Chapter 1181-1185 (6k+ words)

"Dead?" A still-startled Li Fan breathed a sigh of relief for a moment.

But the lingering sense of danger around his heart told him things weren't that simple.

Sure enough, after several sword lights unleashed by the holy embryo Li Fan touched the corpse ahead, it vanished in the darkness like a blown-out candle, without any collision sounds.

The massive and withered corpse, like an ancient beast hidden in the void, swallowed everything attempting to get close to it.

A spell once again illuminated the surrounding space.

This time, the view was clearer.

The overall appearance of the dried-up corpse didn't differ much from an ordinary human, just exceptionally large.

Over thirty zhang tall, the palm alone was larger than Li Fan.

Seemingly drifting in this void for a long time, its clothes had already decayed.

However, a careful observation made holy embryo Li Fan even more shocked. The dried-up corpse...

Seemed to be a newborn baby.

Sparse hair, no teeth had grown yet.

A pendant resembling a longevity lock hung on its neck, and a decaying red rope was tied around the ankle.

Its frightened, reaching hand looked like that of a scared baby urgently seeking its parents.

"A juvenile body, yet so enormous. It's hard to imagine its size after reaching adulthood."

Li Fan suddenly remembered the Eternal Immortal Fort beyond the abyss.

The fortress shrouded in white mist, also known as the Severed Palm Immortal City.

It was constructed using the gigantic and incomparable severed palm of an ancient immortal found in the drifting white mist.

"Perhaps there is some connection between the two." Li Fan pondered.

After all, he hadn't come across records about such native colossal beings in the Xuanhuang Realm.

Although the giant was dead, an inexplicable mysterious power still lingered on it, threatening to drag everything around it into the abyss.

"This mysterious power should be the culprit that caused its death and the source of my extreme unease."

Holy embryo Li Fan contemplated for a moment, determination flashing in his eyes.

Even though he didn't want to try again, he swung a sword towards his own soul, splitting a divine consciousness.

"Ah..."

After the soul became extremely weak, the ability to endure pain also dropped significantly. Li Fan couldn't bear it and let out a miserable cry.

His face turned pale, gasping for air.

Without hesitation, he bypassed the giant corpse and continued to move deeper into the starry sea.

The split divine consciousness left behind, after recovering for a moment, actively floated forward and made contact.

The saying "know thyself, know thy enemy" held true. It could be foreseen that, for quite a long time, the darkest starry sea would be a place Li Fan needed to explore. So, instead of avoiding these dangers, it was better to take the initiative, discerning the truth from the false.

Besides, his main body was still in the Xuanhuang Realm, and there was also the True Self as a safety net. There was no fear of unbearable consequences.

With the divine consciousness split, there was still some distance from the giant corpse when everything in front went black.

Complete loss of perception of the outside world.

Consciousness remained, but it seemed confined to a cage. All around was absolute and eternal darkness.

No sound, no light, no passage of time.

As if there was only oneself left in the world.

Even the perception of the holy embryo and the True Self became increasingly distant and obscure.

The feeling between the holy embryo and the True Self was also peculiar.

That split divine consciousness, clearly a part of oneself, became increasingly unfamiliar.

More crucially, the boundless solitude enveloping the split divine consciousness continued to slowly erode along the connection between the main body and the avatar.   

It was at this moment that Li Fan realized, after being surrounded by darkness, the state of that split divine consciousness seemed to have been permanently fixed.

Like it had solidified, unable to make any movements.

Even suicide was impossible.

Holy embryo Li Fan's expression changed slightly as he sent several sword lights toward the location of the split divine consciousness, attempting to sever the connection.

But it was in vain.

Just like when the sword lights touched the giant corpse earlier, all attacks disappeared without a trace.

After several attempts, he had to give up.

Frowning slightly, he sensed the invasion of the endless sense of loneliness, feeling slightly relieved.

The distance in time and space did have a certain limiting effect on this extremely mysterious entity.

The erosion speed on the True Self was slow.

According to the current situation, it wouldn't pose a threat to the soul's safety within a hundred years.

However, on the holy embryo's side, due to being too close, the situation was not optimistic.

It was estimated that it would succumb in just over thirty days.

The unit of time here was the absolute time each had experienced.

"But, as I continue to move away, the situation will improve."

"Although it's still unavoidable, I can strive for enough time. As long as I can see the true face of the power that caused this Xuanhuang disturbance, it doesn't matter even if I die."

"Moreover, the reason the True Self and the split divine consciousness resonate is mainly through me. If I disappear, the True Self's side will be safe."

Thinking of this, holy embryo Li Fan no longer distracted himself. He controlled the remaining stone puppet, pushed it to its limits, and raced towards the depths of the starry sea.

While swiftly fleeing, he also pondered the mysterious power enveloping the giant corpse he had just encountered.

The mysterious power was invading Li Fan, and he was using the opportunity to observe it.

"This feeling is not unfamiliar."

Holy embryo Li Fan's mind flashed, and he had a guess.

"True Immortal Seal! Another True Immortal Seal!"

According to Baihua Daoist's account, the calamities encountered in the darkest starry sea varied.

Some were "None," some were "Chaotic," some were "Hungry"...

And now, what holy embryo Li Fan encountered in the void was unexpectedly another kind of True Immortal Seal causing a catastrophe.

"Is this 'Solitude'? Or perhaps 'Isolation'?"

Without seeing the entity of the True Immortal Seal, Li Fan couldn't know the truth.

He could only speculate based on the external manifestation of the True Immortal Seal's power.

"True Immortal Seals, wreaking havoc in various realms of the darkest starry sea. Although it shouldn't be the true original, only an imitation, it still brings disaster to countless cultivation worlds in this starry sky."

"And among these True Immortal Seals, the one with the 'Hunger' character is even close to the path of the Immortal of the Immortal Pavilion. He was inspired, sitting and comprehending the 'Hunger' character's true meaning in the ruins of the Immortal Realm passage."

"For him, it was probably just a moment of enlightenment. However, it created the terrifying existence of the Immortal Pavilion, causing the entire starry sea to fall..."

"This is the power of 'Immortal' beyond the ordinary."

The thoughts in the holy embryo fluctuated.

"And now, not far ahead, there seems to be an existence that can rival the power of the Immortal of the Immortal Pavilion."

"What on earth is it?"

By comparing the flow of time with the Xuanhuang Realm, Holy Embryo Li Fan could roughly judge the distance to the destination.

As the time ratio between the two sides gradually dropped to three to one, Holy Embryo Li Fan knew that the unknown entity he sought was just ahead.

On the way forward, besides the giant corpse, he encountered other remnants from ancient ruined cultivation realms, including but not limited to cultivator corpses and the ruins of buildings.

Li Fan even picked up some treasures that cultivators had once used. However, floating in the void for too long, they had all lost their spiritual essence and become unusable.

From the method of refining these treasures and their external characteristics, it seemed they came from various different cultivation realms.

These seemingly "trash" items, perhaps due to some delicate balance between the two forces in the void, were not drawn towards the Immortal Pavilion but remained still or drifted towards the depths of the starry sea.

They seemed forgotten by the entire world.

The farther he went, the more of this "trash" filled the void—evidence of different cultivation realms from the past.

Uncertain whether these items still carried the power of True Immortal Seals, Holy Embryo Li Fan dared not touch them. He simply controlled the puppet and the sword body, constantly avoiding them.

This inevitably slowed down his speed.

"Fortunately, my guess was correct. The closer I get to that stellar power, the weaker the influence of the 'Isolation' technique on me."

"I have temporarily avoided being swallowed."

However...

The power of the True Immortal Seals was not to be underestimated.

Though not completely eroded, Holy Embryo Li Fan felt various changes in his behavior and thoughts.

For example, random thoughts of avoiding everything would surface in his mind.

And more surprisingly, the strange foundation of the Black Sword Heaven in his body seemed to have a subtle estrangement from him.

From a mundane perspective, this was an incredible occurrence.

Bear in mind, Holy Embryo Li Fan had assimilated and transformed it into his own Dao Foundation after devouring it. They were essentially a unified existence.

Man and sword, sword and man.

Yet, the power of the True Immortal Seals could forcibly reverse this integration.

"A complete recluse?"

"Loneliness?"

There was even a hint of another unease surfacing in Holy Embryo Li Fan's mind.

Would this power of solitude affect the True Self and the "True Still"?

Although the "True Still" held a sufficiently high position, it couldn't withstand the fact that the True Self's current strength was still unsatisfactory!

Even if there was only a possibility, Li Fan couldn't afford this risk.

A resolution began to form in Holy Embryo Li Fan's mind.

"Even if it means wasting this exploration opportunity, I cannot let the power of solitude affect the True Self."

"Before any signs appear, I will end my own life in advance."

With this in mind, Holy Embryo Li Fan swallowed the last nourishing soul treasure and then activated the Soul-Burning Technique.

His speed suddenly skyrocketed as he swiftly traversed the gaps in the void filled with relics from ancient cultivation realms.

These remnants formed an endless ocean, seemingly without an end.

The nourishing power within him had almost been completely exhausted, yet he still couldn't break out of the range of this sea.

"These artifacts can be preserved..."

"So, could remnants from the past cultivation realms be preserved in relatively good condition?"

In the vast ocean of relics, Holy Embryo Li Fan suddenly recalled the act of transporting world fragments from the starry sea and patching up the Xuanhuang Realm by the Law Transmission and Heavenly Physician.

"Who's there?"

Just as he was contemplating, Li Fan's heart suddenly tightened because he felt a divine consciousness locking onto him in the void!

With a loud shout, he looked towards the source of the lock.

The locking sensation vanished in an instant, leaving behind a blurry figure that quickly flickered and disappeared into the darkness.

With a stern expression, Holy Embryo Li Fan arrived at the location where the figure had originally appeared.

"It's not some mysterious and weird existence, but a living person?"

"In the Dark Abyss Star Sea, besides the Xuanhuang Realm, there are actually other surviving cultivation civilizations?"

Holy Embryo Li Fan was extremely shaken. Not only because he sensed the breath of that figure but also because the other party actively left a message.

In Li Fan's view, it was somewhat inexplicable, not clearly a divine consciousness remnant that only cultivators could leave.

"Fire III, seven days crescent moon?"

"Fault?"

Li Fan looked at these two short sentences, lost in thought.

"It should be some kind of secret code. But this universally used script of the cultivation world undoubtedly belongs to a surviving cultivator."

Although he hadn't yet seen the stellar power that caused the upheaval in the Xuanhuang Realm, the knowledge that there was another seed of civilization in the star sea was already significant for Li Fan.

"For so many years, surviving in the Dark Abyss Star Sea, besides being able to ensure survival resources, the most crucial thing is to resist the attraction of the Immortal Pavilion. This place, located at the delicate balance point between the two forces, has created a safe zone."

"This also means..."

Li Fan's gaze flickered as he looked at the divine consciousness remnant of the unknown cultivator, and he cautiously refrained from replying.

"The stellar power capable of contending with the Immortal Pavilion didn't suddenly appear recently."

"But due to some change, it suddenly erupted strongly. That's why it was sensed by the Xuanhuang Realm far beyond the Immortal Pavilion."

Li Fan once again saw the figures of the Immortal Pavilion and Law Transmission Celestial in his mind.

These two figures had clearly traveled through the Dark Abyss Star Sea for a long time and must be well aware of this.

"Interesting."

Because of the power of solitude, the somewhat indifferent heart of Holy Embryo Li Fan, upon learning about a new seed of civilization, began to stir again.

But it was forcibly suppressed by Li Fan.

"Even if I haven't contacted them yet, surviving in such a harsh environment is obviously not easy to get along with."

"And, in the Dark Abyss Star Sea, the laws are more perfect than in the Xuanhuang, with higher limits. These people have stayed here for so long..."

"Their strength is not to be underestimated."

However, Li Fan didn't show any concern for the Xuanhuang Realm.

Monsters were rampant in the Xuanhuang, and Law Transmission Celestial had new techniques.

In contrast, the ruins of the sea here were impoverished. If they really fought, the Xuanhuang Realm would undoubtedly crush them.

"I was overthinking. With such a vast distance, meeting each other would be a luxury unless it's a chance encounter."

He temporarily put aside the idea of having the remnants of the two surviving civilizations fight.

Now, the primary issue in front of Li Fan was that his remaining time was not much.

Should he continue advancing towards the depths of the ruined sea, searching for the source of the stellar power?

Or should he try to make contact with the civilization here?

Without much thought, after a brief contemplation, Holy Embryo Li Fan made a decision.

He chose the latter.

"They have lived here for a long time, and they must have a better understanding of the stellar power."

"Instead of wandering aimlessly, it's better to seek guidance from others."

Holy Embryo Li Fan's eyes flickered.

(End of this chapter)

Although Holy Embryo Li Fan had decided to search for information about the stellar power from this other surviving civilization, he wasn't recklessly going to approach them directly.

After all, he had traversed more than half of the Dark Abyss Star Sea, weakening his strength significantly to resist the erosion of the void black spot disease and constant cutting of his divine soul.

If he failed to gather information and, on the contrary, got captured by the other party, it would become a huge joke.

"Since there can be a civilization surviving here, there should be methods to avoid various strange erosions in the void. I'll lurk in the shadows, gradually restore my strength, and then make plans."

In an instant, Holy Embryo Li Fan had made up his mind.

First, he placed a restriction in his extremely weak divine soul, right at the center of his forehead. If anything went wrong, he could free himself, ensuring an instant escape.

Then, Li Fan concealed his figure and began to explore this ocean of relics.

He didn't follow the previously suspicious figure, fearing it might be a trap. Instead, Holy Embryo Li Fan chose another direction and started exploring.

"In this dangerous void, if there are hidden cultivators, they would undoubtedly use formations and restrictions for protection. By finding these traces, I can follow the thread. My proficiency in the formation path is generations ahead of the Xuanhuang Realm; I should be unrivaled here."

This was Li Fan's initial thought.

However, after searching for more than ten days in the relic ocean, he found no traces of any civilization, formations, or even a hint of vitality.

To the point where Holy Embryo Li Fan began to doubt whether the virtual shadow he had encountered before was just a hallucination.

But he didn't give up easily, patiently lurking like a hunter in the shadows, waiting for prey to appear.

Seventeen days later, he finally had a harvest.

A team of three cultivators, wearing strange armor, moved cautiously.

Their appearance surprised Li Fan due to the unexpected way they appeared.

The silent relics floating in the void suddenly changed, and then a passage appeared out of nowhere.

After the three walked out, the silent relics returned to their original positions, and the entrance to the passage closed.

Li Fan squinted, surveyed the surroundings, and observed all the nearby relics of those cultivators.

After a moment, he suddenly realized.

"How clever! It's not an isolated formation but a modification based on these naturally floating relics, almost completely integrated with the surrounding environment."

"More importantly..."

Holy Embryo Li Fan slowly approached these floating relics.

"These items from the shattered cultivation realms, to a greater or lesser extent, have been tainted with the power of true immortal characters. This has formed a natural defense that can maximize the shielding of a cultivator's divine consciousness perception. This is why I couldn't find their hiding place despite my diligent search..." Li Fan suddenly understood.

Actually, the sophistication of this formation was ordinary, but with the infusion and introduction of the power of true immortal characters that caused the destruction of various realms, it suddenly elevated to a level that even Li Fan's current formation proficiency couldn't easily unravel.

Of course, if he ignored the potential side effects of those relics and forcefully broke the formation, he could still do it. However, doing so would go against his plan of lurking, gathering information.

Li Fan looked at the entrance of the hidden passage, ultimately giving up on the idea of forcefully breaking through.

Instead, he followed behind the three cultivators, carefully observing.

Apart from wearing peculiar armor, these three cultivators didn't look any different from people in the Xuanhuang Realm.

This time, their expedition seemed to be for searching materials in this relic ocean.

But the things they needed seemed strange to Li Fan.

There didn't seem to be any commonality. From fragments of magical treasures to pieces of architectural ruins, or even some skeletal remains of cultivators, all were their targets.

Instead of directly storing these items in storage rings, they used a black rope to tie them together and dragged them behind.

"This scene..." Li Fan was slightly stunned.

It reminded him of the scene where Transmitter used a golden chain in the void to transport fragments of worlds.

"Could there be some connection here?"

After nearly half a day, when the collected relics behind the three cultivators numbered over twenty, they seemed to disagree.

In the end, under the lead of the person in charge, they abandoned the search, carrying the materials, and flew back towards the entrance of the passage.

Li Fan quietly followed suit.

The range these three cultivators ventured away from their hiding place didn't seem to be very far. Soon, they returned to the hidden passage.

On one of their armors, a rhythmic glow suddenly flashed.

Li Fan sensed a strange rhythm emanating from the armor.

As if triggering something, the positions of the silent relics around them quickly changed, and a circular entrance quietly appeared.

The three cultivators, dragging the twenty or more items, flew into it.

Li Fan also concealed his figure, intending to enter with them.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he arrived at the entrance of the passage, a piercing alarm suddenly sounded.

Li Fan's heart jumped, and he had his divine clone pre-prepared to attach to one of the items.

His main body swiftly retreated.

Due to the existence of the divine clone, the alarm did not disappear when Holy Embryo Li Fan left.

The three cultivators nervously scanned the surroundings but found no signs of external invasion. Instead, they focused on the items they had collected.

After a brief discussion, they separated the items, attempting to integrate them one by one.

In the end, they found the one with Li Fan's divine clone attached.

Rather than choosing to destroy it, they forcefully threw it deep into the relic ocean.

With the threat gone, the warning sound stopped.

The three then turned back.

Not far away, watching the slowly closing entrance of the passage, Li Fan ultimately chose not to forcefully break through.

"Interesting, their vigilance measures could actually detect me."

His gaze shifted as he approached the relic thrown away.

"It's indeed suspicious. From the surface, the influence of true immortal characters still lingers. But in reality, the attached power has become extremely weak."

"For such a long time, even my feeble divine clone hasn't suffered any harm..."

Retracting his divine clone, Li Fan picked up the relic, once again examining it closely.

It seemed to be a command flag magical treasure, but the flag was decayed, leaving only a bare flagpole.

With no spiritual essence, it could no longer unleash its original power.

"Why are they collecting these things?"

(End of this chapter)

This command flag magical treasure itself is made of ordinary materials and doesn't seem to have any special value in this relic ocean.

"Could it be for the residual power of the true immortal characters that has already disappeared on it?"

Li Fan's mind moved, and he suddenly understood.

Slowly stroking the command flag, he sensed a familiar aura.

"The Chaotic Script..."

"But as time passed, even the power of the true immortal characters ultimately reached its end."

The complete character[乱] instantly appeared in his mind. After a moment, Li Fan's hand holding the command flag trembled slightly.

Because he noticed that just now, the last trace of power attached to the flag had completely dissipated.

In its place, Li Fan's comprehension of the Chaotic Script seemed to have subtly deepened!

This progress was very subtle.

However, Li Fan's understanding of the Chaotic Script was basic, making the progress relatively apparent. It was captured in an instant by Li Fan.

"Could it actually become material for enlightenment?"

Li Fan was somewhat shocked. Now, when he looked at the countless floating relics here, his gaze was markedly different.

"Unfortunately, it seems that only relics with the imminent dissipation of the power of true immortal characters can be used as materials for enlightenment. Otherwise, there may be a risk of harm. The method to distinguish them..."

Li Fan turned his gaze towards the concealed hiding place.

For the next half a year, Li Fan stayed hidden in the shadows. Every time cultivators went out to collect relics, he replicated the same process.

Sending divine clones to attach to the collected relics.

One reason was to study the triggering mechanism of the alarm, and the other was to obtain all relics containing the enlightenment of true immortal characters.

In the Xuanhuang Realm, the main body's consciousness was fully engaged in analyzing the unknown formation within the End Disintegration Disc.

Through the study of the eight relics obtained, Li Fan became more convinced of his judgment.

The surviving civilization in the Dark Star Sea was collecting these relics to study and even utilize the power of true immortal characters.

"Being able to discern the level of this power... seems like the strength here shouldn't be underestimated."

Of the eight relics, three came from[乱], two from[饥], and the remaining two were influenced by other true immortal characters not yet understood.

Li Fan also noticed the differences among them.

He had personally witnessed[乱] and [饥], gaining a rough understanding of their original forms, even if they were imitations created by unknown individuals. This allowed him to smoothly absorb the residual power on the relics as material for enlightenment.

The situation with the other two was quite different.

Relying only on the almost dissipated residual power, it was challenging to sense their nature, let alone comprehend their essence.

In terms of utilization, their efficiency was far less than that of[乱] and [饥], perhaps differing by ten thousand times or more.

"This is the difference between understanding from top to bottom and starting from bottom to top. Knowing the true meaning of the true immortal characters, one can comprehend all of them. Whereas, if you start from ignorance, blindly exploring and researching it yourself..."

"Difficult as climbing to the sky! Attempting to explore the power of true immortals with mortal means..."

Li Fan pondered at the same time.

"Not all cultivators can have enough opportunities to witness the true meaning of true immortal characters."

"The Chaotic Script hidden within the realm of reversed folds in the mist is difficult for ordinary people to encounter in their entire lives. As for the Starvation Script, it's engraved on the Immortal Altar! Witnessing it leads to death. If I didn't have the True Self, I wouldn't have been able to master it."

"There's also the Void Script, which I discovered by chance in the golden skull of a broken small world..."

Li Fan looked at the unknown civilization hidden in the dark, and a thought naturally emerged.

"The saying goes, 'Rare things can be precious.' The value of these true meanings in this civilization may be even higher than I imagined."

...

More than thirty days later, the End Disintegration Disc finally eliminated the triggering mechanism for the warning.

As a precaution, Li Fan did not directly risk himself.

Instead, he continued to use divine clones to probe.

In the past half a year, although he severed many soul fragments, the area near the hiding place of this civilization seemed to contain some strange power.

This power could resist all sorts of peculiar invasions in the void, allowing Saint Embryo Li Fan to recover quickly.

For him, cutting divine clones was only a bit painful.

The End Disintegration Disc was indeed trustworthy.

This time, the relic attached by the divine clone successfully passed the inspection and entered the passage.

The sensing became much weaker, but he could still vaguely perceive the situation inside the hiding place.

The trio continued to drag forward with the black rope, passing through three protected passages before finally entering a safe zone.

They eagerly took off their armor, complaining incessantly.

"The useful relics near the Immortal Ship are becoming scarce. We only found so few this time..."

"The next mission, I'm afraid we'll have to leave the safe zone."

"We've been staying here for a hundred years already? I don't know why we haven't left."

"It was said that there were plans to change the docking location, but recently..."

"Shh, it's better not to discuss it. Wu Xing was sentenced to ten years of confinement just because of this."

The three tactfully avoided the topic.

Carrying their gains, they continued to move towards the depths of the hiding place.

"Immortal Ship?" Li Fan pondered upon hearing their conversation.

After passing through a long, dark passage, the front suddenly opened up.

They arrived at a beautiful valley.

In front of them, an old man with white hair, holding a strange artifact resembling a book, was waiting for the trio.

"I'll take a look at this time..." The old man, originally smiling, turned gloomy after seeing the number of relics behind the three.

"Elder, forgive us. Our luck wasn't good on this outing," said the oldest-looking cultivator among the three, smiling bitterly.

The old man shook his head, sighed, and didn't say much.

A beam of light shot out from the book-like artifact in his hand, enveloping all the relics.

As the light retracted, it seemed to have completed the inspection of the relics.

"Try to make up for it next time."

"You're well aware of the situation with the Immortal Ship. If we miss one or two pieces every time, it's okay in the short term. If it lasts a long time, we'll all be in trouble," the old man coldly remarked.

The senior cultivator didn't argue, only nodding repeatedly.

"Help me deliver the relics to the 'Broken Immortal Tower,'" the old man instructed.

(End of this chapter)

Upon hearing the old man's request, the three cultivators were momentarily stunned.

"Elder Gou, this doesn't comply with the rules..."

"Hmm?" The old man gave the three a cold glance in response.

The trio had to swallow their words.

With no other option, the senior cultivator arched his hand, tied the relics, and left the valley.

On the way, one of the cultivators spoke up, "Brother Zhao, the laws of the Immortal Ship clearly state that after collecting relics from the boundary extinction, they must be submitted to the Celestial Pivot Court. Violating this law is considered treason. Now, he wants us to take them to the Broken Immortal Tower..."

"Yeah, everyone on the Immortal Ship knows that the Broken Immortal Tower and the Celestial Pivot Court are at odds. That old guy wants to please the Broken Immortal Tower without getting his hands dirty, just ordering us around. If something goes wrong, we won't escape."

The cultivator addressed as Brother Zhao wore an unpleasant expression but didn't join the complaints. Instead, he gestured to the two men to keep quiet.

After exchanging some messages silently, the two men finally quieted down.

The trio didn't fly through the air but walked along a path out of the valley.

The scenery suddenly changed, as if returning to the void of the starry sea.

However, this void was unlike the bleak and silent outer space of the pitch-dark star sea. It felt warm, with a gentle breeze carrying a vibrant vitality. Faintly visible were colorful star points that twinkled from time to time.

Contrasting with this harmonious scene was a bizarre sight: a giant standing proudly in the void.

With closed eyes and a withered body resembling a long-dead zombie, the giant's chest rose and fell, exhaling warm winds in all directions.

What made it eerie was a thick branch extending from the giant's mouth, growing into a dense canopy.

Upon closer inspection, the giant's entire body was penetrated by branches and twigs. Its lower body had turned into countless tangled silk-like roots, swaying in the wind like living organisms.

This bizarre scene left the trio unfazed, with only a sigh, "It seems the 'Follow Dao' giant is on its last legs. I wonder what the Celestial Pivot Court can come up with next."

"That Broken Immortal Tower talks a big game, claiming to completely solve the energy problems of the Immortal Ship. They've been talking for so long, but there's still no sign of any effective results."

"Let's see. It's said that there has been a revolutionary breakthrough this time, or else that old dog wouldn't suddenly be so accommodating."

...

The group chatted idly, discussing various topics.

When they left the valley and flew into the void, a green path appeared beneath them, forming an aerial route to other places.

No need for flight; the green path itself moved rapidly.

In the void, the overall view of the Immortal Ship finally came into sight.

Floating continents resembling celestial bodies were scattered all over.

Giants parasitized by peculiar trees in the void.

Countless green threads extended from the giant trees, intermittently connecting various continents.

Li Fan's divine clone hid within the "Boundary Extinction Relic," secretly observing everything.

The form of this cultivation civilization, vastly different from the Xuan Huang Realm, piqued his interest.

"Immortal Ship..."

"The ancestor of the Medicine King Sect, Sun Miaomiao, recorded information about eighteen landmarks in the cultivation realms when he explored the heavens. Among them was a massive flying ship that roamed the void, engaging in inter-realm trade. It formed its own realm named Xuan Shang."

"I wonder if it's related to this Immortal Ship."

Li Fan then looked at the giant being continuously drained, emitting vitality to the surroundings, and asked, "The Follow Dao Clan?"

The invisible green path moved swiftly in the void. The group led by Zhao took no time to reach the so-called Broken Immortal Tower.

It was adorned with a dark golden spherical light.

Upon closer inspection, it was built on the bones of a giant, but this time, it wasn't a complete body. Instead, it was a massive skull.

What shook Li Fan was that in the center of this skull, there was still an eye!

The eye did not lose its vitality despite the skull's death.

The giant eye remained tightly closed but continued to rotate slightly.

Feeling an inexplicable sense of danger, Li Fan's divine clone decisively escaped from the Boundary Extinction Relic it possessed.

He stayed in the void and didn't follow the three cultivators into the Broken Immortal Tower, a judgment that proved correct.

Suddenly, the enormous eyeball opened, scanning the surroundings. After finding nothing unusual, it closed again.

Only then did the trio of cultivators with the surname Zhao enter the Broken Immortal Tower.

Li Fan's divine clone didn't continue focusing on the three-eyed skull but patiently waited outside the Broken Immortal Tower in the void for their return.

"A dark golden skull with three eyes."

"It looks similar to when I discovered the 'Void' character. However, in this Immortal Ship..."

"It seems a bit weaker?"

Size doesn't necessarily equate to strength.

Li Fan had previously encountered a dark golden three-eyed skull, even though the third eye had completely disappeared, turning into a breeding dish for gray mold, which still gave him an extremely dangerous feeling. It seemed like it could revive at any moment. Therefore, Li Fan sealed it with his Rainbow Divine Light and refrained from recklessly studying it.

The current three-eyed skull, despite being larger and having a living eye, gave Li Fan the impression that it was completely dead with no chance of revival.

It was a mysterious intuition.

"I haven't encountered many things from beyond the Xuan Huang Realm in the cycle. Since coming here, I've encountered almost all of them."

"It seems that this Immortal Ship indeed has some tricks."

"Without complete world resources, one must obtain what is needed for survival from the hidden starry sea, making the depth of this Immortal Ship's foundation perhaps far beyond my imagination..."

Li Fan's thoughts surged, continuously calculating from where to make a breakthrough.

From the conversation of the three cultivators just now, he learned that the Immortal Ship seemed to be entangled in a power struggle between the Celestial Pivot Court and the Broken Immortal Tower.

This situation was something Li Fan, as an outsider, found delightfully intriguing.

"Only by stirring up trouble can you catch fish. Find a way to create chaos on this Immortal Ship."

Not long after, the three cultivators surnamed Zhao emerged from the Broken Immortal Tower.

In stark contrast to their disgruntled demeanor earlier, this time they all wore joyful expressions, their excitement uncontrollable.

Standing on the invisible green path, extending to the center of the void, they enthusiastically discussed.

"Didn't expect the Broken Immortal Tower to have found a method to utilize the power of boundary extinction!"

"With endless relics in the void, there's no need to worry about running out of energy!"

"Now we can watch a good show!"