Chapter 837: Tianyang Prepares for Dao Integration
Chapter 837: Tianyang Prepares for Dao Integration
Under the command of Ou Daozi, the construction of the Federation of All Worlds headquarters was slowly getting on track.
Meanwhile, a continuous stream of cultivation feedback from the Li Realm and the Congyun Sea Mutual Aid Association had allowed Li Fan to successfully break through to the next stage.
For some reason, he hadn't encountered the restraints of the Heaven's Disaster this time.
He swiftly returned to the late Golden Core stage.
Judging by the accelerating pace of his progress, he was confident that reaching the peak of his current stage was not far off.
"It's time to think about Tianyang's Dao Integration."
"However..."
Li Fan took out a [Truth Inducing Fruit] and contemplated it for a moment.
Without asking why or showing the slightest hesitation, Tianyang swallowed the crystal-clear Truth Inducing Fruit in a single gulp.
"Good. There's no time to lose; let's set off immediately. I've prepared a grand gift for you this time, junior brother!" Li Fan finally relaxed, looking at Tianyang with a sense of gratification.
Tianyang tilted his head, seemingly not quite grasping the meaning behind Li Fan's words.
Li Fan paid it no mind. He once again called upon Lin Ling, and they departed from the Spirit Wood Realm, heading straight for their destination.
The target Li Fan had set his sights on this time was an Earth's Soul known as [Ink Stone].
Sharing a prefix with Ink Killer was proof enough of Ink Stone's formidable power.
Ink Stone had only recently come into existence and was currently hidden deep beneath Qiling Prefecture, still unknown to the world.
It was only thanks to Mr. Bai that Li Fan knew of its existence at this particular time.
If Ink Killer's celestial duty was to annihilate everything...
...then Ink Stone's task was to fill the void caverns left behind by that destruction.
Deep beneath Qiling Prefecture, some unknown and terrifying calamity had taken place.
It had resulted in the appearance of vast, sprawling networks of void caverns.
It was as if the depths of the earth had been relentlessly gnawed by insects, leaving it riddled with countless holes.
Without external intervention, it wouldn't be long before the entire Qiling Prefecture was utterly destroyed in a cataclysmic collapse.
And the birth of Ink Stone was precisely to prevent this catastrophe from occurring.
Its ability was to generate a hard, black, stone-like substance to fill the void caverns.
It repaired the space that had been gnawed away and destroyed.
But if Ink Stone's abilities ended there, Li Fan would never have taken an interest in it.
In addition to "repair," Ink Stone possessed another, absolutely formidable ability.
"Space Shatter."
The name "Ink Stone" was a misnomer; it wasn't a stone at all, but a force capable of influencing and reshaping space itself.
Since it could repair a dense network of spatial caverns, it could just as easily, with a single thought, reduce a perfectly intact world to a pockmarked ruin.
And this was only a fraction of the information he had synchronized from Mr. Bai's memories.
He was certain that once Tianyang truly refined and fused with Ink Stone, he would awaken even more of its abilities.
As for how Li Fan planned to handle such a powerful Earth's Soul...
As his party traversed the earth veins, rapidly approaching the subterranean region of Qiling Prefecture, Li Fan had already run a simulated deduction in his mind.
Although the Dao Transformation Stone in his sea of consciousness was only of medium grade, Li Fan was confident that as long as no other variables came into play...
...this hunt would remain entirely under his control.
Upon emerging from the surging currents of the earth veins, the trio was greeted by the shocking sight of endless caverns stretching out before them.
The caverns were broken and disjointed, like the destructive trail left by a colossal, twisting worm burrowing through the earth.
"Even the power of the earth veins is severed here," Li Fan noted, his vigilance rising.
With no sign of Ink Stone yet, the three of them did not advance rashly.
Instead, they began to set up an array on the outskirts of the cavernous region.
It was none other than the Xuantian Spirit-Sealing Formation, the very array True Monarch Hongxi had used to control the enhanced Red Flame during his 115th life!
The Heavenly Profound Spirit Locking Array and the Xuantian Spirit-Sealing Formation.
They were two sides of the same coin, different paths leading to the same destination.
Li Fan had mastered the complete diagrams of the Heavenly Profound Spirit Locking Array. Even though he had previously been unfamiliar with the Xuantian Spirit-Sealing Formation...
...now that he possessed the ultimate tool, the [Final Dissociation Disc]...
...mastery of one led to the understanding of all.
He was still able to deduce an array that could replicate the effects of the Xuantian Spirit-Sealing Formation.
Lacking the most crucial component—the Heavenly Profound Mirror—its power was naturally diminished.
However, the Final Dissociation Disc was, after all, a supreme creation formed by the fusion of two derivatives of the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
Furthermore, it specialized in arrays.
With its support, maintaining an array capable of weakening the power of an Earth's Soul...
...was still achievable.
"It won't be like it was with True Monarch Hongxi, where simply activating the array completely stripped the Earth's Soul of its ability to move."
"But severing Ink Stone's connection to the world, trapping it like a cornered beast... suppressing it shouldn't be difficult."
Li Fan mused silently as he laid out the array.
Lin Ling and Tianyang were both completely ignorant when it came to arrays. The two could only stare at each other blankly and watch from the sidelines.
Fortunately, Li Fan had once spent decades continuously setting up arrays, and the art of doing so swiftly was now etched into his very instincts.
Just over a month later, a massive, modified Xuantian Spirit-Sealing Formation, covering the entire expanse of the subterranean void caverns, was complete.
Next, he had to set up another array to contain the shockwaves of the coming battle.
He also had to lock down the surrounding space, cutting off any chance for Ink Stone to escape should the situation turn unfavorable.
The Dao of Space was not Li Fan's forte.
Fortunately, with the help of numerous rare materials obtained from the Five Elders Council, he managed to complete it, albeit with some difficulty, in just over two weeks.
Li Fan then had Lin Ling ask the venerable Ancient Earth Vein Tree for assistance.
It would use its immense earth vein power to add another layer of seals to the area.
When the battle began, it would deliberately create a commotion to mask any shockwaves that might leak out.
Faced with Lin Ling's request, the Ancient Earth Vein Tree was initially hesitant.
However, after she promised to bring it some Heavenly Drops and Earthly Dew as compensation...
...it reluctantly agreed.
The interval between its two encounters with Lin Ling had been very short.
It had witnessed her strength advance by leaps and bounds in a remarkably short time.
Naturally, the Ancient Earth Vein Tree was quite curious about this Heavenly Drops and Earthly Dew.
Having secured this external support, Li Fan's next task was to brief Lin Ling and Tianyang.
In a battle for Dao Integration, it was unthinkable for him, with his mere Golden Core cultivation, to put himself in harm's way.
Lin Ling and Tianyang would be the main combatants, while Li Fan intended to stay far from the action.
Directing things from the rear.
Considering that neither of the two were particularly bright...
Li Fan explained in painstaking detail the various scenarios they might encounter in the coming fight.
He then used the array to temporarily link the minds of all three.
Finally, he handed them numerous treasures he had prepared in advance, just in case they were needed.
...
Only then did Li Fan quietly fall back.
With a single clap, he activated the arrays, layer by layer.
"With preparations this thorough, if you two still can't handle a single little Ink Stone... well, if it turns the tables on you, you can't blame me."
As a strange ripple of energy spread into the void caverns...
...[Ink Stone], which had been diligently repairing the voids, finally sensed that something was amiss.
(End of this chapter)
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