wall is just too vast.”
Realizing this, Li Fan felt a measure of relief.
Since there was no real danger, he resolved to ignore the strange sensations and continue their exploration.
But Li Fan had clearly underestimated the oppressive power of the High Wall’s presence.
A short while later—perhaps the time it takes to drink a cup of tea—the panic in Li Fan’s heart intensified.
The Mysterious Yellow Cleansing Heart Mantra had lost all effect. The pressure was even beginning to interfere with the flow of his spiritual energy and the clarity of his thoughts.
To his horror, Li Fan discovered that under the crushing presence of the High Wall, his very stature was shrinking, imperceptibly at first, but undeniably.
A closer inspection revealed it wasn’t just his physical form. His soul, and even his cultivation base, were being compressed and diminished.
It was as if the High Wall was truly pressing down on him!
Li Fan stopped trying to force it.
He temporarily retreated, putting distance between them and the High Wall.
“This is the first time I’ve ever stayed so close to the High Wall for so long.”
Only after his body returned to normal did Li Fan let out a long sigh of relief.
He glanced at Mo Rubin and saw he was in an even worse state.
Perhaps from staring at the High Wall for so long, the attached Tian Beast eye on Mo Rubin’s forehead was slowly being forced shut, as if squeezed by an invisible hand.
It was now barely half as open as it had been before.
And Mo Rubin’s body was trembling uncontrollably, as if he had encountered something utterly terrifying.
A flicker of confusion crossed Li Fan’s mind. Given Mo Rubin’s mental fortitude, he shouldn’t have been this terrified, even when faced with the High Wall itself.
In the end, it was Mo Rubin who spoke up and explained the reason.
“Myriad hearts all behold the High Wall,” he explained. “And so their emotions are amplified tens of millions of times and inflicted upon me...”
“My apologies,” Mo Rubin said, slowly regaining his composure. “You’ve seen me at my worst.”
Li Fan waved it off. “It’s a force that transcends the mortal coil. All that matters is that you’re unharmed.”
“Did you find any trace of the Xuantian King’s message?”
To Li Fan’s surprise, Mo Rubin actually nodded. “I compared the section of the boundary we passed. I did indeed find one spot that was slightly different from the rest.”
“But the sample size is too small; I can’t be certain yet. We need to survey the entire area targeted by the Tian Beast’s Eye.”
“Very well.”
They rested for a while, and once both had returned to their peak state, they set off again.
Arriving at the foot of the High Wall again, Li Fan’s expression suddenly changed drastically.
Because he discovered that without any preamble, the previous feeling of being crushed had reappeared!
Their rest hadn’t dispelled the pressure from the High Wall’s presence. The moment they returned to its base, the crushing sensation returned, picking up right where it left off. They were once again subject to the wall’s immense might!
Mo Rubin’s body began to tremble violently. The look of fear on his face showed that he was in the same predicament as Li Fan.
“Retreating is useless,” Mo Rubin stammered through chattering teeth. “We have to push on.”
Li Fan closed his eyes, forcibly suppressing the storm of discomfort within him.
Following the guide of the attached eye, they continued their arduous exploration along the wall.
With each step, they felt themselves shrinking as the High Wall loomed ever larger, feeding the fear in their hearts.
Fortunately, the area they needed to investigate was not particularly vast.
“As expected! The place we encountered before is different from the rest of the High Wall. Quickly!”
The Tian Beast’s eye, which was almost completely closed, emitted a dim light, pointing the way for Li Fan.
Under the wall’s oppressive might, their strength steadily drained, and the effectiveness of the Wooden Sword phantom’s movement art diminished with it.
Li Fan had a sinking feeling that if they remained much longer, he wouldn’t be able to sustain the Wooden Sword phantom. Without its protection, escape would be impossible. The wall’s pressure was ever-increasing; eventually, they would be crushed into nothingness. His only option would be to use [Truth] to survive.
Fortunately, before that could happen, Li Fan managed to bring Mo Rubin to their target location.
It was truly just a point.
A single point in the vast Darkest Star Sea. One location along an infinite endpoint.
Without specific guidance, finding this exact location under the crushing presence of the High Wall...
...would have been an impossible dream.
But with the Xuantian King’s message from all those years ago, the impossible had become possible.
Originally, Li Fan had planned to use his movement art to escape before his power was depleted.
But when he set foot on this point.
The pressure of the High Wall was still there.
However...
It no longer accumulated.
It was as if they were back at the beginning, the pressure reset to what they first felt upon arriving.
Li Fan and Mo Rubin exchanged a look, and both saw the sheer elation in the other’s eyes.
“I was right!” Mo Rubin exclaimed. “The rule of the High Wall was pierced by Brother Xuanyuan’s message!”
Li Fan concurred. “This spot is like a weak point, a flaw in the wall’s design. At the very least, we can stay here and study it without being crushed.”
“Otherwise, even getting close for a prolonged period would have been impossible, let alone studying it.”
Mo Rubin’s eyes narrowed, his expression becoming dreamy and distant.
He gazed at the void before him, as if seeing the first glimmer of hope for escaping the Darkest Star Sea.
One of his manifested hearts flew out from his body.
Its expression mirrored Mo Rubin’s exactly as it reached out, attempting to touch the very end of space-time.
One moment passed, then another, then a third...
Mo Rubin’s expression gradually froze.
Because he felt nothing.
That was right. After all that effort, they had finally arrived at the exact spot where the Xuantian King had breached the wall.
But facing the flawed High Wall, Mo Rubin still felt nothing.
Even a flawed High Wall was beyond the reach of any being below the realm of a True Immortal.
When this realization struck him, a shadow of despair fell over Mo Rubin’s face.
It wasn’t just Mo Rubin; even Li Fan couldn’t perceive anything from this so-called loophole.
Before them was still only the endless void.
Inscrutable and unfathomable.
They were utterly unable to tell if there was a flaw or not.
Their only clue was the slight change in how the wall’s pressure affected them.
He was naturally unwilling to accept this.
The thought immediately arose to use the Ascension Array, to enhance his own presence and narrow the gap between himself and the High Wall, to see if he could perceive its secrets.
But with Mo Rubin at his side, using the Ascension Array would undoubtedly draw attention. He reluctantly suppressed the idea for the time being.
“Next time, I’ll come alone,” he thought.
Able to do nothing but stare at the wall and sigh, the two fell into a prolonged silence.
The wall’s pressure, however, did not abate.
Soon, it once again reached an unbearable level.
Left with no other choice, Li Fan brought Mo Rubin back to a safe distance.
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