Chapter 839: The Dao Integration Venerable Inkstone
Chapter 839: The Dao Integration Venerable Inkstone
At this critical juncture, Li Fan pushed the mutated Heavenly Profound Spirit Sealing Array to its absolute limits.
Under their combined assault, Inkstone's defenses—a veritable wall of despair—finally began to show a fissure.
Tianyang and Lin Ling finally broke free from the encirclement with a desperate surge of power.
The myriad inkstones finally reconverged, merging back into a single entity.
It scanned the area but couldn't locate Lin Ling and Tianyang, who had taken cover to recuperate.
It paused for a brief moment before striking once more.
After the two preceding all-out assaults, Inkstone's power had been considerably diminished.
Yet, this next blow still surpassed the trio's expectations.
An endless torrent of black liquid streamed from its body.
It spread outward, consuming the surrounding space.
The liquid flowed with increasing speed, yet its volume seemed utterly inexhaustible.
Before long, it had inundated a vast expanse of the surrounding space!
And still, it showed no sign of abating.
The black fluid surged like a monstrous tidal wave, roaring as it swept forward, threatening to fill the entire subterranean chamber!
"We can't wait! We have to risk it all!"
Li Fan declared in a low, determined voice to Tianyang and Lin Ling, who had recovered a fraction of their strength.
Once again, it was Tianyang.
He took the lead.
Transforming into a torrent of fire, he met the oncoming tide head-on, plunging unflinchingly into the black ocean before him.
Li Fan could see that Tianyang was truly betting everything on this attack.
He was burning his puppet body as fuel, temporarily elevating his power to the Dao Integration realm.
It was victory or death!
Seeing his resolve, Lin Ling gritted her teeth and surged forward as well.
Within the subterranean expanse, the phantom of a colossal, sky-piercing tree flickered into existence.
The spectral tree shimmered, unleashing a torrent of innumerable leaves.
They formed thousands of green lasers that instantly sliced through the inky ocean.
Countless roots also shot forth; some plunged deep into the endless black waters.
The black sea churned violently, attempting to consume the roots.
But for the moment, they held fast.
Another set of roots traversed space, embedding themselves within Tianyang's fiery form.
The crimson torrent that was Tianyang instantly blazed several times brighter and more ferocious.
For a moment, the raging crimson flames seemed poised to overwhelm the encroaching black liquid.
"Their teamwork... it's quite impressive,"
Li Fan noted with silent approval.
He focused on perfecting the formation newly deduced by the Final Dissociation Disc.
Inkstone was once again severely weakened.
Tianyang, however, only grew more ferocious with every clash.
Gradually, for the first time, the crimson inferno began to occupy more of the cavern than the black ocean.
Li Fan knew then that victory was merely a matter of time.
A full seven days later.
With nowhere left to flee, Inkstone was finally worn down to its demise by the relentless efforts of Li Fan and his companions.
The flames that had engulfed the entire subterranean space suddenly contracted.
They coalesced into a hazy, humanoid shape.
Though it was a hard-won victory, Tianyang's puppet body had been utterly consumed in the battle.
Ordinarily, the moment the flames extinguished would have marked Tianyang's end.
But with the nourishment of the [Essence of Heaven and Earth], his fate was different.
Tianyang produced a sphere of ceaselessly flowing black liquid.
In that instant, it wasn't just Li Fan who felt a surge of avarice.
Even Lin Ling, a cultivator who had already reached the Dao Integration realm, betrayed a subtle flicker of desire in her eyes.
Fortunately, Li Fan was protected by the Mantra of the Immortal Heart.
As for Lin Ling, she was still young and relatively innocent. As a spirit tree in her true form, her worldly desires were not particularly strong.
Thus, neither of them acted on the impulse, instead watching quietly as Tianyang absorbed the sphere of flowing black liquid into his fiery form.
In an instant, it was as if his very being was being infused with ink.
Tianyang's body shifted from fiery red to a swirling mix of crimson and ink-black.
The black now dominated, covering even more of his form than before.
The red was reduced to mere threads, like intricate tattoos etched across Tianyang's body.
An immense pressure suddenly erupted from Tianyang.
It radiated outward in all directions.
Lin Ling instinctively took a few steps back.
A new Dao Integration Immortal Venerable had been born!
The surrounding void caverns began to tremble faintly.
They threatened to spread outward in all directions.
After acclimatizing to his new body, Tianyang reined in the immense pressure.
With a casual wave of his hand, he quelled the turmoil roiling through the countless void caverns.
Once all this was done, Tianyang turned to face Li Fan.
The inky blackness gradually receded, though it didn't vanish entirely, leaving his form with a swarthy, dark complexion.
While his appearance was still somewhat unnatural, it was at least much less jarring than before.
"Sen...ior... Brother..."
"I... did it."
His voice was still strange, almost alien.
Compared to before, however, it held a clear touch of humanity.
"Excellent. You've done excellently!"
After all the trials and tribulations, Tianyang had finally stepped into the Dao Integration realm.
Li Fan, having gained another Dao Integration-level enforcer, felt a deep sense of satisfaction.
"Repair the void caverns here as best you can. Consider it practice,"
Li Fan instructed while dismantling the spirit-sealing array.
Tianyang nodded without hesitation.
He began to repair the ravaged underground caverns, employing the divine abilities inherited from Inkstone.
His efficiency was markedly superior to Inkstone's.
After Li Fan had erased all traces of their presence and observed for a while longer, he finally called a halt.
"If the remaining void caverns were to erupt all at once, what would be the consequences?" Li Fan asked after sweeping the area with his spiritual sense.
His command over spatial abilities was now on an entirely different level.
Having achieved Dao Integration and regained a semblance of his former self, Tianyang considered the question for a moment before replying, "If I were to detonate these caverns in sequence, it would cause the mountains and rivers of an entire province to tremble without end."
"But by staggering the force and releasing it in stages, the land itself wouldn't collapse instantaneously."
"It would merely cause a widespread subsidence."
"If I control the force with even greater precision, those on the surface will, at most, feel a single, violent tremor."
"The aftershocks would simply be tremors that persist for a period."
"If cultivators were to intervene, the disturbance could be quelled within a matter of days."
Tianyang explained in detail via spiritual transmission.
At first, his thoughts came in fits and starts.
But they grew increasingly fluid as he continued.
He was soon almost indistinguishable from a normal person.
Li Fan nodded, satisfied with the explanation.
"Then, after we're gone, create a significant disturbance. Something to draw the attention of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance."
"Make it look natural. Don't let anyone suspect a thing," Li Fan cautioned.
"Rest assured, Senior Brother," Tianyang replied with a nod.
Afterward, countless fine black threads shot out from Tianyang's body.
In an instant, they had covered the entire subterranean space.
Each thread had a different purpose.
Some worked to shrink the void caverns.
Others worked to expand them.
But after Tianyang's meticulous work, the once-chaotic and patternless network of subterranean caverns...
...began to exhibit a subtle, underlying order.
The task took over a month to finally complete.
"Senior Brother, it is done. We can leave now."
Tianyang's talent is truly remarkable. To master Inkstone's abilities so completely in such a short time...
Li Fan praised him silently.
The entire cavern was now primed like a precise demolition site.
Long after Li Fan and his companions had departed...
...the void caverns began to erupt, one after another, in a perfectly timed sequence.
(End of this chapter)
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