Before Li Fan could react, the voice echoed clearly in his mind, as if precisely targeting him.
Then, it quickly faded, like snow melting into water, leaving no trace.
Only then did Li Fan's body stiffen, his breath catching in his throat.
He scanned his surroundings, his senses on high alert.
Staring at the [True Return] interface before him, he exhaled slowly, closing it with a mental command.
"Just a false alarm!"
"The message seemed targeted at whoever destroyed the bronze immortal crane."
"But that message…"
"It seemed to originate from beyond the wall?!" Uncertainty gnawed at Li Fan.
He narrowed his eyes, recalling the voice.
"Heavenly Net Era 213. Beginning with Elder Xu's chapter, marking the ominous E'e'feng, concluding with Yong Chi's fervent actions and Yan Mao's profound darkness…"
"…"
"What does it mean?" Li Fan frowned.
It seemed like a jumble of random words, devoid of meaning.
But the message had crossed the wall, its target clear. There had to be a deeper meaning.
"It seems to be referencing a specific year."
"But with an additional layer of complexity. What does it signify?"
"Could it be a unique dating system from the Immortal Realm?"
Li Fan pondered, but couldn't decipher it. The concepts within the message were unlike anything he had encountered in his previous cycles.
"The message was triggered by the destruction of the bronze immortal crane."
"The crane was left with the Celestial Realm chess piece…"
"Perhaps it's a crucial message from Sun Piaomiao for whoever completes the Celestial Realm's restoration."
This was Li Fan's current hypothesis.
With so little information, further speculation was pointless. He committed the message to memory.
He was more concerned about the message's origin beyond the wall.
"Did Sun Piaomiao vanish because he had already crossed to the other side?"
"He disappeared before the Immortal Realm's destruction, before the wall existed. When the invisible wall rose, encasing the Star Sea, he never returned…"
"What does the wall truly signify?" Li Fan's mind raced.
The message from beyond the wall reignited his interest in this unknown realm.
"Regardless, the Celestial Realm Sun Piaomiao left behind must be a crucial clue."
"My current power is insufficient to explore it."
"Dao Integration! The Immortal Realm!"
The more Li Fan explored, the more mysteries he uncovered.
His desire for power intensified.
…
Time passed in the Xuanhuang World.
Great Celestial Venerable Wuming, devoid of consciousness and awareness, followed the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao's natural cycle, mending the millennia of accumulated damage.
Combined with Li Fan's continuous efforts, the Xuanhuang World reached its peak strength, approaching a critical point of transformation.
Every being within the world, even those trapped in illusions, sensed this momentous shift, a mixture of anticipation and dread.
Three years had passed.
Li Fan sensed the restriction on Wuming begin to dissipate.
The true Great Celestial Venerable of Xuanhuang, after millennia of absence, would return!
An invisible weight settled upon Li Fan's shoulders—the authority and power of the Great Celestial Venerable!
He frowned slightly. This wasn't part of his plan. But after a moment's thought, he understood.
The Great Celestial Venerable of Xuanhuang, appointed by the Immortal Realm, governed the Heavenly Dao and all beings within the world. Though vacant for millennia since Master Bai, the position remained.
Legacy Transmission Celestial Venerable had spread his new cultivation method throughout the world. From absorbing the world's essence to defying its natural order, the higher a cultivator's realm, the deeper their connection to the world became.
Now, cultivators of the new method were inseparable from the Xuanhuang World, becoming part of its very fabric.
The Xuanhuang heaven and earth were bound by the Great Celestial Venerable's command.
This meant that with the new Great Celestial Venerable's arrival, all cultivators of the new method also felt this restrictive power.
However, while cultivators were part of the world, the overall strength of the Xuanhuang World's cultivators was immense. Even excluding Legacy Transmission, their combined power rivaled the world itself.
While the ancient restrictions of the Xuanhuang World could influence cultivators, their effect was limited.
"As they say, 'Strength and weakness shift, with no fixed rules. Strength can control weakness, but weakness cannot control strength!'"
The burden he felt was far less than that of carrying a Celestial Realm chess piece. It didn't hinder him at all.
"But such a drastic change in the Xuanhuang World can't be hidden from Legacy Transmission and the Healer. They'll return immediately."
"Fortunately, I've made ample preparations."
Li Fan's gaze turned towards the space beyond the Xuanhuang World.
Golden threads enveloped the world's boundary, like an invisible wall separating it from the void. Flickering images continuously shifted within the condensed golden light.
Li Fan was pleased with his creation.
"A modified Xuanhuang All Beings Grand Formation, combined with a replica of the invisible wall…"
"And most importantly, the deterrent power of the Nameless True Immortal's leg bone!"
"With the boundless power of the Star Sea supporting it, trapping the two Supreme Beings, Legacy Transmission and the Healer, for a while shouldn't be a problem!"
In his previous life, the Healer had escaped quickly because Li Fan was still a mortal, and the formation, powered by Source Power Essence, was a downgraded version, unable to truly simulate the power of an "Immortal."
So when the Healer, sensing something amiss within the illusion, chose to confront a True Immortal, the vast difference in power revealed the formation's flaws.
This time, however, it was different.
Li Fan had connected the formation's core to the Nameless True Immortal's leg bone.
Even a mere fragment of a deceased Nameless True Immortal radiated an aura comparable to a living one!
The Starvation Immortal's appearance alongside the Southern Immortal Heavenly Pillar in his previous life was proof of this.
Faced with the pressure of a True Immortal, the Healer wouldn't recklessly throw his life away.
If he still insisted…
Even a Supreme Being would be reduced to nothing more than another inscription on the Nameless True Immortal's leg bone!
The Xuanhuang All Beings Grand Formation, empowered by the leg bone, had undergone a qualitative change. Not through an upgrade in the formation itself, but through the extraordinary nature of its core component.
And this was merely Li Fan's first line of defense.
Besides the illusionary formation, he had also erected a wall around the Xuanhuang World using the Imprisonment technique.
This wall was far inferior to the invisible wall surrounding the Dark Star Sea. But it was a replica, based on Mo Rubin's insights into the wall's weaknesses in his previous life, combined with the collective understanding of countless beings in this life, and further refined by Li Fan.
He had tested it himself.
Crossing this wall, though not requiring the true Immortal Realm, still necessitated a potential nearing the absolute peak.
Without vast quantities of True Immortal flesh and blood as fuel, and without the assistance of an ascension formation, Legacy Transmission and the Healer, with their current realms, couldn't cross it in a short time!
"My wall might seem almost identical to the true invisible wall."
"But that slight difference is a world apart."
"The Healer's power, at the peak of the Star Sea's Supreme Being Realm, shouldn't be underestimated. I can't expect this wall to hold them for long."
"I have a third measure!"
Li Fan's gaze returned from the heavens, scanning the Xuanhuang World.
"Once the Xuanhuang World's ascension begins, all the changes within can be weaponized: a super Celestial Mortal Miasma, countless Heavenly Souls…"
"As long as I don't reveal my intention to refine Ink Kill, they can all be used to my advantage! After all, I'm the one pushing the Xuanhuang World towards the Celestial Realm. If I succeed, I'll be this world's savior."
"The power of the Celestial Realm's laws should be enough to counter even the awakened Starvation Immortal."
"Everything is in place. It's time to begin."
Li Fan sneered inwardly.
His gaze fixed on Great Celestial Venerable Wuming.
Since the removal of the trial's restrictions three years ago, Wuming had remained motionless, seemingly preparing to assume his role.
However, his lack of consciousness and awareness gave him a serene, emotionless expression.
The decree from the Immortal Realm was no more. The new Great Celestial Venerable's every action prioritized the Xuanhuang World's best interests.
In the current situation, using the immortal spiritual energy from the Great Celestial Venerable's legacy to facilitate the Xuanhuang World's ascension was the only logical choice.
Urged by the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao, a vast amount of immortal spiritual energy surged from Wuming.
Like adding fuel to a fire, it propelled the Xuanhuang World towards its final transformation.
Either ascend to the Celestial Realm, or face utter destruction!
With Li Fan's preparations, barring external interference, success was virtually guaranteed.
Therefore, the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao didn't hesitate.
Amidst swirling winds and clouds, immortal spiritual energy spread to every corner of the world.
Even though it wasn't his first time witnessing true immortal spiritual energy, Li Fan was still captivated by its mysterious power.
Even now, he couldn't comprehend its form, let alone utilize it.
Perhaps, as he suspected, only upon reaching the Immortal Realm, even just the Half-Immortal Realm, could one wield this transcendent power.
But just because he couldn't use it didn't mean others couldn't.
"Dissociation Disc! Little Wangba!"
With a thought, two spheres of light appeared on his shoulders.
The Terminal Dissociation Disc had accompanied Li Fan's growth, its ability to endlessly deduce formations proving invaluable. For a long time, the formations it derived were his most powerful weapons.
However, as a mundane creation, it had long reached its limit due to its material constraints. Even with Li Fan constantly feeding it data on immortal formations, it had only achieved a theoretical breakthrough. It could deduce immortal formations, but it couldn't analyze or create true ones in reality, only downgraded versions.
Now, sensing the pervasive immortal spiritual energy, the Terminal Dissociation Disc trembled uncontrollably, filled with greed and longing, like a cultivator sensing a Heavenly Soul.
Little Wangba was in a similar state.
Its appetite was astonishing. It devoured four Celestial Realm chess pieces before finally stopping.
But as if having overeaten, it remained in a deep slumber, its transformation delayed.
After some examination and brief communication, Li Fan suspected it was because the Celestial Realm wasn't complete, and Little Wangba had only consumed fragments of laws. This "unhealthy" diet caused indigestion, requiring pure immortal spiritual energy as a catalyst.
Both were on the cusp of transformation.
A touch of immortal spiritual energy would trigger their metamorphosis, just like the Xuanhuang World.
The immortal spiritual energy grew denser.
The Dissociation Disc and Little Wangba's greed intensified, threatening to break free from Li Fan's control.
Though reluctant, under Li Fan's persuasion, the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao relinquished two minuscule, yet pure, threads of immortal spiritual energy.
The moment he received them, Li Fan sensed the Xuanhuang World's favor towards him diminish significantly.
He snorted, ignoring it for now. Suppressing his curiosity, he infused the two threads into the Dissociation Disc and Little Wangba.
A brilliant, crystalline light enveloped them.
Even Li Fan, their master, lost contact with them, forced back by the emanating power.
Two immortal artifacts were being born.
Li Fan sensed the activation of the interception formation he had set up around the Xuanhuang World.
The loss of a bit of immortal spiritual energy didn't hinder the world's ascension.
Li Fan rapidly formed hand seals, burning vast quantities of True Immortal flesh and blood to accelerate the process.
At the center of the Xuanhuang World, a towering phantom appeared, its surface covered in mottled light and profound inscriptions.
It was the stele formed from the Nameless True Immortal's leg bone!
Li Fan had placed it there long ago, to serve as an anchor for the ascending Xuanhuang World.
A deafening roar echoed through heaven and earth.
Countless fissures appeared on the Xuanhuang World's celestial canopy, as if it couldn't withstand the strain of ascension.
Now, Li Fan's years of preparation proved crucial.
(End of chapter)