Guided by Li Fan's subtle hints, Wuming didn't immediately leave the Thirteen Peaks world. He simply stood up from his reclined position, gazing at the sky. He moved a little closer to the world's Heavenly Dao, reaching out to touch the wind, to touch the sky.
The blue sky and white clouds remained unchanged.
The beings of the Thirteen Peaks world were oblivious.
Only Li Fan could see the world tremble slightly from Wuming's touch.
"Sensing Wuming's impending departure, the world's Heavenly Dao is accelerating its fusion with him…"
"In the future, the world's Heavenly Dao will remain, but a copy will accompany Wuming to the larger world beyond."
"How similar!"
"Given the chance, who would want to remain a caged bird forever?" Li Fan sighed softly, then declared with a solemn expression, "Then I'll give you another push."
The spectral image of the Creation True Immortal Seal script flashed across the sky of the Thirteen Peaks world. This world was so small that even a fleeting glimpse of the Creation character was enough to cause earth-shattering changes.
Spiritual energy began to surge within the world. The Thirteen Peaks slowly rose, their vegetation flourishing with renewed vitality.
Standing at the summit, Wuming felt a shift and awoke from his meditative state, looking around. Finding nothing unusual, yet sensing the changes in the world around him, he smiled, though still puzzled.
…
As the Thirteen Peaks world continued to transform, Li Fan left a strand of divine sense to monitor Wuming while he departed.
Back in the Xuanhuang World, he took out a jade talisman that was flashing urgently. It was the talisman Mo Rubin had given him. Mo Rubin, remaining within the Eye of the Celestial Beast, had intended to use its power to search for traces of the Profound Heaven King within the Xuanhuang World and the Dark Star Sea, promising results within three to five months.
Judging by the time, there should be news.
As his divine sense touched the talisman, Mo Rubin's voice echoed in Li Fan's mind, fragmented and unclear, as if being interfered with.
"I've discovered… something strange…"
"Come quickly."
That was the entire message. The talisman's light dimmed, but Li Fan sensed it guiding him towards the Celestial Beast's bone meridian in the Nine Mountains Region.
With a single step, he arrived in the Nine Mountains Region. The Celestial Beast's bone meridian was formed by the nine colossal mountain ranges that spanned across the land. Following the talisman's guidance, Li Fan arrived at the summit of Mount Jade Prison, the highest of the nine mountains.
From this vantage point, he could see the entire Nine Mountains range. Empowered by the Celestial Beast's Eye through Mo Rubin's talisman, his view was far clearer than any time he'd previously surveyed the Nine Mountains Region from above. All the mountains and rivers derived from the Celestial Beast's remains were stripped away.
All that remained in Li Fan's sight were the beast's original bones.
As Mo Rubin had said, though the Celestial Beast was dead, its bone meridian remained. Through these nine mountain ranges, even after millennia, Li Fan could still faintly discern the form of the ancient behemoth.
"The Nine Mountains are: Heavenly Length, Heavenly Shortness, Heavenly Emptiness, Heavenly Haste, Heavenly Knot, Heavenly Succession, Heavenly Prison, Heavenly Motion, and Heavenly Subtlety."
"These are the nine aspects of the meridian."
"This Celestial Beast, transformed from a jade pendant brought back from the Immortal Realm by the Profound Heaven King, has meridians identical to a human's…"
The guiding force from the talisman grew stronger, suddenly enveloping him like a thin film. Li Fan didn't resist, allowing it to lead him.
A moment later, he was back inside the Eye of the Celestial Beast. Sensing a dangerous aura, he reinforced his protective barrier.
Compared to before, something had changed.
Mo Rubin's condition also seemed poor. He wasn't visibly injured, but he appeared incredibly weakened, as if his very essence had been drained. For a cultivator of his power, this usually only occurred after a near-fatal blow.
"Brother Mo, what happened?" Li Fan whispered in alarm.
Mo Rubin waved his hand. "I'm fine now. It was caused by the strange thing I mentioned."
Without further ado, he got straight to the point. "Take a look, fellow Daoist."
The space within the Eye of the Celestial Beast lit up. Countless spherical bubbles lining the curved boundary all displayed the same scene.
"This isn't a live observation. It's a recording from before," Mo Rubin clarified.
The countless overlapping bubbles, their images merging, instantly immersed Li Fan in the scene.
The silent yet vital Star Sea.
A miniature black vortex slowly rotated, its all-consuming darkness expanding outwards, slow but relentless.
True Immortal residual power, the Star Sea's revitalizing energy… everything was devoured and assimilated by the black vortex.
The perspective suddenly zoomed out, expanding from a corner of the Star Sea to encompass almost the entire region. The black vortex was inconspicuous within the already dark Star Sea. But even after seeing the full expanse of the Star Sea, Li Fan's gaze remained fixed on the vortex. An overwhelming sense of danger gripped him, his heart pounding rapidly.
He then realized that the black vortex was located at the center of the Star Sea, the very place where he had encountered the Star Sea's Source True Intent!
Moreover, the black energy forming the vortex… was remarkably similar to the energy he'd obtained from decomposing True Immortal flesh with the White Ring and the energy contained within Han Zhong, who was trapped within the Eye of the Celestial Beast.
However, the three energies felt distinctly different to Li Fan, clearly separated by levels of power. The energy within the black vortex was the most dangerous.
Li Fan frowned slightly.
"What is this?" he asked.
"I don't know. But I'm certain it's related to the Dao Obliteration Calamity that destroyed the Immortal Realm," Mo Rubin said gravely, his words shocking Li Fan.
"The Dao Obliteration Calamity?" Li Fan's heart pounded.
Mo Rubin waved his hand, and the images of the black vortex on the surrounding bubbles vanished, replaced by the normal view of the Star Sea.
"I discovered this black vortex by chance while using the Eye of the Celestial Beast to search the Star Sea for Brother Xuanyuan."
"At first, I didn't pay much attention to it. I thought it was just a normal phenomenon of the Star Sea's evolution. But then…"
Mo Rubin coughed, extending his ten fingers towards the bubbles of the Celestial Beast's Eye. In an instant, countless ink-black strands shot out from his fingertips, each flying towards a different bubble. Li Fan could clearly see miniature versions of Mo Rubin at the end of each strand, their expressions varying—some狰狞(zhēngníng - ferocious), some fearful, some crazed.
As the countless Mo Rubins reached the bubbles and made contact, they screamed as if in agony. But their movements didn't stop. They plunged their hands into the bubbles and pulled, as if peeling off a layer of rotten, foul-smelling skin. They tore away a viscous, black substance from the Eye of the Celestial Beast.
Their screams intensified as their forms were corroded by the black substance, threatening to dissipate. But under Mo Rubin's control, they held on, completely tearing the black, decaying layer from the Eye of the Celestial Beast.
Then, instead of storing the black substance, they opened their distorted mouths and devoured it.
As the viscous, decaying blackness filled their stomachs, the faces of the miniature Mo Rubins became indistinguishable.
"With a demonic heart undying, an immortal body endures," Mo Rubin's cold voice suddenly echoed.
A strange power enveloped the fading figures, preventing them from completely dissipating. Like pouches, they remained intact, containing the viscous black substance.
With a solemn expression, Mo Rubin carefully summoned his demonic hearts back, not to himself, but into a jade box where he stored them all.
Only then did he let out a sigh of relief. Li Fan noticed that Mo Rubin had grown even weaker. He stared intently at him, waiting for an explanation.
After resting for a while, Mo Rubin said weakly, "This is… the fourth time I've cleansed it."
"I initially thought the black energy was a harmless, natural phenomenon of the Star Sea. I didn't expect that just observing it a few times would cause it to corrode the Eye of the Celestial Beast."
"Fortunately, the Eye of the Celestial Beast originates from the Immortal Realm, its essence superior to the lower realm Star Sea. And it wasn't direct contact. So, it can still be salvaged."
"The cleansing method I used can remove the attached black energy."
Hearing this, Li Fan was relieved. "That's fortunate." But then, a chilling realization struck him. "The Dao Obliteration Calamity… you said it was the calamity that destroyed the Immortal Realm. It's now appearing in the Star Sea? Even True Immortals couldn't withstand it. Aren't we doomed?"
"Don't be so alarmed, fellow Daoist. The situation isn't that dire," Mo Rubin reassured him, shaking his head.
After a moment of contemplation, he continued, "Brother Xuanyuan once expressed concern that the Immortal Realm's Dao Obliteration Calamity might spread to the lower realms."
"Although he never explicitly stated it, I could sense it."
"As I mentioned before, if one doesn't know the name of the Dao Obliteration Calamity, even encountering it directly wouldn't reveal its true nature. But if one knows its name, even the slightest hint of it will trigger a premonition. Fellow Daoist, you already know the name 'Dao Obliteration.' Looking at this black energy, did you feel anything?" Mo Rubin asked.
Li Fan recalled what he'd seen. "I didn't."
"That's it," Mo Rubin said gravely. "I suspect this black energy isn't the Dao Obliteration Calamity itself, but a harbinger of its arrival!"
"Just like dark clouds gathering before a downpour, or tremors before an earthquake, calamities are often preceded by signs. This black energy might be a sign of the impending Dao Obliteration Calamity."
"And…" Mo Rubin's expression grew even more serious. "It's not just a sign. As you saw, the black energy seems to devour anything that approaches it in the Star Sea. If left unchecked, its expansion might hasten the arrival of the Dao Obliteration Calamity."
Li Fan's brow furrowed deeply, his expression equally solemn. He remained silent for a long time, absorbing the information.
"How could this be?" he finally murmured, his voice tinged with fear.
Mo Rubin could only offer silence in response.
"The world is unpredictable. Or perhaps, all of this was predetermined the day the Immortal Realm shattered," he sighed after a while.
"Is there no way to stop the spread of the black vortex?" Li Fan asked desperately.
"Even if there is, it's beyond our knowledge. Brother Xuanyuan might know a way."
Li Fan's eyes lit up as if grasping at a lifeline. "By the way, did you find any trace of the Profound Heaven King when you searched the Xuanhuang World and the Star Sea with the Eye of the Celestial Beast?"
Mo Rubin chuckled self-deprecatingly. "If I had, I wouldn't have bothered cleansing the Dao Obliteration black energy myself."
"However…"
"It wasn't a complete waste."
Li Fan's gaze intensified.
"When Brother Xuanyuan mysteriously disappeared, he sent out several warnings in his final moments."
"A few of us Dharma Kings should have received them."
"But there was another message, sent beyond the Xuanhuang World, even beyond the Star Sea."
"This message was extremely secretive. I wouldn't have been able to detect it normally. But because it was sent through the Eye of the Celestial Beast, a trace remained, which I managed to perceive," Mo Rubin whispered.
Li Fan narrowed his eyes. "Beyond the Star Sea? Could it be…" His heart skipped a beat.
"There's only one possibility. Brother Xuanyuan's message was intended for the Faceless Immortal," Mo Rubin stated directly.
"I remember you mentioning that when the Profound Heaven King disappeared, the head of the Faceless Immortal's statue was inexplicably broken…"
Mo Rubin nodded. "That's why I suspect Brother Xuanyuan was in danger, and the Faceless Immortal tried to protect him. But even he couldn't prevent the statue, the medium for transmitting power, from being severed."
"In his final moments, Brother Xuanyuan discovered something and sent a message beyond the Star Sea, to where the Faceless Immortal resides, using the Eye of the Celestial Beast within the Star-Crossing Array."
"He wanted to share his discovery with the Faceless True Immortal."
Captivated, Li Fan asked, "Can we use the traces within the Eye of the Celestial Beast to decipher the message?"
"That's impossible," Mo Rubin said regretfully.
"Not to mention that Brother Xuanyuan would have encrypted it."
"Brother Xuanyuan chose to inform the Faceless Immortal instead of us Dharma Kings. Clearly, even if he had told us, we wouldn't have been able to handle it. Just like the true nature of the Dao Obliteration Calamity, knowing it would only bring us more worry."
(End of Chapter)