Chapter 974: Dark Gold Glazed Lotus

Hearing Lin Ling’s fervent assurances, Li Fan’s consciousness instantly locked onto Daoist child Liuli, who was in the Spirit Wood Realm.

He saw her at that moment, eyes wide, standing before a Heaven and Earth Furnace, her gaze full of curiosity.

“Just like the Seven-Colored Jade Void Flowing Light, it’s a world-tier golden glow. This little thing is truly extraordinary.”

“With such an innocent and harmless appearance, even I almost overlooked it.”

Li Fan could naturally discern whether Lin Ling was lying.

With a thought, an invisible pair of hands seemed to emerge from the Spirit Wood Realm, instantly seizing Daoist child Liuli and bringing her before Li Fan.

Liuli felt a blur before her eyes, and the scenery instantly changed.

Upon seeing Li Fan’s face, a trace of panic flashed in her eyes. She wanted to say something, her lips moving, but no sound emerged.

“I heard Zhong Shentong say that when you were just fished out of the fishing pond, you were merely a transparent, glass-like fruit.”

“Since you can manifest golden light, this fruit of yours must be a greatly nourishing item.”

Li Fan showed no intention of asking questions. Instead, he continuously formed hand seals with both hands, setting up a formation around Liuli that resembled an alchemy furnace.

Feeling the intense heat from her surroundings, Daoist child Liuli’s face turned pale. She waved her pale pink arms, desperately trying to explain something.

However, Li Fan completely ignored her, as if he intended to refine Liuli on the spot and then devour her.

The immense surrounding pressure soon rendered Liuli immobile. As if tightly bound by ropes, she floated rigidly in the air.

Observing Daoist child Liuli, who seemed utterly powerless to resist, Li Fan narrowed his eyes and continued to intensify the formation’s output.

Within the alchemy furnace formation, nine crimson fire dragons materialized. Emitting roars, they simultaneously blasted dazzling flames towards the bound Liuli.

Behind Li Fan, Lin Ling, witnessing this scene, felt a chill in her heart and her body trembled uncontrollably.

She hadn’t expected her master to act without a word, without even a single question, and immediately roast Liuli!

Such decisive and ruthless action made her realize that if he truly wanted to kill her, he wouldn’t hesitate in the slightest.

From then on, Lin Ling no longer dared to harbor any disloyal thoughts.

However, within the formation furnace, Daoist child Liuli did not dissipate in the flames as Lin Ling had imagined.

From her body, bursts of dark golden light suddenly erupted, warding off the flames.

No matter how Li Fan activated the formation, he still couldn't break through the dark golden light's defense.

Li Fan let out a soft snort and continued to draw in the surrounding spiritual energy, ceaselessly generating molten fire to roast Liuli.

He wasn't actually trying to suppress and kill Liuli, but rather using this "boiling a frog slowly" method to force out her true form.

Inside the formation furnace, the two forces continuously clashed and held each other in a stalemate.

Releasing dark golden light to protect herself seemed to place a significant burden on Liuli. Her eyes slowly closed, and her body gradually curled up, like an infant bending and hugging her knees. She appeared to fall into a deep slumber.

However, the surrounding dark golden light became increasingly stable.

Around Daoist child Liuli, a six-petaled lotus flower materialized!

Once the Liuli Lotus formed, the flames sprayed by the nine fire dragons could no longer threaten it in the slightest. They were easily fended off outside the Liuli Lotus; no matter how the flames raged, the Liuli Lotus remained completely unmoving.

“This is…”

Within the Xuanhuang Realm, such an object seemed not to exist. Even the Heavenly Physician Immortal Sutra contained no record of it.

It must have originated from another cultivation realm.

“Six petals must only represent its juvenile state.” As he carefully observed the Liuli Lotus within the flames, Li Fan suddenly had a realization.

His goal achieved, Li Fan withdrew his divine ability.

The nine fire dragons vanished instantly, but Daoist child Liuli remained bound.

Li Fan narrowed his eyes, and his voice, like thunder, continuously echoed through the space: “Do you think I can’t harm you just because you have this broken lotus for protection?”

“That would be underestimating us cultivators of the Xuanhuang Realm too much!”

With these words, Li Fan released a seven-colored divine light.

Enveloped within the divine light was a small piece of gray mold.

There were originally two pieces of gray mold cultivated through division; the larger one had been used against the transmitter Jiang.

Although the remaining piece was smaller, its natural corrosive ability towards worlds was not weakened in the slightest. The moment it appeared, even enveloped in seven-colored divine light, the Liuli Lotus sensed an extreme crisis!

Liuli’s body trembled uncontrollably, and the six-petaled lotus protecting her also shimmered with constantly shifting dark golden light.

In an instant, amidst the changes, a new petal seemed poised to emerge.

The seven-colored divine light was about to collide with the Liuli Lotus, and the gray mold was on the verge of being released.

Just then, a clear, cold female voice suddenly rang out in Li Fan’s mind: “Wait!”

The seven-colored divine light stopped instantly.

“I didn’t expect this world would also be affected by the Mei-Zi Jue…”

“Mei-Zi Jue…” Li Fan’s heart stirred, but he remained calm on the surface. “Please reveal yourself, fellow Daoist!”

The clear, cold female voice no longer hid. The Liuli Lotus slowly bloomed, and a translucent, dark golden human figure appeared before Li Fan.

Even though her appearance was indistinct and unclear within the golden light.

Yet the emperor-like aura emanating from her still, to some extent, revealed her identity.

“Greetings, fellow Daoist of the Xuanhuang Realm!”

“Fellow Daoist, you infiltrated my Xuanhuang Realm with ulterior motives,” Li Fan said, his gaze sweeping over the golden figure. For a moment, he couldn’t quite ascertain the other party’s strength.

She had lost her human body and existed only as an energy form. By conventional wisdom, this should indicate severe injury and a last resort. Yet, Li Fan sensed no weakness from this golden figure; instead, there was an abundance of vibrant life.

Resilient and powerful.

The golden figure said apologetically, “It was not that I deliberately concealed myself; rather, I had no choice.”

Without waiting for Li Fan to ask, she continued to explain: “Any cultivation realm still surviving in the Fallen Star Sea harbors extreme hostility towards outsiders. In my current state, if I were to reveal my identity directly, I fear I wouldn’t survive for long.”

“Fallen Star Sea’?” Li Fan tilted his head slightly and asked tentatively.

“It is the collective name for all star regions affected by the Immortal Ruins.”

As if realizing something, the golden figure quickly added, “Each cultivation realm calls it something different…”

“I see,” Li Fan interjected promptly. “We cultivators of the Xuanhuang Realm call it the Darkest Star Sea.”

“Darkest’…” The golden figure was silent for a moment, then sighed softly. “Indeed, the name is quite fitting.”

“Fellow Daoist, what is your name, and where are you from? Why were you in the fishing pond? Most importantly, did you cause the fishing pond’s disappearance?” Li Fan hurled one question after another, his tone and expression gradually turning cold.