Chapter 865: Yellow Springs Billions of Souls

Li Fan pondered for a moment, then placed another layer of seven-colored divine light seal outside the storage ring. With these triple restrictions in place, the faint sense of crisis that had lingered in his mind slowly receded.

"It seems the calamity might not be confined to the Xuanhuang Realm alone," he mused. "After the Immortal Path was severed, a great catastrophe swept across all realms."

He casually placed this dangerous sealed item into his personal grotto-heaven for suppression. Li Fan then turned to Tian Yang and asked, "How do you feel now?"

Tian Yang flew to Li Fan's side, sensed for a moment, then nodded. "That gnawing sensation has indeed lessened," he said, "but it doesn't seem to have disappeared completely."

Li Fan, meanwhile, bent down and touched the grey soil with his hand again. The scorching pain persisted, and his palm turned charred black in moments. Before the black spots could spread, Li Fan skillfully severed his palm. It fell to the ground, disintegrating into ash.

Even though Li Fan had suppressed the culprit, the strange condition of the Yin Soul Realm remained unchanged.

"This is..."

"Have the fundamental laws of this world been completely altered?"

After a moment's reflection, Li Fan was struck by a chilling realization. "If the Immortal-Mortal Miasma is specifically designed to target cultivators, then this grey mold must be intended to infect entire worlds. The Yin Soul Realm, in its current state, is the corpse of a world. What kind of deranged individual would go to such lengths to develop something like this?"

A flicker of interest appeared in Li Fan's eyes. "In my 115th life, only a little over two decades passed between this point in time and the Immortal Alliance exploration team's arrival. What could have happened to give birth to these ghost-like soul bodies in such a desolate land?"

"No, wait." Li Fan suddenly froze.

The previous investigation team had concluded that the immense number of Realm-Shattering Whales outside the realm were nourished by the countless soul bodies within the Yin Soul Realm. But if no soul bodies are appearing now, where did all those Realm-Shattering Whales come from that they observed before?

Uncovering the answer to this question would not be difficult. Li Fan and Tian Yang stayed in the Yin Soul Realm for another three months. They remained hidden, concealing their auras, and waited in secret. Their goal was to ascertain whether the Realm-Shattering Whales habitually came to the Yin Soul Realm to "forage."

Their patience eventually paid off. One day, just as Li Fan was beginning to grow impatient, several distant calls echoed through the air. Approximately a dozen Realm-Shattering Whales pierced through the void and appeared above the Yin Soul Realm. Compared to typical Realm-Shattering Whales, these were notably larger and more robust.

They seemed to sense the danger here, as they were not as unrestrained as they were in the void outside the realm. Instead, they cautiously glided through the air, following a specific pattern, proceeding towards a certain location in the Yin Soul Realm. Li Fan and Tian Yang quietly followed.

The Realm-Shattering Whales halted at a location on the edge of the Yin Soul Realm, a place Li Fan and Tian Yang had previously scouted and found nothing unusual. Led by a seemingly experienced Realm-Shattering Whale, one of them aimed directly at a specific spot on the grey soil and plunged headfirst into it. The leading Realm-Shattering Whale vanished instantly, and the others followed suit. However, the traversable area didn't seem particularly wide; three out of the ten whales collided directly with the grey soil because they failed to pinpoint the exact location. There was no violent collision sound. Instead, black spots rapidly consumed them, transforming them into scattered patches of grey dust on the ground.

Li Fan arrived at the spot where the Realm-Shattering Whales disappeared, feeling a bit hesitant.

"Senior Brother, I'll go first," Tian Yang volunteered.

Li Fan nodded, and Tian Yang, without a moment's hesitation, flew into the opening. Li Fan, however, did not rush in, choosing to wait patiently outside the entrance.

Not long after, Tian Yang returned. A rare expression of shock was visible on his normally stoic face. Only when Tian Yang transmitted the images did Li Fan understand what was hidden within.

It was a surging yellow river, winding and flowing in a continuous loop. Countless soul bodies floated on the yellow river, old and young. They wore various garments, but all had their eyes tightly closed, seemingly in a deep slumber. It was unclear how long they had been immersed in the yellow river, but the soul bodies themselves had undergone bizarre transformations. Their lower halves were no longer human-like; instead of legs, countless root-like tendrils branched out. These were deeply embedded in the yellow river. It seemed that by doing so, they could avoid being swept away and disintegrated by the river's flow.

The few Realm-Shattering Whales that had slipped in behaved as if they had stumbled upon an abundant feast. Excited, they began to gorge themselves. With a single long inhalation, they swallowed thousands of soul bodies. After consuming the soul bodies steeped in the yellow river, the Realm-Shattering Whales underwent a remarkably rapid physical transformation. They expanded noticeably almost instantly, and something appeared to be gestating within their bellies.

Billions of soul bodies floated densely in the yellow river. Even with all seven Realm-Shattering Whales completely sated, the soul bodies they had consumed represented only a minuscule fraction of the total. After they departed, satisfied, Li Fan, protected by the seven-colored divine light, entered the yellow river.

Even after witnessing countless floating, frozen corpses within the Grand Array of Reversing Life and Death, Li Fan still felt a chill down his spine as he now faced the hundreds of millions of humanoid, yet inhuman, soul bodies in the river. Especially the "root-like tendrils" of these soul bodies' lower halves, which were sometimes layered and intertwined. This resulted in large clusters of closed-eyed human faces, all distorted and pressed together. They resembled hideous and terrifying spheres made of countless faces.

"Senior Brother, this place..." Tian Yang's voice transmission also carried a hint of trepidation.

Li Fan glided through the yellow river, brushing past countless soul bodies. Protected by the seven-colored divine light, he felt no discomfort beyond a slight sense of nausea. This yellow river was significantly larger than the entire Yin Soul Realm. After surveying it, Li Fan vaguely understood the cause of this peculiar phenomenon.

"The Heavenly Dao of the Yin Soul Realm has mutated due to the erosion of the grey mold," he deduced. "Fire is like ice, and life is like ashes. Yet, here, vitality suddenly appears. This is precisely because this place was originally the Yin Soul Realm's nexus of death."

Li Fan observed that as the yellow river completed its circuit, slowly, inexplicable factors in the river were washed together, gradually forming blurry humanoid shapes. As the water flowed ceaselessly, these nascent soul bodies became increasingly distinct, until they fully formed complete human figures.

"Under the normal operation of a world's Great Dao, these newly formed soul bodies would perhaps be reincarnated into the human realm. But the Yin Soul Realm itself is already dead, so the cycle of life and death no longer exists. For many years, these newly born souls have been continuously produced and accumulated here."

Having personally witnessed the full scope of the Grand Array of Reversing Life and Death and gained some understanding of the principles of life and death, Li Fan now comprehended the reason for this bizarre phenomenon.