"Senior saved my life. I have no way to repay such kindness. I will not hesitate to brave fire and water if called upon." Li Fan cupped his fists in response.
As he spoke, Li Fan checked the attributes displayed on his [Truth] panel.
His remaining lifespan had surged from the previous ten years to more than five hundred years.
It was enough to demonstrate the terrifying power of the Equal Heaven Divine Art.
"After having the divine art cast upon me, my lifespan should now be the same as these Immortal Ark elders."
"Five hundred years is not much, but it is not too little either. Most importantly..."
Li Fan carefully examined the current condition of his body.
A moment later, his eyes narrowed slightly.
"This additional lifespan is unstable?"
While Li Fan was observing, the age displayed on the [Truth] panel suddenly changed once again, further confirming his suspicion.
Li Fan did not conceal the change in his expression.
Thus, Zhong Daogong also noticed the confusion in Li Fan's heart.
"The Heavenly Dao is ever-changing, forever in flux. Change is eternal, while balance is only temporary."
"The Equal Heaven Divine Art itself defies the heavens. I suspect that even a True Immortal seal script character personally written by a genuine True Immortal could not maintain the state of 'Equality' forever, let alone us. So there is no need to worry. Falling from the Equal state is perfectly normal."
"There are two ways to slow it down. First, return to the authentic [Ancient] True Immortal seal script character. A brief reversal of time can delay the rate of decline."
"As for the second method, simply wait until your lifespan is exhausted again and cast the Equal Heaven Divine Art once more. In truth, this is exactly what the Immortal Ark Elders Council has been doing."
"We use the lifespan of the many to extend the lifespan of the individual. Everyone helps me, and I help everyone."
Zhong Daogong smiled as he looked toward the surrounding elders.
Li Fan nodded in understanding.
"In that case, I am relieved."
He sighed before continuing.
"So this is why, although the Immortal Ark elders often seem to disagree with one another, they always manage to move forward together whenever major matters arise."
"This Equal Heaven Divine Art is truly astonishing. Even within the Holy Dynasty Great Qi, it would undoubtedly rank among the most supreme divine abilities."
Despite Li Fan's lavish praise, Zhong Daogong showed no pride. Instead, a trace of bitter helplessness flashed through his eyes.
"We have no choice. Because of our limited resources, the Immortal Ark's population has always remained relatively small. Talented individuals emerge far too slowly. If we wish to survive within this Darkest Star Sea, we must maintain the number of Council of Elders members."
"Researching the True Immortal seal script characters is also fraught with danger. The slightest mistake can expose one to the power of the True Immortals. Throughout history, quite a few elders have died because of this. Yet it concerns the very future of the Immortal Ark, so it cannot be abandoned."
"That is why every elder is the Immortal Ark's most precious treasure."
Li Fan remained noncommittal.
He knew perfectly well that the Immortal Ark possessed the secret Dao Pill technique, allowing them to refine gifted geniuses into pills and consume them, seizing all of their talent for themselves.
"The number of geniuses who have emerged within the Immortal Ark over the years is certainly not small. Unfortunately, talent alone is far from enough to become a new elder. The Immortal Ark elders are actually rather similar to the ordinary mortals of the Xuanhuang Realm. There can neither be too many nor too few of them. Their numbers must be maintained at a delicate balance."
Li Fan silently contemplated this, but did not expose it.
After receiving the Equal Heaven Divine Art, the attitudes of the surrounding elders toward him also changed subtly.
Previously, Li Fan had only earned their approval through his value and accomplishments.
Now, however, the elders genuinely accepted him from the bottom of their hearts.
It truly felt as though he had become one of their own.
Li Fan therefore asked about the Equal Heaven Plan, the plan that required the lives of countless beings from the Holy Dynasty Great Qi as sacrificial offerings.
"So many living beings are needed to share the backlash. Just who exactly is the target of the Equal Heaven Divine Art?"
This time, Zhong Daogong and the others no longer hesitated or concealed the truth.
Instead, they directly revealed the answer.
"The target of our plan is..."
"The fundamental consciousness of the Star Sea!"
Li Fan's eyes immediately lit up.
"It is thanks to the Taijia Divine Art that you previously taught us that we were able to glimpse the immense Star Sea consciousness that is slowly awakening."
"Only by making personal contact with it can one truly understand the vast and boundless might of the Star Sea. Even after the Star Sea has fallen into extinction, its power has not diminished in the slightest. It remains something far beyond the comprehension of ordinary cultivators like ourselves."
"But..."
At this moment, all of the Immortal Ark elders wore strange expressions.
Jian Daosheng waved his hand, revealing before Li Fan the desolate and silent Darkest Star Sea.
At the very center of the Star Sea, shining brilliantly like a flawless diamond, was the true essence of the Star Sea's fundamental consciousness.
"The Star Sea consciousness is actually no different from the Heavenly Dao of the cultivation world in ancient times."
"In the past, cultivators achieved unity between man and heaven, allowing them to partially control the Heavenly Dao of their worlds. Now, by joining forces to cast the Equal Heaven Divine Art, there is no reason we cannot jointly wield the power of the Star Sea as well."
Jian Daosheng spoke with unwavering confidence.
Zhong Daogong stroked his beard and smiled.
"If we can equalize ourselves with the power of the Star Sea, then even without relying on the True Immortal seal script characters, crossing the High Wall will only be a matter of time."
Li Fan frowned and fell into deep thought.
After a long while, he slowly nodded.
"The High Wall seals off the Darkest Star Sea, but only against the living beings within it. If one were to borrow the power of the Star Sea itself and raise monstrous tidal waves, then perhaps the droplets carried by those waves could leap over the High Wall."
"Exactly!"
"Only beings at the level of True Immortals can cross the High Wall. But the power of the Star Sea itself has never been inferior to that of the True Immortals."
"In ancient times, countless strange phenomena erupted throughout the Star Sea. Even True Immortals had to avoid them. That alone demonstrates how terrifying the Star Sea's power truly is."
"Although it was affected by the catastrophe of the Immortal Realm and has fallen into ruin, its vitality has not been extinguished."
The elders grew increasingly excited.
"It is the perfect target for the Equal Heaven Divine Art."
"If the technique succeeds, then even if we cannot immediately lift the Immortal Ark across the High Wall, temporarily controlling the Star Sea's power will still allow us to establish an absolutely secure sanctuary within this Darkest Star Sea."
...
After listening to the Immortal Ark elders' entire plan, Li Fan could not help but clap in admiration.
"Brilliant. Truly brilliant."
"This is nothing less than seizing Heaven's authority for one's own benefit."
He suddenly changed the topic, however, and frowned.
"I once made contact with the Star Sea consciousness using the Taijia Divine Art."
"Before It, cultivators like us are no more than ants."
"And now, this swarm of ants actually dreams of stealing Its power and standing as Its equal..."
Li Fan looked at everyone with a solemn expression.
"Heaven has its wrath. The Star Sea also has its wrath. Even if we succeed, we will probably have to face the Star Sea's origin consciousness launching a frenzied retaliation. Not to mention if we fail."
"When that time comes, I am afraid it may not be something our Immortal Ark can withstand."
"If we do not succeed, we perish. Is the risk not a little too great?"
Li Fan perfectly immersed himself in the mindset of someone whose lifespan had increased by five hundred years. His way of thinking and acting was no longer as extreme as before.
Zhong Daogong nodded, agreeing with Li Fan's assessment.
"You are right. The Immortal Ark has not yet reached the point where we must stake everything on a single gamble. That is precisely why you made the journey to Great Qi."
Zhong Daogong spoke with complete confidence.
Li Fan was somewhat puzzled.
"Can merely one hundred million human lives truly calm the Star Sea's wrath?"
Zhong Daogong smiled, his eyes gleaming.
"Not with humans. With a world."
"If it were merely a matter of human numbers, even several times more would probably make no difference to the Star Sea's origin consciousness. But if those one hundred million human lives are used as the foundation and decorated into a world, then in the name of a cultivation world, they can claim a portion of the Star Sea's power."
"The backlash from the Star Sea will be greatly weakened."
Zhong Daogong spoke with absolute certainty.
"This is determined by the Star Sea's own operating principles. Based on the scattered records accumulated by our Immortal Ark over countless years, we are almost completely certain of this."
Li Fan fell silent as he carefully considered the meaning behind Zhong Daogong's words.
"The nurturing and evolution of cultivation worlds are fundamental laws inherent to the Star Sea itself. Even if a cultivation world expands in strength until it becomes powerful enough to influence the Star Sea, the Star Sea will not directly destroy it."
"At most, it will respond through various Star Sea phenomena."
"Compared to the wrath of the Star Sea's origin consciousness, Star Sea phenomena are far easier to deal with."
Jian Daosheng did not give Li Fan any time to think independently before eagerly providing the explanation.
Zhong Daogong's expression was filled with pride.
"Our Immortal Ark possesses records of nearly every Star Sea phenomenon that has ever appeared in history, along with the most basic methods to deal with them. Right now, the Star Sea has only begun recovering after its destruction. It has not yet reached the stage of rebirth and mutation where entirely new Star Sea phenomena could emerge."
"The possibility is not great."
"Even if one does appear by some small chance, it will most likely be related to the residual power of the True Immortals permeating the void. With the True Immortal seal script in our possession, overcoming such disturbances will absolutely not be a problem."
The elders of the Immortal Ark were all filled with confidence.
The hall remained quiet for a while.
Finally, Zhong Daogong spoke again in a deep voice.
"Of course, to avoid the worst possible outcome, when we perform the Taijia Divine Art, we will leave the Xuan Immortal Ark and bring only the necessary supplies with us."
"Even if our plan truly fails, the Immortal Ark itself will survive. With the seeds we leave behind, the Immortal Ark can continue existing for hundreds or even thousands of years."
...
At present, although the Xuan Immortal Ark's Star Sea Equalization Plan appeared insane, the entire Immortal Ark had already subjected it to meticulous deliberation.
If it succeeded, they would enjoy boundless freedom thereafter. By controlling half of the Star Sea's power, even beyond the High Wall, where dangers lurked everywhere, they would possess a place to stand.
If it failed, they would not lose everything.
Compared to their previous plan of throwing the entire Immortal Ark against the High Wall, this was unquestionably a far superior strategy.
And this was precisely the change that the Taijia Divine Art Li Fan had brought to the Immortal Ark.
It had to be said that the Immortal Ark's Council of Elders truly were not stubborn traditionalists.
They could fully accept new knowledge and even quickly adapt and apply it.
"When will we act?"
"Since we are equalizing the Star Sea's power, then theoretically, should we not wait until the Star Sea has recovered as much as possible?"
Li Fan asked.
However, he quickly rejected his own conclusion.
"No. The stronger the Star Sea becomes, the stronger its future retaliation will be. If we become too greedy, we may exceed the limits of what we can endure."
Zhong Daogong nodded approvingly.
"Exactly. Therefore, we must choose the optimal moment."
"The Immortal Ark has already established a dedicated organization. Our elders take turns using the Taijia Divine Art to approach and observe the consciousness of the Star Sea."
"According to our predictions, the best opportunity will arrive within thirty years."
"During this period, the Star Sea's power and the residual power of the True Immortals restrain and influence one another, maintaining a delicate balance."
"After that..."
"One waxes while the other wanes. The residual power of the True Immortals will likely gradually disappear into the Star Sea."
Zhong Daogong had reached the same conclusion as in Li Fan's previous life.
Li Fan smiled.
"Very well. My lifespan is now abundant. I have more than enough time to wait."
"What preparations do you still require from me?"
Li Fan took the initiative to volunteer.
Zhong Daogong pondered for a moment before offering several suggestions.
"First, it would be best if you could increase the number of humans covered by the ritual."
Li Fan immediately frowned.
After hesitating for a while, his expression gradually relaxed.
"There is some risk, but as long as we proceed carefully, it should be possible. However, this can only be done once. If we do it, then we should do it on the largest possible scale to avoid regrets later."
Li Fan's response greatly pleased Zhong Daogong.
"The number of ritual sacrifices is of the utmost importance. Every additional doubling increases our chances of success by another ten percent. I will have to trouble you to devote considerable effort to this matter."
"Very well."
Li Fan accepted with a solemn expression, seemingly already contemplating how to accomplish it.
"As for the second matter..."
Zhong Daogong paused briefly.
"You may simply do it along the way. If it succeeds, then all the better. If not, it will not have much effect. It is merely a backup plan."
Li Fan raised an eyebrow.
"Oh? Elder Zhong, please explain."
"The key to the ritual's success lies in disguising ourselves as a cultivation world within the Star Sea."
As he spoke, Zhong Daogong conjured a simulated image through deduction before Li Fan.
"As you know, every cultivation world within the Star Sea has already been destroyed, except for Great Qi."
"But Great Qi's strength is not inferior to our Immortal Ark. Attempting to seize it and use it as a ready-made disguise would inevitably trigger a great war. That would be most unwise."
"Therefore, using the corpses of those already destroyed worlds as our disguise is an acceptable alternative."
"Within the Remnant Worlds Great Wall, the remnants of ancient worlds are all connected together. Disturbing one affects the entire structure, making them difficult to obtain. However, we do not actually need the world remains themselves. We merely need to gather as many traces left behind after the Heavenly Dao of those worlds perished as possible."
Zhong Daogong pointed toward the distant Remnant Worlds Great Wall.
Li Fan looked somewhat confused.
"What exactly do you mean by traces left behind after the Heavenly Dao perished?"
Zhong Daogong stretched out his hand and produced an object.
It resembled amber, yet also looked like white jade.
It appeared completely natural, without the slightest sign of carving.
It was shaped like a wooden umbrella.
"This is the only object that remains after a cultivation world is destroyed. Our Immortal Ark recovered it from the void after a Star Sea phenomenon had subsided."
"If you search carefully, there should be many similar objects within the Remnant Worlds Great Wall. Your movement techniques are unrivaled, making the search much easier for you than for us."
Zhong Daogong soon put away the white jade umbrella again.
"However, there is no need to force the matter. Our Immortal Ark's treasury still contains several Heavenly Dao Imprints like this."
"They should be sufficient to complete the disguise."