Chapter 1367: Initial Glimpse Beyond the High Wall

That's why the Star Sea Consciousness didn't react strongly to the Immortal Boat's rebellious act, even actively embracing it. Besides the fact that the mortal perspective was novel and intriguing to the Star Sea, more importantly, the Juntian Ritual had absolutely no effect on the Star Sea itself!

True infinity! If something isn't infinite, no matter how vast its quantity, dividing it among even a single person will inevitably diminish its original value significantly. It certainly wouldn't be indifferent to its own losses, as the Star Sea Consciousness is at this moment.

"How can this be?" Li Fan's mind was filled with bewilderment and shock. The emergence of this concept of infinity completely surpassed his knowledge and understanding.

Although the Abyssal Star Sea was vast and boundless, Li Fan could now easily traverse it. This was in terms of quantity. The Star Sea had been ravaged by the power of the True Immortal scripts, its order obliterated, and vitality hidden. This was in terms of quality. Whether in terms of quantity or quality, this Star Sea seemed to have no connection to infinity.

However, as the ritual ended and the purple-gold vortex closed, the eighteen surviving elders of the Immortal Boat transformed into eighteen colossal, shining giants spanning the starry sky. Feeling the immense and boundless power emanating from them, almost equivalent to the Star Sea itself, Li Fan couldn't help but believe in the infinity of the Star Sea's power.

He instantly recalled the secret information about the Immortal Realm that Mo Ruibin had mentioned earlier, which he had heard from King Xuantian: "It is said that the Immortal Realm is a beautiful sacred land with infinite resources." Like a clap of thunder, this sentence echoed repeatedly in Li Fan's mind.

Previously, Li Fan had somewhat thought that King Xuantian's words were an exaggeration or embellishment. But now, it seemed very likely that King Xuantian had been speaking the truth! If the Star Sea itself could be infinite, how much more so the Immortal Realm, which stood above it? If he first accepted this established fact, then the next question to address was 'why?'

Let's put aside the Immortal Realm for now. How exactly was this Abyssal Star Sea before him connected to infinity?

With the purple-gold vortex completely closed and confronting the eighteen radiant giants, Li Fan's thoughts raced. "The Black Wall merely confines us beings within the Star Sea, but for the Star Sea itself, it doesn't serve as a complete partition. The Abyssal Star Sea inside the Black Wall and the Star Sea outside are actually still one. It's just that now, this confined area has developed a relatively independent consciousness. This is one possibility. But... if that's the case..."

Li Fan gazed at the radiant giants before him, assessing their strength. Perhaps because they had just been born, they stood somewhat confused in the starry sky, seemingly pondering their next move. Their aura was gradually retracting. Their indistinct figures became clearer, and faces very familiar to Li Fan quietly emerged. Their star-shining bodies also temporarily dimmed. Finally, they became light blue and transparent. Within, one could faintly discern skeletal structures formed by countless stars and worlds.

"These radiant giants are to the Star Sea what the Spirits of Heaven and Earth are to the Xuanhuang Realm. They have lost the characteristics of cultivators, retaining only a bit of subjective consciousness, completely assimilated by the Star Sea... Perhaps they can be called Star Spirits."

Li Fan quietly set up an immortal array around him, concealing his presence. He secretly observed these peculiar life forms. "In the Xuanhuang Realm, although the Spirits of Heaven and Earth vary in strength due to their different duties, they generally range between the Soul Transformation and Longevity stages. But these Star Spirits before me... The infinite power of the Star Sea they can command alone is enough to overwhelm all cultivators who haven't become True Immortals. The limit of the Star Sea is the Star Sea itself. It can be called Tai Shang!" Li Fan recalled the memories of the Heavenly Doctor he had glimpsed in the illusion array.

Although he concluded that these Star Spirits were in the Tai Shang realm like the Heavenly Doctor, Li Fan didn't believe they could fight the Heavenly Doctor on equal terms. "If it came to a real fight, let alone the Heavenly Doctor, even I would have too many ways to handle them! But victory or defeat is utterly meaningless! The Star Sea is infinite. This means these Star Spirits cannot be killed by ordinary means. Even the True Immortal scripts that brought disaster to this Star Sea only temporarily withered its vitality. From the Star Sea's time scale, tens of thousands of years are merely a fleeting moment. Its vitality will fully recover. Perhaps only the Cataclysm of Dao Annihilation, which can destroy the Immortal Realm..." Li Fan then thought of the various anomalies that frequently appeared in the Star Sea during ancient times. "One is all. If the Star Sea's power is truly infinite, then the full eruption of Star Spirits or Star Sea anomalies can be seen as the Star Sea itself! An endless supply of Tai Shang realm beings—no wonder cultivators speculated that even True Immortals would retreat three paces before those terrifying anomalies."

Although True Immortals are transcendent beings, if an infinite number of Heavenly Doctors were to encircle and attack them, they might not be able to avoid serious injury or even capture! A thousand thoughts flashed through Li Fan's mind in an instant.

While he was pondering, the eighteen Star Spirits finally made a move. Some looked towards the Xuan Immortal Boat hidden nearby, some towards the Black Wall at the Star Sea's edge, while others' gazes slowly swept across the entire Star Sea.

"If the Star Sea Consciousness previously needed the power of cultivators to revive itself, it can now self-repair through the Star Spirits. Although the Star Spirits still retain their obsessions from their former lives, they must now act according to the Star Sea's demands."

Li Fan hadn't forgotten the reason he had infiltrated the Immortal Boat in this life. Besides coveting the various treasures within the Immortal Boat's secret vault, more importantly, it was to make the Immortal Boat a vanguard to explore beyond the Black Wall as much as possible. Now that the Immortal Boat elders had all become Star Spirits, possessing power comparable to the Star Sea, they were sufficient to carry out the original plan of emulating the Ancient Immortal Boat and crashing into the Black Wall. Seeing that these Star Spirits were about to be driven by the Star Sea Consciousness to various parts of the Star Sea, how could Li Fan waste such a great opportunity?

"Taijia Divine Art, Immortal Boat Refined Version, Condense!" Within a short time, this divine ability to communicate with the Star Sea reappeared. However, this time Li Fan's target for communication was not the true essence of the Star Sea, but these eighteen Star Spirits before him! Compared to the Star Sea itself, Star Spirits, evolved from cultivators, were much easier to communicate with. The moment the Taijia Divine Art's radiance appeared, it attracted the Star Spirits' attention. Li Fan's consciousness instantly connected with theirs.

If these Star Spirits were still human, seeing Li Fan, who had participated in the ritual with them, now neither dead nor transformed into a Star Spirit, but still alive and well, would undoubtedly provoke fury, suspicion, and other emotions. Let alone communication, a direct confrontation would be normal. But Li Fan felt no emotional fluctuations from these eighteen Star Spirits.

"Immortal Boat, beyond the Black Wall. Dear friends, sacrifice. Do not forget!" Li Fan had already grasped the basics of communicating with the Star Sea, speaking concisely. As if awakening their memories from their former lives, their human faces instantly became much clearer. Their original movements ceased, and they all looked at Li Fan, filled with hesitation.

"Giving up halfway means sacrificing in vain! With the Star Sea's power assisting, the Immortal Boat leaping over the Black Wall would be effortless!" Under Li Fan's persuasion, the Star Spirits' former obsessions and thoughts slowly began to revive. Perceiving the Star Spirits' thoughts, Li Fan continued to incite them. "Even if the Star Sea revives, it will be hundreds of thousands of years later, by which time all you elders will have become Star Spirits and cannot constantly protect the Immortal Boat. What will become of the Immortal Boat then?! Are you just going to watch them perish like this?"

The Star Spirit formed by Zhong Daogong was finally persuaded. Intermittent thoughts were transmitted. It was completely different from communicating with cultivators. Star Spirit Zhong Daogong stated some facts without any emotional fluctuation. As time passed, their original consciousness would inevitably weaken further, eventually transforming them into Star Spirits fully belonging to the Star Sea. Although they still retained some subjective consciousness now, they could not defy the Star Sea's will; they were not their own masters.

However, using the Star Sea's power to help the Immortal Boat cross the Black Wall might not be opposed by the Star Sea Consciousness. True Immortal scripts were hated by the Star Sea Consciousness. The Star Spirits could no longer use them. To successfully cross the Black Wall as planned, Li Fan still needed to assist in directing it. More and more Star Spirits temporarily recovered their own consciousness. They reached a consensus with Li Fan. Using this last remnant of his consciousness, Star Spirit Zhong Daogong entrusted the Immortal Boat's top-secret plan for crossing the Black Wall in its entirety.

The eighteen Star Spirits surrounded the Immortal Boat, dragging it to the vicinity of the traces left by the Ancient Immortal Boat when it had crossed the Black Wall. "There isn't much time left; let's start as soon as possible."

Li Fan nodded slightly, looking at the dozens of blank papers that suddenly floated out of the Immortal Boat. They appeared blank, but one could faintly discern imprints on them, as if something had been written ten million times. These were the painstaking works of the Immortal Boat elders throughout the years. They had continuously copied, comprehended, and discussed, striving to restore all known True Immortal scripts to their original state as much as possible.

"The abilities of these old foxes are truly not to be underestimated! After receiving my guidance, they quietly advanced the study of True Immortal scripts so much in such a short time! The Immortal Boat in this life is far stronger than the one that frantically perished under the immortal array in the previous life! Not only are their foundations rich, but their learning and progress abilities are also truly formidable." Li Fan looked at the familiar yet strange characters, startled. The imprints on the blank papers seemed like molds refined by the Immortal Boat elders through countless trials. Li Fan didn't need to familiarize himself with or write them; he just had to directly infuse energy along the imprints, and True Immortal scripts would spontaneously appear, one by one!

"This is likely the failsafe left by the Immortal Boat elders. With these True Immortal script imprints, even if the Immortal Boat elders are completely wiped out, the Immortal Boat's legacy won't be entirely cut off. Given time, it might even return to its peak..." As Li Fan thought this, spiritual energy surged from within him, like swimming dragons, pouring into each of the character molds. Only Li Fan's profound accumulation could support him in doing this. The Five Elements Grand Cavern Heaven and the Xuanhuang World-Ending Transformation made Li Fan alone comparable to an entire cultivation world. For any other normal cultivator, the spiritual energy would likely be completely drained the moment it was infused by the True Immortal script imprints. Even a Star Sea Tai Shang like the Heavenly Doctor might not be able to sustain such consumption! Li Fan's immense power within him entirely transformed into the driving force for the formation of the True Immortal scripts.

The eighteen Star Spirits also began further actions at this moment. They let out continuous, prolonged roars, like a relay, raising the Immortal Boat's momentum, step by step, higher and higher! These were not true roars, but more like a kind of fluctuation, like giant waves containing infinite power. Li Fan, when ascending, still needed True Immortal flesh and blood as a medium. But at this moment, the eighteen Star Spirits were forcefully raising the Immortal Boat's momentum purely with the endless power of the Star Sea! And from beginning to end, the aura emanating from these Star Spirits showed no fluctuations. It was as if the effort of ascension was utterly negligible to them.

Still retaining the memories of the Ancient Immortal Boat's impact location from their former lives, once the Star Spirits had raised the Xuan Immortal Boat and its momentum to a certain level, they stopped ascending. They continued to roar, maintaining the Immortal Boat's momentum. At the same time, their roars were like heavy hammers, continuously striking Li Fan's heart, urging him that it was time for the next step. It was Li Fan's first time directly facing and experiencing the might of the Star Sea. Slightly horrified, he forcefully suppressed the boiling qi and blood throughout his body.

"What a pity. After crashing into the Black Wall, its fate will be unknown, life or death. All the numerous treasures within the Immortal Boat will be annihilated with this crash!" Thinking this, his hands moved without hesitation. Looking at the True Immortal script papers that were now infused but still sealed, he suddenly made a grasping motion with his large hand. He compressed all of them together, kneading them into a "paper ball." Then he fiercely threw it towards the Immortal Boat, which was surrounded by the eighteen Star Spirits. Chaotic and terrifying power, representing the True Immortal level, was wrapped within it as it flew towards the Xuan Immortal Boat.

"Explode!" Li Fan roared in his mind, while simultaneously retreating rapidly. The True Immortal script storm exploded beneath the Immortal Boat. The power, capable of temporarily sweeping away and destroying the Star Sea's vitality, caused the blue bodies of the eighteen Star Spirits to flicker indistinctly. However, their movements showed no delay whatsoever. With an endless supply of infinite Star Sea power, the Star Spirits remained indestructible even when directly facing this True Immortal script storm. Under their control and guidance, the unleashed True Immortal power did not directly destroy the Xuan Immortal Boat. Instead, it served as the final push for the Immortal Boat's ascension. This made a goal previously impossible for beings within the Star Sea suddenly become possible in this instant!

"A power truly transcending the mortal, comparable to a True Immortal! Supreme power capable of crossing the Black Wall!" Li Fan, as one of the instigators, watched from afar the storm that erupted at the base of the Black Wall, and above the storm, the Xuan Immortal Boat soaring straight up. An undeniable excitement welled up in his heart. After countless cycles of reincarnation, finally, he had waited for the possibility of peering beyond the Black Wall.

As early as when he helped the Xuan Immortal Boat rebuild its defensive system, Li Fan had secretly made arrangements. What the Immortal Boat saw, Li Fan would see too! All was ready. The Immortal Boat was about to directly encounter the Black Wall.

And at this very moment... The eighteen Star Spirits, formed from the Immortal Boat elders, seemed to sense something incredibly terrifying. They, who were the least likely to flee from a battle, vanished without a trace in an instant. The Xuan Immortal Boat, however, continued to surge towards the invisible Black Wall, and also vanished within this Abyssal Star Sea. Only Li Fan remained, his face filled with bewilderment. Although he had witnessed the entire process of the Immortal Boat crashing into the Black Wall, he hadn't sensed the slightest trace of danger. Furthermore, the measures he had left within the Xuan Immortal Boat had not worked at all.