My Longevity Simulation

Chapter 1344: Li Fan's Self Defense

The elders of the Immortal Ark were far older than they appeared.

Over the course of thousands of years, they had repeatedly used the [Ancient] Character seal script to reverse their own state. Time after time, they returned to youth and maintained their youthful appearance. However, reversing one's age was not the same as attaining eternal life.

Old age had still been quietly accumulating within them.

Now, after Lu Yuzhi and the others were struck by Yin Shangren's death aura, all the accumulated aging from countless years erupted at once.

As a result, the effect of the Death Character was even more terrifying than anyone had imagined.

The hair of the three Immortal Ark elders turned completely white in an instant, as though covered in frost. Deep wrinkles rapidly spread across their faces.

The aura of decay surged from within their bodies.

"Ancient!"

Having recovered his senses, Lu Yuzhi forcibly calmed himself. With a slightly trembling hand, he swiftly wrote an Ancient character into the void.

Its target was not the unknown enemy, but themselves.

Under the power of the Ancient character, the rapid aging of their bodies was somewhat slowed.

However, it only treated the symptoms, not the root cause.

The source of this reversing power was not the genuine True Immortal seal script, but merely a crude imitation. The extent to which it could reverse their condition was far inferior to the speed at which they were aging.

Meanwhile, the surrounding death aura storm only continued to intensify. If this continued, the four of them would soon be reduced to piles of white bones.

Under the combined effects of the death aura storm and the Ancient character, Li Fan and Xu Gongding also suddenly regained consciousness.

Their faces were filled with horror and confusion.

"Run!"

Lu Yuzhi struggled to hold on as he roared at Li Fan.

Li Fan's originally black and white hair had already become completely snow white. Yet he looked toward the direction in which the sealed sphere had disappeared, hesitating.

"But that gray Go piece..."

"If your life is gone, then nothing else matters!"

Although Lu Yuzhi was equally unwilling to let it go, he still roared those words.

"Ahhh!"

With a roar of frustration, the phantom of a Wooden Sword left its sheath, temporarily easing the assault of the death aura.

Sword light flashed, carrying the four of them out of the terrifying sea of death aura.

Only after their figures disappeared beyond the horizon did Hundred Flowers and Yin Shangren slowly reveal themselves.

Releasing such a massive death aura storm all at once was no easy task for Yin Shangren, who had only recently absorbed the Yin-Yang Pearl.

The black and white pupils in his eyes spun faster and faster, almost beyond his control.

He had no choice but to close his eyes and calm himself.

Meanwhile, following Li Fan's instructions, Hundred Flowers continuously cast streams of golden light, sealing the sphere they had just seized.

"I wonder who those three people accompanying the Holy Teacher really were."

"The characters they used seemed identical to the residual True Immortal power scattered throughout the Star Sea."

"That said, the Holy Teacher's acting was truly remarkable. If he had not secretly transmitted a message instructing us to cooperate, even I would have been deceived."

Hundred Flowers wore a complicated expression as she continued constructing the sealing formation without pause.

This sealing formation was extraordinarily profound, but with Li Fan's guidance, Hundred Flowers was barely able to complete it.

...

Outside the Great Wall of the Remnant World.

The Immortal Ark group that had narrowly escaped death still looked deeply shaken.

Although they had escaped the range of the death aura storm, traces of death aura still remained within their bodies.

It continuously eroded their lifespan.

"Return to the Immortal Ark first."

Lu Yuzhi had become incomparably frail, looking like an elderly mortal in his seventies or eighties, seemingly on the verge of death. Even speaking those four simple words exhausted nearly all his strength.

The others looked little better.

Li Fan in particular could only shake his head slightly, indicating that he had become so weak he no longer possessed the strength to use any movement techniques.

Among the four, only Nangong Lie remained in relatively better condition.

He carried the others while flying toward the Immortal Ark and simultaneously released a distress signal.

About the time it took to drink a cup of tea later, Zhong Daogong arrived with seven Immortal Ark elders.

To guard against the possibility that this was a diversionary tactic, they had not dispatched every elder, despite the lives of four elders being at stake.

Looking at the four who were barely clinging to life and enveloped in an aura of decay, Zhong Daogong and the others wore solemn expressions.

However, they knew saving lives came first. They did not immediately ask what had happened and instead first brought the four back for treatment.

Through the genuine Ancient character, along with numerous longevity treasures, they finally managed to temporarily stabilize their condition.

Three days later.

Li Fan stood inside a small courtyard, his expression somewhat absent minded.

"I only have about ten years of lifespan left."

"I lost half of it just from one trip."

Hearing this, Lu Yuzhi smiled bitterly.

"My situation is about the same. Less than fifty years remain..."

Nangong Lie and Xu Gongding looked equally grim.

Such a major incident naturally required a thorough investigation by the Council of Elders. They truthfully recounted everything they had experienced.

Zhong Daogong comforted them extensively and tried every possible method to extend their lifespan.

Unfortunately, the results were minimal.

"Hmph!"

The courtyard remained silent for a while before Nangong Lie suddenly slammed the stone table.

"We suffered such a great disaster, and even had all four gray Go pieces stolen."

"It is an utter humiliation. Zhong Daogong should have immediately led everyone there. Even if he could not recover them, he should at least investigate the identity of the culprits."

"But instead, so much time has passed and he has done absolutely nothing. Every time I ask, he gives the same pleasant sounding excuse about needing long term planning. Bah. I think after seeing the miserable state we ended up in, they became afraid."

Nangong Lie vented all the frustration in his heart.

Lu Yuzhi frowned slightly.

"Still, Elder Zhong is not entirely wrong. That death aura storm truly was far too strange and terrifying. Even after spending the past several days thinking about it, I still cannot find any method to confront it directly. We four have already suffered severe injuries. The Immortal Ark absolutely cannot withstand another blow of the same magnitude in such a short time."

Li Fan also nodded.

"Although it is frustrating, that is indeed the reality. That death aura appeared far too suddenly. It was clearly targeting the gray Go pieces in our possession."

"Do not forget. There is still one gray Go piece within the Immortal Ark."

"Perhaps that unknown enemy will attack us at any moment."

Li Fan's words immediately plunged everyone into silence.

The Immortal Ark had always placed the greater good above all else.

They could still distinguish between personal grievances and the overall interests of the Immortal Ark.

"The enemy has come fully prepared."

Lu Yuzhi let out a long sigh, his eyes filled with worry.

To prepare for this unknown enemy, the Immortal Ark soon convened a joint meeting of all its elders.

As one of those directly involved in the incident, Li Fan also attended.

Zhong Daogong was the first to summarize the situation.

"The enemy was undoubtedly after the gray Go pieces. The gray Go piece in our possession has already lost part of its connection with the others. It should correspond to the four pieces that were taken."

"However, there are two major questions."

"First, how were they able to pinpoint Elder Lu Yuzhi's group with such precision?"

"Second, what method did they use to block the resonance between the gray Go pieces?"

"As for the death qi storm they used in the attack..."

"After searching the Immortal Ark's records, we have found several possible explanations."

His words immediately drew everyone's attention.

Jian Daosheng coughed lightly before explaining.

"Death qi and vitality exist in opposition while depending upon each other. After the Great Catastrophe, most regions of the Darkest Star Sea fell into complete silence. Theoretically speaking, such an enormous amount of death qi should not exist there."

"Therefore, we believe this death qi originated from a cultivation world."

"And for them to use death qi as a consumable offensive weapon, the amount of death qi they possess must be beyond imagination." Jian Daosheng's tone was heavy.

Upon hearing this, the Immortal Ark elders quickly voiced the doubts in their hearts.

"The Star Sea Catastrophe destroyed the myriad worlds long ago. Where could they possibly have gathered such an enormous amount of death qi?"

"It completely defies common sense."

Zhong Daogong sighed.

"That is precisely the key issue. I fear this death qi was accumulated long ago, back in the ancient era before the Star Sea suffered its catastrophe."

"The enemy is very likely an ancient civilization that has survived from antiquity until today, just like us."

"They were able to predict and avoid attacks from the True Immortal seal script. They possess an intimate understanding of the gray Go pieces, which are creations of the True Immortals, and caught us completely off guard. Throughout the entire encounter, they never once revealed themselves."

"Judging from everything they have displayed, this unknown civilization is no weaker than our Immortal Ark."

As Zhong Daogong finished speaking, the meeting fell into an eerie silence.

Every elder frowned deeply, each lost in thought.

Li Fan finally broke the silence.

"I never imagined that besides the Immortal Ark and Great Qi, another brilliant civilization still exists within this seemingly lifeless Star Sea."

The elders all turned their gazes toward Li Fan.

Jian Daosheng narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Fellow Daoist Li, is it possible that the unknown force which attacked you is actually your homeland, Great Qi?"

This was also the question shared by every Immortal Ark elder.

Now that Jian Daosheng had asked it openly, everyone fixed their eyes upon Li Fan, waiting for his answer.

"Great Qi?"

Li Fan was clearly caught off guard.

"How could..."

His first instinct was to deny it.

However, he quickly seemed to realize something. His brows furrowed as he sank into deep thought, abruptly falling silent.

After a long while, Li Fan finally spoke again in a quiet voice.

"First of all, I can state with absolute certainty that Great Qi has placed no surveillance methods upon me. I am certainly not one of Great Qi's spies."

"I have no evidence to prove it. But after spending so much time together, I believe everyone here understands what kind of person I am."

Li Fan paused before speaking proudly.

"To say something you may not like to hear. If I truly were a Great Qi spy, and my objective were those gray Go pieces, then when I helped reconstruct the Immortal Ark's defensive formation, with my unmatched movement technique throughout the Star Sea, I could have simply stolen the piece and escaped immediately."

"There would have been no need to go through all of this trouble."

The meeting became even quieter.

No one refuted him.

Most silently accepted his reasoning, though a handful still looked at Li Fan with lingering suspicion.

Li Fan continued his defense.

"Besides, when we were attacked, we were preparing to continue deeper into the Remnant World Great Wall to collect even more Go pieces. If I truly were an inside agent, why wouldn't I wait until we found more before informing my allies and wiping everyone out in one strike?"

"After succeeding, why would I return to the Immortal Ark at all?"

"At that time, the other three Immortal Ark elders were already on the verge of collapse. Without my movement technique, they would have died long ago. Would it not have been far easier to simply let them disappear forever without anyone knowing what happened? Why go through such unnecessary effort?"

The more Li Fan spoke, the more genuine anger seemed to build within him.

He snorted coldly.

"If not for the fact that, in the final stage of my life, my interactions with the Immortal Ark had already made me regard it as my home, I would never have bothered explaining so much."

"If I wished to leave, who among you could possibly stop me?"

Not a single Immortal Ark elder could refute those words. After all, that phantom Wooden Sword ignored nearly every restrictive force. It was truly beyond comprehension.

At that moment, Zhong Daogong hurriedly stepped in to smooth things over.

He laughed gently.

"Fellow Daoist Li, there is no need to become so agitated. We absolutely trust you. However, we know very little about the Great Qi behind you. Naturally, some suspicion is unavoidable."

Li Fan's anger gradually subsided.

After thinking for a moment, he answered cautiously.

"Great Qi itself contains numerous factions. I am only familiar with my master's lineage."

"However, I have never heard of anyone within Great Qi possessing such an immense quantity of death qi."

"Besides, my face carries some reputation within Great Qi. If the attackers truly came from Great Qi, none of them would dare attack me. Even if I died, my master would never forgive them."

Li Fan spoke with complete certainty.

Zhong Daogong nodded slightly and temporarily ended that line of questioning.

"Regarding this attack, I have formed several hypotheses. Let me present them for everyone's consideration."

"The gray Go piece has remained safely stored within the Immortal Ark's secret vault for countless years without incident. Yet now it has suddenly become the target of an attack."

"Assuming nobody deliberately leaked information, perhaps gathering too many Go pieces together attracted their attention."

Zhong Daogong said loudly.

"This unknown civilization may have been searching for the gray Go pieces all these years. Unfortunately, without possessing one themselves, they were unable to locate them through resonance."

"But during our collection process, the increasing concentration of Go pieces allowed them to detect the signal. That exposed us and led directly to the attack."

The elders all fell silent once again.

It sounded somewhat unbelievable, yet it was currently the only reasonable explanation.

"If my speculation is correct, then what we must now worry about is this unknown civilization attacking the Immortal Ark itself." Zhong Daogong's tone suddenly became serious.

"The gray Go pieces can resonate with one another. The piece that has become part of the Immortal Ark's outer chitinous armor undoubtedly provides the enemy with our approximate location at all times."

"That is clearly unacceptable."

The expressions of every Immortal Ark elder changed immediately.

"Our highest priority is resolving this problem."

"Either we separate the chitinous armor from the Immortal Ark and abandon the gray Go piece entirely."

"Or we find a method capable of blocking the resonance between the gray Go pieces."

Zhong Daogong concluded.

The elders exchanged uncertain glances.

Soon afterward, heated debate broke out among them.