My Longevity Simulation

Chapter 1098: Surge of the Dark Tide

Seeing the abnormal state of the You Clan people before him, Li Fan remained composed. He ignored their extreme fear and forced them to complete the initiation oath in front of the Faceless True Immortal statue.

Only after they finally calmed down did Li Fan inquire about the reason for their terror.

The leader of the You Clan trembled as he spoke. After a long while, he managed to explain: “We have never had the fortune to see the True Immortal statue before. But the moment we laid eyes on it, our clansmen instinctively felt boundless fear.”

“We live in perpetual darkness year-round, and our bodies have adapted to that unique environment. Under normal sunlight, we can endure for a short time, but in front of the True Immortal statue...”

“It is like a light source in utter blackness, a thousand times brighter than the sun in the sky, suddenly appearing.”

The You Clan leader's words came in fits and starts, but Li Fan understood his meaning.

Just as mortals would feel fear when standing at the edge of an abyss, the You Clan people sensed extreme terror upon seeing the Faceless True Immortal statue, as if facing a deadly threat.

Yet the True Immortal's web was formless and intangible. Even Li Fan, as the proxy of the Faceless True Immortal in the Xuanhuang Realm, might not detect its presence otherwise.

In contrast, every member of this You Clan group, even the newborns among them, without exception, felt the power of the True Immortal.

Next, Li Fan learned from the You Clan leader about their understanding of the darkness.

The You Clan people were originally humans as well.

According to the ancient legends passed down in their tribe, in ancient times, their world still had blue skies, white clouds, and bright sunlight.

But one day, after the sun set, it never rose again.

People begged in despair amid the darkness, yet no miracle came.

The vast majority vanished forever into the blackness.

Those who survived were, without exception, all favored by the darkness power.

Under the erosion and transformation of the darkness power, their bodies gradually changed.

They became headless horrors, with their facial features crammed onto their chests.

In truth, the You Clan people did not understand the essence of the dark power. They simply worshiped it as the sole lifesaving straw, a terrifying evil god that brought doom to the normal world, offering prayers and pleas.

And this dark power, as if it could comprehend their words, would truly respond and serve them.

The You Clan people did not believe they had mastered the dark power; rather, it was the grace of the great God of Darkness.

...

What the You Clan leader said differed from the introduction given by Dharma-Transmitter Zhou.

The You Clan people were clearly natives of the Dark Realm, yet Dharma-Transmitter Zhou claimed they were merely a special group that had discovered and exploited the power of the Dark Realm.

On such a minor detail, Dharma-Transmitter Zhou had no reason to deceive him.

“It seems the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance's discovery of the Dark Realm was not as simple as she glossed over.”

A glint of cold light flashed in Li Fan's eyes.

Next, he pondered the manifestation of this darkness power.

“Prayer, then awaiting a response?”

“No wonder the ritual to open the passage to the Dark Realm also involves song and dance.”

Li Fan's gaze flickered.

He was no stranger to powers that responded to the stirrings of a cultivator's heart, carrying such a nature.

The golden Source Power Essence: the remnant power discarded by True Immortals in their pursuit of the root of the Dao. It was the existence known as the Flower of the Dao.

“Since they can sense each other, there must be some connection between the two.”

According to the introduction from the leader of the You Clan, although the power of darkness only manifests concretely in their homeland, it is actually omnipresent throughout the entire Xuanhuang Realm. It simply does not condense in a specific form, making it difficult for ordinary people to detect. However, through special methods of prayer and invocation, one can cross the barriers between small worlds and call upon its power.

Under Li Fan's witness, the leader of the You Clan wore a devout expression and chanted incantations in a low voice.

He launched an attack toward a ferocious beast ahead that resembled a lion-tiger hybrid.

This lion-tiger beast was a new breed recently cultivated by the empire: its flesh was as hard as steel. Even a full-force strike from an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator would scarcely harm it.

But an extremely eerie scene unfolded.

Without any warning, the once majestic lion-tiger beast suddenly collapsed, its limbs going limp as it fell to the ground.

Its eyes were filled with terror; it struggled helplessly to rise.

Yet beneath its body, it was as if an invisible quagmire existed. Countless hands seemed to tug at it relentlessly from the mire.

Under Li Fan's gaze, the lion-tiger beast was slowly engulfed by the darkness.

Not even bones remained.

From beginning to end, Li Fan never "saw" the existence of the darkness.

But the lion-tiger beast had indeed vanished right before his eyes.

Li Fan carefully examined the ground where the darkness had descended: no trace of power lingered.

"Come and go without a shadow, impossible to guard against." Li Fan stroked his chin and fell into deep thought.

Meanwhile, the group of You clansmen once again closed their eyes in collective devotion, praying.

"It seems only they can elicit a response from the darkness through such prayer. Ordinary humans, no matter how closely they mimic the form, cannot summon the power of darkness."

"That makes sense. Only by joining our Federation of All Worlds, swearing the oath before the True Immortal Image, and integrating into the True Immortal webs can his prayer be sensed by me. Presumably, the power of darkness also possesses such an invisible net."

Li Fan pondered silently: "So the key lies in how to join this net without being devoured by the darkness."

In the Dark Realm, the bizarre state of Mo Rubin's corpse was still fresh in his mind. Merely physical contact with it had led to such an outcome. It was hard to imagine what would happen if one's body and soul were fully immersed in the darkness, and one could survive.

Next, Li Fan ordered his deathsworn subordinates to attempt imitating the communication with the darkness, which confirmed his speculation.

They vanished without a sound, swallowed by the darkness: no trace of life or death.

Moreover, repeatedly invoking the power of darkness in a short time seemed to trigger subtle changes.

As the lord of the Spiritwood Realm, Li Fan faintly sensed the entire world dimming for an instant.

After confirming with the leader of the You Clan, Li Fan knew this was no illusion on his part.

Rather, the darkness indeed showed a trend of flowing toward this place.

Li Fan decisively halted the experiments for the time being.

After questioning various members of the You Clan at length, Li Fan finally gained a general understanding of the current state of the power of darkness in the Xuanhuang Realm.

It was like an ocean of darkness gathered on the "back side" of the Xuanhuang.

Though fixed in place by some mysterious positional force, the inherently pervasive nature of the darkness caused it to occasionally seep through any possible "crevices," invading the Xuanhuang and even the various small worlds.

The intrusion would ultimately return to the Dark Realm.

This cycle repeated, forming something akin to "tides."