Chapter 1452: Extinction Li Burdens No Mercy

A small chess piece could evolve into a fragment of an immortal realm.

At its root, this was because the so-called chess pieces were actually countless True Immortal Sigils superimposed. True Immortal Sigils are, by nature, one of the ways True Immortals interpret the Grand Dao.

Previously, after acquiring an Immortal Realm chess piece, the Profound Immortal Ark transformed it into its external armor. Now, under Li Fan’s continuous activation, the thrown chess piece, relying on the Dao Net projection within his mind, expanded and flowed, transforming into a humanoid body.

However, at this stage, it was still just an empty form. The miniature Dao Net and the Immortal Realm fragment were all external objects. The connection between them and Li Fan’s main body was too weak.

Therefore…

Li Fan’s true body pressed firmly on his glabella.

The force of his finger seemed to penetrate his entire body. A part of his spirit, along with flesh and bone, was directly blasted out. Outside Li Fan’s true body, a thin but crimson afterimage formed.

Enduring the dizziness, Li Fan directed this part of his body to fly into the humanoid form, which had been refined from the Dao Net projection and the Immortal Realm chess piece.

Relying on his familiarity with both, Li Fan controlled it with some difficulty, almost forcefully inserting the flesh and blood afterimage.

This refinement was not merely about creating a clone. It also drew inspiration from Qiao Gong’s previous creation of the Saint Punishment Puppet and Tian Yang’s process of achieving an Immortal Puppet.

Rather than calling it a clone, it was more like a perfect fusion of a clone and a physical manifestation of the Dao.

Furthermore, because the materials used in this refinement were exceptionally powerful, Li Fan was somewhat concerned about the clone losing control, leading to a repeat of the situation with the former Saint Emperor Li Ping. From the very beginning of the refinement, Li Fan had set the fundamental principles for this powerful clone.

It would possess no self-emotions, only strictly following Li Fan’s commands. If obstructed, it would kill without hesitation. If facing an insurmountable opponent, it would temporarily avoid direct confrontation, secretly follow, and seek a solution…

In short, the clone puppet was designed as an emotionless mission-execution machine. Its only task was to uncover the secrets within the high wall. It even had a self-destruct command upon completion of its mission.

The Dao Net projection was a reflection of the Grand Dao of Heaven and Earth. The True Immortal Sigils were concrete depictions of the Grand Dao. These two already had strong correlations. The flesh and blood afterimage Li Fan separated from his body was imbued with his comprehension of the Grand Dao. Using this as a nexus, he slowly fused the three into one.

“The clone’s consciousness reflects the Dao Net, and its body is formed by the Grand Dao. Upon its creation, it has already reached the minor accomplishment realm of ‘Mind as Spirit Transformation, Body as Nascent Soul.’”

“In terms of combat power alone, it might far surpass me…”

As this powerful puppet gradually took shape, a potent ‘other self’ slowly began to pull Li Fan towards the other side. It was like a reflection in the water reaching out to drag him in.

It was like a child wielding a heavy sword. If this clone puppet had appeared before he submerged into the Shuo Star Sea and accessed the Dao Net, it would likely have surpassed Li Fan’s control, turning the tables on him.

But now…

Li Fan’s expression was calm as he issued command after command to the Dao Net.

The Dao Net projection within the clone puppet immediately began to emit continuously flashing lights, seemingly in response to Li Fan’s actions.

The puppet was thus slowly subdued, its formidable aura completely contained. It stood silently.

Li Fan’s action seemed effortless, but it was backed by countless years of accumulated Dao Net research in the Shuo Star Sea. Li Fan had merely adapted it for his own use, applying it to the Dao Net projection within his own mind.

Compared to the vast Dao Net covering the entire Shuo Star Sea, the one existing within Li Fan’s spiritual sense could be said to be very weak. However, it had, after all, acquired the basic properties of a “Dao Net.”

Furthermore, with a powerful physical body as support, it would be no difficult feat for this clone puppet to contend with a True Immortal.

“What’s more ingenious is that the clone puppet contains no immortal spiritual energy; it is a creation of the Grand Dao’s laws. If intentionally concealed and hidden within heaven and earth, it would be like ice melting into water, leaving no trace. Just like ordinary objects, if it strikes the high wall, it won’t be treated specially or directly released outside the wall.”

It was no easy task for one person to guide and control a miniature Dao Net. Even with the current strength of Li Fan’s spiritual sense, he would need to dedicate eighty to ninety percent of his attention to restrain the clone puppet.

“Actually, letting it go temporarily wouldn’t cause much trouble. I just need to bring it back under the Dao Net’s control in time. During this period, it will still act according to the mission objectives I’ve set. It just can’t be left in a free state for too long…”

“Otherwise, extraneous thoughts are bound to arise!”

Li Fan understood.

Command after command from the Dao Net wove into threads, firmly tethering the puppet clone.

Like a colossal puppet beast guided by Li Fan’s threads.

“Heaven and Earth are impartial; they treat all beings as straw dogs.”

“You don’t need to consider anything in this world, just act according to my commands.”

“I’ll call you…”

“Li Burén!”

As the final command was issued, all the threads converged into the Dao Net within the clone’s consciousness, invisible to ordinary means.

Li Fan felt that Li Burén in front of him had formed a peculiar connection with himself.

It was more distant than a pure flesh-and-blood clone.

Yet, it was much closer than a puppet controlled purely by thought.

Li Burén’s face was like millennium-old ice, devoid of any emotional fluctuation.

His eyes completely inherited Li Fan’s truest thoughts: a heartfelt indifference towards all creation. Even Li Fan himself couldn’t help but shiver slightly when meeting its gaze.

Around Li Burén’s body, no aura was apparent; it was as if he were the very heavens and earth themselves. Though bearing the weight of the Grand Dao, he could be as light as a soaring swan.

If one didn’t see him with their own eyes, they wouldn’t notice him even if he approached. But once seen, he would be impossible to forget. Simultaneously, an instinctive chill would rise from the depths of one’s heart, becoming an unshakeable shadow of terror.

Li Fan also didn’t wish to linger with this pure creation of destruction.

“Go,” he simply said, in a faint voice.

Li Burén’s form transformed into a sword, vanishing from the Profound Yellow World in an instant.

Three breaths passed.

He had already traversed the entire Abyssal Dark Star Sea, arriving at the foot of the high wall.

As a manifestation of the Grand Dao, he moved through the Grand Dao as a fish swims in water.

This was dozens of times faster than Li Fan’s sword-escaping technique.

And Li Burén, facing the invisible high wall ahead, showed no hesitation whatsoever.

He charged straight into it.

From the moment he set off to his collision with the high wall, Li Burén remained like a statue, completely unchanged. It was as if this matter of life and death had nothing to do with him.

“He didn’t appear outside the wall…”

“It seems there truly is a ‘world within the wall’!” Li Fan’s true body, remaining in the Profound Yellow World, had, through combined search and verification with the dream power outside the wall, initially obtained the answer he sought.

After a while, images from Li Burén slowly emerged.

“Fortunately, this high wall cannot completely sever the connection between Grand Daos.”

Li Fan exerted himself, sensing what the clone puppet was experiencing.

Because Li Burén’s self-awareness fluctuations had been suppressed by Li Fan to the absolute minimum, even though he had traversed the high wall, Li Burén himself had no internal psychological activity.

He merely served as Li Fan’s “camera,” observing the scenery within the wall on his behalf.

A wondrous world where there was no “sky.”

What appeared overhead was the reflection of the ground below.

But as Li Burén stood on the ground, the mirror-like sky did not reflect him.

This was not due to Li Burén’s concealment abilities.

But rather…

Li Burén fundamentally did not belong to this world!

Sensing the intrusion of an outsider, this world suddenly underwent a drastic change.

The sky and the earth, with a slight tremor, roared into motion, approaching each other.

As they converged, they aimed to crush the sudden intruder to dust.

Li Burén simply extended his right hand straight upwards.

In the blink of an eye, his arm expanded like a pillar supporting the heavens, forcefully propping up the converging sky and earth.

The mirrored sky continued to press down forcefully, unable to advance even an inch. It emitted creaking sounds. The point where the sky met the celestial pillar even shattered layer by layer due to the immense pressure.

However, beyond the shattered mirror, there was no space leading to the outside world.

Instead, there was another layer of mirror!

Li Burén supported the heavens and earth with his right arm, while his own body detached from his arm and quickly roamed this space in a circle, searching for an exit.

But this place seemed boundless.

Even with Li Burén’s terrifying speed of flight, he flew for half a day without finding any boundaries.

It was as if, with his movement, the boundaries of this world continuously expanded outwards.

However, as Li Burén flew, he memorized all the details of this world’s scenery. He found no repeating elements.

Li Burén returned to where his sky-supporting right arm was, then grasped the celestial pillar with his left hand.

He applied a slight force.

It was as if he had seized a giant rod and yanked it violently. The celestial pillar tilted, instantly tearing a gap in the sky.

Li Burén, grasping the celestial pillar with his left hand, waved it incessantly.

Amidst the whistling, the mirrored sky was instantly smashed to smithereens.

He even took a deep breath, swallowing all the continuously falling shattered mirror fragments from the sky into his abdomen.

The Dao Net projection in his mind flashed in sequence, having already analyzed the composition of this mirrored sky.

“The Dao is a curtain, obscuring the eyes of all beings.”

“The exit is straight ahead.”

Li Burén simply gave conclusions, without any superfluous thought.

Like a giant from creation myths who split heaven and earth, Li Burén held the colossal pillar, his form rapidly expanding.

In just a moment, he had already surpassed the overthrown mirrored sky.

Then, heedless of everything, he continued to grow towards the sky beyond the sky.

Using his head as a hammer, he smashed layer after layer of mirrors into dust.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

When the final curtain of disguise was shattered, Li Burén leaped out.

His form had already returned to normal size as he cautiously surveyed his surroundings.

“No aura of living beings.”

“No Grand Dao energy fluctuations.”

“Temporarily safe.”

Looking back at his point of origin, it was merely a transparent, glass-like sculpture. Since it had been pierced and shattered, its original appearance could not be discerned.

Around it, there were a total of sixteen other sculptures.

“There should be a total of eighteen here.”

“One has disappeared.”

“Among the remaining sixteen, five were shattered. The rest were intact.”

Li Burén, as always, conducted a calm analysis.

He flashed over to the nearest intact transparent sculpture.

“Beyond a certain distance, it’s impossible to see clearly. One must approach the statue to discern its appearance and the world within it.”

“It’s not a restriction imposed by an array formation…”

“But rather, one of the Dao principles of this place.”

Li Burén observed dispassionately, as if the miniature Dao Net manifested in his eyes. He extended his hand into the air before him, gently stroking.

Suddenly, a new light appeared within the Dao Net.

It was a Grand Dao law that had not previously been part of the miniature Dao Net.

Now it was perceived and captured by Li Burén.

And assimilated into his own Dao Net projection.

A moment later, the light and shadow in Li Burén’s eyes extinguished.

In his vision, the eleven transparent sculptures that were previously indiscernible now all clearly revealed themselves.

They were distinctly many people with different appearances.

Or rather, Immortals!

“Each sculpture secretly contains a certain Grand Dao of Heaven and Earth.”

“It should be the path cultivated by the Immortal depicted in the sculpture.”

Li Burén approached the sculpture before him, sensing the aura of Dao principles related to “guarding” from it.

However, this Dao principle was already recorded within his Dao Net projection, so Li Burén ignored it.

He merely pressed his eyes close, peering into the transparent sculpture.

If Li Fan’s true body were here, seeing this scene would surely cause his heart to pound and fill him with dread.

But Li Burén didn’t even frown, meeting the gaze of the wide-open eyes he was peering at: “A corpse.”

“A True Immortal’s corpse.”

Li Burén retracted his gaze and moved to the other transparent sculptures.

He also observed closely.

Inside each sculpture, he saw a True Immortal’s corpse.

“The paths cultivated are all different.”

“They are not the same True Immortal.”

“Where I came from, there was no True Immortal’s corpse…”

Stopping before the last transparent sculpture, Li Burén did not hesitate much.

He punched the sculpture’s face.

The sculpture remained motionless.

Not even a tremor was produced.

Li Burén’s punch, capable of shattering the Profound Yellow World, was completely blocked, like a clay ox entering the sea.

But Li Burén persisted relentlessly.

Punch after punch.

Symbols formed from the twisted True Immortal Sigils appeared on his body like tattoos.

“Seemingly unharmed.”

“But with every strike, I draw a small portion of the sculpture’s Dao principle aura into my body.”

“This is a give-and-take.”

“It’s effective.”

Li Burén continued to punch, ceaselessly.

The originally transparent sculpture became even more “faint.”

It transformed from a glass-like state to one seemingly composed of water.

Finally, under Li Burén’s steady bombardment, it crumbled.

However, somewhat strangely, the True Immortal’s corpse that Li Burén had previously glimpsed did not fall out as the sculpture shattered.

Only fragments scattered across the ground.

Just like the scene Li Burén had created when he broke free earlier.

“What appeared to be a True Immortal’s corpse was not actually a True Immortal’s corpse.”

“Instead, it was the condensation of a True Immortal’s insights into Dao principles from when they were alive.”

“Though the True Immortals perished, these insights were preserved by someone, in some manner, in this way.”

Li Burén placed one of the fragments into his mouth.

After chewing it carefully, he made a judgment.

“It is beneficial to me.”

Then, opening his mouth wide, he swallowed all the fragments of Dao principle insights from this place into his stomach.