My Longevity Simulation

Chapter 1085: The Mysterious Trail of the Ancient Immortal Artifact

The so-called strong crossbow at the end of its string cannot pierce even thin silk. Under the pressure of the Longevity Immortal realm, Li Fan's sword probably could not even harm an ordinary mortal. Let alone injure Mr. Bai.

However, even though it did not leave the slightest white mark, this sword had, after all, struck Mr. Bai's body.

Because Li Fan disregarded his own life. Because of Mr. Bai's appreciation for talent and compassion. As the saying goes, one can deceive a gentleman with integrity!

This sword was the answer Li Fan had pondered over the years in the second act of the Fallen Immortal Realm. The first act tested benevolence. The second act tested wisdom. And this third act should test martial prowess!

Mr. Bai suppressed the Heavenly Sword Sect with his sword. If one could defeat him, or gain his recognition in the duel, it would likely pass the test of the third act. And Li Fan had now achieved that.

"I concede."

Although the process of burning his life force was reversed by Mr. Bai, wielding that [Sword of Life] still left Li Fan gravely injured. At this moment, his face was deathly pale, as if he might stop breathing at any time.

He coughed incessantly and cupped his hands toward Mr. Bai.

Mr. Bai looked at Li Fan, his expression somewhat complex. "Why?" he asked.

Li Fan said faintly: "I am different from you. You always consider too much. But I, to achieve my goal, will use any means necessary! Even if it means abandoning my own life!"

The scenes of the Heavenly Sword Sect around them gradually faded. Only Mr. Bai's figure remained clear.

Li Fan continued: "So, what you can do, I may not be able to do. But what you cannot do, I might be able to achieve."

It was like a tongue twister, but Mr. Bai already understood Li Fan's meaning.

"Sometimes, to survive, one must be ruthless."

After saying this, Li Fan's body also slowly became transparent. And eventually disappeared completely.

Only Mr. Bai remained in this spacetime. His brows were tightly furrowed, as if he faced an extremely difficult choice. After an unknown amount of time, he suddenly relaxed his brows and smiled.

"That's right. I always have too many concerns. Perhaps, like him, one can finally seize that one thread of hope..."

Mr. Bai's figure, along with his voice, gradually faded into silence.

...

In the darkness, Li Fan did not know how long he had waited. A familiar sensation of the world spinning came over him, and the scene before his eyes instantly brightened again.

He looked around, but he had not returned to the real world. Instead, he had arrived in a new environment.

"My guess was indeed correct. Though somewhat inglorious, I ultimately defeated Mr. Bai and passed martial prowess's test. No questions about the process, only proof of the result."

A hint of joy stirred in Li Fan's heart. "Now, let me see what the test of this fourth act will be."

With that thought, countless pieces of information surged into Li Fan's mind in an instant. His expression immediately stiffened.

"How could this be?"

Even with Li Fan's depth of composure, he was momentarily lost in a daze. He quickly cast the Water Mirror Technique and then looked at himself in the mirror.

A flawless, peerless countenance that made one feel as if bathed in spring breeze, with admiration arising naturally. This face was all too familiar to Li Fan. He had even just sparred with its owner not long ago.

It was Mr. Bai!

"In this fourth act, I have directly possessed Mr. Bai's body?"

Li Fan's heart trembled violently. There was both delight and wariness.

The delight was that, by borrowing Mr. Bai's body, he could experience the Xuanhuang Celestial Venerable ahead of time. No matter which aspect of cultivation it involved, he would surely benefit greatly in the future. The wariness was that the matter of Mr. Bai borrowing a body to resurrect might play out once more.

After a moment, Li Fan steadied his mind and began to sort through the information in his mind.

Unfortunately, because this was merely a test, the memories of Mr. Bai in his mind were incomplete. There were only fragmented pieces, along with the "main quest" related to this test.

"At this moment, I have already received the acknowledgment of the Heavenly Dao and have formally become the Xuanhuang Great Celestial Venerable. The mission objective is... To find the immortal artifacts left scattered throughout the Xuanhuang Realm and escape from the Xuanhuang Realm?"

Li Fan's expression instantly became utterly bizarre. It was completely at odds with Mr. Bai's known actions from the past, so Li Fan confirmed it several times.

"Hm? No. This is not the test of the Fallen Immortal Realm. Rather... This is the mission that Mr. Bai shouldered at this point in time!"

After a while, Li Fan finally realized.

After becoming the Xuanhuang Great Celestial Venerable, an urging from the Xuanhuang Realm's Heavenly Dao consciousness faintly emerged in Mr. Bai's heart. The calamity was descending, inevitable. Better to abandon the world's body and depart early.

"The Xuanhuang Realm is no longer a safe place, with demons and evils stirring within and the Immortal Ruins eyeing it from without. Better to cross the Immortal Wall and reopen heaven and earth in the outer world."

...

Li Fan frowned as he slowly pieced together the fragmented memory information.

"The Immortal Wall is hard to cross. Even the Xuanhuang Great Celestial Venerable is powerless against it. But before the Immortal Passage was fully severed, the upper realm occasionally bestowed immortal artifacts. Some of these immortal artifacts are still sealed in sect treasuries, while others are deeply buried underground, unknown to anyone. Yet all of them are under the control of the Xuanhuang Realm's Heavenly Dao consciousness."

"As long as these immortal artifacts are gathered and used as sacrifices, even without fully destroying them, it would be enough to unleash the power to cross the Immortal Wall."

A expression utterly at odds with the body's temperament instantly appeared on Li Fan's face.

"Immortal artifacts? At least ten immortal artifacts or more?"

According to the information transmitted by the Xuantian Heavenly Dao consciousness, each of these immortal artifacts possessed power no less than that of the Tianxuan Mirror. If he could collect them all and put them to use for himself...

A flurry of thoughts raced through Li Fan's mind.

One must know that, across so many reincarnations, aside from the Tianxuan Mirror and the Fishing Pond, he had never seen traces of any other immortal artifacts. To now be struck by what felt like a massive gift package, learning the locations of more than ten immortal artifacts at once, how could it not set his heart racing!

"Wait, in true history, all these immortal artifacts vanished without a trace?"

But soon, Li Fan reacted. He immediately recalled an ancient anecdote he had gathered earlier.

When the great calamity descended, due to the reason of incompatible cultivation techniques, the sects were already in chaos. The inexplicable loss of immortal artifacts stored within the sects only accelerated the downfall of the Immortal Cultivation Sects.

"Could it be that, at that time, all these mysteriously vanished immortal artifacts were quietly taken away by Mr. Bai?"

Li Fan's expression became somewhat peculiar. He began to probe the information in his mind regarding these immortal artifacts once more.

These immortal artifacts were all transmitted down from the upper realm when the Immortal Passage had not yet been severed. At that time, the great sects of the Xuanhuang Realm were not the later Ten Great Immortal Sects, but rather ones that had long since vanished into the river of history. Such as the Samsara Sect, the Desolate God Sect, and so on.

The immortal artifacts they possessed had also been divided among the Ten Great Immortal Sects.

However, immortal artifacts have spirits and can only be used by direct sect heirs. Thus, even if the Ten Great Immortal Sects seized most of them, they fundamentally could not use them.