Chapter 1265: Former Celestial Realm Scene

Angry Squid:

Chapter 1275: Scenes of the Immortal Realm in the Past

Along with countless mirrors, Mo Rujin's faces, each with a different expression, appeared. Hidden behind the dark, blurry mirrors, they collectively spied on the Faceless Saint Emperor in the field.

With Li Ping as the central point, the mirrors corresponded in pairs. Points of light shot out from one mirror, projecting onto the opposite one. The lines of bright light thus formed were like tangible shackles, imposed on Li Ping. Beams of light appeared in the mirror world, like heavy chains, accelerating Li Ping's progress of being pulled into the "real" world.

The Faceless Saint Emperor, now fully revealed and surrounded by layers of mirrors, showed little panic. He looked at the "lines" on his body, which were both invisible and visible, and reached out to touch them. But they were like illusory bubbles, passing through his palm and firmly binding and coiling around his body once more.

Like roaring flames, the vortex seemed to have been fueled with a large amount of fuel, radiating captivating brilliance. On the burning black chains, countless faces of Mo Rujin collectively uttered malicious curses.

His body slowly swelled, and his facial features became increasingly blurry. This statement seemed to touch Mo Rujin's sensitive spot; his figure instantly became dark and profound, as if stained with thick black ink.

"So, they are the personalities of the cultivators you devoured."

A vortex suddenly formed at his chest.

"What is evil? What is good? Right and wrong cease to exist; only immortals are eternal!"

"Evil cult? Truly ignorant and fearless!"

Mo Rujin burst into laughter, full of mockery: "Let me turn you into me!"

Mo Rujin and Li Ping faced each other from a distance, positioned at opposite ends of the mirror. Golden light protection blocked all erosion from the black chains. The things on both sides of the mirror became increasingly similar. Beneath the armor's surface, golden light constantly flowed, as if possessing its own sentience. It was as if a profoundly mysterious force had locked Li Ping and Mo Rujin, making it impossible for him to escape, no matter how he changed his position.

"Instead of cultivating the excellent Nine Revolutions Immortal Soul, you've chosen to learn this evil cult practice!" Li Ping shook his head with some regret.

Li Ping stuffed the torn-off black chains into the vortex.

Boom! Boom!

But soon, the Saint Emperor discovered an extremely strange scene before him. Meanwhile, Mo Rujin continued to grin sinisterly, coldly watching himself from the other side of the mirror.

"How can you judge the Myriad Tribulations Undying Demonic Heart Immortal Art!"

The moment the fissure appeared, Li Ping suddenly felt that Mo Rujin "over there" seemed to have vanished. The image before him was merely a projection formed on the other side of the mirror, based on his own existence. The fissure in front of him also teleported along, its position relative to him completely unchanged.

Li Ping extended his right hand, gripped the chains wrapped around him, and then yanked hard.

Hiss... hiss... hiss...

Just as he was about to slide completely to the other side of the mirror, Li Ping suddenly shed his golden armor. The sound of shattering mirrors kept coming.

"I am the Mandated Saint Emperor."

"Just you?"

Rustling whispers emanated from these black chains. One could even vaguely see faces resembling Mo Rujin, drifting and wailing on the surface.

"Utterly foolish!"

What was even more chilling was Li Ping's faint realization that Mo Rujin's appearance and aura on the other side of the mirror were subtly changing. The black chains possessed an inherent dark corrosive ability; in the blink of an eye, Li Ping's clothes dissolved completely. Just as they were about to touch Li Fan's skin, a dazzling golden radiance burst forth.

The distance between the Saint Emperor and Mo Rujin was also gradually closing. Mo Rujin was transforming into the Faceless Saint Emperor. That was the mirror reflecting reality and illusion.

He gazed coldly at Mo Rujin not far away: "Turn into me?"

The sharply defined golden armor suddenly descended, completely enveloping the Saint Emperor's massive ten-foot-tall body. For some reason, this action seemed to anger Mo Rujin. A fissure was born between him and Li Ping. He roared in anger, and the lines that were originally bright light suddenly turned pitch black.

As the vortex in his chest continuously devoured the black chains, the Saint Emperor also learned the true nature of these venomous faces from the images constantly emerging in his mind. With a thought, Li Ping, protected by his golden armor, instantly appeared hundreds of miles away, beyond the scope of the Zixiao Sect ruins.

Purple-gold providence emerged from nothingness, like a dreamlike veil, instantly weaving itself into an auspicious cloud dragon robe, which spontaneously draped over Li Ping's body. The voice of the Faceless Saint Emperor, like thunder from the nine heavens, echoed at one end of the mirror. The echoing roar caused ripples to surge through the fissure that separated reality from illusion.

"I am also the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao!"

"On me depends the survival of billions of beings, the source of recovery for the Darkest Star Sea!"

"You want to become me?"

With every word the Saint Emperor uttered, it was like a colossal wave, fiercely crashing against the mirror fissure. Faint creaking and groaning sounds of unbearable strain could be heard, and cracks appeared throughout the world on the other side of the mirror. It seemed as though it could shatter at any moment.

"Are you worthy?!" Li Ping asked coldly.

A single stone stirred up a thousand waves. For the first time, Mo Rujin's expression truly changed, breaking free from his imitation of the Faceless Saint Emperor. Behind Li Ping, he seemed to see a miniature image of the entire Xuanhuang World. And beyond that cluster of Xuanhuang light, an even more dazzling galaxy seemed to be hidden! In an instant, heaven and earth overturned. The weight of the world pressed down on him.

The fissure mirror shattered, and in a chain reaction, countless surrounding mirrors that sealed the space instantly exploded into countless fragments. Mo Rujin violently spat out a mouthful of blood, but his reaction was undeniably swift. Using the disturbance caused by the shattering mirrors, his figure became illusory, and he instantly appeared a thousand miles away.

"Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao?"

"How is that possible?"

Mo Rujin's face was filled with disbelief. His expression suddenly changed again: "That damned Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao is indeed unreliable; I must hurry."

As he muttered to himself, a tall figure silently blocked his path ahead.

"You want to leave before answering my question?"

A flicker of apprehension crossed Mo Rujin's eyes. He scoffed, "What Mandated Saint Emperor, what Heavenly Dao Incarnation? You're just a pawn!"

"If you don't want to die, why don't we cooperate? What do you say?"

"Although you are strong, you are still a bit weaker than Brother Xuanyuan. Even he was ambushed and met with misfortune; you certainly won't be able to avoid it..."

Mo Rujin's words made Li Ping's heart stir, and he stopped his attack. But after Mo Rujin finished speaking, Li Ping's expression suddenly changed. He reached out to grasp Mo Rujin in front of him, but the figure burst like a bubble, scattering into the air. It was clearly just a distraction. The real Mo Rujin had, unbeknownst to Li Ping, escaped at some point and to some unknown location, right under his nose.

The Saint Emperor did not feel angry about being tricked.

"A true Immortal Art is indeed extraordinary."

"Myriad Tribulations Undying Demonic Heart Immortal Art..."

"No, wait."

After pondering for a moment, Li Ping looked at Cat Treasure, who was sleeping on his shoulder. During the brief battle with Mo Rujin just now, the opponent seemed not to have noticed Cat Treasure's presence. Moreover, the killer move that could replicate and replace did not reflect Cat Treasure's existence.

"It doesn't pique Cat Treasure's interest. It seems this so-called Immortal Art doesn't live up to its name."

Although Mo Rujin had escaped for the moment, he hadn't truly escaped Li Ping's control. While Mo Rujin was trying to replace Li Ping, Li Ping was slowly pulling him into the net of primal essence. Even if he broke free temporarily, by following the broken yet still visible golden threads in the air, Li Ping could track him down. In his perception, Mo Rujin was still fleeing rapidly. Li Ping was not in a hurry to catch up; instead, he planned to cast a long line to catch a big fish.

"What he just said is hard to distinguish between true and false. But one thing is certain: he will definitely go looking for King Xuantian."

"Or something related to the Xuantian Sect from back then."

"Just wait then."

Li Ping knew that dealing with beings like Mo Rujin, who had survived since ancient times, required ample patience. Furthermore, the recent battle with Mo Rujin had given the Saint Emperor substantial insight into the Xuantian Sect's peculiar cultivation techniques. With preparations made, the next time they met, he wouldn't let him get away so easily.

The fluctuations from the recent battle seemed to have attracted the attention of other powerful individuals. Perhaps people from the Myriad Immortals Alliance would soon come to investigate; Li Ping decided to leave this place first.

"I didn't expect Mo Rujin to hide in the Zixiao Sect ruins."

"According to the stone tablet records, after the Ten Immortal Dao Sects destroyed the Xuantian Sect back then, to eliminate future troubles, they almost turned the entire world upside down. This was true for sects of all sizes. The Zixiao Sect was thoroughly investigated back then, yet he still managed to evade them."

"As for the Xuantian Sect's cultivation techniques, their power aside for a moment, they are quite peculiar and hard to guard against..."

"Unlike orthodox Immortal Dao."

Li Ping mused inwardly. His divine sense swept over the Zixiao Sect ruins a thousand miles away, and the Faceless Saint Emperor's figure slowly vanished into the air. But the next moment, Li Ping reappeared.

"Hm?"

Because just as he pondered, Li Ping discovered something peculiar. His perspective suddenly rose, and a miniature landscape map of the Xuanhuang World appeared before Li Ping.

"This place is Linlang Prefecture of the Myriad Immortals Alliance. A thousand years ago, it was part of the primordial Xuanhuang World."

"The Xuanhuang World was dismembered and reformed, and this Linlang Prefecture was formed by merging with other cultivation realms."

"But..."

Li Ping gradually became serious.

"A piece of the primordial Xuanhuang World's puzzle is missing."

Having grasped the information from the Genesis Stone Tablet and being closely connected to the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao. In the process of reconstructing the dismembered and reassembled primordial Xuanhuang World, Li Ping faintly perceived that a large area formerly within the Zixiao Sect's domain had vanished from the new Xuanhuang World map. Or rather, it hadn't vanished. It still existed somewhere in the current Xuanhuang World.

"But I was influenced by some power, which made me subconsciously ignore its existence."

After reaching this conclusion, Li Ping's aura suddenly became solemn. The maps of the primordial Xuanhuang World and the current Xuanhuang World continuously separated, recombined, and contrasted in his sea of consciousness. After a long while, he finally found another area of the former Zixiao Sect. That was the area around Taihua Prefecture and Mount Taixu today.

"What's there..."

Li Ping did not immediately investigate, but first pondered the power that could influence him. Various past events flashed through his mind, scene by scene. The Saint Emperor had a faint premonition. However, Li Ping hesitated, a rare occurrence for him. He stood still in the air for a long time before finally making up his mind.

"No matter what the truth is, if one doesn't have the courage to face it..."

"How can one save the Xuanhuang World?"

The Saint Emperor shook his head slightly, and his figure flickered. Before long, he had arrived on Mount Taixu. However, the secret he discovered here deviated somewhat from his expectations.

A deep valley beneath Mount Taixu. Li Ping discovered an underground chamber buried under mud. The aura emanating from the chamber made him, an incarnation of the Heavenly Dao, subtly uncomfortable. What concerned him even more was that Cat Treasure, who had been sleeping on his shoulder, suddenly woke up and looked around. As if it had found some delicious food, Li Ping could feel extreme excitement emanating from it. But after locking onto the target, Cat Treasure suddenly lost all its enthusiasm, like a deflated balloon. And lazily fell back into slumber.

However, Li Ping's attention never left the target.

"What is this..."

A statue. Like him, it had no face. Although it looked like an ordinary object with no spiritual energy fluctuations, Li Ping felt an unprecedented pressure from the stone statue. Even previously, when facing the remaining calamities in the Darkest Star Sea, he had never felt this way. The faceless statue seemed to possess a magical power. Li Ping slowly walked, gradually approaching it. Two void faces faced each other across the air. For some reason, an impulse suddenly welled up in Li Ping's heart. He wanted to communicate with this statue.

Inside the Derived Law Jade space. Li Fan's breath caught slightly. The images he could sense from the Saint Emperor's clone were already extremely blurry. But after the Saint Emperor, by coincidence, rediscovered the stone statue of the Faceless True Immortal buried under Mount Taixu, influenced by his instinctive sense of mortal danger, this connection became clear again.

Li Fan closed his eyes and concentrated, attempting to reverse the clone's intention. Although he could escape the True Immortal's net once, he could escape it a second time. But it would take many reincarnations to completely break free, which was troublesome after all. It was better to avoid it if possible. However, the Saint Emperor's will was unexpectedly firm. Perhaps he sensed something in the equally void face. He continued to walk slowly towards the Faceless True Immortal statue. He stood silently before the statue, unmoving. At this moment, even though the Saint Emperor was his clone, Li Fan couldn't figure out what the Saint Emperor was thinking.

"So, this is the Xuantian Immortal."

After a long while, Li Ping discovered the origin of this statue in the records of the Genesis Stone Tablet. The Faceless True Immortal worshipped by the Xuantian Sect. Li Ping touched his void face, his aura constantly fluctuating.

"Interesting."

Li Ping couldn't determine if there was truly any connection between himself and this Faceless True Immortal. However, he could vaguely sense the extraordinary nature of this stone statue. With extreme caution, he chose not to touch it himself. Li Ping summoned the most ordinary Saint Army puppet and moved the statue to the dark void outside the Great Qi Minor World. He set up layers of formations to seal the statue. He only stopped when the sense of crisis in his heart gradually faded.

The reason he was so cautious was the confirmed sense of familiarity he had developed after interacting with the statue recently. And the source of this familiarity was not just because the statue was eerily faceless like himself. More importantly, it came from an image. The scene he had sensed from the vast consciousness at the source of the Darkest Star Sea, while he was in its center.

"What has that to do with me! What has that to do with me!"

The body gradually disappearing amidst unrestrained laughter. It was strikingly similar to the feeling he got from this statue.

"Is it the same person? Or not?"

It was just a fleeting glimpse, a flash of an image; Li Ping couldn't confirm it at all.

"If I have the chance, I'll go to the center of the Star Sea again."

"If that vast consciousness of the Star Sea personally identifies it, I should be able to figure it out."

Such a thought flashed through Li Ping's mind.

"Perhaps I could try again. However, my reserves of Void-Luminous Crystals were almost depleted in the last operation. And..."

Li Fan looked again at the faceless stone statue heavily sealed by formations in the void. Though it had no eyes, it seemed to be watching him.

"If the culprit back then truly was this Faceless True Immortal, and I were to be implicated by the enraged consciousness of the Star Sea, then even if I sent a puppet body, my main body here would likely be affected."

"Compared to the entire Darkest Star Sea, the Xuanhuang World is truly just a drop in the ocean..."

Before Li Ping's eyes, a scene flashed of the Xuanhuang World being instantly torn apart by violent energy. He couldn't help but suppress his previous thought.

After a long silence, the Saint Emperor's figure vanished. When he reappeared, he had placed another item beside the Faceless True Immortal statue. It was precisely the ruins of the Primordial Sect, which he had collected and sealed earlier beneath the Great Rift Valley in Floating Light Prefecture. The ruins themselves were ordinary, but the remains of the Grand Mage within them, as well as the hidden Calamity of Annihilation Wind, forced even the Saint Emperor to treat them with extreme caution.

The Primordial Sect ruins and the Faceless True Immortal statue faced each other from a distance in the void. A premonition flashed through Li Ping's mind. If there were no formation seals separating them... a terrifying calamity would likely erupt on the spot.

"Immortal..."

The unrestrained laughter of "What has that to do with me" faintly echoed in Li Ping's ears. He coldly snorted in his heart and conjured thousands more formations with his hands, reinforcing the cages of the two. These unstable elements buried in the Xuanhuang World would not make him feel at ease anywhere else. Only by personally guarding them would it be most secure. Thinking this, Li Ping continued to diligently strengthen the formation seals. Meanwhile, on his shoulder, Cat Treasure had awoken at some point. Its clear eyes stared at the void ahead. It brought a paw to its mouth and licked it.

Li Fan's main body, meanwhile, couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. As the Faceless True Immortal statue was sealed, his connection with the clone became blurry again. Even weaker than before.

"Has the Saint Emperor clone become more vigilant?"

Li Fan secretly shook his head, not particularly bothered.

"However, this incident also reminded me."

"Although I am hiding here, observing the drastic changes in the Xuanhuang World. But as the protagonist of this era, the Saint Emperor is bound to confront those transcendental beings."

"It's not impossible that, like the True Immortal of the Immortal Ruins before, they might follow the connection between the clone and the main body to find me."

"Hmm... I still need to make some preparations."

However, being in a critical location of the Myriad Immortals Alliance, his actions were not entirely free, and he needed to plan carefully.

"Big dummy!" As he was pondering, he faintly perceived that the Derived Law Jade loli was continuously calling out to the simulated personality. With a thought, he replaced it again and appeared inside the character light sphere.

"Honestly, it took you so long to respond after I called you for so long." The Derived Law Jade pouted, her face full of displeasure.

"Have you slept enough already?" Li Fan didn't directly answer, but asked with some surprise.

Derived Law Jade put her hands on her hips: "It's only been this long, how could that be enough!"

"But, while I was dreaming, I remembered some things from before."

"See if it helps you!"

The loli clapped her hands, and the scene within the light sphere suddenly changed. On an endless grassland, a lone stone stood. Suddenly, the earth began to shake. Vast stretches of green grass, as if stimulated by something, began to grow wildly. In an instant, they grew taller than a person. They even pushed the lone stone on the grassland up from the ground.

A luminous arc suddenly appeared in the sky. The arc glowed in seven colors, and one could vaguely see lightning flashes, thunder, and converging storms within it. Around the seven-colored arc, space occasionally showed strange distortions. It was as if an invisible, transparent object had appeared there. More and more unseen entities gathered, all surrounding the arc, seemingly waiting for something. The wind and thunder became increasingly violent, and the rolling black clouds even tended to penetrate the arc. Although the storm already looked terrifying from outside the arc, its true horror only revealed itself when it spread beyond the arc.

A bolt of pitch-black lightning suddenly struck the ground from the arc. Boom! Boom! Boom! The world was split in half because of it; deep fissures were carved into space, unable to heal for a long time. And on the grassland, the continuous green grass was ignited. Raging fires spread rapidly. But immediately after, an even more peculiar scene appeared. The burning embers fell, turning into nourishment for the green leaves. The green grass grew wildly again, its growth rate actually offsetting the rate of burning. The grassland trembled; beneath the fierce flames, something seemed to be awakening.

And high above, the invisible beings around the arc paid no attention to what was happening below. They merely gathered even closer towards the inside of the arc. They even began to quarrel over positions. Loud roars and crashing sounds continuously echoed. The storm brewed to its peak, then instantly fell silent. The rolling black clouds vanished without a trace in an instant.

Within the seven-colored arc, under a clear sky spanning ten thousand miles. An extremely profound character was prominently displayed! The moment the character appeared, a supreme Daoistic profound sound seemed to resonate between heaven and earth. Colorful auspicious clouds continuously arrived from the horizon, converging towards the character. Drizzling raindrops fell from the sky. The rain, like the auspicious clouds in the sky, was a breathtaking seven-colored hue. The fissures between heaven and earth were repaired. The flames on the grassland also extinguished as the raindrops fell. The continuous green grass greedily absorbed the heavenly dew. But their bodies kept shrinking. Seven-colored light illuminated, and figures of various shapes were nurtured within it. However, the roaring sounds of conflict high in the sky seemed to grow even louder.

However, Derived Law Jade's memory was nearing its end. The surrounding scene gradually became blurry; only the lone stone on the grassland could be seen, being dissolved by the rain. The scene faded, and Li Fan returned to the Derived Law Jade character light sphere. But he was immersed in the recent scene, unable to pull himself away.

"How was it? Any clues?" Derived Law Jade asked, full of expectation.

After savoring the recent scene for a long time, Li Fan finally asked: "Those raindrops, could they be the Immortal Sound Jade Dew you mentioned?"

Derived Law Jade tilted her head and put her hands on her hips, saying righteously: "It should be it. I've had this memory in my mind since I was born. But as I slowly grew up, I forgot about it."

"Good thing I had a really good nap before, otherwise I don't know when I would have remembered it!"

"I have a premonition, if I could have some more of this thing..."

Li Fan interrupted Derived Law Jade's reverie.

"What about the character in the seven-colored arc?"

"Why couldn't I see it clearly at all?"

Derived Law Jade pouted: "I already said it was something from a dream. It's already hard enough for me to recall this much, how could I remember the character clearly too?!"

Li Fan stared at Derived Law Jade, trying to discern the truth in her words.

"You actually don't believe me?" Derived Law Jade said, feeling extremely wronged.

Li Fan chuckled: "You're not stupid. I don't believe you didn't realize that the scene you just showed was very likely a legendary scene from the Immortal Realm."

"A character that even Immortals compete to seize..."

"It's understandable that you're hiding something."

Hearing this, Derived Law Jade felt even more wronged: "I really can't remember! You know it's an Immortal character; how could it be so easily memorized? Besides, I was so small back then..." Derived Law Jade gestured, her eyes teary.

"How can you recall it then?" Li Fan didn't believe the loli's nonsense and directly stated his condition.

Derived Law Jade's tears immediately stopped. Her big eyes shifted, as if she was thinking. A moment later, she said softly: "Well, perhaps if I eat a bit more, I might remember some things." Derived Law Jade licked her lips, staring at Li Fan.

"Eat?"

Li Fan lowered his head: "You can eat too?"

Derived Law Jade puffed out her cheeks and said: "What kind of talk is that? I'm actually human!"

"It's been thousands of years since I tasted delicious food."

"I tasted it again in my dream this time, and that's why I woke up craving it..."

Li Fan conjured a fragrant crispy roasted pigeon in his hand: "Will this do?"

Derived Law Jade rolled her eyes: "I want real ones, not fake ones. I can conjure as many of these as I want." With that, the loli waved her hand, and the surroundings were immediately piled high with various delicacies.

"No matter how similar, fakes are still fakes; they can never become real..." Derived Law Jade shook her head, saying with regret.

"Oh?"

For some reason, Derived Law Jade suddenly felt that Li Fan's expression in front of her had subtly changed in that instant.

"Then take a look, how about this dish?"

What appeared in Li Fan's hand was an ordinary plate of fried rice. Derived Law Jade was initially disdainful, but at Li Fan's silent urging, she took it and tasted it.