Chapter 714: Reversing Life and Death, An Unceasing Cycle

Chapter 714: Chapter 714: Reversing Life and Death, An Unceasing Cycle

Back with Han Shi.

More and more cracks spread across the face of the Destiny-Defying Profound Mirror like a spiderweb. The light from the North Nether Profound Crystals embedded in its back flickered violently, wavering between bright and dim.

The layer of simulated illusion protecting him began to fluctuate intensely, flickering in and out of existence.

An even more terrifying, bone-chilling Death Qi and spatial tearing force instantly penetrated his defenses. Han Shi grunted, and fine white marks appeared on his Innate Sword Body.

He felt like he was about to die.

The shadow of death had never been so clear.

’It’s going to shatter!’

Alarm bells screamed in Han Shi’s mind as a sense of despair threatened to consume him.

He didn’t want to die.

He could even hear the faint whimpers of the Ancient Mirror’s internal structure, groaning under the unbearable strain.

At this very moment, Xu Yunfan, who had been monitoring him the entire time, made his move.

A sharp glint flashed in Xu Yunfan’s eyes. He didn’t hesitate for a second.

His right index finger, which had been resting on his knee, tapped the empty air.

Far away, within the channel of the Reincarnation Nether Sect, an unstoppable surge of Divine Sky Magical Power, infused with the True Intent of Annihilating All Laws, erupted inside Han Shi’s body.

This Magical Power did not originate from Han Shi himself. Instead, Xu Yunfan had used the absolute control channel of his Attribute Panel to forcefully pour it in from his own body, ignoring the barriers of space and the Reincarnation Law.

The Vast Magical Power of a Golden Core True Monarch forcibly propped open the final, crumbling barrier of the Destiny-Defying Profound Mirror, transforming into a resilient, violet-gold layer of Thunder Gang that shielded Han Shi’s entire body.

At the same time, this power enveloped Han Shi, grabbing him like an invisible giant hand and violently yanking him backward at a speed that surpassed the chaotic currents within the channel.

The moment it fulfilled its final duty, the Destiny-Defying Profound Mirror could no longer withstand the pressure from within and without. Its face shattered into fine powder with a final crack. The Soul Nourishing Wood Heart on its back split open with several deep fissures, and the seven North Nether Profound Crystals lost all their light and fell away.

With a flash of light, a battered Han Shi was forcefully dragged out of the Netherworld channel and slammed heavily onto the cold Profound Jade Floor of the Divine Sky Palace.

He coughed violently, a trickle of icy blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. His black robes were torn in multiple places, and his Innate Sword Body was covered in fine scratches and a layer of frost.

In his hand, only the broken frame and a few dull, lightless fragments of the Destiny-Defying Profound Mirror remained.

"Xu Yunfan!"

Han Shi shot his head up, his eyes burning with a furious blaze, a look that wished it could tear the man on the Cloud Platform to pieces.

"Do you see my life as worthless?! Wasn’t once enough? You had to do it again?! This damn mirror is a piece of junk!"

His voice was hoarse with anger and fear.

Xu Yunfan slowly opened his eyes. His indifferent gaze swept over the crazed-looking Han Shi, showing not a single ripple of emotion.

The Fury Killing Sword Intent within Han Shi grew even more refined.

It turned out to be a good way to nurture Sword Intent.

The stronger Han Shi’s Fury Killing Sword Intent grew, the more insights Xu Yunfan could glean from him, and the more he would naturally comprehend.

With that thought, Xu Yunfan made a grasping motion with his hand. The fragments of the Destiny-Defying Profound Mirror, both in Han Shi’s hand and scattered on the floor, flew up uncontrollably and landed in his palm.

He didn’t spare Han Shi another glance, as if his pained, furious accusations were nothing more than a light breeze sweeping over a hill. This indifference made Han Shi so frustrated he could have coughed up blood.

The man’s attitude was as if he were looking at an insect. How could someone as proud as Han Shi endure it?

Xu Yunfan’s attention, however, was completely focused on the fragments, which still bore traces of corrosion from the Netherworld’s Laws. He noticed Han Shi was still rambling on.

"You’re incredibly noisy," Xu Yunfan said, slightly displeased.

"If your body wasn’t useful, you would have long since become a Chaotic Banner Spirit within the Star Spirit Banner. Your value lies in staying alive to serve as this Gold Testing Stone."

A faint light glowed at his fingertips as he carefully examined the trajectory of every crack on the fragments, the residual traces of every collapsed energy node, and the subtle characteristics of the Netherworld’s Death Qi clinging to them.

Han Shi’s chest tightened, choked by that cold gaze and even colder words. With nowhere to vent his towering rage, he could only clench his fists tightly, his nails digging so deep into his palms that they drew blood.

The Fury Killing Sword Intent around him surged like overlapping waves but ultimately did not erupt.

He knew resistance was futile. In the face of absolute power and control, his anger, his very life and death, were nothing more than a line of data in the other’s experiment log.

A profound sense of powerlessness and numbness, like a cold tide, began to extinguish the fire in his heart.

He gradually fell silent.

Xu Yunfan remained immersed in analyzing the fragments for a long time, his Divine Thought deeply integrated with the Attribute Panel, repeatedly deducing the cause of the failure.

Suddenly, a sharp light flashed in his eyes as if he had grasped a crucial point.

"I see..." Xu Yunfan muttered in sudden understanding.

"The polarity alignment of the North Nether Profound Crystals was disrupted by the temporal turbulence. The Reversing Yin and Embracing Yang node transition mentioned in the Nine Nether Insights... At the core of the Death Qi Vortex, there’s a Law Vacuum that lasts for half an instant. The previous combination of patterns didn’t adequately account for this."

Several key problems that had been troubling him were suddenly resolved after combining the practical data from this test with information from the Ancient Text Fragments.

Practice, it seemed, was truly the only standard for testing truth.

"We’ll try again in half a month."

Xu Yunfan put away the fragments and closed his eyes again, his Divine Thought sinking into deduction and reconstruction.

Inside the Divine Sky Palace, mountains of rare ores and Spirit Wood began to dance under the control of his Divine Thought. The Eight Sceneries Cloud Qi and Divine Sky Thunder Fire intertwined as a new round of Refining began.

The only sounds left in the hall were Han Shi’s ragged breathing and the roar of Spiritual Materials being smelted and forged.

「Half a month later.」

The scene was identical.

The Divine Sky Palace. The Cloud Platform. And below, the expressionless Han Shi.

Xu Yunfan tossed him a dark Ancient Mirror. It was almost identical in appearance to the last one, but the Runes on its back were more complex and abstruse, and the luster of its face held a deeper, more profound sheen.

Han Shi stared at the new Destiny-Defying Profound Mirror in his hand with empty eyes. The shock and doubt from the first time were gone, as was the explosive rage from the last.

He knew resistance was useless. Any defiance was a joke in the face of Xu Yunfan’s absolute control and power.

He couldn’t even be bothered to ask a single question. He just woodenly accepted the Ancient Mirror, as if receiving a tool that had nothing to do with him.

Driven by Xu Yunfan’s invisible will, he turned once more and leaped without hesitation into the Reincarnation Nether Sect’s portal, which seemed capable of devouring everything.

The familiar, violent turbulence. The familiar, bone-eroding chill.

Han Shi numbly channeled his Magical Power into the new mirror.

The Dragon Scale Patterns on the mirror’s face lit up, and their cold, clear light once again formed a barrier.

However, after traveling only a third of the previous distance, the familiar CRACK sound rang out again.

Fine cracks appeared on the mirror’s surface once more, though their position and speed of diffusion were slightly different.

The corner of Han Shi’s mouth twisted into a grimace uglier than a sob. He no longer even had the energy to curse in his heart.

’Of course... It’s happening again.’

He closed his eyes, preparing to welcome the tearing pain and the imminent forced recall.

「On Divine Sky Mountain, inside the Divine Sky Palace.」

Xu Yunfan’s brow furrowed slightly.

The real-time monitor of the Attribute Panel was blaring another warning.

But he didn’t intervene immediately like last time.

’Crack formation pattern has changed... concentrating on the Dao Patterns surrounding the Mirror Button Soul-Stabilizing Bead...’

’The simulated illusion is experiencing a phase shift when dealing with high-frequency Law ripples...’

’Soul Nourishing Wood Heart’s buffering efficiency has increased to 85% of the expected value, but it’s still not up to standard...’