Chapter 18

Kou Hong returned to the cultivation world, and Li Fan no longer cared about how he and Xuanzi would react upon discovering that they were practicing the same cultivation technique.

At this moment, he had already taken care of everything, and was piloting the Taiyan Boat above the Xuyuan Abyss.

According to common sense, one should wait for the white mist to dissipate every fifteen years before exploring the Xuyuan Abyss.

However, Li Fan was already 71 years old, and the next time the white mist would dissipate was still 14 years away.

By then, he would be 85, nearing the end of his life, and even walking would be difficult, let alone piloting the Taiyan Boat.

Therefore, it was better to explore the reality of the Immortal Sealing Array earlier.

After all, he had nothing left to linger over in this world and could start his next life at any time.

Maneuvering the Taiyan Boat, Li Fan slowly descended toward the bottom of the Xuyuan Abyss.

Without divine sense to guide the way, he could only use his vision to determine direction.

The thick fog enveloped everything, making the surroundings appear white and giving Li Fan an extremely unreal feeling.

The surroundings were also extremely quiet, with only the sound of his own breathing audible.

Focusing intently, he continued to fly downward.

Suddenly, as if colliding with something, the Taiyan Boat began to shake violently.

Li Fan immediately became tense.

It seemed to be compressed by an invisible force, and a sound similar to metal friction came from outside the boat.

Fortunately, the defensive array was promptly activated, enveloping the Taiyan Boat in a faint golden light.

The boat gradually stabilized, and the eerie sound disappeared.

Only the constantly twisting and changing protective light shield testified to the terrifying pressure from outside.

"Beyond the gale layer, there is the illusion light layer," Li Fan recalled Kou Hong's introduction to the Immortal Sealing Array.

The Immortal Sealing Array was mainly designed to prevent exiled mortals from returning to the cultivation world.

The gale layer was filled with strong winds.

Wind blades could easily tear apart mortal bodies, and even Foundation Establishment cultivators had to use spiritual energy to protect themselves and proceed with caution.

Below the gale layer was the illusion light layer.

Silk-like, colorful light flowed everywhere in this layer of the abyss.

Mortals who saw it would fall into endless illusions.

Below the illusion light layer was the inversion layer.

Upon entering this layer, one would feel the world change, unable to distinguish up from down or left from right.

With the surroundings completely white and no divine sense to determine direction, one would inevitably get lost.

Below the inversion layer was the fiery flow layer.

Tens of thousands of fiery meteors flew at high speed in this layer, smashing everything in their path to pieces.

The thick white mist also served as a cover, making it difficult to guard against them.

Below the fiery flow layer was the mystic ice layer.

From this layer, the fog gradually thinned.

The mystic ice layer had nothing but extremely low temperatures.

Without the appropriate protective measures, one would likely freeze into an ice block upon entering.

Below the mystic ice layer was the thunderstorm layer.

Lightning, emitting a destructive aura, continuously thundered in this layer of the abyss.

Finally, there was a vast, empty space several times larger than the previous six layers combined.

According to Kou Hong, this layer was not dangerous, just dark, but it made one's heart race.

By passing through the dark layer, one could leave the Immortal Sealing Array and enter the cultivation world.

Li Fan carefully controlled the Taiyan Boat, spending half an hour to finally cross the gale layer.

Upon entering the illusion light layer, the flowing light enveloped him, and Li Fan fell into deep illusions.

In the illusions, he successfully escaped the Immortal Sealing Array, reached the cultivation world, and by chance obtained a rare cultivation technique. In just a hundred years, he cultivated a Golden Core.

After that, his cultivation path was smooth. A thousand years later, he attained immortality and ascended.

In the immortal realm, Li Fan started from the lowest immortal official and gradually cultivated to become an immortal emperor who dominated the immortal realm.

Then, Li Fan broke through the spatial barriers of the immortal realm and ascended to the divine realm.

Starting as a miner in the divine realm, after ten thousand years, Li Fan cultivated to the Divine King realm, becoming the most powerful existence in the divine realm.

After much hardship, Li Fan ascended to the ancient divine realm and became a gatekeeper at the bottom of the ancient divine realm.

He started from scratch again.

This cycle repeated countless times...

Finally, the illusion collapsed.

Li Fan regained consciousness, and the previous experiences quickly faded from his mind, leaving only faint traces.

Feeling somewhat speechless about his experiences in the illusion, Li Fan steadied his mind and continued downward.

Suddenly, his brain became dizzy, and he lost his sense of direction. Li Fan knew he had reached the inversion layer.

Surrounded by endless white mist, the Taiyan Boat was like a drop of water in the vast sea, with no sense of up or down, and no idea where to go.

Thinking that his exploration of the array would end here, Li Fan was pleasantly surprised to discover a mysterious intuition guiding him from within the Taiyan Boat, telling him where to go.

Following the guidance of the Taiyan Boat, it didn't take long to leave the inversion layer.

Having tasted the benefits, Li Fan no longer deliberately controlled the boat, just providing power and letting the Taiyan Boat navigate the Immortal Sealing Array on its own.

The fiery flow, mystic ice, and thunderstorm layers...

These places seemed extremely dangerous, but the Taiyan Boat flew steadily, always narrowly avoiding each crisis.

With some thrills but no real danger, Li Fan smoothly reached the final layer, the dark layer.

"This Taiyan Boat was specifically responsible for transporting mortals a thousand years ago. The Great Migration lasted for hundreds of years, and this boat must have made multiple trips. From its condition, it might have been in continuous operation for a hundred years. The cultivator in charge must have found it tedious to personally operate it each time, so they left a hidden mechanism in the Taiyan Boat to allow it to automatically pass through the Immortal Sealing Array..." Li Fan suddenly understood why the journey had been unexpectedly smooth, despite his initial surprise.

The Taiyan Boat quietly moved forward in the darkness.

Thinking that the cultivation world he had longed for was just ahead, even Li Fan, with his composure, couldn't help but feel excited.

Suddenly, in the profound silence of the darkness, a strange, ancient, deep, and resonant voice sounded.

This peculiar sound instantly spread throughout the dark layer, echoing continuously.

Li Fan's heart skipped a beat, as if encountering a natural enemy, and his blood turned cold in an instant.

The sound grew closer, quickly surrounding the small Taiyan Boat from all directions.

Suddenly, the sound disappeared.

The darkness returned to silence.

The surroundings were still pitch black, but it felt different from before.

Li Fan felt a chill run down his spine.

He knew that the Taiyan Boat had been swallowed by some existence.

"Bang!"

The protective light shield of the Taiyan Boat shattered instantly, and the boat began to disintegrate.

The charging progress plummeted in an instant.

Taking one last deep look at the darkness outside, Li Fan murmured.

"Truly!"