My Longevity Simulation Chapter 1040: The Secret of the Du'e Scripture
Previously on My Longevity Simulation...
High above in the somber, cavernous hall, a web of slender threads crisscrossed through the air.
Dangling from these lines were countless paper figures. While they seemed identical at a distance, a closer look revealed minute variations in their facial expressions. They hung in neat, silent rows.
The relentless march of time had drained their color, leaving the figures a sickly, withered yellow, as though they had been bleached by the passing centuries.
The moment Li Fan trespassed into the space, the myriad paper figures began to stir despite the lack of wind, swaying in an unsettling rhythm.
In that heartbeat, Li Fan felt as though the collective gaze of every figure had locked onto him.
His soul felt as if it were suddenly bound in heavy chains, stripped of its power to move independently.
Fortunately, the eerie swaying eventually subsided, and the paper figures returned to their stillness.
Slowly, the crushing weight pressing down on Li Fan began to dissipate.
Once he regained control of his body, Li Fan did not act impulsively. He could still vaguely sense a single, persistent gaze from within the hall that refused to let him go.
Trusting his instincts, Li Fan peered forward, spotting something lurking within the darkness ahead.
It resembled a venomous serpent, coiled tightly and watching its prey, ready to strike at the first opportunity.
The shadow began to creep toward him.
Li Fan remained motionless, choosing to wait for the shadowy mass to close the distance.
He met the unfolding changes with total stillness.
As the shadow drew nearer, the pressure exerted on Li Fan intensified with every passing second.
Faint murmurs seemed to vibrate in his ears, appearing to goad Li Fan into launching an immediate attack.
However, Li Fan, who was keenly aware of every subtle shift in his surroundings, only let out a silent sneer.
Through his quiet observation, he had already pierced through the deception hidden within.
The approach of the shadow and the suffocating sense of impending death were nothing more than illusions.
The entire display was designed to provoke an intruder into attacking the shadow.
As for the shadow’s true identity...
Li Fan’s perception suddenly shifted, and the darkness fell away to reveal a rope riddled with holes.
The aura radiating from it was one Li Fan recognized instantly.
It was the restriction left behind by the Immortal Ancestor!
“The Du’e Sect is certainly not simple; even the Immortal Ancestor’s restrictions have been eroded to such a degree.”
“It’s no wonder I ran into the Du’e Sect’s trials back on the mountain path and in that small courtyard.”
Li Fan narrowed his eyes, his gaze sweeping over the multitude of paper figures filling the hall.
Now, the faces of these figures seemed to contort into grotesque, mocking smiles.
Then, just as quickly, they shifted back into expressions of total innocence.
“Based on that brief flash in the vision, it appears these paper figures are the transformed states of Du’e Sect cultivators?”
“But there are simply too many of them.”
While pondering this, Li Fan sent out a wisp of spiritual energy, attempting to pull down one of the figures hanging from the web.
As he suspected, his spiritual energy passed through it as if it were nothing.
The figures in the hall seemed to be entirely phantom-like, possessing no physical substance.
Li Fan then extended a thread of divine sense to make contact, but he still could not touch them.
“It seems these paper figures can only be manipulated by the Du’e Sect’s specific secret methods.”
“As for destroying this restriction...”
Li Fan’s eyes flashed with a sudden thought, and he instantly changed his plan.
“I won’t destroy it. Instead, I shall repair this restriction!”
The Du’e Sect’s philosophy filled Li Fan with genuine Revulsion. Like a tortoise retreating into its shell, they had chosen to merge with the Xuanhuang heaven and earth just to escape a catastrophe.
They put their entire fate in the hands of a hypothetical savior.
While the strategy might be effective, it was a cowardly path, utterly devoid of the dignity expected of one of the Ten Great Immortal Sects.
More importantly, Li Fan felt a constant sense of friction within the Du’e Sect. It felt as though their natures were fundamentally opposed, leaving him uneasy and restless.
His soul clone remained stationary in the hall, while his primary body outside the sect began utilizing the Dissociation Disc to reverse-engineer the formation’s cipher.
Drawing on his prior experience, it took only seven days to successfully calculate the formation required to mend the Immortal Ancestor’s restriction.
Within the grand hall, Li Fan immediately went to work.
“Creation and destruction are merely two sides of the same coin. If I can repair the Immortal Ancestor’s restriction, it proves my understanding of it is perfect. The same logic can be used to tear it down.”
A brush of seven-colored light seemed to manifest in his hand as he began sketching in the air.
In response, the decaying rope at the hall's center began to regain its lost vitality.
Radiance once again flooded the gloomy chamber.
However, Li Fan’s actions seemed to incite the fury of the suspended paper figures.
They began to shake violently, their faces twisting into masks of pure rage.
Their eyes remained fixed on Li Fan with intense hostility.
Suddenly, the air was filled with the sound of ghostly shrieks and demonic wails echoing in his ears.
“Quiet!”
Li Fan shouted, completely unshaken. Instead of stopping, he increased the speed of his repairs.
The roars of the paper figures did nothing to slow him down.
The rope, representing the restriction, manifested fully from the center of the hall and extended all the way to the doorway.
“Boom!”
Following a massive tremor, Li Fan found himself standing back outside the grand hall.
He was still in the wide courtyard, but the grand hall had now shrunk down to the size of a small toy.
The restriction rope held it firmly in place on the central ground.
Only then did Li Fan spot the remnants of the damaged restriction that had been concealed in the shadows.
The miniature hall continued to vibrate, still struggling against its bonds.
With an icy expression, Li Fan continued his restoration work.
Once the courtyard’s restriction was fully mended, the environment shifted again, and Li Fan found himself back at the stone stairs leading up the mountainside.
The restrictions in this area were the most intricate of all.
Fortunately, most of them were still functional. The only broken segment on this solitary path was the result of erosion by the Du’e Sect’s power.
Once Li Fan repaired the fractured restriction, the mountain path vanished entirely.
The world before him contracted even further.
The true form of the so-called Du’e Sect was finally laid bare.
Beneath the layers of restrictions, a book lay open at the center.
The book contained no written words, only relief-like carvings of mountains and cultivators.
As the pages turned on their own, the images within shifted and evolved.
They were merely silhouettes, looking both comical and haunting.
Li Fan stared at the book for a long time, lost in deep contemplation.
“The Du’e Sect was indeed wiped out by the Immortal Ancestor in the past.”
“But that was exactly what they wanted. By seeking life through death, the entire sect transitioned into a different state of existence.”
“This book...”
“It bears a remarkable similarity to the Genesis Tablet. But while the Genesis Tablet chronicles everything in the Xuanhuang Realm, this Du’e Book only records the affairs of the Du’e Sect.”
“At least, that was the original design. But since the people of the Du’e Sect have become paper figures scattered across the world, one can use their eyes to see everything in the Xuanhuang Realm through this Du’e Book.”
As the pages flipped and familiar scenes of the Xuanhuang Realm flashed by, Li Fan watched in silence, his mind racing.
At this point, Li Fan had fulfilled the purpose of his journey.
He had confirmed that his formation for countering the Immortal Ancestor’s restriction was flawless.
Yet, as he looked at the Du’e Book—now suppressed once again by the Immortal Ancestor’s power—new ideas began to take root in Li Fan's mind.