Chapter 975: Worldly True Immortal Secrets

"Did I cause the anomaly in the fishing pond? Friend, you give me too much credit."

The golden figure first scoffed at herself, then began her introduction: "My true name is Daoist Baihua, and I was once the Sect Master of the Heavenly Lotus Sect in the Myriad Prosperity Realm... However, that was thousands of years ago."

Daoist Baihua's tone grew somewhat somber: "Back then, the character 'Mei' (没) suddenly erupted, sweeping across all realms. Although the Myriad Prosperity Realm resisted with all its might, it still couldn't stop its spread. In our helplessness, we had no choice but to abandon our realm and flee. We originally hoped to find a safe haven, but we didn't expect... Everywhere we went, it was a scene of apocalypse."

Daoist Baihua's golden figure flickered slightly, as if stirred by a gentle breeze, revealing her profound inner turmoil. Even after all this time, whenever she recalled those past events, her heart would still be deeply stirred.

"The calamities each realm faced were not the same. In the starfield around our Myriad Prosperity Realm, the gray mold spread like a surging ocean, engulfing everything. In other worlds, twisted creations appeared, completely destroying themselves in endless self-slaughter, like a bloody purgatory."

"If it were just these things, perhaps we could have found a glimmer of hope by running far enough. But..."

"Within the Immortal Ruins, there is a True Immortal," Li Fan said quietly at this moment.

Daoist Baihua glanced at Li Fan and nodded slightly.

"Outside the Sinking Starfield, there is an invisible barrier preventing us from leaving. And within the Sinking Starfield, a True Immortal comprehended the Dao through the 'Ji' (饥) character, disregarding the lives and deaths of all beings..."

"Hmm? Wait. You just said a True Immortal comprehended the Dao through the 'Ji' character? What does that mean?" Li Fan's eyes flashed as he asked. "Aren't True Immortals suppressed by the 'Ji' character?" Li Fan voiced his confusion.

Daoist Baihua was momentarily stunned, then realized: "It seems my fellow Daoist from the Xuanhuang Realm doesn't know much about True Immortals, hence a slight misunderstanding. According to the research of the surviving cultivators from various immortal realms back then, the immortal seal characters like 'Ji' (饥), 'Luan' (乱), 'Mei' (没), and others that caused the calamity in our starfield, should all be from the hand of one True Immortal."

"This True Immortal possesses supreme power to manifest the laws of the world into characters. With just a few strokes, they could easily destroy a region and countless cultivation worlds."

"So, all the calamities we suffered were caused by this True Immortal?" Li Fan asked in a low voice, his eyes flickering.

Daoist Baihua unexpectedly shook her head in denial: "Didn't I just say? If that True Immortal had truly acted, our starfield would have been instantly annihilated. The 'Ji' (饥) and 'Luan' (乱) characters that erupted during the calamity, though they also brought boundless destructive disaster, are not comparable to the methods of a True Immortal."

"Then what was it...?" Li Fan paused slightly, then immediately thought of something. "An imitation?"

"Precisely. The surviving cultivators from various realms back then, after synthesizing all the records about True Immortals passed down in their respective worlds, uniformly arrived at this conclusion. The immortal seal characters that caused the calamities in the lower realms all originated from the same person, or rather, the same immortal," Daoist Baihua said slowly, her tone devoid of hatred, filled instead with a sense of powerlessness.

Hearing this, Li Fan couldn't help but feel somewhat puzzled: "Our Xuanhuang Realm has experienced all sorts of calamities. We know very little about True Immortals. But why would that immortal, without cause or reason, create such boundless slaughter?"

"Immortals do not act without purpose. Just like that immortal in the Immortal Ruins, who sat in meditation for ten thousand years, comprehending the Dao of 'Ji' (饥) to its utmost extent. This was solely to advance further and achieve the realm of an Unnamed True Immortal," Daoist Baihua lamented with boundless emotion.

"Unnamed True Immortal? I have heard of this. Their names cannot be known; all records of them disappear... Could it be that Immortals also have ranks? And not all Immortals are like this?" Li Fan humbly inquired.

"Precisely. When the immortal path was still unbroken, cultivators like us could ascend to become Immortals. After receiving the baptism of immortal spiritual energy and shedding our mortal bodies, we could officially become Immortals. Our strength would undergo a heaven-and-earth-shattering change, expanding by more than a hundredfold. However, compared to an Unnamed True Immortal, there is still a vast difference. Every immortal is an ultimate seeker of the Dao. When they can completely master a path of the world, they become an existence transcending all things. All their past is erased, and mortals cannot know their names. They can only be referred to by the Dao they have mastered. That Unnamed True Immortal who carved the Dao with characters, we respectfully refer to them as the Inscription Dao Immortal."

Listening to Daoist Baihua's description of the realms beyond Immortals, Li Fan couldn't help but feel a sense of longing.

Information about Immortals in the Xuanhuang Realm had long since vanished into the river of history, with even the transmitters of the Dao knowing little. Perhaps only the Council of Five Elders, remnants of the Ten Immortal Sects, retained some scattered information. To encounter a survivor of the ancient Immortal Calamity by chance today and learn the secrets of True Immortals was undoubtedly a significant stroke of luck. Of course, Li Fan did not place his complete trust in Daoist Baihua. He merely listened for the time being.

Daoist Baihua continued: "The Inscription Dao Immortal has already transcended, but they might have left behind several genuine works of Inscription Dao. Back then, some unforeseen change occurred in the Immortal Realm, causing the immortal path to collapse and immortals to scatter and flee. Perhaps one of these immortals obtained these genuine works. He then copied and wrote characters like 'Ji' (饥), 'Luan' (乱), and 'Mei' (没), bringing chaos to the world. This must be related to the Dao path he cultivated."

"While 'Luan' (乱) and 'Mei' (没) destroyed countless cultivation realms, the 'Ji' (饥) character was obtained by another immortal. Perhaps because the 'Ji' character aligned with this immortal's Dao path, he sat cross-legged at the former Immortal Realm passage and began to comprehend it on the spot. It should be known that ten thousand years might seem incredibly long to us. But to an immortal, it's merely the duration of a single cultivation retreat. As for the consequences of his comprehension of the 'Ji' character... To him, cultivators from the lower realms like us are nothing but ants. How could he possibly care?"

It was only at this point that a hint of resentment entered Daoist Baihua's voice. After fully absorbing the other party's words, Li Fan slowly pondered.

"These are all your conjectures, right? Do you have any substantial evidence?"

Daoist Baihua shook her head but remained very confident: "The group of survivors back then, those who managed to survive the calamity, were all the most peak individuals from their respective realms. What we inferred was based on the remaining data from each realm... Even if it's not the absolute truth, it's very close."

"Especially those who copied the True Immortal's seal characters and comprehended the Dao of 'Ji' were only at the Immortal Realm. Although their power absolutely overwhelmed us cultivators, they had not reached the unfathomable level of an Unnamed True Immortal," Daoist Baihua said with a hint of pride in her voice.

Li Fan, however, recalled the 115th reincarnation, when the being within the Immortal Ruins suddenly opened its eyes after sensing his gaze. And how it then transmitted the 'Ji' character into the Xuanhuang Realm through a clone's perception, leading to the world's destruction.