Chapter 1369: An Obsession Upheld Through the Ages
Li Fan discreetly surveyed his surroundings.
After the Azure Nether Pearl had shattered and dissolved, it was as if an invisible boulder had plunged into the chasm's depths.
Faint ripples danced across the surface of the labyrinthine underground rivers that snaked through the Star Sea basin.
A mysterious energy surged within them, breathing a new, inexplicable vitality into this place.
It seemed the complete dissipation of the Azure Nether Pearl had activated something.
Li Fan dimly perceived that the chasm and its network of basins had changed in some fundamental way.
"It seems the Azure Nether Pearl has been steadily releasing its energy to the outside world for the past ten thousand years. It was already nearing its limit, about to be completely drained," he thought with a sigh.
"Our arrival was merely the final push."
Mo Rubin had noticed this as well. His expression, which had been contorted with excitement just moments before, gradually softened.
"Such an exquisite project could not possibly have formed naturally in the Star Sea. Not to mention the Azure Nether Pearl acting as the catalyst and source of vitality..." Mo Rubin's thoughts raced.
"Could this have been Brother Xuanyuan's arrangement? But when?"
"The Azure Nether Pearl was Brother Xuanyuan's most important treasure; he never let it out of his sight. How could it be here... while Brother Xuanyuan himself vanished into that strange pond?"
A look of profound doubt and suspicion flickered across Mo Rubin's face.
"This is indeed quite peculiar," Li Fan said, nodding. "Either the Xuantian King wasn't immediately lost on the day he was attacked, but fell into a deep slumber from his severe injuries. He only awoke later to create this network of chasms. Perhaps that pond in the Xuanhuang Realm connects to one of the fissures here."
"Or," Li Fan continued, "the Xuantian King entrusted the Azure Nether Pearl to someone else before the attack. And all these years, it was this person who has been carrying out the plans to revive the Star Sea in his stead..."
"Impossible!" Mo Rubin cut him off instinctively before Li Fan could even finish.
Li Fan gave Mo Rubin a long, meaningful look. "Brother Mo, could you tell me, among the twelve Dharma Kings, who did the Xuantian King trust the most?"
"And don't give me any talk of treating everyone equally. Favoritism is a part of the Great Dao's principles; even a Saint cannot entirely avoid it."
Mo Rubin's face was grim. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again.
He then shut his eyes, as if to conceal the turmoil within his heart.
But in the end, he did not evade the question. "I believe... if Brother Xuanyuan truly had someone he trusted above all others, it would have to be Xing Wuque."
"Xing Wuque..."
Information about this particular Dharma King instantly surfaced in Li Fan's mind.
His four limbs were missing, and his facial features had been destroyed. He perpetually wore a bronze tusked mask and almost never communicated with others.
"Within the Xuantian Sect, besides Brother Xuanyuan, no one knew Xing Wuque's true identity. As you said, favoritism exists. We twelve Dharma Kings also formed our own small cliques based on our relationships."
"Sun Xingwang and Sikong Lin were often together, speaking in a language no one else understood; Gongye Tianzong and Tianxing Ke would always have lively conversations, sharing cups of wine; Luo Yichen, Nie Daniang, and Ji Yuzhen, those three ladies always had endless secrets to whisper..."
"But Xing Wuque alone always kept his distance from the other Dharma Kings. He never initiated contact with anyone in the sect. When he appeared, he was always utterly alone. Yet every task assigned to him was completed with extreme efficiency, without a single error." A nostalgic look appeared on Mo Rubin's face.
"It was as if he were a machine that had shed all seven emotions and six desires, no longer living for himself."
"Perhaps that is why Brother Xuanyuan trusted him the most."
"Moreover, on the day of the incident, it seems Xing Wuque was indeed not within the sect," Mo Rubin added, his brow furrowed.
Li Fan nodded slightly. "If it truly was this Xing Wuque who took the Azure Nether Pearl back then, he must have been working to fulfill the Xuantian King's mission all these years. Brother Mo, do you have any way to contact this Dharma King Xing?"
Mo Rubin shook his head. "Xing Wuque only ever had direct contact with Brother Xuanyuan. However..."
As if struck by a thought, Mo Rubin once again looked toward the spot where the Azure Nether Pearl had dissipated.
"I wonder... could we use the 'Manifest' character on the Azure Nether Pearl again? We could surely trace it back to its source..."
"The Azure Nether Pearl is an immortal artifact; I fear a True Immortal Script would have no effect on it. Besides, it has already dissipated," Li Fan said, gesturing at the still-rippling waters around them.
"Dissipated does not mean vanished. Even among the many treasures Brother Xuanyuan obtained from the Immortal Realm, the Azure Nether Pearl was one of the most precious. How could it disappear so easily?"
"The Azure Nether Pearl hasn't vanished. It has merely transformed into another state, becoming the life force that exists within this underground river..."
Mo Rubin spoke with ironclad certainty, his demeanor once again that of a Dharma King of the Xuantian Sect. "Just do it. Use the Manifest character on this boundless river of life force!"
Li Fan refocused his senses on the endless chasm river and faintly began to understand.
Gathering his focus, he once again solemnly wrote the character for 'Manifest' in the air. The instant the profound symbol took shape, it dissolved like ink into the dark river.
The rhythmic pattern of the spreading ripples was quickly broken.
It was as if a completely separate, independent wave had appeared.
Li Fan and Mo Rubin followed the direction of this new wave, moving at great speed.
This time, they ventured even deeper into the chasms, twisting and turning through the passages. It took them more than thirty days before they finally reached their destination.
"Careful, I sense the fluctuations of a living being up ahead!" Mo Rubin suddenly sent a telepathic warning.
Li Fan had already summoned the ethereal wooden sword to guard him as they slowly approached.
At the end of the underground river, a solitary figure sat.
His aura was a flickering, unstable thing, and on his face was a tusked mask!
"Xing Wuque?" Seeing the familiar design, Mo Rubin couldn't help but cry out.
Li Fan, however, after a moment's pause, felt a strange sensation rise within him.
Xing Wuque had lost both his arms and legs long ago, yet this figure was whole, with all four limbs intact.
But more importantly...
The clothes he wore were extremely familiar to Li Fan.
They were identical to what Xu Ke had been wearing when he disappeared into the depths of the river!
"Is it Xu Ke?"
"Or Xing Wuque?"
"No wonder his aura felt so erratic..." Li Fan mused, refraining from making any rash moves.
Mo Rubin, after his initial shock, naturally noticed the discrepancies between the figure before him and his old acquaintance.
After a moment of careful observation, he made his judgment. "It's him, but not him. He seems to be in some bizarre state of fusion. Could it be that after all these years, Xing Wuque's time was also up, and this is some method he's using to survive?"
But Li Fan saw it differently. This fusion seemed to be dominated by Xu Ke. It was less a method of survival for Xing Wuque and more of an inheritance.
"As expected of a Son of Destiny. To be swept into this desolate place by the echoing star power and still encounter such a fortuitous opportunity."
"If Mo Rubin's earlier speculation was correct, and Xing Wuque has been carrying out the Xuantian King's mission for ten thousand years..."
"Then Xu Ke, because of Mr. Bai's final request, shouldered the responsibility of eternally suppressing the evil thoughts of the Xuanhuang Realm, all alone."
"The two of them are remarkably similar in that regard. Perhaps that similarity is precisely why Xu Ke was able to receive Xing Wuque's inheritance?" Li Fan silently speculated.
Mo Rubin, however, shook his head slightly. "This new body is far too weak. It can't possibly bear the full extent of Xing Wuque's power. But we can help!"
As he spoke, Mo Rubin flicked out a demonic heart.
As it flees towards its target, the originally hideous expression on the heart slowly melted away.
It transformed into a featureless face, then dissolved completely into a viscous, gray liquid.
In an instant, it seeped into Xu Ke's body.
A moment later, Xu Ke's fluctuating aura began to stabilize.
"The Myriad Demonic Hearts can not only harm and possess others but also suppress calamities and save lives. Truly a remarkable immortal art from the Divine Witch Realm," Li Fan remarked with admiration. Not to be outdone, he shot out dozens of golden needles.
Just as he had done for Mo Rubin before, he channeled pure spiritual energy and soul power through the golden threads.
With the combined aid of two powerful experts, Xu Ke's fusion with the bronze mask accelerated a thousandfold!
A process that should have taken decades to fully absorb the inheritance was now nearing completion in a short time.
Before long, Xu Ke's aura had gradually settled.
Li Fan and Mo Rubin waited in silence.
Finally, two beams of light shone from the eyes of the mask.
Seeing the two men before him, Xu Ke's body trembled slightly.
"Saint Teacher?!" he cried out instinctively, his voice filled with astonishment.
His tone and cadence were completely different from the Xu Ke of the past, but the content of his words undoubtedly revealed the true identity of the figure before them.
"Hmm?" Hearing a familiar voice speak unfamiliar words, Mo Rubin paused for a moment before finally turning to look at Li Fan.
Only then did Li Fan put on a similar look of shock. "Xu Ke? How can it be you?!" he asked in disbelief.
He acted as if he hadn't noticed a thing before.
Mo Rubin, however, asked coldly, "You are not Xing Wuque? What have you done to him?"
A dangerous glint flashed in his eyes, and it was only because of Xu Ke's apparent connection to Li Fan that he hadn't attacked immediately.
"Senior Xing... he had already reached his limit and passed away long ago."
"By a fortunate coincidence, I found this mask and passed his trial. I suppose I have barely managed to inherit his legacy," Xu Ke said, his tone tinged with sorrow.
Xu Ke then explained the entire sequence of events.
It was just as Li Fan had surmised. Perhaps Xing Wuque had initially intended to possess a new body, but upon sensing Xu Ke's life story, one so similar to his own, he ultimately gave up that idea.
The fusion became an inheritance.
"Senior's legacy is simply too vast. Even though he opened it up for me to absorb, I was unable to accept it all at once. Instead, my mind became unstable..."
"Thankfully, you two seniors came to my aid." Xu Ke bowed deeply.
Hearing the voice of a former comrade speak to him with such deference, Mo Rubin felt a sudden wave of unfamiliarity.
Li Fan, however, went straight to the point, asking about Xing Wuque's connection to the underground rivers of the Star Sea.
"It seems Senior Xing intentionally erased memories related to that from the inheritance."
"But from certain memory fragments, I can deduce the general idea."
"This entire network of underground rivers that crisscrosses the Star Sea was dug, inch by inch, by Senior Xing over these long years, using the power of the immortal treasure, the Azure Nether Pearl," Xu Ke revealed, stunning both Li Fan and Mo Rubin into silence.
"The underground river system winds through the entire Star Sea. It's truly difficult to imagine that such an undertaking could be accomplished by a single person. But even though he deliberately erased those memories, countless fragments of him carving out the rivers remain, which undoubtedly proves his achievement," Xu Ke said with profound sorrow.
"Ever since Senior Xing received the Xuantian King's order, he has been carrying out this work, wielding the Azure Nether Pearl."
"For ten thousand years, he never stopped for a single moment."
"Even with his transcendent cultivation, channeling the immortal treasure was an immense burden. Ten thousand years without rest, the cumulative strain of his persistence finally pushed him to his limit..."
"He passed away with regret, here at the end of this underground river," Xu Ke narrated mournfully.
Li Fan remained silent.
Although it sounded utterly incomprehensible...
If Xing Wuque was truly the man Mo Rubin had described...
It wasn't impossible.
Mo Rubin was even more shaken, opening and closing his mouth several times, unable to speak.
He looked ahead, at the end of the underground chasm. "Xing Wuque... he died without completing the task Brother Xuanyuan gave him?"
Xu Ke nodded. "And that is what I must continue to do for the rest of my life. Since I have inherited Senior Xing's legacy, I must naturally help him fulfill his final wish."
His tone was level, yet unshakably resolute.
Upon hearing this, Mo Rubin's expression shifted, and he looked at Xu Ke with sheer astonishment.
"Absurd..."
"Putting aside the meaning of this task, the Azure Nether Pearl is already shattered. With your current cultivation, how can you possibly carve out new rivers?"
Xu Ke remained unwavering. "To see Senior Xing's obsession through to the end is meaning enough."
"As for the shattered immortal treasure..."
A brilliant azure light suddenly bloomed from the mask on Xu Ke's face.
It was the very same light Li Fan had seen on the Azure Nether Pearl itself!
"In his millennia of excavation, Senior Xing had already transformed the act of carving these rivers into a personal instinct. Now that he has passed it on to me, I can do it even without the immortal treasure!"
"It is merely a repetition of the last ten thousand years!"
A faint azure ray shot out from the mask.
It illuminated the darkness at the end of the river.
As Mo Rubin and Li Fan watched, a new section of the chasm was indeed carved out before their very eyes!
But after advancing less than ten meters, the azure light suddenly cut off.
Xu Ke collapsed to the ground, completely exhausted.
"At this rate, how long will it take you? An eternity?" Li Fan couldn't help but scoff.
"As long as I make progress each time, the day of completion will eventually come," Xu Ke said with a strained smile.
"Just as Senior Xing said, the Xuantian King's instructions must have their meaning."
(End of Chapter)
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