Just as the Profound Immortal Ark's elders had speculated, each grey chess piece was forged from a world.
As Li Fan observed the four spinning chess pieces, visions of their past flooded his mind. He saw the worlds before their transformation: a vast expanse of ice and snow stretching for millions of miles; towering dynasties built by cultivators on endless plains; a world scarred by a colossal sword gash, surrounded by scattered sword cultivation sects; a world covered by a boundless blue ocean, perpetually ravaged by terrifying storms and towering waves, its inhabitants dwelling in the depths.
The names of the four worlds also appeared in Li Fan's mind along with these visions: "Crystal Pole, Hundred Hills, Sword Convergence, and Abyssal Sea."
Despite their diverse landscapes, these worlds were once full of life. However, in a single instant, an unimaginable power descended upon them, freezing everything in place.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Amidst the relentless pounding, like the blows of a colossal hammer, all life was extinguished. Only the worlds themselves survived this devastating attack.
Like iron heated and melted, then cooled and hammered into a sword, these four distinct worlds underwent a profound transformation. The chaotic visions faded, leaving behind the four spinning grey chess pieces.
"Sacred Teacher, this…" It wasn't just Li Fan who sensed the chess pieces' extraordinary nature. Immortal Master Yin's swirling, mismatched eyes reflected his inner turmoil.
"Forging chess pieces from worlds… the power of a True Immortal is truly extraordinary," Li Fan murmured, glancing at Immortal Master Yin.
"True Immortal… chess pieces?" Immortal Master Yin's body trembled as he grasped the key words. "I knew it! My intuition was right. The Yin-Yang Pearls I absorbed might also be related to a True Immortal!"
Li Fan looked at Immortal Master Yin, waiting for him to continue.
Immortal Master Yin paused, gathering his thoughts. "The moment I saw these chess pieces, I felt a sense of familiarity, not from having seen them before, but a familiarity of belonging to the same… species. Like when I encounter other world souls…"
Li Fan's eyes flickered. He pondered for a moment, then nodded. "The immense deathly energy and life force within the Yin-Yang Pearls are indeed beyond the control of ordinary cultivators like us."
Immortal Master Yin continued, "But these… chess pieces… while I feel a familiarity, I also sense an instinctive fear, a sense of… hierarchy, of something far above me! And I feel an intense attraction to them, even though they're devoid of life and death energy. As if devouring them would bring me immense benefits, even greater than the Yin-Yang Pearls!" His voice became slightly dazed, his eyes filled with an almost uncontrollable greed. He quickly closed his eyes.
After a long while, the seductive whispers, like a Celestial Devil's temptation, finally faded, and he regained control, though he dared not look at the chess pieces again.
Li Fan understood the source of the fear and temptation the grey chess pieces evoked in Immortal Master Yin.
"Fragments of laws from the Immortal Realm…"
Silently circulating the modified Record of Mending the Heavens, Li Fan saw the four chess pieces transform into a network of intersecting lines, the reshaped principles of their worlds. He compared their similarities and differences.
Tens of thousands of years had passed, the Star Sea destroyed and revived. Yet, the fundamental Dao principles forming the foundation of worlds hadn't changed much. Through his countless reincarnations, Li Fan had gained a deep understanding of the Heavenly Dao of cultivation worlds. After careful observation, he identified the parts of these four chess piece worlds that didn't belong to the lower realms. While seemingly identical to the lines representing ordinary Heavenly Dao principles, they were, in fact, higher-level replacements, ascended and transformed versions of lower realm laws. Though merely fragments, they shone like the most brilliant jewels in Li Fan's eyes.
If the lower realms' Heavenly Dao principles were a small hill, barely a hundred meters tall, then these Immortal Realm fragments within the chess pieces were colossal mountain ranges, stretching for hundreds of miles, teeming with life and encompassing all things.
The two were incomparable.
And perhaps coincidentally, the Immortal Realm law fragments within these four chess pieces were all different.
"The laws within each chess piece are like fragments of a puzzle. Combined, they might form a complete picture. There are twelve grey chess pieces in total, corresponding to the twelve location markers left by Sun Piaomiao. This means… there should actually be thirteen. The Medicine King Cauldron passed down through generations within the Medicine King Sect in the Xuanhuang World isn't part of this set."
Li Fan looked towards the void outside the Xuanhuang World. The Medicine King Cauldron was still struggling near the Immortal Ruins, not yet returned.
"It's nearing its final descent anyway. I'll just wait. No need to risk retrieving it from the Immortal Ruins."
Li Fan picked up one of the chess pieces. A peculiar sensation washed over him. He faintly sensed the approximate locations of the other grey chess pieces in the Star Sea.
"Four here. One with the Profound Immortal Ark. Four within the Great Wall of Shattered Worlds. And three more, one of which is in the Sea of Relics. As for the remaining two…"
A strange look flashed in Li Fan's eyes. He discovered that the two remaining grey chess pieces were within the Xuanhuang World!
"Their original worlds must have been used by the Healer and the Legacy Transmission Celestial Venerable to repair the Xuanhuang World. I'll be back shortly." He instructed Immortal Master Yin and Daoist Hundred Flowers, ignoring their surprised looks, and, with a flicker of the wooden sword's image, followed the faint resonance to one of the locations: the bottomless Cangwu Abyss, located in the southwestern corner of the Xuanhuang World, like a giant crack, its currently explored depth reaching three hundred thousand zhang. Within its depths lay countless strange sights and wonders.
Once considered an insurmountable natural barrier, the abyss posed little threat to Li Fan, who could now traverse the Star Sea.
Following the resonance, he descended into the abyss. Observing the scenery drifting upwards, a thought struck him. "These things within the Cangwu Abyss… they're from different, destroyed cultivation worlds. Piled up here, like a temporary storage for materials used in the Xuanhuang World's repair. If anything is needed during the repair process, it can be retrieved from here. One day, this abyss will be filled. But by then, the Xuanhuang World will have been reborn."
Li Fan observed the strange scenery with interest. The closer to the surface, the stronger the influence of the Xuanhuang World's life force, resulting in unique landscapes like the Whispering Forest, the Puppet Gap, and the Lost City. However, the deeper he went, the closer the floating world fragments resembled their original forms, desolate and lifeless after their destruction, some even carrying residual True Immortal power.
"It's like a miniature Great Wall of Shattered Worlds. But its stability isn't as high. The accumulated True Immortal power occasionally erupts… No wonder this is a forbidden zone for cultivators."
When the wooden sword reached a depth of five hundred and thirty thousand zhang, Li Fan sensed the presence of the Suppressing Immortal Power within the abyss.
"This power is likely the pressure exerted on intruders, a mechanism created by the Healer when he constructed the Cangwu Abyss, mimicking the Great Wall of Shattered Worlds."
"To be precise, the 'momentum' within the Cangwu Abyss increases gradually from top to bottom, like steps. While the increase in height is limited, not exceeding the Xuanhuang World's overall level, it's significant for cultivators within the abyss. Only those with sufficient cultivation can survive at corresponding depths. Otherwise, like a mortal entering the Immortal Realm, arriving at a height they don't belong, they will be crushed."
Having grasped the abyss's secrets, Li Fan pinpointed the location of the grey chess piece. He found it amidst a pile of shattered ruins, like a building torn apart by countless blades: a majestic stone statue of a Kirin, half-collapsed on the ground, just as it was when its world was destroyed millennia ago. There were originally two statues, but the other, Li Fan observed, was made of ordinary stone.
"Well hidden."
Li Fan crushed the statue, reverting it to its chess piece form, then scanned his surroundings. Based on the appearance of the ruins, he reconstructed its original world.
"The Seven Sins World. Seven overwhelming baleful energies permeated the world, even taking form to harm living beings. Therefore, all buildings were protected by various beasts that absorbed and suppressed these energies. It was once a substantial cultivation world. Its cultivators, born under the influence of these baleful energies, incorporated them into their techniques. Exceptional geniuses even mastered all seven… Unfortunately, time marches on. Everything is now gone." Li Fan sighed and shook his head, leaving the ruins.
The other grey chess piece within the Xuanhuang World was buried beneath Tianyun Region, its location unremarkable.
"It must have been within a world fragment that has now fully merged with the Xuanhuang World, just like the Heavenly Law World fragments at the bottom of the Congyun Sea, which are gradually being buried beneath the Congyun Mountains."
Without alerting anyone, Li Fan retrieved the chess piece.
He now possessed six grey chess pieces.
Returning to the Dao Discussion Platform in Great Xuan, he placed the six chess pieces together. With nearly half the set assembled, the resonance between them intensified. They spun faster and faster around each other. Li Fan saw the lines representing their world principles attracting and merging, the Immortal Realm law fragments drawing closer, completing the puzzle.
Even with only six out of thirteen pieces, a qualitative change occurred. The incomplete puzzle of Immortal Realm laws was like a void appearing in the middle of the ocean. The six still worlds, like calm waters, were uncontrollably drawn into the void.
Like distorted paintings on a wet canvas, the six worlds were absorbed into the puzzle of Immortal Realm law fragments, reshaping themselves according to a predetermined template, forming a new world: a blue sky, white clouds, and a vast grassland.
While seemingly ordinary, Li Fan sensed an unprecedented vastness within this world. Even the blades of grass growing on the ground possessed unimaginable vitality!
"The Immortal Realm?!" Glimpsing the scene within the merged chess pieces, Li Fan's heart trembled.
"No, just a fragment of the former Immortal Realm. Perhaps 'an Immortal Domain' is a more fitting description. And even this Immortal Domain is incomplete."
Something was clearly missing between the grassland and the sky, likely due to the absence of the remaining seven grey chess pieces.
Li Fan stared at the scene, filled with a sudden sense of loss, like having broken a priceless treasure, an overwhelming urge to restore it rising within him. If it weren't for the Immortal Heart Mantra and his past experiences, he might have lost control, driven to find the remaining chess pieces immediately.
However, Li Fan resisted the temptation.
With the fusion complete, only a single chess piece remained, no longer grey but shimmering with a seven-colored light, its size slightly increased.
Li Fan carefully put away the six-in-one chess piece.
"Hmm?"
Unexpectedly, the moment he stored the chess piece within his body, he felt an immense weight pressing down on him, as if countless mountains had been placed on his shoulders. Caught off guard, he stumbled slightly. Fortunately, he quickly recovered, circulating the power of the Xuanhuang World-Ending Transformation, drawing upon its boundless energy to support the weight.
"Is this… the weight of the Immortal Realm? Just a fragment of an Immortal Domain is this heavy? Once all thirteen fragments are combined, forming a true Immortal Domain, I won't be able to bear it at my current level!"
Li Fan once again felt the terrifying difference between immortals and mortals.
But instead of fear, he felt a surge of joy.
"I was worried about finding a suitable anchor point to maintain the ascended state of the Xuanhuang World. Now, if I integrate this Immortal Domain fragment, it will surely adapt and maintain its ascended state. With this fragment as its core, the Xuanhuang World might even ascend further! This is truly a blessing!"
However, he immediately grew suspicious of the Immortal Domain fragments' origins.
(End of Chapter)