Chapter 1578: Heavenly Book Destroys Guangwu

The Xuanhuang Immortal Ship arrived at the Guangwu Star Sea.

This created a tremendous stir! The rapid impact of this colossal immortal ship, which appeared suddenly and without warning, caused the entire starry sky to tremble violently.

In an instant, dozens of luminous streaks shot forth from the depths of the Guangwu Star Sea to investigate. The aura emanating from each appearing figure was no different from that of a True Immortal!

“In the previous life, Zi Yi leveled the Guangwu Star Sea, leaving behind over three hundred True Immortal Purple Talismans. There were also numerous Nameless Ones guarding the dam.”

“Within the Xuanhuang Realm, however, there were only ninety-nine True Immortals. But…”

“The advantage is with me!”

Li Fan waved his hand, and a radiant barrier instantly rose along the boundary of the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm, directly separating this small space from the Guangwu Star Sea. The Guangwu True Immortals who came to investigate flew to the edge of this barrier, but they were as if encountering an insurmountable chasm, unable to advance even a single step.

At the same time, within the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm, ninety-nine Dao-integration cultivators flew out in unison, confronting the Guangwu True Immortals head-on. Without a single wasted word, they unleashed their full-force killing moves from the outset.

Xuanhuang Dao-integration cultivators, leveraging the power of the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm and the infinite connection of the Four Heavenly Gates, achieved the Immortal realm. Their true strength, however, was somewhat weaker than that of genuine Immortals, especially when they left the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm. But at Li Fan's signal, the Xuanhuang Immortal Ship suddenly burst forth with endless radiant illusions. In an instant, the battlefield of Immortals was enveloped, making it seem as if the Xuanhuang cultivators were fighting on home ground. The Guangwu True Immortals, on the other hand, were suppressed by the Xuanhuang Heaven and Earth.

With the balance of power shifting and the Xuanhuang side outnumbering the Guangwu, the battle had little suspense. After ascending to the Immortal realm, it was generally not easy to be killed or subdued. Usually, even if one couldn't win, they could escape and preserve their life. However, every Xuanhuang Dao-integration cultivator wielded an Immortal-Binding Lock bestowed by the Xuanhuang Saint Venerable. Once subdued by the Immortal-Binding Lock, even a True Immortal would instantly become like a mortal, losing all their divine abilities and magical power. Therefore, this initial clash was easily won by the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm with almost no effort.

At Li Fan's signal, this first group of captured Guangwu True Immortals were all imprisoned within a nine-story exquisite Xuanhuang Pagoda, manifested from the Heavens Beyond Heavens. Once all prisoners were confined, the pagoda gates slammed shut. A moment later, the Xuanhuang Pagoda began to emit a large amount of Xuanhuang Qi outwards. Half of this Xuanhuang Qi dissipated into the heavens and earth. The other half flew directly towards the Dao-integration cultivators. As the Xuanhuang Qi entered their bodies, the cultivators immediately experienced the cultivation memories and enlightenment insights of True Immortals flooding into their minds! Although not complete, they were scattered fragments. For these cultivators, who had just entered the Immortal realm, it was undoubtedly a great boon.

“Thank you, Saint Venerable, for your benevolence!” they sincerely and reverently expressed their gratitude. Following the Saint Venerable's instructions, they seized the time to digest the gains bestowed by the Xuanhuang Pagoda.

The so-called Immortal-Binding Rope, at its core, was actually a simple treasure refined with the power of Wuji (Infinity) combined with various immortal formations. Although its refining method was relatively simple, even crude, its power level was so high that it inherently restrained ordinary True Immortals. Inside the exquisite Xuanhuang Pagoda, however, were countless Ink Killers and Dao-One Worms. Once a True Immortal was imprisoned within, the Ink Killers and Dao-One Worms would devour them, feeding their True Immortal foundations back to the outside world.

“This is what is called ‘war nourishing war’.”

The nourishment from over thirty True Immortals was now merely of little consequence for the current Xuanhuang Immortal Realm. After suffering such immense losses all at once, the Guangwu Star Sea side was clearly somewhat bewildered. There was no further movement for a long time. They didn't even send anyone to probe. However, it was obvious that they would not simply let the matter rest.

Li Fan also used this time to activate the Xuanhuang Immortal Ship's anchors, endeavoring to root it as firmly as possible within the Guangwu Star Sea. While referred to as anchoring, it effectively meant the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm was converting the spatial regions originally belonging to the Guangwu Star Sea for its own use. At the edges of the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm, countless invisible Dao-One Worms flew out frantically, devouring everything in the external environment. These Dao-One Worms were like a living Xuanhuang boundary. At a speed visible to the naked eye, a layer of gray 'armor' appeared on the exterior of the Xuanhuang Immortal Ship.

“The Immortal Ship requires further refining to reach a perfect state. These are the materials needed for its refinement.”

“Of course, these alone are far from enough.”

In the Heavens Beyond Heavens, above the Xuanhuang Pagoda, a colossal transparent furnace reappeared, visible only to Li Fan. With a gentle gesture, the furnace instantly expanded outwards, enveloping the entire Xuanhuang Immortal Ship. With a flash of yellow light, Pipa leaped onto the top of the furnace, protecting the Immortal Ship completely. The wisps of Xuanhuang Qi released by the Xuanhuang Pagoda and the starry sky devoured by the Dao-One Worms outside converged and merged within the furnace. They transformed into streams of ethereal mist, drifting towards the Xuanhuang Immortal Ship, specifically targeting the numerous vulnerabilities revealed within the Dao Anomaly.

While overseeing the refinement, Li Fan's gaze occasionally drifted towards the depths of the Guangwu Star Sea.

“No movement for such a long time…”

“They are likely not afraid, but rather aiming to achieve complete victory in one decisive battle.”

Just as Li Fan had predicted. After more than half a day of calm, a streak of light swiftly darted from within the Guangwu Star Sea. In an instant, it reached the Xuanhuang boundary, beyond the surging light barrier. The streak of light paused, revealing its true form within. It was a seemingly unremarkable pearl.

“As expected, it’s you, the Dao-Epoch Projection Orb!”

As this thought flashed through Li Fan's mind, endless light and shadow erupted, displaying all the Dao techniques and divine abilities ever used by all beings across all possibilities, from the ancient past to the eternal future. Brilliant, dazzling radiance enveloped the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm. At this moment, with the Dao-Epoch Projection Orb in full eruption, it could even easily obliterate an entire possibility!

However, since Li Fan already knew of the Dao-Epoch Projection Orb's existence, how could he not take precautions?

“Though divine abilities are vast, one ship can navigate them.”

Facing the siege of divine ability projections from countless different prodigies, Li Fan's expression remained unchanged. Calm and composed, he watched as the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm was ferociously struck by countless projections simultaneously. Just like when it previously sailed into the Dao Anomaly, the Xuanhuang Heaven and Earth began to vibrate violently. This time, it wasn't a massive, intense tremor, but rather as if struck simultaneously by billions of hailstones. Tiny yet dense whistling sounds of explosions, accompanied by occasional colossal roars, filled the air. The entire heaven and earth were engulfed by these tumultuous noises. It was like being caught in a torrential downpour.

The Xuanhuang Immortal Ship inevitably sustained damage. However, with the blessings of the Eternal Grand Dao and Li Fan's Heaven-Sitting Art feedback projections, all damage lasted only for a moment before being swiftly repaired. Not only that, the 'imprints' left by these Dao techniques and divine abilities upon striking the Xuanhuang Realm were also recorded by the colossal furnace enveloping the heavens and earth. The more powerful the divine ability or spell, the deeper the damage inflicted on the Xuanhuang Realm, and the clearer the imprint left behind. Thus, the easier they were to replicate.

As Li Fan casually pointed, in the Heavens Beyond Heavens, besides the scroll inscribed with countless names (the Investiture of the Gods), another long scroll slowly materialized. It was as if countless brushes were furiously writing on the long scroll. All the divine abilities recorded within the Dao-Epoch Projection Orb were replicated onto this scroll.

“The Dao-Epoch Projection can only be used once.”

“But my Myriad Dao Heavenly Scroll can be used repeatedly.”

Li Fan extended his hand, and a phantom image of the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm floated from his palm towards the scroll. What was originally just a recorded illusory image quickly solidified after absorbing the Xuanhuang phantom. Occasional flashes of lightning streaked across it, emitting an extremely dangerous aura.

The divine abilities contained within the Dao-Epoch Projection Orb were not inexhaustible. After pouring down like a torrential rain for three full years, they finally ran out. And when the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm emerged perfectly intact from the light and shadow that had engulfed it, the Guangwu Star Sea side fell into complete silence.

And before they could even react, a Heavenly Scroll gracefully drifted into view. The Heavenly Scroll stretched for billions of miles, seemingly encompassing the entire Guangwu Star Sea. After a flash of radiance, endless phantom divine abilities surged forth from it. Like a torrential downpour, they instantly submerged the Guangwu Star Sea.

“To use their own methods against them!”

Li Fan chuckled, then crushed another Xuanhuang phantom in his palm and threw out another Heavenly Scroll! The torrential rain grew even denser, a pitch-black expanse completely obscuring the original appearance of the Guangwu Star Sea. Occasionally, a ripple of aura would appear, seemingly struggling to break free from the divine ability projections. Li Fan would immediately supplement it with another Heavenly Scroll. After nine consecutive Heavenly Scrolls struck, the Guangwu Star Sea was utterly devoid of any aura of resistance. This continuous downpour of divine abilities lasted for twenty years.

When Li Fan finally retracted his divine abilities, the Guangwu Star Sea was a scene of utter devastation. Life was gone, filled with an aura of deathly stillness and destruction. Everywhere were broken walls and ruined structures; even the few sky pillars that still stood were heavily scarred.

With a thought from Li Fan, the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm cultivators, who had been eager for action, swarmed out to clear and clean up the battlefield. In the current state of the Guangwu Star Sea, even if any Nameless Ones survived, they would certainly be severely wounded and on the verge of death. It would not be difficult for the Xuanhuang cultivators to subdue them.

Li Fan paid no attention to these minor matters and headed directly for the dam in the Guangwu Star Sea. As expected, the middle-aged man he had once met, presumed to be the leader of the Guangwu Star Sea, also appeared disheveled and staggered, having fled to this location. Sensing Li Fan behind him, the middle-aged man's eyes showed resentment: “We had no prior grievances, so why did you resort to such deadly force?”

“To possess treasures is already a primordial sin. To hold supreme treasures and not use them is an even greater offense, a squandering of divine gifts!” Li Fan uttered this statement indifferently. He didn't even bother to ask the other's name, casually subduing the middle-aged man.

“After all, he is also a Nameless One; cannot waste him.”

“Let me see, his Dao is 'Restoration'.”

“Heh…”

Li Fan shook his head, completely unconcerned. He then focused his attention on the severely damaged center of the Guangwu Star Sea dam. The impact of the nine Heavenly Scrolls seemed to have no effect whatsoever on the Dao Anomaly gathered there. In fact, the increasingly intense fluctuations of Dao magic only made the Dao Anomaly more active.

“I don't sense the aura of that Transcendent Remnant.”

“Even the Rat Emperor isn't here.”

“It's hard to say about the Rat Emperor, but judging from the expression Restoration showed just before his death, the Transcendent Remnant should have already been salvaged by them at this point.”

“The reason it's not here…”

“Most likely, it has been put back into the Mountains and Seas to lure other drifting anomalies.”

Li Fan once again carefully sensed the Guangwu dam. Sure enough, among the surviving sky pillars surrounding it, he found faint, elusive connections, like threads extending into the central Dao Anomaly.

“If not for my previous experience crossing the Dao Anomaly, I truly would have had difficulty discovering these threads.”

“They must also have been forged from Transcendent beings, or the remnants of powerful individuals who failed to transcend.”

After a period of assessment, Li Fan reached out and gathered these threads into his hand. Then, with a gentle tug… the other end of the threads remained completely motionless. Li Fan wasn't embarrassed; he threw these threads into the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm. Dense swarms of Dao-One Worms were responsible for connecting the threads to the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm. Then, amidst the rumbling of heaven and earth, with the power of the entire Xuanhuang Heaven and Earth, the threads were finally slowly dragged. But in an instant, Li Fan felt a tremendous resisting force from the other end of the threads.

Li Fan's eyes narrowed, and he instantly crushed dozens of Xuanhuang Immortal Realm phantoms. With his power surging, the Xuanhuang Immortal Ship exerted immense force, violently pulling out what was beneath the dam, within the Dao Anomaly vortex! It was precisely the Mountains and Seas Lone Sail Remnant, which Li Fan had seen once before. However, compared to what he had seen previously, this corpse was more complete.

This was the second Transcendent powerhouse Li Fan had encountered, besides Xie Subai. Even though the other party had already fallen, Li Fan dared not be careless in the slightest. Furthermore, another object was attached to its body. A black box, neither jade nor metal, was affixed to the head of the Transcendent Remnant. The part where the two connected seemed to have merged into one. It looked extremely bizarre, as if a person had grown a black box for a head.

“In the previous life, I hadn't seen this thing.”

Li Fan wasn't sure if his preemptive salvage had altered anything. But no matter what the black box contained, with the Transcendent Remnant before him, Li Fan absolutely could not let go. Because he, rarely, once again felt the stirrings of Huar Zhen.

“Hungry…”

This was the faint ripple transmitted by Huar Zhen. In the previous life, upon seeing the Mountains and Seas Lone Sail within this Transcendent Remnant, Huar Zhen had subtly displayed a desire to devour it. Now seeing it again, even though it was in a deep slumber, it still conveyed a message to Li Fan.

“Perhaps, if Huar Zhen could devour it, it might awaken from its slumber.”

This thought flashed through Li Fan's mind, and he no longer hesitated. He directly released the Ink Killer to probe. Rolling dark clouds enveloped the Transcendent Remnant and the black box. However, the Ink Killer, which had always been effective, suddenly hit a wall. It was as if it had bitten directly into a steel plate; although the Ink Killer could devour, its consumption speed was… And it consumed a tremendous amount. With little progress in devouring, the Ink Killer's dark cloud itself was first consumed by more than half. It was akin to killing one hundred enemies while losing eight thousand of one's own. This was a situation that had never occurred before.

“As expected of an existence capable of drifting in the Mountains and Seas Dao Anomaly until now.”