Chapter 1453: The Limitless Star Tomb Devours the Bones
Chapter 1453: The Limitless Star Tomb Devours the Bones
The primary culprits behind the utter extinction of life within the high walls of the Star Sea were not only the Immortal Ruins but also the numerous True Immortal Scripts.
All of them were the handiwork of the "What Matter" Immortal, He Gan Xian.
During his contact with the true will of the Star Sea's origin, Li Fan had sensed its overwhelming hatred for this He Gan Xian.
True Immortals might view all living beings as ants, but they did not engage in pointless acts.
To forge numerous True Immortal Scripts and let them spread, wreaking havoc across the cosmos—and to do so while fleeing from the upper realm in a sorry state...
Li Fan surmised that this must have been He Gan Xian's method of attaining enlightenment.
"First, use this method to generate countless tangled threads of karma out of thin air. When he can completely extricate himself from that karma, his enlightenment will be complete."
"Severing all connections to the outside world..."
"If I'm not mistaken, the [Wu] that the Immortal Hunt intends to capture this time is likely the very same He Gan Xian I know of."
"However, I still can't confirm whether this He Gan Xian is the same Faceless Immortal who once saved the Xuantian King's life."
Li Fan had once suspected that He Gan Xian and the Faceless Immortal were one and the same. This was because his Saint Emperor clone had sensed an aura from the faceless statue that was remarkably similar to what he felt when prying into He Gan Xian. Li Fan's true self had experienced the same sensation.
Strangely, however, that thought had only occurred upon their first encounter. Now, when Li Fan compared the two again, he found himself wavering with uncertainty.
...
The stout, muscular man with the surname Qian was still explaining the key points of the upcoming hunt to the members of the Immortal Hunt.
"Regarding this [Wu] Immortal, I cannot reveal too much to you."
"His methods of infiltration are nothing short of incredible. He is also acutely sensitive to any connection between his existence and the outside world. If I were to give you detailed information about him, the sudden involvement of so many people would undoubtedly alert him."
"What you need to do is assist me in weaving a great net. Then, we wait patiently for him to walk right into it!"
The [Wu] Immortal was clearly more powerful than the Xi and Yi Immortals. Hearing this, the newly promoted members of the Immortal Hunt felt a mix of excitement and apprehension. After all, their last disastrous mission had left a psychological scar on them, to varying degrees.
"By the way, my name is Qian Ruochang. You can call me Boss Qian," the stout man announced his name with a knowing chuckle.
With that, the group was led away to begin their mission immediately.
Traveling through the Dao Net, they soon reached their destination.
"This place is..."
"The Limitless Star Tomb?"
Unlike the vibrant life teeming within the various factions of Shuo Xinghai, the stretch of cosmos before them was saturated with an aura of decay and deathly silence. Even from a great distance, everyone instinctively felt a sense of unease.
Li Fan had been in Shuo Xinghai for some time now, so he was no stranger to the region known as the Limitless Star Tomb.
Though both were lands where life had been extinguished, the Limitless Star Tomb was different from the Annihilation Zone. The Annihilation Zone was a result of the Dao Annihilation Calamity, a desolate wasteland where the very concept of existence had been erased.
The Limitless Star Tomb, on the other hand, was a star region destroyed by factors other than the Dao Annihilation.
The factions in Shuo Xinghai were not all native to this corner of the cosmos. Rather, they were refugees from countless star regions who had gathered here together.
In the boundless Star Sea of the lower realm, vast swathes of Annihilation Zones were interspersed with Limitless Star Tombs and pockets of life. Shuo Xinghai was one such pocket.
Although life was extinct in the Limitless Star Tomb, the Dao Net could still cover it.
But in the Annihilation Zone...
Where the Great Dao did not exist, the Dao Net could go no further.
"Boss Qian, the Wu Immortal... he isn't hiding here, is he?" someone couldn't help but ask.
Qian Ruochang smiled. "This godforsaken place? Why would a True Immortal hide here? I brought you all here to find something good."
Upon hearing this, Dao Yuan's eyes lit up with a curious glint. "I've heard that the Limitless Star Tomb is steeped in an aura of death that has accumulated for millions of years. As the saying goes, extremes breed their opposites. It's highly possible that immense vitality could be born from this endless death..."
"You've got some knowledge, kid. But our target this time isn't some nascent vitality. It's this..."
As he spoke, Qian Ruochang had already led the group deep into the Limitless Star Tomb.
Although the Dao Net still extended here, it was fraught with obstruction compared to a normal, life-bearing star sea. Their travel speed slowed by more than a hundredfold.
At times, it was as if they had encountered some invisible obstacle, forcing the entire group to change course.
Suddenly, they stopped. Qian Ruochang pointed gently to his left.
Then, he hefted the stone pillar from his shoulder and violently hurled it forward.
In that instant, all the new members of the Immortal Hunt could feel the Dao Net being pulled by a colossal force, shaking violently.
The tremor was even stronger than the one caused by Nangong Fusheng's descent.
Everyone looked at Qian Ruochang, their faces masks of astonishment.
They never imagined that this seemingly easygoing Boss Qian possessed such terrifying strength.
Li Fan, however, was lost in thought. The phenomenon wasn't caused by Qian Ruochang's strength surpassing Nangong Fusheng's.
It was because they had arrived in a weakened area of the Dao Net.
The Dao Net drew its power by adhering to the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, but its hold was severely weakened in the Limitless Star Tomb. Therefore, the same amount of force would naturally cause a much greater disturbance.
The stone pillar flew out, churning through the dark, silent void.
Li Fan's senses were far sharper than the others'.
In the utter blackness, he seemed to see several dead, floating worlds accidentally collide with the stone pillar. As the colossal force churned, they vanished completely.
Only a few almost negligible black specks flew out from the shattered corpses of the dead worlds, drifting along the massive stone pillar toward Qian Ruochang.
As Li Fan watched these tiny black specks, a sense of déjà vu washed over him.
They bore a striking resemblance to the black mist produced when the flesh and blood of a True Immortal were broken down by the [Falling into the Mortal Dust]!
Li Fan remained outwardly calm, feigning ignorance of their danger and stepping closer with a look of intense curiosity.
Upon closer inspection, however, Li Fan noticed a difference between these black specks and the black mist.
The black mist was a precursor to the Dao Annihilation Calamity. Any being who reached a certain level of power would feel an inexplicable sense of crisis upon seeing it.
But these black specks before him... Li Fan observed them for a long time, yet he only felt a sense of nausea and discomfort, not the heart-pounding premonition of doom.
Qian Ruochang's next words provided Li Fan with the answer.
"These... you can think of them as the corpses of cultivation worlds."
"Just as when a person dies, their flesh and blood quickly return to the world, leaving only the bones to endure."
"These black specks are the most fundamental, purest part—the bones of a world, so to speak. They don't linger for long, so we have to gather them quickly," Qian Ruochang explained, once again extending his stone pillar and churning the void.
In a short time, he had collected fifteen black specks.
The seemingly simple action appeared to be incredibly draining. Qian Ruochang was already panting for breath, drenched in sweat.
He was forced to stop and rest.
"You, eat it."
Qian Ruochang sent one of the black specks floating through the air toward Dao Yuan.
Dao Yuan's expression flickered, but he showed little hesitation. To the astonishment of the others, he fought back his discomfort, opened his mouth, and swallowed the world-bone.
From the look on Dao Yuan's face, it was clear what an immense torment it was to swallow a world-bone whole.
But once it was inside him, the effect was also immediately apparent.
"Why do I feel like, Brother Dao, you..."
"...have become fainter?"
"That's right, I feel like he's become somewhat... blurry."
"This... if you hadn't pointed it out, I almost would have overlooked Brother Dao completely! He's standing right here, but it's as if he doesn't exist at all!"
The others all noticed the anomaly and exclaimed in amazement.
Only then did Qian Ruochang explain with a smile: "This world-bone is the cornerstone of a cultivation world's evolution. It is the lowest level of a world's mechanism, the part closest to the Great Dao itself. After you consume it, for as long as it takes for the world-bone to return to heaven and earth, you will be influenced by its power. It will be like ice melting into water, allowing you to merge with the world."
"Your nature as a 'person' will be veiled by the 'world.' With ordinary senses, you will naturally become difficult to perceive."
Qian Ruochang distributed the world-bones to the group according to the previously established assessment order.
Li Fan received his early on and swallowed it.
The moment the black speck was absorbed, a series of visions flooded Li Fan's mind. They were scenes from the life of the cultivation world from which this speck originated.
It was not a particularly unique story in the Star Sea of the lower realm.
A once-thriving world was suddenly rent by a fissure in the sky.
Several figures emerged from within.
Their immense pressure caused eighty to ninety percent of the world's inhabitants to die horribly in an instant.
Yet, the figures had no intention of restraining their power. Or perhaps, they simply had no time to spare for such "trivial matters."
They themselves... were also fleeing in panicked disarray.
From the fissure, seventeen figures shot out one after another.
It wasn't until the last one forcibly sealed the fissure that the calamity came to an end.
He seemed somewhat dazed amid his panic.
His gaze swept over the cultivation world below, which had already been devastated by the True Immortals' aura, and he shook his head slightly.
With a gentle wave of his hand, he erased all surviving life from the land.
Not even a corpse remained.
The cultivation world itself could not withstand such pressure and shattered, disintegrating into pieces.
As if he had done something utterly insignificant, the final figure drifted away.
...
Li Fan awoke from the vision.
So this was one of the origins of the Limitless Star Tomb and its many world-corpses.
"The lower realm's Star Sea was never a place for immortals to live. When they were forced to come here, it was only natural that they would have an immense impact on the mortal natives."
Li Fan felt no indignation or rage.
The strong prey on the weak. Not to mention, when an apocalypse strikes, desperate fugitives will prioritize survival above all else.
As for everything else...
It doesn't matter.
He sank his mind inward, sensing the changes that were naturally occurring in his body after consuming the world-bone.
Just as Qian Ruochang had said, it was like ice melting into water.
Through the world-bone's connection to the Great Dao of heaven and earth, he slowly began to "dissolve" into the surrounding cosmos.
"If I were to communicate with the Star Sea now, I could probably establish an effective link with its original consciousness without even needing the Taijia Divine Art."
"In addition, I can feel my connection to the Dao Net has become much closer..."
In Li Fan's divine sense, the miniature Dao Net shone brightly.
What had been merely an illusory projection now seemed to have gained a true, physical substance in some parts.
Even if it was just a small portion, it brought about an almost qualitative change.
However, with others present—especially Qian Ruochang, whose power seemed to border on the Nameless realm—Li Fan decided not to study it in detail for the time being.
"The Dao that the [Wu] Immortal comprehends, his so-called karmic connections, only applies to the living beings of the world. He has not yet transcended, so he cannot sever his connection to heaven and earth. By using these world-bones to conceal ourselves within the Great Dao, we can greatly reduce the chances of him discovering us," Qian Ruochang explained, swallowing a world-bone himself.
After gathering enough for all the new members, he did not stop.
Instead, he continued deeper into the Limitless Star Tomb.
"Hiding ourselves is only the first step of the hunt."
"The second is to prepare the trap, as well as a weapon capable of severely injuring or even killing our prey," Qian Ruochang's voice grew somewhat grim.
"True Immortals cultivate the Great Dao of heaven and earth, seeking to transcend. The best weapon against them is something that can harm or destroy the Great Dao itself!"
...
At these words, the expressions of all the Immortal Hunt members changed.
Li Fan thought Qian Ruochang was about to speak of matters related to the [Dao Annihilation Calamity].
But unexpectedly, he mentioned something else entirely.
He changed the subject abruptly. "However, our Dao Net also relies on the power of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth. An act that injures the enemy by a thousand while we suffer a loss of eight hundred must be approached with extreme caution. But we can find a suitable substitute here in this star tomb."
"As I just said, in the Limitless Star Tomb, the flesh and blood of cultivation worlds have all been rendered away, returning to heaven and earth, leaving only their bones."
"This power that catalyzes and devours the flesh of cultivation worlds is the weapon we need!"
"The Great Dao, from top to bottom, is a single entity. A mortal cultivation world is still a manifestation of the Great Dao."
"Anything that can revert the Great Dao from its evolved form back into nothingness can likewise inflict grievous wounds upon a True Immortal who cultivates it!"
...
Qian Ruochang spoke with tireless enthusiasm.
Hearing this, Li Fan grew thoughtful and suddenly asked, "Boss Qian, by that logic, wouldn't this power that dissolves the flesh of cultivation worlds also be able to heavily damage the Dao Net?"
The other members of the Immortal Hunt looked at Li Fan with strange expressions.
But Qian Ruochang slapped his hands together. "Exactly! But don't you worry. Where the Dao Net differs from a True Immortal is in its comprehensiveness, and its ability to repair itself at any time."
"Since we are confident enough to wield it as a weapon, we are not afraid of someone using it against the Dao Net!"
"Besides, utilizing this strange power from the Limitless Star Tomb is a very recent achievement of ours..."
Qian Ruochang's words suddenly halted.
His gaze shifted to the left, his playful expression turning grave.
"All of you, watch closely. That is what I was talking about, the power that digests the flesh of worlds..."
Qian Ruochang violently threw the stone pillar on his shoulder.
The motion seemed immensely powerful.
But as it flew through the void, it was utterly silent, not even causing a ripple.
After making a full circle, it simply returned.
However, Li Fan keenly noticed that the stone pillar seemed to have shrunk by a fraction.
(End of Chapter)
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