Chapter 1302: Return to the Void, Finally Back to Truth
Chapter 1302: Return to the Void, Finally Back to Truth
“A thousand journeys of the soul, a hundred turnings of the spirit.”
“No blame shall follow.”
...
The phantasmal figure’s sermon continued.
It was not conveyed through sound or spiritual sense, but echoed directly within the minds of all present.
Even the Sacred Emperor, the Dharma Spreader, and the Heavenly Doctor, who were gravely concerned for the fate of the Xuanhuang Realm, found themselves irresistibly drawn in, their minds captivated by the immortal scripture recited by the ethereal child.
Once the recitation of the immortal scripture concluded, the child's phantom grew indistinct once more, its voice fading into whispers on the edge of hearing.
The trio snapped back to reality, a cold sweat breaking out across their bodies.
The phantom made no move to stop them, letting them leave as if its purpose had been fulfilled.
The voice imparting the scripture grew ever fainter until, along with the phantom itself, it mysteriously dissolved into the void.
Witnessing this, the three of them wore expressions of profound complexity.
They pondered the reason for the phantom’s sudden appearance, its cryptic sermon, and its subsequent disappearance.
At the same time, they were still contemplating the immortal scripture they had just heard.
Immortal scriptures, unlike mortal techniques, were profoundly abstruse and difficult to comprehend.
This was especially true since the phantom had merely recited the text, offering no explanation or guidance.
Although the Sacred Emperor and his companions possessed an understanding that was arguably the pinnacle of the mortal realm, fully comprehending an entire immortal scripture in such a short time was beyond them. They could only grasp its general intent.
“It isn’t a cultivation method, but a scripture on averting calamity. And within it... there seem to be fragments of records about the Immortal Realm itself...”
The Sacred Emperor’s thoughts raced, but he didn't hesitate, turning and flying back into the Xuanhuang Realm.
The Dharma Spreader followed close behind.
As for the Heavenly Doctor, he had vanished at some point without a trace.
Glancing toward Source Dao Province in the Xuanhuang Realm, the Sacred Emperor sensed no sign of the Heavenly Capital awakening.
“The Xuanhuang Realm is on the brink of annihilation, yet there is no reaction from that quarter.”
“And yet, it chose to reveal itself just now...”
“Was it because of the Wind of Annihilation?”
Though countless questions swirled in his mind, now was not the time to seek answers.
Dismissing the flood of thoughts, the Sacred Emperor focused his attention on the Xuanhuang Realm's immediate crisis.
Outside the Xuanhuang Realm, a rain of golden needles began to fall once more. This time, however, the energy they released upon landing had subtly changed. The Sacred Emperor perceived the difference at a glance. If the previous needles were potent medicine for a critical illness, these were a gentle remedy for convalescence. The power within them was far softer, more soothing.
Faint thunder rumbled as a gentle, persistent rain began to fall.
It was like the first thaw of spring, a time of awakening when all life stirs and flourishes.
Amidst the turmoil, the Xuanhuang Realm was unexpectedly filled with a scene of vibrant life.
If not, that is, for the faint, hidden aura of a great formation lurking beneath the surface.
Worthy of the title of Heavenly Doctor. In such a short span of time, using only those golden needles, he had forcefully reversed the fusion of the various Xuanhuang worlds, restoring the realm to its original form. What was even more remarkable was that the world itself had seemingly suffered no trauma in the process.
Healing the heavens as one would heal a person, reversing death with a golden needle. To achieve such a feat required more than just immense power and a high cultivation realm; it demanded a profound understanding of the very essence of the world.
As a fellow cultivator of the supreme stage, one who had once considered himself an incarnation of the Heavenly Dao and shared an intimate connection with the world, the Sacred Emperor knew with certainty that he could never replicate the Heavenly Doctor's accomplishment.
“And yet, even a being like the Heavenly Doctor cannot find the mastermind behind this...”
A heavy weight settled in the Sacred Emperor's heart.
Since his return from the void beyond the Great Qi, his sense of foreboding about the Xuanhuang Realm had only intensified.
Before, it had felt like water simmering in a pot. Now, it was a hair's breadth from a violent boil.
A fundamental, irreversible change was imminent.
The Dharma Spreader and the Heavenly Doctor sensed it too. Holding nothing back, they finally unleashed their true power.
In the celestial cities of every province, at the sites where statues of the Dharma Spreader Heavenly Venerate once stood, space began to tremble. Regardless of whether the statues remained, colossal, phantasmal figures of the Dharma Spreader materialized, looming over the original locations.
Like beacons igniting one by one, they blazed to life across more than half the expanse of the Xuanhuang Realm.
Meanwhile, in the territory of the Five Elders Council, five points of light, each a different color, flared into existence at the same moment.
Six colors in total, connecting to form a network of lines.
They resembled the meridians of the Xuanhuang Realm itself, blazing with brilliant light in broad daylight.
“Seal the soul!”
“Replace the world!”
The Heavenly Doctor’s frigid voice echoed across the heavens and the earth.
The Dharma Spreader's phantom once again expanded to a cosmic scale, its form filling the sky.
The Heavenly Doctor materialized faintly above the Dharma Spreader’s colossal head.
In his right hand, he held a seven-colored needle.
His expression grave, he plunged it into the crown of the Dharma Spreader’s head.
The Dharma Spreader's form erupted in a blinding, seven-colored radiance.
Then, its body seemed to dissolve, transforming into streams of light that surged down toward the flickering meridians of the Xuanhuang Realm.
Silently, the seven-colored light completed a full circuit the instant it poured into the world's meridians.
After a moment of stillness, the seven-colored light began to circulate through the meridians once more.
“Sealing the soul to replace the world?”
“Is the Heavenly Doctor temporarily sealing the Dharma Spreader's soul and infusing it into the Xuanhuang Realm, allowing him to briefly embody the world itself?”
The Sacred Emperor watched from a distance, his heart shaking with an indescribable shock.
Having once been one with the heavens himself, the Sacred Emperor understood just how monumentally difficult such a feat was.
Possessing even a single cultivator was no simple matter, let alone an entire world.
The Xuanhuang Realm not only possessed the consciousness of its own Heavenly Dao, but that consciousness was exceptionally active, a result of its unique position outside the Immortal Ruins and the constant threat of annihilation.
Furthermore, someone had only recently inherited the title of Xuanhuang Great Heavenly Venerate.
Despite all these factors strengthening it, the Heavenly Doctor and the Dharma Spreader had still managed to forcibly suppress and seal the world’s fundamental consciousness, replacing it with their own...
“Even if the world’s Heavenly Dao is unaware of this crisis, if the Dharma Spreader replaces it and inspects it from within, he will undoubtedly find the location of that hidden formation!”
This method of suppressing the world’s consciousness would surely cause immense harm. But in the face of this crisis, there was no time for such concerns!
The Sacred Emperor waited grimly for the Dharma Spreader's discovery.
After the seven-colored light had circulated through the world’s meridians more than three thousand six hundred times, the cycle abruptly halted.
At one specific point, as if a meridian were blocked, a pillar of black, malevolent energy erupted, soaring into the sky.
The Heavenly Doctor’s eyes snapped open, a rare glint of killing intent flashing within his usually compassionate gaze.
Nine golden needles shot out like threads of light, streaking toward the targeted location in an instant.
The Sacred Emperor reacted at the same moment.
His form flickered, and he materialized alongside the nine golden needles.
The surrounding land had already been annihilated by the eruption of black energy, revealing a hidden pocket of void deep below.
Within the void were two figures, one seated and one standing.
The seated figure was no larger than a child of seven or eight, its brow furrowed in concentration.
The face of the standing figure was impossible to discern.
Yet, faced with the Heavenly Doctor's golden needles and the incandescent rage of the Sacred Emperor, the standing figure showed not a shred of fear.
It remained utterly serene.
“This familiar feeling again...”
The Sacred Emperor felt as if he were plunging into an abyss, an icy chill seizing his heart.
In a daze, he saw the descending golden needles seem to slow, and it was as if he could see the figure below slowly mouthing a few words.
“Immortal Descends...”
“All Things Return to Void!”
Boom!
An invisible tempest erupted in an instant.
It sent the Heavenly Doctor’s nine golden needles scattering in every direction.
The charging Sacred Emperor felt as though he had slammed headfirst into an unyielding wall. It was more than just seeing stars; his physical body and divine soul were on the verge of collapse. Fortunately, a surge of starlight mended his injuries just enough.
Even with a constant supply of Source Power Essence, the Sacred Emperor, a cultivator of the supreme stage, could do little more than survive in the chaotic, raging tempest.
The pocket of void that had hidden the mastermind had long since vanished from his sight.
He could not even see the Xuanhuang Realm anymore.
It was like a terrifying sandstorm, blotting out the sky and sun, churning and rising.
It enveloped everything in its path.
The Heavenly Doctor's nine golden needles had long since been scattered by the violent gales, lost to the storm.
The auras of the Dharma Spreader and the Heavenly Doctor were also undetectable.
All he could perceive was a world of primordial chaos.
The Sacred Emperor’s mind went blank for a moment, before being consumed by an overwhelming wave of grief and rage.
Though he could not see it, he knew: the Xuanhuang Realm was disintegrating, inch by inch, within this terrifying formation.
Nothing could be done to stop it.
“Damn you! Damn you! Damn you!”
The Sacred Emperor lost his composure, screaming curses into the storm.
Heedless of his own safety, he charged recklessly through the chaotic tempest, desperate to find that familiar, yet alien, mastermind.
But his only answer was the relentless, ever-growing storm.
...
Once the power of the immortal array transformed into an all-destroying storm of nothingness, the fate of the Xuanhuang Realm was sealed.
This nexus of myriad realms, the sole sanctuary in the Darkest Star Sea, was now being rapidly devoured by the world-ending tempest.
At the formation's core, Sun Tianci, who had been trying to awaken his mother just moments before, could no longer pay her curses any mind.
He shot to his feet, staring in stunned disbelief at the Xuanhuang Realm, which had been torn to shreds in an instant.
“Ma... Master?”
After a long moment, Sun Tianci managed to choke out a call.
However, his master, who had always answered before, who had seemed omnipotent, did not appear.
As the Xuanhuang Realm neared its end, Sun Tianci not only felt the power he had just inherited from the Xuanhuang Great Heavenly Venerate rapidly draining away, but the backlash for his colossal failure descended upon him.
A nameless fire suddenly ignited within Sun Tianci's heart.
He felt no pain, only the sensation of his very existence being incinerated by the flames.
In his sea of consciousness, his mother, who had been ignoring the outside world and only spewing venomous curses at him, seemed to gradually forget he existed.
She slowly fell silent, her gaze vacant.
“Tianci, Tianci...”
“Tianci... who is that?”
Her myriad demonic thoughts dissipated like wisps of green smoke.
In the end, only the original image of Wu Ninglu remained, staring blankly at the empty space around her.
A single, inexplicable tear fell from the corner of her eye.
Wu Ninglu and Sun Tianci perished together in the heart-burning fire of the Xuanhuang Great Heavenly Venerate.
At the core of the immortal array, Li Fan's clone slowly materialized.
He frowned slightly, feeling as if he had forgotten the existence of someone.
But after a quick deduction confirmed they were merely an insignificant pawn used to bring the immortal array to fruition, he shook his head and paid it no more mind.
Instead, he focused his attention on the few figures still struggling within the array.
...
Yin Shangren and Xu Ke, shortly after escaping the Museum of Divine Treasures, had witnessed the heaven-shaking changes in the Xuanhuang Realm.
While they were still reeling in amazement, the world-ending storm descended.
Though both were undoubtedly powerhouses in the Xuanhuang Realm, in the face of this world-ending immortal array, they could only await their deaths in despair.
If not for the skull of Mr. Bai they carried, which provided them with a sliver of protection, they would have perished long ago.
The chaotic storm intensified.
The protective power emanating from Mr. Bai's skull was slowly weakening.
They would not last much longer.
On the verge of annihilation, Xu Ke and Yin Shangren felt none of the fear that gripped other beings.
The white-haired Xu Ke cradled Mr. Bai's skull, his eyes distant. “I should have died long ago. I’ve only clung to life to fulfill Mr. Bai’s mission. To be buried alongside him now... it is a fitting end.”
Yin Shangren's gaze was calm, a touch of madness glinting in his eyes as he stared into the storm. “I am already a world ghost, a being who has died once. I wonder what it will be like to die again?”
Their only response was the ceaseless howl of the formless wind.
Yin Shangren and Xu Ke were slowly, utterly consumed by the chaotic tempest.
The skull of Mr. Bai in their hands was also on the brink of collapse.
Just before the skull vanished into the storm, it flickered with a flash of light and disappeared without a trace.
...
Countless golden needles swirled, forming a hardened protective shell, attempting to withstand the storm's erosion.
It was effective, but under the increasingly violent gales, the golden light of the barrier inevitably began to dim.
The Heavenly Doctor's gaze swept his surroundings, a hint of bewilderment in his eyes.
It was as if he had lost the goal he had striven for for so long, and for a moment, he was stunned.
But soon, his expression darkened once more.
A hand reached out beyond the golden barrier, drawing in a wisp of the world-ending storm from the immortal array.
The Heavenly Doctor's hand dissolved into nothingness in the storm.
But at the same time, a storm of his own seemed to be gathering in his eyes.
...
The Dharma Spreader Heavenly Venerate returned from his cosmic form.
When the world-ending immortal array activated, he had been in the process of temporarily possessing the Xuanhuang Realm through the Soul-Sealing World-Replacement technique. Thus, when the rampaging storm erupted across the realm, he was essentially facing the full brunt of the cataclysm.
Although this storm seemed a notch weaker than the Wind of Annihilation he had witnessed before, it was, without a doubt, a manifestation of true immortal power.
The Wind of Annihilation had merely been a lingering trace of that power.
In its original form, the Wind of Annihilation's destructive force would naturally far exceed that of the immortal array's storm.
But the calamity unleashed by the immortal array in the Xuanhuang Realm was countless times more potent than the remnant wind.
Even the Dharma Spreader, a cultivator of the supreme stage, was as helpless as a mortal within it.
The Dharma Spreader's grievously wounded body slowly dissolved.
The Tianxuan Mirror he carried slipped from his grasp.
The Tianxuan Mirror emitted a faint, eerie green light, flickering as if it could be extinguished at any moment.
A transparent figure emerged from the Dharma Spreader's dissolving shell.
It bore a slight resemblance to the Dharma Spreader, yet was subtly different.
The transparent figure seemed to possess a strong resistance to the destructive storm of the immortal array. Even with its eyes closed in a deep slumber, it was able to temporarily withstand the storm's assault.
...
The territory of the Five Elders Council.
The vast majority of its inhabitants were reduced to dust the moment the immortal array activated.
But an invisible, dark cloud seemed to perpetually hang over the Five Elders Council's lands. Even as the Xuanhuang Realm disappeared, the cloud remained.
It even seemed to be sheltering the countless lives that had vanished within the immortal array.
...
Within the white mist barrier.
“We’re finally out.”
Through the collective effort of everyone on board the Mysterious Immortal Boat, they had finally unraveled the secrets of the Reversing Life and Death Grand Array.
Having found the formation's core, the immortal boat had successfully broken free.
However, before they could even think of settling scores with the Dharma Spreader...
The world-ending immortal array descended.
The Mysterious Immortal Boat, their very lifeline, tossed about like a lone leaf in a gale.
The boat's hull, protected by numerous restrictive formations, disintegrated like ice in the sun.
“Quickly! Use the True Immortal Scripts! Fight an immortal with an immortal!”
The elders of the immortal boat cried out in unison.
However, their creations were but crude imitations, not the true power of a True Immortal.
The ripples caused by the True Immortal Scripts only made the array's storm waver for a moment.
Then, they were devoured by the array in turn, becoming fuel to strengthen the storm.
The Mysterious Immortal Boat, amidst the agonizing wails of its crew, was annihilated.
“Using the True Immortal Scripts is indeed highly destructive. But to this day, no one has found a True Immortal Script related to protection. That is why the Mysterious Immortal Boat, capable of holding its own against two supreme-stage cultivators, was so fragile when calamity struck...”
Li Fan's Holy Embryo clone offered no resistance.
He simply watched quietly as his body dissolved into the chaotic storm.
...
As the sole sanctuary in the Darkest Star Sea, the Xuanhuang Realm undoubtedly held many secrets.
However, at this moment, the "Immortal Descends, All Things Return to Void" array was truly like a ferocious, all-encompassing storm.
It mercilessly ripped away all the secrets that shrouded the realm.
Within the array's core, Li Fan's divine consciousness was intently observing everything that transpired.
Since the power source for the array was not his own, he could not see a complete picture of what was happening inside.
But he only needed to focus on the nodes of violently fluctuating energy within the array.
Those were the beings who, in their struggle for survival, were revealing their everything, fighting back against the storm.
Li Fan was suddenly reminded of the scene after he first witnessed the Red Flame Burning Sea.
The Cong Yun Sea had been evaporated, and countless lives lost.
But it had also exposed the secrets buried deep beneath the waves.
At that time, a mere Qi Refining cultivator had gained a clear view of the Cong Yun Sea's hidden truths.
Now, watching the Xuanhuang Realm, seeing the energy fluctuations emanate one after another, some of which were quite unexpected, he couldn't help but feel a sense of enlightenment. “It seems some truths are universal.”
“Secrets are often revealed in extinction.”
Li Fan's divine consciousness fell into deep thought, his hand unconsciously stroking a flawless, pristine skull.
“A pity. This isn't my main body, so I can't sense anything from it.”
“The Tianxuan Mirror seems to still have its own consciousness, but I can't pull it over...”
Just as Li Fan's thoughts were racing, recording every scene, as the observer who had activated the array, he suddenly noticed something extremely unusual.
The destructive immortal array, which had devoured more than half of the Xuanhuang Realm and should have been intensifying and spreading further into the void, was now, for some unknown reason, showing signs of subsiding.
“?!!”
This should have been impossible.
Unless...
Something was stopping the storm!
An intense sense of crisis instantly surged through Li Fan's heart.
Not just within his clone, but in his main body as well!
“With the dual protection of the 'All Things Return to Void' array and the Tianxuan Mirror...”
“Even a True Immortal cannot stop me from returning to the truth.”
Li Fan, who had once successfully returned to the truth in the presence of a True Immortal in the Immortal Ruins, was not paralyzed by the fear in his heart.
After a calm analysis, he made his decision.
After all, the only one in the vicinity of the Xuanhuang Realm who could stop the array's expansion was likely that particular individual...
Li Fan thought to himself.
His suspicion was soon confirmed.
A figure suddenly appeared in the center of the immortal array.
The rampaging storm around it slowly calmed as it drew near.
In the chaotic storm, the beings of the Xuanhuang Realm had been submerged.
But the appearance of this figure was like a sun descending from the heavens, re-illuminating the darkness.
It was so conspicuous.
So utterly out of place with its surroundings.
So much so that the moment it appeared in the array, Li Fan's divine consciousness had already detected its presence.
This figure was no stranger to Li Fan.
He had even met it once before.
It was the very same True Immortal who sat outside the Xuanhuang Realm, meditating with closed eyes!
However, unlike the skeletal appearance he had seen on the plains of the Immortal Ruins, the True Immortal who appeared now did not seem to be its main body.
It was merely a phantasmal manifestation.
Not only had its form become full and robust again, but the shackles that had bound it were also gone.
The True Immortal's gaze swept across the array, and it frowned slightly.
It slowly extended a hand.
The rampaging, howling world-ending storm slowly gathered towards its palm.
The immortal array sensed the presence of this being who sought to destroy it, and its defenses were triggered.
Within the chaos, countless human-like phantoms materialized.
They were formed from the power of the immortal array, yet they took the appearance of the Xuanhuang Realm's inhabitants who had died within it.
With ferocious glares, they charged fearlessly towards the True Immortal.
Like a rolling tide, they carried the destructive power of the immortal array.
The True Immortal's figure remained unmoved, its posture unchanged.
All the array's power that tried to approach it was absorbed into its palm without any resistance.
There was no visible gathering of energy, only that the True Immortal's figure seemed to become slightly more solid.
Under the continuous absorption by the True Immortal's figure, the immortal power driving the "All Things Return to Void" array rapidly diminished, all of it flowing into its palm.
Within the grand array, the chaotic storm gradually dissipated.
The Heavenly Doctor, the Sacred Emperor, and the other survivors were at first confused.
But without exception, after a moment, their gazes were all fixed upon the True Immortal's figure.
As if it were the most natural thing in the world, they could not look away.
The survivors of the Xuanhuang Realm trembled.
Though there was no explanation, the moment they saw the True Immortal's figure, they understood its identity.
Ten thousand years after the path to immortality was severed, a True Immortal had once again appeared in the world!
The survivors all bowed their heads, showing their reverence for the True Immortal.
The True Immortal's figure did not speak, as if it were searching for something.
The Sacred Emperor, at this moment, finally came to his senses.
The raging fire in his heart burned so fiercely that it temporarily negated the natural suppression of the True Immortal.
Even though the Xuanhuang Realm had been reduced to a void, he immediately pointed in the direction of the immortal array's core that he had discovered earlier.
The True Immortal's gaze instantly fell upon the void where Li Fan's clone was located.
The last vestiges of immortal power surrounding the array rapidly dissipated. Under the True Immortal's stare, Li Fan's clone, whose thoughts had nearly frozen, was spurred into action by his main body and instantly revived.
He was about to self-destruct and have his main body return to the truth.
However, what Li Fan's clone saw next was something he could not comprehend at all.
He involuntarily halted the action of returning to the truth.
“This...”
“How is this possible?”
The True Immortal's phantom was gazing at Li Fan's clone in the array's core.
But another figure was also gazing at it.
And, undetected by anyone, it was slowly approaching.
By the time Li Fan's clone, with his panoramic view from the array's core, noticed the figure's presence, it had already silently appeared behind the True Immortal's phantom.
“Meow~”
As if it had finally found the prey it had been waiting for, the usually lazy Cat Treasure let out a cry of extreme excitement.
It leaped up and landed on the True Immortal's shoulder.
The True Immortal's figure was utterly astonished, staring at the cute creature that had suddenly appeared on its shoulder.
The Cat Treasure opened its beautiful large eyes and stared intently at the True Immortal's figure.
The expression on the True Immortal's face slowly changed from astonishment to terror.
“Meow~”
The Cat Treasure cried out once more, then opened its mouth slightly.
In an instant, it swallowed the True Immortal's figure whole.
And then...
The Cat Treasure looked up, its gaze fixed on the main body of the True Immortal seated in the Immortal Ruins, beyond the Xuanhuang void.
Its body arched like a bow, and it sprang upwards.
Its figure vanished without a trace.
The next moment, it appeared beside the True Immortal in the Immortal Ruins.
Boom!
The entire Darkest Star Sea trembled slightly.
And the sound of something disintegrating came from the far distance.
In the Sacred Emperor's mind, the scene he had just witnessed replayed in a daze.
He could not, for the life of him, connect the Cat Treasure that had so easily devoured the True Immortal's figure with the one that usually liked to nap on his shoulder.
The Cat Treasure was something a citizen of the Sacred Dynasty had accidentally fished up from the Fishing Pool.
Though it possessed many miraculous abilities, the Sacred Emperor had never imagined that the prey the Cat Treasure was truly chasing was...
A True Immortal?!
The Sacred Emperor was utterly horrified.
And the other Xuanhuang survivors present, regardless of their cultivation level, all wore expressions of sheer disbelief.
“Did the Fishing Pool fish up the Cat Treasure...”
“Or did the Cat Treasure, sensing the True Immortal, willingly take the bait?”
“The fisher, also the fished...”
The Sacred Emperor's heart turned to ice.
“If even a True Immortal can meet such a fate...”
“What in the world is... beyond the wall?”
It wasn't just the Sacred Emperor; now, after the initial shock, an uncontrollable terror surged through the hearts of every Xuanhuang survivor.
A terror even greater than that of the world's end.
...
Li Fan was, of course, also shaken to his core.
But having lived through many reincarnations, he had a certain degree of mental preparation for the Cat Treasure's miraculous nature.
He was the first to react, his gaze turning to where the Cat Treasure had gone—the nearby Immortal Ruins.
Observation of that place seemed to be blocked.
However, what Li Fan could feel was...
The suction force of the Immortal Ruins was disappearing.
Boom!
The Darkest Star Sea trembled once more.
A continuous series of rumbles followed, and many survivors who had managed to endure the world-ending immortal array
were annihilated by this grand sound.
“Return to the truth!”
In the space of the Deduction Jade, Li Fan's main body did not hesitate for a second, silently chanting in his heart.
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