My Longevity Simulation - Chapter 1266: Stealing the Power of the Darkness

Li Fan sighed and had no choice but to temporarily stop driving the Boundless Mirror.

He casually tossed out another mass of source power essence, pulling the Boundless Mirror spirit back from the brink of death.

The source power essence stored on his body had been generated by the day and night prayers of the hundred members of the You Clan within the underground blood pool chamber of the Sun family during this period.

A portion had already been consumed when he lured out the obliterating wind calamity lurking within the Boundless Mirror.

Some more had been used earlier to repair the Boundless Mirror and Li Fan’s own clone.

There was not much left now.

Li Fan calculated the consumption rate of the source power essence. “Just enough. No need to make another trip.”

“Just that…”

Li Fan casually glanced toward the center of this deathly silent small world.

It seemed that the appearance of the source power essence had drawn the attention of the golden skull hidden there. A strange sensation arose in his heart, as if he were being stared at by a monster.

“Hmph. No matter how great your origin was in life, now you are nothing more than a skull. And you still dare to act arrogantly before me…” Li Fan stood with his hands behind his back. With a slight movement of his mind, a trapping formation instantly formed.

It locked onto the space where the golden skull was located and sealed it.

“I will deal with you in the next life.”

This time, Li Fan had no intention of investigating the golden skull further.

The priority was to analyze the world protection formation here, then return to the Xuanhuang Realm and trace the cause from the result to locate the hidden world protection formation.

Under the nourishment of the source power essence, Sun Luyao slowly awakened from unconsciousness.

“Rest a bit, then continue.”

However, Li Fan’s calm words struck him like thunder. Yet in his heart, he did not dare to have even the slightest thought of defiance. Because Sun Luyao knew that the life and death of the Boundless Mirror existed only within a single thought of Li Fan.

Even erasing him, the mirror spirit, and replacing him with another cultivator’s consciousness was not impossible.

“This time may be painful for you, but in a greater sense, it is a kind of tempering. Iron is forged through a thousand refinements, steel through ten thousand trials. You were merely an ordinary person who, by chance, became the spirit of the Boundless Mirror. You have seen its current performance. It nearly collapses just from analyzing a bit of information. How can such a thing be called an immortal artifact?”

“Although part of the reason is that the Boundless Mirror is damaged and incomplete, the greater reason lies in your weakness as its spirit,” Li Fan said in a deep voice.

These words left Sun Luyao filled with shame.

“This source power essence is something even Longevity Immortals would desperately seek. Using it on you can be called a complete waste. Yet I still do so…” Li Fan’s tone became faint.

“There is great terror between life and death, but also great opportunity. Comprehend it well.”

With that, Li Fan once again controlled the Boundless Mirror to analyze the remnants of the formation hidden beneath the world’s ruins.

Sun Luyao felt himself rapidly weakening again, but with Li Fan’s earlier words, he forced himself to stay alert and maintain clarity of mind.

“I must not fail Senior’s expectations.”

Scenes from his encounters with Li Fan surfaced in his mind. Li Fan’s help along the way was undeniable, yet Sun Luyao himself had never contributed anything. Now that he finally had a chance to repay him, he resolved not to disappoint.

Moreover, he knew Li Fan was right.

Through repeated brushes with life and death, his core consciousness had been steadily strengthening. The progress of these past few days far exceeded the decades he had spent hiding in the Sun family chamber.

With his emotions surging, the originally wavering dim light stabilized once again.

Li Fan saw this and nodded slightly.

…

Within the Holy Dynasty.

Seated upon the imperial throne, Li Ping had already completed the replication and implantation of ten clusters of Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao aura.

However, due to long periods of uninterrupted work, the creature Cat Treasure had emotionally collapsed and completely gone on strike.

No matter how much source power essence was offered, it ignored everything and simply slept soundly.

The Holy Emperor had no choice but to pause.

He looked toward the direction of the central four prefectures of the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance.

“The departure rainbow light of the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance should be ready by now.”

Due to the previous gains from the true meaning of the Star Sea origin, the Heavenly Dao consciousness of the Xuanhuang Realm had become restless, instinctively wanting to attach itself again and hitch another ride.

But Li Ping stopped it.

A premonition in the Holy Emperor’s heart told him that this expedition by the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance would not be as smooth as his own.

Aside from his foresight regarding dangers along the path, which the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance could not replicate, a more important reason was that this expedition was composed entirely of Dao Integration cultivators, yet lacked anyone strong enough to truly command and suppress the rest.

Within the Xuanhuang Realm, the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance operated according to rank. But in the star sea, especially in desperate situations, who would listen to whom was uncertain.

“Daoyuan prefecture, Lan Yu.”

“Liuguang prefecture, Jin Ri.”

[T/N:- (Lan Yu) = Blue Feather, (Jin Ri) = Golden Sun]

…

The list of Dao Integration cultivators participating in this expedition was not confidential.

Looking at these names, the Holy Emperor could not help but sigh slightly.

“The deaths of dozens of Dao Integration cultivators would undoubtedly benefit both the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao and the Holy Dynasty.”

“It is just a pity…”

Though he felt regret, the Holy Emperor would never act with misplaced compassion to stop them.

He simply waited for their departure.

Moreover, perhaps among them there were those with extraordinary fortune, who might survive the dangers of the star sea and ultimately succeed in attaining the Dao.

Even if he tried to stop them, he would only be seen as blocking their path and create an irreconcilable conflict.

Five days later, a seven colored rainbow light slowly rose into the sky under the watch of all cultivators of the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance.

Compared to last time, it seemed much more practiced. The different colors separated one by one, eventually vanishing into the pitch black star sea.

Li Ping watched them depart and silently mourned for a moment.

Seven days later, the Holy Emperor’s expression shifted.

He instantly moved to the secret space where the You Clan resided.

Under the rule of the Holy Dynasty, the You Clan was now roughly divided into three groups with different purposes.

The largest group lived only to chant praises of the Holy Emperor’s grace from birth until death. This group had been bred through the fusion with strange beasts, with extremely short lifespans and reproductive cycles. Like crops, they were harvested again and again, endlessly regenerating.

The second group, of moderate size, enjoyed far better treatment. They had sufficient rest each day and could even read various books. As native You Clan members, some of them were selected to participate in optimization experiments.

As for the third group, the smallest and most special, they could be considered the purest and most original You Clan. They still believed in the great Dark Sea and preserved their long standing traditions. However, living under the Holy Dynasty, they naturally had to obey Li Fan’s commands. Even the internal debate over whether the Holy Emperor or the Dark Sea was greater had reached a unified conclusion.

The Holy Emperor was the embodiment of the will of the Dark Sea. The Holy Emperor, the Dark Sea, and the ancestor of the You Clan were one and indivisible. Though the theory was somewhat crude, it effectively resolved potential conflicts caused by Li Ping’s intervention and stabilized the clan.

“We pay respects to the Holy Emperor.”

Upon seeing Li Ping, the clan leader of the You Clan immediately knelt and kowtowed.

Before this, since Li Ping had not imposed any strict requirement, these members of the You Clan did not need to kneel when they saw him. However, ever since the new theory was established, various forms of formal etiquette had emerged within the You Clan. Even the clan chief had to abide by them. Li Ping simply let them be.

“Open the Nether Realm passage,” Li Ping coldly ordered as he looked at the You Clan members kneeling below.

The You Clan rose. Amid mysterious and ancient chants, a gate slowly opened.

Li Ping flew in first.

The moment he entered, he was instantly swallowed by endless darkness.

Yet Li Ping did not hesitate in the slightest and sped toward the direction he sensed.

Silently, he drew closer and closer.

The target of his perception lock was naturally the profound technique that could increase cultivators’ source power output, which he had previously revealed to the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance through his identity as the leader of the Lingyuan Sect.

When it came to exploitation, the efficiency of the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance was unexpectedly high.

Li Ping could already sense that large amounts of marked source power, condensed and compressed, were surging into this sea of darkness.

However, counterintuitively, such vast and terrifying energy failed to stir even the slightest ripple here.

It was unclear whether the Dark Sea itself was too vast, or if something within it was silently devouring all disturbances.

As he got closer, Li Ping slowed down.

Even though he had absolute confidence in his own strength, caution was still necessary. Concealing his aura, he approached quietly.

Thump.

Thump.

Within the Dark Sea, where sound should not propagate and everything ought to be silent, there appeared rhythmic, intermittent dull impacts.

Like the sound of a great drum being struck violently, it caused even the Holy Emperor’s heart to tremble in response.

Li Ping grew serious.

His qi and blood were now perfectly integrated. Even attacks from the Longevity Immortal Realm might not be able to shake him. Yet now, this simple dull sound caused fluctuations within him.

“This is not caused by external force, but by the rhythm of the Dark Sea itself.”

He quickly reached this conclusion.

Rather than resisting the sound, Li Ping stood still for a moment, synchronizing his heartbeat with the rhythm of the Dark Sea.

As if he had completely merged with the darkness, his discomfort vanished.

Only then did Li Ping continue forward. Soon, he “saw,” or rather sensed, the source of the dull sound.

It was like a punctured balloon, or like the Great Rift Vortex of the Xuanhuang Realm. Ahead, a small opening had appeared in the Dark Sea.

Surging compressed source power was violently pouring in through this gap. Under the natural repulsion of the Dark Sea, a trace of dark power was being drawn away through the channel formed by the confrontation of the two forces.

Li Ping stopped at a distance to observe, his expression growing more solemn.

“Exquisite.”

After a long while, he gave this evaluation.

The power of the Dark Sea and the compressed source power had formed a perfect balance.

The source power could not truly invade the Dark Sea, and likewise, the Dark Sea’s counterattack was not fully triggered.

Within this strange equilibrium, a form of exchange between source power and dark power was achieved.

It must be known that the Dark Sea was constantly fluctuating.

This meant that the output of source power from the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance also had to adjust accordingly. If the balance were broken, it would instantly trigger a violent backlash from the Dark Sea.

The Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance must have maintained this setup for quite some time. Their research into the Dark Sea had clearly reached an extraordinary level.

“The Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance truly has capable people,” Li Ping could not help but remark.

After all, having ruled half of the Xuanhuang Realm for thousands of years, possessing such a trump card was not surprising.

“Compared to the dark power that usually overflows into various parts of the Xuanhuang Realm, this extracted dark power is much more stable.”

“And much easier to utilize.”

After observing for some more time, Li Ping discerned the underlying principle.

“It is just unclear why the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance is going to such lengths to extract this stable dark power.”

However, the unknown did not hinder Li Ping’s actions.

As the Dark Sea maintained the stability of the Xuanhuang Realm, the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance extracting its power was undoubtedly a defiance of heaven.

As the incarnation of the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao, Li Ping could not ignore it.

But he did not act rashly.

First, because this perfect balance, if disrupted carelessly, might trigger even greater turbulence in the Dark Sea.

Second, merely stopping this extraction would only treat the symptoms, not the root cause. What Li Ping wanted was a permanent solution to eliminate the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance’s theft.

The Holy Emperor was patient.

After observing here for over a month, he first returned to the Holy Dynasty.

He then brought nearly a hundred of the original You Clan members here.

“Outrageous. What blasphemy this is.”

From the gestures of the You Clan chief, Li Ping could sense his inner fury.

The other You Clan members, seeing their revered Dark Sea being stolen from, were equally filled with hatred. If not for Li Ping concealing them, such intense emotional fluctuations would have already caused an outburst.

“We are here to resolve this.”

“Blasphemers must be executed.”

Li Ping’s will was transmitted into the minds of the You Clan.

They immediately knelt again, their faces filled with resolute determination. In a corner unnoticed by the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance, the You Clan began an ancient ritual.

It was a method passed down since antiquity to communicate with the Dark Sea.

What Li Ping wanted them to do was to attract the attention of the Dark Sea origin.

Although the disturbance here seemed significant, relative to the vast sea of darkness, it was merely like a small puncture.

As long as the balance was not broken, it would not attract attention.

This was why the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance could continuously steal dark power.

But with the You Clan’s ritual as a guide, things would be different. Even if it did not immediately expel the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance, the sudden change in repulsive force would be enough to break the balance.

And since it would be a change originating from the Dark Sea itself, even some turbulence would be insignificant given its immense scale.

As the ritual progressed, Li Ping sensed faint ripples within the Dark Sea.

Instinctively, he concealed his presence as much as possible and hid himself.