Chapter 1386: A Mortal Glimpse of the Immortal Realm
Chapter 1386: A Mortal Glimpse of the Immortal Realm
In the small world, the constant threat of extinction brought on by the stone stele had ignited the You Clan's procreative drive, pushing it to unprecedented heights.
With their primal instincts thoroughly roused, it was clear that their rate of reproduction would soon double.
"The only factors limiting their expansion are resources and time."
"This constitution of theirs..."
Li Fan's eyes glinted as he casually seized a member of the You Clan for study, comparing them to their predecessors from his last life.
"As the seal gradually weakens, their ancestral reversion isn't a linear progression. On the contrary, the enhancements become more dramatic the further along it gets."
Li Fan carefully controlled the level of energy he projected, constantly probing their limits.
He discovered that the vitality of this new generation of the You Clan was terrifyingly potent.
"Even a robust adult of the You Clan, brimming with vitality, could take a direct hit from a Foundation Establishment cultivator and survive. Given their resilience, as long as they weren't killed on the spot, it wouldn't be long before they were back on their feet, as vigorous as ever..."
Li Fan shook his head slightly, extinguishing the thought that had just flickered in his mind. "This is as far as it can go for now."
"It's not that I fear the You Clan could ever truly threaten me. No matter how strong they become, they are powerless before the leg bone of the Nameless True Immortal. My real concern is the first Xuanhuang Great Heavenly Venerate..."
"Reviving through a descendant's bloodline isn't an impossibility. It's best to be cautious."
"As for how to ensure I can use the Nameless True Immortal's leg bone to deduce the complete [Immortal-Mortal Transformation] in this life..."
Li Fan glanced at the blurry imprints on the stone stele.
"The True Immortal's transformation is a fleeting opportunity—miss it once, and it's gone forever. If I fail to perceive it in its entirety upon first contact, I will never get another chance to comprehend it in this lifetime..."
"Once the deduction of the Nameless True Immortal's leg bone is more than halfway complete, I will personally immerse myself in the You Clan's bloodline to grasp its mysteries."
"As I comprehend it, I will directly channel everything I see and feel into the stele. While I am forbidden from remembering, the Nameless True Immortal's bone should not be bound by such a limitation."
A plan began to crystallize in Li Fan's mind.
Below, the stone statue worshipped by the You Clan as their savior was already channeling a continuous stream of Source Power Essence to Li Fan.
As the You Clan's constitution grew stronger, the quantity and quality of the Source Power Essence generated by each individual's prayers far surpassed anything before.
In this life, Li Fan would not have to worry about a shortage of Source Power Essence.
Golden light flowed as Li Fan deployed another layer of immortal array protection around the Nameless True Immortal's leg bone.
He then activated the [Fabrication, Hundred States of Sentient Beings Array], generating a Fabricated Heaven Personality to oversee every movement within the small world.
With these precautions in place, Li Fan nodded in satisfaction and departed.
Over the next six months, Li Fan utilized his inexhaustible supply of Source Power Essence to deploy immortal arrays across the majority of the small worlds within the Xuanhuang Realm.
His first goal was to accelerate the reintegration of these small worlds into the Xuanhuang Realm, paving the way for its future ascension into an immortal domain.
His second was to gain better control over all these realms, allowing him to search for suitable "candidates" to forge an Eternal Remnant Will.
In his last life, Li Fan had attempted to use Kou Hong, a Most Sincere Seeker of the Dao, to cultivate an artificial Eternal Remnant Will. Though he ultimately failed, the experience had given him a certain degree of inspiration.
In truth, the fact that [Truth] had been able to partially devour Kou Hong's remnant will suggested that he was not far from creating a genuine Eternal Remnant Will.
He was perhaps just one final step away.
Li Fan mused that perhaps the tempering period had been too short, the conditions not yet ripe.
"The most profound emotions don't fade with time. Instead, they grow ever more vivid. The more they are scoured by the river of time, the more brilliant and crystalline they become," Li Fan reflected, a thoughtful expression in his eyes.
"I may not yet command the power to bend time, but I can use illusion arrays to create a reality that is just as convincing."
"This life, I will gather enough 'seeds.' Then, I will cast them all into the [Illusory, Myriad Beings of Xuanhuang] Grand Array!"
"If I plant enough seeds, I refuse to believe that not a single one will ripen!"
A sharp glint flashed in Li Fan's eyes. "If not for the visions I experienced when [Truth] devoured Kou Hong's remnant will in my last life, my temperament would have likely driven me to stubbornly attempt Dao Integration regardless of the risks."
"The Eternal Remnant Will is far too important; it's capable of unlocking unknown functions within [Truth]."
"Equally important are the relics Sun Piao Miao left behind: the trident tree and the passage figurines from the Immortal Boat. I just don't know if they'll still be of any use to [Truth] in this lifetime..."
The Immortal Boat commanded the power of True Immortal Script, and its Hundred Rumors Immortal Record held an endless trove of treasures. Most notably, it could even control an ancient Desolate God.
Until [Truth] was fully charged, Li Fan had no intention of recklessly provoking them.
"With my current supply of Source Power Essence, I can deploy an immortal array to eliminate enemies at a moment's notice."
"But when it comes to my most lethal divine ability, it is still the [Nine Heavens Descending Dust Finger]."
On the Lecture Stage in the Great Xuan Kingdom, three figures lay in a deep slumber.
One adult and two children; two male, one female.
The youngest figure was, of course, Ou Shangtian.
The other two were much like him; the Foundation Establishment Wonders within their bodies were also suspected to have originated from the remains of a True Immortal.
"In my last life, I witnessed many visions from within the True Immortal's flesh and blood."
"I wonder if I'll be able to see even more this time."
The wonder within Ou Shangtian was the Qiankun Bone Hand.
The other two, a man and a woman, possessed the Wind-Treading Foot and the Pupil of Divine Illusions, respectively.
The Wind-Treading Foot not only granted its user divine speed, allowing them to ride the wind, but it could also absorb the fortune and destiny of every person they killed. It enabled one to use all living beings as stepping stones, ascending to the heavens one step at a time to look down upon the world.
The Pupil of Divine Illusions could not only pierce through all worldly falsehoods but could also spontaneously generate visions at critical junctures—be they warnings of the future or the location of hidden treasures nearby. In short, its wondrous applications were endless.
In fact, when Li Fan had moved to capture the female cultivator who possessed the Pupil, she seemed to have sensed his intent before he even acted, her expression changing dramatically. However, the chasm in power between them was so immense that even with her forewarning, she had no time to react before he seized her.
The three bearers of these supreme treasures floated silently in the air.
Li Fan, meanwhile, had finally completed his preparations.
With strokes as fluid as a dragon in flight, the character for [Ancient] suddenly materialized in the air.
A mystical power that reversed the flow of time radiated from it, illuminating the True Immortal remains within the three bodies.
Flesh and blood began to well up from the bones, that of the True Immortal.
It was as if the long-dead True Immortal was about to return to life.
Li Fan manipulated strands of golden thread like ropes, drawing the three masses of flesh toward one another.
As if drawn by a common origin, they snapped together while still some distance apart.
Li Fan gazed at the constantly writhing, malformed mass of flesh nearby, and a character he had long prepared drifted into existence.
This was no True Immortal Script, but rather an array inscribed by Li Fan himself.
The array was connected to the small world of the You Clan.
The Fabricated Heaven Personality that presided over that world was responsible for taking any fallout from this side and channeling it into the Faceless Immortal's leg bone.
The array had not yet fully unfurled, leaking just a whisper of its aura.
The grotesque mass of flesh began to tremble violently, as if it had encountered some terrifying monster. It recoiled swiftly, trying to flee.
But how could Li Fan let it escape? He manipulated the character, which drifted down and effortlessly suppressed the mass.
Even without a full connection to the array, the character alone was enough to pin the True Immortal's flesh in place.
It was as if all spirituality had been drained from it in an instant, leaving it an inert, unmoving pile of flesh.
Holding another character in his hand, Li Fan slowly drifted closer.
Under the suppressive aura—most likely that of the Faceless Immortal—the True Immortal's flesh showed no unusual reaction to Li Fan's approach, despite him being a mere mortal.
It remained quiescent, allowing Li Fan to probe and examine it at will.
Its various strange properties seemed to have been completely neutralized.
Li Fan nodded slightly and sent a sliver of his divine sense probing into the True Immortal's flesh.
Boom!
After all, Li Fan was not the Nameless True Immortal himself.
He was merely borrowing the tiger's might; he could only suppress the True Immortal's flesh on the surface. When a mortal truly attempted to probe the immortal, the inevitable backlash would still descend.
But this time, perhaps because Li Fan had glimpsed these memories before, the backlash he suffered was far weaker than during his first encounter in the previous life.
His hair didn't turn white in an instant; his life force was merely draining away at two or three times the normal rate of aging.
This was entirely within an acceptable range for Li Fan.
His expression detached, Li Fan watched the scenes that unfolded before his mind's eye.
At first, the visions were similar, related to the ones he had seen in his previous life.
"...Qionglang Star Domain... Annihilation... stand guard..."
"...Target located."
"Your subject accepts this command."
It was still a conversation from the Immortal Realm.
This time, however, he also witnessed the True Immortal's final, lingering glance before departing the Immortal Realm.
And so, Li Fan was able to see the legendary Immortal Realm with his own eyes.
It was like a vast ocean from which countless waves crested simultaneously. Each whitecap, each fleck of foam, was a star domain within the Immortal Realm.
Within these star domains, True Immortals were as rare as the morning stars. The vast majority of what existed were their creations.
The image of a magnificent, sacred palace appeared simultaneously within every single wave.
Seated within the palace was a great personage who seemed to command an entire region of the Immortal Realm.
Even the True Immortal descending to the mortal world dared not gaze upon this figure directly.
The memory contained only a faint silhouette.
The sea of stars churned, and all the waves vanished beneath the horizon.
The True Immortal had arrived in the lower realm—the Xuanhuang Realm.
...
Even that fleeting glimpse, that brief vision of the boundless, vibrant Immortal Realm, was enough to make Li Fan's spirit soar.
"Legend says the Immortal Realm is a supreme sanctuary of infinite resources. It seems the stories were true."
"That ocean... it's simply too vast! Each wave contained a star domain that was practically infinite!"
"It's utterly beyond comprehension!"
Li Fan's mind reeled, his brow furrowed tightly. This glimpse of the Immortal Realm had completely shattered his understanding of the world.
The memories of the True Immortal continued to unfold.
He was standing guard over the Xuanhuang Realm, apparently waiting for something.
The sea of stars ebbed and flowed. An unknown amount of time passed.
The True Immortal's heart began to stir with impatience.
"Five hundred years have passed since the prophesied time."
"It still hasn't appeared..."
The constant tremor in the vision was a testament to the True Immortal's inner turmoil.
"I will wait a little longer."
In the Xuanhuang Realm, suns rose and moons set. More time, impossible to measure, passed by.
"Fifteen hundred years."
"This is well beyond any margin of error..."
"My worst fear has come to pass. That thing..."
"It's not coming."
As this thought surfaced, the entire world seemed to dim to a dull gray. As if his last hope had been snatched away, the True Immortal closed his eyes, his heart flooding with endless despair.
But then, some other thought must have occurred to him, for the despair in his consciousness began to recede.
"The great personages have their plans."
"And ants have their own ways of survival."
"..."
The True Immortal's gaze swept across the Xuanhuang Realm and the entire sea of stars as they were then.
Boom! The vision suddenly shattered.
...
"A True Immortal... and still just an ant?"
"Then who are these 'great personages' he spoke of?"
"The Nameless True Immortals?"
"Is the gap between them and other True Immortals truly so vast?" Li Fan's mind trembled once more.
A True Immortal's own memories were, of course, a thousand times more credible than baseless speculation.
Thus, Li Fan began to form a preliminary understanding of the Immortal Realm.
As he delved into these memories, his lifespan began to drain two to three times faster than before.
Streaks of gray appeared in his hair, but Li Fan did not stop his probing.
He had a premonition that the most crucial piece of information was about to be revealed.
...
The vision shifted again. The True Immortal was no longer looking down upon the Xuanhuang Realm.
Instead, he was sitting at a stone table beside a pond, sharing tea with another person.
The figure was blurry and indistinct.
But judging by the True Immortal's deferential posture, the other party was undoubtedly a figure of immense importance.
What shocked Li Fan even more was the pond beside the stone table—he recognized it.
It was the Fishing Pond!
A voice emerged from the opposing figure.
The True Immortal nodded respectfully again and again, but no trace of the voice remained in the memory.
After the tea was finished, the figure opposite him faded away.
The tension that had gripped the True Immortal finally eased.
The stone table, the chair, even the cup of tea he had just finished—all vanished along with the figure.
It was as if the entire encounter had been a dream that had never truly happened.
Yet Li Fan could feel the exhilaration rising in the True Immortal's emotions.
The True Immortal gazed at the calm surface of the pond.
With a flick of his finger, he tossed a ball of light into its depths.
The orb of light entered the water without a ripple, swallowed and gone in an instant.
The True Immortal closed his eyes, as if sensing something.
After a long while, he slowly walked to the water's edge.
He looked down at his own reflection.
Boom!
A face appeared in Li Fan's mind.
The mass of True Immortal flesh, suppressed by the Nameless Immortal's leg bone, suddenly began to thrash violently.
Li Fan's hair instantly turned shot through with gray.
He was violently ejected from the memory.
"It's just physical aging. I still have over three hundred years of life left. Nothing to worry about."
"The flesh's violent reaction also subsided quickly. It must have just been a brief resonance, triggered by the appearance of the True Immortal's face in the memory."
Li Fan quickly assessed the situation.
The mass of flesh was once again docile, firmly suppressed by the Nameless True Immortal's leg bone.
Li Fan, however, had yet to recover from what he had just witnessed, his expression distant and dazed.
In the reflection on the Fishing Pond's surface, he had seen the True Immortal's face.
But what left him bewildered and horrified was that the face... was identical to his own.
(End of Chapter)
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