My Simulated Road to Immortality-Chapter 1228 - 1181: Extinguish the Soul into the Intangible
"Yes, the Heavenly Axis Court has always disagreed with the research into World-Destroying Power, suppressing it fiercely for many years. How many cultivators have become nourishment for the God Tree because of this? If they hadn’t reached their limit in recent years, I doubt they would have compromised."
"Thinking about it, the Broken Immortal Tower has made such great progress in just over five hundred years. The Heavenly Axis Court has been in power for nearly ten thousand years, doing nothing of significance. As a result, the Immortal Boat becomes weaker by the day, continuously deteriorating. The Heavenly Axis Court truly deserves to die."
"The skies of the Immortal Boat are changing. We brothers need to make plans early. Perhaps we can take this opportunity to shed our marked status..."
The three looked at each other and saw the rampant ambition in each other’s eyes.
Yet their whispers came to a halt in the Void where no one was around.
When they returned to the original valley, they became silent and sullen-looking once again.
After reporting back to Elder Gou, they came to reside in the wooden houses within the valley.
A hundred cultivators also dwelled here.
Every so often, some of them would venture out on the Immortal Boat, collecting World Destruction Relics.
The people of the Immortal Boat seemed extremely fearful of the Abyss Star Ocean outside, always appearing anxious before setting out on a mission.
And indeed, the casualty rate for collecting relics was very high.
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They didn’t sustain any tangible injuries out in the star sea around the Immortal Boat; rather, every outing seemed to significantly reduce the lifespan of those from the Immortal Boat.
This Daoist Monk Zhao, Zhao Tianjiang, had deeper wrinkles on his face after just two outings.
"No wonder I haven’t seen any young cultivators here, they’re all middle-aged or older." Li Fan suddenly understood.
The hundred or so people in the valley do not cultivate on a daily basis.
Aside from the task of collecting relics, they did not have to do anything else.
From their daily casual conversations, Li Fan had gathered a lot of information about the Immortal Boat.
This valley was called "Sin Quelling Valley," a place of exile for cultivators who violated the laws of the Immortal Boat, yet whose crimes were not severe enough to warrant death.
Collecting World Destruction Relics was a way to absolve themselves of sin.
Once they redeem themselves by making amends, they could leave and return to normal life.
In their hopeful words, Li Fan glimpsed the daily life of the people on the Immortal Boat.
Everything on the Immortal Boat was governed by the Immortal Axis Institute.
Ordinary people on the Immortal Boat did not worry about survival, as the Immortal Axis Institute provided a fixed amount of living materials annually.
But that was just enough to get by.
There were strict controls on the total population and the number of cultivators on the Immortal Boat.
Not only was the birth of the next generation subject to approval, but cultivation spots were also strictly limited.
Aside from earning the right to cultivate through lotteries, one could also gain this right through making outstanding contributions to the Immortal Boat.
Such as venturing out to salvage World Destruction Relics.
In Sin Quelling Valley, the vast majority were without cultivation.
That’s why they were greatly fearful of going out.
As mortals, their ability to move freely in the Abyss Star Ocean without dying was due to the protective magic armor secretly made by the Immortal Axis Institute, worn while on missions.
Not only did it ensure their safety, but it also identified which relics were qualified and could be exchanged for merits.
As for what the Immortal Axis Institute wanted these World Destruction Relics for...
Naturally, the common folk on the Immortal Boat wouldn’t know.
...
"It seems the Immortal Boat is even more segregated than the Xuanhuang World."
"Staying here limits the information I can gather; I must find a way to leave."
His current split divine soul was far too weak to endure any consumption.
Crossing through the Void of the Immortal Boat by himself was almost impossible.
And that green, invisible path in the Void would only appear with permission; those who recklessly approached the Void otherwise would break their bones, become crushed, and turn into nourishment for the Immortal Boat.
Thus, Li Fan’s split soul lay in waiting, hidden, anticipating an opportunity.
However, what he hadn’t expected was that instead of an opportunity, a calamity had awaited him.
It began with the three individuals nearby, including Zhao Tianjiang, suddenly falling ill.
At first, Zhao Tianjiang thought he was simply tired and lay in bed for several days.
Eventually, he was unable to fall asleep, starting to itch all over and feeling restless.
Zhao Tianjiang seemed to remember something, his eyes brimming with endless fear.
Yet he told no one else about it.
He even suppressed his discomfort and showed his face in front of the others a few times. Then, he took the initiative to apply for an expedition to collect relics.
It wasn’t until he couldn’t stop coughing and black spots began appearing on his skin that Zhao Tianjiang hid in his room and wouldn’t come out.
He held a magic tool resembling a jade badge, doing who knows what.
Later, blood continuously flowed from his seven orifices, the scent of blood began to spread, and finally, he could conceal it no longer.
"Ah, not much time left, best send him back early to reunite with his family."
"Truly, fate is unpredictable. Old Zhao, he was among us the one with the best constitution, yet he still couldn’t avoid catching that bizarre disease from the Void."
"He even concealed his physical condition, all to earn some extra merit for Little Zhao before his death..."
The people sighed with sorrow, their faces expressing empathy for their fellow sufferer’s plight.
Elder Gou, however, showed not a hint of emotional disturbance, simply dealing with the dispatch of Zhao Tianjiang as official business.
Soon another person from the Immortal Boat arrived to fill the vacancy left by Zhao Tianjiang in Sin Quelling Valley.
After Zhao Tianjiang’s death, the other two Cultivators accompanying him soon exhibited symptoms and tragically died as well.
Within Sin Quelling Valley, everyone lamented their misfortune.
But only Li Fan knew that their successive deaths from the so-called strange disease of the Void were likely because his split soul had been lurking around them for so long.
"The bodies of these people from the Immortal Boat..."
"So surprisingly fragile. They can’t even withstand the slightest trace of Void aura carried by my split soul. If my true self were to come, wouldn’t I become a catastrophic contagion?"
Li Fan was somewhat speechless.
He did not intend to take the lives of those three.
He simply had traversed a great part of the Abyss Star Ocean and lingered in the Void for too long.
It was likely that his Divine Soul had already been tainted by some mysterious force from the Void.
While his own Divine Soul was sturdy and unafraid of these strange contaminations,
these fragile people of the Immortal Boat might not be able to say the same.
Within Sin Quelling Valley, life seemed as if it were but a single day repeated for ten years.
The entire Immortal Boat appeared like stagnant water, utterly still.
The opportunity Li Fan’s split soul had been waiting for had yet to arrive.
Until this day...
The always stern Elder Gou suddenly changed his demeanour.
He called out all the personnel of Sin Quelling Valley,
and pulled them all outside the valley as if waiting for some eminent personage to arrive.
The people in the valley were anxious, whereas Li Fan’s split soul sensed a mighty presence rapidly approaching from afar.
"Union Stage?"
"Not just that. Yet it doesn’t possess the oppressive aura that one from the Immortal Realm does."
"Hmm? It even has a trace of True Immortal Seal Character Power intermixed with it?"
