Chapter 1330: An Immortal Fall Annihilates All Things

My Longevity Simulation

Li Fan began a new round of experiments.

This time, after burning away a fist-sized piece of True Immortal flesh, the elevation he reached was already sufficient to activate the Nine Heavens Descending Mortal Finger. It could effortlessly crush a small world on the scale of Great Xuan.

"To achieve the effect of destroying the Xuanhuang Realm with a single finger, I would need to burn at least nearly a human-sized amount of True Immortal flesh."

Li Fan fell into silent contemplation.

"Compared to how efficiently a True Immortal can use it, there is still an enormous gap. But this is already the limit of what I can accomplish at present. Perhaps only after my strength improves further will I discover a more suitable method of refinement."

With the first and most important step solved, the subsequent deduction progressed smoothly.

Using eight interconnected formations, the Final Dissociation Disc successfully recreated the divine ability of the Nine Heavens Descending Mortal Finger.

With the assistance of the Final Dissociation Disc, and provided all the required materials were available, Li Fan could complete the entire formation in a single instant. It could essentially be treated as an instantaneous divine ability.

"Unfortunately, it is still a composite formation rather than an innate divine ability. It cannot achieve the flawless natural unity of a true divine art. If I were to face an enemy equally proficient in formations, they might exploit the flaws between the interconnected formations and dispel this technique with little effort."

"No matter what, my current priority is to gather enough True Immortal flesh for further research. At the same time, I must guard against the possibility that, once enough pieces accumulate, they may generate self-awareness."

Li Fan stood suspended above the Great Xuan Small World, gazing beyond the world itself.

Reflecting upon everything that had happened recently, he gained an even deeper understanding of his plan to bring the Super Xuanhuang Realm into existence.

"If the path to immortality is the process of a single individual climbing upward."

"Then what I intend to do is raise the entire Xuanhuang Realm to the other shore."

His eyes flickered with thought.

"At present, it is already impossible for even a single person to ascend to immortality. Let alone elevating an entire world."

"In truth, if not for the cluster of immortal spiritual qi left behind by Mr. Bai, I would never even have considered such a possibility. It was precisely because I personally witnessed the changes brought about when the Xuanhuang Realm became infused with immortal spiritual qi in my previous life that I now possess a measure of confidence."

"Advancing an entire world may also have been the Heavenly Doctor's long-standing plan. The only difference is that the world he intended to elevate was not the Xuanhuang Realm, but the Heavenly Law Realm. Unfortunately for him, this life is destined to have his opportunity taken by me."

Li Fan felt no guilt whatsoever.

"With the Ascension Formation, perhaps I can make even more efficient use of that mass of immortal spiritual qi. But should I also incorporate the burning of True Immortal flesh during the world's ascension..."

After pondering for a while, Li Fan ultimately decided to first conduct an experiment on another small world.

Although, according to theory, nothing should remain after True Immortal flesh was completely consumed by the formation, Li Fan still sensed vaguely that there were changes taking place which he was presently unable to perceive.

This time, the small world he selected was even smaller than the primitive world he had previously crushed with a single finger.

There was scarcely any vegetation at all. It was an absolute desert of life.

After using the Nine Heavens Descending Mortal Finger to sever its connection with the Xuanhuang Realm,

Li Fan dragged it through the void opened by the Rift Whale.

Only after traveling an immense distance from the Xuanhuang Realm itself, ensuring that even the greatest disaster would not spread back to it, did he finally stop.

"It is said that immortals can pluck stars and seize the moon. My methods are hardly inferior."

Since he was using formations in place of divine abilities, casting them required almost no effort. In fact, the entire process appeared remarkably graceful. Only the rapidly consumed True Immortal flesh caused Li Fan some heartache.

"After this experiment, my entire stockpile will be exhausted. I will have to accumulate more."

Standing within the void, Li Fan looked down at the small world beneath him and began arranging the Ascension Formation throughout every corner of it.

"Besides that, I should also observe the effects of the character [Creation]."

Because he remained wary of the possibility that a True Immortal had already occupied that Dao, even after learning the True Immortal seal script character [Creation], Li Fan had never attempted to comprehend the Great Dao contained within it.

He had only used it as a tool.

For this experiment, he deliberately distorted its meaning.

The version he used was not the fully comprehended form of the [Creation] character.

After everything had been prepared, the Ascension Formation activated instantly.

Towering peaks rose from countless places throughout the world.

Like heavenly pillars, they lifted the entire world upward. As its "height" steadily increased, countless mysterious transformations unfolded throughout the once lifeless wasteland.

Vegetation and trees seemed to undergo millions of years of evolution in the blink of an eye.

What had once been a thin layer covering the ground became endless primeval forests reaching toward the heavens.

The previously monotonous landscape also began to differentiate and evolve. Towering mountains, deep canyons, and magnificent natural scenery emerged one after another.

"These kinds of changes do not occur in cultivators."

"Until the very final stage of ascension, a cultivator's body experiences no changes regardless of how much their height increases. But for an entire world, the situation is different."

"It may not increase in a perfectly linear fashion, but the world truly receives continuous feedback throughout the process."

Watching the astonishing transformations taking place below, waves of insight continuously arose within Li Fan.

The world's ascension continued as the True Immortal flesh burned away.

It was obvious that the higher the ascent became, the more energy was required.

Gradually, the world's evolution slowed.

"It has already reached its limit."

Li Fan understood this well.

He had never expected that the amount of True Immortal flesh supplied this time would be enough to raise the small world to any especially great height.

He fixed his gaze upon it, observing the changes after the ascension had been completed.

The last traces of True Immortal flesh were completely consumed.

The small world, which had been rumbling without pause, suddenly fell into an eerie silence.

It was as though time itself had been frozen. The wind, clouds, flowing qi, and every living thing within the world...

All became completely motionless, as though frozen by an invisible force.

"Hm?"

Li Fan sensed something and his expression changed slightly.

The phantom image of the Wooden Sword flew from its sheath, carrying him rapidly away from the surrounding region of space.

Shortly after Li Fan departed, a terrifying calamity descended upon the small world.

Cracks burst forth across the world.

At first there were only three or five, stretching across heaven and earth.

Soon afterward, however, the fractures spread rapidly until they covered every corner of the entire world. It was like something that had fallen from an immense height.

The higher it had climbed before, the more catastrophic its fall became.

The small world, temporarily elevated by Li Fan's formation, finally returned to its original position.

In that instant, it shattered into countless pieces.

Unlike a world silently crushed by the Nine Heavens Descending Mortal Finger, a world falling from such a height collided violently with the surrounding void of the Xuanhuang Realm.

It was like a massive boulder plunging into a tranquil lake.

Invisible ripples spread outward from the location where the small world was destroyed.

They expanded rapidly in every direction.

Like a raging gale sweeping across the void, although Li Fan himself remained completely motionless, his robes fluttered violently in the wind.

Li Fan turned his gaze back toward the Xuanhuang Realm.

Although the Xuanhuang Realm itself would not be harmed by this accidental worldfall.

The resulting hurricane did indeed cause the Xuanhuang Realm to tremble slightly.

"It seems those flies will be attracted again."

Sensing an aura from the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance approaching, Li Fan did not choose to hide or leave for the time being.

He had not forgotten the primary purpose of this experiment.

Li Fan swept the site where the world had fallen with his divine sense. There seemed to be no wreckage left behind. Everything within the small world had been reduced to ashes during the fall.

However, the black mist formed after the True Immortal flesh and blood was decomposed by the White Ring Descends into Mortal World did not vanish together with the destruction of the world.

It continued to float silently within the void.

"What exactly is this black mist?"

"As expected, using True Immortal flesh-blood as fuel causes it to become hidden within the world itself."

Having obtained the result he wanted, Li Fan waved his hand. A golden net wrapped around the black mist and carried it away as he rapidly departed.

Not long after Li Fan left, a figure arrived belatedly.

Had Li Fan still been present, he would have recognized this person as the chief of the Dharma-Transmitters, Dharma-Transmitter Jiang.

Dharma-Transmitter Jiang was stationed in the Returning Ruins Realm and rarely left it. He would only appear when the Xuanhuang Realm encountered a world-ending catastrophe beyond the ability of ordinary Dharma-Transmitters to handle.

This incident was merely a minor disturbance caused by a world's fall. Yet, for some unknown reason, it had drawn him here personally.

Dharma-Transmitter Jiang arrived at the source of the disturbance and gazed thoughtfully at the empty void where all traces had already disappeared.

He surveyed the surroundings but found no clues, causing him to frown slightly.

After searching for a long time without finding anything, Dharma-Transmitter Jiang was about to leave when his eyes suddenly narrowed. He turned to look once more at the place where the world had fallen.

A wisp of black mist, which Li Fan had clearly collected completely, unexpectedly emerged once again.

The instant he saw the black mist, Dharma-Transmitter Jiang's expression changed drastically.

It was as though he had seen it before and was intimately familiar with it. Without the slightest hesitation, he opened his mouth wide and swallowed not only the black mist, but even the entire space surrounding the impact site in a single gulp.

After swallowing the black mist, Dharma-Transmitter Jiang's complexion visibly deteriorated.

Dark patterns rapidly spread across his body like a tide of black ink, threatening to engulf him completely.

Yet in the face of such a terrifying sight, his eyes remained incomparably calm.

A ripple emerged from the center of his chest. Under the influence of that ripple, Dharma-Transmitter Jiang's body began to waver like the surface of a tranquil lake that had been disturbed.

As the rhythmic oscillations continued, Dharma-Transmitter Jiang, together with the black mist and the space he had swallowed, gradually faded.

In the end, they vanished completely.

From that point onward, no more black mist emerged from the impact site.

It was as though nothing had ever happened.

...

Li Fan naturally had no way of knowing that the "fly" from the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance he had spoken of had unknowingly solved a major problem for him.

Had Dharma-Transmitter Jiang not cleaned away the black mist in time, it was highly likely that before Li Fan even realized what had happened, the black mist would have already silently begun eroding the Xuanhuang Realm.

Li Fan's Dao Integration plan for this lifetime would likely have ended in complete failure.

At this moment, Li Fan was contemplating the reason his experiment had failed.

"The ascension of a world is fundamentally different from the ascension of a cultivator."

"The difference is reflected not only in the process, but also in the outcome."

"When cultivators return from the 'higher level' to their normal state, they experience at most a little physical discomfort. They would never suffer such a catastrophic collapse as a falling world."

"Perhaps it is because the world itself absorbs an enormous amount of energy during the ascension process."

Recalling the scenes he had witnessed inside that small world during its sublimation, Li Fan pondered silently.

Now that he had obtained preliminary verification, a difficult problem stood before him.

After pushing the Xuanhuang Realm toward higher sublimation, there would be a period before the Xuanhuang Realm evolved a Celestial Spirit of Heaven and Earth that Li Fan could devour.

During that interval, he had to find a way to anchor the relative position of the Super Xuanhuang Realm.

Otherwise, before he could even achieve Dao Integration, he would very likely shatter together with the falling Xuanhuang Realm and be forced to return through [Truth] far earlier than planned.

"As the world ascends, it only becomes stable after reaching a certain point."

"That point should be the boundary separating immortals from mortals."

"I wonder whether the preparations I have made in this lifetime will be sufficient. If not, what method can I use to temporarily anchor the Xuanhuang Realm?"

The ascension of the Xuanhuang Realm into immortality was by no means an easy task.

Originally, Li Fan believed that simply following the plan step by step would achieve his objective. However, the gap between immortals and mortals was as vast as heaven and the abyss. As the plan gradually unfolded, one problem after another surfaced.

Fortunately, Li Fan possessed sufficient resources to deal with and resolve each obstacle one by one.

Thus, he felt no anxiety.

While Li Fan contemplated these matters, the Xuanhuang Realm enjoyed a brief period of calm.

Just as it had in its original course of history.

However, this rare tranquility was soon broken.

The cause was that someone had crossed the Inch Apart, Worlds Away Formation and returned from beneath the High Wall.

Sensing the disturbance, Li Fan temporarily set aside his thoughts.

The one who had returned was Hundred Flowers.

She appeared somewhat disheveled. Her originally flawless glass-like body was now covered with numerous scars. Light flickered unsteadily across her form, as though it might extinguish at any moment.

"Holy Teacher..."

Upon seeing Li Fan appear before her, Hundred Flowers let out a long sigh of relief.

"What happened? After I returned, the rest of you had already disappeared. Even the Remnant World Great Wall had fallen into chaos, with the accumulated residual True Immortal power pouring down..." Li Fan asked with a solemn expression.

As he questioned her, he simultaneously sent a stream of source power essence to heal her injuries.

The effect of the source power essence was immediate.

After receiving its nourishment, Hundred Flowers instantly regained her vitality. She first cupped her hands in thanks before speaking somewhat angrily.

"That Yin Shangren suddenly went mad for some reason. Despite all our attempts to stop him, he rushed directly toward a certain location on the Remnant World Great Wall."

"It would have been one thing if he alone wished to throw away his life. But not long afterward, the sudden upheaval erupted. We were completely caught off guard by the surge of residual True Immortal power and were scattered."

Hundred Flowers suppressed her anger before continuing.

"I was fortunate enough to crash directly into the Remnant World Great Wall. Although I suffered some minor injuries, I ultimately managed to survive."

"Fellow Daoist Qiao Gong probably was not so fortunate."

Her expression became rather grim.

"I personally saw him drifting toward the High Wall."

"In my opinion, his chances of survival are very slim."

After hearing Hundred Flowers' account, Li Fan fell into thoughtful silence.

"Where is Xu Ke?" Li Fan asked again.

Xu Ke had always possessed extraordinary fortune. Logically speaking, he should also have escaped safely.

"The situation was far too chaotic at the time. I did not see him."

"However, while returning, I did discover the communication mark he left behind."