章 18: Chapter 18: The Deep Abyss is Crossed by the Leap of the Fish
When Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi return to the Immortal Cultivation World and find out they had been cultivating the same technique, Li Fan no longer cares about their reaction.
At this moment, he had settled all affairs, piloting the Tai Yan Boat, and arrived above the abyss.
Typically, it would make sense to wait until the fifteenth-yearly disbursement of the White Mist to explore this abyss.
But now Li Fan is already 71 years old, it would take another 14 years until the next disbursement of the White Mist.
By then, he would be 85 years old, close to death's door, struggling to walk, let alone navigate the Tai Yan Boat.
So he was better off exploring the reality of this Immortal Forbiddance Formation earlier rather than later.
After all, in this life, he had nothing left to yearn for, ready to embark on the journey to his next life anytime.
Controlling the Tai Yan Boat, Li Fan slowly descended towards the abyss's bottom.
Without spirit consciousness to guide him, he could only rely on his line of sight to find directions.
A heavy fog enveloped the area; all around was a boundless white, making Li Fan feel as if everything around him were surreal.
Utter silence surrounded him; the only sound he could hear was his own breathing.
Fully focused, he continues flying downwards.
Suddenly, it felt as though he had smashed into something; the Tai Yan Boat began to shake violently.
Li Fan immediately grew anxious.
It seemed as though an invisible force was squeezing them, and the sound of metal scraping could be heard from the outside of the Tai Yan Boat.
Thankfully, the defensive array technique activated in time, wrapping the Tai Yan Boat with a faint golden light film.
The boat gradually stabilized, and the eerily unsettling sounds disappeared without trace.
Only the twisting and turning protective light film told of the terrifying pressure exerted from outside.
"The Wind Layer has passed, next is the Illusion Layer." Li Fan recalled Kou Hong's previous introduction about this Immortal Forbiddance Formation.
The main purpose of the Immortal Forbiddance Formation is to prevent expelled mortals from returning to the Immortal Cultivation World.
The Wind Layer is filled with strong winds.
The wind blades can easily tear the mortal body apart. Even a Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator must resort to spiritual power for protection and navigate cautiously.
Below the Wind Layer lies the Illusion Layer.
Glows of seven colors, delicate as silk, flowed all over this layer of the abyss.
Mortals, upon seeing this, would be immersed in endless illusions.
Underneath the Illusion Layer is the Reversal Layer.
Once inside, one perceives a reversal in all directions, unable to distinguish up from down, left from right.
Furthermore, with white mist everywhere, without spirit consciousness to guide your way, it would inevitably result in getting lost.
After the Reversal Layer is the Streaming Flame Layer.
Countless unpredictable, high-speed shooting stars rain in this space layer, turning all obstructing objects to dust.
With thick white mist for cover, it is difficult to prepare oneself.
Below the Streaming Flame Layer is the Mysterious Ice Layer.
From this layer onward, the heavy mist gradually thins out.
There is nothing else in the Mysterious Ice Layer, only extremely low temperatures.
If you do not have the appropriate protective measures, you could be frozen into an ice cube immediately after entering.
Beneath the Mysterious Ice Layer lies the Thunderstorm Layer.
Thunders expressing a destructive aura incessantly boom within this abyss layer.
The last is a vast area several times larger than the combined area of the previous six layers.
According to Kou Hong, this layer wasn't particularly dangerous, it was just a sea of darkness that put people on edge.
Once through the Dark Layer, one could leave the Immortal Forbiddance Formation and head towards the Immortal Cultivation World.
Li Fan carefully controlled the Tai Yan Boat, spending half an hour before finally traversing the Wind Layer.
As soon as he entered the Illusion Layer, he was enveloped in a myriad of illusions under the illumination of a sea of flowing lights.
In the illusions, he successfully escaped from the Immortal Forbiddance Formation, arrived in the Immortal Cultivation World, and coincidentally acquired a rare Technique. In just a century, he formed the Gold Core.
Afterward, he continued cultivating all the way, experiencing a smooth journey. A millennia later, he attained immortality.
Once in the Immortal World, Li Fan started from the lowest rank Immortal, cultivating step by step, until eventually becoming the dominant Immortal Emperor.
Then Li Fan broke through the spatial barrier of the Immortal World and ascended to the God World.
Starting as a miner in the God World, he continued cultivating over countless years, becoming the most formidable existence in the God World, reaching the level of God King.
Afterward, Li Fan suffered countless hardships to ascend to the Ancient God World, programming away to become the bottom-rung gatekeeper of the Ancient God World.
Again, he painstakingly started from scratch.
These layers of illusions stacked up, one after another…
Finally, the Illusory Realm collapsed.
Li Fan regained consciousness. The previous experiences receded like a tide in his spirit consciousness, leaving only faint traces.
Slightly speechless about his previous encounters in the Illusory Realm, Li Fan steadied his spirit and continued onward.
A wave of dizziness disrupted his orientation, and Li Fan knew he had now arrived in the Upside-down Layer.
Surrounded by endless white mist, the Tai Yan Boat was like a droplet in a vast ocean, having no idea which direction was up, which was down, or where to go.
Just when Li Fan thought his journey of the Great Array would end here, he was surprised to discover an intuitive guiding force emanating from the Tai Yan Boat, indicating which direction he should go.
Following the guidance of the Tai Yan Boat, it didn't take long for Li Fan to leave the Upside-down Layer.
After that, Li Fan, having tasted success, did not actively control the boat but simply provided the power, letting the Tai Yan Boat fly through the Immortal Forbiddance Formation on its own.
Streaming Flame, Mysterious Ice, Thunderstorm...
Despite the perilous nature of these places, the Tai Yan Boat flew at a leisurely pace, always just narrowly avoiding cataclysmic crises.
With close calls but no actual danger, Li Fan smoothly reached the final layer, the Dark Layer.
"That's it! This Tai Yan Boat was specifically assigned thousand years ago to transport mortals during The Great Migration Era, which spanned hundreds of years. Given the extent of its wear and tear, the boat might have carried out its migration task continuously over centuries. The Cultivators in charge probably thought it too troublesome to pilot the boat personally each time, so they must have left a hidden switch in the Tai Yan Boat, enabling it to automatically pass through the Immortal Forbiddance Formation…" Li Fan's surprise success suddenly made perfect sense to him.
The Tai Yan Boat moved silently through darkness.
The thought that the Immortal Cultivation World he had longed for for a century was at his fingertips stirred excitement even in Li Fan's normally cool demeanor.
Suddenly, an ambiguous, ancient, distant, profound sound rang out in the extremely quiet darkness.
This strange noise quickly filled the entire Dark Layer, echoing continuously.
Li Fan's heartbeat halted momentarily, as if facing a natural predator, his blood ran cold.
The echoing sound approached and seemed to enclose the tiny Tai Yan Boat, coming from all directions.
Suddenly, the sound disappeared.
The surroundings quickly returned to dead silence.
The environment remained completely dark, but it felt somehow different from the previous darkness.
Li Fan felt his hair stand on end.
He knew, the Tai Yan Boat had been swallowed by some existence.
"Bang!"
The Tai Yan Boat's protective light shield shattered instantly, and the Tai Yan Boat itself began to disintegrate.
The charging progress catastrophically plummeted in this moment.
Gazing deeply at the darkness outside one last time, Li Fan murmured under his breath.
"Reality."
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