My Longevity Simulation - Chapter 1270: Shaking Uniqueness
Within the rather dim mural, the nine red star beads were especially eye catching. They were like eyes, eerily staring at Li Fan all at once.
At the very moment this thought arose in Li Fan’s mind, he truly felt as if the countless red beads in the mural had come alive. A strange aura surged forth from them.
It was neither righteous nor evil. It was both ancient and weathered, yet also like something newly born. What shocked Li Fan the most was that merely through the illusory image left in the mural, his divine sense clone experienced a phenomenon where a portion of itself was being drawn away and assimilated.
Moreover, Li Fan tried many different methods, yet none could stop it. Only by using source power essence was he able to block the influence of the nine red star beads.
“What exactly are these nine red star beads?”
“If even the painting has such an effect, then if the real beads were here, even source power essence might not be able to protect against them.”
“Hmm…”
Li Fan conducted a round of deductions regarding what might happen after being absorbed by the red beads.
“It is not enough to cause any substantial harm to living beings, but it will leave a special imprint within the divine soul and even the life origin of every being it absorbs. And this is only the effect of the nine red star beads.”
“The rings are present, yet the red beads are nowhere to be seen…”
Li Fan narrowed his eyes as he examined that extremely strange device.
“Indeterminate numbers, infinite possibilities.”
“Imprints of the nine red star beads.”
After all, this device was part of the Xuanhuang world protection formation.
Its core meaning would certainly not deviate too far from the main purpose of the formation.
Li Fan simply simplified the ring device and treated it as a part of an unknown formation unit. He then incorporated it into the world protection formation model that had been corrected with real formation data by the Final Dissociation Disc.
After tens of thousands of iterative data deductions, Li Fan inferred the most likely function of this ring and nine star device.
“To create the myriad forms of living beings…” A strange light flickered in Li Fan’s eyes.
According to his deduction, the function of this central node in the original Xuanhuang world protection formation was to use the nine star beads to imprint all newly born life in the Xuanhuang Realm with a special mark. Then, through the indeterminate number rings, it would adjust the imprint within the life essence of these beings to a certain degree.
Thus producing differences in temperament, talent, and so on.
“This…”
“What a profound formation!”
Even though he had already witnessed the Primordial Mystic Spirit Formation, an immortal level formation capable of reestablishing earth, fire, water, and wind and recreating a world, Li Fan still could not help but sincerely marvel after understanding the principles of the formation before him.
After all, this was the first time he had truly seen a powerful formation capable of manipulating the form of [Life] itself.
“Even if it is achieved through the indeterminate number rings and the nine red star beads, it is already astonishing.”
“From another perspective, perhaps the prototype of this formation in the Immortal Realm was even more powerful. It is only due to the lack of immortal spiritual energy that certain key nodes of the formation lost their effectiveness, forcing the use of these strange objects as substitutes.”
“But now…”
Li Fan’s gaze once again focused on the empty area where the nine red star beads should have been.
“The nine red star beads are the key.”
“Based on my previous findings, the red beads were most likely recalled by the ‘[Return]’ Character Script. But if this occurred after the great catastrophe of the Immortal Realm, since there was nowhere to return to, the beads should have returned to the Xuanhuang Realm. It was during this process that they were forcibly taken.”
“Such a complicated effort suggests that the mastermind behind this cannot directly use the [Return] Character. Instead, like me, they are borrowing power to achieve their goal…”
The [Return] Character was different from true immortal seal script characters like Chaos or Hunger. Not only did its manifested power differ greatly, it also could not be crudely imitated to produce an inferior version.
It was as if some unseen existence was preventing it. With Li Fan’s current cultivation, he was not qualified to write it, or even to copy it.
“The laws of the Immortal Realm are strict, as expected. Even after so many years since its destruction, the rules still remain.”
After understanding this, Li Fan became even more curious about the current whereabouts of the red beads.
“The nine red star beads likely existed since the birth of the Xuanhuang Realm. All native life within the Xuanhuang Realm has been forcibly marked by them. In other words, it is very likely that all unique life trait data of beings in the Xuanhuang Realm is stored within the nine red star beads…”
At first glance, this deduction sounded unbelievable. But considering the current exploration of the original Xuanhuang world protection formation, it was the most consistent conclusion.
“This is the true method of the immortals, inconceivable, a power akin to that of creation gods.”
“If the information of living beings is recorded, that means that if energy and technical means are sufficient, recreating any historical figure that has ever appeared in the Xuanhuang Realm would not be impossible.”
“Of course, such a method would only produce something like a cloned copy. A person’s ultimate achievements are also closely related to their experiences.”
“But…”
Li Fan’s expression suddenly became heavy.
After discovering that a lifeform like himself could be casually created, modified, and reproduced in the hands of a True Immortal, even with the supreme treasure [Truth], Li Fan could not help but feel an indescribable emotion arise within him.
“I treat the countless beings of the Xuanhuang Realm as playthings. To a True Immortal, I am likely the same.”
Li Fan laughed at himself.
Of course, this was only a sigh born from the immense shock to his mind in that moment, not his true belief. He calmed his thoughts and returned to the matter at hand.
“The Xuanhuang Realm possesses the Genesis Stone Tablet, which records every single event in the world.”
“Once an identical individual is created, by following the records on the stone tablet, everything that individual once experienced can be completely reproduced.”
“The original individual is the same, the life experiences are the same.”
“In the end, the life that is created will also be exactly the same.”
The final conclusion of his deductions caused Li Fan to fall into silence.
The discovery of the Du’e Sect clearly showed that since the moment of its creation in ancient times, the Xuanhuang Realm had always been under strict surveillance.
And now, it was not merely surveillance.
The entire Xuanhuang Realm was more like a massive experimental ground. And the nature of the experiment was deeply unsettling.
“If this speculation is true, then the Immortal Realm is doing this to cultivate a unique cultivator.”
“And once the goal is achieved, using the strictly recorded data under constant surveillance, they could mass produce countless identical targets.”
Before Li Fan’s eyes flashed the faces of cultivators who had left their names in the history of the Xuanhuang Realm.
Xuanyuan Hong, Su Bai, Xu Ke as well as He Zhenghao, Xiao Fan, Zhang Haobo.
All of these people could be created again.
If uniqueness no longer existed, could a human still be called human?
Even though Li Fan possessed [Truth] and could repeatedly return to fixed anchor points, in his heart, every person he encountered carried their own unique mark.
He Zhenghao was He Zhenghao.
The Xuantian King was the Xuantian King. Mister Bai was Mister Bai.
Even NPCs had names, identities, and subtle differences each time.
But now…
Li Fan’s understanding of the world had suddenly changed.
Every NPC might have countless copies behind them.
Without needing him to press the return to [Truth] button, these existences could replace one another on their own. Even if destroyed ten thousand times, as long as the original data remained, they could be recreated again.
What he once believed to be a single player world with only himself as the player had now turned into an online world shared by countless players.
This realization filled Li Fan with an almost uncontrollable disgust. The more he thought about it, the more the world seemed to spin.
All things in existence twisted into distorted, interwoven lines of color. Mixed within them were whispers of unknown evil gods, gradually eroding Li Fan’s mind.
Even with the support of the Xuanhuang Immortal Heart Mantra, his Dao heart could not remain stable.
Li Fan’s divine sense shook violently, like roots dispersing in water, slowly disintegrating.
“Ugh… ugh…”
His form became illusory, yet Li Fan bent over and retched like a helpless mortal.
This sudden change left Sun Luyao completely stunned.
He had no idea why this mysterious and powerful senior had suddenly become like this just from thinking.
“Ugh…”
Li Fan’s retching grew more intense.
What he expelled was not physical filth, but his own essence, energy, and spirit.
“Senior…”
The scene filled Sun Luyao with fear from the depths of his soul. It felt as though something extremely terrifying was about to occur.
“Ugh…”
Li Fan’s voice gradually weakened.
“Cough… cough…”
It turned into soft coughing.
Then into a low, slightly deranged laughter.
Accompanied by that twisted laughter was Li Fan’s murmuring.
“Senior… what are you saying?”
Sun Luyao felt a chill in his heart and could not help but ask.
“Heh heh heh…”
“Heh heh heh heh…”
“Heh heh heh heh heh…”
“So I say, it is good that you all died.”
“Only with all of you dead and me still alive is the most perfect state.”
Like the whisper of a demon from the depths of the Nine Netherworld, Li Fan murmured softly as his divine sense locked onto Sun Luyao.
Even though, in Sun Luyao’s view, those words seemed somewhat obscure and meaningless, they still filled him with a deep, bone chilling cold.
Just as he was about to say something more, Sun Luyao was horrified to discover that the core source of the formation within his body had suddenly begun to riot without reason.
It was as if, in the next moment, he would be destroyed amid a violent internal collapse.
After the initial shock and confusion, Sun Luyao finally reacted. He looked at Li Fan in disbelief. “Senior, why?”
Li Fan’s gaze was completely different from before.
It was true indifference.
In his eyes, Sun Luyao seemed as if he did not exist at all.
Inside the Boundless Mirror, the body that had just been shattered and reformed was now breaking apart inch by inch.
As the spirit of the Boundless Mirror, Sun Luyao was powerless to stop it.
Realizing that he was about to perish, and once again tasting death after many years, Sun Luyao completely lost his composure.
He exhausted every possible method in a desperate attempt to save his life.
“Senior, spare me! I am your most loyal servant. I will do whatever you ask!”
“Senior, I was wrong! I should not have harbored ulterior motives. I deserve to die a thousand deaths!”
“Senior, spare me! I still have value! The formation ruins of the Xuanhuang world protection formation have not yet been fully explored. I am still useful!”
The speed at which Sun Luyao transmitted his thoughts grew faster and faster. In the end, he wept bitterly and wailed endlessly.
“Senior, let me live just a little longer. Let me…”
With a soft sound, like a cockroach being casually crushed, Sun Luyao’s life came to an abrupt end.
The ancient mirror surface, which once glowed with spiritual light, suddenly dimmed.
It fell powerlessly.
“Even at the brink of death, you were still so noisy. Then from now on, you might as well never appear again…”
Li Fan’s eyes were pitch black. After a slight movement, he muttered somewhat madly. With a single sentence, he sentenced Sun Luyao to death.
Not just in this life.
But in all future lives.
As long as he existed, Sun Luyao would never again appear in the main course of the story.
Without Sun Luyao, there would be Sun Lufei, Sun Luchang. It was merely a change of designation. To Li Fan, it made no difference at all.
Sun Luyao, who died with unresolved resentment, would likely never have imagined that just moments ago everything had been fine. He had been helping Senior analyze and explore the ancient primordial Xuanhuang world protection formation.
And in the next moment, his existence would be completely erased forever.
The root cause of all this was simply that he had witnessed Li Fan’s momentary loss of composure and unsightly state.
Perhaps describing it as a mental collapse was not entirely accurate.
