Chapter 1394: The Xuanhuang Realm Changes Anew
Chapter 1394: The Xuanhuang Realm Changes Anew
But it also understood who was in charge of the current situation.
It began to nuzzle against Li Fan’s palm, a clear gesture of goodwill.
“The Tian Beast is a creation of the Immortal Realm. Seeing how eager it is, it seems capable of devouring the immortal chess pieces...”
“The stone that the Xuanhuang Realm cannot swallow raw can be processed through this little tortoise first!”
“Once the little thing is properly fattened up, I’ll slaughter it and offer it to the heavens!”
A glint in his eye, Li Fan instantly withdrew the protective barrier around the immortal chess piece.
The little Tian Beast was ecstatic, gnawing at it with gusto.
A continuous sound, like brittle bone being crushed inch by inch, echoed as Li Fan narrowed his eyes, capturing the dramatic transformation occurring within the immortal chess piece.
They would reveal a corner of the Immortal Realm.
However, the characters contained within a single piece were incomplete, mere fragments that had been cut apart. Thus, when they manifested in the world, they did not present a scene from the bygone Immortal Realm. Only when all the chess pieces were gathered, and these fragments were pieced together into complete True Immortal Seal Characters, would the true Immortal Realm, which held the Southern Immortal Heavenly Pillar, descend upon the world.
But it was, after all, a part of the Immortal Realm.
Simply unfurling and changing its form required a massive amount of energy, let alone destroying it. It was not a feat an ordinary person could accomplish.
Yet now, under the little Tian Beast’s chewing, the fragments of the True Immortal Seal Characters that constituted the chess piece were breaking down even further. They dissolved into minuscule motes of energy, which the little Tian Beast blissfully devoured.
Having only just been born, the little Tian Beast was already feeling quite full after a short while. But looking at the immortal chess piece, which was barely diminished, the little creature was completely unwilling to let go. It stubbornly kept gnawing for a while longer.
Finally, when it truly couldn't eat another bite, it reluctantly pressed the piece beneath its body, terrified that Li Fan might take it back.
After its hearty meal, the little Tian Beast fell into a deep sleep.
The fragments of Immortal Realm law it had swallowed were silently transforming its body.
Its shell grew harder, its body more resilient.
The most remarkable change, however, was in the little Tian Beast’s eyes.
Although they had yet to open, Li Fan could already sense the extraordinary power hidden within.
Even while the Tian Beast slumbered, those eyes seemed to remain vigilant, observing their surroundings. Most of the time, their focus was concentrated on Li Fan, as if they had already detected his malevolent intentions!
“The Tian Beast’s Eye... interesting.”
“Xuantian King fled the Immortal Realm and reaped countless rewards. But whether what he fed his Tian Beast was as good as what I’m providing is another question entirely. After all, I’m feeding it genuine fragments of the Immortal Realm. Even a True Immortal might be reluctant to part with such a thing.”
Li Fan was greatly looking forward to seeing how this Tian Beast would perform once it matured in this life.
It wasn't that he needed the Tian Beast's combat assistance. According to Mo Rubin, a fully grown Tian Beast was only on par with the twelve Law Kings. To Li Fan, that was of little use.
What truly interested Li Fan was the Tian Beast’s Eye.
In his previous life, Li Fan had followed Mo Rubin into the Tian Beast’s Eye and, amidst a world of countless overlapping shadows, had seen a hidden humanoid character.
This character was not the work of the Inscription Immortal, but another attempt to "inscribe the Dao."
Although the perfection and elegance of the inscription could not compare to the Inscription Immortal’s, the Dao law depicted by this character was of such a high order that the humanoid character felt to Li Fan almost as powerful as the Immortal-Mortal Transformation.
“The Tian Beast was formed from a jade pendant, yet it is so lifelike, indistinguishable from a true living being. Such a method...”
Previously, while studying the "form of living beings," Li Fan had faintly guessed that the pattern engraved at the very bottom of the Star Sea originated from this humanoid character.
Now, as he gently stroked the little Tian Beast, comparing the faint aura it exuded with that of Qiu Shui, his suspicion was further confirmed.
“It seems the form of living beings is actually a simplified version of the humanoid character. The methods of the Immortal Realm are beyond what the mortal world can compare to.”
“But even a version simplified who knows how many times is so incredibly complex...”
Remembering what he had seen in the crevice in his past life, Li Fan couldn't help but frown slightly.
“Within the Spirit Gathering Immortal Ascension Array of the Gloomy Sea of Darkness, the Immortal-Mortal Transformation lies hidden.”
“Within the Tian Beast’s Eye, the complete form of living beings is concealed.”
“Within the Floating Starry Sky Grand Formation, could it be that the other two arrays also hide their corresponding True Immortal Seal Characters?”
A thought suddenly surfaced in Li Fan’s mind.
“The Golden Lock Across the Sky Array, and the Root of Heaven and Earth.”
Li Fan had visited the space of the Root of Heaven and Earth more than once and had found no trace of any True Immortal Seal Characters. It relied on the power of an ancient immortal array born alongside the Xuanhuang Realm.
As for the Golden Lock Across the Sky, it had been completely destroyed back in the era of the Ten Great Immortal Sects. It no longer existed in the Xuanhuang Realm.
“I must be overthinking it. The Immortal-Mortal Transformation and the form of living beings are high-order entities even among the many True Immortal Seal Characters. Even if Xuantian King reaped a great harvest in the Immortal Realm, obtaining these two characters should be his limit...” Li Fan thought to himself.
His thoughts returned to the little Tian Beast before him.
“The form of living beings engraved in the Star Sea is too vast. Investigating it is extremely time-consuming.”
“And the one within the Tian Beast’s Eye was poorly inscribed to begin with. Being situated within Xuantian’s array, it’s too distorted...”
“In contrast, the one on this little creature might be the closest to its original appearance.”
At this thought, Li Fan couldn't help but stroke the little Tian Beast again.
His gesture of goodwill was not accepted by the Tian Beast’s Eye. Instead, it grew even more tense, to the point where it threatened to wake the slumbering creature.
It had to be said, as expected of a creation from the Immortal Realm. Its senses were remarkably keen.
Li Fan didn’t press it too hard; there was still plenty of time to deal with this little thing.
To say nothing of a mere object-turned-lifeform, even if it were a true living being, Li Fan had countless ways to handle it.
With a thought, a blue light flickered, and Qiu Shui appeared by Li Fan's side.
He immediately noticed the little Tian Beast. Perhaps due to a sense of kinship, the little beast's wariness towards Qiu Shui was greatly diminished.
“I’m entrusting this little one to you for now. Take good care of it,” Li Fan instructed.
“As the Great Master commands!” Qiu Shui did not dare to be negligent. He approached and picked up the little Tian Beast.
In doing so, he also discovered the immortal chess piece pressed beneath it.
Not being a creation of the Immortal Realm, Qiu Shui couldn't perceive the extraordinariness of the chess piece as the Tian Beast had.
And since he wielded the infinite power of the Star Sea, he had no interest in any single world. He simply carried out Li Fan's orders faithfully.
Upon discovering that the little Tian Beast was uninterested in his infinite Star Sea power, Qiu Shui’s face showed a hint of distress.
“It has that chess piece to gnaw on, that will be enough. You don’t need to feed it anything extra.”
“Just take it with you and wander around the Xuanhuang Realm and the Star Sea for a bit,” Li Fan said nonchalantly.
Qiu Shui immediately let out a sigh of relief. He took the little Tian Beast and departed to fulfill his duty.
“Given that little thing’s sensitivity, there might be some other unexpected discoveries.” With Qiu Shui’s Supreme Realm strength and his ability to communicate with the true will of the Star Sea, Li Fan was not worried about their safety.
His attention returned to the transparent Spirit of Heaven and Earth.
After a total of five transports—three, then two, then three, then two, then three again—the transparent Spirit of Heaven and Earth had finally integrated all the semi-immortal artifacts into the Xuanhuang Realm.
On the lands of Xuanhuang, in addition to the little Tian Beast, four other peculiar forms of life had appeared: a human-faced snow mountain, a thousand-mile-long dragon-worm, a cloud of flowing, colorful light, and a giant, running tree.
Among them, the most noteworthy was the strange, seven-colored cloud floating in the sky.
The cloud emanated its own light, its form constantly shifting. The scenes it displayed were mostly from within the Xuanhuang Realm. But in unguarded moments, it would also reflect scenes of the former Immortal Realm!
It was only because Li Fan had once peered into the appearance of the Immortal Realm through a True Immortal’s memories that he was able to notice this.
“It must be the result of devouring those three semi-immortal artifacts.”
When it conjured an image of the Immortal Realm, even for a mere instant, it suffered the same backlash as Li Fan. The cloud boiled and roiled. The seven-colored light flashed erratically, and the entire cloud seemed on the verge of evaporating into nothingness.
After returning to its normal state, the cloud of flowing light had shrunk by a full tenth.
But for some reason, not only did it not stop reflecting scenes of the Immortal Realm, it began to do so with even greater frequency.
Each reflection was an act of consuming its own existence.
After this cycle repeated eight times, the cloud of flowing light completely dissipated into thin air.
Li Fan vaguely seemed to see the laws contained within the semi-immortal artifacts it had consumed drift away and merge into the Heavenly Dao of the Xuanhuang Realm.
At this point, only half a month had passed since the cloud of flowing light had come into existence.
“The cloud scatters and disappears. Half a month is a long life for a cloud. But for a transcendent creation, it’s practically perishing before its time.”
Li Fan looked at the other three creations.
With the Spirit of Heaven and Earth, Red Flame, hanging high above, the human-faced snow mountain was turning into a mountain of fire.
The thousand-mile-long dragon-worm was continuously splitting itself—one into two, two into four. After half a month, it had become tens of billions of tiny worms. But these small worms had no ability to survive; they could only eat and split again.
When their divided forms became too small to support their search for food, the swarm’s demise was not far off.
And the giant, running tree was still running forward relentlessly. Its leaves had withered, its branches snapping in its ceaseless rush. It, too, was nearing its end.
Of the four creations, only the little Tian Beast remained in its sweet slumber.
“This is... the intentional work of the Xuanhuang Realm’s Heavenly Dao...”
“Perhaps it discovered that the Tian Beast’s lifespan is too long, that the time required to complete the absorption of the immortal artifacts’ laws would be too great. That’s why it brought about such a peculiar change.” Li Fan saw the truth of the matter.
“It really did find a new path. In the future, I fear the Xuanhuang Realm’s internal cycle will accelerate dramatically.”
“Correspondingly, strange creatures in the Xuanhuang Realm will emerge one after another.”
This was a bizarre change that had not occurred even when the Xuanhuang Realm faced the crisis of world-ending destruction.
Li Fan found it extremely interesting and recorded it in his notes.
(This chapter is complete)
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