Within the World Crossing Profound Coffin, the chanting grew more fervent. An ethereal aura enveloped the coffin. The gap left in the lid shrunk, as if Qian Ruochang truly intended to follow the Absence and Barbarian Immortals, escaping to another world!
The new Immortal Hunters, also influenced by the coffin's allure and eager to enter, suddenly found themselves bound by the Dao Net, unable to move. They could only watch helplessly as the situation spiraled out of control.
As panic set in, Dao Yuan was the first to speak, steadying their nerves. "Don't panic! Trust Boss Qian!"
In truth, they had no other choice but to trust. However, their trust seemed misplaced. The lid closed steadily, sealing shut under their despairing gazes. The coffin then erupted in a dazzling, multicolored light! But…
The expected scene of the coffin disappearing didn't occur. Instead, the chanting abruptly ceased. The multicolored light froze, stagnant. An eerie silence fell upon the life-filled region within the Obliterated Lands.
Then, the World Crossing Profound Coffin shuddered violently.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The tremors intensified, each resounding in their hearts, as if a trapped beast within was struggling to escape! Just as they were at a loss, they realized the Dao Net's restraints had been lifted. Not intentionally, but because almost all the power of the localized Dao Net was now being utilized, unable even to spare the energy to bind them.
"This is… The Nothingness Immortal has entered the coffin, and Boss Qian is fighting him inside?" Jin Changyue was the first to react, exclaiming in shock.
"We didn't even detect his movements? This place is covered by the localized Dao Net!"
"This is bad! Boss Qian is facing the Nothingness Immortal alone. Is he in danger?"
They exchanged worried glances, awed by the Nothingness Immortal's unfathomable power and concerned for Qian Ruochang's safety. But they were helpless. Despite their initial bravado, facing a true battle between Immortals, they realized that without the Dao Net, they couldn't intervene in a fight of this level. Furthermore, the coffin was sealed. Not knowing how to open it, even if they wanted to join the fight, they couldn't.
"This Nothingness Immortal is so secretive. Boss Qian had to use himself as bait, using the closing coffin and the prospect of escaping to another world to force him to reveal himself. With the lid sealed, the Nothingness Immortal has nowhere to run. So, what we need to do…"
After a moment of contemplation, they understood.
"Quickly! Transport this coffin back to Immortal Hunter headquarters!"
Even under the suppression of the entire localized Dao Net, the coffin, once bait, now a prison, trembled increasingly violently. Even from a distance, they felt a palpable sense of dread, fearing the trapped Immortal might break free at any moment.
"This place is far from the Shuo Star Sea. Ordinary flight won't be fast enough. Stabilize the localized Dao Net and reconnect it to the Shuo Star Sea Dao Net!" They quickly reached a consensus. Their training had fostered some level of coordination. Without any commands, instructions flew out, slowly stabilizing the precarious localized Dao Net.
The next step was to reconnect the localized Dao Net to the main Net. Although the connecting Dao string had been severed, they weren't too far from the Dao Net boundary. Only one person needed to fly there at top speed to serve as a conduit.
"I'll go!"
This wasn't the time for courtesy. Jin Changyue spoke resolutely, opening her triple pupils. Perhaps due to overuse, they were still bloodshot, like a crimson spiderweb, rather eerie. Two pupils focused on the distant destination, while the central, void-like pupil scanned their surroundings.
With a flash of sword light, Jin Changyue vanished before her words reached them:
"Something's… not right!"
They froze, exchanging looks. Moments later, a chilling realization dawned upon them. There were twenty-eight new Immortal Hunters. Excluding Jin Changyue and Feng Zengyuan, who had died during the dissection trial, there should be twenty-six remaining. However, only twenty-five were present!
More importantly, after racking their brains, they couldn't even recall the missing person's name or appearance, as if they had never existed.
They all looked at the World Crossing Profound Coffin, a terrifying thought surfacing: "Was the Nothingness Immortal among us all along?"
Li Fan's expression turned serious. Even using the miniature Dao Net in his divine sense, he could only recall a blurry figure, unable to identify the missing person.
Li Fan's mind raced. "Did he infiltrate the group from the beginning, or replace someone later?"
"But either way, if he knew it was a trap, why did he enter the coffin at the last moment?"
Recalling the dazzling multicolored light from the coffin, Li Fan suddenly understood. "Qian Ruochang must have anticipated the Nothingness Immortal's infiltration."
"Entering the coffin was a blatant gambit. If the Nothingness Immortal hadn't appeared, he would have truly escaped, just like the Absence and Barbarian Immortals!"
"Faced with the chance to escape, the Nothingness Immortal couldn't resist. He had been observing Qian Ruochang up close for a while, perhaps believing that even if it was a trap, he was powerful enough to subdue him. So he took the gamble…" Li Fan pieced together the truth.
However, a new question arose.
"If that's true, Qian Ruochang endured the allure of escape and, when the Nothingness Immortal appeared, abandoned his original plan, choosing to hunt the Immortal instead…"
"Capturing this True Immortal was more important to Qian Ruochang than escaping?" Li Fan looked at Qian Ruochang with newfound respect.
As time passed, the struggle within the coffin intensified. Qian Ruochang seemed to be losing ground. Even with everyone's combined efforts, they could barely stabilize the localized Dao Net, which felt like a leaf in the wind, about to be blown away from the Great Dao it clung to.
Just as despair set in, a sword light flashed in the distant darkness, rapidly approaching. It was Jin Changyue. Behind her, they faintly saw a shimmering white Dao string. Though thin as a thread, it weighed more than the heavens. Jin Changyue pulled it along, no longer burdened by an entire cultivation world.
Even so, her speed didn't decrease, a testament to her strength. As she drew closer, the Dao Net connection seemed imminent. But then, her speed abruptly slowed. They saw her eyelids fluttering.
"This is bad! Jin Changyue has reached her limit. We need to help her!"
They cried out. Dao Yuan and most of the others remained, struggling to stabilize the Dao Net. Jiang Yuming led three others to meet Jin Changyue and the crucial Dao string.
Jin Changyue seemed to have exhausted all her strength, her flight slowing to a halt. Her eyelids closed, as if she had fallen asleep!
Seeing this, Jiang Yuming urged his group forward. However… before they could reach her, the four Immortal Hunters also slowed down, eventually falling asleep like Jin Changyue.
The remaining Immortal Hunters faltered in their command execution. Although unsure what was happening, a sense of foreboding washed over them. Before they could speak, a strange power enveloped them, like all the fatigue accumulated since birth hitting them at once.
Many instantly fell asleep. Even Dao Yuan and Nangong Hongzhao couldn't resist the overwhelming drowsiness for long, soon succumbing to slumber and falling into the Dreamland Paradise.
The same happened to Li Fan, in Ma Tiande's body. The entire starry sky, except for the violently trembling coffin, was still.
While the new Immortal Hunters slept soundly, the battle between the two True Immortals within the coffin remained undecided.
One day, two days…
Thirty days later, the person inside the coffin seemed to finally sense the change outside, or perhaps the battle had reached a conclusion. The struggle gradually subsided. However, no one emerged. The World Crossing Profound Coffin simply floated silently in the void.
…
In the Xuanhuang World, Li Fan observed the floating coffin from afar through the power of the Dreamland. His intervention was carefully considered. He was even prepared to be discovered and use True Return to escape if necessary.
Whether or not the Nothingness Immortal being hunted was He Gan Xian, he was worth contacting. Having infiltrated the Shuo Star Sea, Li Fan had a basic understanding of its various factions. However, he knew nothing about the True Immortals opposing them.
Li Fan's current state, aside from lacking Immortal spiritual Qi, was no different from an Immortal. He could be considered part of their camp. If he could rescue the Nothingness Immortal and learn something from him, it would greatly benefit his plans.
However, Li Fan didn't simply appear and confront him. He first observed the changes within the coffin patiently, like a hunter waiting for his prey.
The silence within the coffin lasted for seven days. Sensing no change outside, the person inside seemed to grow restless. The sacred chanting resumed, as if he intended to escape regardless of the outside world!
But the chanting didn't last long. An ethereal murmuring sound arose from the surrounding void, its distinct melody subtly altering the chanting within the coffin. The multicolored light flickered erratically, unable to coalesce.
The person inside didn't give up. After a pause, the multicolored light flared, and the chanting doubled in intensity. However, the illusory sound from the surrounding Dreamland Paradise amplified tenfold, completely suppressing the chanting.
The multicolored light retreated into the coffin, and all went silent again. Having accomplished its disruption, the murmuring vanished as it had come. Only the coffin and the sleeping Immortal Hunters remained in the void.
Li Fan had woven a pleasant dream for them. As a precaution, inspired by the localized Dao Net, this dream was independent of the Xuanhuang World's Dreamland Paradise and could be abandoned at any time. With the wall as a barrier, it wouldn't leave any traces.
Focusing all his Dreamland power outside the wall, combined with the demonic sounds from the Xuanyuan bloodline memories, he was able to disrupt the World Crossing Profound Coffin's teleportation.
Li Fan had previously used the Grand Magus's Calamity-Averting Sounds to counteract Heavenly King Xuan's demonic sounds. He had conceived this idea when he noticed the similarities between the coffin's activation chant and the Calamity-Averting Sounds. Now, it had proven effective.
"It seems these two Great Dao melodies are somehow opposed to each other," Li Fan mused.
The Shuo Star Sea Immortal Hunters hadn't abandoned the trapped coffin. Clearly, their headquarters was aware of Qian Ruochang's plan to some extent. They had sent people to the edge of the Dao Net to search for the missing coffin and the Immortal Hunters.
However, to deceive the Nothingness Immortal, Qian Ruochang hadn't revealed too much. The Obliterated Lands remained a dangerous, unknown territory to the Shuo Star Sea. Coupled with the severed Dao string, they wouldn't find them easily.
"Let's see how long you can last."
To capture the Nothingness Immortal, the coffin had been modified so it could only be opened from the outside. Unless one was powerful enough to shatter it, escape was impossible. This was Qian Ruochang's perfect hunting strategy, which now ironically provided Li Fan with an opportunity.
(End of Chapter)