[This simulation has ended.]
Li Fan regained consciousness.
His eyes remained locked on the scene of the shattered Taiyan Boat displayed on the light screen. A thick, lingering dread coiled around his heart like an unshakable specter.
What in the heavens was that thing? Li Fan felt a flicker of confusion.
When Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi traversed the Immortal-Slaying Grand Array previously, they hadn’t encountered such an entity within the Darkness Layer. Why was his experience different? Could it simply be rotten luck?
Li Fan instantly dismissed his guess.
The Darkness Layer within the Immortal-Slaying Grand Array was vast beyond measure. The tiny Taiyan Boat was but a speck in an endless ocean. Yet that unknown presence had pinpointed him with terrifying precision...
There’s a 90% chance that it’s a mechanism that specifically targets mortals.
It seems the safest course is still to wait until the fog disperses and light emerges from the depths of the Abyssal Chasm before attempting to explore it.
Though the attempt ended in failure, my gains from the last lifetime far exceeded expectations...
Li Fan silently calculated his options before choosing to preserve the Taiyan Boat.
Name: Li Fan
Realm: Mortal
Biological Age: 20/86
Psychological Age: 333/1113↑
Virtualization Charging Progress: 0%
Charging Progress of Next Anchor Point: 1%
Anchor Points In Use: 1
Bound Items: Thousand Mechanisms Jade Cosmos Scripture, Taiyan Boat
Watching the ever-slowing increase in his Psychological Age limit, Li Fan felt a growing pressure settle on him.
But the world of immortal cultivation was within reach. Once he escaped this Immortal Forsaken Land, the heavens would be his to roam!
With this anticipation burning in his chest, Li Fan’s seventh lifetime began.
Until Return to Truth finished charging, he refused to take any reckless actions.
For the first twenty years of this lifetime, he resolved to follow the script he’d repeated several times.
In Anchor Year 3, Li Fan returned to Wen County in Jiangnan, lying low as before.
In Anchor Year 4, he covertly led his trusted subordinates to Qian Hong’s tomb.
This time, he used a spray infused with Immortal-Mortal Miasma to erode the tomb’s defenses bit by bit, weakening the power of the Halt Stele Fragment until it could no longer pierce through steel armor. Then, clad in steel armor, Li Fan entered the tomb and placed his hand upon the stele.
[Discovered item convertible to charge: Halt Stele Fragment (Damaged).]
[Proceed with charging?]
The prompt from Return to Truth appeared at the perfect moment.
A shame it’s still damaged. Li Fan lamented silently before selecting “Yes.”
The Halt Stele Fragment dissolved into nothingness, vanishing before his eyes.
After converting it, Return to Truth’s Anchor Charging Progress surged by 25%.
Just three more, and I’ll be able to unlock the second anchor point? Elation surged through him, but suspicion tempered his excitement. It can’t be that easy.
Speculating endlessly won’t help. I’ll know for sure in my next lifetime.
The rest of Qian Hong’s tomb held nothing of value for him. After ordering his men to reseal the burial site, Li Fan departed.
In Anchor Year 5, Li Fan was unable to resist any longer and journeyed to the Abyssal Chasm in the east.
Just one look. I won’t descend. He told himself.
Gazing across the endless sea of fog, his vision seemed to pierce through space, reaching straight into the chasm’s depths.
He stood there for a long while. As the howling winds swept through, the thick mist gradually parted, and even the perilous Immortal-Slaying Grand Array seemed less threatening.
If I boarded the Taiyan Boat right now... I could sail straight through to the cultivation world.
The thought erupted in his mind unbidden. For some reason, it could not be suppressed, instead swelling like a tide until it drowned all reason.
Yes, I’ve waited this long—must I wait another fifteen years?
So what if Return to Truth hasn’t finished charging? If I keep cowering like this, how can I ever attain the Great Dao?
I already tested it in my last life. As long as I’m careful to avoid that unknown monster in the Darkness Layer, I can leave this damned place!
A cacophony of voices clamored in Li Fan’s ears. His vision blurred, his eyes turning bloodshot, as if bewitched by the whispers.
Step by step, he moved forward, drawing ever closer to the endless Abyssal Chasm.
Just as Li Fan was about to be pulled in, destined to plummet and shatter into pieces, a brilliant light erupted from the depths of the Abyssal Chasm. It pierced through the Immortal-Slaying Grand Array and struck his eyes.
The mindless red haze in his vision momentarily receded. Stark words blazed before him:
THE PATH OF IMMORTALITY IS NO MORE!
Boom! Every reckless, desperate impulse to throw himself into the abyss in pursuit of immortal cultivation vanished in an instant.
What... just happened? A cold sweat drenched Li Fan as clarity returned.
To his horror, the once-calm Abyssal Chasm now resembled a lurking beast. Its maw gaped wide, ready to devour him whole.
Without hesitation, Li Fan turned and fled, not daring to look back.
After a long while, the thick fog gathered anew.
From the depths of the Abyssal Chasm, a furious roar echoed faintly.
***
Fifteen years later, in Anchor Year 20, Return to Truth had finally reached full charge.
Bolstered by newfound confidence, Li Fan returned to the Abyssal Chasm. Even now, the memory of that day sent a chill through him.
My guess was right. That monster in the Darkness Layer holds immense malice toward mortals. Perhaps its purpose is to devour any mortal who approaches.
Dangerous as it was, Li Fan would never abandon his pursuit of eternal life.
Without further hesitation, he boarded the Taiyan Boat and navigated through the Thunderstorm Layer, his journey tense but uneventful. He stopped just above the Darkness Layer, waiting patiently.
Huuuu... A strong wind rose.
Disturbed by the unnatural gale, the frenzied thunderstorm gradually quieted, and its fury waned.
Pinpricks of light emerged from the darkness, coalescing into a vast, unbroken tapestry of radiance.
Li Fan ignored the inverted spectacle. Instead, he took advantage of the fleeting illumination to search for the monster lurking in the abyss.
Yet he found nothing.
As the light began to fade, Li Fan gritted his teeth and made his move. He sent the Taiyan Boat hurtling downward at full speed, straight toward the Abyssal Chasm’s depths.
The eerie cry sounded again, closing in on him in an instant.
At that moment, Li Fan abruptly veered the Taiyan Boat, altering its trajectory in a sharp, graceful arc. Instead of descending, the vessel now shot upward at several times its previous speed.
Engines roaring at full power, the Taiyan Boat surged back up into the Thunderstorm Layer, just as a wrathful howl erupted from below.
By the last, fading glimmer of light, Li Fan finally saw the true form of that monstrous creature lurking in the darkness below.
It was a colossal leviathan of a whale, so immense that words failed to describe it. Even from Li Fan’s considerable distance, he couldn’t take in its full size. Just its gaping maw alone filled his entire field of vision.
The massive whale, seeing its prey return to the Thunderstorm Layer, seethed with frustration. Yet it could only float in place, unable to advance.
After roaring several times to vent its displeasure, it reluctantly clamped its jaws shut and vanished into the darkness.