My Longevity Simulation

The ancient stone slab guarded at the center of the formation was just like the Nine-Star Red Bead Li Fan had previously seen within the ruins of the Xuanhuang World-Protecting Immortal Formation.

The difference was that the Nine-Star Red Bead had long since disappeared without a trace, while this ancient stone slab was still clearly present.

Li Fan narrowed his eyes, trying to make out the contents engraved within the formation and upon the stone slab.

The stone slab itself remained completely motionless, yet the lines engraved upon it seemed to be constantly changing, appearing blurred and indistinct.

This immediately reminded Li Fan of the copper coins from the Beiin Immortal Realm that he had seen before.

'It seems this is a recording method unique to the Immortal Realm. But the contents engraved upon this stone slab...'

'Are even more complicated!'

Li Fan's heart stirred, but he did not rush to investigate further. He keenly sensed that the formation before him seemed to possess a certain misleading effect. What could be observed through the formation might not necessarily be the truth.

With the help of the Final Dissociation Disc, Li Fan began analyzing the formation before him.

'There is no immortal spiritual qi. It seems that for the sake of concealment, it does not even use the most basic spiritual energy. Then what exactly is supporting this formation and allowing it to continue operating for all these years?'

After some research, Li Fan became quite interested.

With his current attainments in formations, he could absolutely be considered a grandmaster of formations. He was even capable of integrating and deducing Immortal-grade formations according to his own needs. Yet he had never encountered a formation of this type.

'It is not that the formation's energy consumption is so low that some single object can sustain it. The might of this formation...'

Li Fan pondered for a moment, then cautiously transformed spiritual energy into a small bird and attempted to send it into the formation.

There was no obstruction whatsoever.

However, the instant the spiritual bird crossed the boundary of the formation, it vanished into thin air without the slightest warning.

Li Fan's pupils suddenly contracted.

Because he could not sense in the slightest how the bird he controlled had disappeared.

Li Fan snapped his fingers lightly.

In the next instant, thousands upon thousands of birds surged toward the formation in a dense swarm.

Under Li Fan's exquisite control, the total amount of spiritual energy contained within all the birds was negligible. It remained below a certain threshold, ensuring that it would not provoke a stronger defensive response from the formation.

Their fates were all exactly the same.

Li Fan carefully savored the process of the birds disappearing.

'The spiritual energy was not "consumed". Rather, the foundation that maintained the existence of the spiritual energy was extracted...'

After the entire flock disappeared, Li Fan faintly grasped something.

This formation actually gave him a strange sense of familiarity.

Li Fan then used actual physical objects for further experiments.

Stones, magic treasures, vegetation, and birds.

The results were almost identical.

Anything that entered the formation completely vanished without a trace.

Li Fan's expression gradually became solemn.

'Everything I have tested so far belongs to the realm of the "mortal". What if it has something to do with the "immortal"?'

Golden source power essence transformed into a tiny swimming dragon and crashed against the formation. The air seemed to twist as if scorched by flames. Then the golden light gradually faded.

The result was the same.

Afterward, Li Fan took out a mass of True Immortal flesh and blood.

Countless golden threads pierced into the mass of flesh. The True Immortal flesh and blood was like a puppet controlled by strings, swaying from side to side as it slowly walked into the formation.

The golden threads Li Fan used to control it snapped at the waist.

Yet the True Immortal flesh and blood within the formation underwent a change completely different from that of the mortal objects before it.

The stone slab that had been lying silently within the formation suddenly stopped flickering for an instant.

In that brief moment, Li Fan vaguely saw what appeared to be a bolt of lightning illuminating the stone slab before striking the mass of True Immortal flesh and blood.

The strange and mysterious aura of the True Immortal flesh and blood suddenly vanished.

It was no longer counted among the immortals. In an instant, it was transformed into a mortal object.

Then it dissipated within the formation.

The entire change occurred in the blink of an eye. At first glance, it looked as though the True Immortal flesh and blood had met the same fate as all the mortal objects used for testing and could not endure within the formation for even an instant.

But Li Fan keenly sensed what had truly happened.

He repeated the previous operation, continuously using True Immortal flesh and blood to probe the formation, hoping to seize that fleeting opportunity and see the lightning flash clearly.

'That light that appeared upon the stone slab seems to be one of the patterns engraved by the Xuanhuang Heaven, one of the patterns that once existed on the Ascension Platform? It can actually transform an immortal into a mortal?'

Li Fan's heart was deeply shaken.

However, he also understood that what he was using for the experiment was not a genuine 'immortal'. It was merely flesh and blood that had unconsciously revived from a True Immortal corpse.

It could not possibly be compared to a true True Immortal.

Nevertheless, the terrifying regenerative and defensive abilities of True Immortal flesh and blood had already been verified on Tianyang's Immortal Puppet body. It could ignore almost all mortal methods of attack and could even partially resist the influence of True Immortal seal script.

Yet such a transcendent and terrifying existence had absolutely no ability to resist before the lightning pattern on the stone slab.

'If it can transform an immortal into a mortal, then why can't it transform a mortal into an immortal?'

'The Ascension Platform, the Ascension Platform...'

His previous speculation seemed to have received some form of confirmation.

Looking at the stone slab not far away, Li Fan's mood gradually became excited.

After continuing his experiments for some time, he had nearly consumed one tenth of his entire stock of True Immortal flesh and blood, yet he still gained nothing.

Only then did Li Fan reluctantly abandon this crude method.

The lightning-like pattern on the stone slab appeared for far too short a time. Moreover, what was displayed through the formation was already subject to a certain degree of distortion.

Trying to see it clearly through this method was no different from wishful thinking.

'Previously, I destroyed the world several times, completely reducing the Xuanhuang Realm to nothingness. Yet I never noticed the existence of this formation and stone slab.'

'This formation should not be fixed in this location. Instead, it is probably like a living creature. When it encounters a situation it cannot resist, it strategically relocates and retreats...'

'It requires no external energy source to operate and can even relocate itself in an emergency. This formation is truly extraordinary!'

Li Fan sighed in admiration.

'It cannot be forcibly broken. It seems I will have to let the little beast make a move.'

With a thought from Li Fan, blue light flashed beside him.

Supreme Qiushui appeared beside Li Fan, carrying the little Heavenly Beast.

'I greet the Great Lord.'

Qiushui remained as respectful as ever.

When the little Heavenly Beast saw Li Fan, however, it bared its teeth at him.

Qiushui immediately slapped it on the head.

Energy surged.

This was not merely a symbolic gesture. It was a full-powered strike.

The little Heavenly Beast was instantly struck dizzy and disoriented.

In its ordinary form, even if it were a jade pendant from the Immortal Realm that had transformed into human form, such a blow would have left it seriously injured.

But in this life, the little Heavenly Beast had already devoured four Immortal Domain Go pieces in succession. With the laws of the Immortal Domain now upon it, its physical body had grown to an unimaginable degree.

It merely let out a pitiful cry before recovering.

Under Qiushui's pressure, the little Heavenly Beast shrank its head toward Li Fan, as if bowing in greeting.

'Indeed, everything has its bane.'

Li Fan secretly nodded.

Perhaps because they were both manifestations that had taken the shape of living beings, after spending so much time together, the little Heavenly Beast had gradually come to regard daoist boy Qiushui as something akin to its parent.

Under Li Fan's orders, Qiushui constantly fed it Immortal Domain Go pieces and took it wandering all over the Star Sea, hoping that the little Heavenly Beast's keen intuition might lead it to discover something. These actions further cemented Qiushui's status as its "parent."

Thus, the little Heavenly Beast obeyed Qiushui almost without question.

With a slight movement of his mind, Li Fan used Qiushui to command the little Heavenly Beast to crawl toward the stone slab surrounded by the formation.

In front of this formation, the little Heavenly Beast's keen senses seemed to have completely lost their effectiveness.

It was practically blind, apparently unable to detect the existence of that strange formation at all.

Only after slowly crawling to the edge of the formation did it suddenly become alert and stop.

It stared suspiciously at what lay ahead, its eyes filled with wariness.

The little Heavenly Beast was unwilling to continue forward, but Qiushui kept urging it on.

After hesitating for a moment, mysterious silver starlight began to faintly emanate from the little Heavenly Beast's eyes.

After carefully observing and perceiving the situation for a long while, the little Heavenly Beast finally continued forward, albeit extremely reluctantly.

'Just as I expected. The little Heavenly Beast was originally an Immortal Realm object that had taken the shape of a living creature. It possesses a certain resistance to this formation. After devouring four Immortal Domain Go pieces, its physique underwent another qualitative transformation. It should be able to withstand the formation's attacks.'

Li Fan's eyes flickered.

The little Heavenly Beast crawled very slowly.

It stared at the stone slab not far ahead, and a trace of confusion flashed through its eyes. It seemed to feel an inexplicable sense of familiarity toward the stone slab.

As a result, it became even more resistant.

Once again, Qiushui had to coax it with affection and entice it with benefits before the little Heavenly Beast finally continued forward.

Li Fan quietly waited for the little Heavenly Beast to retrieve the stone slab.

At the same time, he continued examining the strange formation before him.

After such a long time, Li Fan had finally begun to understand where that sense of familiarity came from.

It originated precisely from the formation's principle of severing the foundation of an object's existence.

Throughout the fissures and depressions scattered across the Darkest Star Sea, dark rivers of vitality flowed. A layer of energy that extracted the force of life enveloped them, severing the foundation upon which the existence of things depended. This life extracting power was precisely why vitality gathered within those fissures.

The decaying greenary surrounding the Thousand-Eyed Desolate God on the Xuan Immortal Ark likewise devoured the principles governing the existence of whatever it came into contact with.

And even...

The invisible High Wall surrounding the Darkest Star Sea.

It could likewise be viewed as directly erasing the foundation upon which the concept of "before" existed.

'All of these can be regarded as the absence of elements necessary for existence.'

'And they share the same fundamental principle as the formation before me.'

Li Fan's eyes flickered as a storm of thoughts swept through his mind, and countless possibilities emerged in an instant.

'They should all be methods that once belonged to the Immortal Realm.'

'It is even possible that the regions beyond the High Wall now possess such divine abilities as well.'

'According to the clues I have gathered before, when Xuantian King arranged these hidden measures, he should have still been only a Half Immortal. Without immortal spiritual qi, how exactly did he accomplish all of this?'

The little Heavenly Beast remained inside the formation.

As it continued to trigger the formation, the formation's operation also allowed Li Fan to see it more clearly.

Even the symbols on the stone slab at the center of the formation gradually became more and more visible.

Among the increasingly numerous patterns that flashed past, Li Fan suddenly caught sight of a pattern extremely similar to the Inch Apart, yet Worlds Away Grand Formation.

'Because I am observing it through the formation, what I see has undergone distortion, so it does not correspond perfectly. But this further confirms my speculation.'

'This stone slab replicated by Xuantian King indeed contains a complete engraving of the Immortal Ascension Platform from the Immortal Realm.'

'This engraving encompasses almost everything. Every individual aspect corresponds to some kind of power that originally belonged to the Immortal Realm.'

'For example, Inch Apart, yet Worlds Away. And also Immortal Becoming Mortal, Mortal Becoming Immortal.

Li Fan's emotions surged.

The farther forward the little Heavenly Beast crawled, the greater the pressure it seemed to endure. Its movements became increasingly slow, until it was almost completely unable to move.

It was practically only one step away from the stone slab.

But the little Heavenly Beast rolled its eyes and simply gave up!

No matter how much Qiushui urged it at this point, the little Heavenly Beast remained completely motionless.

Through the formation, Li Fan could see the countless patterns flashing across the stone slab, their transformations becoming increasingly frequent and almost constant.

He knew that the little Heavenly Beast was not deliberately playing tricks or trying to demand a higher price.

It had genuinely reached the absolute limit of what it could endure.

Muted explosions seemed to resound from within the little Heavenly Beast's body. Small portions of its flesh were being stripped away by the power of the formation.

A trace of fear flashed through the Heavenly Beast's eyes. It wanted to give up and retreat.

Qiushui was helpless as well. Even offering three Immortal Domain Go pieces as a reward was useless.

At this moment, Li Fan suddenly formed a hand seal.

The little Heavenly Beast, which had been preparing to retreat, suddenly froze.

Then, completely against its own will, it began crawling forward again!

A trace of the innate savagery of a ferocious beast flashed through the little Heavenly Beast's eyes. It continuously let out low growls, expressing its immense fury.

Yet it was completely unable to break free from the restraint of Li Fan's hand seal.

This hand seal was something Li Fan had secretly learned from the technique Mo Rubin used to control the Heavenly Beast's Eye.

Whether it was the ancient Xuantian Sect's guardian divine beast or the little beast that had only recently been born, their true bodies were both jade pendants brought down from the Immortal Realm by Xuantian King and transformed into living beings.

In truth, they could be regarded as the same living being.

Naturally, a control method effective against the Heavenly Beast of the Xuantian Sect would also be effective against the little beast before him.

Li Fan had already secretly tested this beforehand.

Otherwise, he would never have allowed the little beast to devour four Immortal Domain Go pieces so casually.

Under Li Fan's merciless coercion, the little Heavenly Beast ignored its increasingly severe injuries and finally crawled to the stone slab.

Using its comparatively frail body, it carried the stone slab onto its back.

With the slab resting on its back, it let out a low growl and slowly began retreating.

Countless patterns constantly shifted across the surface of the stone slab.

The flesh of the Heavenly Tian Beast was stripped away inch by inch, disappearing into nothingness.

In the end, only an empty shell remained, along with the Heavenly Beast's Eye protected by the silver starlight ahead.

Carrying the stone slab on its back, it continued forward slowly but with unwavering determination.

No one knew how much time passed.

Eventually, it crawled out of the area covered by the strange formation.

The moment it escaped the formation, the little Heavenly Beast completely exhausted its strength and could no longer move.

Qiushui hurriedly went forward to receive it.

Li Fan, meanwhile, stared at the stone slab on the Heavenly Beast's back.

All the patterns on it had gone dark.

The sacred and solemn aura had disappeared at the same time.

It was as though it had become an ordinary worldly object, utterly unremarkable.

Li Fan casually tossed an Immortal Domain Go piece to the little Heavenly Beast, which had rendered a great service but was now on the verge of death.

He himself then lifted the stone slab into the air and began examining it carefully.