Chapter 1534: Great Celestial Venerable's Identity

Angry Squid

Within the Xuanhuang Realm, there was first a deathly silence, followed by an uproar.

"What exactly is going on here?"

"Can he still fight? Give up, it's too terrible. There's no hope of winning at all."

"Where are the cowards of the Ten Sects?! Let me in, I want to go to the Taiyuan Realm and die alongside the God of War!"

Most cultivators in the Xuanhuang Realm only saw "Li Ping" stand up once more, seemingly intent on continuing the fight. Only a very few individuals, however, understood the meaning of the inexplicable aura erupting from Li Ping.

All of them were filled with shock, rising abruptly.

"Sect Master Fang, if I'm not mistaken, that's..." asked Wuding Prison Master Xiahou Yan, a hint of disbelief in his voice.

Fang Dingge, too, lost his former composure, scrutinizing Li Ping for a long time with uncertainty and surprise, fearing he might be mistaken.

But as the distorted scene in the sky became increasingly apparent, he finally confirmed: "He has broken through. Is that truly a sign of a breakthrough?"

"He's clearly already at the peak of the Dao Integration realm. If he goes any further..."

Fang Dingge's mouth hung open, utterly astonished.

"An Immortal?"

The few people in the hall exchanged glances, their hearts filled with shock and bewilderment.

However, they soon all looked up in unison, fearing they might miss any detail.

Above, the distorted ripples intensified, all centered around Li Fan's standing figure.

It was like a stone dropped into a large lake, causing ripples across the surface.

The Taiyuan cultivators, who had been silently mourning, also noticed this anomaly. Without much thought, they quickly launched another attack.

However, around Li Fan, it was as if an extremely turbulent storm had risen.

Any living being attempting to approach was inevitably swept away by the fierce winds, spinning uncontrollably in the air like ants. Even Dao Integration realm cultivators were no exception!

Even with all their might, they couldn't get a single inch closer, let alone harm Li Fan.

At the center of the storm, Li Fan's vitality and aura seemed to climb endlessly. They were even transmitted into the Xuanhuang Realm through the Horizon Golden Lock.

All living beings gazing at the figure at the center of the storm instinctively felt a sense of oppression in their hearts and desired to involuntarily prostrate themselves in worship.

Although they didn't understand why, they knew something extraordinary was about to happen.

The Xuanhuang Realm was filled with deathly silence. In the Taiyuan Realm, however, all cultivators, driven by the fear rising in their hearts, still wanted to make a final struggle to prevent Li Fan's transformation.

Unfortunately, it was ultimately a futile effort.

When the storm finally subsided, Li Fan's unharmed body reappeared before everyone.

Washed clean of the bloody aura from his previous arduous battles, he appeared ethereal and elegant, like a celestial being.

"An Immortal!"

All living beings from both realms who saw Li Fan had this word simultaneously pop into their minds.

Their bodies then trembled uncontrollably.

Since the Immortal Path was severed, there had been no true immortals in the world for tens of thousands of years.

Unexpectedly, today, an immortal was born in plain sight!

The beings of Xuanhuang couldn't help but fall to their knees and worship fanatically.

While the Taiyuan Realm cultivators, though still fearful in their hearts, still, without fear of death, launched an attack against Li Fan, this "immortal."

However, once Li Fan attained the Dao, the battlefield situation immediately underwent earth-shattering changes.

Originally, Li Fan had no way to avoid the Taiyuan Realm cultivators' sky-obscuring divine abilities and spells.

But now, he merely silently stretched out his hand forward.

Countless converging colorful light projections were all deflected and absorbed into his palm.

Then he gently blew a breath.

All these released killing moves were instantly bounced back, striking their casters.

The unprepared Taiyuan cultivators immediately suffered heavy losses. Especially since they were all gathered together and had simultaneously unleashed their divine abilities, it caused them immense casualties.

Originally, the area around Li Fan was tightly surrounded, but after suffering the backlash of the divine abilities, a large area was immediately cleared out.

If Li Fan's tactic of using their own methods against them hadn't yet truly terrified the Taiyuan Realm cultivators, then what happened next caused even those who could revive an infinite number of times to feel profound despair.

Li Fan gently raised his left hand upwards.

Scattered across various parts of the battlefield, the relics of the Xuanhuang cultivators, as if sensing something, flew up into the sky.

As if summoned, phantoms emerged one after another from beside these relics.

They were precisely their original owners: the Xuanhuang Realm cultivators who had died in battle!

Even though their faces weren't particularly clear, the beings in the Xuanhuang Realm still recognized these resurrected relatives and friends. Many people burst into tears on the spot.

The phantoms of the Xuanhuang warriors all first bowed respectfully to Li Fan. Then, gripping their weapons, they fearlessly charged towards the Taiyuan cultivators.

With one real and one phantom army, the forces of the two realms collided violently once more.

This time, the dynamics of offense and defense had shifted!

It must be known that whether in overall strength or average combat power, the Taiyuan cultivators were far inferior to those of the Xuanhuang Realm. It was solely by relying on the Taiyuan Revival Furnace's ability of infinite revival that they had forced the Xuanhuang Realm into its current desperate situation.

But now...

When the Taiyuan cultivators exerted all their strength and shattered the phantoms of the Xuanhuang cultivators...

A stream of light flew out from Li Fan, who was holding the line. Just a moment later, those phantoms reappeared. The Xuanhuang cultivators, instantly "revived," slaughtered the astonished enemies before them.

Then they charged towards other opponents on the battlefield.

Finally experiencing the enemy's greatest reliance, the Xuanhuang cultivators, as if emboldened a hundredfold, slowly forced back the Taiyuan cultivators.

Those phantoms who died in battle would quickly be replenished by Li Fan.

On the battlefield, streams of light continuously flickered, like a grand meteor shower blooming above the Taiyuan Realm.

When the meteor shower ended, the Taiyuan cultivators who had gathered nearby had either died or fled in haste.

"Kill!"

Li Fan did not stop because of this; he pointed his sword forward and simply uttered that single word.

The direction his sword pointed was precisely the location of the Heavenly Palace and the Taiyuan Revival Furnace!

Thus, countless streams of light slowly advanced deeper into the Taiyuan Realm.

Irresistible, irreversible.

Anything obstructing this surging torrent would instantly be torn to shreds.

This awe-inspiring scene made countless beings watching in the Xuanhuang Realm feel their blood boil.

They wished they could participate.

Only a handful of people, however, could see through the surface of this passionate scene to the true mystery behind it.

Although the resurrected Xuanhuang cultivators were all phantoms, the divine abilities and killing moves they unleashed undoubtedly possessed true destructive power.

On the Taiyuan battlefield, there were hundreds of thousands of cultivators who had died and been revived.

And "Li Ping" alone could actually sustain their consumption?

As if he had thought of something, Fang Dingge completely lost himself, no longer able to hide the shock in his heart, murmuring to himself: "Infinity, the infinity of an immortal. Could it be, he is truly an Immortal?"

All cultivators who understood the nature of a True Immortal were behaving exactly like Fang Dingge at this moment.

And amidst this shock, Li Fan had already led a million phantoms, advancing step by step to the foot of the Heavenly Palace.

In front of this magnificent million-strong army, the Taiyuan Realm's greatest combat advantage ceased to exist.

You can revive, but I revive even faster than you.

Your will is tenacious, obeying commands and prohibitions, and won't collapse even in desperate situations. But our warriors don't even have subjective will; they are merely existing obsessions for revenge.

Although the power of immortal spirits is infinite, the operational efficiency of the immortal array has its limits.

With continuous revival over a long period, the pressure on the Taiyuan Realm's ancient protective immortal array finally reached its critical point.

Visibly, the Taiyuan cultivators' revival speed significantly slowed down.

In the Xuanhuang Realm, bursts of cheers erupted.

However, the few leaders of the Ten Sects and elites who had entered the Heavenly Palace still had solemn expressions on their faces.

The combat power displayed by "Li Ping," this half-immortal, indeed surpassed their imagination. But the immortal array deep within the palace was equally despair-inducing.

However, Li Ping's next action once again exceeded their expectations.

He did not lead the crowd to attack the palace.

Instead, he faced the ninety-nine-story tower standing atop the mountain and brought his sword down squarely upon it.

Blindingly dazzling light illuminated the entire world, obscuring people's vision.

Terrifying roars, like continuous thunderclaps, resounded through the skies.

The immense tremors even passed through distant space and time, reaching the Xuanhuang Realm.

Both worlds trembled incessantly under the sword light unleashed by Li Fan.

When vision was restored, the Heavenly Palace and the Taiyuan cultivators had all vanished.

Only a deep gully remained, embedded in the earth.

Profoundly dark and bottomless.

Only Li Fan's ethereal figure stood.

And...

...a peculiar cauldron in his hand.

The world once again fell into a deathly silence.

"Is this the might of a True Immortal?"

All living beings' minds were completely blank, deeply shaken by the immense power of the True Immortal's single sword strike.

As for those from the Ten Sects, after recovering from their shock, they thought of even more.

Since a True Immortal had descended, from now on, how should the Ten Sects position themselves?

This question seemed to have no other answer.

Even if all the Ten Sects' cultivators combined, they probably wouldn't be a match for this True Immortal. Even if they used all their remaining immortal artifacts, they might not gain any advantage.

It was just unknown whether this True Immortal would blame them for their previous act of abandonment.

The hearts of the Ten Sects stirred with dread.

In the Taiyuan Realm, a new anomaly arose.

They saw the cauldron Li Fan held tightly in his hand suddenly burst forth with a towering seven-colored light.

It illuminated the entire Taiyuan horizon.

Li Fan looked at the Xuanhuang phantoms below, who had completed their mission of revenge and seemed a bit at a loss.

Then he smiled slightly.

The seven-colored light emerging from the cauldron, like streams of waterfalls, poured down upon them.

After receiving the infusion from the Taiyuan Revival Furnace, extremely significant changes began occurring on the bodies of those million Xuanhuang phantoms.

Their illusory faces gradually became clear.

Their faint phantoms became solidified.

The vitality belonging only to living beings emerged on these phantoms.

They...

...were truly coming back to life from death, experiencing revival!

Even though they had already experienced too many shocks today, the Xuanhuang beings, after seeing this scene, were still ecstatic.

Especially when they saw their deceased relatives and friends, after revival, unbelievably examining their own bodies, they also shed tears of extreme joy.

The million Xuanhuang warriors, having died and revived, wept with joy.

After the initial excitement, they all reacted.

They all knelt and prostrated themselves before the True Immortal above, who had saved them and granted them new life.

However, after a long time, the True Immortal still showed no movement.

The cultivators couldn't help but look up.

They saw a scene that would be unforgettable for the rest of their lives.

Specks of starlight began to emerge from the True Immortal's figure.

After a gentle breeze blew, these specks of starlight drifted off the True Immortal's body.

At first, there were only dozens or hundreds of starlike points.

Then more and more appeared.

Like the stars of the Nine Heavens, scattering onto the mortal realm.

High in the sky, when the stars filled the expanse, the True Immortal was already gone without a trace.

The beings of both realms collectively fell into a daze.

It took a good half a day before they finally understood what had happened.

Sounds of pain and wailing then resounded throughout both realms.

Ceaselessly, for a long time.

One month later.

The war that changed the fate of the Xuanhuang Realm had long since ended, but the beings of the Xuanhuang Realm had not yet emerged from their grief.

Without an enemy with infinite revival, the Xuanhuang Realm successfully occupied the Taiyuan Realm.

Having successfully opened up another safe dwelling place for themselves on the other side of the starry sky, the threat from the Immortal Ruins outside the Xuanhuang Realm only then began to slowly become known to the world.

However, compared to the Immortal Ruins, the beings of the Xuanhuang Realm at this moment were more concerned about what had truly happened to that Xuanhuang True Immortal.

After deductions by the leaders of the Ten Sects, combined with observations of the scene, a preliminary conclusion was reached.

The Immortal Path has been severed; this is an unchangeable fact. The "immortal" that "Li Ping" became was not an immortal in the true sense.

It was merely because of his unprecedented talent that he forcibly over-extended himself, elevating himself to a realm between Dao Integration and True Immortal; perhaps he could be called a Half-Immortal.

If he had become a True Immortal, he should have been able to reverse the matter of dying from severe injuries.

Unfortunately...

Before he fell, he held on stubbornly.

Not only did he lead the masses to complete their revenge against the Taiyuan Realm, he even used the Taiyuan Revival Furnace to revive as many of the fallen Xuanhuang cultivators as possible.

However, in the end, he ultimately could not reverse fate and passed away suddenly.

Compared to a True Immortal who lived on, it was obvious that this True Immortal, who sacrificed himself to save the beings of Xuanhuang, would be remembered even more by people.

Every household erected memorial tablets and statues of the Xuanhuang True Immortal, burning incense and praying, reciting scriptures for blessings.

Even in immortal cultivation sects, big and small, temples dedicated to the Xuanhuang True Immortal were erected.

Originally, there were a very few dissenting voices, but they quickly vanished.

Though the True Immortal had passed, his lingering influence remained, persisting for a long time.

An improved version of the Ten Sects' ultimate techniques, which Li Fan had left under his pillow, was also found.

It was classified as top secret by the Ten Sects.

On the very day these ultimate techniques were brought back to the Xuanhuang Realm, the leaders of the Ten Sects gathered together to discuss and study them.

"As expected of one who could attain the Dao of a True Immortal, these improved divine abilities even surpassed the secret techniques passed down only within the sects..."

Everyone from the Ten Sects was completely convinced.

Meanwhile, among the common people, rumors subtly spread.

"Whoever obtains the Grand Supreme Dao Scripture can attain the True Immortal Dao!"