My longevity simulation

“From now on, we are one unified whole.”

“If anyone discovers those three stragglers trying to return, report it immediately. Then, everyone strikes them down together.”

“Remember, do not trust anyone who returns from the darkness. Even if they were once your closest companion.”

As they advanced step by cautious step, the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance members reiterated the prohibition once more.

At the same time, through his exchange with Dharma-Transmitter Zhou, Li Fan also learned the origin of this Dark Forbidden Land.

Due to the existence of the Immortal Ruins, the Xuanhuang Realm is constantly under the influence of an immense attractive force.

By normal reasoning, without intervention, everything in the Xuanhuang Realm would slowly fall into the Immortal Ruins.

That was once the belief of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance cultivators.

But the discovery of the Dark Forbidden Land shattered this understanding.

The Dark Forbidden Land is the aggregation of all worldly matter that deviates from the direction of the Immortal Ruins.

Though still part of the Xuanhuang Realm, it has its own unique rules here.

Beyond what was mentioned before, where divine sense and sound cannot leave the body.

Lost cultivators will have their minds seized by unknown entities in the darkness, transforming them into something else.

And they themselves remain unaware.

“This… seems somewhat similar to Mo Rubin’s possession technique?” Li Fan’s heart stirred.

“Indeed. But it’s merely a superficial similarity in characteristics. It proves nothing.”

Dharma-Transmitter Zhou seemed intent on avoiding the topic and continued: “Ever since this place was discovered, the Alliance has placed great importance on it. Because of the darkness’s deviation from the Immortal Ruins, perhaps by studying it, we can find a way to escape the Immortal Ruins. But until now, only the core few Dharma-Transmitters knew of it.”

“That Xuantian Sect Dharma King once occupied the bodies of Chen and the others, thus learning of this place’s existence.”

“The You Clan people do not live in the Dark Forbidden Land. Rather, they were the first to discover how to open it and master the use of the dark power. We only uncovered this secret during our conquest of the small world where the You Clan resided, in the midst of battling them.”

“Dark power, then? Could it be something entirely different from immortal spirit power?” Li Fan pondered and asked.

“Not quite. From our observations over these years, the dark power fully possesses certain characteristics of immortal spiritual power. But…” Dharma-Transmitter Zhou paused, as if searching for the right words to describe it.

“Immortal spiritual power and dark power are like a person and their own shadow.”

“Originally, the two should be inseparable, blending with each other. But due to the existence of the Immortal Ruins, the dark power was forcibly stripped away from it.”

Upon hearing this, Li Fan vaguely understood.

It was like a centrifuge separating different components from a liquid.

Because of the dark power’s characteristic of deviating from the Immortal Ruins, as the entire Xuanhuang Realm gradually fell toward the Immortal Ruins, they all converged in the opposite direction.

“The attractive force of the Immortal Ruins is due to the existence of the ‘[Hunger]’ character.”

“Then what exactly is this dark power? How can it resist the power of the True Immortal character script?”

Li Fan felt some doubt in his heart.

“We have already fully explored the entire Dark Forbidden Land before. So when Mo Rubin infiltrated this time and triggered an anomaly, we could detect it immediately.”

“If you observe carefully, you should also notice something,” Dharma-Transmitter Zhou reminded.

“Oh?”

Upon hearing this, Li Fan immediately frowned and sensed the surrounding darkness.

After a long while…

“You mean, this rhythmic undulation, like ripples on water?” Li Fan asked.

“Exactly. At the source of this rhythm, we detected Mo Rubin’s aura. However…”

Dharma-Transmitter Zhou’s tone became somewhat uncertain: “He has been here for about ten days or more. Yet he has not changed position at all. It seems more like he is severely injured and unconscious.”

“Could it be a trap?” Li Fan could not help asking.

“No,” Dharma-Transmitter Zhou stated firmly.

“Even if it is a trap… with so many of us here this time, a mere ancient method Longevity Immortal is nothing to fear.”

Seeing Dharma-Transmitter Zhou so confident, Li Fan said nothing more in rebuttal.

With no one speaking, the surroundings fell into a terrifying silence once again.

“Stay vigilant; we are almost there.”

After an unknown amount of time, Dharma-Transmitter Zhou’s warning came.

Locking onto the direction from which the rhythm emanated from afar, the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance members formed an encirclement as instructed.

Surrounding the Mo Rubin hidden in the darkness completely.

Awaiting only a single command to launch a collective assault.

At the same time, Li Fan also received constant reminders from the Wrathful Gaze Formation.

“Is it really Mo Rubin?”

Li Fan could not help but feel surprised.

“Strange…”

Although doubts lingered in his heart, Li Fan did not act rashly on his own.

He simply followed the movements of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance members, gradually narrowing the hunting circle together.

Everyone held their breath in anticipation, but Mo Rubin showed no reaction at all.

It was as if he had not noticed the approaching enemies around him.

This continued until the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance cultivators finally reached him.

…

“Stand down from alert.”

“He seems to be dead.”

The voice of Dharma-Transmitter Zhou came, tinged with disbelief.

“Hm?”

A sudden chill surged in Li Fan’s heart.

Following the bodies of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance cultivators, he made his way to the center.

The moment he touched Mo Rubin’s body, his divine sense also perceived his current exact appearance.

Mo Rubin’s face had vanished.

In its place was a mass of gloomy darkness, constantly opening and closing, surging on his head.

This scene was indescribably eerie, but what horrified Li Fan even more was Mo Rubin’s body.

One half remained a human form.

The other half, however, seemed occupied by the darkness here.

It kept shifting back and forth between shadowy and solidity.

Under the probing of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance’s black-robed dead soldiers, it was confirmed that the darkness engulfing half of Mo Rubin’s body was no illusion.

His flesh was truly vanishing and reappearing in constant flux.

When the darkness appeared and one reached out to touch it, there was only emptiness.

But after a short while, when half the flesh reemerged.

The darkness suddenly vanished.

And with it, the hand of the dead soldier that had extended into the darkness disappeared as well.

The darkness seemed able to spread through this contact; the black-robed dead soldier made no sound at all.

Before he knew it, he was swallowed by the gloomy darkness surging from his own hand.

Fortunately, Dharma-Transmitter Zhou acted decisively, immediately severing the connection with the dead soldier and ordering everyone to kill him on the spot.

This prevented the gloom from spreading among the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance members.

“Fellow Daoist, what are your thoughts?” Dharma-Transmitter Zhou asked, her tone heavy.

Li Fan was silent for a long time before slowly saying, “The darkness on Mo Rubin’s corpse seems different from the darkness in the Dark Forbidden Land.”

“The darkness on the corpse is infectious, while the surrounding environmental darkness is not.”

“Until we understand the truth here, it is best to avoid touching it as much as possible.”