My longevity simulation

“This power of darkness may indeed help us escape the Immortal Ruins. But that assumes we can safely control it.”

“Otherwise…”

Li Fan’s expression turned grave: “If the world were eroded by this darkness, the outcome would likely be no better than falling into the Immortal Ruins.”

As the two spoke, the darkness occupying half of Mo Rubin’s body suddenly expanded again, as if nourished by some force.

It nearly engulfed the entire corpse.

Yet strangely, the rhythmic pulsation emanating from him never ceased.

It even grew clearer than before.

Like the undulation of a heartbeat, echoing through this desolate land of darkness. This stirred a growing sense of foreboding in Li Fan’s heart.

The Dharma-Transmitters in the group also sensed something amiss.

They quickly issued an order to withdraw for the time being.

After retreating some distance, the intense unease in Li Fan’s heart slowly faded.

“My suggestion is to seal off this Desolate Land completely. Until we clarify the true nature of the power of darkness, do not approach Mo Rubin’s corpse lightly.”

“Once I return, I will report this discovery to the Federation immediately. If there is any news, I will inform you at once.”

Seeing Li Fan’s caution, Dharma-Transmitter Zhou nodded in agreement on the surface, though inwardly she dismissed it.

“Fellow Daoist need not be overly tense. Regardless, the property of this power of darkness repelling the Immortal Ruins will not change. This ensures it will not invade the Xuanhuang Realm.”

Li Fan shook his head at the sight, saying nothing more.

With Mo Rubin’s death, Li Fan had no reason to linger here.

Though the journey of vengeance ended anticlimactically, the discovery of this power of darkness held profound significance.

Bidding farewell to the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance members, Li Fan swiftly gathered the Federation of All Worlds’ department heads and recounted his experience in the Dark Desolate Land.

“The power of darkness…”

Daoist Hundred Flowers was the first to speak.

As a figure who had survived from ancient times, Hundred Flowers’ strength was unremarkable, but her knowledge was vast indeed.

“I seem to recall a fellow Daoist from back then mentioning something similar.”

“He once witnessed from afar his homeland plummeting into the Immortal Ruins: all things disintegrating, forming a bizarre, twisted ring of illusory light.”

“According to his account, as the cultivation world vanished completely into the Immortal Ruins, a massive surge of matter erupted in the opposite direction.”

“Neither the naked eye nor divine sense could detect it. He was merely grazed by it and immediately suffered grave injuries. Even after recovery, he became a neither-man-nor-ghost abomination.”

Gazing at the terrifying image Daoist Hundred Flowers sketched; a cultivator’s face riddled with writhing black voids, the group could not help but grow somber.

Artisan Master Qiaogong seemed to recall something as well: “When the power of the Immortal Ruins first enveloped the [Ancestor], we were actually quite confident in surviving the calamity.”

“Because based on the Ancestor’s residual body’s strength at the time, it could withstand the Immortal Ruins’ pull. But later, the increasing pull of the Immortal Ruins become stronger and stronger…”

Master Qiaogong’s face lit with sudden realization: “The Ancestor’s strength waning day by day was the root cause! As if some crucial element was constantly leaking away, causing the Ancestor’s body to decay gradually.”

“At the time, the various Elders were utterly baffled. In the end, they could only attribute it to the Immortal Ruins’ overwhelming might.”

“Now it seems the vanished element was likely this power of darkness.”

Hearing the two, Li Fan pondered: “What you mean is, the power of darkness is actually part of the cultivators’ cultivation power system. Only, its nature is naturally opposite to the Immortal Ruins’ suction, so during the approach to the Immortal Ruins, it was forcibly stripped away.”

“In other cultivation worlds, the power of darkness would detach accordingly. But in the Xuanhuang Realm, for some unknown reason, it all converged in one place. Remaining bound to the Xuanhuang Realm.”

“If one day the Xuanhuang Realm can break free from the Immortal Ruins, the power of darkness should reintegrate with the Xuanhuang world’s myriad things.”

After listening to Li Fan’s analysis, Master Qiaogong and Daoist Hundred Flowers both nodded.

At this moment, Liu Ruchen from the Medicine King Sect suddenly spoke up: “Although I have never seen this so-called gloomy darkness power with my own eyes, I once read a legend in an ancient text.”

“It is a tale circulated among various human clans, about the origins of humanity.”

“In the beginning, there were no humans in the world, nor were there various cultivation realms. In absolute nothingness, a few powerful beings wandered. Later, one of them grew bored and used itself as raw material to create and open up world after world.”

“Slowly, the void gradually became filled. The other beings were gradually drawn to these bizarre and colorful strange worlds and began to imitate. Using themselves as prototypes, they created all sorts of different races.”

“And the ancestors of humanity were the very first one to create the myriad realms.”

This legend was obviously new to everyone, and they listened with keen interest.

“Although the world became much more lively, these powerful beings soon discovered an anomaly. All the existences they created could not be as immortal and indestructible as themselves. There was a limit called lifespan.”

“The liveliness was only temporary; soon the world would return to silence. Occasional creation for personal amusement was fine, but to keep creating like this forever became a burden.”

“So the powerful beings gradually lost interest in the lives they created.”

“But one of them was different. He did not want to see his creations simply vanish, so he actually defeated his companions and drew power from one of them, granting it to all the creations in the world.”

“Thus, the beings of the world gained the ability to reproduce.”

Liu Ruchen paused here.

Everyone was listening with rapt attention and urged him with their eyes to continue.

Liu Ruchen shrugged: “That’s all there is.”

“It’s nothing more than some words about thanking the divine spirits for the grace of creation.”

“The reason I connect it to the darkness power is that perhaps we can draw inspiration from it to study what effects losing or gaining the darkness power has on us cultivators.”

“If this dark power was originally inherent in our bodies and only precipitated with the emergence of the Immortal Ruins, does that not mean that we now…”

“Are incomplete?”

“Compared to cultivators before the Immortal Ruins appeared, what difference do we have?”

Upon hearing this, the Master Qiaogong’s expression changed slightly.

“I knew it; ever since the Immortal Ruins Calamity occurred, my comprehension and creativity seem far inferior to before.”

“Could it be for this reason?”