The appearance of these fragments of Immortal Realm laws was simply too coincidental.
Just as he was preparing to elevate the Xuanhuang Realm toward the Immortal Realm, they happened to be discovered.
Given Li Fan's personality, it was impossible for him not to become suspicious. Thus, he began carefully sorting through the logic behind it all.
"The concealment of these Go pieces is truly terrifying. Neither the people of the Immortal Ark nor the Immortal Ancestor and the Heavenly Doctor detected anything unusual, despite having personally come into contact with them more than once over tens of thousands of years."
"The only reason I discovered their strange nature so easily was entirely because of the guidance of [Truth]. Without [Truth], I would have regarded them as nothing more than ordinary objects."
At this thought, Li Fan's heart stirred slightly.
"If viewed from this perspective alone, these Go pieces really could have been bait specifically prepared for [Truth]."
"However, [Truth] reacts to many other things as well. For example, the Eternal Remnant Will. It is simply because [Truth] exists on such a high level that no abnormality can hide from it."
"I cannot reach such a hasty conclusion. Still, remaining cautious is only prudent."
It seemed completely independent from him. Spiritual energy, divine sense, and every other form of power flowed through the location where the Go piece rested without encountering the slightest obstruction. It was as though the piece did not exist at all.
Apart from bearing the weight of the fused Immortal Domain fragment, the Go piece had brought Li Fan no other changes.
"The thirteen gray Go pieces were hidden by Sun Piaomiao within the thirteen cultivation worlds he had once visited. He recorded the world coordinates of each in his travel journals and passed them down to later generations."
"But it is obvious that these Go pieces were not created by Sun Piaomiao. They were forged by True Immortals from the upper realm. Perhaps they were contingency plans left behind by certain pessimistic True Immortals during the Dao Annihilation Calamity, hoping to one day revive the Immortal Realm."
"For some unknown reason, they eventually fell into Sun Piaomiao's hands."
Li Fan fell into deep thought as countless ideas surged through his mind.
"In Sun Piaomiao's era, the Immortal Realm had not yet been destroyed, nor had the path to immortality been severed. Most True Immortals were still actively resisting the Dao Annihilation Calamity. Under such circumstances, those pessimistic True Immortals who forged these Go pieces would certainly not have been accepted by the mainstream. They could only work in secret. That must be why they secretly passed them down to the lower realms."
"But for reasons unknown, these contingency plans were never activated. The most likely explanation is that the True Immortals who forged the Go pieces perished during the Dao Annihilation Calamity that eventually destroyed the Immortal Realm."
"Or perhaps..."
Li Fan narrowed his eyes as he recalled the structure of the Myriad Manifestations Yin-Yang Painting aboard the Immortal Ark.
"Throughout the entire Darkest Star Sea, there are no longer any black or white Go pieces remaining upon the board. Only these abandoned gray pieces remain. Perhaps somewhere beyond the High Wall, in some unknown place, those black and white pieces have already fulfilled the mission of completely reconstructing the Immortal Realm."
This was merely Li Fan's speculation. At present, there was no evidence supporting it.
"As for these gray Go pieces, Sun Piaomiao undoubtedly knew much more. Sun Piaomiao himself has vanished without a trace. If there is any place in the Star Sea where clues might still remain, the most likely location is the Medicine King Cauldron he left behind in the Medicine King Sect."
"Anchored for fifteen years, the falling stars return to Xuanhuang, the time will come soon..."
Although these Go pieces might conceal unknown dangers, Li Fan would never abandon his plan of elevating the Xuanhuang Realm simply because of uncertain speculation.
With fragments of the Immortal Domain serving as its foundation, the chances of successfully elevating the Xuanhuang Realm would increase tremendously.
Suppressing his thoughts, Li Fan looked toward Yin Shangren and Hundred Flowers.
They had witnessed the entire process of the gray Go piece's fusion. Neither dared speak and only observed silently.
Li Fan did not tell them that the fusion had created an Immortal Domain fragment.
Even so, they had already guessed that these Go pieces, forged from dead worlds, must play a crucial role in the plan to elevate the Xuanhuang Realm.
"I previously asked you to investigate that location deep within the Star Sea. Did you find anything?" Ever since returning to Great Qi, Li Fan had been constantly traveling in search of the Go pieces. Only now had he finally found a moment to rest. He looked at Hundred Flowers and asked.
According to Li Fan's estimation, investigating that mysterious elevated region should have taken considerable effort.
Yet she had returned not long afterward and later reunited with Yin Shangren near the edge of the Star Sea.
Hundred Flowers gathered her thoughts before explaining.
"Perhaps I was simply incapable. I searched the location you specified for a long time, yet never discovered anything unusual. Since remaining there any longer would only waste time, I ultimately gave up and joined Fellow Daoist Yin in searching for Xu Ke."
"Perhaps that opportunity simply was not destined for me."
She sighed softly.
Li Fan nodded before asking again.
"Then what about Xu Ke? Did you discover any traces?"
Yin Shangren replied.
"We made some progress. We believe Xu Ke may have been drawn into a peculiar region within the Remnant World Great Wall."
"The Remnant World Great Wall is formed from countless destroyed worlds gathered beneath the High Wall. Although composed of innumerable fragments, they seem to faintly connect into a single whole."
"We still do not understand the principle behind its formation. However, it may be viewed as a long rope woven from countless threads."
"The place where Xu Ke disappeared appears to be a knot formed by that rope in order to maintain its own stability."
"We were preparing to investigate that knot further when we received your message calling us back."
There was obvious regret in Yin Shangren's voice.
"A knot..."
Li Fan pondered for a moment before continuing.
"The situation arose unexpectedly. In order to obtain the Go pieces, I had no choice but to ask for your help in staging that performance."
"The people you met that day all came from the Immortal Ark civilization near the edge of the Star Sea."
"In order to avoid exposing the existence of the Xuanhuang Realm, I previously disguised myself as a member of a nonexistent civilization called Great Qi and established contact with them. The Xuan Immortal Ark excels at analyzing the powers left behind by various True Immortal seal script characters scattered throughout the Star Sea. I also exchanged the True Immortal seal script I possess with them several times, and both sides benefited."
"During this latest exchange, I happened to discover the gray Go pieces stored within the Immortal Ark treasury."
"These Go pieces are simply too important to the elevation of the Xuanhuang Realm. They absolutely could not be allowed to slip away. Therefore, I employed a few small tricks..."
Li Fan casually explained the entire sequence of events.
"The Xuan Immortal Ark is still useful to the Xuanhuang Realm for now. Therefore, avoid contacting them so the truth is not exposed. Especially you. The aura of life and death around you is too distinctive. The moment they see it, they will know you were the one who stole the gray Go pieces."
He looked toward Yin Shangren as he spoke.
Naturally, neither Yin Shangren nor Hundred Flowers sided with the Xuan Immortal Ark.
They merely smiled and paid little attention to Li Fan's methods of obtaining the gray Go pieces.
"There are still several Go pieces remaining within the Immortal Ark and the Remnant World Great Wall. Leave them all to me."
"You should continue searching for Xu Ke."
"Once I have collected every Go piece, it will not be long before the Xuanhuang Realm reaches its final transformation."
Li Fan instructed them.
Yin Shangren's expression turned solemn as he nodded.
After giving his instructions, Li Fan first activated the Inch Apart, Worlds Away Grand Formation and arrived at the frontier of the Remnant World Great Wall.
Using the Wooden Sword phantom movement technique to shuttle back and forth continuously, he spent considerable effort before finally obtaining the remaining five gray Go pieces hidden there.
Even with such heaven defying movement techniques, the depths of the Remnant World Great Wall beneath the High Wall remained unimaginably dangerous.
The surging waves of echoing star force constantly rose and fell. Even the Wooden Sword phantom could only barely neutralize most of its force. He still had to resist the omnipresent attraction pulling at him from every direction.
Furthermore, he constantly bore the weight of the Immortal Domain.
As a result, using the Wooden Sword phantom movement technique now consumed nearly two or three times more energy than before.
By the time he had collected all five Go pieces, Li Fan was already physically and mentally exhausted.
Still, the rewards were enormous.
Li Fan looked inward.
Five gray Go pieces floated quietly opposite a single seven colored chess piece that had grown noticeably larger after fusion.
They faced one another from a distance.
Perhaps because there were still too few of them, the five newly acquired Go pieces merely revolved around one another and were unable to resonate with the already fused seven colored Go piece.
"Only two remain."
"The Xuan Immortal Ark, and the Medicine King Sect."
"Once all thirteen Go pieces have returned to their proper places, then if my deductions are correct, a corner of the former Immortal Realm should reappear."
Li Fan narrowed his eyes.
Then he suddenly raised his palm toward his own chest and struck himself heavily.
He let out a muffled groan.
His already exhausted face turned even paler.
Without using his own spiritual energy to heal his injuries, Li Fan maintained his current appearance and leisurely made his way back toward the Immortal Ark.
As he approached the ark, he made no effort to conceal his aura. The Council of Elders had already sensed his arrival.
Led by Zhong Daogong, they all came out to receive him.
"I have fulfilled my mission." Li Fan coughed lightly, cupped his fists, and spoke calmly.
"You have worked hard, Fellow Daoist." Zhong Daogong's expression turned solemn as he unexpectedly bowed deeply.
Li Fan frowned and stepped aside to avoid the salute.
He let out a cold snort.
"There is no need for these empty formalities. Although the ritual itself was not complicated, concealing it from my master and the various Holy Masters required no small amount of effort."
"I do not know exactly how many people the ritual ultimately covered. But I imagine it should have been enough."
Zhong Daogong smiled and nodded.
"Approximately one hundred million living beings. That is more than enough to bear the backlash of casting the Equal Heaven Divine Art."
"In that case, there is no need to keep it from me any longer, is there?" Li Fan's gaze swept across the assembled elders.
"This is not the place to discuss such matters. Let us return to the Immortal Ark first."
The Immortal Ark elders remained as cautious as ever.
The group arrived at the highest level of the divine art platform, inside the deepest pavilion of the Severed Immortal Tower.
The black profound jade floor had already been engraved with countless mysterious patterns.
Li Fan was no stranger to these symbols.
They were part of the ritual for the Equal Heaven Divine Art.
It seemed the Immortal Ark elders could hardly wait any longer.
The elders took their respective seats.
Li Fan likewise received his own seat.
One hundred million living beings served as his admission token.
In the Xuan Immortal Ark, where survival resources were scarce and life itself had withered away, one hundred million humans was an unimaginably enormous number.
Thus, after completing the ritual, together with all of his previous performances, Li Fan had finally earned the absolute trust of everyone aboard the Immortal Ark.
"Please be patient, Fellow Daoist."
"Take your seat first and personally experience the effects of the Equal Heaven Divine Art." Zhong Daogong pointed toward Li Fan's seat.
Without the slightest hesitation, Li Fan floated over and sat down.
The patterns beneath him immediately emitted faint rays of light.
As soon as he sat down, the scenery in Li Fan's vision changed beneath the illumination.
The positions of the Immortal Ark elders around him underwent strange spatial shifts.
Originally, everyone had been seated upon the same plane.
Yet now, in Li Fan's eyes, they were distributed throughout a three dimensional cubic space.
Perfectly staggered, each occupying a different point within the cube.
Li Fan himself stood at the exact center of the cube, the focus of everyone's gaze.
His expression remained unchanged.
"The vast and boundless heaven and earth. Endless ages in silent obscurity. Once of one body. All living beings share the same measure..."
The chanting voices of the Immortal Ark elders echoed through the chamber.
Ancient.
Desolate.
With an indescribable trace of eeriness.
As the chant continued, every elder slowly raised a hand.
Using a finger as a brush, they began writing into the empty air before them.
What each person wrote was not a complete True Immortal seal script character.
Rather, each wrote only one structural fragment of an incomparably complex character.
In Li Fan's eyes, countless living lines suddenly appeared around him.
These lines surrounded him completely.
As they gradually completed one another, the character [Equal] slowly took shape.
Boom!
In an instant, Li Fan's body trembled slightly.
His viewpoint uncontrollably rose upward until it stopped at a fixed position.
From there, looking downward.
The spell structures written by all the elders across their different planes combined together.
On a single plane, they formed one enormous True Immortal seal script character.
[Equal].
Li Fan's body was suppressed precisely at the very center of the character.
Compared to the characters [Hunger] and [Chaos] that Li Fan had previously seen, the character [Equal] was considerably more complex.
Although it could not compare with [Creation], it possessed its own unique and mysterious profundity.
Under the power of the Equal Heaven Divine Art, Li Fan gradually sensed the changes occurring within his own body.
He also glanced at the [Truth] interface.
His remaining lifespan, which had been reduced to only ten years, was now slowly increasing.
Strands of black hair began to emerge amidst his snow white hair.
Wave after wave of vitality appeared from nowhere, nourishing his body that had been on the verge of decay.
Yet Li Fan did not rejoice over this sudden increase in lifespan.
Instead, he cautiously continued observing [Truth].
Only after the incoming vitality gradually dried up and the Equal Heaven Divine Art ritual came to an end...
Only after [Truth] displayed no reaction whatsoever beyond the change in his displayed biological age...
Did Li Fan finally relax.
"As expected."
"A mere [Equal] character is still far from sufficient to influence [Truth]."
"It only affects the specific target locked onto by the Equal Heaven Divine Art. In my case, that was my lifespan."
"My divine sense, cultivation, and everything else remain completely unchanged."
After carefully inspecting his condition, Li Fan reached his conclusion.
He then looked toward the members of the Immortal Ark Council of Elders.
Compared to before the ritual, they had all clearly aged somewhat.
However, because the loss of lifespan had been evenly distributed among every participant, the change was not especially obvious.
"How does it feel?" Zhong Daogong asked on behalf of the elders.
Hearing this, Li Fan deliberately acted as though he had just awakened from a dream.
He looked down at his rejuvenated body.
Then he bowed deeply toward all the elders, expressing his gratitude for saving his life.
The Immortal Ark elders returned the salute together.
"From this day forward, we are all one family."
Zhong Daogong spoke with complete solemnity.