Chapter 1456: The Ascension Platform Seals a True Immortal
It was as if the legendary Ascension Platform of old had reappeared. A vast, sacred aura emanated from the octagonal tower, shaking the onlookers to their core. Though none of them knew what this structure was, they found themselves instinctively drawn to it, their attention completely captivated.
An immense, magnetic pull seemed to emanate from it, and everyone present found it impossible to tear their eyes away.
Even its creator, Qian Ruochang, was momentarily lost in a daze.
But he was, after all, a powerhouse on a mission to capture the Nothingness Immortal, and he quickly snapped out of his trance. His first move was to connect the miniature octagonal tower to the local Dao Net that had followed them all this way.
As the image of the octagonal tower became ethereal, shifting from solid to illusion, Qian Ruochang produced a crimson orb of light.
The crimson light appeared to be contained by some unseen force, constantly ramming against an invisible barrier but unable to break free. Li Fan could faintly hear waves of furious roars emanating from within the orb.
Unfazed, Qian Ruochang formed a sword sign with two fingers of his right hand and plunged them into the crimson orb.
Li Fan keenly sensed a violent upheaval in the local Dao Net, as if it had been struck by a tempest. Newly established and still small in scale, its foundations were not yet stable, and for a moment, it felt perilously close to collapsing.
It was clear that Qian Ruochang's gesture relied not just on his own strength, but on a massive amount of power borrowed from the Dao Net.
Li Fan was eager to see the technique Qian Ruochang was using to lure He Gan Xian, but seeing the new Immortal Hunt members still captivated by the Ascension Platform's allure, he felt compelled to speak up.
The others started as if waking from a dream and reluctantly tore their gazes away. Most of them then focused on maintaining the local Dao Net. Still, a few couldn't help but steal occasional glances at the Ascension Platform, a flicker of deep yearning flashing in their eyes.
Ironically, the ones who were most distracted were not the average members of the group, but its most outstanding talents, like Jin Changyue and Dao Yuan.
"It seems that even for those within the Dao Net, the dream of ascending to immortality holds a fatal, instinctual allure," Li Fan mused.
With everyone contributing, the faltering local Dao Net gradually stabilized.
Meanwhile, Qian Ruochang smoothly withdrew his fingers from the orb of light. His fingertips were now completely stained a startling, vibrant scarlet.
They had apparently reached the most critical step. To prevent any external interference, Qian Ruochang waved his hand, conjuring a protective barrier around himself. Li Fan could feel that in that single moment, Qian Ruochang had commandeered almost ninety-nine percent of the local Dao Net's power.
Pop! Pop!
Amid gasps from the onlookers, flesh on Qian Ruochang's formidable frame burst apart, revealing the stark white bone beneath. This was the result of suddenly bearing a pressure far beyond his limits.
But what left all the new Immortal Hunt members—Li Fan included—utterly astonished was what lay beneath. Qian Ruochang's skeleton was not made of ordinary bone. Instead, it glowed with a crystalline, seven-colored light, an ethereal frame that seemed to be woven entirely from countless strings of the Dao Net!
Empowered by the Dao Net, his ethereal flesh rapidly regenerated, concealing the skeleton woven from Dao strings.
Ignoring the reactions of the onlookers, Qian Ruochang used the scarlet on his fingertips as ink and his two fingers as a brush.
He began to write in the air above the octagonal Ascension Platform.
The characters he wrote were clearly a closely guarded secret. Qian Ruochang, who had been completely indifferent to revealing his own Dao-string bones, treated these symbols with the utmost gravity.
He diverted some of the power from the protective Dao Net barrier, forming a hazy curtain of mist that obscured the scene from everyone's sight.
Just as things were getting interesting, the view was cut off. The new recruits of the Immortal Hunt couldn't hide their disappointment.
However...
The vast majority of the local Dao Net's power was being channeled by Qian Ruochang to write the mystical character. His concealment method might have been enough to fool the young members of the Immortal Hunt, and perhaps even Li Fan's divine sense clone.
But it could not fool the vast consciousness of the Carefree Dreamscape that permeated this place.
As if observing from a great height, the dreamscape's consciousness pierced through the veil of mist, seeing everything happening within with perfect clarity.
"This is..."
"It's remarkably similar to the character for 'Immortal-Mortal Transformation,' but it diverges at several key points."
Strictly speaking, the Dao Net's concealment was extraordinary. Even as a mere local network, its power far surpassed that of the dream-based Land of Joy that Li Fan had built upon the foundation of all life in the Xuanhuang Realm.
But it couldn't be forgotten that Li Fan himself was one of the architects of this local Dao Net. He possessed a profound understanding of its structure, and furthermore, his divine sense contained a miniature projection of the Great Dao itself.
Seeing through the veil was, therefore, far easier for him than it would have been to shatter it with brute force.
Without making a move that might alert anyone, Li Fan continued to observe in silence.
The moment the mysterious character was complete, the octagonal Ascension Platform erupted in a brilliant flash of light. Auspicious, seven-colored clouds billowed forth, a shower of golden flowers rained down, and the clear cries of immortal birds echoed through the void.
It was a scene straight from ancient legends: the very moment a cultivator attains the Dao and ascends to immortality!
Before the auspicious vision could fade, an aura that was intimately familiar to Li Fan manifested in the void.
A True Immortal!
From the miniature Ascension Platform, a figure no larger than the palm of a hand flew out.
Its entire body was crimson, as if it had been painted into existence by Qian Ruochang's scarlet-stained fingers.
Though diminutive in stature, in Li Fan's eyes, it was indistinguishable from a True Immortal!
It wasn't just that it possessed the imposing aura of an immortal, placing it on a plane of existence far beyond that of mortals.
It was because the tiny figure was suffused with the unmistakable aura of immortal spiritual energy!
Li Fan's pupils constricted.
The very thing he had once conceived but failed to achieve—using the Immortal Realm's Ascension Platform to connect to the Infinite Sea—had been accomplished by the forces of Shuo Xinghai. And their method was even more comprehensive than he had ever imagined!
They hadn't just replicated a single aspect of immortality.
This was the creation of an immortal in every sense of the word!
"Don't tell me... Shuo Xinghai can already mass-produce Immortals?" Li Fan stared intently at the tiny figure, his mind reeling.
More terrifying still, Qian Ruochang's practiced and familiar motions made it obvious that this was not the first time he had performed this ritual.
Reeling with shock and uncertainty, Li Fan refrained from any rash actions and continued to watch.
The tiny figure did not resemble Qian Ruochang.
Instead, it bore a striking resemblance to the blurry image Li Fan had seen inside the crimson orb—the one that had been desperately trying to break free.
After being "created" by Qian Ruochang, it did not dart about frantically.
Instead, it silently settled into a cross-legged position, closing its eyes to rest and recuperate.
With the immortal successfully created, Qian Ruochang let out a sigh of relief.
The scarlet stain on his fingertips vanished the very instant the tiny immortal came into being.
The octagonal Ascension Platform before him, having fulfilled its purpose, disintegrated into ash and vanished.
A look of regret flickered across Qian Ruochang's face, but he was powerless to stop its destruction.
He gave a respectful bow to the tiny immortal. As if sentient, the figure flew directly into Qian Ruochang's body.
Qian Ruochang's skeleton of Dao strings was no ordinary structure but a true vessel for the Great Dao. Thus, he was able to contain the form of a True Immortal within his own mortal body!
After taking a moment to acclimate to this new power now inhabiting his body, Qian Ruochang finally dismissed the concealing mist and reappeared before everyone.
Among the young recruits, only a handful noticed the subtle change in Qian Ruochang, their expressions a mixture of shock and uncertainty. However, they knew well enough not to ask questions that were not their place to ask.
They waited obediently for Qian Ruochang to speak.
"The bait is set, and the net is cast," he announced. "Now, the hunt truly begins."
"Are you all ready?"
As he spoke, Qian Ruochang lifted the massive pillar from his shoulder. He swung it about with casual ease, as if it were nothing more than a light wooden staff.
The sight left the other members of the Immortal Hunt dumbfounded.
Still, they instinctively replied in unison, "We will execute the True Immortal!"
Qian Ruochang nodded, thoroughly satisfied. He glanced at the circular oasis of life around them and whispered, "This place... will be the Nothingness Immortal's final trap."
With that, he swept the giant pillar in a wide arc before him.
Though the pillar never left his grasp, an invisible wave of destruction spread out across the small oasis, instantly obliterating all remaining floating debris into fine dust.
The wave then continued down the narrow channel leading away from the oasis, propagating far out into the Annihilation Zone.
Its final destination was unknown.
It was like a stone thrown violently into the Star Sea, sending ripples spreading out in every direction.
A mortal would perceive nothing unusual about these ripples.
They would merely register it as a powerful, anomalous energy fluctuation.
However, to someone who had already set foot in the immortal realm, like Li Fan, the ripples contained a wealth of information.
Information such as the identity of the True Immortal who created them, their location, and the reason for their actions.
Although Li Fan was not a conventional immortal who had ascended via the Immortal Realm's Ascension Platform, his half-immortal state was enough for him to decipher some of the information contained within.
"Qiongqu Star Domain... Immortal Officer on Duty..."
"Obtained a Transcendent World Coffin... attempting to flee this world."
"Fellow immortals nearby, come quickly..."
Li Fan carefully parsed the message within the ripples, a strange expression slowly forming on his face.
No matter how he looked at it, the so-called trap seemed incredibly clumsy.
With such a wide broadcast, how could they possibly be certain that He Gan Xian would be the one to take the bait?
Besides, He Gan Xian had survived countless calamities and was known to be exceedingly cautious. Could such a simple and ostentatious display truly fool him?
Li Fan was deeply skeptical.
Unless...
"This tiny True Immortal, the so-called Immortal Officer of the Qiongqu Star Domain, must have been an old acquaintance of He Gan Xian!"
"He must have been captured by the Immortal Hunt very recently, so He Gan Xian wouldn't know."
"And even..."
Thinking back to how the Immortals Xi and Yi had successfully escaped using a Transcendent World Coffin, it was highly probable that this Immortal Officer had infiltrated the vicinity of Shuo Xinghai for that very same prize!
"In that case, Qian Ruochang must actually have a real Transcendent World Coffin with him."
"It's a trap, but it's also not a trap."
"If He Gan Xian is skilled enough to eliminate everyone lying in ambush here, then the coffin is his for the taking."
"And that tiny True Immortal..."
Li Fan noticed that the subtle nuances of Qian Ruochang's expression had changed slightly from before.
Though the change was so slight it would normally be imperceptible, Li Fan was certain it was the influence of the tiny immortal's possession.
"To successfully activate the Ascension Platform's power, you need the corresponding True Immortal Script. Like the 'Immortal-Mortal Transformation' character, or the one Qian Ruochang just wrote. Perhaps it even has to be written by a specific True Immortal to work."
"An Immortal Officer..."
"Shuo Xinghai has mastered a method of using a True Immortal's blood essence to forge their identity. It's so effective it can even deceive the identity verification of the Infinite Sea."
Li Fan's mind raced, replaying the writing of that character, analyzing whether it could be used on the stone slab left behind by the Xuantian King.
After the True Immortal's ripple spread out, there was no response. It was like a stone sinking into the ocean, vanishing without a trace.
Qian Ruochang, however, seemed utterly convinced that the Nothingness Immortal would take the bait. He methodically issued a series of commands to the new recruits.
Command after command was issued, and one by one, the group concealed themselves within the local Dao Net. Qian Ruochang then veiled their presence with immortal spiritual energy. Even when Li Fan probed with the power of his dreamscape, he could barely detect them.
The World-Ending Black Arrows were distributed, merging into each member's body, ready to be unleashed at a moment's notice.
At some point, the Dao string connecting their local network to the main one had been silently severed. Despite losing the support of Shuo Xinghai's primary Dao Net, Li Fan, hidden within the local grid, didn't feel its power diminish in the slightest.
This was undoubtedly thanks to Qian Ruochang, who, with his skeleton of countless Dao strings, now served as the network's central anchor.
"It seems bringing us along on this hunt has made us nothing but dead weight."
"With the power Qian Ruochang is now displaying, he could fight He Gan Xian head-on. There's no need for us to get involved at all..."
"Unless... this group of young recruits serves some other purpose."
Everything he had experienced during the training flashed through Li Fan's mind as he contemplated the possibilities.
Meanwhile, in the void at the center of the oasis, Qian Ruochang had already produced a dark, profound coffin.
It looked identical to the one the group had seen during their first mission.
Qian Ruochang stared at the coffin for a long moment before giving its lid a gentle tap.
Then, he simply leaped inside and lay down.
He didn't seal the lid completely, however, leaving a small gap.
Hidden within the Dao Net, the new members of the Immortal Hunt waited patiently for their prey to appear.
Here in the Annihilation Zone, this corner of the star sea was devoid of all life, save for them.
Time slipped by in the dead silence. An unknown amount of it passed.
Suddenly, one of them noticed that the placid strings of the Dao Net seemed to tremble ever so slightly.
Yet, when they focused their senses, it seemed to have been a trick of the mind.
There was still no other presence within the Dao Net.
"It wasn't an illusion."
"Someone's here," Dao Yuan declared, his voice low, a mixture of tension and excitement.
After that initial, faint tremor, the Nothingness Immortal left no further trace of its presence.
No one even knew if it was still within the confines of their local Dao Net.
Compared to the imperceptible Immortals Xi and Yi, this Nothingness Immortal was clearly far more mysterious and unfathomable.
Just as the group was at a loss for what to do, a faint, sacred chant began to echo from within the dark coffin.
The sound was familiar; it was the same chant they had heard when the Immortals Xi and Yi made their escape.
Last time, however, they had been observing from a great distance. This time, with Qian Ruochang inside the coffin and all of them connected within the same Dao Net, they could hear it with far greater clarity.
Slowly, the way they looked at the coffin began to subtly change.
Their vision seemed to split in two. On the left, they saw an apocalyptic, world-ending calamity.
On the right, a beautiful new world, free from all worry. The stark contrast inevitably planted a thought in their minds: the urge to seek refuge inside the coffin and escape the coming disaster.
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