Silver flashes, like heavenly thunder, struck one after another.
Under the awe-inspiring divine might, the humanoid figure hidden within the Black Mirror went from cursing to wailing, and then to pleading.
But Li Fan's spirit fragment had no intention of showing mercy from the start.
Unlike a clone, a spirit fragment could not autonomously draw spiritual energy from the heavens and earth to recover. Every bit of its stored power, once used, was depleted, so it had to act with absolute certainty.
The silver lightning was like a colossal millstone, grinding down the humanoid black mist.
Seizing the opportunity, Li Fan's spirit fragment rapidly formed hand seals, employing the "Formation Refinement" technique in an attempt to gain control of the Black Mirror.
The Black Mirror was not a bound artifact, but it had been periodically nourished with the bloodline of the Sun family's disciples, forging a subtle, mysterious connection with the Sun clan.
Under normal circumstances, only members of the Sun family could use or refine it.
However, Li Fan's formation techniques, bolstered by the accumulated knowledge of multiple cycles from the Final Dissociation Disc, had reached an unfathomable level of mastery.
With layers of formations stacked upon one another, he could bypass such restrictions.
Even as Li Fan's clone refined the Black Mirror, Sun Luyuan, who shared a special connection with it, remained completely unaware.
As time slowly passed, unnoticed by anyone, the Black Mirror quietly changed hands.
Li Fan's spirit fragment materialized into a tangible form, tossing the Black Mirror lightly in his hand.
He could sense that the black mist humanoid, the Black Mirror's "artifact spirit," was cowering within, trembling in fear and dread of him.
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Li Fan paid no mind to its thoughts. Narrowing his eyes, he instantly discerned the origins of this treasured heirloom of the Sun family.
Over a thousand years ago, the Sun brothers, Sun Luyuan and Sun Luyao, stumbled upon a slightly damaged bronze mirror during a relic exploration.
Initially, the brothers thought the mirror was just an ordinary antique and paid it little attention. But when they brought it to the Tianxuan Mirror to sell, something astonishing happened.
The Tianxuan Mirror completely ignored the bronze mirror's existence! Despite being within the Tianxuan Mirror's space, it simply could not appear on the sales list.
After repeated confirmation, the brothers realized they had stumbled upon a treasure.
They then made various attempts to discover the correct method to use this mysterious bronze mirror. However, at the time, they were merely Golden Core cultivators, lacking both the strength and knowledge to accomplish this task.
A hundred years later.
Sun Luyuan, the elder brother, discovered a miniature Cave-Heaven, intending to use it to advance to the Nascent Soul realm.
Sun Luyao stood guard for his brother. Despite their utmost caution, fate was unpredictable, and they attracted the attention of a passing Golden Core perfection stage cultivator.
Golden Core and Nascent Soul, though only one realm apart, were worlds apart in power.
With the opportunity for a breakthrough right before him, the Golden Core cultivator naturally refused to give up.
To ensure his brother's successful advancement, Sun Luyao risked his life to hold off the enemy's assault.
When Sun Luyuan successfully broke through to the Nascent Soul realm and furiously slew the Golden Core cultivator, Sun Luyao was gravely wounded and on the brink of death, beyond saving.
In the midst of Sun Luyuan's overwhelming grief, he suddenly noticed that the bronze mirror he always carried with him finally showed a reaction!
At the moment of near death, Sun Luyao's soul escaped into the bronze mirror, preserving itself.
Though he could never leave the mirror again, it was still better than being separated by life and death.
As his soul merged with the bronze mirror, Sun Luyao learned various details about it.
The mirror, named "Boundless," was a supreme treasure bestowed upon the Xuanhuang Realm's Boundless Sect by the Immortal Realm in ancient times.
However, as time passed, the immortal artifact had become damaged and incomplete, losing most of its former power.
Even the spirit of the immortal artifact had vanished, leaving only an empty shell in the mortal world.
Yet, as something once transcending the mortal realm, it still displayed some extraordinary abilities after merging with a new soul.
For instance, when entering the Tianxuan Mirror, it could secretly extract various information from it.
Additionally, after accumulating energy for a period, the Boundless Mirror could release faint projections.
These projections depicted events that might occur in the future!
Though the principle behind it was unclear, this discovery thrilled the Sun brothers.
With the Boundless Mirror's aid, the Sun brothers embarked on their legendary rise.
But gradually, they noticed something eerie about the mirror.
Due to its past damage, the mirror's incompleteness affected Sun Luyao within it. His soul was eroding, and despite Sun Luyuan's exhaustive efforts, he could not stop it.
Only by a stroke of luck, using his own vital blood, did he manage to slow the dissipation of his brother's soul.
If that were all, it would have been manageable.
After achieving the Nascent Soul realm, a cultivator of the new method could rely on a Cave-Heaven, becoming nearly immortal. Vital blood could be spared with effort.
The real trouble with the Boundless Mirror was its tendency toward self-destruction.
As if it had suffered an unimaginable calamity in the past, the mirror's "Boundless Light," which projected future scenarios, always ended in the same outcome after a few iterations.
Endless darkness, great annihilation, utter void.
It was as if this was the fate of the entire world, inescapable no matter how the Boundless Mirror projected.
Each time it awoke from this annihilation and the Boundless Light deduced again, the mirror seemed to be tainted by the black destruction of the prophecy, growing darker.
Over a thousand years, the Sun family, with the Boundless Mirror's abilities, grew from an insignificant household into a colossal force with four Dao Integration cultivators.
Sun Luyuan also advanced from a Nascent Soul cultivator to a Dao Integration cultivator.
Yet, he remained powerless to stop the Boundless Mirror's descent into destruction.
The only solution he could find was to locate the missing fragments of the Boundless Mirror to restore its completeness.
Over the years, guided by the connection between the fragments, he indeed found another piece of the Boundless Mirror.
But this only slowed the destruction, failing to resolve the issue fundamentally.
The Sun family's remarkable abilities during their rise had long attracted the attention of scheming individuals.
Not to mention the many with ulterior motives outside, the Sun family's greatest benefactor in their rise was one of the highest authorities in the
Tianxuan Mirror system itself.
That existence had remained silent for centuries, merely observing.
But as the Sun family's strength continued to swell, and as the abnormalities of the Boundless Mirror became more pronounced, even such a lofty existence could no longer ignore them.
What they coveted was not the Sun family—
But the Boundless Mirror Immortal Artifact itself.
And Sun Luyuan understood this clearly.
The so-called protection, the tacit allowance granted to the Sun family over the years, was nothing more than patience before harvest.
Once the fruit ripened…
It would be plucked.
—
Li Fan's eyes flickered faintly.
"So that's how it is…"
Through the trembling artifact spirit, he had already grasped the full history of the Boundless Mirror.
Including—
That terrifying, inescapable "future."
Endless darkness.
Total annihilation.
A fate that could not be altered no matter how many times it was projected.
Even Li Fan, who had experienced countless cycles, felt a subtle ripple in his heart.
Because this—
Was strikingly similar to the ultimate end he had glimpsed through his own path of reincarnation.
"The Boundless Mirror… is not predicting the future."
Li Fan murmured softly.
"It is merely reflecting… a fixed outcome."
At this thought, his gaze grew colder.
If even an Immortal Artifact could not escape that ending—
Then what chance did ordinary cultivators have?
But the next moment, Li Fan shook his head.
"No."
"There is no absolute fate."
His Dao heart was as firm as ever.
Had he not already broken through countless "inevitable" endings across cycles?
If fate truly could not be changed—
He would not be standing here.
—
Inside the Black Mirror, the artifact spirit trembled even more violently.
It could vaguely sense Li Fan's thoughts—
And felt an instinctive fear.
Because this human before it…
Was even more terrifying than the destruction it had witnessed.
—
Li Fan extended his hand slightly.
The Boundless Mirror floated quietly before him.
Dark light flowed across its surface, as if containing an abyss.
"But now…"
"It belongs to me."
As his voice fell—
Endless formations surged forth, completely sealing the mirror layer by layer.
At the same time, Li Fan began probing deeper into its core.
The previous Sun family could only use it.
But he—
Intended to truly control it.
Even—
Repair it.
—
"If I can restore even a fraction of its original Immortal power…"
A dangerous glint flashed in Li Fan's eyes.
"Then perhaps…"
"I can see further than annihilation itself."
—
At that moment—
Far away, within the depths of the Tianxuan Mirror.
A certain supreme existence suddenly opened its eyes.
A trace of confusion appeared.
"…Strange."
"The connection… weakened?"
For the first time in centuries—
Something had slipped beyond its perception.