Chapter 1257: Re-encountering the True Immortal Character

As the Sea of Gloom stirred, the You Clan members kneeling everywhere seemed to sense something, and their expressions grew increasingly frenzied and devout.

Like a gust of wind, it swept in from all directions of the Sea of Gloom, converging near the small hole drilled by the Myriad Immortals Alliance.

The pressure sharply increased as invisible ripples spread from the wound. Under layers of accumulating immense power, the stable state at the opening, as perceived by Li Ping, was instantly shattered.

The condensed and compressed source power immediately began to retreat in stages, seemingly on the verge of being completely expelled from this Sea of Gloom.

However, at this very moment, Li Ping unexpectedly saw a brilliant light emerge within this lightless sea.

It was not an illusion caused by the Sea of Gloom's inherent pulsations, as before, but a genuine, undeniable birth of light within it.

A golden abacus stabilized the rapidly collapsing source power of the Myriad Immortals Alliance. As the abacus beads shifted, the source power output surged, bringing the two forces back into equilibrium.

The Sea of Gloom surged with mighty waves, creating spray. Yet, each time, these were perfectly resolved by the golden abacus's calculations, deployments, and adjustments.

What astonished Li Ping, who was observing in secret, even more, was that the golden abacus wasn't merely regulating source power. More importantly, tendrils of golden light spread outwards with the constant movement of the abacus beads.

It was the aura of a cultivator who, theoretically, had completely vanished from the Xuanhuang Realm.

The Saint Emperor's heart tensed. He concealed and protected himself and hundreds of You Clan members.

During this time, under the golden abacus's diligent repair, the Sea of Gloom had returned to a state of balance and tranquility.

Thinking this, Li Ping returned to Daqi with the You Clan members.

A hint of doubt flashed in the Saint Emperor's mind.

The eye scanned several times, finding no suspicious presence, before slowly disappearing.

"If it were merely a similar aura, that would be one thing. But if he himself is still alive and hidden within the Myriad Immortals Alliance, helping them steal the power of the Sea of Gloom..."

"King Xuantian..."

Scenes flashed before Li Ping's eyes.

After connecting his spiritual sense to the stone tablet, he began to review the information recorded on the Creation Stone Tablet.

It was precisely this doubt that made the Saint Emperor temporarily change his decision.

Li Ping stood not far from the wound. After a moment of contemplation, he ultimately postponed his plan to destroy the Myriad Immortals Alliance's device here.

Or rather, born from the golden abacus, it was incredibly strange.

The eye seemed to imbue the abacus with life, as it meticulously searched for anomalies within the Sea of Gloom.

"Completely illogical."

It wasn't that Li Ping feared a direct confrontation with the Myriad Immortals Alliance at this moment, but rather that he sensed a familiar aura from the suddenly appearing eye.

The unknown entity that was awakening, under the calming golden glow of the abacus, fell back into slumber.

The eye was cold, devoid of any emotion. It rotated, scanning, seemingly trying to find the reason for the imbalance in the Gloom Power extraction device.

Although they didn't fly out for long before being completely swallowed by the gloom, under the influence of these golden lights, the raging waves of the Sea of Gloom were gradually calmed.

As the changes occurred, an eye quietly appeared above the wound in the Sea of Gloom.

But before clarifying this matter, it was best to temporarily avoid confrontation.

King Xuantian, from an initially unremarkable cultivator, made a comeback and had continuous fortuitous encounters, eventually becoming the last ascended one of the Xuanhuang Realm.

Not long after he ascended into the void and became part of the Xuanhuang Realm's eternal legends.

He reappeared, shaking the world.

Following this was the founding of the Xuantian Sect and its eventual joint annihilation by the Ten Sects.

The images were fragmented, and at certain crucial points, they seemed to have been forcibly erased.

But even this incomplete personal history was dramatic and captivating enough.

"From the synchronized sensory memories of the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao and the records of the Creation Stone Tablet, the eye that appeared in the Sea of Gloom bears almost perfect resemblance to King Xuantian's."

"That's precisely what's strange."

The Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao itself confirmed that King Xuantian had fallen. So where did the Myriad Immortals Alliance find his eye?

"The detailed records of the Ten Immortal Sects' siege on the Xuantian Sect back then are also extremely vague. For something to conceal the original power of the Xuanhuang Realm, it must be an equally formidable existence."

The more he pondered, the more doubts arose.

This supposed savior of the Xuanhuang Realm was shrouded in too many mysteries.

Most crucially, his cultivation realm was undeniable.

A half-immortal body, vanishing just like that, was truly hard to believe. Especially since Li Ping himself had now subtly reached the limits of the Xuanhuang Realm, making him better able to comprehend its power.

Only a True Immortal or a being above that level could perhaps erase King Xuantian without a trace.

But if such a being truly appeared in the world, it would undoubtedly shake the heavens and earth, and even the Xuanhuang Realm itself might be affected and destroyed along with it.

However, in the memories of the Xuanhuang Realm's Heavenly Dao, no such event occurred.

Perhaps that True Immortal deliberately concealed their aura during the act...

Then another question arose.

In the eyes of a True Immortal, mortals are but ants.

Even as a half-immortal, King Xuantian was no exception. If a True Immortal were to kill him, why would there be a need for concealment?

"Perhaps clues can be found from the few surviving Dharma Kings of the Xuantian Sect from back then."

The Faceless Saint Emperor flipped through the Creation Stone Tablet, trying to find some clues.

At the same time, Li Fan's clone, far away in the Ash Minor World, slightly frowned.

Ever since he personally experienced the troublesome nature of the Xuantian Sect's Dharma Kings, and to avoid further complications in this life, he had unilaterally blocked the Saint Emperor's memories of Mo Rubin.

He hadn't expected that through various coincidences, the Saint Emperor would once again show signs of entanglement with Mo Rubin.

"Since the Myriad Immortals Alliance can pinpoint Mo Rubin's slumbering place from various clues, the Saint Emperor should also be able to do so. This is getting interesting."

"The eye of the Myriad Immortals Alliance absolutely cannot be King Xuantian himself. Otherwise, Mo Rubin, after possessing the body of the Preacher and knowing all the Alliance's secrets, should have already discovered this."

While Li Fan activated the Boundless Mirror to analyze the realm-protecting formation, he pondered.

"However, considering his subsequent death within the Sea of Gloom, one might surmise that the eye must have some inexplicable connection to King Xuantian. Perhaps it's even a part of King Xuantian's authority?"

"Authority..."

"Great Heavenly Venerate Xuanhuang, Realm-Protecting Grand Formation!"

A gleam flashed in Li Fan's eyes. Within the nascent formation model derived by the Disc of Final Dissolution, a light spot suddenly erupted.

Even though he still couldn't see its full appearance, Li Fan instantly understood what this light spot represented.

"Just like the Xuan Yuan Primordial Spirit Grand Formation, this unknown realm-protecting grand formation is also composed of several different subordinate formations. Each formation has its own separate control core."

"This light spot is the core!"

Through the analysis of the Boundless Gloom Light, the lines of the formation ruins hidden deep beneath the Ash Minor World finally revealed their corresponding "core."

However, what should have been the formation's central hub, the place with the densest lines, was now completely empty.

As if it had been directly dug out.

Just as the Boundless Mirror sought to continue peering into that void core region, a sense of crisis suddenly surged into Li Fan's heart, causing him to instantly halt the Boundless Mirror's activity.

Li Fan narrowed his eyes, looking at that void.

A chilling, uncanny aura lurked within.

It wasn't that nothing was there!

Rather, its existence surpassed the scope of what ordinary people could sense!

"True, Immortal, Seal, Characters!"

Li Fan uttered slowly, word by word, in his mind, while raising his guard to the highest level.

It was different from the "Hunger," "Annihilation," and "Chaos" Li Fan had previously encountered, and also not entirely similar to the remnant power in the Sea of Ultimate Darkness.

It wasn't even recorded in the Xuanxian Ark's logs.

A completely new, unknown, mysterious and bizarre power that didn't attack other things, but only targeted the core of the realm-protecting formation.

Having completed their objective, they now lay silently on the "corpse" of the realm-protecting formation's core.