Chapter 1302: Immortal and Mortal Punishing the Immortal

"The Great Wall of Remnant Realms... how could such a strange phenomenon appear at the edge of the Star Sea?" Qiaogong exclaimed.

"No wonder all the worlds that were destroyed back then vanished without a trace; they actually all gathered at the foot of this high wall? The remnant realms stretch endlessly—what immense power could create such a spectacle?" Baihua's face was also filled with shock.

Both of them had survived the destruction of the Star Sea and personally witnessed countless cultivation worlds turn into desolate lands. Thus, compared to others, they could more profoundly appreciate the awe-inspiring nature of the endlessly stretching Great Wall of Remnant Realms.

"I seem to..." Reverend Yin pressed his head, as if recalling a memory buried deep within, and then hesitated to speak.

Li Fan glanced at him but did not press for an answer. Instead, he solemnly added, "Beyond the Great Wall of Remnant Realms, there is also a ring of the Great Wall of Relics serving as a barrier. These two structures guard the high wall, echoing each other and forming a powerful formation. The journey ahead will be even more perilous than our previous trip to the center of the Star Sea, and there's a significant risk of encountering disaster and even death..."

Li Fan's gaze swept over everyone. "Whether to go or not," he said, "is entirely up to your own decision."

"I'll give you half a year to think it over. Do not blindly pursue higher levels of power; merely by virtue of returning the Xuanhuang Malice, you will receive ample benefits once the Xuanhuang Realm completes its ascension, even if you do nothing further." His figure slowly vanished as he spoke.

Qiaogong and the others showed varying expressions.

Indeed, the moment they witnessed the magnificent spectacle of the Great Wall of Remnant Realms, they were all deeply shaken and felt an urge to personally investigate its depths. But Li Fan's words had served as a timely warning.

In this Star Sea, wonders are often accompanied by immense power, and immense power invariably brings danger.

This was true for the Great Wall of Remnant Realms, and it was also true for the Immortal Ruins.

Moreover, only three or four remnant realm fragments were needed as a catalyst to activate the Xuanhuang Realm's devour and digest abilities. It wasn't necessary for everyone to go.

If this expedition succeeded, there would be plenty of future opportunities to contribute to the Xuanhuang Realm's sublimation, like loyal followers aiding an emperor's rise.

With these thoughts in mind, everyone began to ponder their options.

Li Fan naturally observed all the subtle changes in their expressions. Through many cycles of reincarnation, he had gained a thorough understanding of their temperaments and could instantly guess their general thoughts.

"To walk towards the Dao is a cultivator's instinct. Yet, this path is fraught with danger, and progress is arduous. Inner anxiety, fear, and aversion become even greater obstacles to advancement."

"How incredibly difficult it is to truly touch the so-called Dao..."

As he watched Qiaogong and the others make their choices when confronted with life, death, and the path of cultivation, threads of insight welled up in Li Fan's heart.

Waiting for the Supreme Xuanhuang Realm's Heaven and Earth Immortal Souls to merge with the Dao did not mean that Li Fan's cultivation progress would halt before then.

"Every breath, word, and action is cultivation."

"The myriad thoughts of all beings are like scriptures of the Dao."

On the preaching platform, within the Grand Xuan Realm, the thoughts and intentions of countless beings, like scattered stars, flowed into Li Fan's mind one after another, perceived by him.

They transformed into a force propelling the grand wheel of Li Fan's cultivation relentlessly forward.

In this life, his aspiration to become the Teacher of Heaven and Earth was not a momentary whim.

In the previous life, the Sacred Emperor, in his preaching, mentioned the concept of "Ming Dao Longevity." He suggested that by reversing the Dao projection, one could comprehend the true meaning of Ming Dao.

Through multiple "False Becomes True" attempts, Li Fan subtly confirmed the little loli's conjectures regarding the Sacred Emperor's derivation of new methods.

A top-down projection of the Dao indeed makes it easier to grasp the Dao itself.

Without such a projection, the Grand Dao remains hidden in the Azure Nether, invisible. One can only rely on cultivation and enlightenment to seek out traces of the Dao, gradually deepening their understanding.

Although there are myriad Great Daos, how incredibly difficult is it for ordinary cultivators to truly behold the face of the Dao?

Even the True Immortals of the Immortal Ruins, with the aid of the imitated "Famine" character of Ming Dao, still sat in meditation for tens of thousands of years without making a breakthrough.

This illustrates the immense difficulty of comprehending the Dao.

If True Immortals face such challenges, what hope is there for those below them?

Among all living beings, Li Fan's situation was extremely unique. Possessing 'True Return', he seemed to have already reached the end of this Grand Dao, with the ultimate truth of the Dao almost within his grasp. Therefore, seemingly incredible miracles like "False Becomes True" could be performed by him despite his cultivation only being at the Spirit Transformation stage.

Regarding the true and false transformations involved in 'True Return', Li Fan had previously only been able to gradually comprehend them by increasing his "bond" with 'True Return'.

However, after his comprehension of "False Becomes True" gradually deepened, and after he had previously encountered the mysterious symbol hidden deep within the bodies of the You Race,

Li Fan subtly realized that he could use the method of drawing inferences from one instance to others, starting from other Dao traces, to deduce the deepening progress of the true and false transformations in reverse.

The Grand Dao projects itself from top to bottom, forming all realms.

Everything existing in the Xuanhuang Realm—matter and consciousness—can be seen as a projection of the Dao.

It is merely the very end of this projection, and tracing the path of projection from bottom to top would be an almost impossible task.

However, as the sole surviving haven in the Star Sea, the Xuanhuang Realm had already accumulated too many impossibilities.

For example, the peculiar existence of "Eternal Remnants," which elicit resonance with the Dao.

In this life, Li Fan had already visited the Heavenly Sun Cave Mansion beneath the Cloudy Sea and collected the Heavenly Sun Remains, which contained the Eternal Remnants.

He had tried various methods but was consistently unable to sense any Dao resonance within them.

However, Li Fan would not abandon his research into Dao resonance for this reason. Instead, he turned his attention to finding lower-level alternatives to Eternal Remnants.

In his 119th reincarnation, Li Fan used the Faceless True Immortal statue as a guide to create the "Mortal World Compassionate True Immortal Net." Among its myriad believers, only the thoughts of Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi shone with particular brilliance and uniqueness.

Even within the network of Primordial Essence, their thoughts were exceptionally conspicuous.

They were, without a doubt, profoundly sincere seekers of the Dao.

Previously, Li Fan had believed this was simply due to their innate character and offered no particular benefit to himself. But now, Li Fan discovered that the profoundly sincere desire of Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi to seek the Dao was very likely the embryonic form of Eternal Remnants.

In other words, if they were guided in a certain way to continuously deepen their Dao-seeking intent, there might be a chance for Eternal Remnants to emerge after their deaths.

"I can't utilize Eternal Remnants, but surely I can make use of a lower-tier substitute?"

This discovery regarding Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi inspired Li Fan. Coupled with the need to leverage the Supreme Xuanhuang Realm's Heaven and Earth Immortal Souls for Dao merging, it naturally led to his role as the Teacher of Heaven and Earth in this life.

On the preaching platform, the thoughts of myriad beings converged, like stars in the sky, each shining with varying brightness.

Those who were distinct would receive Li Fan's special attention.

Unfortunately, so far, he had not discovered any beings with the potential to elevate into Eternal Remnants.

However, Li Fan believed that once the preaching platform finally expanded to encompass the entire Xuanhuang Realm, he should be able to find others besides Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi.

As for Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi, in this life, with their current experiences, they were still somewhat short of being the supremely sincere seekers of the Dao they once were. Taking them as disciples, he felt, would instead interfere with their Dao-seeking hearts. Therefore, Li Fan temporarily left them untouched and even added some extra difficulty to their cultivation.

He would simply wait for them to bloom and bear fruit in the future, then reap the harvest.

"The Dao projects into various realms, and there will always be some beings in these worlds who can resonate with the Dao traces. These are the materials I can use to accelerate my comprehension of the true and false transformations."

After personally experiencing the power of "False Becomes True," Li Fan had decided to raise the priority of promoting this matter to the second highest, second only to self-preservation.

As for realms, cultivation levels, and treasures—

Things obtainable in every reincarnation simply couldn't compare.

"However, I imagine these brilliant spiritual thoughts, like Eternal Remnants, will only allow for Dao comprehension once. I wonder how many people in the entire Xuanhuang Realm can truly surprise me."

His divine sense swept across the land, observing the endless stream of Grand Xuan citizens still heading towards the central preaching platform. Li Fan nodded slightly.

His figure flickered, and the next moment, Li Fan had already left the Grand Xuan Minor World.

He arrived in Qiling State of the Xuanhuang Realm.

The immensely vast underground space was filled with an invisible, eerie aura.

Even with Li Fan's current cultivation, he still had to gather sufficient Primordial Essence as protection before daring to enter.

Golden threads formed a protective array, separating Li Fan from the terrifying power within the underground space.

"My guess was correct. This Ancient Immortal-Mortal Miasma has also undergone sublimation and transformation along with the Xuanhuang Realm." Li Fan drew this conclusion after careful observation.

In the 119th reincarnation, an earthquake in Qiling State caused the Ancient Immortal-Mortal Miasma sealed here to leak, resulting in widespread bloodshed. After thousands of years accumulating in this underground space, this Ancient Immortal-Mortal Miasma seemed to have undergone a mutation, becoming even more potent than its original version.

The Immortal-Mortal Miasma was created by Mr. Bai against the principles of Heaven and Earth, yet it was also paradoxically a part of them.

In this reincarnation, as the Xuanhuang Realm began its evolution toward becoming the Supreme Xuanhuang Realm, the Ancient Immortal-Mortal Miasma in this underground space was also accumulating power for its own transformation.

"Mortals, too, can slay Immortals..."

Li Fan extended his hand, and the golden protective array immediately opened. The invisible power seized the opportunity to enter, beginning to corrode Li Fan's palm.

His brows furrowed; after only a moment of sensing, Li Fan decisively severed his entire arm.

The Primordial Essence then reformed a protective barrier, keeping the miasma's erosion at bay.

"Quite interesting."

In the span of a breath, Li Fan's severed arm had already regrown.

The original arm left in the Ancient Immortal-Mortal Miasma, meanwhile, was completely devoured by the surrounding invisible power. Not even bones remained, only a pile of fine, sandy residue.

A rare glint of excitement flashed in Li Fan's eyes.

Among his 'True Return' bound items was the "Myriad People's Essence Blood."

It had been condensed from the essence of tens of thousands of death row prisoners.

However, the power of Immortal-Mortal Miasma contained within this "Myriad People's Essence Blood" was not even a shred as potent as this enhanced Ancient Immortal-Mortal Miasma.

"If the Supreme Xuanhuang Realm completes its final transformation, to what extent will the Immortal-Mortal Miasma here ultimately be strengthened?"

In Li Fan's deductions, the combined forces of the Star Sea's recovery, the immortal spirit power from the Great Heavenly Venerate's legacy, and the surviving realms in the Star Sea were sufficient to elevate the Xuanhuang Realm to a level infinitely close to that of an Immortal Realm.

Or, in a sense, this Supreme Xuanhuang Realm would be a newly ascended Immortal Realm, albeit slightly weaker than the ancient Immortal Realm that had already perished.

"By then, even if it couldn't slay immortals outright, it might be capable of severely wounding them."

"More crucially, this Ancient Immortal-Mortal Miasma can continuously strengthen as the Xuanhuang Realm grows. Its inherent nature of 'mortals slaying immortals' determines its indispensable role."

"One day, when I have the ability to truly push the Xuanhuang Realm to sublimate into an Immortal Realm, then this Immortal-Mortal Miasma will be a complete and utter immortal-slaying weapon!"

As he thought of this, Li Fan's gaze towards the invisible power within the vast space had already changed.

From King Xuantian's experiences back then, and from some clues currently gleaned from beyond the high wall, it seemed that becoming an immortal within the Star Sea might require facing unimaginable dangers.

The birth of an Immortal Domain might also attract attention, but since it wouldn't be Li Fan's main body, even if it triggered a crisis, it would give him ample buffer time.

Between becoming an immortal himself and pushing the Xuanhuang Realm to become an Immortal Domain, which was harder?

Any sane person would surely choose the second option.

But for Li Fan, the conclusion was diametrically opposite.

"The Great Heavenly Venerate's legacy, the immortal spiritual energy within immortal artifacts—these are all resources I can infinitely reuse."

"Furthermore, there are other materials and powers throughout the entire Star Sea."

Li Fan's thoughts spun rapidly.

"Perhaps it is feasible."

"I just need to wait until the end of this life to see how much the Supreme Xuanhuang Realm I personally fostered differs from the legendary Immortal Realm; then a conclusion can be reached."

The transformation of this Ancient Immortal-Mortal Miasma broadened Li Fan's perspective.

In the Xuanhuang Realm, there were countless items embodying laws.

When the Xuanhuang Realm ascends, these law-manifested items will also ascend synchronously.

"The entire Xuanhuang Realm can be seen as my weapon against Immortals."

Li Fan's eyes narrowed.

Immortals and mortals are distinct.

However, if this 'mortal' were backed by an entire Immortal Realm,

then the final outcome would be an entirely different matter.

"Beyond the high wall, the situation is unclear."

"Using the realm as a foundation, perhaps it will be easier to ascertain."

Li Fan carefully set up an array around this underground space.

This was to prevent others from discovering the Immortal-Mortal Miasma sealed within.

"Continue to grow. When you reach your limit, that will be the day you are forged into a sword."

Only after ensuring everything was foolproof did Li Fan depart.

"If the plan is feasible, then it's time for me to collect some anchor points."

"Naturally, the more immortal-slaying items, the better."

Thinking this, Li Fan quietly arrived at Tianling State, in the void of the Grand Five Elements Grotto-Heaven.

At this point in time, the Five Elements Grotto-Heaven had not yet fully descended.

This was perfect for the conditions required to absorb and replenish anchor points: a nascent Grotto-Heaven.

However, Li Fan had previously used the Five Elements Grotto-Heaven to complete a charge, and he wondered if 'True Return' would still react this time.

With practiced ease, he arrived at the black and white interwoven gestation space.

Li Fan concentrated his mind, experiencing the sensations conveyed by 'True Return'.

"It's a bit hard to take in, but I can barely swallow it."

After a long while, Li Fan opened his eyes, his expression somewhat peculiar.

He steadied his mind, and his divine sense instantly enveloped the entire Grand Five Elements Grotto-Heaven.

A moment later...

The Grotto-Heaven mysteriously vanished.

And Li Fan gained one more usable anchor point.

A premonition arose in Li Fan's heart: if he tried it again, 'True Return' might truly lose its appetite.

Unlike previously devouring Grotto-Heavens that had already manifested, the current Grand Five Elements Grotto-Heaven was still in gestation.

Its sudden disappearance naturally caused disturbances in the surrounding space.