Chapter 1507: The Immortal from the Other Shore in the Coffin
"The power of Ink Death is close to that of Dao Annihilation because it fundamentally imitates the force of the Mountain and Sea merging."
"And this current Dao transformation..."
Li Buren beckoned one of the purple, Dao-transformed statues into his hand and scrutinized it.
"This is merely the collision of the Mountain and Sea. The process of their fusion was halted prematurely."
"The Mountain and Sea at play..." Li Buren was instantly reminded of a line from the fables of the Mountain and Sea.
"...and from this, the Dao is born. So that's how it is?"
Li Buren slowly consumed all the purple statues, absorbing the Dao principles contained within each being. After feeding the poison pills to powerful creatures and using their lives and intellect to complete a single transformation, Li Buren was certain that these Dao-transformed purple statues no longer fell under the category of "Dao Pills." He could therefore ingest them directly.
Although something vital seemed to have been lost during the Dao transformation process, the ability to greatly increase his efficiency in comprehending the Dao without risk was undoubtedly worth it.
"Beyond aiding in Dao comprehension, this poison pill is a formidable offensive divine ability in itself."
"Truly impossible to guard against!"
Not only could it kill an enemy as stealthily as a poison, but more importantly, it could disregard the disparity in power. As long as the target could not escape Dao Annihilation or completely avoid the power of the Ink Death immortal soul, they would be affected by the poison pill's technique.
The only difference would be the severity of the "poisoning."
Li Buren began experimenting on the Nameless True Immortals sealed within the Primordial Desolation Immortal Realm.
He had promised to let them go, but that didn't prevent him from putting them to use before then.
An invisible, formless Dao-refining fire enveloped the Heavenly Pillars.
The power of the Ink Death immortal soul seeped into them without a sound.
The changes varied according to their strength.
Si Tu Xing suffered the worst fate.
He wasn't even the original Nameless True Immortal, merely a vessel, and under the assault of Ink Death, he had almost no power to resist. The gray Heavenly Pillar slowly turned purple from top to bottom, yet a bizarre shade of black appeared within it.
Just before this violet-black color completely engulfed the pillar, Li Fan retracted his divine ability. This saved Si Tu Xing's life, but he was left with only a sliver of consciousness, barely clinging to existence.
Li Fan grasped the Dao-transformed section of the Heavenly Pillar and, with little effort, separated it from the normal part. He swallowed it whole.
Compared to his own slow pace of comprehension, this direct consumption was incredibly efficient.
A moment of refinement surpassed a hundred years of arduous cultivation.
"Truly a supreme and wondrous method!" Li Buren praised inwardly.
However, not all the Nameless True Immortals were as defenseless as Si Tu Xing.
The Hunger Immortal, in particular, was a different story.
Even while sealed, she could contend with the Ink Death immortal soul. Although she was doomed to fail in the long run, the fact that she could hold her ground for a short while spoke volumes of her extraordinary power.
Li Buren chipped off a small, Dao-transformed purple piece from the Hunger Immortal's pillar and consumed it.
A moment later, he narrowed his eyes slightly. "As I thought. The Dao of Hunger comes from outside the Primal Possibility."
"Or rather, it isn't entirely a Dao of the Primal Possibility, but a product of some Great Dao merging with an external one."
In the complete codex of Great Daos he had glimpsed through Cheng Dao, Li Fan had not seen a projection of the Dao of Hunger. He had, however, seen something similar. That must have been one of the prototypes for the Dao of Hunger.
Just like the Dao Sword and Dao Blade, Daos from outside the Primal Possibility were far more effective at filling the gaps in the Myriad Forms Dao Net than native Daos. It was as if they directly opened entirely new branches of possibility for the Dao. The Myriad Forms Dao Net grew a new blank region at a speed visible to the naked eye. Even though it wasn't completely filled yet, he could already estimate the scale of its final form.
Faced with such a potent elixir, Li Buren was tempted for a moment to ignore his promise to Cheng Dao and continue refining the Hunger Immortal.
But after some thought, he restrained himself.
"I can refine the Hunger Immortal in the next life. She'll be in the Immortal Ruins anyway."
"I still need to rely on Cheng Dao in this life."
"There's no rush."
Among the sealed Heavenly Pillars, the one that surprised Li Buren the most was the performance of the Bone of Primal Origin. It retreated step by step under the assault of the purple-black power of Ink Death, proving even less resilient than Si Tu Xing, whose original body had perished, leaving only a vessel behind.
It was utterly unworthy of the profound weight carried by the name "Primal Origin."
After some study, Li Buren understood the reason for this strange phenomenon.
"This isn't the complete Bone of Primal Origin. It's not even a small fraction of the whole."
"The vast majority of it is elsewhere."
Li Buren could even sense faint wisps of Ink Death's power following the connection between the fragments of Primal Origin, tracking them to their source.
"The Southern Immortal Pillar." Li Buren thought of the Bone of Primal Origin's true name and shook his head slightly.
"I can only wish the creatures under the protection of that pillar the best of luck."
...
Li Fan did not take things to the extreme. Although a large part of the Heavenly Pillars had been Dao-transformed, they still retained their shape. The Nameless True Immortals sealed within also survived. They were just severely weakened and would need tens of thousands of years of nourishment to recover.
Everything Li Buren learned was relayed back to his main body, Li Fan.
However, he did not reveal this in front of Cheng Dao. He feigned ignorance, maintaining his image as a diligent and inquisitive junior brother.
...
A full three years passed before Shanhua brought news again.
"That Kuisheng is extremely cautious. It was only after I showed him our fully restored Dao Net and confirmed that you, senior, hadn't come to attack us that he finally agreed to cooperate."
"We also noticed that someone has been trying to scout the borders of Shuo Xinghai recently. It's a good thing we repaired the Dao Net quickly, or our ruse might have been exposed," Chaos added, standing to the side, sounding relieved.
"Even so, Kuisheng refuses to reveal his entire plan. He just told us to 'follow orders and adapt to the situation.' Hmph..." A glint of ferocity flashed in Shanhua's eyes.
"Be patient. Don't reveal any flaws," Li Fan said calmly, and Shanhua immediately composed himself.
"Just do as they say. My senior brother and I will remain in the Primordial Desolation Immortal Realm, awaiting their grand arrival," Li Fan said, turning to Cheng Dao with a smile.
"Senior Brother, would you be willing to move?"
The gaunt old man stretched his seemingly stiff body. "It just so happens I haven't been out in years and I'm getting restless. A temporary change of scenery sounds good."
As he spoke, a blue light emanated from Cheng Dao's body. A shadow projection of Cheng Dao took his place, sitting cross-legged in the deepest part of the Dao Net.
Li Fan carefully observed his surroundings, noticing that the Dao strings of the entire network hadn't bent in the slightest despite the switch between the main body and the projection.
He couldn't help but marvel, "Senior Brother, your Shadow Projection technique is almost indistinguishable from our master's! I imagine transcendence is just around the corner for you!"
Cheng Dao, now standing, stroked his beard and laughed heartily, unable to hide his pride. Yet, his words remained humble, "You flatter me, you flatter me. I am still far from master's level. This projection can only take my place for a hundred years at most. Any longer, and it will fail."
"With Senior Brother's talent, it won't be long before you can project for an eternity," Li Fan said with a cheerful smile.
Chaos and Shanhua were already used to Li Fan's almost blind praise. They kept their eyes on their noses and their noses on their hearts, pretending not to have heard a thing.
"Senior Brother, if you please." Li Fan led Cheng Dao to take up residence in the Primordial Desolation Immortal Realm.
They just had to wait for the people from Guangwu Xinghai to take the bait.
After another ten days or so, Shanhua finally met with Kuisheng again.
He was still possessing the same black cat.
"You are far too cautious, my friend. We lost so many of our companions, and even we aren't as wary as you," Shanhua said, his tone laced with displeasure.
Kuisheng complained as well, "Don't even mention it, Brother Shanhua. I didn't want to be. After losing the supreme treasure last time, I was nearly flayed, my bones extracted, and sealed within a Heavenly Pillar. Fortunately, at the last moment, I recalled the details of how that thief subdued the treasure. Only then was I given a chance to redeem myself."
"But this is my last chance. If I fail again, I'm afraid you'll never see me again, brother."
Shanhua seemed deeply sympathetic, stroking the cat's head. "You've truly suffered, brother. If it really comes to it, just flee to our Shuo Xinghai. At the very least..."
"Haha." Kuisheng awkwardly cut Shanhua off.
"Alright, let's get to business. I'm not actually the one in charge of this operation. I'm just responsible for relaying messages and communication."
"Oh?" Shanhua's hand, which was stroking the black cat, paused. "How are we to cooperate?"
Kuisheng fell silent for a while, seemingly listening to orders from his side.
After a long moment, his voice finally came through. "There is a coffin. Inside, a slumbering Nameless True Immortal is sealed. You just need to receive the coffin and then find a way to get it into that Primordial Desolation Immortal Realm."
Shanhua waited for more, but Kuisheng seemed to have finished and fell silent once more.
"That's it?" Shanhua was clearly dissatisfied.
"After all this trouble, this is your preparation? What can a single slumbering Nameless Immortal do? You saw the strength of that Hidden Emperor yourself."
Kuisheng reassured him, "Don't you worry, brother. I've staked my own life on this; how could I be careless? With this slumbering Nameless Immortal making a move, no matter how powerful that Hidden Emperor is, he won't be able to turn the tables!"
"This time, we'll make him pay it all back, with interest."
Shanhua pondered for a moment before finally nodding in agreement.
Before breaking the connection with Kuisheng and heading to the appointed location to find the slumbering immortal in the coffin, he reported the details of the situation to Li Fan.
"It's fine. Just do as he says. Bring the coffin here."
Only after receiving Li Fan's reply did Shanhua breathe a sigh of relief.
He then departed for the border of Shuo Xinghai to search for his target.
Within the Primordial Desolation Immortal Realm.
Li Fan and Cheng Dao sat facing each other. Between them, a stick of green incense burned, its smoke rising in formless wisps.
"Senior Brother, do you have any idea about this slumbering Nameless Immortal in the coffin?"
"Perhaps... it is an Immortal from the Other Shore."
After a long silence, Cheng Dao spoke slowly, his tone heavy with gravity.
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