My Longevity Simulation

Chapter 1377: The Living Being Ascends to Immortal Shape

Li Fan had previously been puzzled as to why the Darkest Star Sea sealed behind the High Wall had developed an independent consciousness.

He had not expected the mystery to be solved so quickly.

"The earthly fissure was constructed by Xing Wuque under the orders of the Xuantian King. He labored tirelessly for tens of thousands of years without interruption. Even now, it has still not been completed. Xu Ke must continue the work."

"Setting aside whether Xu Ke's persistence comes from his own will or from the influence of Xing Wuque's inheritance, in the Xuantian King's plan, the fissure absolutely had to satisfy the condition of completeness."

"I previously speculated that the Xuantian King intended to elevate the entire Darkest Star Sea into the Immortal Realm. But now it seems..."

"There may have been another objective besides that."

Qiao Gong continued his endless explanation of how the fissure pattern transformed the ordinary into the miraculous. Using his finger as a brush, he drew before Li Fan the pattern he had memorized.

At first glance, there was nothing extraordinary about it. It looked no different from the meaningless scribbles of a child.

Li Fan also recalled the route map of the fissure that he had memorized.

Following the guidance of the [Reveal] character, he had traveled all the way to the end of the fissure basin. As a result, the pattern he had recorded was far more detailed and complete than Qiao Gong's.

Even so, after studying it carefully, Li Fan still failed to uncover the mystery hidden within those patterns.

"It seems this belongs to a completely different system from anything I have encountered so far."

"Only by engraving it can its effects manifest?"

"Just one incomplete portion is enough to give birth to an independent consciousness. But when the entire pattern is completed, what exactly will it accomplish?"

Li Fan frowned inwardly.

With a thought, a long sword resembling flowing sapphire liquid quietly appeared in his hand.

It was one of the five treasures Li Fan had obtained from the Immortal Ark under the pretense of earning Great Qi's trust and ensuring the smooth progress of the Equal Heaven Ritual.

From the second level of the Immortal Ark treasury, he had taken two treasures, the Yin-Yang Jade and the Three-Pronged Tree.

From the first level, he had taken three treasures, the Blackstar Stone, the strange bronze mirror, and the liquid sword.

The Three-Pronged Tree had unexpectedly triggered a response within [Truth], helping Li Fan deepen his understanding of the Transformations Between Truth and Falsehood.

The Yin-Yang Jade was reserved for a future plan, where it would transform into Yin and Yang Qi to promote the evolution of the Xuanhuang Realm.

The Blackstar Stone had already been fused into Tianyang's Immortal Puppet body.

Only the strange bronze mirror and the liquid sword remained unused.

With Li Fan's current strength, allowing him to roam freely across the Star Sea, treasures casually selected from the Immortal Ark treasury had each provided him with such tremendous benefits. This alone demonstrated how astonishingly rich the Immortal Ark treasury truly was.

And this was only the first and second layer of the Immortal Compendium of Hundred Tales.

It was difficult to imagine what priceless treasures were stored within the third level.

"What a pity. In this life, the entire treasury has already departed beyond the High Wall."

"I can only wait until a future opportunity to explore it thoroughly."

"However, if I can successfully achieve Dao Integration with the Celestial Spirit of Heaven and Earth, then when I face the Immortal Ark again, there will be no need for all the complicated schemes of this lifetime."

As these thoughts flowed through his mind, Li Fan quietly engraved the known earth fissure pattern onto the liquid sword before him.

Not the slightest fluctuation of energy appeared.

Yet for some unknown reason, the liquid sword suddenly began to boil violently.

Li Fan narrowed his eyes and separated a strand of divine sense to carefully observe the sword's transformation.

"Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill."

The sapphire blade gradually turned completely black.

Within it, a newly born, immature consciousness emerged, obsessively repeating those words.

The earthly fissure pattern slowly disappeared into the interior of the sword.

The flowing liquid blade then solidified into a sharp sword radiating icy brilliance.

With a sharp whistle, it suddenly flew toward the nearest living target.

Like a brush drawing a straight black stroke across white paper, black ink spread outward along its path.

"Kill!"

Space split apart.

A boundless murderous aura surged directly toward Li Fan's face.

At that moment, the entire Star Sea seemed to vanish from Li Fan's perception.

Everything he saw, everything he sensed, everything he felt, became nothing but this single sword descending through the void.

"Not bad."

Li Fan praised softly.

Two enormous fingers descended from the heavens, piercing through the starry sky.

They stopped before Li Fan and gently caught the black sword between them.

"Kill..."

The black sword still struggled desperately.

But how could it possibly break free?

It could only rage helplessly, letting out continuous low growls.

Qiao Gong was completely stunned by the sudden change, his explanation stopping abruptly. The overwhelming pressure radiating from the Nine Heavens Descending Mortal Finger filled him with terror, leaving him unable to even look directly at Li Fan.

"It truly developed self-awareness. That liquid sword was previously nothing more than an ordinary object, completely devoid of even the slightest consciousness."

"Unfortunately, whether because the pattern is incomplete or because this consciousness was born from nothing, what emerged within the sword cannot yet be considered true intelligence."

Li Fan had already gained a preliminary understanding of the earthly fissure pattern's effects.

The Nine Heavens Descending Mortal Finger then exerted slightly more force.

With a single squeeze, every engraved pattern within the sword was instantly erased.

The black color faded away.

The sword returned to its original liquid form.

Its overwhelming murderous aura disappeared as well.

"Wait here for a moment."

After putting away the liquid sword, Li Fan instructed Qiao Gong before vanishing from the spot.

Having witnessed Li Fan's overwhelming power, Qiao Gong naturally dared not disobey.

He obediently remained where he was.

At the same time, his eyes darted about as he tried to recall the pattern that had briefly flashed across the sword.

"The Holy Teacher actually possesses a far more complete version of the pattern than I do. Unfortunately, the details were far too complicated. In that brief instant, I only managed to memorize a little more than half."

"But that should be enough. Hehehe. I wonder what I'll be able to turn Shangguan into this time."

Qiao Gong's thoughts wandered excitedly.

The next moment, Li Fan's voice suddenly rang beside his ear.

"So, you also want to know the complete pattern?"

"Of course."

Qiao Gong answered instinctively.

But he quickly realized what he had just admitted.

His face instantly turned deathly pale.

He frantically shook his head.

"Hehehe. Holy Teacher, you've misunderstood. How would I dare pry such a profound secret? The portion I already possess is more than enough..."

Li Fan waved his hand, cutting off Qiao Gong's rambling.

At the same time, he sent a pattern directly into Qiao Gong's sea of consciousness.

"Since you're interested, I don't mind teaching you this [Shape of Living Beings]."

Li Fan spoke indifferently.

Qiao Gong said nothing.

His eyes became vacant as he completely immersed himself in the intricate and wondrous pattern.

The Shape of Living Beings was not the earth fissure pattern's original name.

It was merely a name Li Fan had casually given it.

Earlier, Li Fan had returned to the depths of the fissure in an attempt to obtain the complete pattern from Xu Ke.

As the true builder of the fissure, Xing Wuque's inheritance should have contained the relevant memories.

Unfortunately, Li Fan was somewhat disappointed.

Xing Wuque's inheritance was simply too vast.

If every detail had been passed down without omission, Xu Ke's soul would never have been able to withstand it.

Therefore, from Xing Wuque's perspective, many insignificant matters had been discarded and excluded from the inheritance.

Among them were the construction memories of the already completed outer sections of the fissures.

Fortunately, the unfinished portion of the Shape of Living Beings remained within Xing Wuque's inheritance.

After obtaining it from Xu Ke, Li Fan once again laid down countless golden threads throughout the underground river of the fissure.

Using the vitality of the Underground River, it continuously proliferated and evolved. Like liquid mercury flowing across the ground, it began a comprehensive exploration of the earth fissure.

Although the earth fissure had countless branches and spread throughout the entire Star Sea, for Li Fan, it was merely somewhat troublesome, not something impossible to fully understand.

It was just that, until now, Li Fan had never had sufficient motivation to do so.

But after learning that its complete pattern was very likely an entirely new and unknown powerful divine ability, Li Fan resolved to fully explore every part of it.

"Judging by the current progress of the golden threads searching through the earth fissure, the exploration should be completed before the end of this lifetime."

"I hope it brings me a pleasant surprise."

Sensing the Shape of Living Beings continuously spreading outward through his mind, Li Fan thought to himself.

Having just returned from the earth fissure, Li Fan also learned why Qiao Gong had managed to escape.

It was most likely another chain reaction caused by the Xuan Immortal Ark crossing the High Wall.

The instant the Immortal Ark crossed the High Wall, it attracted the attention of an unknown existence beyond it. As a result, the Star Sea's consciousness sensed an incomparably intense crisis.

Like some kind of catalyst, it stimulated the enormous vitality stored within the earth fissure.

"The revival of the Star Sea has once again been brought forward."

"The Shape of Living Beings, the Star Sea consciousness, the High Wall, the Immortal Realm..."

Grabbing the still-enlightening Qiao Gong, Li Fan returned to the Xuanhuang Realm while silently contemplating these matters.

"Wonderful!"

Only then did Qiao Gong awaken as if from a dream and cry out in delight.

"Although I still cannot see its complete form, I already have a premonition. Using this Shape of Living Beings, I can reshape Shangguan's mind according to my own design. I can create a Shangguan Tuo who belongs to me alone, the Shangguan Tuo of my dreams!"

"Shangguan, wait for me. Just wait for me..."

Qiao Gong's eyes had already become somewhat frenzied from overwhelming joy. At this moment, the only thought in his mind was to immediately find a quiet and secluded place to create a Shangguan Tuo puppet made specifically to his own specifications.

"I heard you still possess several combat memory records belonging to the Immortal Puppet Ancestor?" Li Fan suddenly blocked his path.

"Yes, yes, yes. Does the Holy Teacher need them? Please, take them all!"

Already gradually becoming dominated by his own desires, Qiao Gong did not even bother questioning how Li Fan had learned such a closely guarded secret. He directly tossed over a seven-colored sphere of light.

Li Fan inspected it briefly, smiled faintly, and stepped aside.

Qiao Gong immediately vanished in a flash, disappearing to who knew where.

Li Fan, meanwhile, held the sphere of light in one hand and arrived at Tianyang's secluded cultivation chamber.

Ever since the battle aboard the Immortal Ark against the Thousand-Eyed Desolate God, Tianyang had remained in a state of secluded enlightenment.

The aura surrounding him surged like an endless sea of clouds. At times it expanded wildly in every direction, while at other times it rapidly contracted until it was completely hidden.

Li Fan could even faintly sense from Tianyang the same terror he had experienced when facing the Thousand-Eyed Desolate God.

"The power of the Star Spirit, a complete Immortal Realm fragment, the foundation of a ruined world, the remaining power of a True Immortal..."

"With every lifetime, I prepare more and more contingencies. Yet for some reason, the unease within my heart only grows stronger day by day."

Standing before the Immortal Puppet Tianyang, Li Fan's expression was unreadable.

"My intuition has always been accurate. Countless reincarnations have already proven that."

"It seems that promoting the Xuanhuang Realm's ascension will inevitably bring unforeseen dangers."

"I need allies, even if they can only buy me a single instant."

Li Fan slowly implanted the entire seven-colored sphere into Tianyang's Immortal Puppet body.

The instant the sphere approached, the True Immortal flesh covering Tianyang's body seemed to sense danger.

It rose like a living creature, baring its fangs and claws.

But upon truly coming into contact with the Ancestor's combat memories, the flesh suddenly quieted.

A moment later, however, it reacted even more violently, almost rioting as it eagerly dragged the sphere deep into Tianyang's body.

A trace of ferocity suddenly flashed across Tianyang's previously tranquil face.

Two completely different auras appeared simultaneously upon his body.

One was ancient, desolate, and sinister.

The other was magnificent and righteous, unmoving in all directions.

The first originated from the Thousand-Eyed Desolate God.

The second came from the Immortal Puppet Ancestor.

Neither of these beings had reached the level of a True Immortal.

Yet they had long transcended the mortal realm and were far beyond what ordinary cultivators could endure.

Under normal circumstances, even a Supreme realm cultivator of the Star Sea would have their mind shaken and worn away beneath the clash of these utterly opposing auras.

But the core of an Immortal Puppet was an Eternal Remnant Will.

Even Li Fan was forced to retreat slightly from the collision of the two auras.

Yet Tianyang, standing at the center of the storm, remained completely unmoved, allowing the raging forces to batter him freely.

Not only did the violent clash fail to diminish him in the slightest, it instead refined him like gold within blazing flames, causing him to shine even more brilliantly.

"So this is an Eternal Remnant Will?"

It was also Li Fan's first time truly witnessing what eternity meant.

Something left behind by an ordinary mortal could actually stand firm before Immortal-level power without collapsing.

The overwhelming contrast caused even Li Fan's heart to tremble.

He suddenly remembered that within the Xuanhuang Realm there remained another Eternal Remnant Will that had yet to be absorbed through [Truth].

The skull of Mr. Bai within the Divine Treasury Museum.

"It has already been far too long."

“It has been too long. After achieving the Celestial Spirit, it is finally time to go and collect it.”

Although enemies within the Star Sea had become exceedingly rare for him, there were still many occasions when he found himself constrained.

"Only by using my Celestial Spirit to achieve Dao Integration and step into the Immortal Realm, even if only as a Half-Immortal, can I truly roam without restraint."

At this moment, Li Fan's determination had never been firmer.

"The Tianyang Immortal Soul is one safeguard."

"Perhaps this sword can become another."

Li Fan flashed to the center of the Great Xuan Dao Lecture Platform.

He took out the liquid longsword and quietly placed it before himself.

The spiritual energy within his body surged as he engraved every portion of the Shape of Living Beings that had currently been explored onto the blade.

Compared to his first attempt, the Shape of Living Beings pattern had nearly doubled in size.

The blade no longer transformed toward an ink-black color.

Instead, it remained a deep azure.

Li Fan deliberately left a large blank section where the unexplored areas remained, allowing future additions whenever more of the pattern was discovered.

Once the Shape of Living Beings had been completely engraved, an incomprehensible fluctuation descended and enveloped the liquid sword.

A dazzling light erupted before gradually fading.

Then a naked little Daoist child with delicate features slowly appeared before Li Fan.

Only during the instant of his birth did confusion briefly appear in the child's eyes.

Moments later, he somehow understood the origin of his own existence.

"Thank you, Great Master, for granting me life."

The little Daoist child spoke in a clear voice before respectfully kneeling before Li Fan.