Chapter 1267: Dark Sea Hides the True Immortal

A palpable murderous intent swept towards the Saint Emperor, but it was dissolved into nothingness by the faint golden light before him.

After Mo Rubin's fury somewhat subsided, Li Ping calmly said, "I can see that your heart isn't truly filled with anger."

"Are you still acting in front of me? Or, once you're in character, even you can't tell the difference?"

"Look. True anger is like this..."

The Saint Emperor suddenly took a step forward, and a powerful force erupted from his feet, sweeping wildly around him. The radiance of the white jade flagstaff swayed ceaselessly, like a willow in a strong wind.

But this surging energy, after leaving the radiant circle and entering the Sea of Gloom, quickly dissipated.

The tranquil Sea of Gloom rippled faintly. It erased all disturbances.

As if it were soothing the enraged Saint Emperor.

"I don't need you to teach me! I know this place better than you do!"

Mo Rubin's figure suddenly appeared behind Li Ping. A shadow, concealed beneath the white glow of the white jade flagstaff, bared its fangs at Li Ping's neck like a venomous serpent.

Cracks instantly appeared on the golden armor covering the Saint Emperor. From the central hole, a black thread shot out, heading straight for Li Ping's neck.

But just as it was about to succeed, Li Ping extended his palm and blocked it.

Li Ping looked at the shadowy mass, constrained and writhing in his palm. He said coldly, "Another persona? This one... is very much like you."

After saying this, he did not crush the shadowy assailant directly, but allowed it to return to Mo Rubin.

However, Mo Rubin himself no longer wanted even the immortal artifact, the white jade flag. While they were speaking, he had already vanished from his spot.

Li Ping shook his head slightly. His previous kick had not been in vain.

Following the lingering sensation, he quickly moved forward through the Sea of Gloom, pursuing Mo Rubin.

Mo Rubin's direction of travel seemed to be towards the rift where the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals extracted the power of gloom.

"You've stumbled upon some clever trick and dare to spout nonsense in front of me?"

"Don't I know perfectly well that this Sea of Gloom encompasses everything, and even cultivators' emotions will merely cause ripples that are then swallowed by the gloom?"

"And you claim to see through my heart?"

Dozens of Mo Rubin's faces, hidden in the darkness, floated towards Li Ping from time to time, mocking him with cold sarcasm.

Their tones varied, but without exception, after delivering their lines, they spontaneously dissolved back into the Sea of Gloom.

Since these demonic faces did not attack, Li Ping simply ignored them and their taunts, focusing only on rapidly approaching Mo Rubin.

The demonic faces' incessant chatter continued.

"What is truly me? I am the first genius of Nine Refinements Monastery, the first person expected to ascend to immortality. I am also one of the Twelve Dharma Kings of the Profound Heaven Sect, assisting Xuanyuan Hong in establishing the great cause of the Profound Heaven Sect and unifying the Xuanhuang Realm."

"Even so, should I always show the same face? Should the chief prodigy always be composed? Should a Dharma King always plan before acting?"

"Wrong, wrong, wrong! I am laughter and curses; I am untamed and arrogant; and I am also unconstrained and wild!"

"With an immortal heart, I wield demonic faces. I should display whatever demeanor is appropriate for the situation!"

"If someone is acting, I'll play along. If they are terrified, I'll intimidate them completely. If they are utterly wicked, I'll join them in their depravity."

"As for stuffy good people like you, they should be cursed awake fiercely!"

"What do you think you are?! You haven't even stepped into the immortal realm, yet you dare to fantasize about saving the world?!"

Dozens more faces split off around them, unleashing a barrage of extremely offensive words at the Saint Emperor.

Yet the Saint Emperor's expression showed not the slightest ripple.

His gaze seemed to pierce through layers of darkness. Not far ahead, Mo Rubin's true face held the same calmness as his own.

*Swoosh...*

The waves of the Sea of Gloom halted Mo Rubin's advance.

He suddenly stopped and looked up at the distant sky.

A rift regularly spewed out the power of gloom. The intermittent thudding sound was like a heavy heartbeat.

"Damn it all."

"With such a group of parasites dragging things down, how can anything succeed?"

Another shadowy face appeared above Li Ping's head. This time, its words were no longer filled with the previous manic rage. However, Li Ping discerned a true murderous intent hidden within its calmness.

"I once tried to harness the power of the Sea of Gloom to close that rift. However, I was blocked by an eyeball..."

"Was the owner of that eyeball the Profound Heaven King?" The Saint Emperor walked to Mo Rubin's side, placed a hand on his shoulder, and transmitted his voice.

Mo Rubin did not turn around, but a face suddenly appeared on the back of his head, looking at Li Ping with great disdain.

"Brother Xuanyuan would do something like this?"

Li Ping was not annoyed and followed his lead, asking, "Then why could that eyeball mobilize the power of the Sea of Gloom?"

The face on the back of Mo Rubin's head disappeared. "Do you know what the essence of this Sea of Gloom is?"

"A formation?" After a moment's thought, Li Ping replied.

"As stupid as expected," Mo Rubin scoffed. "The formation is merely a superficial appearance. What truly created this gathering of gloom, allowing the Xuanhuang Realm to resist the suction from the ruins of the Ascension Passage, is..."

Just as he reached the crucial point, Mo Rubin suddenly stopped.

"Do you want to know?" he asked teasingly, his tone flippant.

"Yes," Li Ping said frankly.

Seeing Li Ping's seriousness, Mo Rubin seemed to suddenly lose interest. His tone instantly returned to normal.

"The only thing that can contend with a True Immortal is the power of a True Immortal."

"The one who caused the calamity of the Sea of Utter Darkness was an Enlightened True Immortal. So, what could generate enough power for the Xuanhuang Realm to escape..."

"Would naturally be another True Immortal."

As these words were uttered, they struck the Faceless Saint Emperor's mind like a bolt of lightning.

The surrounding gloom instantly seemed to come alive, as if all of it was peering at him.

"A True Immortal, indeed a True Immortal."

"But a dead True Immortal. Right?"

Yet the Saint Emperor, suddenly learning such a secret, seemed to have anticipated it long ago.

He calmly retorted.

Mo Rubin shrugged. "Talking to clever people like you is really boring."

"Indeed. The foundation of the entire Sea of Gloom is the transformed corpse of a True Immortal."

Li Ping was not surprised by this revelation.

The Sea of Gloom could absorb the faith of the Netherkin and transform it into primal energy essence. Yet it did not care if its followers changed their beliefs.

The True Immortal's net, once formed, existed substantially. It was not subject to changes in will.

Once caught in the net, escaping would require unleashing a power capable of tearing apart the True Immortal's net.

The weak Netherkin naturally did not possess such ability. The only reasonable explanation was that the owner of the True Immortal's net had already perished.

The restraints were gone.

"True Immortal," Li Ping repeated the two words.

"A True Immortal who perished in the Xuanhuang Realm."

"It's quite miraculous, isn't it? That a mere lower realm would have a True Immortal perish here. But it's also fortunate that the Xuanhuang Realm hid a True Immortal's corpse. Otherwise, even a clever cook can't make a meal without rice, and Brother Xuanyuan would have no good way to save the Xuanhuang Realm either," Mo Rubin said with some emotion.

Li Ping, however, introduced the existence of the Fallen Immortal Realm to Mo Rubin.

"Oh. I didn't expect there would actually be a successor Heavenly Venerate willing to share the True Immortal's legacy with the world." After hearing this, Mo Rubin's aura once again became unstable.

"It's hard to imagine there's anyone in the world stupider than Brother Xuanyuan. Truly..."

"He has already perished," Li Ping added.

Mo Rubin instantly became calm again.

After a long time, he finally said, "Good riddance. Good riddance indeed..."

Although he said that, Li Ping, for some reason, always felt a hint of sadness in his expression.

So Li Ping asked the question he had always wanted to ask: "Is the Profound Heaven King truly dead?"

Mo Rubin turned his head, staring blankly at Li Ping. "You ask me, but who am I to ask? He's probably not dead. I'm looking for him too. Brother Xuanyuan is so powerful that even if he were ambushed by a petty person, he wouldn't just lose his life like that."

After speaking, he gave Li Ping no further opportunity to converse and simply turned back.

"The Sea of Gloom is founded upon the Spirit Gathering Ascension Formation, with a True Immortal's remains as its bones, and the bloodline of the First Great Heavenly Venerate as its sinews. From nothing, it nurtured a power capable of resisting the True Immortal's suction."

"But after all, it's just a dead thing. Without its controlling core, it has actually become nourishment for others."

"So, never die. What if you were a True Immortal in life? After death, even ants can bully you."

Mo Rubin looked again at the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals' device extracting the power of gloom in the distance and said mockingly.

"Bloodline of the First Great Heavenly Venerate?" The peculiar appearance of the Netherkin flashed through Li Ping's mind, and his heart stirred.

"No wonder only this group of people can communicate with the Sea of Gloom. However..."

The direct bloodline of a True Immortal, one would know without thinking, was of unimaginable nobility. But now, they had become neither human nor ghost.

Mo Rubin seemed to read Li Ping's mind and said coldly, "You don't need to feel sorry for these people. If you had lived in that era and personally experienced how the Great Heavenly Venerate's bloodline enslaved others..."

"You might have been the first to revolt."

"If Brother Xuanyuan hadn't intervened back then and exterminated all their minions, these self-proclaimed superior beings would have continued to lord over others for who knows how long. Their current state is a blessing for them," Mo Rubin sneered coldly.

Li Ping did not argue with Mo Rubin further on this matter.

"The Sea of Gloom, in essence, uses the True Immortal's remains to condense gloomy immortal power and resist the Immortal Ruins. What exactly is the eyeball controlled by the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals