Chapter 1436: Fake Connection to the Infinite Sea

The Great Dao of Heaven and Earth can be reflected in a single thought. However, a projection is, after all, just a projection; it is not easy to unleash the power of the Great Dao through every action in reality.

Connecting to the Infinite Ocean, with its limitless energy supply, makes it possible.

The Great Dao projection offers theoretical models and previews, while the Infinite Ocean provides practical support.

Possessing either of these can unleash strength far beyond the ordinary. If both are utilized concurrently...

Li Fan, clad in the true immortal's skin, with his divine sense reflecting the Great Dao, looked at the City of Elysium and felt as if he could turn it to ashes with a mere wave of his hand.

It was not an illusion.

"I have a strong feeling that my current understanding and utilization of the infinite nature of immortal spiritual power are still quite shallow."

"The Infinite Ocean is an entity comparable to the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth..."

Li Fan narrowed his eyes, once again summoned the immortal spiritual power at his fingertips, and his mind soared into, and was immersed in, the profoundly mysterious Infinite Ocean.

Unfortunately, the fragments of memory within the immortal skin primarily recounted the former owner's past experiences, lacking any knowledge of immortal arts or divine abilities.

"I wonder if, by absorbing this immortal skin with the Azure Nether Pearl, I could decipher the divine abilities the owner possessed during their lifetime?"

"After all, this was an entity that once attained the Nameless Dao..."

Although this thought merely flashed through Li Fan's mind, he firmly committed it to memory, awaiting an opportune and necessary moment to try.

In a flash, another year passed.

Li Fan became increasingly familiar with the immortal spiritual power within the immortal skin.

But after that, he encountered a bottleneck.

No matter how many times he wore the immortal skin, in the "True Immortal" state, it seemed as if the immortal spiritual power within the skin truly transformed into his own unique energy.

However, as soon as he shed the immortal skin, his familiarity with the immortal spiritual power immediately plummeted to the previous bottleneck level.

He could no longer advance even an inch.

"It seems I was a bit too presumptuous. If there weren't some restrictive measures in place, how could Scholar Zhu have lent me this immortal skin so easily?"

Li Fan chuckled wryly.

Yet, he didn't give up on his plan to obtain the immortal spiritual power.

"As the saying goes, 'If Heaven doesn't give it, I'll take it.'"

A gleam flashed in Li Fan's eyes.

In the Xuanhuang Realm, Li Fan's main body stroked a stone slab.

It was precisely the key method, hidden within the former Immortal Realm's Ascension Platform, that allowed cultivators to ascend.

Even though it was merely a replica left by King Xuantian, infinite power still seemed to emanate from it.

"If I'm not mistaken, this stone slab must contain the method for newly ascended cultivators to access the Infinite Ocean, thereby gaining immortal spiritual power of infinite nature."

"However, it can only be achieved with official permission from the Immortal Realm."

"Even if King Xuantian fortuitously ascended to the Immortal Realm in the past, the overseer of the Ascension Platform had long since perished. Without guidance from the Immortal Realm, even a figure like King Xuantian couldn't extract immortal spiritual power from this slab..."

Li Fan called this stone slab the Key to the Dao; only by using the corresponding True Immortal Seal Script could its true function be activated.

"Besides the True Immortal Seal Script, I'm afraid another method is needed to unlock the way to connect to the Infinite Ocean."

Li Fan mused.

In the Astral Sea, Li Fan's divine sense clone donned the immortal skin. A wisp of immortal spiritual power, channeled through the miniature Dao Network, instantly reached Li Fan's main body.

However, this wisp of immortal spiritual power, having traversed the star sea, seemed to have been filtered layer by layer. Its original faint star-glow color became even more diluted, appearing as a milky white.

Moreover, Li Fan's main body didn't have the immortal skin's blessing, nor was he the master of this immortal spiritual power.

As soon as this immortal spiritual power appeared in this alien time and space, it galloped wildly like an unbridled wild horse, attempting to escape from Li Fan's grasp.

Li Fan's main body concentrated with utmost effort. Using the familiarity he had cultivated with this immortal spiritual power over four years as reins, he barely managed to bring it under control.

Within the surrounding immortal formation, the immortal spiritual qi released by the Disintegration Disc also provided assistance.

Assisting Li Fan in subduing this strand of immortal spiritual power.

After more than half a day of struggle, this turbulent immortal spiritual power was finally barely controllable.

"Next, I will use this immortal spiritual power to disguise my identity."

"And enter the Infinite Ocean via the Key to the Dao stone slab."

Although the goal was clear, its actual implementation was by no means easy.

After all, this was something even King Xuantian couldn't accomplish in the past.

The first problem to address was how to activate the stone slab.

Li Fan used the immortal formation as a blade, dividing the wisp of immortal spiritual power transmitted by his divine sense clone into millions of portions for experimentation.

If he merely touched the stone slab with this immortal spiritual power, a faint halo would appear on it, then nothing else would happen. It seemed to be waiting for Li Fan to proceed with the next action.

Li Fan recalled how he had previously used this Key to the Dao stone slab to help the Xuanhuang Realm ascend to the Immortal Realm. He knew that it required activation with a specific True Immortal Seal Script.

"Could it still be the 'Immortal-Mortal Transformation' character?"

With a thought, Li Fan manipulated one portion of the immortal spiritual power, using it to write on the stone slab.

The stone slab indeed suddenly erupted with a strong energy fluctuation, but after searching around and finding no suitable candidate, this fluctuation eventually subsided on its own.

Having ruled out this option, Li Fan began other experiments.

He tested each True Immortal Seal Script he knew, one by one.

It didn't take long.

Unfortunately, none of them matched.

"It must be an unknown True Immortal Seal Script."

Li Fan's main body furrowed his brows slightly.

With his attempt to connect to the Infinite Ocean thwarted, Li Fan turned his attention to Scholar Zhu.

Directly asking was certainly out of the question. Not only would it expose his true capabilities, but it might also attract the attention of the Astral Sea Governance Council.

Li Fan's divine sense clone continued to familiarize himself with the power of immortal spiritual energy, all while biding his time.

Soon, only seven days remained until the date the Immortal Hunters would recruit new members.

This time, the Governance Council issued an announcement that the number of cultivators to be recruited was double that of previous times. For a while, discussions buzzed throughout the Astral Sea, with people feeling a mix of joy and apprehension.

The joy stemmed from a significantly increased chance of joining the Immortal Hunters.

The apprehension, however, was due to the rumor that the Immortal Hunters were recruiting more members because they had suffered heavy losses in previous true immortal hunting operations. It was a forced measure. Clearly, while joining the Immortal Hunters offered immense power, the corresponding risks were also greater than imagined.

Regardless, becoming an Immortal Hunter was the lifelong pursuit of many young prodigies from the major forces in the Astral Sea. Therefore, there were still many who responded.

In the City of Elysium, Li Fan received a message from Scholar Zhu.

"In seven days, I will, as agreed, recommend you for the selection."

"However, as previously discussed, I need to test you first!"

Li Fan adjusted his collar and slowly walked into the City Lord's Mansion.

He pushed open the door, but Scholar Zhu was nowhere to be found.

Instead, he stepped into empty space, as if falling into an endless abyss.

He plummeted downwards at high speed, surrounded by endless darkness.

In the pitch-blackness, scattered points of light occasionally flickered, seemingly embedded in the abyss's cliff walls.

Scholar Zhu's booming voice resounded in Li Fan's ears.

"The Immortal Hunter assessment places the most emphasis on comprehension of the Dao Network."

"The points of light you see are Dao Network commands that might be involved in the assessment. Try to reproduce them."

"This is the first trial. If you can't even pass this..."

"Then never leave!"

Scholar Zhu's cackling laughter echoed through the abyss.

Li Fan paid no heed, merely observing the surrounding Dao Network command light points carefully.

In this place, his techniques for flight and levitation had inexplicably ceased to function during his endless rapid descent.

Every Dao Network command flashed by in an instant. To observe and reproduce these commands in such a short time was incredibly difficult.

Fortunately, Li Fan had a miniature Dao Network projection within his divine sense.

His divine sense acted like a screen, reflecting all the rapidly flashing points of light around him.

If there was a corresponding match within his own Dao Network projection, it would spontaneously flash and respond.

If it was still within Li Fan's cognitive blind spot, it would be directly skipped.

Li Fan's consciousness did not need to identify and reproduce them; the miniature Dao Network did it instead.

Both the reaction speed and the accuracy of reproduction were more than a notch faster.

Li Fan sensed that with each successful reproduction, his descent speed slowed slightly, as if he were being sharply pulled by a rope.

As each point of light was reproduced, it permanently illuminated the space above the endless abyss.

Li Fan finally stopped falling.

The darkness gradually dispersed, and leaving the endless abyss, Li Fan found himself upon a desolate wilderness.

An illusory figure stood opposite him.

Although the face was unfamiliar, Li Fan felt a slight sense of familiarity with its aura.

It was Scholar Zhu!

Indeed, Scholar Zhu's voice emanated from the figure: "The second trial is about martial skill."

"Immortal Hunters. Immortal Hunters are dedicated to hunting True Immortals."

"Can you... do it?"

Before he finished speaking, Scholar Zhu pointed an empty finger at Li Fan.

"True Immortals wield the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth as their blade, controlling infinite power."

The boundless wilderness, at Scholar Zhu's single gesture, curled up like a sphere.

Li Fan felt as if he was trapped in an urn, watching the rising earth around him, with no escape.

It wasn't merely the ground; all the laws of heaven and earth transformed into oppressive forces. Trapped within this cage, it felt as if he were confronting the entire cosmos!

Li Fan's expression remained unchanged; he did not put on the immortal skin.

Instead, in an instant, innumerable arms appeared behind him.

Each arm seemed to be rapidly writing something.

Each time a stroke was completed, a point of light illuminated before Li Fan.

Slowly, these bright spots wove into a net.

Li Fan gently pressed his hands on this net, continually plucking its strings as if playing a zither.

With each action, large sections of the encroaching wilderness vanished inexplicably.

The plucking sounds continued ceaselessly, and the wilderness was instantly devoured, becoming riddled with holes.

By the time it reached Li Fan, it no longer posed any threat!

Back in the dark void, Li Fan and Scholar Zhu stood facing each other from a distance.

Scholar Zhu stared at the miniature Dao Network woven before Li Fan, a thoughtful expression in his eyes.

"With the strength of your current body, joining the Immortal Hunters is more than enough."

"But... I still need to test your true capabilities!"

Scholar Zhu let out a cold laugh.

In the darkness, rolling clouds arrived, accompanied by roaring thunder.

They swiftly enveloped Li Fan.

Li Fan narrowed his eyes, and in these black mists, he seemed to see countless towering figures.

"These are all my former servants."

"Let me see what you are capable of."

Scholar Zhu's figure suddenly vanished.

And horrifying, grotesque creations emerged like a tide from the black mists.

Attacking Li Fan.

Li Fan seemed utterly stunned, standing still for a long time without reacting.

However, those immortal creations showed no intention of holding back.

Just as they were about to rush towards Li Fan.

"Disperse!"

Li Fan let out a soft command.

Countless creations, at the same moment, froze in place as if turned to ice.

And then...

Like the rolling black clouds filling the sky, they vanished into thin air!

Scholar Zhu, hidden behind the black clouds, revealed his true form.

He gazed at Li Fan, filled with doubt and surprise.

"I too once commanded countless servants, Scholar Zhu. What do you think?"

Li Fan smiled faintly.

As he spoke, countless dark clouds, vast and oppressive, swept across the void.

Figures darted within the clouds.

They were precisely the countless immortal servants that Li Fan had dispersed with a single word!

Only now, they had changed masters.

And charged towards Scholar Zhu, besieging him.

"Presumptuous!"

Scholar Zhu was enraged.

The space between heaven and earth seemed to be struck by an invisible colossal entity, collapsing spontaneously.

And all living beings within this collapsed area were likewise annihilated.

Thump, thump, thump.

Eerie sounds continuously rang out as these countless beings were casually crushed, like flies.

Before long, all the creations besieging Scholar Zhu were utterly annihilated.

But compared to Li Fan's effortless destruction with just a single word, it was clearly inferior.

Li Fan did not manifest countless living creations again, merely smiling as he watched his opponent.

"Interesting. Very interesting."

"I believe you can bring these fellows some surprises."

"Go on!"

After a long stare, Scholar Zhu finally spoke.

The scenery around Li Fan instantly vanished.

He was back outside the City Lord's Mansion.

Before him was the door, still unopened.

Li Fan cupped his hands forward, then turned and left.

"Having been trapped in the City of Elysium for so long, how could he possibly still have these immortal creations accompanying him?"

"Had he not insisted on summoning them, I might not have discerned the truth so quickly."

"It was merely an extremely realistic illusion, similar to the Eternal Remnants. In such a scenario, even a powerhouse like Xie Subai wouldn't be my match, let alone a mere crippled, nameless True Immortal."

Li Fan sneered, already back at his own residence.

What he needed to do next was to infiltrate the Immortal Hunters and seize the Astral Sea's most core secrets.

"The essence of the recent test was a philosophical debate, a clash of wills."

"Although I overwhelmed Scholar Zhu by manipulating truth and falsehood, his method of forceful suppression, like an invisible giant, is truly not to be underestimated."