Chapter 1201: Body as the Source of Celestial Disaster

Under normal circumstances, if these were merely ordinary remains, Li Fan should not have sensed any living presence from them.

But these two bones before him... suddenly made Li Fan's heart clench, as if he were being watched by some entity.

The stone statues, into which the bones had transformed, also seemed as if they could come alive at any moment, emitting faint traces of an unsettling aura.

Li Fan made an immediate decision, ending the Boundless Mirror's scrying without hesitation.

The scene abruptly changed. The bones vanished, and what appeared before him once more were the two seemingly ordinary stone statues.

Only then did the sense of danger in Li Fan's heart slowly dissipate.

"Senior..." Sun Luyao, startled by the previous scene, was at a loss.

"Tell your elder brother to stay away from those two stone statues," Li Fan calmly instructed, though inwardly, a storm of thoughts had already erupted.

Were those two bones truly the Archmage's?

From their external appearance, it was highly probable they belonged to Grand Archmage Tiandu.

But why would he, a semi-immortal, have two bones here in the First Beginning Sect?

"Could he be so severely injured that he was powerless to reclaim his own bones after they were stolen by cultivators?"

This thought flashed through Li Fan's mind.

But he quickly put a big question mark on it himself.

Was it possible?

The power that enveloped the entire Yuandao State, capable of devouring a decade of time, indicated that the Archmage had likely not yet perished.

The might of a semi-immortal, no matter how severe their injuries, was not something cultivators beneath that realm could contend with.

Not to mention, he was a practitioner of the ancient method of longevity.

"Unless..."

"The Boundless Mirror."

Li Fan looked at the timid Sun Luyao, the new spirit of the Boundless Mirror.

When the Sun brothers first found the damaged Boundless Mirror, its immortal artifact spirit was already gone, which allowed the two mortals to occupy its vacant spot.

Judging by the destructive wind calamity that recently erupted from within the Boundless Mirror, it seemed that the spirit had dissipated and the mirror was damaged during the process of combating this disaster.

"The Boundless Mirror is an ancient immortal artifact from Xuanhuang, bestowed upon the Boundless Sect by the Immortal Realm. Even if the Immortal Realm was destroyed by an unspeakable catastrophe, it should not have affected the Boundless Mirror. Yet, this destructive wind calamity, which should never appear in the mortal realm, manifested within the Boundless Mirror..."

In an instant, Li Fan recalled the incident from the other side of the Star Sea, where his Sacred Embryo avatar, after infiltrating the Mystic Immortal Vessel, had inadvertently brought the invisible calamity from the Darkest Star Sea into it, leading to the tragic deaths of several cultivators.

"Spreading..."

"Outside Xuanhuang..."

In the history of the Xuanhuang Realm, the only known individual who might have had contact with the Immortal Realm and originated from outside Xuanhuang was Grand Archmage Tiandu.

"From this perspective, it's possible that the Boundless Mirror, and even the First Beginning Sect, were affected by the Archmage."

The past events in this place were too complex and confusing, and with too few clues currently available, Li Fan could only make such a guess.

"However, if my guess is largely accurate, then perhaps the Boundless Mirror's problems can be resolved," Li Fan mused, his eyes gleaming.

After learning of the risks in this place, Ji Hongdao and Sun Luyuan wisely chose to temporarily leave the secret chamber.

However, they differed on what to do next.

"The remains of Grand Archmage Tiandu are no small matter. We should report this to the Immortal Alliance as soon as possible," Ji Hongdao stated gravely.

Sun Luyuan, however, firmly expressed his opposition: "Brother Ji, you're mistaken! The Archmage is rumored to be the mentor of the Ten Immortal Sects. If word reaches the Council of Five Elders, they will undoubtedly try to seize it at any cost. A war would be inevitable, leading to widespread devastation! Given the current state of the Myriad Immortal Alliance, can you guarantee that this matter won't be leaked?"

Ji Hongdao was left speechless.

Sun Luyuan continued, "Considering the Law Transmitters' attitude, where only the Heavenly Venerate matters to them..."

"Even semi-immortal bones would likely not command any reverence from them. Within the Immortal Alliance, the ultimate fate would either be to be used for research or to be placed in the Divine Relic Museum for people to observe and comment upon."

"Moreover, the Archmage is a legendary semi-immortal, and it's uncertain whether he has truly perished. If we desecrate these remains today, we might invite his retaliation in the future." Sun Luyuan concluded, his face full of earnestness.

Ji Hongdao, feeling somewhat helpless, asked, "Then what do you suggest we do?"

"Leave them exactly as they are," Sun Luyuan stated emphatically.

"Brother Ji, think about it: even semi-immortal bones, what benefit do they offer us? With the new cultivation methods, achieving longevity is almost hopeless, let alone becoming an immortal."

"Taking them might bring immense disaster in the future, without any tangible benefits. Why invite such trouble?"

Ultimately, Ji Hongdao was persuaded.

The fundamental reason was that, in the end, they were merely two bones.

Moreover, they were the bones of a semi-immortal who had not successfully ascended.

Sun Luyuan was correct; for cultivators at their Harmonization Realm, these bones offered little practical use.

Of course, if they were the remains of a true immortal, their decision would undoubtedly be different.

"While we won't take them for now, we also can't allow others to. Brother Ji, your mastery of formation arrays is exceptional; why don't you use your skills to completely seal off this ruin? Coupled with its original defensive formations, it would ensure absolute security," Sun Luyuan further suggested.

This was his way of stating his position.

Sun Luyuan knew next to nothing about formation arrays, so if Ji Hongdao set up formations here, there would be no way for him to secretly come and take the remains by himself.

Ji Hongdao didn't dally and immediately began setting up the formation arrays.

Once the ruin was sealed again, on their way back, Sun Luyuan said wistfully, "If either of us manages to achieve longevity, we can then take these remains out and study them. Perhaps it might even lead to further breakthroughs."

Ji Hongdao shook his head with a bitter smile, not taking the suggestion seriously at all.

If, before reaching the Harmonization Realm, in their youth, they had harbored grand ambitions and the ideal of achieving longevity through cultivation, then now, having already reached the Harmonization Realm, they had long since abandoned any thoughts of achieving longevity.

The four stages of Harmonization were each as difficult as ascending to the heavens.

The more they understood, the greater their despair became.

The two fell silent, one after another.

After a long silence, Sun Luyuan sighed deeply, "I truly wonder what kind of astonishing talent it takes to defy the natural order and succeed."

"In all these years in our Myriad Immortal Alliance, besides the Heavenly Venerate, there has been only one other person. And they are now missing without a trace."

"If we had just one more such individual, the situation of our Immortal Alliance would be vastly different."

"Tell me, why does the Council of Five Elders possess five longevity cultivators? Is it possible they are truly more talented than us in the Myriad Immortal Alliance, achieving feats that we cannot?"

This was also an unresolved question in the hearts of countless cultivators within the Myriad Immortal Alliance.

Hearing Sun Luyuan's lament, Ji Hongdao seemed to recall something and hesitated to speak.

"Are there things we two brothers can't say to each other?" Sun Luyuan teased.