Chapter 905: Memories of an Ancient Law King
Li Fan gazed at the series of light screens the Dao Transformation Stone had arranged before him.
"The recorded scenes," he noted, "can be roughly divided into two categories."
"One part is from the cultivators who have fallen here over the years. They hold little value."
"As for the rest..."
A glint of excitement flashed in Li Fan's eyes.
"Just as I suspected, they all belong to a single person."
"One of the twelve Law Kings of the Xuantian Sect, Ji Yuzhen!"
Li Fan extended his divine sense, touching one of the light screens.
In an instant, a torrent of images poured into his mind, so vivid it was as if he were living them himself.
"Heh, it seems you haven't changed," the man chuckled. "Always in secluded cultivation, oblivious to the world outside. I've been back for some time now." The man before her had a resolute expression, and his eyes shone with the brilliance of distant stars. His voice was gentle, carrying a tranquility that soothed the soul.
"This must be the Xuantian King," Li Fan mused. "While not as devastatingly beautiful as Mr. Bai, he's still handsome in a way rarely seen in the world."
The Xuantian King let out a soft sigh before his expression turned serious. "Zhen'er," he said, his voice low, "there is something I must do. It may well turn the entire world against me. Are you willing to stand with me?"
Ji Yuzhen paused for a fraction of a second, but her resolve was immediate.
She shot to her feet, the spiritual energy surging around her sending ripples through the white clouds blanketing the mountain peaks. "I will!"
The Xuantian King was taken aback. "You're not going to ask what it is?"
She simply gazed at him for a long moment, a faint, knowing smile gracing her lips as she gently shook her head.
Averting his eyes, the Xuantian King looked down, a flicker of guilt crossing his features. Then, he tore through the sea of clouds and descended the mountain.
Ji Yuzhen followed close behind, her eyes locked on his retreating figure, her gaze lingering.
...
Li Fan pulled back from the memory, his brow furrowed in thought.
He moved on to the next complete memory.
The scene shifted to a dark, subterranean chamber.
The Xuantian King was speaking, recounting his experiences after ascending to the Immortal Realm and describing the celestial drift he had observed affecting the Xuanhuang Realm.
Twelve figures were scattered throughout the chamber's corners.
Like their faces, their expressions were veiled by shadow, impossible to discern.
"The fate of countless lives in the Xuanhuang Realm is at stake. We cannot simply stand by and watch," an elderly voice declared, breaking the silence. "Xuanyuan Hong, do what you must. This old man will support you with all his strength, even if it costs me my life."
Xuanyuan Hong inclined his head toward the elder, his expression grave. "Thank you for your noble commitment, Elder Cui."
A few others in the room voiced their assent.
Yet several others remained impassive, their faces unreadable.
Ji Yuzhen's gaze, however, was locked on Xuanyuan Hong the entire time.
...
The scene changed again, this time to a small, cramped room.
"Zhen'er, I've searched through the scriptures of the Immortal Realm and found a technique perfectly suited for you."
"The Boundless Heavenly Pivot Separating Spirit Art."
His expression was alight with excitement. "This technique is extraordinary, unlike anything I have ever encountered. It unifies body and soul, allowing one to reach a state of infinite, boundless existence..."
He spoke with boundless enthusiasm, explaining the profound mysteries of the technique to Ji Yuzhen.
And all the while, Ji Yuzhen simply listened in silence, a gentle smile on her face.
...
The memory jumped to a blood-soaked battlefield.
Ji Yuzhen's form dissolved into thousands of roaming soul fragments. Each fragment shot out like a phantom gleam of light, extinguishing the life of an enemy cultivator with every strike.
Even as she reaped the lives of her foes, her gaze drifted unconsciously toward Xuanyuan Hong on a distant part of the battlefield.
She saw him besieged by several cultivators of the Longevity realm, yet his expression remained utterly composed.
A small, ancient mirror hovered above his head, casting a profound, spectral radiance that trapped his assailants.
Xuanyuan Hong's brow tightened. "Law Inviolate!" he cried.
A shimmer of light washed over his body.
In the next moment, every attack launched by the five Longevity cultivators passed through him as if he were mere air, completely ineffective.
"Titanic Strength!" Xuanyuan Hong commanded again.
He calmly raised a hand, catching a colossal seal that had silently ripped a tear in space above him. The seal was immense, blotting out half the sky as it descended, yet he caught it with ease.
"Piercing Gaze!"
A beam of golden light shot from Xuanyuan Hong's eyes.
His gaze swept over the five Longevity cultivators. Wherever his sight fell, golden chains materialized from thin air, binding them tightly!
In an instant, the tide of battle turned!
Xuanyuan Hong's tone turned chillingly solemn, his very presence radiating the awesome might of the heavens. "Execute Heaven's Judgment!"
He looked down upon the five Longevity cultivators, their faces contorted in defiance, and then his form flickered, reappearing in an instant directly above them.
He lifted his left foot and brought it down with crushing force.
An invisible shockwave washed over the five cultivators.
Their expressions shifted from defiance to panic, and finally, to absolute terror.
But Xuanyuan Hong remained unmoved, without a shred of pity.
In the blink of an eye, their bodies dissolved into nothing, like ice melting into thin air.
All that remained were the ethereal images of five fruits, glowing with an otherworldly light.
With a casual wave of his hand, the five phantoms transformed into streaks of light and shot away, vanishing into the distance.
With the demise of the five Longevity cultivators, the battle was decisively over.
...
The scene shifted to a void that resembled an endless, starry expanse.
"Brother Xuanyuan, is this the Floating Starry Sky Grand Formation?"
Ji Yuzhen looked at the scene before her and couldn't help but chuckle. "It's so ugly!"
Xuanyuan Hong remained unperturbed. "Appearance is irrelevant, so long as it serves its purpose."
Before them, countless golden chains enveloped the Xuanhuang Realm, wrapping it in a tight cocoon.
The realm now resembled a flattened golden sphere, suspended in the void.
The chains were not static; they flowed and shifted ceaselessly, as if orbiting an unseen core within.
The golden chains themselves were etched with innumerable, intricate runes.
"Now," he declared, "let us begin the first attempt at capture."
Surprisingly, there was a hint of tension in Xuanyuan Hong's voice.
As he finished speaking, hundreds of the myriad stars before them flared to life with sudden brilliance.
After observing for a moment, Xuanyuan Hong focused on a single, distant star.
"Go!"
With a light flick of his finger, a single chain shot out from the golden sphere.
It streaked directly toward its target.
The chain vanished into the void without a sound.
And for a time, there was no response.
It was as if the chain had been swallowed by the infinite emptiness.
Xuanyuan Hong watched with unwavering concentration.
Several days passed before he finally shook his head in disappointment. "The observational beacon is still misaligned with the actual coordinates."
"This attempt was a failure."
As he spoke, he gestured once more, and the golden chain began its long journey back from the void.
"Misaligned?" Ji Yuzhen asked softly. "Is it because of that unknown force, the one pulling everything in?"
"Precisely," he confirmed. "And it isn't just our cultivation world. Soon, this entire expanse of space and time may be inexorably drawn into its grasp."
Xuanyuan Hong sighed. "We have to move faster."
...
"Brother Xuanyuan, let me heal your wounds."
In the secluded space, Ji Yuzhen detached a fragment of her divine soul, which drifted toward Xuanyuan Hong.
"It's no substitute for true immortal energy," she said, "but my Boundless Heavenly Pivot Separating Spirit Art has just reached the stage of minor mastery. If you absorb this piece of my soul, your wounds should heal much faster."
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