My Longevity Simulation Chapter 1180: Star Sea Wanderer

While the rivalry between the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance and the Five Elders Association fueled rapid technological innovation, such progress was ultimately fleeting.

In truth, this golden age of development lasted barely three thousand years. For tens of thousands of years following the Great calamity that severed the immortal path, the Xuanhuang Realm had been defined by mutual slaughter and endless strife.

Instead of advancing, civilization stagnated and ultimately regressed.

“If my hypothesis holds weight, the civilizational disparity between the interior and exterior of the high wall must be absolutely staggering.”

Imagine a closed system that considers itself the pinnacle of the world. Then, the boundary suddenly vanishes, and the civilization is confronted by military might several eras ahead of its own; it would stand no chance, crumbling instantly.

Such historical arcs are a common pattern in the maturation of civilizations.

Even leaving aside the era before my transmigration, there are countless small worlds today that have long since severed contact with the Xuanhuang Realm, eventually forgetting the very existence of cultivators. They have built grand dynasties, with historians documenting their every achievement with pride.

And yet, a single Foundation Establishment cultivator could easily topple such a “prosperous dynasty” on a whim.

Transcending mortality and attaining immortality has always been the singular ambition driving Li Fan.

For this goal, he has endured countless lifetimes of reincarnation, navigating a Xuanhuang Realm riddled with crises and looming disasters.

Ultimately, he dreams of escaping this grim star sea and crossing beyond the high wall.

Yet, the mere thought of civilizations potentially flourishing beyond that barrier sends a shiver down Li Fan’s spine.

“If a cultivation civilization has thrived there undisturbed for eons, they might possess strength rivaling True Immortals. They might even have the capacity to manipulate truth to some degree…”

Li Fan’s gaze sharpened, his mind racing with possibilities.

However, fear was absent.

truth remained his ultimate ace in the hole.

Because he could rewind time, anchoring his memories and experiences to a fixed point, it would only take a few re-runs to bridge any gap, even if the world beyond the high wall was millions of years ahead.

“I must practice extreme caution. Until I fully grasp the reality of the situation, I will act only through my clones and the Holy Embryo—my true body shall never emerge. Stability is the paramount priority.”

“What is truly frightening isn't the existence of monsters beyond the wall; it is the possibility that there is nothing there at all.”

...

In the suffocating void of the abyss, the sword light belonging to the Holy Embryo Li Fan trailed closely behind the twenty-nine puppets.

Though only six months had passed in the Xuanhuang Realm since his departure, to the Holy Embryo, over a decade had elapsed.

As he delved deeper into the Darkest Star Sea, the temporal distortion intensified.

Not long ago, the time dilation had peaked at a terrifying ratio of fifty-to-one.

However, as the Holy Embryo progressed, this discrepancy began to gradually normalize, falling back down to ten-to-one.

The flow of time felt almost comparable to the period just after he had exited the Xuanhuang Realm.

Li Fan realized he was nearing another massive gravitational force capable of warping time.

“The Star Sea is incomprehensibly vast. Even utilizing this mysterious power to propel myself at a hundred times the speed limit of the Xuanhuang Realm, the journey has been agonizingly long,” the Holy Embryo remarked with a sigh.

Over these ten years, he had sacrificed pieces of his divine soul over three hundred times.

Having started with power nearly matching a Dao Integration cultivator, his strength had dwindled to that of a mere mortal.

The agony of this process was so profound that even with his iron-clad resolve, Li Fan vowed never to endure it again.

Fortuitously, as his cultivation level plummeted, the frequency of the black spot infections also began to wane.

Furthermore, after three hundred iterations of soul division, the Holy Embryo had begun to devise his own strategies to combat the mysterious plague.

“Though the origin remains unknown, these black spots are undeniably linked to cultivation worlds that have already been eradicated within the Darkest Star Sea.”

Had he only observed one of the three hundred infected soul fragments, Li Fan might have remained ignorant. But by comparing every withered soul left behind in the star sea, the pattern became clear.

After entering a state of dormancy, they did not stay static. They drifted toward various sectors of the Darkest Star Sea.

Their movement was unnatural; it didn't mimic standard spatial displacement. Instead, it felt like water droplets cascading down a slope, flowing effortlessly through the abyss.

Once they achieved their destination, they vanished from his perception entirely.

“These locations, tracing a path between the Star Sea and the Xuanhuang Realm, seem to overlap with the voids I traveled through earlier.”

The Holy Embryo looked back toward the horizon, lost in deep contemplation.

“It seems every bizarre phenomenon in the Darkest Star Sea is inextricably woven together.”

“But what kind of power could rival the Immortal Ruins themselves? And why did I feel nothing of it while inside the Xuanhuang Realm, only to have it suddenly manifest now?”

Burdened by these questions, his curiosity regarding the path ahead burned brighter than ever.

“Hmm?”

As he pondered, a sudden surge of vigilance flooded his senses.

The sensation of being watched clawed at him again—more intense than anything he had felt over the last ten years.

His hair stood on end and his heart hammered against his ribs.

A malevolent existence was lurking in the shroud of the void.

With a sudden impulse, Li Fan maneuvered a stone puppet to charge toward the source of the dread, simultaneously unleashing a slash of sword light.

The puppet made contact with something with a muffled thud before vanishing from his senses entirely.

Weakened by his fragmented soul, the sword light lacked the radiance he once commanded, yet it was sufficient to illuminate the immediate gloom.

A pair of colossal eyes materialized from the darkness, locking onto him.

Simultaneously, a massive, withered hand reached out from the void, silently lunging to snatch him.

“Damn it!”

Having traversed the pitch-black void for over a decade without seeing a single soul, being confronted by such an entity made Li Fan’s blood run cold.

Acting on pure reflex, he unleashed a barrage of sword shadows.

Whether due to his own decline in power or the monster’s overwhelming defenses, these shadows—the same ones capable of sundering mountains in the Xuanhuang Realm—failed to scratch the target.

As he braced for the final stand, prepared to fight until his end, he noticed a peculiarity. The massive, emaciated figure before him showed no signs of life. Its expression and poise were frozen, entirely devoid of vitality.