guāng wú xīng hǎi ， bǎi gēn tiān zhù huán rào de zhōng yāng qū yù ， suī shì qī hēi yī piàn 。 què àn liú yǒng dòng ， dào yān rú bō tāo bān qǐ fú 。
光吾星海，百根天柱环绕的中央区域，虽是漆黑一片。却暗流涌动，道湮如波涛般起伏。
In the vast, dark sea beyond the primordial realm, a thick cloud of darkness had already gathered.
dàn zhè xiǎo guī mó de dào yān ， què bèi zhōu zāo mì mì má má 、 wǎn ruò fáng bō dī yì bān de zhēn xiān tiān zhù ， gěi láo láo dǐ yù zhù 。
但这小规模的道湮，却被周遭密密麻麻、宛若防波堤一般的真仙天柱，给牢牢抵御住。
"Is this the tribulation of the void?" Li Fan asked, his senses tingling as he detected through the shadowy figure of Shou Qiu Gong that the pressure from the void was intensifying.
bù shí ， yǒu xiē xǔ wēi liàng de guāng diǎn ， zì zhōng yāng dào yān shēn yuān zhōng piāo chū 。
不时，有些许微亮的光点，自中央道湮深渊中飘出。
"This is extremely abnormal," Li Fan said, looking at Cheng Dao.
bǎi gēn tiān zhù zhòu rán jiān qí qí dà fàng guāng míng ， jī shè chū yī dào dào sī xiàn 、 wǎn ruò shéng suǒ bān ， jiāng nà guāng diǎn gěi chán rào 。
百根天柱骤然间齐齐大放光明，激射出一道道丝线、宛若绳索般，将那光点给缠绕。
"Could it be because we killed the Ratimmortal?" Li Fan asked Cheng Dao.
ér hòu jiāng qí cóng xuán wō huǎn huǎn zhōng tuō chū 。
而后将其从漩涡缓缓中拖出。
"It's possible that the purpose of the Dark Sea of Light wasn't to test you. After all, there are many possibilities for suppressing the dao sword and dao knife. They just needed a powerful enough individual who could kill the Ratimmortal," Cheng Dao said with a smile. "If it were only the shadow figure of our master in the high wall, I'm not sure if we would have been able to hold on. But thanks to your intervention, this is exactly what they need. It's truly wonderful! Fortunately, we didn't rashly release them earlier."
……
……
The "them" referred to the Starving Immortals and others sealed within the columns.
lǐ fán kàn zhe zhè yí mù qí jǐng ， bù yóu diǎn tóu zàn tóng ：“ wú lùn zhè bǎi gēn tiān zhù zhōng de zhēn xiān ， shì zì yuàn hái shì fēi zì yuàn 。 néng gòu dǎ zào chū zhè děng gōng chéng ， běn jiù yǐ jīng shì fēi fán zhī jǔ le 。”
李凡看着这一幕奇景，不由点头赞同：“无论这百根天柱中的真仙，是自愿还是非自愿。能够打造出这等工程，本就已经是非凡之举了。”
"Brother-in-arms, I must cooperate with you now to face this tide," Li Fan said, his heart calm as he looked at Cheng Dao.
“ kuàng qiě ……” lǐ fán chén yín ， huí xiǎng qǐ gāng gāng de shuò shǔ xiān 。
“况且……”李凡沉吟，回想起刚刚的硕鼠仙。
As the clouds of darkness approached, in order to prevent a sudden collapse of the Dark Sea of Light, Li Fan had to return all the power from the columns. However, it was still insufficient to withstand the incoming tide from an unknown direction.
“ shī xiōng ， qí shí hái yǒu yī shì ， wǒ xīn zhōng yī jiù bù jiě 。 nà guāng wú xīng hǎi pài zhè shuò shǔ xiān lái ， jiū jìng shì hé dǎ suàn ？ shuò shǔ xiān quán shèng shí hòu de zhuàng tài ， huò xǔ nǐ wǒ èr rén lián shǒu ， dōu fēi qí duì shǒu 。 dàn tā bì jìng zì fēng xiān guān 、 piāo bó yú dào yān zhōng bù zhī dào duō shǎo zài ， zǎo yǐ jīng fǔ xiǔ bù kān 。 wǒ zhǐ shǒu zhèn yā dào jiàn dào dāo ， yǐ rán shuō míng le wǒ de shí lì 。”
“师兄，其实还有一事，我心中依旧不解。那光吾星海派这硕鼠仙来，究竟是何打算？硕鼠仙全盛时候的状态，或许你我二人联手，都非其对手。但他毕竟自封仙棺、漂泊于道湮中不知道多少载，早已经腐朽不堪。我只手镇压道剑道刀，已然说明了我的实力。”
It seemed that the tide precisely targeted the location where the Ratimmortal fell in the primordial realm, and wave after wave of the tide surged forward, continuously impacting the area.
“ wǒ jiù suàn bú shì zhè shuò shǔ xiān duì shǒu ， dàn cóng róng quán shēn ér tuì 、 yě shì méi yǒu wèn tí de 。 guāng wú xīng hǎi nà biān ， bú huì bù míng bái zhè ge dào lǐ 。 tā men què bái bái sòng le zhè me yī wèi fǔ xiǔ xiān dì guò lái ……” lǐ fán miàn lù yí huò zhī sè 。
“我就算不是这硕鼠仙对手，但从容全身而退、也是没有问题的。光吾星海那边，不会不明白这个道理。他们却白白送了这么一位腐朽仙帝过来……”李凡面露疑惑之色。
If they couldn't hold on, the destruction below would be imminent. Li Fan felt a sense of urgency to protect his life.
“ zhè diǎn ， qǐ chū wǒ yě yǒu xiē mí huò 。 bù guò wǒ què cóng nà wèi shuò shǔ xiān de jì yì zhōng ， zhǎo dào le dá àn 。” chéng dào fǔ xū ér xiào 。
“这点，起初我也有些迷惑。不过我却从那位硕鼠仙的记忆中，找到了答案。”承道抚须而笑。
However, seeing Cheng Dao's calm demeanor, Li Fan steadied himself.
zài wèi lǐ fán jiě huò 。
再为李凡解惑。
"Brother-in-arms, please bear with me for a moment," he said.
yī jiù shì tiān zhù zhōng yāng 、 dào yān xuán wō qū yù 。
依旧是天柱中央、道湮漩涡区域。
Before he could finish speaking, Cheng Dao transformed from an old, thin figure back into the blue shadow. He had completed the switch between his true form and the shadow figure of Cheng Dao.
shuò shǔ xiān suǒ zài de xiān guān ， bù zhī wèi hé jìng bèi guāng wú xīng hǎi chóng xīn dài huí le cǐ chù 。
硕鼠仙所在的仙棺，不知为何竟被光吾星海重新带回了此处。
Li Fan looked beyond the high wall and saw the primordial sea's network suddenly emit a blinding blue light, enveloping the entire expanse of the starry sky as it flew towards the high wall.
bǎi gēn tiān zhù yī jiù guāng huá rú wǎng ， tuō jǔ zhe xiān guān ， jiāng qí huǎn huǎn fàng rù dào yān xuán wō zhī zhōng 。
百根天柱依旧光华如网，托举着仙棺，将其缓缓放入道湮漩涡之中。
"United we stand; divided we fall!" Cheng Dao's voice echoed in Li Fan's ears.
jiē xià lái ， què bìng méi yǒu rèn yóu qí bèi xiōng yǒng de dào yān làng cháo suǒ tūn mò 。 ér shì yī jiù sǐ sǐ chán rào zhe xiān guān 。
接下来，却并没有任由其被汹涌的道湮浪潮所吞没。而是依旧死死缠绕着仙棺。
Li Fan replied with joy: "I am willing to join Brother-in-arms to resist the void."
yú jí jìn chù ， lín yú dào yān zhī shàng 。
于极近处，临于道湮之上。
In his heart, he hesitated for a moment but did not show any signs of it. He began to cooperate by merging the dao network and the high wall together.
xiān guān de cún zài ， yǐn fā cǐ chù dào yān xuán wō yù fā tuān jí 。
仙棺的存在，引发此处道湮漩涡愈发湍急。
The dao network and the high wall were essentially supporting the dao path by transforming the nameless sages into dao pillars. The true creators of the dao network were the sea spirits that Shou Qiu Gong had personally guided, while the high wall was primarily composed of the five shadow figures of Shou Qiu Gong.
ér bù zhī guò le duō jiǔ zhī hòu ， nà wú kě jiàn 、 wú kě gǎn zhī de qī hēi dào yān zhī xià ， sì hū yǒu shén me dōng xī bèi xiān guān suǒ xī yǐn 。
而不知过了多久之后，那无可见、无可感知的漆黑道湮之下，似乎有什么东西被仙棺所吸引。
Thus, merging the dao network and the high wall went smoothly.
zhèng yù xiōng yǒng ér chū ！
正欲汹涌而出！
The primordial sea was forcibly dragged away from its original position and brought close to the high wall. However, because there was a narrow void outside the high wall, not enough stars remained to fully accommodate the primordial sea, so it appeared as if the high wall had deeply pierced into the primordial sea.
guāng wú xīng hǎi fāng miàn ， rú lín dà dí 。 sì hū dào yān xuán wō zhōng jí jiāng chū xiàn zhī wù ， duì tā men lái shuō yì yì zhòng dà 。 bù jǐn jǐn bǎi gēn tiān zhù zhī shàng zhàn fàng de guāng máng yù fā cuǐ càn ， shèn zhì hái yǒu bù shǎo huó de zhēn xiān qīn lín 。 dào dào shēn yǐng ， jù shì kàn xiàng tiān zhù zhōng yāng 。
光吾星海方面，如临大敌。似乎道湮漩涡中即将出现之物，对他们来说意义重大。不仅仅百根天柱之上绽放的光芒愈发璀璨，甚至还有不少活的真仙亲临。道道身影，俱是看向天柱中央。
This was just an illusion.
hōng ！
轰！
In Li Fan's eyes, the five shadow figures of Shou Qiu Gong stood beside several shorter figures. These were Cheng Dao.
wǎn ruò yī zhèn jù dà de hǎi làng ， měng dì pāi jī zài dī bà shàng 。 yǐn dé zhè bǎi gēn tiān zhù ， shèn zhì tiān zhù bì yòu xià de zhěng piàn xīng hǎi ， dōu xiàn rù le jù liè de zhèn dàng zhī zhōng 。
宛若一阵巨大的海浪，猛地拍击在堤坝上。引得这百根天柱，甚至天柱庇佑下的整片星海，都陷入了剧烈的震荡之中。
He stood respectfully behind the shadow figures of Shou Qiu Gong and below them, supporting them with dao strings that crisscrossed like ropes.
ér nà xiē guāng wú xīng hǎi zhēn xiān ， què bù jīng fǎn xǐ 。
而那些光吾星海真仙，却不惊反喜。
Though not as strong as true columns, these strings still provided support. As the merging became more profound, the dao strings grew denser, allowing Li Fan to finally feel the dark clouds above the primordial realm slowly dissipating.
“ guǒ rán néng yǐn guò lái ！”
“果然能引过来！”
They did not disappear but retreated temporarily, only to return at an uncertain time.
“ zhū wèi mò huāng ， yī jì xíng shì ！”
“诸位莫慌，依计行事！”
"Thank you for your assistance," Li Fan said solemnly.
jù làng bù tíng chōng shuā pāi dǎ ， nà bǎi gēn tiān zhù hè rán yǒu le bù tóng chéng dù de qīng xié 。 sì hū xià yī kè jiù huì hōng rán tān tā 。
巨浪不停冲刷拍打，那百根天柱赫然有了不同程度的倾斜。似乎下一刻就会轰然坍塌。
Cheng Dao waved his hand. "It's both saving you and myself. If it were just the dao network, I'm afraid we wouldn't have been able to hold on."
ér guāng wú xīng hǎi zhòng xiān ， què shì bù guǎn bù gù 。
而光吾星海众仙，却是不管不顾。
He pointed towards the original location of the primordial sea.
cóng tiān zhù wài wéi jí sù gǎn lái de shēn yǐng ， yě shì yuè lái yuè duō 。
从天柱外围急速赶来的身影，也是越来越多。
The precarious situation worsened as the supporting dao network was moved away, causing the void tide to surge down instantly, engulfing everything.
bù guò tā men de mù biāo ， kě bú shì wèi le wǎn jiù jiāng qīng zhī tiān zhù 。 ér shì wèi le dào yān xuán wō zhī xià de dōng xī ！
不过他们的目标，可不是为了挽救将倾之天柱。而是为了道湮漩涡之下的东西！
The once vibrant starry sky had fallen into darkness and silence. The completely obliterated area cut off all contact between the dao network-high wall complex and the outside world.
cóng zhè xiē zhēn xiān de shēn shàng ， yě shì fàng chū rú sī xiàn bān de guāng huá 。
从这些真仙的身上，也释放出如丝线般的光华。
Li Fan's expression turned grim: "Brother-in-arms might be right. The frequent use of immortal caskets to fish for objects in the void may have attracted attention. The intensity of the tribulation will increase around the location where the immortal casket is, making it a potential hazard if we stay."
jiāng zuò wéi yòu ěr de xiān guān ， gěi qiáng xíng gù dìng 。
将作为诱饵的仙棺，给强行固定。
"Fortunately, I showed enough strength, so they directly used this as an opportunity to hand over this hot potato," Li Fan said.
sì hū zhǎng shí jiān de wèi néng bǔ huò ， hào jìn le xià fāng wèi zhī cún zài de nài xīn 。 zhōng yú ， tā yú dào yān zhī xià ， hōng rán yuè chū 。
似乎长时间的未能捕获，耗尽了下方未知存在的耐心。终于，祂于道湮之下，轰然跃出。
Cheng Dao pondered for a moment and added: "It's not just about the frequency. They have actually fished up something extremely special, which is why the tide of void has surged."
“ zhèn qǐ ！”
“阵起！”
"Since he doesn't know if it was the Dark Sea of Light that orchestrated everything, all he remembers is the Ratimmortal as bait."
yī dào zhèng qì líng rán de dī hē zhī shēng ， bàn suí zhe dào yān zhī xià de shēn yǐng tóng shí chū xiàn 。
一道正气凌然的低喝之声，伴随着道湮之下的身影同时出现。
"The Dark Sea of Light must have done something to the Ratimmortal's body at its death. The fluctuations emitted by his demise attracted attention from outside the void," Cheng Dao said.
nà bǎi gēn tiān zhù ， jìng rán tóng shí xū huà 。 xiǎn lù chū yī zhāng zhāng bù tóng de miàn páng 。
那百根天柱，竟然同时虚化。显露出一张张不同的面庞。
"If only the path through the stars were still open, I would go and kill them now," Li Fan said with a bitter expression.
wǎn ruò bèi fēng yìn wú míng zhēn xiān sǐ ér fù shēng ， qí qí nù shì zhōng yāng nà tū wù chū xiàn de dí rén 。
宛若被封印无名真仙死而复生，齐齐怒视中央那突兀出现的敌人。
Cheng Dao narrowed his eyes: "Brother-in-arms, don't be in such a hurry."
yuán běn cēn cī bù qí 、 zhōng dī wài gāo de tiān zhù ， shà shí jiān biàn dé yī yàng gāo dì 。
原本参差不齐、中低外高的天柱，霎时间变得一样高地。
"The ability to attract the attention of the tide of void and cause corresponding changes is no small matter. I will inform our master about this," Cheng Dao said.
zhōng yāng de yōu àn xuán wō ， gēn wài jiè de lián xì yě bèi qiē duàn 。
中央的幽暗漩涡，跟外界的联系也被切断。
Li Fan was taken aback: "Should I trouble our master with this? That would seem like we are incompetent as brothers."
nà dào mào rán chuǎng rù de shēn yǐng ， tuì lù yǐ duàn 。 zài wú fǎ duǎn shí jiān nèi ， táo huí dào yān dà cháo zhī zhōng ！
那道冒然闯入的身影，退路已断。再无法短时间内，逃回道湮大潮之中！
Cheng Dao shook his head. "This isn't the time to show off. You should know from 'The Casual Notes of Shou Qiu' that during my master's countless years observing the changes and patterns in the mountains and seas, he attempted to summarize them but never succeeded."
zhǎng shí jiān shēn chù xīng hǎi ， wéi rào zài tā shēn shàng de mò míng lì liàng ， huǎn huǎn liú shì 。 tā de lú shān zhēn miàn mù ， zhè cái dé yǐ bèi páng rén kàn qīng 。
长时间身处星海，围绕在祂身上的莫名力量，缓缓流逝。祂的庐山真面目，这才得以被旁人看清。
"If our master knew that the Dark Sea of Light had discovered something capable of fixing the tide of void, I'm sure he would be very interested," Cheng Dao said.
hè rán yòu shì yī zūn xiān guān ！
赫然又是一尊仙棺！
Without waiting for Li Fan's response, Cheng Dao immediately sat down with his eyes closed.
zhǐ bù guò ， zhè jù xiān guān bǐ qǐ shuò shǔ xiān suǒ dài de ， hái yào fǔ xiǔ 、 cán pò 。
只不过，这具仙棺比起硕鼠仙所待的，还要腐朽、残破。
Li Fan sensed a mysterious connection breaking through the barrier between the mortal world and the mountains and seas.
In the vast, dark sea beyond the primordial realm, a thick cloud of darkness had already gathered.
"Is this the tribulation of the void?" Li Fan asked, his senses tingling as he detected through the shadowy figure of Shou Qiu Gong that the pressure from the void was intensifying.
"This is extremely abnormal," Li Fan said, looking at Cheng Dao.
"Could it be because we killed the Ratimmortal?" Li Fan asked Cheng Dao.
"It's possible that the purpose of the Dark Sea of Light wasn't to test you. After all, there are many possibilities for suppressing the dao sword and dao knife. They just needed a powerful enough individual who could kill the Ratimmortal," Cheng Dao said with a smile. "If it were only the shadow figure of our master in the high wall, I'm not sure if we would have been able to hold on. But thanks to your intervention, this is exactly what they need. It's truly wonderful! Fortunately, we didn't rashly release them earlier."
The "them" referred to the Starving Immortals and others sealed within the columns.
"Brother-in-arms, I must cooperate with you now to face this tide," Li Fan said, his heart calm as he looked at Cheng Dao.
As the clouds of darkness approached, in order to prevent a sudden collapse of the Dark Sea of Light, Li Fan had to return all the power from the columns. However, it was still insufficient to withstand the incoming tide from an unknown direction.
It seemed that the tide precisely targeted the location where the Ratimmortal fell in the primordial realm, and wave after wave of the tide surged forward, continuously impacting the area.
If they couldn't hold on, the destruction below would be imminent. Li Fan felt a sense of urgency to protect his life.
However, seeing Cheng Dao's calm demeanor, Li Fan steadied himself.
"Brother-in-arms, please bear with me for a moment," he said.
Before he could finish speaking, Cheng Dao transformed from an old, thin figure back into the blue shadow. He had completed the switch between his true form and the shadow figure of Cheng Dao.
Li Fan looked beyond the high wall and saw the primordial sea's network suddenly emit a blinding blue light, enveloping the entire expanse of the starry sky as it flew towards the high wall.
"United we stand; divided we fall!" Cheng Dao's voice echoed in Li Fan's ears.
Li Fan replied with joy: "I am willing to join Brother-in-arms to resist the void."
In his heart, he hesitated for a moment but did not show any signs of it. He began to cooperate by merging the dao network and the high wall together.
The dao network and the high wall were essentially supporting the dao path by transforming the nameless sages into dao pillars. The true creators of the dao network were the sea spirits that Shou Qiu Gong had personally guided, while the high wall was primarily composed of the five shadow figures of Shou Qiu Gong.
Thus, merging the dao network and the high wall went smoothly.
The primordial sea was forcibly dragged away from its original position and brought close to the high wall. However, because there was a narrow void outside the high wall, not enough stars remained to fully accommodate the primordial sea, so it appeared as if the high wall had deeply pierced into the primordial sea.
This was just an illusion.
In Li Fan's eyes, the five shadow figures of Shou Qiu Gong stood beside several shorter figures. These were Cheng Dao.
He stood respectfully behind the shadow figures of Shou Qiu Gong and below them, supporting them with dao strings that crisscrossed like ropes.
Though not as strong as true columns, these strings still provided support. As the merging became more profound, the dao strings grew denser, allowing Li Fan to finally feel the dark clouds above the primordial realm slowly dissipating.
They did not disappear but retreated temporarily, only to return at an uncertain time.
"Thank you for your assistance," Li Fan said solemnly.
Cheng Dao waved his hand. "It's both saving you and myself. If it were just the dao network, I'm afraid we wouldn't have been able to hold on."
He pointed towards the original location of the primordial sea.
The precarious situation worsened as the supporting dao network was moved away, causing the void tide to surge down instantly, engulfing everything.
The once vibrant starry sky had fallen into darkness and silence. The completely obliterated area cut off all contact between the dao network-high wall complex and the outside world.
Li Fan's expression turned grim: "Brother-in-arms might be right. The frequent use of immortal caskets to fish for objects in the void may have attracted attention. The intensity of the tribulation will increase around the location where the immortal casket is, making it a potential hazard if we stay."
"Fortunately, I showed enough strength, so they directly used this as an opportunity to hand over this hot potato," Li Fan said.
Cheng Dao pondered for a moment and added: "It's not just about the frequency. They have actually fished up something extremely special, which is why the tide of void has surged."
"Since he doesn't know if it was the Dark Sea of Light that orchestrated everything, all he remembers is the Ratimmortal as bait."
"The Dark Sea of Light must have done something to the Ratimmortal's body at its death. The fluctuations emitted by his demise attracted attention from outside the void," Cheng Dao said.
"If only the path through the stars were still open, I would go and kill them now," Li Fan said with a bitter expression.
Cheng Dao narrowed his eyes: "Brother-in-arms, don't be in such a hurry."
"The ability to attract the attention of the tide of void and cause corresponding changes is no small matter. I will inform our master about this," Cheng Dao said.
Li Fan was taken aback: "Should I trouble our master with this? That would seem like we are incompetent as brothers."
Cheng Dao shook his head. "This isn't the time to show off. You should know from 'The Casual Notes of Shou Qiu' that during my master's countless years observing the changes and patterns in the mountains and seas, he attempted to summarize them but never succeeded."
"If our master knew that the Dark Sea of Light had discovered something capable of fixing the tide of void, I'm sure he would be very interested," Cheng Dao said.
Without waiting for Li Fan's response, Cheng Dao immediately sat down with his eyes closed.
Li Fan sensed a mysterious connection breaking through the barrier between the mortal world and the mountains and seas.