Chapter 1391: The Stele Reveals an Immortal Character

"Crude" was relative to the naturally formed, seamless White Ring, Falling to the Mortal Realm. In reality, the three-eyed doll's creation far surpassed Li Fan's understanding. Even with the doll in hand, he was clueless as to how to study it. Only the Dao Refining Medicine King Scripture, passed down from Sun Piaomiao, offered any semblance of a comparable concept.

But even that was limited.

"Transforming a human into an object, yet retaining the human element of life."

"While also possessing the properties of an object."

"…Interesting." Li Fan conducted a series of experiments.

First, he confirmed the doll's consciousness had been erased, leaving only pre-programmed instructions. Then, he tested its durability. Qin Zhuang had discarded the deactivated doll, suggesting it wasn't particularly valuable beyond the barrier. Yet, Li Fan needed his most powerful technique, the Nine Heavens Dustfall Finger, to damage it.

"Even with their True Immortal bloodline, a Dust Abyss cultivator alone couldn't achieve this. The perfect fusion of human and object properties, along with a third, unknown element, is what makes it so durable…"

Beings from beyond the barrier seemed to possess unusual resistance to illusion arrays. Li Fan tested most of his arrays on the doll, discovering it instinctively evaded every fatal blow, moving through them with ease.

"There's a third property besides human and object."

He observed the doll's movements, adjusting his arrays accordingly, then testing them again after optimizing them with the Terminal Dissociation Disc. The doll still evaded them effortlessly.

Undeterred, Li Fan continued the iterative process. After fifty iterations, the doll's perfect evasion finally faltered. It occasionally got caught.

A glint flashed in Li Fan's eyes.

"My Immortal Arrays are like a net."

"Though seemingly invincible within the Dark Star Sea, trapping all beings within, to this creation from beyond the barrier, the gaps in the net are weaknesses!"

"But as I close these gaps, tightening the net…"

"Its instinctive defenses become less effective!"

"In essence, my formations haven't qualitatively improved, but they've become increasingly difficult to breach!" He observed the doll intently, incorporating the improvements into all his arrays. It was like refining a rough sketch, adding detail until it became a masterpiece.

"This level of refinement isn't something one person can achieve in a short time. It requires generations of dedicated research, like the Profound Immortal Vessel's elders." He envisioned countless figures tirelessly studying formations.

"My progress is only so fast because I'm building upon their work. In fact, without the Dissociation Disc, even I couldn't iterate this quickly!"

"Qin Zhuang brought the doll five hundred years ago."

"But the White Ring and Mao Bao are recent creations."

"Has technology advanced so much beyond the barrier in five hundred years?"

He retrieved the White Ring, throwing it into the evolving array, wanting to compare its reaction to the doll's.

As expected, the White Ring was completely unaffected, his observation attempt failing before it even began.

"I didn't even see it evade the array like the doll."

"It's as if my arrays are completely ineffective against it!"

"They don't even operate on the same principles…" Li Fan's eyes gleamed. "It seems there's been a qualitative leap in technology beyond the barrier."

Inspired by the varying time flow within the Dark Star Sea, he had theorized that time flowed faster beyond the barrier. While over ten thousand years had passed within the Dark Star Sea since the Immortal Realm's calamity, perhaps millions of years had passed outside.

"The difference between the doll and the more recent creations seems to support my theory."

"Of course, it's also possible that Mao Bao and the White Ring are incredibly rare even beyond the barrier, simply a difference in inherent value…"

But since both were "caught" from the Fishing Pond, he instinctively believed these "baits" weren't particularly rare.

"With the doll helping me refine my arrays, perhaps I can finally perfect them this time."

"And extract some useful information from Qin Zhuang."

The experiment was now on track, requiring only repetitive adjustments. He assigned a Simulated Personality to refine the arrays. Then, he began studying the golden light that had captured Jiao Xiu.

He had confirmed it was a Dust Abyss cultivator's innate divine ability, a manifestation of a specific law. And what was better at analyzing laws than the Unnamed True Immortal's Leg Bone?

Carrying the golden light, he went to the Nether Race Small World. Under the protection of his illusory statue, the near-extinct Nether Race had repopulated most of the Small World. However, the terrifying stele at its center periodically unleashed calamities, decimating their numbers. Living under the shadow of the stele and the statue, they existed in a state of constant fear and fervent prayer.

Approaching the Unnamed True Immortal's Leg Bone, he checked the progress of the True Immortal script character's manifestation. Perhaps due to the sheer quantity of absorbed Nether Race flesh and blood, the process was faster than expected.

Though only a fifth of the mysterious character was visible, Li Fan could already sense its unique power. Unlike [Starvation] or [Innate], this character, related to the Transformation of Immortal and Mortal, seemed to partially bypass the stele fragment's containment, emitting its power outwards.

This subtle influence was accelerating the Nether Race's ancestral reversion, unnoticed even by Li Fan's Simulated Personality. Only now, upon his arrival, did he detect the change. He frowned, quickly setting up layers of Immortal Arrays to contain the character's influence.

"It's not that this character surpasses the Unnamed True Immortal's power."

"But it possesses unique properties, related to a Dao that might have even influenced the Unnamed True Immortal in life."

"And this isn't the complete Southern Immortal Heavenly Pillar, just a fragment."

"Such anomalies are to be expected."

"Anything related to True Immortals is a minefield. I can't be careless!" He reminded himself.

He projected a strand of the solidified golden light towards the stele fragment. It was instantly absorbed. A new True Immortal script character began to manifest, not in the central area like the others, but in a corner.

Li Fan tried to recall the characters he'd seen in the corresponding area on the complete stele, but the fleeting glimpse had left no lasting impression. He gave up, continuing to feed the golden light to the fragment. As expected, pure law power was far more efficient than ordinary matter.

With only one strand remaining, the character was complete.

"This is…"

"[Confine]?"

Like all True Immortal script characters, its meaning instantly appeared in his mind. It wasn't particularly complex, but it felt different. Having encountered numerous characters, Li Fan had categorized them, not by power, but by purpose.

Most were interpretations of the Heavenly Dao's laws. But some were derived from Immortal Realm decrees. Like the [Return] character that had caused the Nine Star Crimson Pearl, the core of Xuanhuang's ancient Immortal Array, to vanish. This [Confine] character belonged to the latter category.

"The Dust Abyss, possessing True Immortal bloodlines… it might be true."

"Descending to the lower realm is costly. The Immortal Realm needs proxies to carry out its will. Perhaps the Dust Abyss cultivators served as their enforcers…"

He then recalled that the Dust Abyss was said to be one of the first worlds affected by the Immortal Realm's calamity, supposedly destroyed. Yet, cultivators had apparently survived, later being transformed into objects by the forces beyond the barrier.

"There are a few possibilities."

"One: There are multiple Dust Abyss Worlds throughout the lower realm, and the one within the Dark Star Sea was just one of them."

"Two: Some Dust Abyss cultivators escaped the Dark Star Sea before the barrier was created, surviving and reproducing beyond it. But judging by the current situation, they're not doing well."

He set aside these thoughts, experimenting with the [Confine] character. It was similar to the [Bind Insects] technique he'd acquired long ago, or rather, a superior version.

Bind Insects required the user to be stronger than the target. But [Confine] worked on anyone not immune to True Immortal script, instantly freezing their body, soul, and mind.

He tested it on Autumn Water and Tian Yang. Both were Supreme Beings, but Tian Yang, perhaps due to the Immortal Puppet Ancestor's influence, struggled more, needing his full power to break free. Autumn Water, fueled by the infinite power of the Star Sea, minimized the effect.

"True Immortal script derived from Immortal Realm decrees seems to be different from those derived from the Dao's laws." Having experienced its power firsthand, a thought flashed through Li Fan's mind.

"Besides their inherent power, they also possess a suppressive effect against certain beings." He narrowed his eyes.

He recalled the panoramic view of the Immortal Realm. True Immortals were a minority within that vast ocean. Most of it was populated by their creations: Immortal Puppets, Immortal Servants, and so on.

"Perhaps Immortal Realm decrees are used to control these beings."

"And perhaps… to control those below them as well." He wasn't just referring to True Immortals controlling mortals.

He was also thinking of the towering figure in the True Immortal's memory, controlling the True Immortal.

"I obey…" He pondered the details of that memory, a realization dawning.

"I don't know their name, so I'll call them the Overlords. To them, True Immortals are ants. Perhaps this is related to these decrees…"

"Like imperial edicts in a mortal dynasty, a single word can bring ruin."

"But edicts stem from the emperor's authority. Whereas Immortal Realm decrees…" He inscribed the [Confine] character again.

"It's… missing something." He frowned.

The character itself was complete, but he felt a lack of restriction in the process of inscribing it.

"Normally, not everyone has the authority to use [Confine]."

"But with the Immortal Realm's destruction, the Overlords who ruled over True Immortals are gone. The restrictions are gone as well." He recognized the true value of these decree-derived characters.

"As long as I understand their structure, I can wield their power." He looked towards the sky, thinking about using [Confine] on the True Immortal in the Immortal Ruins.

(End of Chapter)