Chapter 18: Deep Abyss Relies on Fish Leaping

Li Fan no longer cared what Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi’s reaction would be when they returned to the cultivation world and discovered they practiced the same cultivation method.

By now, he had taken care of everything. Piloting the Taiyan Boat, he arrived above the Abyss of Ruins.

Normally, he should have waited for the day the white mist dispersed, which occurred every fifteen years, before exploring the Abyss of Ruins. However, Li Fan was now 71 years old, and the next mist dispersal was still 14 years away. By then, he would be 85, his lifespan nearing its end. He would struggle to even walk, let alone pilot the Taiyan Boat. Therefore, it was better to explore the true nature of the Celestial Severance Formation sooner. He had nothing left to cling to in this life anyway and could start his next life at any time.

Controlling the Taiyan Boat, Li Fan slowly descended towards the bottom of the Abyss of Ruins. Without divine sense to scout, he could only rely on his sight for direction. Enveloped by dense mist, everything around him was a uniform white, giving Li Fan an extremely surreal feeling. The surroundings were also extremely quiet; only his own breathing could be heard. With his attention highly focused, he continued to descend.

Suddenly, as if it had struck something, the Taiyan Boat began to shake violently. Li Fan immediately tensed. Seemingly squeezed by an invisible immense force, intermittent sounds like metal scraping emanated from outside the Taiyan Boat. Fortunately, the defensive formation activated in time, enveloping the Taiyan Boat in a faint golden light barrier. The boat gradually stabilized, and the somewhat chilling strange noises vanished. Only the constantly twisting and shifting protective light barrier indicated the terrifying external pressure.

"Past the Gale Wind Layer, next is the Illusionary Light Layer," Li Fan mused, recalling Kou Hong's earlier description of the Celestial Severance Formation. The Celestial Severance Formation was primarily designed to prevent banished mortals from returning to the cultivation world.

The Gale Wind Layer was filled with powerful winds. Wind blades could easily tear through mortal bodies, and even Foundation Establishment cultivators needed to use spiritual energy for protection and proceed with caution.

Below the Gale Wind Layer was the Illusionary Light Layer. Seven-colored radiance, like flowing silk, flowed everywhere in this layer of the abyss. Upon seeing it, mortals would fall into endless illusions.

Below the Illusionary Light Layer was the Inversion Layer. Upon entering this layer, one would feel the world transform, unable to distinguish up, down, left, or right. Coupled with the uniform white mist everywhere and no divine sense to guide them, they would inevitably get lost.

After the Inversion Layer was the Meteorite Layer. Tens of thousands of flying stars and meteors flew at high speeds with no discernible pattern in this layer, shattering everything in their path. With dense white mist as cover, it was difficult to guard against them.

Below the Meteorite Layer was the Profound Ice Layer. Starting from this layer, the dense mist gradually thinned. The Profound Ice Layer contained nothing else but extremely low temperatures. Without corresponding protective measures, one would likely be frozen solid upon entering.

Below the Profound Ice Layer was the Thunderstorm Layer. Tens of thousands of destructive lightning bolts roared ceaselessly in this layer of the abyss.

Finally, there was a vast, empty space, several times larger than the previous six layers combined. According to Kou Hong, this layer held no particular dangers; it was merely darkness, yet it unsettlingly made one's heart palpitate. Passing through the Darkness Layer, one could leave the Celestial Severance Formation and reach the cultivation world.

Li Fan carefully controlled the Taiyan Boat, spending half an hour to finally traverse the Gale Wind Layer. Upon entering the Illusionary Light Layer, under the illumination of the flowing light everywhere, Li Fan fell into layer upon layer of illusions.

In the illusion, he successfully escaped the Celestial Severance Formation, and after reaching the cultivation world, he chanced upon a rare cultivation method. In just a century, he formed his Golden Core. His cultivation path thereafter was smooth. After a thousand years, he attained Dao and ascended. Upon reaching the Immortal Realm, Li Fan cultivated step by step from the lowest-ranking immortal official, eventually becoming an Immortal Emperor who looked down upon the entire realm. Subsequently, Li Fan broke through the spatial barrier of the Immortal Realm and ascended to the Divine Realm. Starting as a miner in the Divine Realm, after tens of thousands of years, Li Fan cultivated to the Divine King realm, becoming the most formidable existence in the Divine Realm. After that, Li Fan endured immense hardship and ascended to the Primordial Divine Realm, becoming a low-level gatekeeper there. He then painstakingly started all over again. This nesting continued for an unknown number of layers...

Finally, the illusion collapsed. Li Fan awoke, and all his previous experiences in the illusion rapidly receded from his mind like an ebbing tide, leaving only faint traces. Somewhat speechless about his ordeal in the illusion, Li Fan composed himself and continued his descent.

His brain spun with dizziness, and he immediately lost his sense of direction. Li Fan knew he had reached the Inversion Layer. Surrounded by endless white mist, the Taiyan Boat was like a drop in a vast ocean, unsure of its orientation or direction. He had thought his exploration of the formation in this life would end here, but Li Fan was surprised to find a faint intuition emanating from the Taiyan Boat, guiding him on where to go. Following the Taiyan Boat's guidance, it didn't take long before he left the Inversion Layer.

Next, having tasted success, Li Fan didn't deliberately control the boat at all, merely providing power and letting the Taiyan Boat fly on its own through the Celestial Severance Formation. The Meteorite Layer, Profound Ice Layer, Thunderstorm Layer... these layers seemed extremely perilous, but the Taiyan Boat's unhurried flight always managed to narrowly avoid one destructive crisis after another. With surprises but no true danger along the way, Li Fan thus smoothly arrived at the final layer, the Darkness Layer.

"That's right," Li Fan suddenly realized, immensely surprised, "the Taiyan Boat was specifically designed to transport mortals a thousand years ago. The Great Migration era lasted for centuries, so this flying boat surely didn't just make one round trip. Judging by its state of disrepair, it's possible that the migration work didn't stop for a century. The cultivators responsible for this must have found manually piloting it each time too tiresome, thus leaving a hidden mechanism within the Taiyan Boat to allow it to automatically pass through the Celestial Severance Formation." He finally understood why his journey had been unexpectedly smooth.

The Taiyan Boat quietly moved forward in the utter darkness. Thinking that the cultivation world he had longed for for a century was not far ahead, even with Li Fan's usual composure, he couldn't help but feel excited at this moment.

Suddenly, in the utterly silent darkness, a desolate, ancient, distant, and profound cry inexplicably rang out. This strange sound instantly permeated the entire Darkness Layer, continuously echoing within it. Li Fan's heart instantly stopped, as if he had encountered some kind of natural predator, and the blood in his entire body turned cold in an instant. The cries grew closer, and in a blink, seemed to surround the small Taiyan Boat, coming from all directions.

Suddenly, the sound vanished. Silence returned. The surroundings were still pitch black, but it felt as if this darkness was different from before. Li Fan instantly felt a chill run down his spine. He knew the Taiyan Boat had been swallowed by some entity.

Bang!

The Taiyan Boat's protective light shield shattered instantly, and the boat itself began to disintegrate. The charging progress plummeted at this instant.

Taking one last deep look at the external darkness, Li Fan silently recited: "Revert to True!"