Chapter 1572: Extinction Time Hundred-Refinement Machine

Evil Su Bai's eyes narrowed slightly as he examined the object in his hand. Light and shadow twisted and shifted, and the towering image of the Sky Pillar gradually dispersed, revealing the Hungry Immortal sleeping peacefully within. Evil Su Bai looked at the other, his expression somewhat nuanced.

"You're a sensible one," Evil Su Bai said faintly after a moment of silence, not refusing Li Fan's proposal. His figure faded, gradually vanishing. In the blink of an eye, he had already left the original possibility. Just as he had arrived, he departed silently.

Li Fan stared at the sky for a long time before confirming that the other party had truly left. He couldn't help but breathe a slight sigh of relief. Even with the support of the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm, a direct confrontation with a transcendent being like Evil Su Bai was still quite stressful for him, given his current strength, especially after losing "Huan Zhen," his greatest life-saving measure.

"Fortunately, the outcome is quite good."

As his mind relaxed slightly, countless Dao-one bugs, hidden within the Xuanhuang cosmos and poised for action, returned to their normal state from their ready-to-erupt stance. They continued to gather around the four celestial platforms, increasing their adaptability to the Mountains and Seas. Due to prior contact with Su Bai's eternal relic, Evil Su Bai was arguably the most suitable transcendent entity in the Mountains and Seas for Li Fan's first true interaction. Although Evil Su Bai exuded an aura of wickedness, he was not mad or foolish. Therefore, Li Fan could use various manifested powers, such as the Grand Dao of Longevity and Taiwei Sacred Medicine, to deter and counterbalance him.

Even if Li Fan's plan failed and a direct confrontation with Evil Su Bai became inevitable, Li Fan was confident in fighting him on Xuanhuang Immortal Realm's home ground, with the reborn Ink Kill, Dao-one bugs, and the true-false transformation as trump cards. The final outcome might be quite grim, but his life should be safe. This was also why Li Fan appeared to have made a risky move. The risk was extremely high, and the rewards were naturally substantial. Most importantly, Li Fan gained a clear understanding of his current strength.

As the saying goes, "One does not know the height of the sky without climbing a high mountain, nor the depth of the earth without reaching a deep stream." Li Fan had personally visited the Mountains and Seas several times in the past, but only by sneaking in and taking a quick glance, not by formally traversing them. He had no precise quantitative understanding of the immense pressure involved in traversing the Mountains and Seas. Without Huan Zhen's ability to restart at any time, the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm's collision with the Mountains and Seas offered no room for error. Even a slight mistake could reduce the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm to dust, and Li Fan would be severely wounded, if not killed.

"Using Evil Su Bai as an anchor point, I have both seen the Mountains and Seas and gauged my own strength.""Even with its accumulated foundations, the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm is still somewhat inadequate to safely traverse the Mountains and Seas as an immortal vessel."

As if sensing Li Fan's thoughts, the Dao-one bugs' encroaching assimilation became even more proactive.

"Relying solely on the evolution brought by the Dao-one bugs is too slow.""The main problem with the Xuanhuang Immortal Vessel now is that its hull isn't strong enough. Even though I've used rare, hard materials to construct it, they haven't completely fused together. It's as if they were merely roughly piled up, with many gaps still remaining between them. Under normal circumstances, there's no issue. Even I couldn't observe these voids. But once faced with the pressure of colliding with the Mountains and Seas, these gaps would be the culprit causing the immediate disintegration of the immortal vessel."

"There are two ways to solve this problem. First, find more common materials and fill all the gaps completely. Second, is to re-forge the Xuanhuang cosmos. Each cycle of the World-Ending Calamity would be a re-smelting."

With Li Fan's current insight, as long as he found the root cause, he could quickly devise countermeasures. Although his realm was restricted to below the Transcendent stage, his understanding already far exceeded his actual strength. In a sense, Li Fan was like those legendary mighty beings who reincarnated with their memories to cultivate anew. In reality, his advanced knowledge came from the accumulation of countless reincarnations.

"I will use both methods.""The True Immortals still existing in the Great Ultimate Dao Scripture must be captured and transformed into materials to fill the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm.""I also need to further comprehend the principles of alchemy and refine Xuanhuang even more."

The sleeping orange cat on Li Fan's shoulder instantly shattered into light and shadow, transforming back into a dose of loquat mixed with white *Qian*.

"Transforming Dao into medicine, and using medicine to illustrate Dao. Skipping the refining process is truly wonderful.""How did that Sacred Emperor manage to do it?"

Although Li Fan had absorbed the Loquat Sacred Medicine, he still only vaguely understood the principles behind its formation. He immediately began to study it diligently.

"If I could emulate the Sacred Emperor, the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm might undergo another qualitative transformation." Li Fan's eyes flickered.

Theoretically, the path of transcendence in the Mountains and Seas requires one to forge their own path. Li Fan's method of using the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm as an immortal vessel for crossing the world can also be seen as his unique transcendent method. Moreover, it can integrate the strengths of various schools.

"However, it seems few transcendent beings in the Mountains and Seas are like me.""I wonder if this approach has any drawbacks." This thought flashed through Li Fan's mind.

Although he had a faint premonition, he didn't pay much attention to it. After all, Huan Zhen had only fallen into slumber, not completely disappeared.

"First, I'll step out into the Mountains and Seas to observe its wonders. If the drawbacks are truly too great, I'll just bide my time until Huan Zhen awakens and start over..." Li Fan looked at the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm before him, his thoughts surging.

After a long time, he finally suppressed his scattered thoughts and looked beyond the high wall: "The house has been somewhat cleaned; it's barely ready to invite guests in."

The recent events within the Shuo Star Sea near the high wall instantly entered his eyes. The Holy Merchant Lord, driven to madness by the destruction of the Merchant Immortal Vessel, had a very weak aura under the siege of the Shuo Star Sea immortals. Yet, he possessed some unknown treasure that kept him clinging to his last breath. The Holy Merchant Lord's spirit remained intact, and he would occasionally retaliate, fiercely biting at the Shuo Star Sea immortals. His irrational, chaotic attacks made it difficult to kill True Immortals, but they managed to inflict a large number of serious injuries.

"An unkillable nameless True Immortal is indeed troublesome.""If he can't be suppressed and sealed, they'll almost have to avoid him. But unfortunately, the Shuo Star Sea's foundation is right there, surrounded by lands of annihilation. Heh heh..." Li Fan quite admired the Holy Merchant Lord, but he was more interested in the other party's life-saving method.

Li Fan had seen the Holy Merchant Lord withstand a full-power blow from Chaos without dying more than once. Li Fan was very clear about Chaos's strength. In the Nameless Realm, immortal power swirled, capable of almost transforming all Daos in the world into a primordial chaotic state. Its destructive power was close to Dao Annihilation. But after the Holy Merchant Lord was eroded by Chaos's immortal power, several flashes of light appeared on his body, instantly expelling the Chaos immortal power. It wasn't just Chaos's immortal power. The attacks from other Nameless True Immortals in the Shuo Star Sea were also easily resolved by the continuously flickering lights on the Holy Merchant Lord's body.

Besides Chaos, Shanhua, and other True Immortals he was familiar with from his previous life, there was one more who particularly caught Li Fan's eye. Although his name was still within the Great Ultimate Dao Scripture, it was almost blurry and indiscernible, as if it could disappear at any moment. His corresponding Dao path was represented by the character for "cone." His method of engaging enemies wasn't to injure them with a manifested cone-like object, but rather to embody the meaning of "no room to stand a cone" (i.e., having no space).

The reason the crazed Holy Merchant Lord always remained near the Shuo Star Sea was due to the restrictions imposed by this Cone Immortal. His range of movement seemed to be rigidly confined to that small area. No matter what, he couldn't leave. Even with his mysterious life-sustaining methods, he would eventually be worn down and killed by the surrounding Shuo Star Sea immortals. After all, the Holy Merchant Lord was not a True Immortal and did not have the blessings of the Infinite Sea's infinite power. Moreover, the flashes on his body, used to neutralize and expel other True Immortals' immortal power, also seemed to be growing weaker.

"The Holy Merchant Lord's life-saving method should be related to the Holy Merchant pioneers who explored other possibilities.""Given that he holds information about other possibilities in the Mountains and Seas, this Holy Merchant Lord must not fall into others' hands."

Li Fan's heart stirred, and the dormant intent he had previously left in the Shuo Star Sea began to rapidly approach the Holy Merchant Lord. Other True Immortals were not worth worrying about. As long as Li Fan manifested his full power, leveraging the might of the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm, he could suppress all of them almost instantly. However, the newly encountered Cone Immortal, whose name was rapidly fading from the Great Ultimate Dao Scripture, caused Li Fan to become wary.

"This Cone Immortal's strength should not be weak. At the time node ten thousand years later in my previous life, I didn't see this person in the Shuo Star Sea, nor had I even heard of him. His demise is unlikely, but..." Li Fan carefully sensed the aura of the Cone Dao that was sealing the Holy Merchant Lord, frowning slightly: "Its power hasn't yet reached transcendence. He must have used means like the Profound Coffin of World Crossing to escape to other possibilities."

"As for why no one remembers him... The reason is the same as why his name is rapidly disappearing from the Great Ultimate Dao Scripture. 'No room to stand a cone' doesn't just apply to others; it applies to himself too. This is a rather extreme Dao path, not tolerated by heaven and earth, thus making him transcendent and invincible."

Although this Dao was peculiar, it could not escape Li Fan's discerning eye. In just a few moments, Li Fan had already deciphered its mysteries.

"Even without reaching the transcendent realm, the Cone Immortal's strength is truly not weak. Moreover, this Dao is unique and incompatible with other Dao paths. If I were to integrate it into the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm, it would actually be detrimental to its stability." Li Fan had no intention of confronting him directly; he merely wanted to abduct the Holy Merchant Lord.

But things did not go as he wished. Even with the help of the Myriad Phenomena Dao Net, Li Fan's intent could no longer approach the Holy Merchant Lord after reaching a certain distance. It was as if the Cone Dao truly isolated the Holy Merchant Lord from the original possibility itself.

"Then don't blame me.""Although this Dao cannot be integrated into the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm, it might be forged into a sharp weapon."

In the Heavens beyond Xuanhuang Heaven, a sharp glint flashed in Li Fan's true form's eyes. His figure flickered, and in the next moment, he had already appeared beyond the high wall, within the Shuo Star Sea. He did not arrive alone. As the "parents" of Xuanhuang, wherever Li Fan went, the might of the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm could follow. Thus, it was as if a dark cloud descended. Above the Shuo Star Sea, millions of immortal soldiers seemed to gather.

The host of immortals fiercely battling the Holy Merchant Lord involuntarily paused their movements. Filled with shock and uncertainty, they all looked up.

"Everyone, do you... feel an inexplicable pressure?""This feeling of impending doom, could it be that Dao Annihilation is nigh!""Fellow Daoists, be careful!" The immortals all blanched.

Just as they were stunned, a gigantic hand suddenly condensed in the void, pressing down horizontally towards the immortals. Wherever the colossal palm passed, fine cracks appeared. Countless dark energies surged out frantically, as if finding a breakthrough point. Evidently, the inherent power of this palm strike directly pierced through the lower realm star sea's endurance limit, attracting the Dao Annihilation tribulation! After the dark energy descended, for some unknown reason, it did not attack the colossal palm. Instead, it swept towards the Shuo Star Sea immortals first. Therefore, it appeared as though the colossal palm was carrying infinite Dao Annihilation dark energy, crushing down directly upon the immortals!

If it were just a single colossal palm, perhaps the True Immortals would have united to resist. But with the precursor of Dao Annihilation, the swirling dark energy representing the World-Ending Calamity... The True Immortals below, even the Nameless True Immortals, scattered in a panic like ants. They showed no intention of resisting! Thus, the gathering of immortals was dispersed by Li Fan's single palm strike!

Only the Cone Dao, which had trapped the Holy Merchant Lord, seemed to hold its ground, not dispersing. But before the magnificent colossal palm, the "cone" only lasted for three breaths before being shattered. To Li Fan's surprise, although the blockade was broken, the Cone Dao itself did not dissipate. Instead, it was like a sharp cone, deeply embedding itself into Li Fan's colossal palm, or rather, into the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm!

Sensing the foreign intrusion, Ink Kill arrived instantly, intending to erode and transform it. The Cone Dao was still within the Mountains and Seas, so it naturally could not escape Ink Kill's erosion. However, Ink Kill's absorption speed was unprecedentedly slow. It was like a stubbornly hard and stinky rock; although it could be gnawed, it would cost a few teeth!

"This Dao is truly interesting." Li Fan was not angry, but pleased. He had thought he knew all True Immortals in the primal realm. He didn't expect to encounter such a surprise today. Driven by his will, Ink Kill further intensified its erosion. The Dao-one bugs also seized the opportunity to divide; one portion continued to learn and evolve Ink Kill, while another jointly eroded the Cone Dao embedded in the cosmos. Li Fan also used this opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the Cone Dao.

This immortal had almost pushed the concept of "no room to stand a cone" to its extreme, completely isolating himself from the outside world. Clearly, there was a close connection between the individual and the original possibility they resided in. But with this Cone Immortal, it was as if different possibilities separated them, like an unfathomable chasm existed.

"No wonder it's so difficult to assimilate.""To touch him is almost equivalent to performing a single traversal."

Through the absorption and transformation by the Dao-one bugs and Ink Kill, the gaps created by the Cone Dao were rapidly shrinking. Li Fan also vaguely caught sight of the Cone Immortal. A small, thin figure stood alone, appearing to be only a five or six-year-old child, silently watching Li Fan from afar. The closer he got, the more Li Fan felt the other's rejection.