Chapter 1393: Heavenly Beast Achieves Great Merit

Angry Squid:

The ancient stone slab, guarded at the center of the array, was just like the Nine-Star Red Pearl Li Fan had previously seen in the ruins of the Xuanhuang World-Protecting Immortal Array. The only difference was that the Nine-Star Red Pearl had long since vanished without a trace, whereas this ancient stone slab remained prominently in place.

Li Fan narrowed his eyes, attempting to discern the engravings on the stone slab within the array. The stone slab remained perfectly still, yet the lines on it seemed to constantly shift and blur. This instantly reminded Li Fan of the Northern Cold Immortal Realm copper coin he had seen before.

“It seems to be a unique recording method from the Immortal Realm. However, the content engraved on this stone slab…”

“Is even more complex!”

Li Fan’s heart stirred slightly, but he did not rush to investigate. He keenly perceived that the array before him seemed to have a misleading effect; what was observed through it might not be accurate.

With the help of the Dissolution Disc, Li Fan began to analyze the array before him. “There’s no immortal spiritual energy. It seems that for concealment, it lacks even the most basic spiritual power. So what has sustained this array for so many years?” After some study, Li Fan’s interest was piqued.

Li Fan’s current mastery of array formations was certainly that of a grandmaster. He could even integrate and deduce immortal arrays according to his own needs. However, Li Fan had never encountered an array of this particular type before.

“It’s not that the array’s operation requires too little consumption, or that a single item can sustain it. The power of this array…” Li Fan mused, tentatively transforming his spiritual energy into a small bird and attempting to send it into the array.

It met no resistance. However, the moment it crossed the array’s boundary line, the spiritual energy bird vanished without a trace, dissipating into thin air. Li Fan’s pupils constricted sharply because he was completely unable to perceive how the bird he controlled had disappeared.

Li Fan snapped his fingers, and then hundreds of birds, a dense flock, surged towards the array. Under Li Fan’s precise control, the total spiritual energy contained in all the birds was minuscule, kept below a certain threshold to ensure it wouldn't trigger a stronger defensive reaction from the array. None of them were spared. Li Fan carefully observed the birds’ disappearance.

“The spiritual energy wasn't consumed. Instead, the very foundation sustaining its existence was drained…”

As all the birds vanished, Li Fan vaguely grasped something. This array gave him a sense of déjà vu.

Li Fan then used physical objects for further tests: rocks, magical artifacts, even plants and birds. The results were largely the same. Everything that entered the array vanished without a trace.

Li Fan’s expression gradually turned serious: “All the previous experiments involved mortal objects. What if it’s something related to immortals?”

A wisp of golden source essence transformed into a tiny swimming dragon and struck the array. The air twisted as if scorched by flames. Then, the golden light gradually faded, with the same outcome!

After this, Li Fan took out a mass of True Immortal flesh and blood. Golden threads were inserted into the flesh, making the True Immortal flesh move like a marionette, swaying slowly as it entered the array. The golden threads Li Fan used for control snapped in the middle. However, the True Immortal flesh and blood that entered the array underwent a different change compared to the previous mortal objects.

The stone slab lying quietly within the array, whose patterns had been flickering erratically, suddenly stilled for an instant. In that instant, Li Fan faintly saw what looked like a bolt of lightning flash across the stone slab, striking the True Immortal flesh and blood that had entered the array. The eerie, mysterious aura of the True Immortal flesh and blood abruptly vanished. It was no longer categorized as immortal but instantly transformed into a mortal object, and then, it dissipated within the array!

This transformation happened in just an instant. At first glance, it seemed as if the True Immortal flesh and blood, like all the previous mortal objects used for testing, couldn’t endure in the array for even a moment. But Li Fan, with his keen senses, perceived the difference.

Li Fan repeated his previous actions, continuously probing with True Immortal flesh and blood. He hoped to seize that fleeting moment to clearly see the brief flash of lightning. “The light that flashed on that stone slab… could it be one of the patterns from the former Immortal Ascension Platform, engraved by Xuanhuang Heaven? It can actually turn an immortal into a mortal?”

Li Fan was deeply shaken. However, he also understood that what he used for testing was not a true immortal, but merely unconscious flesh and blood reanimated from a True Immortal's corpse. It could not be compared to a True Immortal at all. Nevertheless, the horrifying regeneration and defensive capabilities of True Immortal flesh and blood had already been verified on the Heavenly Sun Immortal Puppet. It could ignore almost all mortal attack methods and even, to some extent, be immune to the effects of True Immortal sigils. Yet, such an extraordinary and terrifying existence had no power to resist before the lightning pattern on that stone slab.

“If it can turn an immortal into a mortal, why can’t it turn a mortal into an immortal?”

“Immortal Ascension Platform, Immortal Ascension Platform…”

His previous conjectures seemed to be somewhat validated. Li Fan looked at the stone slab not far away, his excitement gradually building.

After continuing his attempts for some time, nearly a tenth of his stored True Immortal flesh and blood was consumed, yet he still gained nothing. Li Fan had no choice but to abandon this clumsy method. The lightning-like pattern on the stone slab appeared for too short a time. Furthermore, what was displayed through the array was distorted to a certain extent. To try and see it clearly like this was akin to a fool's dream.

“I previously brought about the destruction of the world multiple times, turning the Xuanhuang Realm into nothingness. Yet, I never detected the existence of this array or the stone slab.”

“This array should not be fixed in place here. Instead, it’s like a living entity; if it encounters an insurmountable threat, it undergoes a strategic withdrawal and retreat…”

“It requires no power source, and can even relocate itself in emergencies. This array is truly miraculous!” Li Fan marveled.

“It can’t be forcibly broken. It seems I’ll have to send in the Little Turtle.”

Li Fan’s thoughts stirred, and a blue light flashed beside him. Tai Shang Qiushui appeared beside Li Fan, holding the Little Tian Beast.

“Greetings, Master,” Qiushui remained very respectful. And upon seeing the Little Tian Beast bare its teeth at Li Fan, Qiushui directly smacked it on the head. Energy surged; it wasn't just a show, but a full-force strike! The Little Tian Beast was immediately dazed and disoriented. In its ordinary form, even if it was a transformed Immortal Realm jade pendant, such a blow would definitely cause severe injury.

However, in this life, the Little Tian Beast had successively swallowed four Immortal Realm chess pieces. With the Immortal Realm laws imbued within it, its physique had grown to an unimaginable degree. With just a whimpering cry, the Little Tian Beast had already recovered. Under Qiushui’s urging, it lowered its head to Li Fan as a sign of greeting.

“Indeed, there’s always something to keep another in check,” Li Fan secretly nodded.

Perhaps because they were both manifestations of living forms, after prolonged closeness, the Little Tian Beast had subtly come to regard Qiushui as a parent-like figure. Furthermore, Qiushui, under Li Fan’s orders, continuously fed it Immortal Realm chess pieces and took it wandering through the Star Sea, hoping that the Little Tian Beast’s sensitive intuition would yield results. These actions solidified Qiushui’s “parental” status. Consequently, the Little Tian Beast was almost completely obedient to Qiushui.

With a slight thought, Li Fan, through Qiushui, directed the Little Tian Beast to crawl towards the stone slab surrounded by the array. In front of this array, the Little Tian Beast’s keen senses seemed to lose their effectiveness. It became like one who sees nothing with open eyes, seemingly unaware of the strange array’s existence before this point. It wasn't until it slowly crawled to the array’s boundary that it suddenly became alert and stopped. It looked ahead with confusion, its eyes filled with wariness.

The Little Tian Beast was unwilling to proceed, but Qiushui urged it on relentlessly. After a moment of hesitation, the Little Tian Beast’s eyes faintly emitted a mysterious silver starlight. After observing for a long time, the Little Tian Beast reluctantly continued to move forward.

“Just as I expected, the Little Tian Beast is inherently a transformed Immortal Realm object. It possesses a certain resistance to this array. Moreover, having swallowed four Immortal Realm chess pieces, its physique has undergone a qualitative change, so it should be able to withstand the array’s attacks!” Li Fan’s eyes gleamed.

The Little Tian Beast crawled very slowly. It stared at the stone slab not far ahead, a hint of confusion flashing in its eyes. It seemed to feel an inexplicable familiarity with the slab. Therefore, it became even more resistant. It was Qiushui who stepped in, appealing to its emotions and tempting it with benefits. Only then did the Little Tian Beast continue forward.

Li Fan waited quietly for the Little Tian Beast to retrieve the stone slab. At the same time, he continued to scrutinize the strange array before him. After so much time had passed, Li Fan vaguely realized something. He understood the origin of the déjà vu sensation he had experienced. It stemmed precisely from the array mechanism that stripped away the very foundation of existence for things!

In the fissures and depressions scattered across the Pitch-Black Star Sea, dark rivers of vitality flowed, covered by a layer of life-force draining power. This draining power, which severed the fundamental basis of existence for vitality, was precisely why life force gathered in the fissures. Similarly, the decaying green essence entwined around the Thousand-Eyed Desolate God of the Mystic Immortal Boat also devoured the mechanisms of existence it touched. And even… the invisible high wall encircling the Pitch-Black Star Sea. This could also be seen as directly erasing the fundamental basis for the concept of "forward."

“All these can be seen as the absence of essential elements of existence.”

“They share a remarkable similarity with the array before me!”

Li Fan’s eyes flickered, and a storm of thoughts raged in his mind; he instantly considered many things. “They should all be methods belonging to the former Immortal Realm.”

“It’s even possible that those beyond the high wall now also possess such divine abilities.”

“Based on the clues I’ve gathered, when King Xuantian set up these hidden measures, he should still have been only a half-immortal. How did he manage all this without immortal spiritual energy?”

The Little Tian Beast remained within the array. Under continuous stimulation, the array’s operation also allowed Li Fan to observe it more clearly. Even the symbols on the stone slab in the center of the array revealed themselves more and more. Among the increasingly numerous flashing patterns, Li Fan astonishingly captured one that was extremely similar to the Horizon's Edge Array!

“Because I was observing through the array, what I saw was distorted, so it didn’t perfectly match. However, it further confirms my suspicion!”

“This stone slab, replicated by King Xuantian, indeed contains the complete engravings from the Immortal Ascension Platform of the Immortal Realm.”

“This engraving encompasses almost everything. Each of its elements corresponds to a certain power originally belonging to the Immortal Realm.”

“For example, Horizon's Edge. And for another, turning an immortal into a mortal, or a mortal into an immortal!”

Li Fan’s heart surged. The further the Little Tian Beast advanced, the greater the pressure it seemed to endure. Its movements became increasingly slow, almost coming to a halt! It was almost a step away from the stone slab, but the Little Tian Beast rolled its eyes and simply refused to continue! No matter how much Qiushui urged it at that moment, the Little Tian Beast remained motionless.

Observing through the array, Li Fan saw the numerous patterns on the stone slab, flickering and changing, almost constantly displayed. He knew it wasn't the Little Tian Beast playing tricks or trying to bargain. It had simply reached its limit of endurance. Muffled explosive sounds seemed to emanate from the Little Tian Beast’s body. Some of its flesh and blood was being eroded by the array’s power. A flicker of fear appeared in the Tian Beast’s eyes; it wanted to give up and retreat. Qiushui was helpless in this situation. Even tempting it with three Immortal Realm chess pieces was to no avail.

At this moment, Li Fan performed a hand seal. The Little Tian Beast, just about to retreat, suddenly froze. Then, uncontrollably, it continued to crawl forward! A hint of innate ferocity flashed in the Little Tian Beast’s eyes. It continuously growled, expressing its immense anger. Yet, it was utterly unable to break free from the control of Li Fan’s hand seal.

This hand seal was precisely what Li Fan had secretly learned from Mo Rubin’s technique for controlling the Tian Beast’s Eye. Whether it was the ancient World-Protecting Divine Beast of the Xuantian Sect, or this newly born Little Turtle before him, their true forms were both jade pendants brought down from the Immortal Realm by King Xuantian. In reality, they could be considered the same entity. Control methods effective on the Xuantian Sect’s Tian Beast were naturally also effective on the Little Turtle before him. Li Fan had already secretly tested this before. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have just allowed the Little Turtle to directly swallow four Immortal Realm chess pieces.

Under Li Fan’s ruthless compulsion, the Little Tian Beast, disregarding its worsening injuries, finally crawled before the stone slab. Using its comparatively scrawny body, it shouldered the stone slab. Carrying it on its back, it then retreated slowly, letting out low roars.

On the stone slab, countless patterns shifted unpredictably. The Little Tian Beast’s flesh and blood were also eroded away inch by inch, disappearing. In the end, only an empty shell remained, along with the Tian Beast’s Eye, protected by the silver starlight in front. It carried the stone slab, advancing slowly but with unwavering determination.

After an unknown period, it finally crawled out of the area enveloped by the strange array. The moment it exited the array, the Little Tian Beast completely ran out of strength and could no longer move. Qiushui hurried forward to assist it. Li Fan, meanwhile, observed the stone slab on the Tian Beast’s back. All the patterns on it had extinguished. The sacred and solemn aura also vanished simultaneously. It appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary worldly object.

Li Fan casually tossed an Immortal Realm chess piece to the Little Tian Beast, which had performed a great service but was now on the verge of death. He, himself, levitated the stone slab and examined it carefully.