Chapter 854: Has a Missing Immortal Chain

Chapter 856: The Imperfect Immortal Chain

Dazzling mist and haze filled the air. A half-page scripture, blood-red and forged from Phoenix Blood Crimson Gold, trembled with a ringing sound, as if an immortal phoenix, long confined, was about to break free from its seal.

The subtle wisp of flame merged with the scripture, transforming into a pulsating rune that emitted an even more brilliant light. The two resonated, creating a mysterious and unfathomable phenomenon.

Ye Fan stepped back, his eyes fixed on the spectacle like burning torches, afraid to miss a single detail.

"Chirp, chirp..."

In the deepest part of the fire domain, a bird resembling a divine phoenix, born from fire, hopped and chirped incessantly atop a one-meter-high flame-tree. A scorching heat washed over him.

It flapped its wings as if to take flight, but ultimately remained on the flame-tree. Opening its beak, it spat out a wisp of light that descended like a vibrant streak of lightning.

"What is this? It's all formed from runes. Is it truly the essence of immortal fire?" Ye Fan's expression shifted.

He was worried that the exceptionally precious half-page immortal scripture might be destroyed here, which would be a huge problem, as he had snatched it from danger and brought it back from the Ziwei Ancient Starfield.

Buddhist light shone, and the Bodhi seed hovered in mid-air, radiating a vast Buddhist might that blocked the subtle flames ahead. The seed's outer shell was transforming, appearing as if it would crack and peel away.

A great Buddha appeared, sitting cross-legged in the void. It bore a sorrowful expression as it was scorched by the flames, yet remained motionless, radiating immeasurable light.

Ye Fan was astonished; he had never known that the Bodhi seed possessed such secret power. What was so strange about it, containing a Buddha's shadow within?

Suddenly, a change occurred. An unsettling rustling sound accompanied the movement of the small tree. The bird chirped incessantly, soaring into the air and looking down.

The Bodhi seed's strange transformation caused the mysterious cluster of rune-fire to change as well. It began to move closer, its temperature becoming increasingly terrifying, scorching the very void.

Ye Fan's scalp tingled with dread. This entity was utterly impossible to resist. Ancient texts recorded that immortals had been burned to death in the deepest part of the fire domain, leaving behind kalpa ashes. Whether true or false, this indicated extreme terror.

He had no way to retreat. If the bird resembling an immortal phoenix swooped down, it would be an unavoidable catastrophe. They were currently in a delicate balance, and if it were broken, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"Chirp, chirp."

The palm-sized phoenix bird continuously spat out faint light from its beak, showering down. The Bodhi seed's Buddhist light intensified, its patterns changed, and the firelight pressed closer.

"This won't work. The more we resist, the worse it will get. The ultimate flame, composed of runes, has no consciousness; it is merely attracted by external forces."

Ye Fan gradually understood the truth: direct confrontation would likely hasten destruction. If he remained passive and simply stood there, it would not approach.

At this moment, the Buddha's body, solemn and dignified, radiated immeasurable light, which attracted even more rune-fire. Even the small tree was almost upon them, and the Bodhi seed seemed on the verge of melting.

Ye Fan gritted his teeth and sent a wisp of his divine sense into the immeasurable Buddhist light, taking control of the Bodhi seed and attempting to change everything. There was no divine consciousness on it, only a subtle imprint that activated the power of Bodhi, which had manifested as a great Buddha and radiated immeasurable divine light.

Ye Fan easily took control. As the firelight pressed in, the earlier imprint was almost obliterated, gradually losing connection with the Bodhi seed and on the verge of dissipating in mid-air.

The great Buddha dimmed and then slowly vanished, its immeasurable light completely absorbed by the Bodhi seed. Immediately afterward, another figure appeared, with black hair like a waterfall, sitting cross-legged in the void like a divine devil, radiating billions of divine rays.

"This is..." Ye Fan was greatly astonished. The Buddha's body had vanished, and he had appeared in its place.

The flame-tree drew closer, and the immortal phoenix chirped. Terrifying firelight incinerated everything, while the Bodhi seed floated up and down. Ye Fan felt as if he had fallen into the eighteen layers of purgatory, enduring immense torment.

"What happened?" He was at a loss, feeling as if he was about to turn to kalpa ashes.

With a calm mind and adopting a state of inaction, he quickly adjusted his emotions, concentrating the wisp of divine sense that had entered the Bodhi seed and absorbing it within, so it no longer manifested externally.

In the void, the shadow resembling a divine devil gradually disappeared. The firelight flickered, and the Bodhi seed appeared to have melted, its patterns greatly altered.

The rune-composed flame-tree rustled and moved away, no longer confronting him. The Bodhi seed fell to the ground. Ye Fan awoke, his wisp of divine sense withdrawing and returning to his body. He then picked up the seed and carefully examined it for any changes.

"This..." He was astonished. Previously, a natural Buddha had been formed by various patterns on the seed, but now everything had changed. The Buddha had disappeared, replaced by his own form.

Ye Fan fell into deep thought. The original Bodhi seed bore another's imprint, which might have become a significant hidden danger in the future, as all his secrets would have been revealed to the seed. Now, the pressure from this mysterious rune-fire had stifled that potential crisis, eradicating it in its infancy.

"This seed is truly marvelous, and now it genuinely belongs to me." Holding the Bodhi seed, Ye Fan felt a much closer connection than before, as if he was listening to a profound Dao sound echoing from the distant past.

He no longer needed this seed to comprehend Dao. At this moment, it wasn't helping his enlightenment, but instead, he genuinely captured a strange melody.

"It's the half-page immortal scripture!"

The flame-tree vanished, but the phoenix bird did not retreat. It hovered in mid-air, gazing at the scripture forged from Phoenix Blood Crimson Gold, and spat out numerous rays of light.

At this moment, the blood-red divine ancient scripture merged with the vibrant firelight, manifesting as half a fire-bird, as if it had been severed, leaving only half its body.

A half-page immortal scripture, half an immortal phoenix bird!

Holding the Bodhi seed, Ye Fan gazed forward intently, his eyes emitting two materialized beams of light that almost connected to the damaged bird, seeking to extract its secrets.

This was formed from Dao patterns, containing the secret of immortality. It resonated with the light emitted by the bird formed from rune-fire, thus manifesting in the void.

Who in this world could be immortal? Not even the ancient great emperors. Was this truly an immortal scripture? Ye Fan calmed his mind, observing the Phoenix Dao patterns, hoping to grasp the most fundamental secret.

But it was too difficult. The phoenix bird manifested by the half-page scripture was broken, half of it torn away. Such a fragment was incoherent and did not form a complete scripture.

Forcibly combining and continuously deducing also proved fruitless; it simply couldn't generate a coherent scripture or Great Dao. This made Ye Fan frown, utterly at a loss.

Although the Bodhi seed in his hand was in closer harmony with him, it still couldn't create something from nothing or forge a Dao. It could only capture existing Dao traces.

"Chirp, chirp."

The small bird swooped down from mid-air, dancing gracefully around the Phoenix Blood Crimson Gold in a captivating manner. However, the temperature became even more terrifying. Ye Fan's expression changed; he truly feared it would melt the patterns on the scripture.

"Clang!"

A metallic tremor resounded as even more brilliant, blood-red light burst forth from the immortal scripture, dyeing the entire fire domain with a mysterious and magnificent, dreamy luster.

"A small segment of perfect Dao patterns!"

Ye Fan stared directly into mid-air. As the Phoenix Blood Crimson Gold merged with the faint light, a chain-like pattern vibrated with a ringing sound within the evolving, incomplete phoenix bird.

His eyes blazed with divine brilliance, like two sharp swords cutting through the dazzling haze, falling upon that chain of order and carefully copying it.

"Swish!"

The subtle firelight flickered as Ye Fan retreated, then became motionless, as if all life had drained from him. He sat down cross-legged.

His divine consciousness was forcibly pulled into a dead silent space, where only a single, boundlessly terrifying chain of order moved.

"The secret of longevity?" Ye Fan's mind was clear and ethereal as he concentrated all his spirit on comprehending it, gazing at the divine chain woven from Dao patterns. Unaware of the passage of time, he became completely immersed.

Unfortunately, how much could a half-page scripture forged from Phoenix Blood Crimson Gold truly record? The only intact Dao principle it contained wasn't even a fraction of the whole.

Nevertheless, Ye Fan was deeply moved. This was actually one of the Nine Secrets: the "Ze" character secret!

This was the so-called Art of Longevity and Immortality! As he comprehended this chain of order, his other few secrets began to operate on their own, resonating and merging with the Dao.

"What a pity. The damage is too severe; only a single chain of order could be extracted from the broken Dao patterns, making it impossible to grasp its essence."

Even so, Ye Fan was astonished. The "Ze" character secret could heal injuries, refine one's body into a divine medicine, repair a shattered primordial spirit, and even regenerate the physical body from just a single drop of blood.

He felt immense regret that he couldn't obtain the secret of near immortality; he only had one divine chain, whereas a complete set should have at least nine.

No wonder there was a rumor in the Ziwei Ancient Starfield that with this ancient scripture, it was difficult to even die, as it could repair one's body, making both form and spirit almost indestructible!

Of course, it wasn't true immortality in the absolute sense. When a person's lifespan withered, even this immortal scripture would be useless, unable to extend their life.

Who knows how much time had passed before he finally exited that void space and truly awoke. The half-page Phoenix Blood Crimson Gold scripture had long since fallen to the ground, and the cluster of immortal flames had vanished.

The area was very quiet. Ye Fan picked up the scripture, cut his own shoulder, and blood immediately spurted forth. However, as soon as the "Ze" character technique activated, the golden blood instantly flowed back, and the wound healed, leaving him unharmed in an instant.

This made him even more regretful. If he could have obtained the complete "Ze" character secret, it would truly be heaven-defying, granting him an almost indestructible golden body, immune to all calamities.

Soon, he smiled again. One must learn to be content; obtaining a single chain of order was already a good outcome. He hadn't perished here and had gained something, for which he should be grateful.

Now that he had obtained this divine chain, it shouldn't be much weaker than Hua Yunfei's Phoenix Tribulation Rebirth Art. Lasting vitality was the greatest asset.

Ye Fan carefully put away the half-page immortal scripture, then meticulously examined the Bodhi seed. His mind was clear, and he felt a strange connection to this seed, with a persistent feeling that something would happen because of it, proving to be of unimaginable great use to him!

"I wonder what kind of changes occurred today; this Bodhi seed makes my heart pound..." he murmured to himself.

At the same time, Gu Fei and Gu Lin were performing a divination. Ye Fan had been gone for several days, and Li Heishui, Dongfang Ye, and others from Heaven's Village feared something might happen to him, so they asked the two spirit children to divine his fate.

"Bodhi everywhere, faith congregates, an immortal religion is established..."

"Pfft!"

The two spirit children opened their small mouths and each coughed out a mouthful of spirit blood before instantly fainting. When shaken awake, they were bewildered and had no memory of what had just happened.

"What happened?" Qi Luo and the monkey were both alarmed and quickly rushed over.

"Immortal..." Little Sparrow, flapping her big eyes, sweetly uttered in a childish voice while holding her feeding bottle.

"Don't let them divine anymore," the Black Sovereign said in a deep voice. "They are spirit children who can mutually transform calamities, yet this still happened. It seems to involve heavenly secrets."

Ye Fan left the fire domain and traveled south, arriving at Yan Country, the very land he had first stepped into in this world. Its central region was the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land.

This time, he wasn't risking a deep venture into the forbidden life zone. Instead, he came to visit the small shop where Old Uncle Jiang and Little Tingting once lived.

This was because Old Uncle Jiang had mentioned returning once and being told by an old neighbor that a beautiful woman named Lin Jia had visited, inquiring about everything related to Ye Fan.

"Creak..."

Pushing open the dusty door, Ye Fan entered the small shop. Everything was as it used to be, as if he had stepped back in time.

Suddenly, his gaze froze. He saw a few words carved on the wall, written in characters from another side of the starry sky, entirely different from those of this world.

"Feather Transformation Immortal Valley..." Ye Fan read aloud, then stood in silence for a long time. What did this mean? Was it asking him to seek it out?

Finally, he turned and left, directly crossing back to the Northern Region. A world-shaking battle was about to begin, and at this moment, he couldn't concern himself with anything else. Everything had to wait until this battle concluded!