Chapter 1385: The Stele Reveals an Immortal Script
Chapter 1385: The Stele Reveals an Immortal Script
Had this been before his last regression, Li Fan would never have dared take such a personal risk with the mere stone fragment that flew from the Wordless Stele, not before [Truth] had fully recharged.
But now, the leg bone of the Nameless True Immortal had become a bound item of [Truth].
Li Fan had seen with his own eyes how the leg bone became completely motionless, as if stripped of its spiritual essence, the moment it entered the white mists of [Truth]. He was confident that an accessory of [Truth] could never harm him.
He carefully examined the object before him.
If not for the prompt from [Truth], Li Fan would never have guessed that this round, fist-sized stone fragment was actually the leg bone of some unknown and formidable being.
"Unlike the complete Southern Immortal Heavenly Pillar, looking at its surface doesn't flood my mind with insights. It just seems like an ordinary stone..."
Li Fan didn't approach it, observing from a distance instead.
"A Nameless True Immortal is a being beyond the level of a True Immortal. They have completely mastered a path of the Dao and transcended. They are unknowable and imperceptible to mortals."
"Could it be that the Dao this Nameless True Immortal mastered was stripped away? That the being itself was slaughtered, its skeleton refined into pillars to support the heavens?" Li Fan's imagination ran wild.
But even facing an unremarkable piece of bone, Li Fan did not let his guard down.
The bones of a True Immortal beneath the Gloomy Sea of Darkness could give rise to a "Will to Survive." Who knew what kind of monstrous thing the remains of a Nameless True Immortal could produce?
However, the reason Li Fan had so eagerly taken it out for study was to verify a certain suspicion.
In his previous life, after he threw the white ring, Falling into the Mortal Dust, at the Wordless Stele, the two characters for [Primal] had manifested upon it.
Every detail of the [Primal] characters had been perfectly presented in his mind, as if magnified countless times.
One must understand that the True Immortal Script was, in essence, an alternative manifestation of the Great Dao, not something that could be easily comprehended. Even a True Immortal from the Immortal Ruins had to meditate for ten thousand years just to comprehend the character for [Hunger].
Even for peerless prodigies among mortals, like the elders of the Immortal Boat through the ages, just reproducing the original appearance of the True Immortal Script required the cumulative wisdom of successive generations, with each passing the torch to the next.
A natural chasm separated the True Immortal Script from mortal existence, preventing any inquiry from mortals.
Someone as fortunate as Li Fan had seen a considerable number of True Immortal Scripts. However, most were imitations of the script belonging to the "What Matter" Immortal, the one responsible for the great calamity in the Star Sea.
Originally, Li Fan had believed that what he had learned already captured eighty to ninety percent of their true essence. But at the end of his last life, a single stroke on the Wordless Stele, etched with True Immortal Script, had jolted him awake.
He realized that his understanding was still a far cry from the original form of the Great Dao's laws!
"Of all the True Immortal Scripts I know, the ones I learned later, [Primal] and [Hunger], are the closest to the fundamental source. My understanding of [Primal] is even deeper than that of [Hunger]! I only witnessed [Hunger] as an observer outside the Immortal Realm. But [Primal]..."
"...was projected directly into my mind!"
A glimmer flashed in Li Fan's eyes.
"The Wordless Stele is like an analytical engine, breaking down all things into their most primordial state and manifesting them as True Immortal Script. And personally throwing an item in seems to grant an extra bonus..."
"Isn't this the perfect, natural artifact for learning the True Immortal Script?" The thought sent a surge of excitement through Li Fan. Though he prided himself on his usual composure, he found it difficult to suppress his thrill at that moment.
"Even as just a fragment of the Wordless Stele, this leg bone's ability to deduce the True Immortal Script far surpasses that of the entire Mysterious Immortal Boat!"
"It will be an immense help in my quest to master as many True Immortal Scripts as possible!"
Li Fan stared at the nearby leg bone, his eyes burning with intensity and his heart surging with emotion.
The True Immortal Script wasn't just significant for mortals; it remained so even after one became a True Immortal. To advance further, a True Immortal still had to study it deeply, choosing a suitable Dao path in pursuit of the [Nameless] state.
"Of course, what manifests on this fragment of the Wordless Stele might not be the pure True Immortal Script that represents the primordial laws of the Great Dao."
"It's more like..."
"...that Nameless True Immortal's own comprehension of all the Great Daos in the mortal world."
"Unless... this Nameless True Immortal is the legendary [Inscription Immortal]..."
Li Fan's train of thought came to a sudden halt.
He carefully considered the implications if that were true, but the truth was still too distant for him. For now, he silently buried these thoughts deep within his heart.
"The perspective of a Nameless True Immortal naturally far surpasses my own. What it inscribed, even if not the Great Dao itself, must be nearly identical. It will suffice as my teacher for a long time to come."
"My idea is sound, but manifesting the True Immortal Script on the Wordless Stele will be no easy task. After all, this is just a leg bone, not the Nameless True Immortal in person. I'll need to gather a sufficient amount of material..."
Li Fan mused, recalling the scenes from his previous life.
"Falling into the Mortal Dust is unfathomably mysterious in itself, so it was expected that it would manifest a character on its own."
"The crucial part was the Hunger Immortal. He exhausted all his strength just to barely manifest the character for [Hunger] on the stele..."
Li Fan's brow furrowed slightly. "With ordinary methods, I could probably sacrifice the entire Darkest Star Sea and still not manifest many useful characters."
"But no matter. I brought this leg bone out precisely to deal with those strange and bizarre things."
A cold glint flashed in Li Fan's eyes.
In his last two lives, Li Fan had witnessed two great upheavals in the Star Sea. The first was when the Cat Treasure attracted forces from beyond the High Wall; the second was when the Immortal Realm descended with its Heavenly Pillars. These overwhelming, world-ending crises forced all the hidden powers in the Star Sea out into the open. They exhausted every means to ensure their own safety, and in doing so, allowed Li Fan to see them all clearly.
"Right now, in the entire Darkest Star Sea, only a few things can truly threaten me."
"Before reaching Dao Integration, exploring and researching them again would likely yield the same results as my last life. But now, with the leg bone of the Nameless True Immortal, things are different."
"No matter how powerful or mysterious they are, can they truly surpass a Nameless True Immortal?!"
Scenes from his past life flashed continuously before Li Fan's eyes.
"Then I'll deal with them one by one!"
The leg bone of the Nameless True Immortal appeared, but a long time passed with no unusual changes.
Only then did Li Fan feel at ease. With a thought, he returned it to the bound space within [Truth].
He then returned to the Xuanhuang Realm and entered the small world where the You Clan lived.
In his previous life, Li Fan had discovered that the You Clan, descendants of the first Xuanhuang Great Heavenly Venerate, seemed to have a True Immortal Script related to the power of the [Immortal-Mortal Transformation] sealed within their bloodline.
However, with his level of strength, he was unable to perceive it in its entirety.
But in this life, with the Wordless Stele, there was no need for Li Fan to act personally.
"As long as I sacrifice enough members of the You Clan, I can truly reproduce the True Immortal Script behind the [Immortal-Mortal Transformation]!"
Looking down at the You Clan, who were neither numerous nor physically strong, Li Fan's expression remained indifferent.
"Their current numbers are far from enough. I still need to set a portion of them aside to provide me with Source Power Essence."
"As the saying goes, to take, one must first give..."
With a gentle wave of his hand, Li Fan did just as he had in his previous life. Revelatory visions concerning the Immortal-Mortal transformation appeared in the minds of several You Clan members below.
They turned to ash for touching upon a taboo, but the physiques of the entire You Clan gradually grew stronger due to a certain degree of atavism.
"Governing a great state is like cooking a small fish. It cannot be rushed."
Li Fan mused to himself and left a sliver of his divine sense to keep watch.
His true body then returned to the small world of the Great Xuan Kingdom.
Falling into the Mortal Dust emerged, turning Jieli Mountain into a void. The Lecture Stage stood tall between heaven and earth, drawing mortals from all over the Great Xuan like moths to a flame.
"In this life, the plan remains unchanged for now. I will still push for the ascension of the Xuanhuang Realm and achieve Dao Integration using the celestial soul of Ink Death."
"Only a few minor details need to be perfected and revised."
"I still need to play the role of a teacher to heaven and earth, letting the myriad living beings comprehend the flaws in the High Wall and scout the path to the Land of Carefree Joy for me."
"Carefree..."
Li Fan's gaze drifted toward the territory of the Five Elders Council, his expression unreadable.
In his last life, when the Wordless Stele appeared, none of the Longevity-stage cultivators from the Five Elders Council, including the Carefree Heavenly Sovereign, had shown themselves.
It was as if they hadn't noticed at all.
But later, when the white mist of [Truth] shrouded everything and only the light of the Wordless Stele shone through, something unusual was illuminated.
"Besides the Hunger Immortal, there were other observers at that time. They had no physical form, only an imperceptible wisp of intent that reached the scene. Within the Star Sea, only a select few are capable of such a feat."
"But to remain undetected by the Hunger Immortal and all the other supreme beings... I can't say for sure what this one's combat prowess is like, but its methods of self-preservation are truly bizarre."
...
"However, with the experience gained from the explorations of the masses in my last life, the speed of exploring the dreamscape in this life will certainly increase."
"No dream, no matter how deep, can withstand my repeated prying through these cycles."
"Hmph... Carefree!"
Slivers of his divine sense flew out to the various small worlds of the Xuanhuang Realm, manifesting into magnificent Lecture Stages that touched the heavens.
Under Li Fan's control, they slowly gave rise to Fabricated Heaven Personalities.
In small worlds that originally had a Heavenly Dao consciousness, he replaced it.
In those that had none, he acted as their Heavenly Dao.
Within Li Fan's sea of consciousness, specks of light slowly began to twinkle into existence.
Each point of light represented a small world within the Xuanhuang Realm.
Li Fan was like a deity, high above it all.
Watching over the countless billions of living beings.
Meanwhile, Li Fan had not forgotten Wuming in the Thirteen Peaks World.
Under Li Fan's guidance, he too had developed the desire to step out and explore the greater world.
However, after the changes he had experienced, Li Fan needed more time to prepare in this life.
For now, Wuming remained in the Thirteen Peaks World, comprehending the Heavenly Dao of his small world.
But Li Fan had already secretly connected this small world to the Heavenly Dao of the Xuanhuang Realm.
What Wuming was comprehending would soon be the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao itself.
Before [Truth] finished recharging, Li Fan did not act rashly. Everything proceeded step-by-step, following a trajectory almost identical to his previous life.
In the blink of an eye, three years had passed since the anchor point.
During these three years, Li Fan focused primarily on the You Clan.
He sent down revelations almost every few days.
The You Clan's collective comprehension of the Immortal-Mortal transformation was already approaching Li Fan's own.
Those of the You Clan who had further unlocked the seals on their bloodline, reverting closer to their origin, displayed a terrifying rate of reproduction.
It took only twenty to thirty days for an infant to reach adulthood.
Furthermore, every member of the You Clan was robust and healthy, seemingly immune to all disease.
In just three short years, their numbers had swelled to fill the entire small world.
Looking at the world's overwhelmed ecosystem, Li Fan decided it was time for the harvest.
Suddenly, dark clouds gathered in the sky.
From a swirling vortex of clouds that radiated an overwhelming aura, a stone stele crashed to the earth.
Its immense pressure instantly crushed tens of thousands of You Clan members to death.
Rivers of blood gurgled and flowed, surging toward the stele.
Their corpses dissolved into streams of light and flew into the stone.
Just as Li Fan had predicted, blurry phantoms began to manifest on the stele's surface.
However, the material it had absorbed was still too scarce; it was a long way from revealing the True Immortal Script in its entirety.
The appearance of the stele shocked the entire You Clan.
After several attempts to test it and confirming its danger, the entire clan chose to flee the area enveloped by the stele's power.
But how could Li Fan let them have their way?
In the space of a single breath, a formation sucked most of the You Clan into the stele.
They were transformed into fuel for the deduction of the True Immortal Script.
The range of the formation continued to expand, threatening to swallow the entire You Clan.
Soon, only a small corner of the world remained, where about eight thousand members of the You Clan survived.
The inexplicable arrival of this devastating disaster left the survivors terrified.
Just then, Li Fan sent out a dark phantom, which blocked the path of the expanding formation.
The dark phantom erupted with wisps of gloom.
It forced back the man-eating formation.
The survivors of the catastrophe wept with joy. They spontaneously fell to their knees in prayer.
As if sensing their devotion, the phantom once again forced the formation to retreat.
It bought the You Clan enough space to survive.
Then, as if exhausted, it turned into a stone statue and fell into the You Clan's settlement.
The members of the You Clan quickly gathered around to protect the statue.
Li Fan, watching from above the small world, nodded slightly at the scene.
"Whenever the You Clan has multiplied sufficiently, the formation will harvest a wave."
"This way, I can both satisfy my consumption of Source Power Essence and have enough material for the Nameless True Immortal's leg bone to deduce the [Immortal-Mortal Transformation]."
At this thought, Li Fan couldn't help but look at the stele standing in the center of the small world.
The leg bone of the Nameless True Immortal was not nearly so large, of course; he had merely set up a formation around it as a disguise.
After absorbing ninety percent of the You Clan, the changes on the leg bone were quite apparent.
Continuous golden patterns had appeared on its surface.
"This character seems even more complex than [Creation] and [Primal]."
"And, besides its complexity..."
Li Fan pondered, his expression unreadable.
"There's also a hint of sacred, majestic aura within it."
Comparing this to his experience from his last life, Li Fan estimated that at the current rate, it would still take over a hundred years to reveal the complete True Immortal Script.
"Too slow."
"Do I need to unlock more of the You Clan's bloodline seals?"
Comments