Chapter 1273

First Test of the Spirit Void Array (7K)

Li Fan was instantly startled upon hearing this. "How could this be? Is it possible that this Xuanhuang Realm has some connection to the legendary Immortal Realm?"

Aitianjue's tone was enigmatic. "Ha ha, it's unpredictable, truly unpredictable! The history of this Xuanhuang Realm is quite interesting. Once we extract more from Lan Yu's mind, those old folks might just change their minds. It's just uncertain whether this will be a blessing or a curse for our Immortal Ship."

After Aitianjue finished speaking, he remained silent for a moment before formally beginning Li Fan's lesson.

Li Fan's persistent use of 'teacher' was well-deserved. Without the restriction that methods cannot be cultivated concurrently, the master-disciple lineage here transmits truly profound techniques. Li Fan apprenticed himself to Aitianjue for five years, gaining his recognition and being taught the Jade Void Inner Scenery Weeping Spirit Art. This profound art was also Aitianjue's own fundamental cultivation method.

"Kan-Li Qian-Kun inverted, Jade Void's profound art is wondrous. Azure sea refines the void, weeping spirits transform into divine abilities..."

Aitianjue held a glowing book and slowly recited the content of the Jade Void Inner Scenery Weeping Spirit Art. Li Fan also silently recited after him. Although it was merely a word-for-word recitation without detailed explanations, as Aitianjue's intonation, like a Daoist rhythm, reached his ears, Li Fan's mind naturally conjured numerous insights Aitianjue had into the Weeping Spirit Art.

This method of instruction was, in fact, a common teaching technique used on the Immortal Ship. Or rather than a cultivation technique, it was more like a divine ability, called 'Awakening of All Beings'. It was said to have been acquired by the Immortal Ship from the fragmented realms of the Star Sea, greatly reducing the difficulty of transmitting knowledge and skills. Once introduced, it was widely praised and became popular throughout the Immortal Ship.

The teaching effectiveness of 'Awakening of All Beings' was closely related to the aptitude and comprehension abilities of both the teacher and the student. Aitianjue was one of the top experts in the Immortal Severing Pavilion, capable of profound research into True Immortal Seal Script, so his abilities were beyond doubt. The body of Zhao Xian, which Li Fan inhabited, had excellent aptitude. Combined with Li Fan's many years of reincarnation and extensive knowledge, his progress in cultivating the Weeping Spirit Art was exceptionally rapid.

The Jade Void Inner Scenery Weeping Spirit Art was a supreme divine ability passed down through the Xuan Merchant Immortal Ship since ancient times. It was said that in the ancient era, before the Immortal Path was severed, the Xuan Merchant Immortal Ship exchanged a supreme treasure with a major cultivation sect from a grand cultivation realm for this marvelous technique. The people of the Xuan Merchant Immortal Ship constantly traveled within the Star Sea, moving between various cultivation realms, having no fixed abode and finding it difficult to truly cultivate with a calm mind. This Weeping Spirit Art perfectly solved these two pain points.

The essence of the cultivation method was to construct an inner scenery world within one's own divine soul. Within this inner scenery world, one cultivates through 'weeping spirits'. 'Weeping' here means 'crying'. Weeping spirits does not mean literally crying during cultivation. Rather, it emulates the natural, heartfelt sensation of fluidity that arises when a person instinctively cries. Over time, everything within the inner scenery world would move according to one's will.

Unlike other cultivation methods where cultivation speed gradually slows with increasing cultivation realms, the Weeping Spirit Art progresses very slowly in the initial stages. It requires experiencing and truly building an emotional connection with one's inner scenery world. The later one progresses, the faster the cultivation becomes.

The Weeping Spirit Art does not require seclusion; even a short half-day of effort can deepen the emotional connection with the inner scenery world. Furthermore, those with active minds and delicate emotions are more suited to its cultivation. Although it was unknown how long it had been since Li Fan last cried, for Grand Master Li, who could turn falsehood into reality, simulating and recreating the emotional fluctuations of his own crying was no difficult feat. While the cultivation speed of Aitianjue's other disciples was unknown, the fact that he consistently gave Li Fan individual lessons was enough to show how highly Aitianjue regarded him.

After half a day, Aitianjue finally finished reciting the Weeping Spirit Art. He exhaled deeply, and the beads of sweat on his forehead instantly evaporated. Li Fan, however, remained with his eyes closed, as if still immersed in Aitianjue's verbal and practical instruction.

"Are there any unclear points?" Aitianjue asked.

"This student has understood everything," Li Fan replied in a deep voice.

Aitianjue nodded slightly, his gaze approving. "After you return, you must continue to recite it daily and not neglect it. Your Weeping Spirit Art cultivation has reached its most critical phase; once the inner scenery world takes shape, and your heart moves with your thoughts, you might even catch up to me within half a year."

Li Fan nodded in agreement.

Aitianjue further instructed, "Although the mainstream view on the Immortal Ship is that studying True Immortal Seal Script is fundamental, you must also remember that cultivation realm and strength are the basis for exploration and comprehension. If the foundation is not solid, even if you are lucky enough to reach great heights temporarily, there will always be a risk of falling to your death from that height..."

Aitianjue rambled on, even seeming a bit verbose. However, this was precisely the extent to which every teacher within the Xuan Merchant Immortal Ship would go. Li Fan bowed, bid farewell, and left, while thinking to himself, "Teachers treat others with sincerity, and students serve their teachers with devotion. This is the true lineage that has perpetuated the Xuan Merchant Immortal Ship for thousands of years. What are the Immortal Hub Pavilion and Immortal Severing Pavilion but mere superficial changes? The true essence still lies in these master-disciple lineages."

After leaving Aitianjue's dwelling, Li Fan did not immediately leave the Immortal Severing Pavilion. He turned and went to visit another elder, Chi Gongdao. Although Li Fan had no specific master-disciple relationship with Elder Chi, he gained the elder's appreciation due to his repeated submissions of unique insights into True Immortal Seal Script.

Unlike Aitianjue, who was somewhat 'traditional,' Chi Gongdao was an out-and-out radical on the Immortal Ship. He advocated abandoning all cultivation method foundations and dedicating oneself entirely to True Immortal Seal Script. It must be said that Chi Gongdao's research into True Immortal Seal Script indeed surpassed others in some aspects. According to Li Fan's assessment, among all the elders in the Immortal Severing Pavilion, he was the one who restored the most True Immortal Seal Scripts and achieved the highest restoration degree.

Moreover, Chi Gongdao possessed an unshared secret: he could precisely locate truly valuable world-destroying relics from the boundless sea of artifacts. These were artifacts where the True Immortal power was on the verge of dissipating, making them perfectly suited for the Immortal Ship cultivators to utilize. It was said that eight or nine out of ten dual True Immortal power relics in the Immortal Severing Pavilion were also discovered by Elder Chi Gongdao. Therefore, his status in the Immortal Severing Pavilion and even the entire Immortal Ship was extremely transcendent.

Whoosh... As Li Fan pushed open the door of the small building, a gust of cold wind accompanied by low whispers rushed out. Accustomed to it, Li Fan ignored it, walked straight to Chi Gongdao, and sat down quietly. Before him, a pen, seemingly made of flesh and hair, suddenly appeared. Li Fan reached out for the pen, and before he could fully approach it, the hairs on the pen came alive, rapidly elongated, and firmly bound Li Fan's right hand.

In his Sea of Consciousness, incomplete True Immortal Seal Script forms appeared, and his hand danced along with them. Drops of blood flowed from the pen's tip, congealing like ink, leaving indelible traces in the air. Honestly, the first time Li Fan came here, he nearly exposed himself, almost writing out a complete True Immortal Seal Script. If not for his timely reaction, the Immortal Ship would likely have been completely destroyed by the world-ending power of the True Immortal Seal Script by now.

The pen moved fluidly, red blood spraying. Before long, a fragmented, twisted True Immortal character appeared. It was precisely half of the character 'Hunger'.

"Hunger, oh hunger, hunger, hunger!" The pen in his hand suddenly roared, and the entangled hairs tightened further. Most of them even tried to wriggle like worms up Li Fan's arm, burrowing into his body and devouring his flesh. Li Fan narrowed his eyes, not activating his physical spiritual power to expel it. Instead, as his flesh was being devoured, he felt the hunger of the hairs. Not being overly greedy, the hairs merely tasted a bit and then quickly retracted. The pen slipped from his hand and flew back into the darkness.

A moment later, strange chewing sounds emerged. Occasionally, there were also some gnawing sounds of crushed bones. Chi Gongdao's voice came at the same time: "Good, the taste is purer than last time. Zhao boy, you're truly a genius. If it weren't for old man Ai's refusal, I would have taken you as my student no matter what."

Li Fan did not reply, but said in a deep voice, "Elder Chi, I feel that my comprehension of this character has reached a bottleneck. I'd like to try a new one."

Chi Gongdao chuckled strangely: "Hehe, greedy. I like it!"

Seven pens, also made of flesh and hair, flew out from the darkness and appeared before Li Fan. "Which one do you want? Pick it yourself!"

Li Fan closed his eyes, sensing the aura emanating from the different pens. "This is it." After a long while, Li Fan decided on his target and reached out towards the leftmost pen, the one with the dullest flesh. Flesh churned, black hair attached. Guiding Li Fan's hand, it began writing in the void. With flowing strokes, a blood-red True Immortal character slowly emerged. Li Fan focused his mind on comprehending, while the other six pens had long since vanished without a trace.

The character 'Lone' [独]. "The solitude of this body, unique across all ages."

When the Saint Embryo Li Fan first crossed the Star Sea, he had encountered this True Immortal Seal Script. At that time, even the Black Sword, Heavenly Wonder, which had already merged with his Dao Foundation, showed a tendency to be separated from him by the Wonder. And now, Li Fan once again felt that power from the vivid red character before him. However, faint restrictions subtly existed in the surrounding space, suppressing the power emanating from 'Lone' and other manifested True Immortal Seal Scripts.

In Li Fan's perception, time passed both slowly and rapidly. After the character 'Lone' was fully written, he felt a lingering sense of unfinished business. This process of deducing the true nature of a True Immortal Seal Script from its manifested power, without seeing the script itself, was indeed somewhat captivating. The pen wrapped around his hand had already returned to the darkness.

Chi Gongdao's sinister cackle echoed in Li Fan's ears again: "Zhao boy, want to experience it again? As long as you abandon the darkness and come to me from Aitianjue, I guarantee I'll personally teach you all the True Immortal Seal Scripts I've deduced..."

Li Fan's expression remained unchanged: "There's no need for Elder to worry. If I have further needs, I will continue to exchange them for insights." With that, he turned and left without waiting for Chi Gongdao's response.

The small building was quiet for a moment, then Chi Gongdao's voice sounded again: "Firm will, I like it even more... Hee hee hee hee..."

Chi Gongdao coveted Li Fan, but what he didn't know was that with just one personal experience, Li Fan's interpretation of the character 'Lone' had already silently surpassed his. After all, with the inherent advantage of having personally seen the true True Immortal Seal Script, coupled with his personal experience of being attacked by the after-effects of the 'Lone' character technique, it was understandable that Li Fan had surpassed his mentor in a flash.

"First, I'll try to see if I can continue restoring it on my own. If I fail, I'll utilize the geniuses on this Immortal Ship. After all, the more True Immortal Seal Script power I master, the better." Li Fan returned to his own residence and began organizing his gains from Aitianjue and Chi Gongdao, and waited for their next summons. His life on the Xuan Merchant Immortal Ship was simply unadorned and monotonous.

In the Xuanhuang Realm, the Myriad Immortals Alliance cultivators' attention on the departing rainbow light remained high. Although the frequency had slightly decreased, the Myriad Immortals Alliance officially still released occasional footage from the Utmost Dark Star Sea. The various dangers and calamities thrilled the cultivators in the Xuanhuang Realm.

"Just look at it, they always turn dangers into good fortune, thanks to Heavenly Venerate's blessing. We might not have that kind of luck."

"No wonder the Immortal Alliance was unwilling to send people to the Star Sea before; it's simply too dangerous. We haven't even seen a trace of the Xuan Merchant Immortal Ship yet, and many Dao Integration experts have already fallen. How many will safely return in the end?"

"Though the Immortal Ship is good, it's not my home!"

Amidst the fervent discussions, Holy Emperor Li Ping had already discerned some clues. After all, he was the one who had truly traversed the Star River, and although the footage released by the Myriad Immortals Alliance looked real... compared to the actual long journey through the Star Sea, there were still many flaws.

"Is the Myriad Immortals Alliance faking it? It seems the real departing rainbow light has probably met with disaster," Li Ping said with some regret.

At this moment, the Holy Dynasty had once again gathered sufficient Void-Refined Crystals. He intended to personally travel outside the Xuanhuang Realm to seek enlightenment once more, while also familiarizing himself with the battlefield environment where he would later clash with the Envoys of Law and Heavenly Physicians. In the unnoticed sky, the Holy Emperor had already flown to the border of Xuanhuang. This time, Li Ping refused the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao's request to accompany him. After all, he wouldn't go far this time, only operating around the Xuanhuang Realm. As layers of rainbow light separated, he began to break free from the Immortal Ruins' suction and flew into the dark void.

"Perhaps, it's not absolutely necessary to rely on these Void-Refined Crystals. Xuanhuang creations, Xuanhuang laws manifest. Their characteristics might be imitable through spiritual power," Li Ping pondered, looking at the surrounding multicolored, hazy light.

The Xuanhuang Realm gradually became a tiny, imperceptible dot. Li Ping then looked towards the Immortal Ruins. There, it was completely dark. The ruins of the former Immortal Realm passage devoured all prying gazes. A few blurry images flashed through his mind, and for some reason, Li Ping felt a faint, elusive sense of familiarity with the mysterious Immortal Ruins. Though fleeting, it was still captured by the Holy Emperor.

"Immortal Ruins..." Li Ping shook his head, and after a long while, suppressed the thought. What needed to be addressed first now was the Xuanhuang Realm's 'borrowed corpse' resurrection and its fundamental transformation. As for how to escape the Immortal Ruins after achieving his goal...

Ever since he learned from Mo Rumin that day that the distinctiveness of the You Clan stemmed from the bloodline of the First Xuanhuang Great Heavenly Venerate, Li Ping had attempted to leverage Cat Treasure's extraordinary abilities to mass-reproduce this bloodline. The three extraordinary abilities of Cat Treasure discovered so far were item replication, creature mimicry, and marrow cleansing.

First, Li Ping went to great lengths to make Cat Treasure mimic a You Clan member. Then, the recorded creature data was infused into ordinary human bodies through marrow cleansing. Through a circuitous method, blood and flesh replication was then performed on these infused humans. Perhaps it was due to Cat Treasure's intermediation breaking certain restrictions. These generated replicas surprisingly possessed some abilities of the You Clan bloodline. Although the efficiency of generating source power essence through prayer was only about one-fifth that of ordinary You Clan members, the advantage was that there were no restrictions. With the Holy Dynasty's current powerful flesh and blood factory technology, as long as resources were sufficient, they could be manufactured in nearly unlimited quantities. It could be said that the energy shortage problem for the Holy Dynasty and the Dark Sea had been temporarily resolved. Deep within the Dark Sea, the Spirit Gathering Immortal Ascension Array continuously operated, accumulating energy. It was believed that within a century, enough power would be accumulated to break free from the Immortal Ruins. Before that, Li Ping's task was to first resolve the Xuanhuang Realm's 'orthodoxy' problem.

His thoughts returned to the present, and Li Ping subconsciously looked at his shoulder. Cat Treasure was still perched there. However, it had turned its head away, not looking at Li Ping. It seemed that replicating the bloodline of the First Xuanhuang Great Heavenly Venerate was an extremely difficult task for it as well. Most of the time during this period, it had been in a deep slumber. Cat Treasure had also become somewhat cold towards Li Ping. Li Ping had a premonition that if their relationship continued to weaken, Cat Treasure might leave at any time. After all, there was no special master-servant imprint or anything similar between him and Cat Treasure. It all relied on him enticing it with source power essence. He squeezed out a ball of golden light and placed it on Cat Treasure's head.

Deep in the void, Li Ping began to comprehend the surrounding Star Sea laws. As for the remaining calamities in the Star Sea... Cat Treasure's tail, which it occasionally raised, indicated a safe direction for Li Ping to proceed. Coupled with his previous experience of long voyages, he encountered no dangers along the way.

"If the final battleground is chosen outside the Xuanhuang Realm, the assistance from heaven and earth will inevitably be reduced by more than half. The chance of victory, besides Cat Treasure's numerous divine abilities, might also lie in utilizing the ubiquitous calamity power in this Star Sea." Outside the void of the Great Qi Minor Realm, a One Beginning Sect relic and the terrifying Annihilation Wind Disaster were sealed. While sealing it, Li Ping also conducted research on this calamity. Compared to the various other calamity powers in the Utmost Dark Star Sea, the Annihilation Wind Disaster was a pure power that annihilated everything. Li Ping suspected that even the calamities in the Star Sea would gradually decay under the blowing of the Annihilation Wind Disaster.

"Ultimately, the so-called Star Sea calamities are merely True Immortal's magical techniques. Though they are existences that we mortals cannot comprehend. Since the Annihilation Wind Disaster can eliminate them invisibly, then in a sense, the power of these calamities can also be transformed for my own use. But the right method needs to be found..."

A flash of inspiration struck Li Ping's mind. Ignoring Cat Treasure's warning, he actively flew towards a dangerous area not far away in the void. Golden light from the source power essence densely covered him, ensuring protective measures were in place. Li Ping quietly comprehended the mysterious changes occurring on the surface of the source power essence. As Cat Treasure gave him a 'you're an idiot' look, Li Ping suddenly felt his surroundings become dark again. Unlike the previous darkness in the Utmost Dark Star Sea, which was caused by the absence of light and by stillness, now, Li Ping felt a bone-chilling darkness because he sensed his connection to the world slowly being stripped away, gradually moving him away from everything in the Star Sea. Not only were his connections severed, but even the threads linking Li Ping's body to the Xuanhuang Realm, and even to other mysterious unknown existences, were slowly fading away.

The Faceless Holy Emperor, who had always cared deeply for Xuanhuang, suddenly felt a wave of detachment towards worldly affairs. He felt that the Xuanhuang Realm and its countless sentient beings were no longer that important to him. His long-standing concerns were about to be completely abandoned. A slight touch from his shoulder, however, instantly pulled Li Ping out of that state. Only then did Li Ping realize that even when facing the True Immortal Seal Script calamity, and all his connections to the world slowly faded, Cat Treasure remained, always, perched on his shoulder. There was no sign of separation.

With source power essence protecting his body, Li Ping's figure flashed, and he instantly escaped the area covered by the calamity. "This True Immortal Seal Script seems particularly effective on me. 'Solitary', or perhaps, 'Lone'?" Li Ping gazed at that area, pondering to himself. He then condensed another ball of golden light in his hand and placed it on Cat Treasure's head. Cat Treasure this time unceremoniously took a bite and then lazily went back to sleep.

Sun Family, underground secret chamber. Li Fan's divine sense detected that his connection with the Holy Emperor clone had completely vanished. He couldn't help but feel a little regret. "That last sensation, was it the power of a True Immortal Seal Script? 'Lone'? He actually, by a strange coincidence, used its power to completely break free from me."

However, a moment later, Li Fan felt relieved. With the Holy Emperor's current level of strength, attempting to control him like a chess piece in real-time was simply unrealistic. Furthermore, he also had the help of Cat Treasure, that extremely mysterious creation... If he still couldn't completely sever ties with Li Fan's true self, then Li Fan would have to doubt whether the Holy Emperor could truly force the Envoys of Law and Heavenly Physicians to reveal their true strength. As for the Holy Emperor clone, or rather, Li Ping's safety, Li Fan was not worried. After all, even the Saint Embryo hadn't perished from the 'Lone' character technique, so Holy Emperor Li Ping, who was even stronger and had many fortuitous encounters, naturally had no reason not to escape.

"Anyway, the general path has been set, so I'll just watch his performance. Regardless, the gains in this lifetime have already been sufficient. So much so that I'm somewhat dazzled."

As Li Fan was momentarily distracted in thought, a somewhat familiar voice suddenly spoke. "Senior, when can we go out and look around? It's really boring being cooped up in here." Li Fan turned his gaze, his eyes profound. That was the voice that originally belonged to Sun Luyao. But now, both his movements and expressions had reached a point where it was difficult to distinguish between real and fake. After Li Fan's continuous attempts, especially thanks to the Saint Embryo's gains on the Immortal Ship, he finally created a fairly competent simulated persona of Sun Luyao. This Sun Luyao himself didn't even realize he was a fabricated existence. His consciousness and memories had been restored to the time when Li Fan had eliminated the wind disaster from his body and promised to take him out, traveling while searching for other possible immortal artifacts.

"What's wrong, Senior?" Sun Luyao looked at Li Fan's eyes, seemingly a little scared.

"Hehe." Li Fan revealed a benevolent smile. "Nothing, just thought of something happy. Since you've said so, let's go out today."

Sun Luyao was inexplicably delighted: "Great!"

Following the same procedure, after creating a fabricated Sun Luyao and the Boundless Mirror, Li Fan's clone took their 'true forms' and left the underground secret chamber.

"Senior, where are we going first? I haven't detected any signs of possible immortal artifacts in the nearest vicinity," Sun Luyao asked after checking.

"Doing some preparatory work," Li Fan simply replied.

He rapidly flew, arriving at the entrance to a minor realm, and leaped into the spatial passage.

"Huh? This minor realm is all plants?" Sun Luyao said with some novelty, looking at the scene before him. Like a tropical rainforest, tall and dense vegetation of various kinds competed to grow upwards, vying for sunlight. From time to time, one could see some vines moving like pythons in the shadows. Then they would quietly coil around other towering trees, their sharp wooden thorns piercing into the trunks. Before long, trees withered and fell, making way for a large overhead space. Within a few breaths, the abundant sunlight attracted other trees, which visibly grew and filled the gaps.

"Senior, this minor realm seems to be in a relatively primitive stage of life; there probably isn't any immortal artifact we're looking for," Sun Luyao said, lost in thought but still dutifully offering his advice.

"Not looking for immortal artifacts. I'll teach you a set of formations. Once you've learned it, the work of setting up formations will be yours," Li Fan said indifferently.

Sun Luyao's spirit lifted upon hearing this: "Thank you, Senior! I will definitely live up to your trust!"

"Watch closely, this formation is called... The Boundless Spirit Void Array!"

Li Fan flew to mid-air within this minor realm. Streaks of light showered down, conspicuously blocking out the sunlight from above. The already somewhat gloomy primitive jungle minor realm now embraced true darkness. And in the view of Boundless Mirror Spirit Sun Luyao, the light scattered by Li Fan was a series of profound formation units. Even with his foundation as an immortal artifact, it was extremely difficult to analyze them.

As the formation gradually perfected, a feeling that was somewhat familiar yet inexplicably terrifying welled up in Sun Luyao's heart. "This is..." Sun Luyao's face turned pale, and after a long moment, he finally understood. It was the feeling of life hanging by a thread that he had experienced every time he faced the Annihilation Wind Disaster before! His intuition told him that if he continued to stay here, by the time the grand formation was complete, it would be the day his great disaster began!

The Boundless Mirror trembled slightly, rapidly transforming into a streak of light, and flew to Li Fan's side. Li Fan paid it no mind, continuing to perfect the formation. "Unfortunately, one, materials are lacking. And two, it's only my clone acting, so I couldn't fully unleash the power of the Spirit Void Array. However, it's certainly enough to condense some protective layers."

More than ten days later, the Boundless Spirit Void Array was complete. As a world-destroying beam of light descended, this minor realm completely vanished. Li Fan's clone, however, had already returned to the Xuanhuang Realm with the Boundless Mirror.

"Did you learn the formation just now?"

The simulated persona Sun Luyao did not respond for a long time. It was because the structure maintaining the simulated persona's true nature had just been destroyed by the ripple effects of the Boundless Spirit Void Array.

"Truly a useless piece of trash." Li Fan snorted coldly.

(End of Chapter)

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