The ancient stone slab enshrined at the center of the formation was just like the Nine Star Crimson Pearl Formation Li Fan had seen within the remnants of the Xuanhuang World's protective Immortal array.
The difference was, the Nine Star Crimson Pearls were long gone, while this ancient slab remained.
Li Fan narrowed his eyes, trying to discern the inscriptions carved upon the slab within the formation.
The slab remained motionless, yet the lines on its surface seemed to shift and blur constantly.
This instantly reminded Li Fan of the Northern Chill Immortal coins he had encountered before.
"It appears to be a unique inscription method of the Immortal Realm. But the content engraved on this slab…"
"Is far more complex!"
A thought stirred within Li Fan, but he didn't rush to examine it closely. He sensed that this formation had a deceptive quality. What he perceived through the formation might not be accurate.
With the help of the Dissociation Disc, Li Fan began to analyze the formation.
"There's no Immortal spiritual energy. It seems that for the sake of concealment, it doesn't even utilize basic spiritual power. So what has sustained this formation for so many years?" Li Fan's research piqued his interest.
Li Fan's current mastery of array formations was undeniable. He could merge and deduce Immortal arrays according to his needs. Yet, he had never encountered a formation of this type.
"It's not that the formation's energy consumption is so minimal that a single item can sustain it. This formation's power..." Li Fan mused, tentatively transforming his spiritual energy into a small bird, attempting to send it into the formation.
It met no resistance.
However, the moment the spiritual bird crossed the formation's boundary, it vanished without a trace.
Li Fan's pupils contracted sharply.
He couldn't perceive how the bird had disappeared.
Li Fan snapped his fingers, and hundreds of spiritual birds surged towards the formation.
Under Li Fan's precise control, the total spiritual energy contained within all the birds was negligible, below a certain threshold, ensuring it wouldn't trigger a stronger defensive response from the formation.
Their fate was the same.
Li Fan carefully observed the birds' disappearance.
"The spiritual energy isn't being consumed. Rather, the foundation upon which the spiritual energy exists is being extracted..."
As the flock vanished, Li Fan grasped something.
This formation felt strangely familiar.
Li Fan then used physical objects for his experiment: stones, artifacts, plants, and even live birds.
The results were similar.
Anything that entered the formation vanished without a trace.
Li Fan's expression grew serious. "The previous tests were all with mortal objects. What about something related to the Immortal realm?"
Golden Source Power Essence, transformed into a tiny dragon, impacted the formation. The air distorted as if scorched by flames. Then the golden light faded, the outcome identical.
Next, Li Fan produced a piece of True Immortal flesh. Threads of golden energy pierced the flesh, manipulating it like a marionette as it slowly entered the formation.
The golden threads controlling the flesh snapped. However, the True Immortal flesh reacted differently from the mortal objects.
The flickering patterns on the stone slab within the formation stilled for an instant.
In that moment, Li Fan saw a flash of lightning erupt from the slab, striking the True Immortal flesh.
The grotesque, mystical aura of the True Immortal flesh vanished instantly. No longer Immortal, it became mortal.
Then, it dissipated within the formation!
This occurred in a flash. At first glance, it seemed as if the True Immortal flesh, like the previous mortal objects, couldn't withstand the formation.
But Li Fan's keen senses noticed the difference.
He repeated the process, using more True Immortal flesh to probe, hoping to grasp that fleeting opportunity and see the lightning clearly.
"That light from the slab, is it one of the patterns etched by the Xuanhuang Heavens, one of those from the Ascension Platform? It can transform Immortals into mortals?"
Li Fan was deeply shaken.
He knew he wasn't using true Immortals, merely unconscious flesh revived from True Immortal remains.
It couldn't compare to a living Immortal.
Nevertheless, the terrifying regenerative and defensive capabilities of True Immortal flesh had been proven with the Tian Yang Immortal Puppet. It ignored almost all mortal attacks and even showed some immunity to True Immortal inscriptions.
Yet, this transcendent, terrifying existence offered no resistance against the slab's lightning pattern.
"If it can transform Immortal to mortal, why not mortal to Immortal?"
"The Ascension Platform, the Ascension Platform…"
His previous speculation seemed confirmed. Looking at the slab, Li Fan grew increasingly excited.
After further attempts, consuming a tenth of his True Immortal flesh reserves, he yielded no further insights and abandoned the brute-force method.
The lightning-like pattern appeared too briefly. Even what he saw through the formation was distorted. Deciphering it this way was a fool's errand.
"I've destroyed this world several times, reducing the Xuanhuang World to nothingness, yet I never detected this formation and slab."
"This formation isn't fixed here. It's like a living thing, strategically retreating when facing an insurmountable threat..."
"It requires no power source and can relocate in emergencies. This formation is truly miraculous!" Li Fan marveled.
"Brute force won't work. It seems I have to call upon the little turtle."
With a thought, a blue light flashed, and Autumn Water appeared beside Li Fan, holding the little Heavenly Beast.
"Greetings, Master," Autumn Water said respectfully.
Seeing the little Heavenly Beast bare its teeth at Li Fan, Autumn Water slapped its head.
Energy surged. It wasn't a playful tap but a full-powered strike!
The little Heavenly Beast was dazed.
In its normal form, even an Immortal Realm jade pendant incarnate would be severely injured by such a blow.
But this time, the little Heavenly Beast had already devoured four Immortal Domain chess pieces. Imbued with Immortal Domain laws, its physique had grown tremendously.
With just a whimper, it recovered.
Under Autumn Water's coercion, it bowed its head to Li Fan.
"Indeed, every being has its counter," Li Fan thought.
Perhaps because they both manifested from the Shape of Life, through prolonged contact, the little Heavenly Beast had come to regard the Autumn Water Dao Child as a parental figure.
Autumn Water, under Li Fan's instructions, constantly fed it Immortal Domain chess pieces and took it on trips across the Star Sea, hoping its keen instincts would yield discoveries, further solidifying their "parental" role.
Thus, the little Heavenly Beast obeyed Autumn Water without question.
With a thought, Li Fan directed the little Heavenly Beast, through Autumn Water, towards the slab within the formation.
Faced with this formation, the little Heavenly Beast's keen instincts seemed useless.
Like someone blind, it hadn't even perceived the strange formation's existence.
Only when it reached the formation's edge did it abruptly stop, eyes filled with wariness.
The little Heavenly Beast hesitated to proceed, but Autumn Water urged it on.
After a moment, the little Heavenly Beast's eyes emitted a mystical silver starlight.
After observing for a long time, it reluctantly continued forward.
"Just as I predicted, the little Heavenly Beast, being an incarnation of an Immortal Realm item, possesses some resistance to this formation. Having consumed four Immortal Domain chess pieces, its physique has undergone a qualitative change. It should be able to withstand the formation's attack!" Li Fan's eyes gleamed.
The little Heavenly Beast crawled slowly.
Staring at the slab, a hint of confusion flickered in its eyes, as if it found the slab strangely familiar.
This made it even more reluctant.
It took Autumn Water's coaxing and promises of rewards to make it continue.
Li Fan waited patiently for the little Heavenly Beast to retrieve the slab.
Meanwhile, he continued to examine the strange formation.
After all this time, Li Fan had finally realized where the feeling of familiarity came from.
It stemmed from the formation's principle of severing the very foundation of existence!
In the fissures and depressions across the Dark Star Sea flowed the River of Life. Above it was a layer that extracted life force, severing the basis of existence. This extraction was precisely why life force converged within the fissures. The decaying green aura surrounding the Thousand-Eyed Desolate God on the Profound Immortal Ark also devoured the fundamental principles of existence it touched.
Even…
The invisible wall encircling the Dark Star Sea.
It could also be seen as erasing the very foundation of the concept of "forward."
"All of these can be seen as the absence of essential elements of existence."
"Just like this formation!"
Li Fan's eyes flashed. A storm of thoughts raged within his mind.
"They must all be methods from the former Immortal Realm."
"It's even possible that those beyond the wall possess this power as well."
"From the clues I've gathered, when Profound Heaven King laid these traps, he was still only a Half-Immortal. Without Immortal spiritual energy, how did he accomplish all this?"
The little Heavenly Beast remained within the formation.
Continuously stimulated, the formation's operation allowed Li Fan to see it more clearly.
Even the symbols on the slab within became increasingly visible.
Among the flashing patterns, Li Fan recognized one strikingly similar to the Boundless Distance, Instant Arrival Formation!
"Because I'm viewing it through the formation, there's distortion, so it's not a perfect match. But it further confirms my suspicions!"
"This slab, replicated by Profound Heaven King, indeed holds the complete inscriptions of the Immortal Realm's Ascension Platform."
"These inscriptions encompass almost everything. Each one corresponds to a specific power of the former Immortal Realm."
"Like the Boundless Distance, Instant Arrival. And the transformation between Immortal and mortal!"
Li Fan's heart surged. The closer the little Heavenly Beast got to the slab, the greater the pressure it faced. Its movements slowed, almost to a standstill.
Just a step away from the slab, the little Heavenly Beast rolled its eyes and refused to move.
No matter how Autumn Water urged it, it remained motionless.
Seeing the increasingly frequent flickering patterns on the slab through the formation, Li Fan knew the little Heavenly Beast wasn't being difficult.
It had reached its limit.
Muffled explosions echoed from the little Heavenly Beast. Bits of its flesh were being eroded by the formation.
Fear flashed in its eyes as it tried to retreat.
Autumn Water could do nothing. Even the lure of three Immortal Domain chess pieces was ineffective.
At that moment, Li Fan formed hand seals.
The retreating little Heavenly Beast froze.
Then, uncontrollably, it continued crawling towards the slab!
A bestial savagery flashed in its eyes. It growled in fury.
Yet, it couldn't break free from Li Fan's control.
This technique was the one Li Fan had learned from Mo Rubin, used to control the Heavenly Beast's Eye.
Whether it was the ancient Profound Heaven Sect's guardian beast or this newly born turtle, their true forms were both jade pendants brought from the Immortal Realm by Profound Heaven King.
In essence, they could be considered the same being.
Control methods effective on the Profound Heaven Sect's Heavenly Beast naturally worked on this little turtle as well.
Li Fan had tested this beforehand.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have allowed it to consume four Immortal Domain chess pieces so readily.
Under Li Fan's relentless compulsion, despite its worsening injuries, the little Heavenly Beast finally reached the slab.
With its comparatively small body, it lifted the slab onto its back.
Carrying the slab, it slowly retreated, growling softly.
Countless patterns shifted on the slab.
The little Heavenly Beast's flesh continued to erode and disappear.
In the end, only an empty shell remained, along with the Heavenly Beast's Eye, protected by a silver starlight.
Carrying the slab, it moved slowly but resolutely.
After an unknown period, it finally crawled out of the strange formation.
The moment it left the formation, the little Heavenly Beast collapsed, utterly exhausted.
Autumn Water rushed to its aid.
Li Fan focused on the slab on the Heavenly Beast's back. The patterns had all vanished, as had the sacred, solemn aura.
It seemed like an ordinary, mundane object.
Li Fan tossed an Immortal Domain chess piece to the critically injured but triumphant little Heavenly Beast.
He then levitated the slab and examined it carefully.
(End of Chapter)