Within the Great Wall of Shattered Worlds, Li Fan, piloting the wooden sword's image, slowly navigated the treacherous landscape with the three Ark elders.
"Brother Li, your escape technique is truly remarkable, not only for its speed but also for mitigating the effects of the Echoing Star Power. With your protection, our search for the grey chess pieces will be much smoother," Nangong Lie said admiringly.
Lu Yuzhi agreed. "Indeed. Otherwise, just resisting that terrifying pull would deplete most of our strength."
Xu Gongding remained silent, scanning the surrounding void, searching for traces of the grey chess pieces. The resonance between the artifacts wasn't precise enough to pinpoint their locations, only indicating a general area. Within the Great Wall of Shattered Worlds, countless world fragments stretched endlessly. The grey chess pieces, disguised as ordinary objects, were hidden among them. Finding them was like searching for a needle in a haystack, especially with their divine consciousness being suppressed, making the search even more difficult.
Experiencing this firsthand, Li Fan finally understood the Healer's predicament. It was no wonder it had taken him millennia to collect the fragments of the Heavenly Law World, a task still incomplete.
Fortunately, the mysterious power concealing the grey chess pieces was unique. Knowing what to look for, their peculiarity was easily discernible, minimizing the risk of overlooking them.
Their luck was good. After only three days, they found the first lost chess piece: a rusty bronze chariot with five magnificent horses standing proudly at the front, its surface covered in engravings of swords and blades, bearing the marks of time and battle.
Instead of reverting the chariot to its original form in the void, they simply stored it away, intending to hand it over to the Ark's elders upon their return.
Encouraged by their first success, they continued their search with renewed vigor. Over the next ten days, the wooden sword's image darted through the Great Wall of Shattered Worlds, finding three more disguised chess pieces: a broken sword, an ordinary-looking wine gourd, and a small wooden boat.
"I can't go on. I need to rest," Li Fan suddenly said, his face pale and his voice weak.
Lu Yuzhi realized their oversight. "We were negligent. Such a powerful technique must consume a tremendous amount of energy. It's no wonder you've reached your limit, Brother Li, after using it continuously for days."
Nangong Lie asked with concern, "How long do you need to rest, Brother Li? Without your escape technique, our search will be much slower."
Li Fan said solemnly, "Don't worry. Give me three days. It's not just the depletion of spiritual energy, but also the mental strain."
Lu Yuzhi praised Li Fan, then seized the opportunity to inquire about the principles behind his technique. The Ark's elders had long coveted Li Fan's remarkable wooden sword escape technique. However, Li Fan, usually generous in sharing his knowledge, remained tight-lipped about it.
Undeterred, the elders persisted in their inquiries whenever an opportunity arose. This time, Li Fan's secrecy seemed to waver slightly.
"This technique is formed from two supreme Dao concepts. One is the sword, its indomitable forward momentum. As for the second…"
Li Fan paused, building suspense, then continued, "It's Horizon at Hand! The ends of the earth are but a single step. While traversing the Star Sea seems vast and endless, if it's just a single step, it can be achieved instantly!"
He then elaborated on these two Dao concepts. The three elders listened attentively, nodding and falling into deep thought.
Li Fan smiled faintly. He hadn't lied or fabricated anything. With the elders' knowledge, any falsehood would be easily detected. He had simply omitted the most crucial element: the core of his escape technique was the Interplay of Truth and Illusion.
Swordsmanship and Horizon at Hand were meaningless without the Interplay of Truth and Illusion. It was this core principle that allowed him to ignore the dangers and residual True Immortal power permeating the Star Sea during his travels.
Li Fan's purpose in revealing this incomplete technique was to distract the elders. His true target was the four chess pieces they had found. Perhaps scarred by the Legacy Transmission Celestial Venerable's betrayal, the Ark had implemented a strict safeguard, even though these four elders were, theoretically, unlikely to betray them.
Each elder controlled a fragment of a spherical orb. Combined, these fragments formed a sealed storage space where the chess pieces were kept. Only with their combined effort could the chess pieces be retrieved. Otherwise, they could only observe and monitor.
Initially, the four of them kept a close watch on the chess pieces. However, after Li Fan "revealed" the secrets of his escape technique, the other three elders were inevitably distracted, their minds occupied with comprehending his teachings. This gave Li Fan ample time to study the grey chess pieces without their notice.
"Transforming the grey chess pieces requires a tremendous amount of energy. Spiritual energy is insufficient, and even True Immortal power doesn't work. But the Ark silently transformed one into that chitinous armor… It seems there are more treasures hidden within the second and third layers of their treasury."
Li Fan snorted inwardly, his divine consciousness scanning the four chess pieces.
"Forged from worlds, perhaps discarded pieces that have lost their value and turned grey. If the Healer's Record of Mending the Heavens treats worlds like human bodies, then the being who created these chess pieces treats them like tools. While humans and tools are different, the underlying principles are the same. Transformation requires complete understanding of their fundamental mechanisms…"
Sensing the four artifacts before him, Li Fan recited the Record of Mending the Heavens silently. Then, through his comprehension and modification, the text transformed into a different form.
"Simply mimicking the structure, replacing the principles of the human body with the methods of forging artifacts. While some parts are nonsensical, forced conversions… most of it… actually works!"
Li Fan's eyes lit up. In his vision, the four artifacts within the sealed space transformed. The forms of the broken sword, the chariot, and the others vanished, replaced by a network of glowing lines, all originating from a single point. Beyond these glowing lines were countless more, faint and complex.
"The origin point of the lines represents the initial grey chess piece form. And the faint lines represent the other forms it can assume. Beautiful…"
Li Fan was captivated. He had once witnessed the fundamental principles of the Xuanhuang World, the intricate network of lines forming all living beings and landscapes. He had thought the world's principles were complex enough. But compared to this grey chess piece…
"The Xuanhuang World is composed of only a small part of this. The rest was forged by a True Immortal using the laws of the Immortal Realm, transcending the world itself!"
Li Fan was deeply shaken. "By observing these, perhaps I can glimpse a fragment of the former Immortal Realm!"
He closed his eyes, feigning rest to hide his inner turmoil. The Immortal Realm, ravaged by the Dao Obliteration Calamity, had collapsed for over ten thousand years. Everything about it was now a relic of the past. Even True Immortals were incredibly rare, hunted by civilizations beyond the Great Wall.
But now, Li Fan had discovered fragments of the Immortal Realm, hidden and forged through special methods. Even calling them "fragments" was an exaggeration. They were merely lower realm cultivation worlds imbued with fragments of higher-level Immortal Realm laws during their forging process.
However, for those living ten thousand years later, after the severing of the path to immortality, this was still incredibly significant, especially for Li Fan.
"A single chess piece contains too few law fragments. But what about the entire set? Sun Piaomiao founded the Medicine King Sect. Judging from his medical knowledge, his understanding of the world and the Heavenly Dao might rival even the Healer. If I can perceive the secrets of these chess pieces, there's no reason Sun Piaomiao couldn't, especially since he deliberately left clues for his descendants through his travelogue. If I can truly reassemble these Immortal Realm fragments…"
A sudden thought struck Li Fan.
"Could this be, in a sense, a plan to preserve the embers of the Immortal Realm?"
But a moment later, he thought of a more practical application for these grey chess pieces.
"My plan to ascend the Xuanhuang World is already quite comprehensive. If I can add these Immortal Realm fragments… The laws of the Immortal Realm, like pillars of heaven, would reinforce the Xuanhuang World's Heavenly Dao. Ascending to a true Immortal Realm would be within reach!"
Li Fan quickly calculated the possibilities. The results were exciting.
"Moreover, if the Ark collects all the grey chess pieces, they might lose their motivation to cross the Great Wall." Li Fan saw through Zhong Daogong's pretense. His words were merely meant to appease him.
"However, this requires someone to play along."
He formulated a plan.
A day later, Li Fan pretended to have recovered slightly. After sensing the locations of Immortal Master Yin and Daoist Hundred Flowers, he steered the wooden sword's image towards them, its trajectory conveniently overlapping with the resonance zone of one of the chess pieces, avoiding suspicion.
"Wait, this part of the Great Wall of Shattered Worlds… seems different," Li Fan suddenly said, his voice laced with uncertainty.
His words startled the three Ark elders, who were secretly cultivating. They carefully examined their surroundings, then shook their heads in confusion.
"Perhaps you're seeing things, Brother Li, after overexerting yourself? We don't sense anything unusual."
Despite their doubts, Li Fan's expression remained serious, though he couldn't articulate his concern. The three elders exchanged glances, their own expressions turning tense. Li Fan's unease seemed genuine. Sometimes, a cultivator's intuition was more accurate than active probing. They couldn't afford to be careless. They heightened their vigilance, wary of potential danger.
However, perhaps it was just Li Fan's paranoia.
After a while, nothing happened. The tense elders relaxed again.
"It seems you were worried for nothing, Brother Li!" Nangong Lie said with a laugh.
Li Fan sighed. "Perhaps."
They continued their search within the Great Wall.
Shortly after, Li Fan's alarm bells rang again.
"No! Look out!"
His sudden outburst caused the elders' auras to surge, their True Immortal Script characters at the ready. However…
After scanning their surroundings for a long time, nothing happened.
The three elders stared at Li Fan.
Li Fan said sheepishly, "I don't know what's wrong with me today. I feel a sense of impending doom. You might not know this, but my intuition is rarely wrong. I've avoided many dangerous situations thanks to it…"
"I can't ignore it!" He forced a smile.
Lu Yuzhi tried to comfort him. "It's alright. It's good to be vigilant. Perhaps you're still mentally exhausted from our previous travels. Why don't you rest for a while?"
Li Fan shook his head. "Stopping makes me even more uneasy. Let's continue."
The elders couldn't refuse. They continued to follow him.
After two more instances of Li Fan's feigned alarm, the three elders were exhausted. Nangong Lie wanted to say something but hesitated. Lu Yuzhi was considering advising Li Fan to rest.
Unbeknownst to them, Li Fan had already located Immortal Master Yin and Daoist Hundred Flowers and discreetly contacted them. After a quick exchange, Li Fan's expression changed again.
"Look out!"
This time, the elders didn't react with vigilance but with exasperation. "Brother Li, you…"
Before they could finish, a wave of terrifying deathly energy washed over them. As if plunged into a scene of world destruction, the four of them froze, their life force rapidly draining. At the same time, the sealed orb containing the four grey chess pieces, under their joint control, inexplicably malfunctioned and fell from the void.
"No!" Nangong Lie's expression changed drastically as he snapped back to his senses. He immediately struck towards the source of the deathly energy with the "Zhen" [Suppress/鎮] character. However, his opponent seemed to anticipate his move and had already fled the area. Nangong Lie's attack missed.
Lu Yuzhi also recovered, his expression turning grim as he sensed their rapidly fading life force.
(End of Chapter)