Chapter 1376: The Celestial Soul of Ink Death
Chapter 1376: The Celestial Soul of Ink Death
Li Fan remained at the edge of the high wall, still reeling from the sudden, cataclysmic turn of events.
The eighteen Star Spirits had abruptly abandoned the Immortal Boat at the most critical juncture, just as it was about to breach the high wall.
He was certain this was not of their own volition.
The elders' devotion to the Immortal Boat was beyond question; they would have unhesitatingly sacrificed their lives for its survival.
"It must have been the fundamental consciousness of the Star Sea," Li Fan mused. "It sensed something in that instant."
Li Fan's eyes narrowed. Wary, he retreated a considerable distance from the wall.
"The consciousness of the Star Sea acts on pure instinct; it doesn't engage in human-like bluffs. It seems an unknown, immense terror truly did descend just now."
"And yet, despite witnessing the entire event, I remained completely oblivious."
An image surfaced in Li Fan's mind.
It was from before his transmigration, a time he had strolled along a boardwalk over the water in a wetland park.
Walking along it, he could see the underwater world with perfect clarity through transparent panels. The view was entirely different from the terrestrial landscape, offering a unique and fascinating perspective.
The fish below would gather and draw near the glass walls.
The younger ones, oblivious even when tourists pressed their faces against the glass to watch, continued to dart and play.
But the larger, older ones were far more perceptive. They would sense the danger before a person even drew near, fleeing with a flick of their tails into the murky depths.
...
How chillingly similar that scene was to what had just transpired!
The resurfacing memory sent a belated chill down Li Fan's spine.
"My current strength is still that of a young fish, unable to perceive the looming crisis."
"Perhaps only those at the Star Sea level—or, to be precise, the Supreme Realm at the very limit of the Star Sea—could be considered the adult fish."
"But regardless of which they were, compared to the silent, watching eyes from beyond the high wall..."
At this thought, Li Fan's expression darkened, his vigilance toward the world beyond the wall sharpening.
"Beyond the wall... I wonder if the Mysterious Immortal Boat actually managed to break through in its desperate final gamble."
Li Fan carefully recalled the connection he had maintained with the boat, focusing on the very instant it vanished.
After a long moment, his expression shifted. To confirm his suspicions, he cautiously returned to the vicinity of the high wall.
He split off a thread of his divine sense and sent it hurtling toward the invisible barrier.
It was a futile gesture, like an egg striking a stone.
The moment it struck the wall, the fragile thread of consciousness was obliterated by the rebounding force.
Undeterred, Li Fan continued, sending out one thread of divine sense after another.
Finally, after tens of thousands of attempts, he began to perceive a subtle difference.
"The way my sense vanished upon impact with the wall is different from how the connection to the Immortal Boat disappeared."
"When my sense was destroyed by the wall, I could still faintly perceive the process of its annihilation. Even though it was incredibly brief, requiring tens of thousands of repetitions to notice, it was still a process. It was nothing like the instantaneous vanishment that occurred when the boat crossed the barrier."
"The Mysterious Immortal Boat succeeded! It truly broke through the high wall's blockade!"
Li Fan felt a profound shock.
"The combined power of eighteen Star Spirits, the boundless energy of the Star Sea, and the explosive force from the fused True Immortal Scripts... it truly granted them the power to transcend in a single moment."
The Mysterious Immortal Boat's success finally gave Li Fan a glimmer of hope for crossing the wall himself.
The methods used this time could be replicated.
For a moment, a surge of excitement washed over him.
But the thought of what happened after the boat crossed the wall quickly extinguished that flicker of joy.
"Once it crossed, all perception was lost. A success like that is no different from a failure in my eyes."
"Beyond the wall, there are clearly numerous dangers. There are even unknown forces coveting and hunting True Immortals. I will not, under any circumstances, rush blindly into that unknown."
Prioritizing his own safety was Li Fan's most fundamental principle. He would never compromise it for some fleeting advantage. Of course, unforeseen accidents during the execution of that principle were another matter entirely.
"I have to find a method that allows me to maintain a connection, even from the other side of the wall."
"Perhaps that can only be achieved by understanding the fundamental nature of the wall itself."
He turned his gaze toward the only known flaw in the barrier.
Suddenly, an idea struck him, and he drew slightly closer once more.
He carefully observed the spot where the Mysterious Immortal Boat had vanished, extending his senses.
Fine golden threads spread out around him like liquid quicksilver. It was the technique he had learned from the Heavenly Doctor in the illusion array, a method for peering into the high wall's secrets.
After a long while, Li Fan retracted the golden threads, his expression turning subtle. "Even though the Mysterious Immortal Boat broke through, I still can't sense any breach in the wall."
"And yet, a single mental transmission from the Xuantian King ages ago was able to leave an eternal mark on this very wall?"
"It seems the wall's blockade is significantly weaker against non-corporeal forms. If I want to establish communication across the barrier, this might be the key."
Li Fan's current peak combat strength was primarily focused on his True False Transformation ability and various immortal arrays. Matters of the spirit and soul were not his forte.
"Wuyou... the Land of Carefree Joy." Suddenly, Li Fan thought of that Celestial Venerable of Longevity back in the Xuanhuang Realm.
"I wonder how far the Land of Carefree Joy has spread throughout the Star Sea. Has it reached the boundary of the high wall yet?"
The disciples of the Medicine King Sect and the inhabitants of countless small worlds were still continuing their exploration of that dreamscape.
However, the Land of Carefree Joy was an impossibly vast dream world, and all newcomers had to explore its depths step by step.
Even the pioneers, Sun Erlang's trio, had only just reached the sixth level of the dream. It was still far too early to uncover the dreamscape's true secrets.
Nevertheless, Li Fan was confident. Even if this lifetime yielded no major breakthroughs, the experience gained—combined with the endless stream of explorers venturing into its depths—meant that the complete unraveling of the dream's mysteries could not be far off.
"Ultimately, it all comes down to my own lack of strength. Otherwise, I wouldn't need to pin my hopes on Wuyou," Li Fan sighed to himself.
"Perhaps after I achieve Dao Integration with the Xuanhuang Celestial Soul in this life, the situation will improve."
"However..."
Li Fan's gaze shifted back toward the wall. "It's highly likely that when the Xuanhuang Realm ascends to become an Immortal Realm, that gaze from beyond the wall will return. I must prepare in advance to buy as much time as possible."
Fortunately, the events of his last life—when the Cat Treasure's capture of an immortal caused the wall to collapse and the Star Sea to fall into turmoil—provided him with a valuable precedent.
"This time, an entire realm is ascending into an Immortal Domain. The disturbance it causes might be even greater. To be safe, I must complete the devouring of the Celestial Soul in less than half the time it took for the last cataclysm to unfold."
"The Celestial Soul of Heaven and Earth... though the name is different, its fundamental nature remains unchanged. It is born to fulfill a heavenly mandate."
"To complete the assimilation as quickly as possible, the Soul of Heaven and Earth must manifest swiftly."
Having operated in the Xuanhuang Realm for so long, and being capable of using the 'False Claiming Heavenly Geography' technique to summon a Soul of Heaven and Earth out of thin air, Li Fan was intimately familiar with all their various forms.
"The time it takes for a Soul of Heaven and Earth to manifest after being triggered by the world's will varies greatly. Across a hundred reincarnations, the one I've seen descend most swiftly is..."
"...Ink Death!"
A sharp glint flashed in Li Fan's eyes.
He recalled the lifetime when Zhang Haobo, with his Twenty-Eight Swords of the Cloud Sea, furiously slew Crimson Flame to become the youngest Dao Integration Venerable in the history of the Xuanhuang Realm. The very instant after his breakthrough, he was tragically cut down by Ink Death.
Ink Death was deployed by the world's will almost at the exact moment Crimson Flame was slain.
"Unlike other Souls of Heaven and Earth, Ink Death is part of the world's fundamental operating mechanism. It's likely in a constant, latent state, ready to be activated instantly. This is probably an adaptation the Xuanhuang Realm developed on its own after being stitched together from external fragments." Li Fan quickly understood.
"Ink Death will likely undergo its transformation from a Soul of Heaven and Earth into a Celestial Soul of Heaven and Earth in sync with the Xuanhuang Realm's ascension. Furthermore, its actual combat strength ranks among the most powerful of all the world's souls."
"It's the perfect choice." Li Fan nodded slightly, his mind already set on his target.
"The matter of the Immortal Boat is settled. It's time to return and meticulously prepare for the final ascension of the Xuanhuang Realm." He felt the power of the Star Spirit he had acquired in the Star Sea, sealed by an immortal array within his body.
His confidence in the plan grew a little stronger.
Just as he was about to depart on his Wooden Sword, another disturbance arose at the edge of the high wall.
This time, it came not from the wall itself, but from the entrance to the deep crevasse.
A massive surge of life force erupted from within.
It shot upwards like a geyser, erupting into the Star Sea.
Riding this wave of energy, a figure shot out, escaping from the depths.
Li Fan took a closer look and saw that it was none other than Qiaogong, who had been missing for a long time!
Qiaogong had been caught in the storm of echoing star power and trapped in the labyrinthine crevasse, his whereabouts unknown ever since. Li Fan had been unable to contact him, though he could vaguely sense that his aura was stable and his life wasn't in danger. He hadn't expected him to finally escape the maze now.
Qiaogong seemed ecstatic about his escape, flailing his arms and shouting for joy.
Li Fan extended a hand and pulled the man directly to his side.
The world blurred and shifted around him. Thinking he had escaped one peril only to fall into another, Qiaogong's face went deathly pale.
Only when he recognized Li Fan did he let out a long sigh of relief.
Clearing his throat, Qiaogong composed himself and bowed formally. "Greetings, Saint Teacher."
"It's been a long time," Li Fan said calmly. "I went down to look for you once, but that crevasse is a winding labyrinth that stretches beneath the entire Star Sea. The search was fruitless, so I had to abandon it."
"From the look of it, your misfortune turned into a blessing."
Indeed, compared to before his disappearance, Qiaogong's entire presence had undergone a fundamental transformation. He had clearly experienced some fortuitous encounter within that endless crevasse.
At the mention of this, a proud look crossed Qiaogong's face. "Your insight is as sharp as ever, Saint Teacher. I did indeed have some minor gains."
"Initially, I was panicked to find myself lost in that network of dark rivers. But I soon discovered the place was teeming with life force. Even if I were trapped there for a lifetime, my life would be in no danger. That was a great relief."
"As you know, Saint Teacher, I'm used to being cooped up in my workshop, never setting foot outside. The dark rivers were just a change of scenery. Besides, I still had Shangguan's puppet to vent my frustrations on, so it was never boring..." Qiaogong rambled on.
"Get to the point," Li Fan interjected, his voice firm.
Qiaogong paused, chuckled awkwardly, and continued, "After settling in for a while, I had nothing better to do. Out of curiosity, I began to study the endless network of dark rivers."
"And that's when I stumbled upon its greatest secret!"
His tone grew excited. "Those subterranean rivers are incredibly convoluted. At first, I tried to map them all out in my mind, but with so many branches, I never succeeded."
"But I didn't give up. For a long time, my mind was consumed with the flowing patterns of those rivers."
"Then one day, after I'd broken Shangguan's puppet again, I was preparing to repair it. During the process, on some strange impulse, I incorporated the flowing patterns of the dark rivers from my mind into the puppet's structure! And what happened next... was something I had never seen or heard of before!" As he spoke, Qiaogong licked his lips, a strange glint in his eyes.
Li Fan knew that this "Shangguan puppet" was, in fact, a vessel containing a sealed memory backup of Qiaogong's own master, Elder Shangguan Tuo of the Tianji Realm.
According to the customs of the Tianji Realm, however, a memory backup held no status comparable to the original person and was bound to completely obey the commands of its creator.
Li Fan had long been aware of Qiaogong's rather perverse hobby, but since the man was only amusing himself, he couldn't be bothered to interfere.
But seeing the expression on Qiaogong's face now, Li Fan's interest was piqued.
Qiaogong seemed to savor the memory for a moment before speaking, word by word. "I never would have expected it. After the repairs were done, the puppet—which should have been completely incapable of resistance—not only refused my command, but it began to curse me out..."
"The things it said were... vile. It brought back some very unpleasant memories. I lost my temper and, well, I was a bit rough and broke it again."
"It was only after some time had passed that I came to my senses. And then it hit me—something incredible had happened!"
Li Fan looked thoughtful. "Are you saying that the patterns of the dark rivers somehow activated Shangguan's consciousness?"
Qiaogong shook his head frantically. "It was already a backup of a consciousness; it had a complete sense of self from the start. But it was constrained by the old prohibitions of the Tianji Realm, forced to obey my every command."
"But after I inscribed those patterns, everything changed."
Qiaogong licked his lips again. "The newly born Shangguan was no longer just a memory backup. According to the judgment of the Tianji Realm's prohibitions, it had become Shangguan Tuo himself!"
"Shangguan Tuo has been dead for countless years, so of course, that should be impossible."
"But because of the influence of those mysterious patterns, she was, in a sense, resurrected!"
"And mind you, what I had inscribed was just a tiny, insignificant fraction of the river patterns. It's simply... simply..."
"Unimaginable!" Qiaogong exclaimed in awe.
Hearing Qiaogong's story, Li Fan suddenly understood the true purpose of the dark rivers that spread throughout the Darkest Star Sea.
They were not merely a reservoir of life force.
They were also an incomparably powerful divine ability.
A divine ability capable of granting the entire Darkest Star Sea—sealed behind the high wall—its own independent consciousness.
(End of Chapter)
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