Chapter 1255: Xuanhuang Island Legend

"Senior, I don't think I can take it anymore!" Sun Luyao, the spirit of the Boundless Mirror, groaned faintly from within the mirror.

"Hmph, you won't die." Li Fan seemed not to hear him. Instead of stopping the Boundless Mirror from its probing, he conjured a spell, directing it to emit another ghostly light towards the Great Rift Maelstrom.

As he finished speaking, numerous patterns instantly appeared on the surface of the Boundless Mirror. They perfectly aligned with the existing cracks, and in the ethereal light, these wounds slowly began to heal.

"Ugh..." Sun Luyao's voice, a contradictory mix of pain and pleasure, resounded.

Li Fan merely narrowed his eyes, intently watching the fragmented images that flickered continuously within the mystical light of the Boundless Mirror.

"Let me see what truly happened here back then."

The Creator's Tablet did indeed record the beast race's departure through the rift. However, after a powerful, world-shattering force erupted from Mount Nanming, the Xuanhuang Tablet lost its ability to monitor the area.

It was only after the energy turmoil gradually subsided and the area became visible again that the former sacred mountain of the demon race and the entire beast race were found to have vanished. All that remained was a terrifying, gaping wound that had not healed for thousands of years.

While Li Fan was using the Boundless Mirror to discover whether the demon race successfully escaped through the rift back then, his greater purpose was to analyze the method of rift-creation itself.

Space had been pierced by an unimaginably immense force, even breaking through the barrier of the high wall and connecting to the star sea beyond. At that very instant, it was as if a seal had been stamped upon time and space, leaving behind an indelible mark. Even after the passage of millennia, this mark persisted within time and space itself, yet to dissipate. By studying and analyzing this rift mark, it might be possible to recreate the only two instances in Xuanhuang World's history where escape to the dark star sea was successful.

Like flickering black-and-white footage with intermittent signals, Li Fan vaguely saw Di Yi reveal his true form in the fleeting scenes, delivering a final mobilization speech to the beast race. He also saw that many beasts remained observing from a distance, not joining the mass exodus. The image flickered again, showing the giant python coiled around Mount Nanming, letting out an earth-shattering roar. Writhing and wailing, its body emitted a scorching light. Something seemed to be bursting forth from within it. Yet Di Yi, Lord of Ten Thousand Demons, watched with cold detachment. It wasn't until the giant python fell limply onto the sea, stirring up colossal waves, that Li Fan clearly saw what was inside its body. It was, astonishingly, a key enlarged countless times!

Ripples instantly spread across Di Yi's continuously writhing body, which resembled a gray mass of flesh. Moments later, an indifferent face, devoid of any emotion, emerged from its form. This face seemed to possess a magical power. Not only did the other heads and faces that had been restless within Di Yi's main body immediately become still and quiet, but countless beasts observing around the sacred Mount Nanming also involuntarily lowered their heads and averted their gaze, not daring to look directly at it. Even Li Fan, thousands of years later, peering through the river of time via the rift mark, felt an instinctive fear, as if confronting a higher being, the moment he saw that face.

"This is..." His body, formed by a mere spiritual clone, became unstable for a moment under the divine face's pressure. After all, it was an illusion from thousands of years ago, and Li Fan's foundation was far beyond ordinary. After a brief adaptation, the invisible pressure quietly dissipated. In the rift mark, the subsequent scenes once again appeared before Li Fan's eyes.

After Di Yi's true form revealed the divine face, the colossal key, gleaming with a bronze metallic luster, instantly shrunk. Then, under Di Yi's control, it flew straight towards the sky-piercing sacred Mount Nanming. The tip of the key aligned with the peak of Mount Nanming. A dazzling point of light appeared at the point of contact. A uniform radiance then instantly spread from that small point, engulfing both the key and Mount Nanming. As if a certain authentication had been achieved, moments later, the key and the sacred mountain were bathed in light, becoming ethereal and vaguely indiscernible. Around the sacred mountain, countless beasts, including Di Yi, were also enveloped by streaks of white light, transforming into threads and flying into the bronze key and Mount Nanming.

And then... A terrifying explosion of light, as if the heavens and earth were rupturing, burst forth from it. It obscured all prying eyes. Even as Li Fan forced himself to keep watching through the soul-piercing white light, all he could see was an endless, blinding radiance. At this point, the Boundless Mirror truly reached its limit. It instantly lost all spiritual energy, unable even to stay afloat, and fell from the air. Sun Luyao, the spirit of the Boundless Mirror, completely passed out, no longer making a sound.

Li Fan pondered, then put away the Boundless Mirror. In his mind, he continuously replayed the scene he had just witnessed.

"Previously, in the Immortal Meteor Realm, Di Yi had explained the principle behind Mount Nanming's successful rift creation, stating that it was the edge of the sky, the corner of the sea, the very end of the world, and thus gathered stray energies accumulated since Xuanhuang World's inception... Now, it seemed far from as simple as he described. Relying solely on Xuanhuang World's own power would make rift-creation difficult, let alone with just a bit of stray energy. The bronze key and that divine face must have been crucial to their successful rift escape."

Li Fan suddenly recalled the secret intelligence he had heard from the Du'e Sect in this life as Saint Emperor. The Du'e Sect had found a mysterious power in the rift created by the Heavenly Sword Sect, a power that could monitor Xuanhuang World and, once implanted, even the Dharma Transmission was helpless against it. And here, in this second rift location, a mysterious entity transcending Xuanhuang World itself had also appeared. Even among the many ancient cultivation worlds, Xuanhuang World was highly unique, and these two locations seemed to hold the key.

As he pondered, Li Fan's figure flickered, and he left the Great Rift Maelstrom with the Boundless Mirror. "The principles of the world, though myriad, share a common root. The fact that the position of 'Xuanhuang Great Heavenly Venerate' exists specifically to oversee and inspect Xuanhuang World indicates that Xuanhuang World definitely holds unique utilization value in the eyes of the Immortal Realm. Just like the myriad islands in the Sea of Clouds, only those with special products have cultivators stationed by the Myriad Immortals Alliance to guard them and build protective island arrays. To simplify things, changing the way I think about it: the so-called Xuanhuang Great Heavenly Venerate is equivalent to a Xuanhuang Guardian. And Xuanhuang World is merely one island in the lower star sea. And the mysterious power discovered by the Du'e Sect, used to refine the Divine Eye of World Observation, as well as Mount Nanming, which Di Yi opened with the bronze key, are likely parts of Xuanhuang World's protective island array. These powers are not from Xuanhuang World itself, but were constructed by the Upper Realm. It's just that with the calamity in the Immortal Realm, this protective formation has also been somewhat affected."

"The Floating Star Array, which King Xuantian deduced from various ancient texts obtained in the Ascension Channel, might also have been constructed by modifying this protective world array. Otherwise, it's hard to imagine how someone with only a semi-immortal body, relying solely on Xuanhuang World's resources, could build an immortal-grade array capable of traversing the high wall. Furthermore..." Li Fan's flight speed increased rapidly, and various clues from past mysteries instantly connected. "The Floating Star Array can traverse endless void and pinpoint other cultivation worlds deep within the distant star sea. My array dao cultivation, augmented by the Doomsday Disintegration Disk, has subtly reached the limits of the mortal realm. And I already know three parts of the Xuan Yuan Primordial Spirit Array. Even for immortal-grade arrays, I'm considered to have just grasped the basics. Yet, I've been completely bewildered as to how the Floating Star Array precisely locks onto targets in the endless star sea using those golden chains. I used to think it was due to my insufficient array mastery, causing the Doomsday Disintegration Disk to repeatedly fail in its deductions. King Xuantian was a scholar of heaven and man, a semi-immortal, and his array mastery was even superior to this miraculous Doomsday Disintegration Disk... Now that I think about it, perhaps I overlooked an important factor." A gleam flashed in Li Fan's eyes. "What if those locked cultivation worlds and Xuanhuang World share some common factor? It's through this mutual sensing that the golden chains of the Floating Star Array can precisely lock onto them one by one. That is: the existence of protective world arrays!"

"Bai Hua once said that even the original Xuanhuang World was a colossal entity among many cultivation worlds. Her homeland, the Myriad Prosperity World, was only the size of a single province. If Xuanhuang World is still likened to an island in the Sea of Clouds, it's like the Glazed Island I visited back then, a larger entity. And the other worlds and grotto-heavens he captured are the smaller ones in the star sea. Hmm... Perhaps later, as these worlds were slowly drawn towards the Immortal Ruins, Xuanhuang World captured a few more along the way. Then, after the Ten Great Immortal Sects were destroyed, it was taken over by Dharma Transmission and Heavenly Doctor, who patched things up, creating the current grand spectacle of Xuanhuang World. If my speculation is correct, then those areas originally captured by Xuanhuang World definitely had protective world arrays."

Upon realizing this, Li Fan's thoughts paused slightly, as if something clicked. Initially, Xuanhuang World merely captured and annexed worlds, rather than dismembering and reassembling them as it does now. Therefore, those initially absorbed areas should actually have been located on the periphery of Xuanhuang World. "The edge of the sky, the corner of the sea. The world's frontier. Adding to that, Di Yi's words seemed to subtly imply that the Xuanhuang beasts came from outside..." "So that's it." Li Fan suddenly understood. "It seems the bronze key Di Yi used didn't activate Xuanhuang World's own protective array..."

Li Fan's thoughts raced. In fact, there might be a simple way to verify his theory. The small world where he found the golden skull and the "Wordless Art" clearly retained the memory of the Floating Star Array's golden chains breaking through its boundaries and locking onto it. He just needed to investigate it again.

Thinking of this, Li Fan changed direction and headed straight for his target location. Meanwhile, Sun Luyao slowly regained consciousness. "Senior, where are we going?" Without any complaint about Li Fan's previous extreme demands on his energy, Sun Luyao merely asked, somewhat puzzled.

"To an interesting place. Take this opportunity to rest well. You might be needed soon," Li Fan said indifferently.

Hearing this, Sun Luyao's illusory form in the mirror couldn't help but tremble. "Senior, I feel very weak right now..." After a moment of silence, Sun Luyao mustered his courage and spoke. His reply came in the form of a viscous, golden substance. Sun Luyao's attention was instantly drawn, as if he had just seen a peerless treasure. He knew this was the wondrous substance Li Fan had previously used to draw out the Calamity Wind of Annihilation from the Boundless Mirror. It possessed a fatal, irresistible instinctive allure for him, and his inner intuition told him that this substance was incredibly beneficial. So Sun Luyao immediately shut up and ravenously devoured the essence of source power. A moment later, his spirit invigorated. The feeling of weakness vanished.

"Hmph." Recalling the wonderful taste, Sun Luyao was about to flatter Li Fan and ask for more. But a cold snort from the other party brought him back to reality. He dared not make any more requests at the moment, only hoping to receive further rewards after completing the next task.

Before long, passing through a long void tunnel, Li Fan finally arrived once more at the desolate world full of ashes.

"Go!" At Li Fan's signal, the Boundless Mirror once again emitted waves of ghostly light. Compared to the previous probing and analysis at the Great Rift Maelstrom, this time it was undoubtedly much smoother. With great ease, the images in the ghostly light restored the place.

A world brimming with life. A great river, giving birth to countless beings. After death, beings were reborn in the river, completing a perfect cycle.

"Not these. Go deeper." Just as Sun Luyao was engrossed in the secondary images, Li Fan's voice came through. Sun Luyao's spirit jolted, and he increased the Boundless Mirror's probing intensity. The vibrant scene became fragmented and ethereal. The river also transformed into something like starlight, dreamlike and void. Beneath all appearances, intertwined lines suddenly emerged on the Boundless Mirror's surface.

"Ah!" However, the moment these lines were seen, it was as if some prohibition had been triggered. Sun Luyao felt an irresistible burning sensation suddenly assault him. It was as if he were being roasted by flames; the Boundless Mirror seemed on the verge of melting at any moment. "Senior, save me!" Sun Luyao couldn't help but wail. Li Fan, however, remained unmoved. He poured golden source power essence into him, making Sun Luyao endure the sharp pain and continue probing. Amidst Sun Luyao's screams, the foundational stones hidden beneath the world's ruins slowly began to reveal themselves. Unlike the small world that had turned into ruins, these lines, though fragmented and appearing to have suffered some damage, were still covered by an aura of decay. Yet, they ultimately retained their original form. As more and more lines were probed, the nascent form of an array gradually emerged in Li Fan's mind.

At the same time, within the Derivation Jade space, the Doomsday Disintegration Disk temporarily halted all other tasks, beginning to record and analyze these fragmented array lines.

"Save me..." Alas, the array ruins were too vast; with less than a tenth of the probing complete, Sun Luyao was already at his last breath, on the verge of perishing.