My Longevity Simulation -
Chapter 1290: The Holy Emperor Suddenly Achieves Insight
“Master, does this [Eternal Immortal Wall] really exist within the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance? It is simply too horrifying to believe,” Sun Tianci asked after a long while, still unable to accept it.
“The Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance’s brutality goes far beyond just this.” Li Fan let out a cold laugh.
The first time Li Fan learned of the Eternal Immortal Wall was in the 114th life, when the Tianxuan Spirit Locking sealed all spirits and the Mysterious Net enveloped Xuanhuang.
At the time, he had assumed it was a unique product of that particular life’s Immortal Alliance.
But later, in the 119th life, he impersonated Sun Xingwang, Dharma King of the Xuantian Sect, and used the Three Disasters and Hundred Tribulations Divine Clarity Method to refine countless thought demon gods within tens of thousands of cultivators. The Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance’s final method of dealing with those cultivators was precisely a technique similar to the Eternal Immortal Wall. From the information revealed after Mo Rubin possessed a Dharma-Transmitter, it became known that the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance indeed secretly preserved many cultivators in sealed storage, using them to maintain and guarantee the stability of the Xuanhuang Realm.
And there was more than one such location.
Li Fan transmitted a blurry scene to Sun Tianci, and the Sun family’s prodigy was instantly shocked by the cruel sight.
“Master, what should we do?”
Not long after, he recovered from the shock and asked in a resolute tone.
“Your execution speed of the Dark Nether Art is still too slow. Even if we successfully infiltrate the Immortal Wall, we will not have much time to act.”
“First, become faster.”
The Dark Nether Art was naturally the mysterious technique Li Fan had imparted, one that dissolved a cultivator’s cultivation and returned it to the Xuanhuang world.
Li Fan’s divine sense split from Sun Tianci’s sea of consciousness, manifesting into an illusory form.
The avatar raised his head toward the sky and slowly murmured, “Distort the Principles of Heaven and Earth…”
As he softly chanted, a scene that made Sun Tianci’s scalp go numb unfolded.
An invisible vortex instantly appeared above Li Fan’s head.
A deeply familiar aura, belonging to the Spirit of Heaven and Earth, seemed to be brewing within the vortex.
As he watched the blurry humanoid shape gradually extending an arm from within, Sun Tianci became increasingly certain of his suspicion.
“To summon the Spirit of Heaven and Earth with a single word? Master’s true identity is actually…”
Just as Sun Tianci stood stunned by the sight, Li Fan’s rebuke sounded by his ear.
“What are you standing there for? Do you intend to wait until the Spirit of Heaven and Earth fully descends?”
Sun Tianci instantly snapped back to his senses. He immediately directed a Dark Nether Art toward the blurry figure that was on the verge of manifesting.
As if the descent process had been obstructed, a gust of wind passed through, and the Spirit of Heaven and Earth that Li Fan had falsely summoned returned once more to heaven and earth.
During this process, Sun Tianci did not feel his connection with the Xuanhuang world deepen in any way. Clearly, this was because the Spirit of Heaven and Earth still belonged to Xuanhuang itself and had not been refined or occupied by a cultivator.
And because the “erroneous descent of the Spirit of Heaven and Earth” had been interrupted just before completion, the vigilance from the Xuanhuang world was negligible.
Li Fan narrowed his eyes in observation, then cast Distort the Principles of Heaven and Earth once more.
This time Sun Tianci reacted quickly. The blurry figure was sent back the moment it was about to take shape.
This repeated more than a hundred times. Only when it was about to attract the Xuanhuang world’s attention did Li Fan finally stop.
Sun Tianci let out a sigh of relief, his face pale as he wiped sweat from his forehead.
Clearly, continuously using the Dark Nether Art for such a long time to “decompose” more than a hundred Spirits of Heaven and Earth, even half-formed ones, was a heavy burden for him.
“Change locations. Continue,” Li Fan said coldly.
Ever since the day he defeated Martial Maniac Child and revealed his true combat strength, Sun Tianci was no longer restricted in his movements by the Sun family. This despite the fact that he was only a little over five years old in actual age.
Only Sun Luyuan repeatedly warned him that safety must come first. He had even bestowed many treasures for self-defense.
The special training lasted a total of fifteen days, with their footprints covering all corners of the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance. Aside from travel, nearly all remaining time was spent dissolving Spirits of Heaven and Earth. Sun Tianci’s progress was astonishing.
With casual ease, he could now continuously return the falsely summoned half-descended Spirits of Heaven and Earth back to the world.
“Mm, that is about enough.” Li Fan nodded slightly as he observed Sun Tianci’s performance.
“What are you thinking about?” Li Fan asked when he noticed Sun Tianci seemed lost in thought.
“Uh, Master, ten days ago we came here before. The spiritual energy density seemed lower then than it is now?” Sun Tianci asked uncertainly.
Li Fan smiled. “The spiritual energy of the world rises and falls like tides. Is that not normal? How could it be like the cave dwelling where you grew up, forever fixed and unchanging?”
Sun Tianci nodded slightly upon hearing the explanation. But deep in his surveying gaze, a trace of doubt still flickered.
“This little fellow has remarkably sharp observation skills.”
Li Fan had naturally also noticed the abnormality in heaven and earth. He had even detected a familiar aura within the diffused spiritual energy.
“Dao One Insect. It seems this is the Holy Emperor clone’s method. The source should be the Five Elements Great Cave Heaven. Returning the cave heaven to the Xuanhuang Realm to create a battlefield environment suitable for Great Qi soldiers? Perhaps it can also use insect-transformed spiritual energy to launch a fatal strike…”
The Holy Emperor clone’s arrangements mostly originated from explorations made by the original body in previous lives. With only a little thought, Li Fan saw through the scheme.
But he did not expose it and merely pretended ignorance.
Returning to Sun Tianci’s sea of consciousness, they advanced toward one of the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance’s Eternal Immortal Walls.
Tongyan Prefecture, inside a cave hidden among encircling mountains and broken cliffs.
“This place…”
Sun Tianci gazed from afar and sensed something extraordinary. “If Master had not pointed it out, even if I saw this cave before, I would have subconsciously ignored it. I would never have even thought of entering to investigate…”
“Hmph. This is the so-called blessed land where only those with destiny may enter. A peculiar creation of Xuanhuang. No formation concealment is needed, yet it naturally prevents most people from even noticing it. The Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance has quite a few such hidden cave heavens. They have almost all been divided among the Dharma-Transmitters as their personal cave dwellings.” Li Fan recalled the hidden cave heaven where he met Mo Rubin after infiltrating the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance headquarters in the 119th life.
It was exactly the same as this place.
“Because of this natural characteristic, the stationed cultivators will certainly not be overly vigilant. But we must still proceed carefully…”
Li Fan’s divine sense clone laid down a series of formations around Sun Tianci, then the two flew together into the hollow cave.
After passing through a narrow descending tunnel, they arrived before a deep shaft only waist-wide for a single person.
It was pitch black, descending straight downward, bottomless.
“Do not probe with divine sense. It will trigger an alarm.”
Li Fan immediately saw through the mechanism behind this underground cavern.
He leapt into the deep shaft, rapidly flying downward.
It took the time of an incense stick, as if he had pierced through the Xuanhuang earth itself and arrived at the depths of the Nine Nether.
Only then did the cramped tunnel gradually widen.
After passing through a horizontal passage, a massive underground cavern, shaped like an inverted cone and buried in the deepest underground, suddenly appeared before Sun Tianci.
The cavern walls were densely covered with square openings.
Looking carefully, within each of those openings were amber colored crystal bodies.
And within every single one of those crystal bodies, without exception, a cultivator lay sleeping.
From time to time, Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance guards could be seen patrolling through the air. Sun Tianci did not dare spread out his divine sense to investigate, but from a rough estimate, this underground cavern alone held at least over one hundred thousand sealed cultivators.
Their complexions were rosy, and some even wore faint smiles on their faces.
They were utterly unaware that they had fallen into eternal sleep.
“According to Master, this is merely one part of the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance’s Eternal Immortal Wall…” Sun Tianci felt a chill in his heart and unconsciously clenched his fists.
“Go. The rest depends on you.” Li Fan seemed to see the suppressed anger in Sun Tianci’s heart and spoke indifferently.
At the same time, he transmitted the method to break the sealing formation imprisoning these cultivators.
“Master, what do you think would happen if we awakened all the cultivators here?” Sun Tianci suddenly asked.
“I advise you to abandon that thought. Since the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance dares to do this so openly, they must naturally have prepared preventative measures. Believe me, the speed at which you awaken them will absolutely not match the speed at which the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance handles them. You should know that the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance possesses methods to extract and preserve a cultivator’s Dao Foundation…” Li Fan said coldly.
Sun Tianci’s gaze flickered, but in the end, he could only abandon the thought.
Avoiding the patrolling cultivators, he rapidly passed by these pitiful sleeping souls. A nearly imperceptible breeze followed in his wake, dissolving all of their Dao Foundations.
“Without their cultivation, even while sleeping, they will not live much longer… It is equivalent to me personally killing them…” Sun Tianci’s flying body trembled.
“Killing? Or saving? Look at their current state. Is this not worse than death? If they could consciously perceive everything around them, they would surely beg you to act and free them,” Li Fan spoke to comfort him.
After another round of persuasion, Sun Tianci’s hesitant movements once again became resolute.
Over more than five years, Li Fan had cultivated Sun Tianci according to his ideal image of the Xuanhuang Great Celestial Venerable.
This made him compassionate, but not foolishly naïve. Once he made a decision, he could become extraordinarily decisive.
The Xuanhuang heaven and earth power formed from dissolving the Dao Foundations of tens of thousands of cultivators was gathered by Li Fan into a single brilliant orb of light.
When the act of merciful release had reached one fifth completion, Li Fan spoke.
“That is enough. If we continue further, even I will not be able to conceal these intense energy fluctuations.”
Sun Tianci looked at those who remained, a trace of regret faintly appearing.
But he still obeyed his master’s orders and quietly flew toward the exit.
“Master, is there something wrong?” As he reached the very top of the massive cavern, Sun Tianci sensed that his master still seemed to be gazing at a certain spot below, and could not help asking.
“It is nothing. Just leave.”
After a brief silence, Li Fan finally replied.
Sun Tianci did not ask further and sped upward all the way. After leaving this horrifying underground prison, Sun Tianci took the orb of light containing the Dao Foundations of countless cultivators and gently crushed it.
Countless streams of light burst forth instantly.
In a daze, Sun Tianci seemed to see wondrous things of the world, the Xuanhuang Cave Heaven, and scenes of mountains and rivers shifting.
In the sky, wind and clouds changed color. A creaking sound like a giant millstone grinding echoed above the clouds.
And throughout the entire Xuanhuang Realm, a faint tremor spread in that instant.
Though the movement was minuscule, Sun Tianci still sensed it.
“The Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance should already be sending people to investigate. Go!” Li Fan called out.
There was no need for a reminder. The moment Sun Tianci crushed the light orb, he had already fled far from the scene.
At this moment, he was immersed in the rapidly increasing favor of Xuanhuang heaven.
Meanwhile, after ensuring no one was tracking them, Li Fan once again recalled the scene he had just witnessed in that massive cavern.
Several faces flashed through his mind. Though he did not know their names, Li Fan was certain he had seen them before.
But not in the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance.
Rather…
In the territory of the Five Elders Association.
Within the Derivation Law Jade space, the Dao Deviation Stone in his true body’s sea of consciousness emitted a faint glow, bringing forth scenes he had once seen.
That was during the 119th life, when the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance used the Chosen Immortals to activate the power hidden within the Immortal Ancestor stone statue, restraining the five Longevity Immortal Heavenly Sovereigns before launching a fierce assault against the Five Elders Association.
After the Five Elders Association appeared to be driven into a desperate corner, their hidden methods were finally revealed.
Ancient sects that had already gone extinct reappeared in the world. Even cultivators from the Carefree Paradise emerged, fearlessly counterattacking with all kinds of strange artifacts.
Li Fan compared several faces that had appeared during that campaign with the sleeping cultivators he had just seen in the cavern.
They matched perfectly.
“Interesting.” Li Fan looked toward the location of the Five Elders Association’s Carefree Paradise.
“It seems there are not only Five Elders Association cultivators within that Paradise. The question is whether those sleeping cultivators appearing there was due to cooperation between the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance and the Five Elders Association, or whether the Carefree Heavenly Sovereign captured them unilaterally.”
“If it is the latter, then this Heavenly Sovereign’s strength may be somewhat greater than I imagined.”
The infant like image of the Carefree Heavenly Sovereign surfaced in Li Fan’s mind.
He also recalled Dharma-Transmitter Zhou, whom he had encountered during the Dharma Transmission Council’s inspection in the 119th life.
She had transformed the surroundings into a modern city with neon drenched rainy night scenery, claiming she had seen it while vacationing in the Carefree Paradise and had reproduced it exactly.
“Cooperation between the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance and the Carefree Paradise is not impossible.”
“The Carefree Paradise may not fully represent the Five Elders Association. Only when the Five Elders Association faces an absolute crisis do they take action.”
“Dreamland Paradise…”
A sudden question flashed through Li Fan’s mind.
“I wonder whether these cultivators, if they die in reality, can still continue to exist in the Paradise. And if the Xuanhuang Realm ceases to exist, can this Carefree Paradise still remain?”
As thoughts surged through his mind, Sun Tianci had also fully absorbed this round of gains.
With Li Fan, this wise mentor, planning every step, he could be considered the fastest person at accumulating Xuanhuang heaven’s favor.
He was even progressing much faster than the Holy Emperor clone had once done.
Unfortunately, perhaps because there was already a destined Holy Emperor who could communicate with Heavenly Dao consciousness at any time, even though Sun Tianci clearly felt the closeness of Xuanhuang heaven and earth, he still could not directly converse with Heavenly Dao.
He could only sense the omnipresent convenience.
Sun Tianci immediately cast a spell. With the constant blessing of heaven and earth, its power indeed increased greatly.
Yet he still felt deeply dejected.
“It does not matter. At this point, it is already enough.”
Li Fan’s voice sounded beside Sun Tianci’s ear.
He saw that this incomparably mysterious master, who had never once revealed his true appearance before him, had actually shown his real face at this moment.
Sun Tianci could not help but be slightly stunned.
Because he had never expected that his master would be so extraordinarily handsome.
Clad in white robes, with a peerlessly beautiful face that seemed to gather all the spiritual energy between heaven and earth, along with the occasional flashes of compassion for all living beings in his eyes…
For a moment, Sun Tianci was completely entranced.
“Come with me.”
Master and disciple arrived deep underground.
After creating a secret chamber, Li Fan instructed Sun Tianci to take out the four items he had prepared long ago.
A simple hemp garment.
A full stalk of rice.
A small yet exquisite miniature house model.
A lifelike miniature donkey cart.
Li Fan then placed the four items in the four corners respectively, before looking toward Sun Tianci.
With a benevolent expression, he said, “You may begin. Do not forget the stories I have told you ever since the day you were born.”
Sun Tianci seemed to realize something and replied in a deep voice, “I understand, Master. I will not betray your trust.”
Li Fan nodded with satisfaction, then transformed back into his previously blurred appearance and withdrew beyond the formation.
Sun Tianci took a deep breath and began.
Taking the first step, facing the direction of the donkey cart, he softly recited:
“Blessings upon Xuanhuang Immortal Venerable.”
The second step, turning toward the house that represented the dwelling place of ordinary people, he sincerely murmured:
“Blessings upon Xuanhuang Heavenly Lord.”
The third step, looking at the full stalk of rice, he held his breath and whispered:
“Blessings upon Xuanhuang Supreme Emperor.”
The fourth step, gazing at the hemp garment, he finally murmured:
“Blessings upon Xuanhuang Celestial Venerable.”
This was the ritual performed in reverse from the normal Fallen Immortal Realm entry process for ordinary people, allowing entry into the special illusion realm for inheriting the position of Xuanhuang Great Celestial Venerable.
The moment the ritual was completed, a consciousness from the highest heavens instantly descended and locked onto Sun Tianci.
Sun Tianci gently closed his eyes and sat cross legged in the center of the four ritual items, seemingly falling asleep.
The four objects representing clothing, food, shelter, and travel flickered with alternating light and shadow, as though they had fallen into the crack between illusion and reality.
…
“No matter how many times I witness the thoughts of a fallen True Immortal, it still feels so unbelievably inconceivable.”
Li Fan’s split consciousness silently thought to itself.
During the brief moment just now when he had transformed into Mister Bai’s appearance to deceive Sun Tianci, even though he was hidden beneath layer upon layer of underground formations, he still sensed Xuanhuang heaven and earth showing signs of reaction.
Fortunately, he was no longer the same as before. Before Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao could locate him, he had already transformed back. Otherwise, there might have been another repeat of the incident of Returning to [Truth] Yet Unwilling.
“Such a close connection. Even the Holy Emperor’s clone in this life cannot compare.”
“It must certainly be the effect of the Xuanhuang Great Celestial Venerable…”
“Now let us see whether this boy possesses such fortune.”
Li Fan stared at the meditating Sun Tianci and thought this.
The trial within the Fallen Immortal Realm for Xuanhuang Great Celestial Venerable passed almost at the same rate as real time.
Back then, even with full knowledge of all the correct answers and rapidly clearing it with the optimal solutions, it had still taken him nearly half a year.
As for Sun Tianci, Li Fan had not directly told him the correct method.
This was to avoid any possible anti-cheating mechanisms within the trial.
Instead, through the method of telling stories since childhood, he had planted the solutions deep within Sun Tianci’s subconscious.
With Sun Tianci’s talent, even if it took some effort, successfully breaking through the illusion trial should not be difficult.
“He should arrive just in time for the beginning of the war between the Holy Dynasty and the Immortal Alliance.”
As for whether Sun Tianci might lose control…
Li Fan looked at the remnant soul of Sun Tianci’s birth mother wrapped within the core of his clone.
After a period of conditioning, all traces of resentment had outwardly vanished. She now completely appeared to be a loving mother.
“They call it being born already integrated with the Dao, but in truth, he consumed his birth mother’s life. This is his greatest weakness.”
“Soon. Let me see just how mighty the Xuanhuang Great Celestial Venerable of this era truly is.”
Under the continuously flickering light of the trial ritual, Li Fan’s split consciousness appeared and disappeared like a ghost.
…
Holy Dynasty Great Qi.
Lingzhou, Dujiang County, Xixi Village.
The grim atmosphere of the impending war had already drifted into this peaceful village.
The vast majority of the village’s young and middle-aged men had already joined the Holy Army, ready to depart for conquest at any moment.
Only the elderly, the weak, women, and children remained in each household, maintaining livelihoods while going daily to the Holy Heart Hall to pray for their family members and the great Holy Emperor.
A woman in her forties had just returned from the Holy Heart Hall when she saw a young man standing at her doorway.
For no apparent reason, a sense of closeness arose within her. Just as she was about to speak, her heart suddenly tightened.
As though possessed by some strange force, she swallowed back the words that had reached her lips.
“This…”
“Auntie, may I ask, have you seen me before?”
In the end, it was the young man who spoke first.
But what he said was rather strange.
The woman did not understand.
However, the woman gradually relaxed under the other party’s warm and approachable demeanor, slowly opening up in conversation.
“Young man, I understand what you mean now.”
“You came looking for relatives, did you not?”
“Now that I think about it, you really do resemble my younger brother-in-law somewhat. It is just that he suddenly ran away from home years ago, and we have never seen him again since.” A trace of tears flashed in the woman’s eyes as she spoke slowly.
The young man nodded.
“Other than that, is there anyone else in the family?” he asked.
“My husband died early. It was just the two of us relying on each other since childhood. Though I was his sister-in-law by title, I was really more like his mother,” the woman said with a somewhat self-mocking tone.
“But these past few years, I have come to accept it. What is that saying again? The dead are gone. I adopted two orphans afterward, a boy and a girl. They are both very well-behaved. The old Li family can be considered to have successors now.”
“It is just that recently, it seems the Holy Dynasty is about to go to war. Those two little ones both volunteered to join the army. Sigh… I wonder whether they will be able to return alive. Tell me, everything was perfectly fine, so why fight a war?” the woman muttered worriedly.
But she quickly realized her words had crossed a taboo and immediately fell silent.
Seeing that the young man’s expression did not seem to change, the woman finally let out a sigh of relief.
“Do not worry. They will return home safely,” the young man said kindly.
The woman smiled as well. “Then I will borrow your auspicious words. By the way, have you eaten? How about eating at my home?”
“Seeing that you were not conscripted into the army, you should not be a cultivator, so you still need to eat, right?”
“Ah, this is all my fault. Seeing you reminded me of that missing younger brother-in-law at home again…”
The woman hurriedly explained.
The young man nodded and readily agreed.
He quietly ate a meal at the woman’s home before bidding farewell and leaving.
For some unknown reason, although the woman had only watched from the side and had not eaten anything herself, she still felt as though she had enjoyed a full feast. Her entire body felt warm, as if she had endless strength.
When she looked into the mirror in the room afterward, she was startled to discover that the wrinkles on her face had vanished without her noticing.
Only then did the woman realize that she had encountered a benefactor.
Yet no matter how hard she racked her brain, she could not figure out this benefactor’s identity.
If not for the difference in appearance, she would almost have believed that her younger brother-in-law had returned.
“Fan’er… are you really dead?”
The woman stood dazed in the room, lost in thought.
After leaving Lingzhou, the young man went to several other places in Great Qi.
Including the foot of Jieli Mountain.
In the end, he ascended to the summit of Jieli Mountain and slowly sat down inside a thatched hut at the peak.
This young man was naturally the Holy Emperor of Great Qi.
Ever since comprehending the Dao in the star sea and growing a face of his own, a certain concern had always lingered in his heart.
But for some reason, he had never chosen to investigate deeply.
Until the moment when the decisive battle was about to arrive.
The appearances of all the people of Great Qi were within a single thought of his.
Based on his current appearance, finding possible bloodline connections was not difficult.
It was just that the origins seemed too mixed, not belonging to a single family.
To the point that the Holy Emperor even began to suspect he had made a mistake.
Yet when facing those who truly shared a bloodline connection, the instinctive ripple that arose in his heart allowed the Holy Emperor to finally confirm something.
Only upon arriving at the summit of Jieli Mountain were certain guesses in his heart finally confirmed.
Yet the truth still seemed deeply hidden within a fog, impossible to fully discern.
“Was it an ancestor, or that mysteriously vanished person?”
“The moment of disappearance happened to coincide exactly with the day my consciousness was born.”
“Possession? Awakening of consciousness?”
…
The Holy Emperor’s thoughts became unusually chaotic.
It was only the movement on his shoulder that startled him awake.
Cat Treasure had awakened from sleep and affectionately rubbed against the Holy Emperor’s cheek.
The Holy Emperor stepped out of the wooden hut and gazed at the sea of clouds in the distance.
Clouds rolled and shifted across the sky, while gentle breezes passed in waves.
The clouds transformed into different shapes, only to vanish in an instant.
The Holy Emperor’s mood gradually returned to calm.
“Whatever my origin may be, I am still myself.”
“Incarnation of the Heavenly Dao, Holy Emperor of Great Qi.”
“When truth is made false…”
“Falsehood also becomes truth.”
The Holy Emperor’s eyes were incomparably calm.
The aura around his body surged like the sea of clouds.
It merged with the Heavenly Dao of the Great Qi world.
“Meow~”
Cat Treasure cried out in satisfaction, then peacefully went back to sleep.
“My mission does not change because of my identity.”
The clothes on his body slowly changed from simple white robes into the Starlight Holy Robe.
His body also expanded from that of an ordinary human to a height of thirty-three chi.
Holy Emperor Li Ping stepped forward from the summit of Jieli Mountain, placing one foot into the empty void beyond the cliff.
The next moment, his figure vanished.
He had returned to the Holy Emperor’s throne.
The brief confusion had already passed. From now on, he would be completely and utterly the Holy Emperor of Great Qi.
What he bore upon his shoulders was not merely himself.
But also the lives of countless soldiers of Great Qi, as well as the future of the Xuanhuang Realm.
Just as the Holy Emperor was quietly pondering, his heart suddenly stirred.
Because he sensed an intention transmitted from the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao.
It carried both urgency and confusion.
"This translation was made by our team, to read more translated novels please visite www.readernovel.net"