Chapter 1397: The Trident's New World
Chapter 1397: The Trident's New World
The leg bone of the Nameless True Immortal continued its work as planned, using the flesh and blood of the You Clan to analyze the characters of the Immortal-Mortal Transformation.
Li Fan first made specific improvements to the fabricated personality overseeing the process.
He refined its ability to recognize the precise degree to which the You Clan's bloodline had been awakened. Only after ensuring the You Clan would not lose control in this world's final moments did Li Fan disappear.
Returning to the Lecture Stage in the Great Xuan, he first reviewed the overall progress of everyone's exploration of the Land of Carefree Joy over the past decade or so.
The complexity of the Land of Joy's dreamscape was truly beyond imagination.
Nearly a million people had been sent in, one after another, yet there had been no substantial progress to date.
The one who had delved the deepest had already reached level seven of the Land of Joy Experience. Within the dreamscape, they could destroy an entire world with a mere gesture. Such terrifying destructive power was comparable to, if not greater than, a cultivator at the Longevity stage in the Xuanhuang Realm.
This level seven explorer, a man named Hou Mingwu, possessed no remarkable cultivation talent in reality. He had listened to the lecture projection for over a month before barely breaking through to the Qi Refining stage. Yet, after Li Fan dispatched him into the dreamscape, a stroke of luck in his very first dream world led him to an incredible treasure that could reforge broken and defunct artifacts: the Re-rounding Mirror.
The cost of reactivation was simply too high, often not worth the trouble.
Consequently, many would choose to sell these useless treasures at a low price, at least recouping some of their investment.
Hou Mingwu used the incredible property of the Re-rounding Mirror to repair these treasures before selling them again.
After just a few transactions, he had made a fortune.
The dreamscape of the Land of Joy was simply too vast. After each trade, Hou Mingwu would move to a different major dream region, and for a long time, no one discovered his secret.
By the time the news of his possessing the Re-rounding Mirror was finally exposed, Hou Mingwu had already grown sufficiently powerful.
The treasures he carried were seemingly endless; the number he possessed alone could rival that of a top-tier team. Whenever he embarked on a mission in a dream world, Hou Mingwu could unleash a barrage of attacks with his artifacts without any regard for the cost. Even in bizarre worlds where physical force was useless, he could rely on his myriad treasures to turn peril into safety. As a result, his efficiency in conquering dream worlds was far beyond that of any ordinary person.
Though others were consumed by greed, Hou Mingwu always acted alone, refusing all invitations to cooperate or form a team. They were utterly helpless against him.
On one occasion, several major teams joined forces, using a tracking artifact to forcibly follow him into a mission. They conspired to seize the Re-rounding Mirror.
But Hou Mingwu seemed to have sensed their pursuit long in advance and had already laid an ambush within that world. Just as the pursuers gathered, before they could make a move, the entire world plunged into a terrifying, destructive apocalypse.
Pursuit was the last thing on their minds. The major teams scattered like birds and beasts, suffering heavy casualties. In the aftermath, they first suspected a traitor in their midst, but later speculated that Hou Mingwu must possess another ultimate treasure capable of predicting the future and averting disaster.
After this incident, the conspiracies targeting Hou Mingwu in the Land of Carefree Joy temporarily ceased.
In truth, their guess was not far off. Besides the Re-rounding Mirror, Hou Mingwu did indeed have another supreme treasure with him. This treasure, however, was not from the dreamscape. It was Li Fan's attention.
As the vanguard of his forces exploring the Carefree Dreamscape, how could Li Fan possibly allow Hou Mingwu to come to harm so easily?
The million people sent into the dreamscape were like Li Fan's own eyes and ears. Some were even members of the very teams that had targeted Hou Mingwu. They just hadn't realized they were traitors.
With Li Fan's protection, Hou Mingwu faced almost no threat to his life in the Land of Carefree Joy.
And Hou Mingwu did not disappoint Li Fan.
The few worlds he experienced in the deeper dreamscapes confirmed Li Fan's suspicions.
The reach of the Land of Carefree Joy's dreamscape had long since extended beyond the Xuanhuang Realm, spreading into the vast Star Sea.
In those worlds, Li Fan had clearly seen the shadow of the Mysterious Immortal Boat.
It wasn't merely a representation of the Immortal Boat itself, but individual concepts: the Thousand-Eyed Desolate God, the Heavenly Star Lotus, the Severed Divine Arm, the Dao-Chasing Giant.
"The people of the Immortal Boat are likely unaware of this. The Carefree Dreamscape hasn't forcibly pulled them into its illusion. It has only used the fragments that surface in their consciousness as a blueprint to construct its dream worlds."
"The crew of the Immortal Boat are no ordinary folk. Even so, their thoughts were still easily captured by Wuyou. Is Wuyou... truly that powerful?" Li Fan couldn't help but frown.
"But one thing is certain: the existence of [Truth] went undetected by him. Perhaps the Mysterious Immortal Boat fell into Wuyou's trap at some point."
Li Fan gazed into the distance, his line of sight seeming to pierce the boundless Star Sea and land at the foot of the High Wall.
"It has already enveloped the Immortal Boat. Perhaps it won't be long before it breaks through the High Wall's blockade."
"No wonder Wuyou has shown so little concern for the events within the Xuanhuang Realm. Even during the world's several apocalypses, he simply laid low, making no effort to stop them. Is he trying some roundabout strategy, an alternative method to cross the High Wall?"
Previous discoveries had all but confirmed that the High Wall's blockade seemed weaker against energies of consciousness and spirit.
Li Fan had long suspected the Land of Carefree Joy's subtle maneuvers; now, he finally had confirmation.
"Sending my true body beyond the wall would be far too dangerous. Perhaps I should borrow the power of the Carefree Dreamscape to probe the situation first..." The thought flashed through Li Fan's mind.
"Sun Erlang and the others, in whom I placed such high hopes, can't even begin to match the progress of this nobody, Hou Mingwu. It seems I must use everyone according to their strengths and let them do what they do best."
Shaking his head slightly, Li Fan split off another thread of his consciousness to monitor Hou Mingwu's every move.
In this life, Li Fan had no intention of making contact with Wuyou just yet.
He was certain that Wuyou had already discovered that he, the architect of the Xuanhuang array, was the mastermind behind the million-strong invasion of the dreamscape.
But for some reason, despite clearly having the power to eject all of them from the dreamscape in an instant, Wuyou had yet to act.
"It seems he has achieved a certain level of transcendence and simply doesn't care."
"How interesting."
"It's just a pity that with his current strength, his consciousness cannot exist entirely on its own. If I were to destroy his physical self, the Carefree Dreamscape would cease to exist!" A surge of disdainful confidence rose within Li Fan.
Wuyou didn't care about the intruders in his dreamscape, and Li Fan didn't care about Wuyou.
"I just need to proceed step by step and steadily achieve Dao Integration."
As he gathered his thoughts, Li Fan's gaze grew profound and deep.
Fortunately, in this life, whenever he envisioned and deduced the scene of his impending Dao Integration, that fatal sense of crisis from the unseen world did not reappear.
"There shouldn't be any major surprises."
Still, to be on the safe side, Li Fan knew he had to make a trip to the Mysterious Immortal Boat.
"Since that Hanging-Armed Marionette is still of some use, perhaps the Trident Tree is as well."
The chance to get a free simulation from [Truth] was enough to excite even Li Fan.
After all, judging from his last life, the simulation process didn't seem to require him to personally live through it. Instead, it would flash through his mind like a slideshow.
Aided by the phantom of the Wooden Sword, Li Fan quickly arrived outside the Mysterious Immortal Boat.
"The Trident Tree is on the second level of the Immortal Boat's treasury, guarded by the Heavenly Star Lotus. If I take it by force, a direct confrontation will be unavoidable..."
"First, I should see what the situation inside is like."
With that thought, Li Fan moved like a phantom, slipping silently into the Mysterious Immortal Boat.
Compared to over a decade ago, its defensive measures had improved somewhat.
But not by much.
At least to Li Fan, they were as good as non-existent.
After scouting around for a while, Li Fan gained a basic understanding of the current situation aboard the Immortal Boat.
Ever since he had plundered the treasury and taken most of the useful treasures from the first level of the Hundred Rumors Immortal Record, the Immortal Boat had been in turmoil.
It first experienced a period of internal strife that nearly tore it apart.
Even after the upheaval subsided, the tense atmosphere within the Immortal Boat never eased.
The sudden loss of so many resources made survival a critical issue for its inhabitants. Although the population had dwindled after the internal conflict, they still lived in dire straits.
The scarcity of resources did nothing to resolve the conflict between the Broken Immortal Tower and the Immortal Pivot Academy. In fact, the struggle between them grew even more brutal. While no elders had fallen, many of the younger disciples had perished.
In his previous life, Li Fan's sudden appearance as an outsider had diverted these internal conflicts. Faced with the reality of other civilizations in the Star Sea, the Immortal Boat had shown exceptional unity. The vast majority of elders had even been willing to sacrifice their lives for its future.
But in this life, with no external distraction, the internal conflicts had only intensified. What the Immortal Boat now showed Li Fan was a shift from the good in human nature to its evil.
Of course, to Li Fan, there was no real difference between so-called "good" and "evil."
All he cared about were the treasures within the Immortal Boat's treasury.
The treasures on the second level were all stored within the seeds of the Heavenly Star Lotus.
The Heavenly Star Lotus was a wondrous object collected by the Immortal Boat in ancient times. A parasite of the Star Sea, it had survived countless calamities.
With Li Fan's current strength, destroying it wouldn't be difficult.
But to destroy it while simultaneously extracting the treasures preserved within nearly a hundred lotus seeds...
...that was another matter entirely.
Li Fan hid on the second level, observing the Heavenly Star Lotus from a close distance for a long time before finally deciding on a strategy.
Although the Heavenly Star Lotus appeared incredibly divine—its main body, in its prime, larger than hundreds of cultivation realms combined—
it was, after all, a "living being."
And since it was alive, it was bound to have weaknesses.
Li Fan had no need to find this weakness himself.
He had the Dao One Worms.
The Dao One Worm was a unique type of strange beast capable of generating spiritual energy.
Extending his palm, he released a blurry shadow that slowly flew closer, attempting to invade the dreamlike colors of the lotus.
What Li Fan had just released was a variant of the Dao One Worm.
Its ability to produce spiritual energy was halved, but in exchange, its adaptability and survivability had become astonishingly strong.
But the instant it drew near, the faint light emanating from the lotus evaporated the Dao One Worm without a trace.
Unconcerned, Li Fan released two more.
Their fate was no different.
Compared to the Heavenly Star Lotus, creatures like the Dao One Worm were far too insignificant. The end of their lives caused not a single ripple.
Li Fan persevered, releasing four at once.
Though they still vanished in an instant, only he noticed that they had survived for a fraction of a moment longer.
The Dao One Worms, advancing wave after wave, did not die in vain. They fed information about the Heavenly Star Lotus back to the swarm.
Their successors would then alter themselves based on this information, adapting to survive within the lotus's radiance.
The number of Dao One Worms grew exponentially.
By the time the swarm reached a million strong, the Dao One Worms could already evolve and merge into the dreamlike radiance of the Heavenly Star Lotus.
"It seems that although it has developed its own intelligence, this creation of the Star Sea has not escaped the domain of spiritual power. After tens of millions of generations of evolution, the Dao One Worms can completely analyze it."
Watching the continuous shadows invade the Heavenly Star Lotus like spreading ink, Li Fan nodded with some satisfaction.
"Perhaps only immortal spiritual energy—a power that is completely transcendent, belonging to a fundamentally different concept—can truly prevent the corrosion of the Dao One Worms."
The miraculous efficacy of the Dao One Worms went without saying.
They could create something from nothing, generating spiritual energy. They could even devour grotto-heavens and entire worlds, replacing them with the swarm itself.
But as Li Fan's strength grew, the once endlessly useful Dao One Worms had become somewhat trivial.
Only in special situations like this could they take the stage again.
Li Fan had once considered cultivating an even more advanced Dao One Worm.
Unfortunately, after being infused with Source Power Essence, the worms lost their unique characteristics. As for the higher level of immortal spiritual energy...
Li Fan didn't even have any himself; he had to rely on the legacy of the Great Heavenly Venerate.
"After I achieve Dao Integration, perhaps I can provide a suitable environment for cultivating them."
Besides True Immortals, the Immortal World had countless creations and servants.
Li Fan was confident that once he attained the Dao, he too could bring his chickens and dogs along to ascend to the heavens.
The corrosion of the Dao One Worms was like a spring rain, silent and subtle.
By the time all the lotus seeds had been quietly transformed into Dao One Worms, the main body of the Heavenly Star Lotus remained unaware.
It only vaguely sensed a disquiet, and its light began to flicker uncertainly.
The protection around the lotus seeds was completely neutralized.
Li Fan first secured his primary target: the Trident Tree.
Sensing the reaction from [Truth], Li Fan's heart stirred. "It's still effective."
"But it isn't enough to support a simulation of an entire lifetime."
"Only twenty-four hours?"
A gleam flashed in Li Fan's eyes, and a rare excitement stirred in his heart.
"If I'm not mistaken, after using the Trident Tree for a simulation, this life of mine won't end immediately."
"Instead, everything that happens in the next twenty-four hours of the simulation will appear in my mind, as if I had experienced it myself."
"The only question is, can I bring anything back from it?"
"Even if I can't, this is as good as a life-saving insurance policy!"
Li Fan forcefully suppressed the urge to use the Trident Tree right away.
He continued to manipulate the Dao One Worms, corroding and stealing the items stored within the Heavenly Star Lotus's seeds.
It was worthy of its title as a supreme treasure of the Star Sea, entrusted with great responsibility by the Immortal Boat.
After Li Fan had stolen three items in a row, instinct took over, and the Heavenly Star Lotus began to curl in on itself.
The second level of the treasury was plunged into darkness in an instant; the dreamlike glow was gone.
Even Li Fan could no longer sense the aura of the Heavenly Star Lotus.
It was as if it had vanished completely.
The strange movement of the lotus alerted the people of the Immortal Boat.
Li Fan vaguely sensed several familiar auras rapidly approaching. They were the elders of the Immortal Boat, led by Jian Daosheng and Zhong Daogong.
"And there's the faint aura of the Thousand-Eyed Desolate God."
"It seems the prolonged internal strife has kept their nerves constantly on edge."
Li Fan smiled faintly, and with a flash of a dim sword shadow, he fled the scene.
With the second level of the treasury plundered yet again, the Immortal Boat was plunged into another bloody storm.
The Broken Immortal Tower and the Immortal Pivot Academy hurled accusations at each other, igniting the conflicts that had accumulated over the past decade.
A brutal battle unfolded aboard the Mysterious Immortal Boat.
Meanwhile, the instigator, Li Fan, had already returned to the small world of the Great Xuan within the Xuanhuang Realm.
Besides the Trident Tree, the other two items Li Fan had taken were the Small Medicine King Cauldron...
...and a gray bird with a broken wing.
All three items were relics left behind by Sun Piao Miao.
The treasures on the second level had been shielded by the Heavenly Star Lotus, their specific effects imperceptible.
But the actual value of these three items—with the exception of the gray bird—had been verified in his previous life.
Given the limited time, taking them was the logical choice.
"Both the Trident Tree and the Small Medicine King Cauldron are no ordinary items."
"It's highly likely the gray bird with a broken wing also holds some wondrous use; I just haven't discovered it yet."
Li Fan would definitely save the Trident Tree's deductive ability for a critical moment just before his Dao Integration.
As for the Small Medicine King Cauldron, he still planned to feed it to the little tortoise.
If it could still stomach it, that is.
Li Fan's attention now focused on the gray bird with a broken wing.
In his last life, both he and the people of the Immortal Boat had tried countless methods on this item but had never found anything special about it.
It seemed to be just an ordinary object.
Li Fan observed it for a short while but found nothing strange either.
So, he resorted to the simplest and most direct method.
He extended his palm, and within that small space, a world-destroying immortal array enveloped the bird.
Like a series of sharp blades, the array's power hacked down upon the gray bird.
To Li Fan's surprise, the gray bird with a broken wing turned to nothingness in an instant, obliterated by the immense power of the immortal array.
It vanished completely from the world.
This left Li Fan, who had made ample preparations, somewhat stunned.
"Could it be that this was really just a bit of misdirection left by Sun Piao Miao?"
Li Fan carefully observed the space before him, confirming that not a single fragment remained.
The gray bird with a broken wing was annihilated, gone.
"It seems I was overthinking it," Li Fan laughed at himself.
But a moment later, his expression suddenly changed.
An ethereal voice transmission suddenly came from beyond the heavens.
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