My Longevity Simulation Chapter 1172: Yin-Yang Pearls of Dead Intent

For a hundred years, as the leader of the Qingxuan Army, Shang Shaojun had kept the Chizha Abyss firmly under his control. He managed to stay serene and unflappable, even in the face of the horrifying demonic sound tide that threatened to annihilate everything.

Yet at this moment, a profound terror gripped him, one that hadn't surfaced in ages.

The ice-sealed sea held far too many fallen cultivators.

Shang Shaojun struggled to fathom the origins of these cultivators. The sheer volume of those entombed here probably surpassed the entire population of cultivators across the Xuanhuang Realm!

Holy Embryo Li Fan feigned terror at the sight unfolding before him. A slight quiver ran through his frame, and horror etched itself onto his features.

“Shaojun, don't rush into anything. Staying cautious is key.”

A short while later, he appeared to steady himself once more and offered solace to Shang Shaojun.

Shang Shaojun's face stayed grim. He darted his eyes about repeatedly, as though an unseen foe lurked nearby.

“Something feels off here. Did you hear any sound?” Shang Shaojun inquired through voice transmission.

“Sound? What sound?” Holy Embryo Li Fan looked genuinely taken aback. This response came from the heart.

Shang Shaojun's expression grew darker: “Maybe it's from lingering so long in the Chizha Abyss, but I've grown extra attuned to noises. Since stepping into this maze-like area, I've caught faint whispers drifting in and out. Have you truly not noticed them?”

Holy Embryo Li Fan's eyes narrowed.

This wasn't his initial visit to the area.

He had even led numerous cultivators here in the past.

Still, none had ever reacted like Shang Shaojun, picking up on strange noises amid the utter stillness of the ice-sealed sea.

A fresh idea sparked in his thoughts. Holy Embryo Li Fan spoke gravely: “What does Shaojun believe? This location hides a massive secret, no doubt. But delving deeper will bring immense dangers too. Do we retreat now before anyone spots us, or push on to uncover more?”

Shang Shaojun held off on replying to Li Fan right away. His ears flicked subtly, as if sifting through the noises reaching him.

After some time, he sent: “Brother Li, stick with me. I sense that following this sound's origin could reveal some of the enigmas in this realm.”

Holy Embryo Li Fan gave a faint nod. Sword shadows emerged, shielding the pair.

“Stay alert.”

The duo soared across the boundless ice-sealed sea.

In reality, Li Fan possessed full knowledge of the Life and Death Reversal Great Formation's layout.

But since he acted as if this was new territory, he refrained from pointing out when Shang Shaojun led them looping around within the array.

He merely trailed quietly in the rear.

However, as Shang Shaojun persisted in heading a specific way, Holy Embryo Li Fan detected the faint shifts happening nearby.

These alterations had slipped past even the Final Dissociation Disc's scrutiny before, and he had missed them entirely!

“To think the great formation conceals such subtle transformations? Truly worthy of an array that forges the Dao toward eternal life and Immortality.” Li Fan marveled inwardly.

They pressed onward.

It seemed like they weren't moving at all, but the ice-sealed coffins of the surrounding dead sea whirled endlessly around them.

The further in they ventured, the quicker the landscape around them swirled.

“Brother Li, watch yourself. The sound's source seems right up ahead!” Shang Shaojun's tone carried a hint of strain.

It was like traversing a slim, elongated tunnel of spacetime. The environs smeared into a blur from the velocity, morphing into layered rings.

Upon bursting from the tunnel's terminus, the myriad rings fused into one focal point.

Then they burst wide in their view.

Suddenly, clarity returned to everything.

Yet the ambient chill intensified further.

The cold bit so fiercely that even Holy Embryo Li Fan and Shang Shaojun sensed their forms growing rigid from the frost.

“Huu…”

They channeled spiritual energy to ward off the piercing iciness.

The pair scrutinized their environment with care.

It resembled the heart of a silvery-white light orb. Beyond hazy edges, the space stood utterly vacant.

But glancing back whence they arrived, their eyes widened sharply.

A diminutive yin-yang fish-like sphere, spinning steadily, hovered silently in the void.

From its shadowed side, Holy Embryo Li Fan vaguely detected the essence of the prior silent ice-sealed sea.

And within this white light orb, eight additional yin-yang orbs existed!

Nine orbs altogether, positioned in a unique array.

Shang Shaojun gulped heavily.

A single such yin-yang orb housed innumerable deceased souls.

Multiply that by nine…

The two shared a look, each mirroring the astonishment and dread in the other's gaze.

Even their mental exchanges turned whisper-soft.

They dreaded rousing the nine yin-yang orbs present.

“Shaojun, that sound from before…”

“It's vanished. The instant we arrived here, it cut off sharply and left no trace. Hold on…” Shang Shaojun abruptly stiffened and pivoted toward the side away from the yin-yang orbs.

Holy Embryo Li Fan traced his stare but perceived nothing.

“Be careful.”

Shang Shaojun issued only this terse alert before going quiet.

His form locked up, unmoving. His presence dimmed sharply in a flash.

Only then did Holy Embryo Li Fan perceive an intangible force entering this domain.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

No audible noise echoed, yet the ponderous steps thundered against Li Fan's spirit.

The entity drew nearer.

It ignored the pair of trespassers and advanced directly to the nine yin-yang pearls.

Huu…

A soft exhalation echoed.

Distortions and waves rippled through the space encircling the yin-yang pearls.

Like elements simmering in scalding liquid, the yin and yang segments on the nine tiny spheres churned against one another, their contrasts sharpening.

Shang Shaojun and Li Fan distinctly witnessed threads of frozen cadavers pulled into the nine yin-yang pearls alongside the unknown being's inhalation.

This profoundly unsettling ritual didn't drag on.

The weighty, suffocating strides slowly receded into the distance. Gradually, the silver-white expanse stabilized.

The nine yin-yang pearls settled down, restoring their tranquility.

Not until much later did the two risk linking thoughts again.

“What in the world was that earlier?”

“A chill of impending doom raced over my skin, and my spirit senses blared alarms wildly. It was like catastrophe could strike anytime… Could even a Longevity Immortal Heavenly Sovereign evoke such dread?”

After a handful of words, an heavy quietude enveloped them.

“That earlier noise was likely the reverberation of that mysterious being's steps echoing here,” Shang Shaojun surmised. “Though it's departed, the residual echoes haven't fully faded.”

“The myriad frozen remains within the yin-yang pearls appear to be the doing of that entity. Yet I still can't grasp where all these bodies originated. And what precisely exists beyond this silver-white domain?”

Holy Embryo Li Fan lacked responses for these riddles too.

He had assumed this spot was just the cultivation ground of the Rebirth Heavenly Sovereign. Never had he anticipated that in this life, by sheer chance, he would unearth a profounder mystery concealed beneath it.