My Longevity Simulation Chapter 1125: Crossing Calamity, Yet Unable to Cross One's Own
Previously on My Longevity Simulation...
"The Great Formation of Heaven and Earth's Myriad Spirits links to the countless realms across the heavens. How can such a strange shift happen once the array is fully activated? There has to be an issue lurking somewhere."
A wave of intense anxiety flooded his chest, and the cultivator was on the brink of halting the formation. Yet... It proved too late already.
For reasons unknown, the array abruptly started functioning independently. The massive blood-red eye gradually parted open, exposing an eerie vertical slit.
Boom! The whole mortal realm shook with ferocity.
Myriad rays of crimson light erupted from the earth, resembling towering beams that merged into the colossal blood-red eye overhead. After a brief daze, realizing the catastrophe that unfolded, the cultivator's features twisted in boundless hopelessness and dread.
For the very second that blood-red vertical slit emerged, every creature in this mortal domain perished instantly. They dissolved into crimson rays and got devoured by the sinister pupil.
The cultivator's frame quivered without restraint, a profound coldness gripping his soul. Though he had racked up his share of misdeeds before, they paled utterly against this ruthless annihilation of an entire world's inhabitants right now.
"We got fooled completely. That so-called Compassionate True Immortal..."
"This is obviously a horrifying demon god of pure malice!"
Memories from the prior four years rushed through his thoughts, and an overwhelming terror slowly consumed the cultivator. Yet in that instant, a faint remnant of his moral sense jolted him from the abyss of despair.A flicker of determination ignited in the cultivator's gaze; he abruptly recalled a vital point: "No, I can't allow the rest to stumble into my mistake. I need to warn them fast..."
The cultivator tried to escape in frantic haste. But he noticed the crimson vertical pupil above had already fixed its stare on him at some moment.
And right as the cultivator sensed icy dread coursing through his veins, certain of doom beneath the blood-red colossal eye. A gentle gust appeared to brush across the skies and lands, followed by an ethereal shadow materializing out of nowhere.
It swiftly captured the attention of the blood-red vertical pupil in the heavens. At the same time, distant in the Xuanhuang Realm, Li Fan's eyes slightly sharpened. That shadow felt all too familiar to him.
"Mr. Bai?"
"Did the sudden slaughter of so many lives provoke a fierce outburst from the Immortal-Mortal Miasma in mere moments, sparking some backlash?"
The ethereal shadow positioned itself amid the heavens and earth. Though its face remained indistinct, an overwhelming fury radiated from its form. The shadow's eyes scanned this realm, then zeroed in on the only one left alive here.
Namely, the cultivator responsible for erecting the array. The cultivator at once felt immobilized, a lethal peril flooding his core. He strained to utter a word.
The shadow ignored any plea from him entirely. A wave rippled across vast distances in a flash, cascading from the shadow to envelop the cultivator's form.
The cultivator's body stiffened abruptly. Then locks of his hair shifted from dark to silver, his flesh creased like dry bark... In a mere instant, the cultivator aged from a man in his prime to a frail old man teetering on death's edge.
And soon after, he crumbled fully into bones. He plummeted from the heights.
Having exacted this retribution, the phantom of Mr. Bai turned its sight to the barren world, stripped of all other life. A hint of grief crossed its visage. He offered one final wistful look, then faded away on the breeze.
...
Within the Xuanhuang Realm, Li Fan gave a faint head shake. "I didn't anticipate the Immortal-Mortal Miasma manifesting in such a manner."
"It's no surprise the Xuanhuang Realm's cultivators swiftly endorsed the mortal relocation plan back then. They likely uncovered this hidden truth."
"Let the guilty face their reckoning, and the wronged their justice. Hunt down the one who built the array; this doesn't touch me." Li Fan remarked with a icy chuckle. "It spares me the effort of handling the mess personally."
The demise of a single rogue failed to draw notice from his fellow rogues. As additional grand arrays rose and integrated into the Spirits-Refining Network one by one. Li Fan edged nearer to his ultimate aim in this existence.
He observed the vast array of conscious minds from sentient beings within the Spirits-Refining Formation. Even as the architect of it all, one who declared reaching Truth and thus earned the right to overlook worldly affairs. Still, a shiver pierced his heart, and he avoided lingering on the sight.
“The collective might of all beings; it's genuinely fearsome and majestic.”
“I believe even a True Immortal would falter before this ocean of consciousnesses.”
Li Fan's resolve, firm as ancient frost, trembled just a touch in that instant. But quickly, his determination solidified again.
“This must come to pass. With the immortal road blocked, even legends like the Immortal Ancestor, Xuantian King, and Mr. Bai remain confined eternally. The only way to settle it all is discovering the genuine route to freedom. If not, regardless of my actions, the Xuanhuang Realm's end awaits as total ruin.”
...
Li Fan's stare turned profoundly icy anew. At his command, the building of the Myriad Spirits Great Formation hastened even more. Ultimately, this unparalleled array, stretching over many mortal domains, reached its complete form.
And precisely then, five paper effigies from the Du'e Sect materialized timely beside Li Fan. On this occasion, though, they refrained from scolding him. Rather, they all directed their attention to the Xuanhuang Realm's firmament.
“How odd. How did events spiral so wildly out of hand and accelerate from just a brief rest?”
“Might the pull from the Immortal Ruins have grown stronger once more?”
“Over these many years, nothing so unusual occurred. The shifts were gradual; we overlooked them at first...”
The five small effigies murmured back and forth, paying no heed to Li Fan nearby. Upon closer scrutiny, Li Fan discerned they weren't the prior ones who'd surfaced now and then to chide him.
These were fresh arrivals, unseen until now. They appeared to rank highly in the Du'e Sect, tasked with monitoring the Xuanhuang Realm's perils.
Li Fan held no desire to engage them. He promptly triggered the array, compelling them back into the Book of Du'e by force.
“Hm?” This odd disruption swiftly roused the five small effigies. They fixed on Li Fan, their faces gradually contorting in alarm.
“So you've been... behind it the whole time...”
“This is disastrous!”
The Du'e Book quaked fiercely, its leaves rustling madly sans breeze. It looked ready to unleash a swarm of paper effigies. But prior to any success, an unseen power restrained them, yanking those five small effigies forcibly into the Du'e Book.
The volume then gradually shut. It continued to spasm and rebel without end. Li Fan's face stayed impassive as he bolstered the sealing array relentlessly. Until the Du'e Book at last lay utterly quiet.
“If you opt to cower like a turtle in its shell, then remain so eternally. The Xuanhuang Realm requires no rescue from you.”
Li Fan stated coolly, stowing the Du'e Book in the profoundest depths of the Five Elements Cave-Heaven. The Heaven and Earth Ten Thousand Spirits and All Beings Spirits-Refining Great Formation stood fully operational.
With Li Fan's ultimate barrier secured, he prepared for the grand scheme ahead. “Through my watch over the last year, I've verified the Immortal Ancestor isn't present in the Xuanhuang Realm. Same as always.”