My Longevity Simulation Chapter 1095: Darkness Devouring Dharma King
Previously on My Longevity Simulation...
"From this point onward, we stand as a single united front."
"Should anyone spot those three laggards attempting to come back, alert us right away. Then, we'll all attack them as one."
"Keep in mind, never believe anyone emerging from the shadows. No matter if they were your most trusted ally before."
With each careful step forward, the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance cultivators repeated the strict warning once again.
Meanwhile, via his conversation with Dharma-Transmitter Zhou, Li Fan gained insight into the roots of this Dark Forbidden Land.
The Immortal Ruins' presence exerts a massive pulling force on the entire Xuanhuang Realm without cease.
Logically speaking, absent any countermeasures, all things within the Xuanhuang Realm would gradually drift toward the Immortal Ruins.
This view once held sway among the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance's cultivators.
Yet the revelation of the Dark Forbidden Land upended that notion.
The Dark Forbidden Land gathers every bit of worldly substance that strays away from the Immortal Ruins' pull.
Even as it belongs to the Xuanhuang Realm, this area operates under its own distinct laws.
Besides the earlier details, like how divine sense and voices stay trapped within the body.
Cultivators who wander off get their consciousness overtaken by mysterious forces in the gloom, turning them into altered beings.
And they stay oblivious to the change.
"This... it bears a faint resemblance to Mo Rubin's possession method?" Li Fan's mind raced.
"Yes. But it's just a surface-level likeness in form. It doesn't mean much."
Dharma-Transmitter Zhou appeared eager to steer clear of the subject and went on: "Since uncovering this realm, the Alliance has treated it with utmost seriousness. The shadows' defiance of the Immortal Ruins' draw suggests that probing it might reveal a path out of the Immortal Ruins. Still, up to now, only a handful of core Dharma-Transmitters were privy to its secrets."
"That Xuantian Sect Dharma King had seized control of Chen and the rest's forms, which let him uncover this location's reality."
"The You Clan folk don't dwell within the Dark Forbidden Land. Instead, they pioneered the way to access it and harness the shadowy energy. We only pieced together this hidden truth while overrunning the minor realm they called home, right in the heat of our clashes with them."
"So, dark power? Might it stand apart from immortal spiritual power in every way?" Li Fan mused aloud.
"Not entirely. Based on our long-term scrutiny, the dark power mirrors several traits of immortal spiritual power. However..." Dharma-Transmitter Zhou hesitated, as though hunting for the perfect way to explain.
"Think of immortal spiritual power and dark power as a figure and its shadow."
"In essence, they ought to remain intertwined, merging seamlessly. But the Immortal Ruins' influence wrenched the dark power loose from it by force."
At these words, Li Fan grasped the concept dimly.
It resembled a device spinning apart the elements in a fluid.
Thanks to the dark power's trait of veering from the Immortal Ruins, as the full Xuanhuang Realm inched closer to the Immortal Ruins, these forces bunched up in the opposing path.
"The Immortal Ruins' pull stems from the '[Hunger]' glyph's existence."
"So what precisely fuels this dark power? How does it defy the might of the True Immortal's script?"
A thread of uncertainty tugged at Li Fan's thoughts.
"We've mapped out the whole Dark Forbidden Land in exhaustive detail already. That's why, when Mo Rubin slipped in this time and stirred up trouble, we picked up on it without delay."
"Take a closer look, and you'll sense it too," Dharma-Transmitter Zhou urged.
"Oh?"
With that prompt, Li Fan furrowed his brow and probed the enveloping shadows.
Moments stretched on...
"Are you referring to this pulsing wave, akin to ripples across a pond?" Li Fan inquired.
"Precisely. At the heart of that pulse, we traced Mo Rubin's presence. But..."
Dharma-Transmitter Zhou's voice carried a hint of hesitation: "He's lingered here for at least ten days now. And he hasn't budged an inch. It feels more like he's badly hurt and out cold."
"What if it's some kind of snare?" Li Fan blurted out.
"It isn't," Dharma-Transmitter Zhou affirmed resolutely.
"Even supposing it were a trap... with our numbers this time, one Longevity Immortal from ancient times poses no real threat."
Watching Dharma-Transmitter Zhou's unwavering assurance, Li Fan held back any further protest.
Silence descended once more, thick with an ominous hush.
"Keep sharp; we're nearing the spot."
After what felt like an eternity, Dharma-Transmitter Zhou issued the alert.
Fixing on the distant origin of the throbbing rhythm, the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance cultivators arranged themselves into a tight ring as directed.
They fully enclosed the lurking Mo Rubin amid the shadows.
Needing just one order to unleash a unified strike.
Simultaneously, Li Fan kept getting updates from the Wrathful Gaze Formation.
"Could this truly be Mo Rubin?"
Surprise gripped Li Fan.
"How odd..."
Though questions swirled in his mind, Li Fan refrained from any impulsive moves.
He merely trailed the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance cultivators, steadily shrinking the pursuit's perimeter alongside them.
All held their breaths in tense readiness, yet Mo Rubin gave no sign of awareness.
As though blind to the foes closing in.
This went on until the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance cultivators at last confronted him.
...
"Ease off the guard."
"It looks like he's gone."
Dharma-Transmitter Zhou's words rang out, laced with astonishment.
"Hm?"
A cold dread pierced Li Fan's core.
Trailing the forms of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance cultivators, he pressed toward the middle.
The instant his divine sense brushed Mo Rubin's form, he registered its precise state.
Mo Rubin's features had dissolved.
Replaced by a swirling void of somber blackness, gaping and contracting atop his skull.
The sight evoked an unearthly chill, yet what truly appalled Li Fan was Mo Rubin's physique.
One side clung to human shape.
The other, though, appeared claimed by the local gloom.
It flickered endlessly between haze and substance.
Through the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance's black-robed dead soldiers' examination, they verified that the shadow consuming half of Mo Rubin's frame wasn't mere trickery.
His tissue was genuinely fading and reforming in perpetual motion.
When the shadow surged and a hand probed it, nothing met the touch.
But soon after, as the tissue partially resurfaced.
The shadow abruptly receded.
And along with it, the dead soldier's hand that had ventured into the void vanished too.
The shadow could propagate via this touch; the black-robed dead soldier uttered no cry.
In a flash, the creeping darkness from his arm devoured him whole.
Luckily, Dharma-Transmitter Zhou reacted swiftly, cutting off the link to the dead soldier at once and commanding an immediate execution.
This halted the shadow's spread through the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance ranks.
"Fellow Daoist, what's your take?" Dharma-Transmitter Zhou inquired, her voice weighted.
Li Fan pondered deeply before responding measuredly, "The shadow clinging to Mo Rubin's remains differs from the Dark Forbidden Land's ambient gloom."
"This corpse's shadow spreads contagion, unlike the harmless surrounding murk."
"Until we unravel what's truly happening, better to steer clear of any contact."