My Longevity Simulation Chapter 1095: Darkness Devouring Dharma King

"From this moment forward, we form a single united front."

"Should anyone spot those three wanderers attempting to come back, alert us right away. Then, all of us will attack them as one."

"Keep in mind, never believe anyone emerging from the shadows. No matter if they were your most trusted ally before."

With every careful step forward, the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance cultivators repeated the strict warning again.

Meanwhile, via his conversation with Dharma-Transmitter Zhou, Li Fan gained insight into the roots of this Dark Forbidden Land.

The presence of the Immortal Ruins exerts a massive pulling force on the entire Xuanhuang Realm without cease.

Logically speaking, absent any counteraction, all things within the Xuanhuang Realm would gradually drift toward the Immortal Ruins.

This had long been the conviction held by cultivators of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance.

Yet the revelation of the Dark Forbidden Land upended that notion entirely.

Even as it belongs to the Xuanhuang Realm, this area operates under its own peculiar laws.

Apart from the earlier detail that divine sense and voices stay trapped within the body.

Any cultivator who gets lost will find their consciousness overtaken by mysterious forces lurking in the shadows, turning them into altered beings.

And they won't even realize it themselves.

"This... it bears a certain resemblance to Mo Rubin's possession method?" A thought flickered in Li Fan's mind.

"Yes. However, it's just a surface-level likeness in traits. It doesn't indicate anything deeper."

Dharma-Transmitter Zhou appeared eager to steer clear of the subject and went on: "Since uncovering this location, the Alliance has regarded it with utmost seriousness. The shadows' defiance against the Immortal Ruins pull suggests that examining it might reveal a path out of the Immortal Ruins. Up to this point, though, only a handful of core Dharma-Transmitters were aware of it."

"That Dharma King from the Xuantian Sect had seized control of Chen and the rest's bodies, which let him uncover this place's secret."

"The You Clan folks don't dwell inside the Dark Forbidden Land. Instead, they were the pioneers in figuring out how to access it and harness the power of the shadows. We only pieced together this hidden truth while conquering the minor world they inhabited, right in the heat of combat against them."

"Power of the shadows, huh? Is it perhaps a force completely distinct from immortal spiritual power?" Li Fan mused before inquiring.

"Not exactly. Based on our long-term monitoring, the power of the shadows exhibits all the key features of immortal spiritual power. Except..." Dharma-Transmitter Zhou hesitated, seemingly hunting for the precise way to express it.

"Think of immortal spiritual power and the power of the shadows as a figure and its shadow cast by itself."

"In the natural order, they ought to remain fused together, intertwined seamlessly. But the Immortal Ruins' influence has wrenched the power of the shadows apart from it by force."

At these words, Li Fan grasped the concept in a hazy way.

It resembled a device spinning to isolate various elements from a fluid mixture.

Owing to the power of the shadows' tendency to veer from the Immortal Ruins, as the whole Xuanhuang Realm inexorably slid toward the Immortal Ruins, these forces gathered in the opposing flow.

"The drawing force from the Immortal Ruins stems from the '[Hunger]' glyph."

"So what precisely is this power of the shadows? How does it withstand the might of the True Immortal character script?"

A trace of uncertainty stirred within Li Fan.

"We've mapped out the full extent of the Dark Forbidden Land in prior explorations. That's why, when Mo Rubin sneaked in this time and caused a disturbance, we picked up on it without delay."

"If you pay close attention, you'll sense it too," Dharma-Transmitter Zhou pointed out.

"Oh?"

With that cue, Li Fan furrowed his brow and probed the enveloping shadows around them.

Moments stretched on...

"Are you referring to this pulsing wave, akin to ripples spreading across a pond?" Li Fan questioned.

"Precisely. At the heart of these pulses, we traced Mo Rubin's energy signature. But..."

Dharma-Transmitter Zhou's voice carried a hint of hesitation: "He's lingered here for over ten days now. And his position hasn't shifted a bit. It feels more like he's badly wounded and out cold."

"What if it's some kind of snare?" Li Fan couldn't resist asking.

"It isn't," Dharma-Transmitter Zhou affirmed resolutely.

"Even supposing it were a trap... with our large group present this time, an old-school Longevity Immortal poses no real threat."

Witnessing Dharma-Transmitter Zhou's firm assurance, Li Fan held back any further challenge.

Silence descended once more, thick with an ominous quiet.

"Remain on guard; we're nearing the spot."

After what felt like an eternity, Dharma-Transmitter Zhou issued the alert.

Fixing on the origin of the distant pulsing, the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance cultivators arranged themselves into a surrounding net as directed.

Enclosing the concealed Mo Rubin within the shadows utterly.

They needed just one order to unleash a unified strike.

Concurrently, Li Fan kept getting updates from the Wrathful Gaze Formation.

"Is that truly Mo Rubin?"

Surprise welled up in Li Fan unbidden.

"How odd..."

Though questions swirled in his thoughts, Li Fan refrained from impulsive moves.

He merely trailed the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance cultivators, steadily tightening the pursuit ring alongside them.

All held their breaths in tense expectation, yet Mo Rubin displayed zero response.

As though oblivious to the foes closing in.

This persisted right up until the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance cultivators arrived at his location.

...

"Lower your defenses."

"It looks like he's gone."

Dharma-Transmitter Zhou's words echoed, laced with incredulity.

"Hm?"

A sharp coldness pierced Li Fan's core suddenly.

Tailing the forms of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance cultivators, he pressed toward the middle.

The instant his divine sense brushed Mo Rubin's form, it registered his precise state.

Mo Rubin's facial features had dissolved away.

Replaced by a swirling mass of dim shadows, endlessly gaping and contracting atop his skull.

The sight evoked an unspeakable chill, yet what truly chilled Li Fan to the bone was Mo Rubin's physique.

One side clung to a human shape.

The opposite side, though, appeared claimed by the local shadows.

It flickered endlessly between obscurity and substance.

Through the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance's black-robed dead soldiers' examination, they verified that the shadows consuming half of Mo Rubin's frame weren't mere tricks.

His very tissue was dissolving and reforming in perpetual motion.

Whenever the shadows surged forth and a touch probed it, nothing met the hand but void.

Yet soon after, as the partial body solidified again.

The shadows abruptly receded.

And along with them, the dead soldier's reaching hand vanished into the gloom.

The shadows could propagate via this touch; the black-robed dead soldier uttered no cry.

In a flash, the creeping darkness from his limb devoured him whole.

Luckily, Dharma-Transmitter Zhou responded swiftly, cutting off the link to the dead soldier at once and commanding the group to eliminate him immediately.

This halted the darkness from infecting the rest of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance.

"Fellow Daoist, what do you make of this?" Dharma-Transmitter Zhou inquired, her voice weighted with concern.

Li Fan pondered deeply for a stretch before replying measuredly, "The shadows clinging to Mo Rubin's remains differ from those filling the Dark Forbidden Land."

"The shadows on the body can spread contagion, unlike the ambient shadows around us."

"Until we unravel what's truly happening, it's wise to steer clear of any contact."