Chapter 699: Life, Death, and Pushing Forward

The sophistication of this array could rival even the Tianxuan Soul-Locking Array Li Fan had constructed in his past life.

Even with both his and Huangfu Song's considerable skill in arrays, it took them a long time and much discussion before they could barely grasp its function. That was all they managed. Nothing more.

As for how the array actually worked, how it turned death qi into life qi, that lay beyond their understanding.

Defying the Principle of Life and Death itself...

Is Lan Yu's failed attempt at attaining the Dao connected to this array? Are the dead-yet-still-living cultivators who emerged from the White Mist connected to it too? Li Fan's heart shook with a jolt of shock.

Huangfu Song muttered to himself, "Death means the body perishes and the Dao disperses. How can there be a principle of rising from the dead? Unbelievable, unbelievable..."

Dongfang Yao watched his two companions stand bewitched and dazed for far too long. Annoyance and anxiety built in him until he finally snapped.

"You two have been studying this for so long. Do you have any conclusions?" he asked, frowning.

His furious shout jolted them both back to reality.

Huangfu Song shook his head. "As I see it, even if our Strategy Array Hall's Chief Lu came here in person, she might not be able to construct an array like this. Something this vast, this magnificent, hidden silently within this Lost Domain, unknown to the world..."

A flicker of fear crossed his face. "It seems we've stumbled into the setup of a powerhouse currently attempting to attain the Dao and achieve eternal life.

"Countless Lost Domains exist in the White Mist, yet we happened to find the one containing this array. I can't say whether that's fortune or misfortune." His expression turned bleak.

"Perhaps it's no coincidence," Li Fan said suddenly. "What if this array exists in more than one Lost Domain?"

Huangfu Song froze at the words. A chill of terror ran through him, and he didn't dare speak further.

In truth, Li Fan was holding back much more than that.

He had come to this Lost Domain following a murmur that seemed to contain the words "Heavenly Physician."

This Lost Domain held an array that reversed life and death. And in his previous life, a cultivator had succeeded in reversing that same principle, becoming a new Eternal Heavenly Venerable.

Put the pieces together, and it seemed reasonable to deduce that the Heavenly Physician stood behind all of this. Likely, he would ascend to become an Eternal Heavenly Venerable soon. freewⅇbnovel.com

But Li Fan still harbored doubts.

Logically, this array was the key to the Heavenly Physician's bid for eternal life. A location this crucial should have tolerated no room for error. So how had it been so easy for Li Fan and the others to walk right in?

Appearing completely undefended...

Is this a trap? Or does the master of this place simply not care about the array? Or does he have such absolute confidence that even if someone stumbles in, they can't touch its foundations?

Li Fan suddenly recalled his small wooden hut atop Great Xuan's Jieli Mountain.

That had been his resting place, his cultivation spot while he waited for Return to Truth to finish charging. It was the same there as here. He had never set up any defensive arrays. He'd only placed a misdirection ward around Jieli Mountain to keep ordinary mortals from wandering in.

Li Fan had thought it unnecessary.

Do I look at mortals the way He looks at cultivators?

Is it the Heavenly Physician?freewebnovⅇl.com

Li Fan couldn't be certain.

But if his own advancement were at stake, he would set up countermeasures even against mortals, just to be safe.

And yet He hadn't done that...

Just as confusion filled Li Fan's mind, a remark from Dongfang Yao inadvertently cleared it.

"Brother Huangfu, I think you're off the mark. I don't really get what’s so brilliant about this array, but if you say it can reverse life and death, then the senior who built it must already be capable of doing that himself, right?

"Reversing the Principle of Life and Death, that's already the power of an Eternal Heavenly Venerable, isn't it? So why have I never heard this Heavenly Venerable's name?"

Understanding struck Li Fan. That's it. I assumed the owner of this place intended to use this array to achieve the reversal of life and death. But what if he can already do it himself? Then this place... Li Fan looked around.

...isn't a place of Dao attainment. It's an experimental ground built after attaining the Dao!

Li Fan's thoughts raced. After attaining the Dao and achieving eternal life, a being also gains power over the laws of heaven and earth. In theory, He could bring those frozen cultivators back from death with a single thought. Yet He'd gone to the trouble of setting up an array instead...

Is He still researching something? Is eternal life not enough? Does He want to go even further?

Li Fan's gaze shifted to the central node of the Life-Death Reversal Grand Array he'd found earlier.

Perhaps the answer lies there.

"This senior," Li Fan said in a low voice, "has likely already become an Eternal Heavenly Venerable long ago. This place has been abandoned, which is why we managed to break in so easily. Leaving through the central node should pose no danger. Let's move quickly."

Without waiting for Huangfu and Dongfang to react, he flew toward the central node first. The two men were startled for a moment, but Li Fan's reasoning sounded sound enough, and they hurried after him.

Soon they reached the center of the grand array, where the death qi ran thickest. It was the spot where the exotic beast had vanished into the Silent Sea of Death.

"Brother Li, should we reconsider?" Huangfu Song asked, fear plain in his voice as he stared down at the black seawater.

Li Fan checked the charging progress of Return to Truth: 200%. He shook his head. "Hesitation only brings disaster. We've explored this whole place. Staying longer accomplishes nothing. Do you think you can decipher this Life-Death Reversal Grand Array and dismantle it? Rather than wait for death, better to take a chance on living!"

As he spoke, an incredibly dense surge of wood attribute spiritual power swirled around him.

"Stay close to me!" Li Fan commanded, then plunged headfirst into the Silent Sea of Death.

Seeing no other choice, Huangfu and Dongfang gritted their teeth and followed.

The instant they entered the seawater, an unimaginably thick aura of death and stillness swept in from every direction. It felt like countless worms gnawing at Li Fan, draining his life force. The sensation was almost identical to the Lifespan-Devouring White Mist.

Li Fan had previously depleted his lifespan in that White Mist, so this feeling was nothing new to him. Without panicking, he pulled out five Longevity Pills and swallowed them at once.

As their medicinal power activated, Li Fan forced the Longevity Verdant Force within the pills out of his body, forming a barrier against the erosion of the death qi. He pushed his movement art to its limit, plunging rapidly toward the pitch-black seabed.

Within a few breaths, he was closing in on the sea floor.

Li Fan squinted, sensing a miniature whirlpool ahead. Within it, a thread of life force flickered into being.

"There it is!"

Li Fan focused his mind, transformed into a beam of light, and charged into the whirlpool.

A brief moment of dizziness swept over him.

Then, light.

A gentle sea breeze, the salty tang of humid air, the occasional cry of seabirds...

When Li Fan could finally make out his surroundings, he found himself standing on the surface of a vast, azure ocean.

Life teemed everywhere.

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