Chapter 1230: Rainbow Light Vanishing Place

Murderous intent surged in Li Ping’s mind, but swiftly, the aura emanating from his body vanished without a trace.

As the Holy Emperor of Great Qi, he had to master the art of concealing his emotions. Even without outsiders present, this remained his principle.

“Reclaiming the power of the Profound Yellow Heavenly Dao doesn’t necessarily require killing them.”

“If they willingly return their power, I would prefer not to commit more slaughter. But if…” Li Ping’s heart was icy.

Though Ruomu and the Stone Slab were solitary entities, their combat prowess was absolutely equivalent to a cultivator in the Longevity stage. Engaging them in battle, as a warm-up before the decisive war with the Immortal Alliance, was not a bad option.

“Even a lion uses its full strength when hunting a rabbit. I must not underestimate them.”

“Ruomu seems weaker, so I’ll start with him. I also need to avoid the Stone Slab’s notice…” A plan began to take shape in the Holy Emperor’s mind.

The Leyline Ancient Tree, as one of the three main branches of Ruomu that fell to the human realm, was bound to have a specific connection with its parent body. Since being severely wounded by cultivators, Ruomu had been erratic, not appearing openly in the world. Perhaps through the Leyline Ancient Tree, Li Ping could first pinpoint Ruomu’s true hiding place, and then weaken its power.

With a thought, it wasn't long before Wang Xuanba arrived before the Holy Emperor. As the Profound Yellow Malice had been completely devoured by Li Ping, Wang Xuanba naturally no longer needed to remain on the mountain peak of the sealed small world. He had returned to the Sacred Capital City shortly after receiving the Holy Emperor’s telepathic message. The heavenly blessing that descended when Li Ping broke through also partially reached Wang Xuanba, thanks to his clone being in the small world.

Currently, Wang Xuanba's cultivation had subtly approached the peak Nascent Soul stage, not far from the Soul Transformation stage. However, Wang Xuanba’s strength was primarily manifested through the abilities of various exotic beasts. For him, cultivation realm was not particularly important.

“The Dao One Worm has a mutated variant capable of corroding spirit wood. Cultivate some of them; I will have great use for them soon.”

Wang Xuanba nodded in acknowledgment.

Just as Holy Emperor Li Ping was about to make his grand debut in the Profound Yellow Realm, a crisis struck Holy Embryo Li Fan far away, beyond the Mystic Immortal Boat in the Darkest Star Sea. The source of the danger was neither the residual True Immortal power in the starry sky nor unknown cultivators. It was the very Sea of Relics he was in.

Not long ago, this previously stable ruin inexplicably began to subtly tremble. The tremor of the Sea of Relics was secondary; more importantly, as this continuous ruin ceased to resemble a single entity, the pull from the High Wall, deeper in the star sea, became increasingly pronounced.

In Holy Embryo Li Fan’s eyes, the entire starry sky was like a sudden high tide, sweeping countless gathered relics and dragging them towards the shore.

The Mystic Immortal Boat activated a special contingency plan. Even though the Immortal Boat remained hidden in the void, Holy Embryo Li Fan could clearly sense its movement. It wasn’t moving in a fixed direction, but rather constantly shifting its position, maneuvering deftly. Like a rapidly spinning compass, it deflected the pull from the High Wall.

Holy Embryo Li Fan initially tried to emulate this method to resist the High Wall’s pull. However, it was not as easy as it seemed.

“The Immortal Boat’s rotation isn't just around itself; it's subtly connected to the entire Sea of Relics. It is only by leveraging these nearly infinite relics that it barely manages to evade.”

Holy Embryo Li Fan felt a force dragging his body. Even fleeing in the opposite direction on his sword, he was slowly but surely pulled in. Seeing himself drift further and further from the Mystic Immortal Boat, about to be dragged into the depths of the Sea of Relics, Holy Embryo Li Fan couldn't help but consider forcibly entering the Immortal Boat for refuge. Even if it meant a tough battle, it was better than crashing head-on into that invisible High Wall.

Just as he was about to act, a seven-colored rainbow light emanating from the direction of the Profound Yellow Realm and Immortal Ruins in the Darkest Star Sea instantly caught his attention. He was slightly stunned at first, but quickly realized it was the sixteen Concordance Realm cultivators summoned by the Inheritance of Dao!

“They arrived so quickly?” Holy Embryo Li Fan was surprised. Even accounting for the varying time flows in different regions of the star sea, the rainbow light’s arrival was much earlier than Li Fan had anticipated.

“Wait, could this sudden change in gravitational pull be specifically for guiding the Immortal Alliance’s rainbow light?” This thought flashed through Li Fan’s mind as he watched the light streak across the star sea.

After a moment of contemplation, he abandoned his futile struggle and, using the pull, followed it deeper into the star sea.

The rainbow light was extremely fast, but it inevitably slowed down within the relic-filled Sea of Relics. Li Fan, protected by his sword formation, stealthily followed.

Li Fan had initially thought the Sea of Relics would have a limited range. But after tracking for about three days of Profound Yellow Realm time and still not flying out of the continuous ruins, Li Fan finally gained a rough understanding of the scale of the once flourishing cultivation world in the Darkest Star Sea.

Beyond the relics, there was no end in sight, no discernible cardinal directions. However, the Immortal Alliance’s rainbow light clearly had a special guide, maintaining a fixed direction. Its path also seemed meticulously calculated, avoiding all dangerous areas within the ruins. Thanks to them, Holy Embryo Li Fan was able to follow smoothly behind.

Another four days passed. The dense, broken relics ahead suddenly became sparse. Li Fan’s spirits lifted, knowing he was nearing the edge of the Sea of Relics.

Without obstacles, the rainbow light gradually accelerated. In just under half a day, Li Fan witnessed a scene he would never forget: a Great Wall, standing in the dark void ahead.

At first, Li Fan thought this was the so-called High Wall. But upon discerning the details of the Great Wall, Li Fan suddenly understood. The “bricks” forming the seemingly endless wall were clearly fragments of ruined worlds, one after another! Just like the debris in this Sea of Relics, what lay ahead was a ruin of worlds!

Li Fan estimated that even the Profound Yellow Realm, which had devoured numerous cultivation world fragments and was far larger than it was in ancient times, would only be an insignificant segment within this Great Wall of Shattered Realms.

“How many cultivation worlds perished in the ancient calamity?”

“And by what mighty force were they all gathered here?”

“The High Wall…” Li Fan strained his eyes, trying to locate the High Wall that he had only heard about but never seen. But in the darkness, apart from countless world fragments, he saw no other anomalies.

After a brief moment of distraction, Li Fan found himself still uncontrollably hurtling towards the shattered world ruins, and his speed was increasing. “If I crash into it like this, even with my Heavenly God Sword Physique, I will perish and fade into oblivion,” Li Ping frowned to himself.

But he quickly focused on the Immortal Alliance’s rainbow light ahead of him. For some reason, that rainbow light showed no sign of slowing down. Instead, it actively accelerated again, speeding forward.

“This…” After a moment of thought, Holy Embryo Li Fan resolutely followed closely behind. “The Inheritance of Dao went to such great lengths to summon these Concordance Realm cultivators; they can’t possibly let them die in vain.”

As if confirming Li Fan’s conjecture, after penetrating a certain distance into the Sea of Shattered Realms, the rainbow light, defying the High Wall’s pull, suddenly changed direction and flew into one of the world fragments. It was as if there was an even stronger gravitational force there than the reverberating star power of the High Wall.

A flicker of unease inexplicably crossed Holy Embryo Li Fan’s mind. “Is it the Inheritance of Dao?”

After nearing the point where the rainbow light turned, he also felt that power. However, warned by his inner alarm, Holy Embryo Li Fan did not follow. Instead, he continued to fly deeper into the Sea of Shattered Realms for a while. Perhaps due to the influence of the Inheritance of Dao’s power, Li Fan’s speed gradually slowed. He finally found a stable point and managed to settle down.

However, Li Ping knew this stability was only temporary. As soon as the power, suspected to be from the Inheritance of Dao, disappeared, he would again be uncontrollably drawn towards the High Wall. Li Fan attempted to take refuge within the broken worlds here. Alas, these world corpses clearly would not provide the same sanctuary to cultivators as the Profound Yellow Realm did.

“It seems my life is not long for this world,” Holy Embryo Li Fan thought to himself.

Just then, not far away, at the original destination of the Immortal Alliance’s rainbow light, the sudden disappearance of an aura jolted him. Before he could react, a second and third Concordance Realm cultivator’s aura vanished successively.

Concordance Realm cultivators, even those whose growth was artificially accelerated, were ultimately the strongest beneath the Longevity stage, beings countless cultivators dreamed of becoming. But at this moment, within this dark void, inside the Great Wall of Shattered Realms, they couldn’t even utter a single cry of struggle, dying in silence.

“What’s going on?”

“Did the Inheritance of Dao do this?”

“Did it go to all that trouble to summon them just to slaughter them?”

As Holy Embryo Li Fan’s mind churned with confusion and alarm, the rate at which Concordance Realm cultivators disappeared from the Immortal Alliance’s rainbow light did not decrease. In the blink of an eye, all sixteen Concordance Realm cultivators were dead.

“If they die here, will their Dao still return to Heaven?” Holy Embryo Li Fan suddenly wondered.

“Wait, return Dao to Heaven…” Li Fan suddenly realized something and quickly focused, sensing the area where the rainbow light had vanished. Although the cultivators' life essences had disappeared, the power of Heaven and Earth laws still subtly lingered there, but it was gradually and systematically weakening, like ice melting into water.

“This is…” Li Fan’s heart jolted; he knew exactly what had just happened.

And then, the previously turbulent Sea of Shattered Realms inexplicably became stable again. This further corroborated Li Fan’s judgment.

“It’s actually using the Essence of Heaven and Earth from Concordance Realm cultivators to repair the Great Wall of Shattered Realms?” Li Fan was both shocked and enraged. “All this elaborate effort, just to rob Peter to pay Paul?” Li Fan felt an immense sense of absurdity.

But then, the complete stabilization of the Great Wall of Shattered Realms and the gradual weakening of the High Wall’s reverberating star power forced him to believe. Although he desperately wanted to rush to the spot where the rainbow light vanished to see what was truly happening, Holy Embryo Li Ping was ultimately not yet prepared to confront the Inheritance of Dao directly. Especially since his Holy Embryo body was formed from the Profound Yellow Realm’s Sword Law. Rushing over rashly would likely result in the same fate as the sixteen Concordance Realm cultivators, becoming material to repair the Great Wall of Shattered Realms.

While Holy Embryo Li Fan was not afraid of death, dying in such a humiliating manner was truly too stifling.

“The great upheaval in the Profound Yellow Realm originated from the High Wall’s reverberating star power.”

“Judging by the current situation, there’s a subtle balance between this reverberating star power and the Great Wall of Shattered Realms. Under normal circumstances, it shouldn't be strong enough to propagate to the Profound Yellow Realm.”

“So, was the balance of the Great Wall of Shattered Realms broken by an external force, leading to the great upheaval in the star sea?”

“This continuous ruin of worlds, which has existed since ancient times, could fall into an imbalanced state.” Holy Embryo Li Fan couldn’t help but recall how he, in the Profound Yellow Realm, once shattered a fragment in the Chitai Abyss. Afterwards, a figure suspected to be the Inheritance of Dao appeared and replaced it with a new world fragment.

“Could it be that this very action led to the subsequent series of changes?” Li Fan suddenly felt a wry, helpless sensation. “What is this? Tearing down the east wall to mend the west wall, then tearing down the west wall to mend the east wall?”

After a little contemplation, Li Fan felt that this possibility was actually very high. “After all, from the current reality, it seems he really did manage to reverse this catastrophe.” Li Fan was silent.

He carefully recalled and replayed the details of the incident. “There are still some strange points.”

“Since the state of the Great Wall of Shattered Realms can be so easily broken, then the Inheritance of Dao should have been extremely cautious when taking world fragments in the first place. Acting so carelessly, without considering the consequences, doesn’t seem like the Inheritance of Dao’s style.”

“Unless, the operational mechanism of the Great Wall of Shattered Realms is too profound, and even the Inheritance of Dao only partially understands it. Or…”

“That node within the Chitai Abyss is critically important for the Profound Yellow Realm. It cannot be lost. So even if it would lead to an imbalance in the Great Wall of Shattered Realms, the Inheritance of Dao had no choice but to do so.” Holy Embryo Li Fan’s thoughts raced.

Given the current conditions, it was impossible to determine which conjecture was correct. But it was now certain that the Inheritance of Dao Heavenly Venerate, or perhaps the Heavenly Doctor, was within this Great Wall of Shattered Realms.

Holy Embryo Li Fan cautiously concealed his aura again, refraining from reckless action and quietly hiding. Fortunately, the energy here was quite complex and chaotic. Though the reverberating star power was suppressed by the Great Wall of Shattered Realms, it was still rippling through the void like waves, perfectly concealing the slight fluctuations Li Fan still emitted.

He patiently waited for over ten days until the warning in his mind completely disappeared. Only then did Holy Embryo Li Fan slowly fly towards the spot where the rainbow light had vanished. He flew very slowly, taking almost half a day for a distance that would normally take but a blink of an eye. Once he was certain no one else was present, Li Fan began to examine the small world he was in.

It seemed no different from the other world fragments here. Yet, for some reason, Li Fan felt a sense of familiarity with this place.

“Could it be…” After a while, Li Fan realized.

“Cloud Sea…”