Chapter 871: The Abyssal Void
Chapter 871: The Abyssal Void
The way he fell had a certain similarity to Lan Yu's feigned death.
Heaven and Earth grieved in unison.
It wasn't just about helping the world itself.
Helping these cultivators, whom the world considered its allies, would also increase the favor of the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao.
From a rational perspective, being the Heavenly Dao's attack dog in the Xuanhuang Realm was a sure path to ruin. One would only be ruthlessly suppressed by both the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance and the Five Elders Council.
No sane cultivator would ever make such a choice.
But with the help of [Truth], Li Fan could act without any worries.
Because Li Fan had no intention of truly becoming the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao's enforcer.
"If I'm doing your dirty work, you've got to lend me some of your power, right?"
After all, the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance and the Five Elders Council were no easy opponents.
As long as he could trick the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao into lending him some of its remaining power, his objective would be achieved.
To expect him to actually go head-to-head with the Alliance and the Council...
That was, of course, impossible.
Once he used [Truth] to reset, he wouldn't owe anyone a thing!
"Still, figuring out how to gradually win the Heavenly Dao's trust will require careful planning."
"This is absolutely forbidden territory, with no records to learn from. I can only proceed cautiously on my own."
"Speaking of which, by pushing the Alliance and the Council into conflict, I'm already helping, right?"
Li Fan abruptly lifted his head, his gaze seeming to pierce through the Spirit Wood Realm and reach the very heavens of the Xuanhuang Realm.
"No. Toiling away in obscurity won't earn any recognition from the higher-ups."
"If the boss doesn't know about your accomplishments, it's as if you never achieved them."
"Perhaps I can use Senior Stone Slab to get a message to the heavens."
An idea instantly formed in Li Fan's mind.
Most of his schemes were carried out from the seclusion of small worlds or the Cong Yun Sea.
The Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao might not be aware of them.
In the future, he could visit Senior Stone Slab more often, reporting every achievement, no matter how small.
This would both build rapport with Senior Stone Slab and earn favor from the world itself.
"No, wait. If I do it myself, it might seem a bit too deliberate."
"Yes, I can leave it to Lin Ling."
The image of Lin Ling's innocent, dazed expression appeared in his mind, and Li Fan nodded to himself in approval.
With these two future paths planned out in a brief moment of thought, Li Fan summoned Tianyang.
Recently, Tianyang had been staying in the Spirit Wood Realm, helping Shang Tianci and Ou Daozi construct the Federation's headquarters.
Even though he had been constantly busy, Li Fan noticed that Tianyang's power had still grown considerably since he first reached the Dao Integration stage.
"Junior Brother, let's have a little spar," Li Fan said with a warm smile.
Tianyang looked at Li Fan with some suspicion, then glanced down at his own fists.
Then, he slowly shook his head.
It seemed he was afraid of hurting Li Fan.
Li Fan chuckled and released a fraction of the aura from his Five Elements Great Cave-Heaven.
Tianyang's eyes immediately lit up.
He grinned, seemingly delighted by the great leap in Li Fan's strength.
"Don't worry, Junior Brother. My combat strength is no less than yours now."
This statement, however, ignited Tianyang's competitive spirit. He was instantly eager to fight.
Li Fan surveyed the Spirit Wood Realm, looking at the fledgling Federation headquarters and its cluster of buildings, which had been so difficult to construct.
"The Spirit Wood Realm may be large, but it can't withstand the shockwaves of a battle between us."
An idea struck him, and Li Fan instantly thought of a suitable place.
"Follow me."
After leaving the Spirit Wood Realm, the two traveled one after the other across four provinces, arriving in what was now Langhuan Province.
Hidden within this province was a small world called the Soul Yin World.
Back in his 115th life, among the many small worlds explored by the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, the Soul Yin World was an exceptionally peculiar one.
For some unknown reason, all the mortals who had migrated into this world had perished.
All that remained were countless ghostly apparitions, similar to soul bodies, drifting through the land.
And these soul bodies seemed to be related to spatial power.
They were an incredible tonic for the Split Boundary Whales.
After a pod of Split Boundary Whales accidentally discovered the Soul Yin World, they would return from time to time to feed.
After these soul bodies disappeared, they would naturally be reborn from the world itself.
They had become a natural and ideal food source for the Split Boundary Whales.
Consequently, of all the small worlds where Split Boundary Whales existed, the Soul Yin World was where their population flourished the most.
The whales tore open spatial passages day and night, making the Soul Yin World the farthest from the Xuanhuang Realm.
"In my 115th life, the Alliance exploration team sent here simply vanished. I thought they had met a grim fate, but it turns out the distance was just too great, rendering even normal communication methods useless."
"This vast, empty space is perfect for Tianyang and me to fight without holding back."
With this in mind, Li Fan located the entrance to the Soul Yin World.
After setting up a concealment array around it, Li Fan flew in first.
A sense of darkness and profundity instantly washed over him.
It was a completely different feeling from flying through the spatial passages to the Dali or Daxuan worlds.
A strange, oppressive atmosphere settled over Li Fan's heart.
Even Tianyang, who was usually somewhat slow-witted, wore a rare look of gravity.
"This feeling..."
Li Fan narrowed his eyes, savoring the sensation.
After a long moment, a flicker of understanding crossed his mind. "It's like being a mortal in the depths of the ocean..."
"Is it because we're too far from the Xuanhuang Realm?"
"The information I gathered before didn't mention this. No wonder no one ever saw the members of that exploration team again after they returned."
"It seems that traversing the endless void isn't as simple as I imagined."
Li Fan pondered for a long while before temporarily setting these thoughts aside.
He continued flying along the spatial passage for several hours.
Judging that they were far enough, he finally came to a halt.
"Junior Brother, you may begin," Li Fan said solemnly.
Tianyang nodded and, without a word, unleashed his oppressive aura.
He revealed his body, formed from the Spirit of Heaven and Earth, streaked with red and black.
In an instant, Li Fan felt the space around him lock down completely.
It was as if his limbs were bound by heavy shackles, rendering him immobile.
"So this is the power of space."
Li Fan knew his junior brother was holding back.
Otherwise, if that spatial power were to act directly on his body, it could have instantly torn him to shreds!
"Junior Brother, I told you—give it your all!"
Not even attempting to break free from the spatial restraints, Li Fan's expression grew serious as he spoke.
Tianyang paused for a moment.
Then, Li Fan felt the space around him grow even more profound, more abyssal.
It was as if he had been bitten by an invisible monster.
Li Fan's head, hands, and feet vanished into the darkness in an instant.
All that remained was his bare torso, floating helplessly in the void.
For a cultivator of the old ways, this would have been instant death.
But for a cultivator of the new method, who had devoured a cave-heaven, it was merely a trivial injury.
Bang!
Li Fan's torso exploded into a cloud of blood mist.
His voice, however, boomed like thunder, echoing through the void around Tianyang.
"Junior Brother, now it's my turn!"
(End of Chapter)
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