Chapter 1386: Rebirth of Xuanyuan

However, it understood who held control of the current situation. It began rubbing against Li Fan's palm, trying to curry favor with him.

"The Tian Beast is a creation of the Immortal World. Judging by its eagerness, it seems capable of devouring the Immortal Realm chess piece...""The stone that the Xuanhuang Realm cannot directly consume can be funneled through this little creature!""Once this little fellow grows plump and strong, I will sacrifice it to the heavens!"

Li Fan's eyes gleamed, and he immediately withdrew his protection from the Immortal Realm chess piece. The little Tian Beast was ecstatic and began to gnaw eagerly. Sounds like brittle bones being crushed bit by bit continuously echoed. Li Fan squinted, catching sight of the dramatic changes occurring within the Immortal Realm chess piece.

Based on previous observations, the Immortal Realm chess pieces were actually composed of countless True Immortal Characters, each representing a law of the Immortal World. When a chess piece was damaged by external force or stimulated, the True Immortal Characters folded within it would unfurl, revealing a corner of the Immortal Realm.

However, the True Immortal Characters contained within a single chess piece were incomplete; they were merely fragmented pieces. Therefore, when they unfolded into reality, they would not display the scenery of the Immortal World of old. Only when all the chess pieces were gathered, and these fragments assembled into complete True Immortal Characters, would the true Immortal Realm, containing the Southern Immortal Pillar, descend upon the world.

Yet, it was still a part of the Immortal World. Even unfolding and changing form required massive energy support, let alone being destroyed. It was certainly not something ordinary people could achieve.

At this moment, under the little Tian Beast's chewing, the fragments of True Immortal Characters that formed the Immortal Realm chess piece further disintegrated. They transformed into tiny energy fragments, which the little Tian Beast gleefully swallowed.

Being newly born, the little Tian Beast got full quite quickly. But seeing the Immortal Realm chess piece, which was barely consumed, the little creature was reluctant to let go. It continued to gnaw for a while longer. Finally, unable to eat any more, it reluctantly pinned the piece beneath itself, fearing Li Fan would take it back.

Having eaten its fill, the little Tian Beast fell into a deep sleep. The fragments of Immortal World laws it had swallowed were silently transforming its body.

Its shell became harder, and its body grew increasingly robust. The most significant change was in the little Tian Beast's eyes.

Although they hadn't opened yet, Li Fan could faintly sense the extraordinary power hidden within them. Even when the little Tian Beast was asleep, those eyes seemed to remain vigilantly observing its surroundings. Most of that time, they were focused on Li Fan, as if it had already sensed Li Fan's mischievous intentions!

"The Eye of the Tian Beast, quite interesting. When King Xuantian fled from the Immortal World, he gained countless treasures. However, it's debatable whether what he fed the Tian Beasts was as good as what I'm feeding this one. After all, I'm feeding it genuine Immortal World fragments. Even true Immortals might not be willing to part with such things."

Li Fan greatly anticipated how the Tian Beast would perform once it matured in this lifetime. It wasn't that he needed the Tian Beast's combat prowess. After all, according to Mo Rubing, a fully matured Tian Beast was only comparable to the Twelve Dharma Kings. For Li Fan, its utility would be limited.

What Li Fan truly cared about was the Eye of the Tian Beast. In his previous life, Li Fan had followed Mo Rubing into the Eye of the Tian Beast and, within a world of countless reflections, had seen the hidden humanoid character.

This character was not the work of the Dao Inscription Immortal, but another attempt to 'inscribe the Dao'. Although the perfection and intricacy of its inscription could not compare to the Dao Inscription Immortal's work, the inherent rank of the Great Dao it depicted was extremely high. Consequently, the humanoid character felt to Li Fan almost as powerful as the Transformation of Immortal and Mortal.

"The Tian Beast was formed from a jade pendant. Yet it is so lifelike, indistinguishable from a true living being. Such a method..."

When Li Fan had previously contemplated the Form of Living Beings, he had vaguely suspected that the pattern etched at the very bottom of the Star Sea originated from this humanoid character.

Now, gently stroking the little Tian Beast, he compared the faint aura it emitted to that of Qiushui. His conjecture was further confirmed.

"It now seems that this Form of Living Beings is actually a simplified version of the humanoid character. Immortal World techniques are still beyond what the mortal realm can achieve. But even a version simplified untold times is still so complex..."

Li Fan recalled what he had seen in the Fissure Basin in his previous life and couldn't help but frown slightly.

"The Spirit Gathering and Immortal Ascension Formation in the Gloom Sea conceals the Transformation of Immortal and Mortal. The Eye of the Tian Beast contains the complete Form of Living Beings. In the Floating Crossing Starry Sky Grand Formation, do the other two formations also hide corresponding True Immortal Characters?"

A thought suddenly surfaced in Li Fan's mind.

"The Golden Lock Across the Void Formation, the Root of Heaven and Earth."Li Fan had visited the Root of Heaven and Earth space more than once but had found no trace of True Immortal Characters there. It relied on the power of an ancient immortal formation born alongside Xuanhuang. As for the Golden Lock Across the Void, it had been completely damaged as early as the era of the Ten Immortal Dao Sects. It no longer existed in the Xuanhuang Realm now.

"I must be overthinking it. The Transformation of Immortal and Mortal and the Form of Living Beings are high-rank existences among the many True Immortal Characters. Even if King Xuantian had a fruitful haul in the Immortal World, obtaining these two characters should probably be his limit..." Li Fan mused inwardly.

His thoughts returned to the little Tian Beast before him.

"The Form of Living Beings etched in the Star Sea is too vast. Probing it would be extremely time-consuming. And the one within the Eye of the Tian Beast was poorly inscribed to begin with. Moreover, being within a formation laid by Xuantian, it's too distorted... In contrast, the one on this little creature might be the closest to its original appearance."

Thinking of this, Li Fan couldn't help but touch the little Tian Beast again. Despite the emission of goodwill, the Eye of the Tian Beast not only did not accept it. Instead, it grew more tense, even showing a tendency to wake the sleeping Tian Beast.

It had to be said, it was indeed a creation of the Immortal World. Its senses were incredibly sharp. Li Fan didn't press too hard; he had plenty of time to 'prepare' this little creature. Not to mention just an artifact-creature, even if it were a true living being, Li Fan had countless ways to handle it.

With a thought, Qiushui appeared by Li Fan's side amidst flickering blue light. He immediately detected the presence of the little Tian Beast. Perhaps because they were of the same kind, the little Tian Beast's vigilance towards Qiushui greatly decreased.

"I'm entrusting this little fellow to you for now. Take good care of it," Li Fan instructed.

"As you command, Great Master!" Qiushui dared not delay, approaching and carefully picking up the little Tian Beast. He also noticed the Immortal Realm chess piece pressed beneath the little Tian Beast.

After all, not being a creation of the Immortal World, Qiushui couldn't perceive the chess piece's extraordinariness like the Tian Beast could. And possessing the infinite power of the Star Sea, he naturally wouldn't be interested in a mere world. He simply faithfully carried out Li Fan's orders.

After realizing that the little Tian Beast was not interested in his infinite Star Sea power, Qiushui showed a wry expression.

"It has that chess piece to gnaw on; that should be enough. You don't need to feed it anything else. Just take it around the Xuanhuang Realm and the Star Sea to explore," Li Fan said indifferently.

Qiushui immediately let out a sigh of relief, then took the little Tian Beast and departed as ordered.

"Given that creature's sensitivity, it might make some other unexpected discoveries." With Qiushui's Supreme Realm strength, and his ability to communicate with the true essence of the Star Sea's origin, Li Fan was not concerned about their safety.

Li Fan's gaze returned to the transparent Essence of Heaven and Earth.

After five transportations, consisting of 3, 2, 3, 2, and 3 movements respectively, the transparent Essence of Heaven and Earth finally integrated all the semi-immortal artifacts into the Xuanhuang Realm.

On the vast Xuanhuang land, besides the little Tian Beast, four other peculiar life forms emerged: the Human-Faced Snow Mountain, the Thousand-Mile Dragon Worm, the Flowing Light Rainbow Cloud, and the Raging Giant Tree.

Among them, the most noteworthy was the strange, multicolored cloud floating in the air.

The cloud spontaneously glowed and shimmered, constantly changing. Most of the scenes it displayed were from within the Xuanhuang Realm, but in unintentional moments, it would also reflect scenes of the Immortal World of old!

Only because Li Fan had once glimpsed the appearance of the Immortal World in the memories of a True Immortal could he detect this.

"This must be due to having devoured three semi-immortal artifacts."

When it manifested a scene of the Immortal World, even for just an instant, it suffered the same fate as Li Fan had. The cloud boiled and overturned. Rainbow light flickered incessantly, and the entire cloud seemed on the verge of evaporating and disappearing.

After returning to its normal form, the Flowing Light Rainbow Cloud had shrunk by a full tenth. Yet, for some reason, it not only did not cease reflecting scenes of the Immortal World. Instead, it began to change and reflect even more frequently.

Each reflection consumed a portion of its very essence. After eight such occurrences, the Flowing Light Rainbow Cloud completely dissipated into thin air.

Li Fan vaguely seemed to see the laws contained within the semi-immortal artifacts it had devoured, gracefully merging into the Xuanhuang Realm's Heavenly Dao.

By then, only a little over half a month had passed since the Flowing Light Rainbow Cloud's birth.

"Clouds dissipating within half a month is already a long lifespan for a cloud. But for a supernatural creation, it's practically dying prematurely."

Li Fan looked at the other three creations.

The fiery-red Essence of Heaven and Earth hung high above. The Human-Faced Snow Mountain was transforming into a Flaming Mountain.

The Thousand-Mile Dragon Worm continuously split itself: one into two, two into four. After half a month, it had multiplied into billions of tiny worms. However, these small worms had no survival capability; they only ate and then split again. When their divided bodies were no longer sufficient to sustain them in finding food, the swarm would be close to extinction.

As for the Raging Giant Tree, it continued to dash forward relentlessly. Its leaves withered, and its branches broke during its mad dash. Its demise was also imminent.

Of the four great creations, only the little Tian Beast remained in sweet slumber.

"This is the Xuanhuang Realm's Heavenly Dao deliberately doing this... Perhaps it discovered that the little Tian Beast's lifespan was too long, and it would take too much time for it to complete the absorption of the immortal artifact's laws. That's why it produced such a unique change," Li Fan discerned.

"It really did find a new path. From now on, the internal cycle of the Xuanhuang Realm will likely accelerate greatly."

"Correspondingly, peculiar creatures will emerge endlessly in the Xuanhuang Realm."

This was a strange change that had never occurred in the Xuanhuang Realm, even when facing an apocalyptic crisis.

Li Fan recorded it with great interest.