Chapter 1028: Seventy-Two Labyrinth

It was like a human organ shrunk to the size of a single cell.

The Du'e Sect was now hidden within the void of Gou Mang Province in the Myriad Immortals Alliance, unseen and unknown to ordinary individuals.

Following the coordinates provided by his Heavenly Profound Mirror clone, Li Fan arrived at a spot 36,000 zhang above Gou Mang Province.

This was the entrance to the Du'e Sect.

Shrunk a hundred thousandfold, the Du'e Sect was already akin to a speck of dust, further obscured by the effect of the Dharma Transmission Restriction.

Therefore, even with Li Fan's current observational prowess and the advantage of knowing the outcome beforehand, he still couldn't detect any trace of the Du'e Sect.

After a moment of contemplation, Li Fan silently activated the Boundless Flux Method, then severed a small portion of his soul.

Once separated, the soul transformed into a tiny replica of Li Fan, becoming a wisp of white light that vanished into the subtle void ahead.

As the surroundings magnified by a thousandfold, the space around Li Fan's soul clone rapidly expanded.

The soul clone sped through the vast void, searching for any signs of the Du'e Sect's entrance nearby.

Locating the entrance was the first step to entering the Du'e Sect.

"It's not merely a matter of shrinking; even space itself here is a superposition of multiple dimensions."

Soon after, sensing the familiar aura of the Dharma Transmission Restriction, Li Fan abruptly halted.

Upon careful observation, Li Fan noticed a slight anomaly in a nearby section of the void, as if a mirror had been embedded within it.

An ordinary person would barely detect it, but Li Fan had already analyzed and broken down the Dharma Transmission Restriction countless times in the Disintegration Disc, making him intimately familiar with it.

Without hesitation, he flew towards this "mirror."

As if suddenly passing through an invisible bubble, Li Fan instantly felt the surrounding space — its up, down, left, and right — invert multiple times.

A slight dizziness washed over him, and Li Fan knew he had entered the second layer of space.

Inside this inner space, numerous "forks" were set up alongside the correct path.

Stepping into one would lead to a deceptive void maze.

There was no exit, only increasingly magnified, microscopic levels.

Not only was returning to find the Du'e Sect impossible, but merely avoiding getting lost was incredibly difficult.

Fortunately, equipped with the correct answer, Li Fan proceeded cautiously. After penetrating seventy-two layers of space, he finally spotted a mountain floating in the void far in the distance.

These seventy-two layers of space had been shrunk a hundred thousandfold.

The void was no longer conventionally dark; instead, it was an eerie pale purple.

Along the boundaries illuminated by the purple light, thin lines would occasionally flash past at high speed.

They left only faint traces before vanishing without a trace.

Their speed was such that even Li Fan couldn't track them.

More peculiar still, at regular intervals within this space, an indefinite number of purple orbs of light would illuminate.

They resembled both suns and clusters of stars.

After briefly illuminating the area, they would swiftly vanish.

Amidst these eerie phenomena, the distant Du'e Sect seemed even more bizarre.

Li Fan's soul clone slowly approached the mountain.

After passing through a protective barrier, he formally entered the Du'e Sect.

It appeared to be an independent space, as sounds finally reached Li Fan's ears once more.

There were no distinct sounds, just the presence of ambient noise, unlike the absolute silence that had accompanied him through the seventy-two layers of space before.

Li Fan was currently at the foot of the mountain.

Seeing only a single stone staircase leading upward, Li Fan attempted to fly directly up the mountain.

He hadn't flown far when his vision blurred, and he found himself inexplicably back at his starting point.

"Is this due to the Dharma Transmission Restriction, or is it an original protective measure of the Du'e Sect?"

Pondering this, Li Fan abandoned flight and began ascending the mountain path step by step.

"Hm?"

After only a few steps, his feet suddenly halted.

"Was that an illusion?"

Just then, he felt a figure rush past him, heading straight up the mountain.

Li Fan hadn't "seen" the figure, but he had undeniably felt its presence.

"Playing tricks..."

Li Fan scoffed and continued onward.

True enough, every time he ascended a certain distance, he felt the ghostly figure reappear.

Some were ascending like him, while others were descending.

The occurrences became increasingly frequent, and...

"With each appearance, the sensation grows more distinct."

A hint of solemnity appeared on Li Fan's face.

Initially, it was like a gentle breeze. Now, when the figures brushed past him, he could distinctly feel a cold, clammy dampness.

It was so intense that his soul clone felt as if a mortal running in the hottest summer days, its body drenched in sweat...

"Sweat?"

Li Fan was suddenly startled awake, instantly realizing something was amiss.

His divine sense scanned his body; nothing felt normal.

He then cast a Water Mirror Spell and gazed into its surface.

Li Fan's scalp immediately prickled.

It turned out that the dark figures that had brushed past him earlier hadn't disappeared at all.

Instead, they were stacked one upon another, all clinging to his back.

What horrified him even more was that without the mirror's reflection, Li Fan would have remained completely oblivious!

As if perceiving Li Fan's gaze from the mirror's reflection, the faces of the previously indistinct shadows gradually became clear.

Overlapping pale faces constantly shifted, and their voices echoed intermittently in Li Fan's ears.

"To the mountain, to the mountain..."

"Run! Run!"

"Friend, give me a lift; this mountain path is simply too hard to traverse."

"So tired. So tired. We must be close to the exit now."

As these voices emerged, Li Fan was horrified to find his body beginning to move in different ways, corresponding to the conflicting demands of the voices.

He both wanted to ascend the mountain and desperately wished to flee the area.

Neither side would yield.

"Hiss..."

In this stark contradiction, it felt as though many were pulling him forcefully from both front and back.

Li Fan's body was instantly torn in half.

"That's right, that's right..."

Both sides seized their respective portions, cheering exultantly in unison.

These figures then went their separate ways, each carrying half a torso.

One headed down, one up, both moving swiftly along the mountain path.

As if tainted by these shadows, Li Fan's two severed remnants also became shrouded in deep shadow.

Amidst the erosion and transformation of time, these two separated halves quietly reformed into two complete bodies.

Outside the Du'e Sect, in the normal space of the Xuanhuang Realm.

Li Fan observed the scenes simultaneously transmitted by his two soul clones, an expression of keen interest on his face.

One moving left, one right; one ascending, one descending.

Two distinct scenes unfolded simultaneously.