Chapter 1459: The Hidden Secret Within the Wall
This time, it wasn't some mighty expert charging across possibilities to attack him head-on.
Instead, Li Fan felt a faint, almost imperceptible sensation, as if some distant entity beyond the world had just swept its gaze over him.
However, this being lacked the power of entities like the Black Heaven Physician or Evil Su Bai, who could pinpoint the exact location of a specific possibility. Or perhaps it was simply that Li Fan was sheltered within the High Wall.
In any case, the glance was an indiscriminate scan, not a sign that its owner had actually located him.
Even so, a terrifying sense of being watched by an ancient predator surged through him.
He almost summoned [Truth] on pure instinct.
Fortunately, the sensation of being watched vanished as quickly as it had appeared. A moment later, it was gone without a trace, almost as if he had imagined it.
But Li Fan knew, with absolute certainty, that what he had just experienced was no illusion.
“That gaze... it must have come from another Yin Changshou.”
Looking at the young man before him, whose expression was one of utter decay, a bold idea suddenly sparked in Li Fan’s mind. “Could my [Fantasy Becomes Truth] ability truly affect all counterparts across every possibility at once?”
The thought was undeniably exhilarating.
But after careful consideration, he dismissed the idea.
If [Fantasy Becomes Truth] truly synchronized across all possibilities, then his previous attempt with the Transcendent World Coffin wouldn't have failed its verification simply because a few particles were shaved off.
Besides, Li Fan was self-aware enough to know his limits.
Perhaps in the future, when his understanding of the Dao of Truth and Falsehood deepened, he could truly act on the same target across all possibilities simultaneously. But at his current, fledgling level of understanding, such a feat was well beyond his reach.
His thoughts churned, but he quickly deduced why the Yin Changshou from another possibility had turned his attention this way.
“Judging by the actions of the Black Heaven Physician and Evil Su Bai, experts of their caliber must constantly devour their alternate selves from other possibilities to grow stronger.”
“It’s a form of cultivation, a process one might call the ‘Unification of All Selves.’”
“Theoretically, anyone who reaches this stage in even one possibility must possess extraordinary talent. His counterparts in other realities might have varying cultivation levels due to different circumstances, but there would never be a case of...”
“...a situation like this, where every path forward is completely severed.”
“Even if one of his selves was completely unable to cultivate, an expert who can traverse possibilities could easily handle it. The Star Sea is filled with countless exotic treasures, and surely one exists that could defy fate. Devouring that self would still be beneficial. But this Yin Changshou... he's nothing less than a potent poison pill.”
“To consume it would bring only harm and no benefit.”
“Among countless versions of me, one suddenly appears that is an imitation, something utterly alien...”
“If Su Bai and the Heavenly Doctor had been affected by this ability back then, perhaps they wouldn't have been targeted.”
It wasn't that Li Fan's [Fantasy Becomes Truth] ability could directly affect these reality-spanning experts. Instead, it was like “poisoning” the very “materials” they needed to achieve their ultimate state, cutting off their path forward in a completely unconventional manner.
Of course, for now, it seemed only Li Fan, with [Truth] in hand, was capable of administering such a “poison.”
“While I can't fight them head-on yet, this move will be more than enough to vex them,” Li Fan thought, quite pleased with himself.
Perhaps the “Unification of All Selves” process involved key details Li Fan was still unaware of. But judging from the obsession Evil Su Bai had previously displayed, every single “self” was critically important.
For an expert of that caliber, having one of their remaining selves undergo such a radical transformation would be utterly unacceptable.
“Losing just one self in one possibility might not make the Unification of All Selves impossible. But this artificial deficiency would likely leave them a step behind their rivals—an irreparable weakness.”
Li Fan's gaze once again turned to the world beyond.
It was as if he could see the Black Heaven Physician's silhouette, and an audacious idea began to stir within him.
“At the end of this lifetime, I can experiment on the Heavenly Doctor. First, I'll apply the [Fantasy Becomes Truth] ability, then proactively send him outside the High Wall. We'll see what kind of reaction the Black Heaven Physician has when he suddenly appears.”
Li Fan sent the ten experimental subjects away.
He continued to consolidate his understanding of the [Fantasy Becomes Truth] ability until he was utterly exhausted, his immediate insights hitting a plateau. Only then did he pause his meditation for the time being.
The small incident in the Xuanhuang Realm was over in a flash.
Li Fan's attention returned once more to the starry sky outside the High Wall.
Due to the inconsistent flow of time, about thirty-odd days had already passed here.
The [Fantasy Becomes Truth] ability had forcibly halted the Transcendent World Coffin's passage. Cowed by its power, the two immortals within had made no move for a long time.
In that time, Li Fan had used the power of his Ink Death immortal soul to probe and analyze the coffin, and he believed he had found a way to force it open.
Ultimately, the Ink Death immortal soul bordered on the power of Dao Annihilation, the most terrifying destructive force in the world. Bar none.
Even with Li Fan's relatively low cultivation level, the relentless corrosion was something that even the Transcendent World Coffin, for all its power, could not endure.
But Li Fan did not act rashly.
Judging by the abilities the two immortals had displayed, the power of his Ink Death immortal soul alone was insufficient to subdue them. He would need another approach.
Qian Ruochang, at least, would be easy to handle. The Ink Death immortal soul could isolate him from the Dao Net, and without its power, he was little more than a physically formidable brute.
The difficult one was the [Nothingness] Immortal.
Li Fan had failed to detect him even during their close contact when they were both lurking among the new Immortal Hunt recruits. Clearly, his power surpassed Li Fan's. He might not be on par with the Hunger Immortal from the Immortal Ruins, but the gap couldn't be large. After all, he was a True Immortal who had survived the Great Calamity.
“His difficulty lies entirely in his trait of [Nothingness]—the ability to sever all connections with the world...”
“Therefore, my task is to forcibly create a connection with him.”
The various tools at his disposal flashed through his mind one after another.
Light and shadow flickered, then suddenly settled on a chessboard covered with black and white pieces.
“Fragments of the Immortal Realm...” Li Fan’s eyes gleamed.
Even though the pieces Li Fan had managed to collect were merely the faded tokens of losers, the fact that the Immortal Realm fragment within one contained the Southern Immortal Heavenly Pillar was proof of its profound origins.
“I wonder if he can still treat it as nothing when burdened with the weight of an Immortal Realm.”
Now that he had a concrete plan, the current problem was how to send the chess piece out.
All of Li Fan's current actions were being carried out through the power of the Carefree Dream.
The power of the dream could reshape a body outside the High Wall, but it couldn't manifest an Immortal Realm chess piece.
“However, the High Wall is meant to restrain those below the level of True Immortals.”
“Perhaps it was never able to restrain the Immortal Realm fragments in the first place.”
After a moment of thought, an answer began to form in Li Fan's mind.
He didn't take out all the Immortal Realm fragments, but selected just one.
Guided by Li Fan's power, it moved towards the breach in the High Wall.
And outside the High Wall, the power of the Carefree Dream had long been waiting to receive it.
To prevent any unexpected incidents, Li Fan's true self also became fully alert, ready to use [Truth] at any moment.
On the border of the Darkest Star Sea, outside the continuous Realm Fragment Great Wall, Li Fan's phantom manifested.
He held the chess piece between two fingers of his right hand.
With a solemn expression, he then forcefully threw it forward.
Just like the Merchant Immortal Boat's desperate gamble back then, crashing violently into the High Wall, the chess piece shot from his hand like a sword.
Straight towards the High Wall.
Unlike the thunderous impact when Li Fan had prompted the Mysterious Immortal Boat to crash into the High Wall...
The Immortal Realm fragment’s impact with the High Wall was silent.
From the perspective inside the High Wall, the chess piece seemed to be directly swallowed, disappearing in a flash.
And from the perspective outside the High Wall...
Li Fan waited for a long while, but the Immortal Realm chess piece he had thrown never arrived!
His expression shifted.
At this moment, the power of his dream had already spread throughout this Annihilation Zone.
If the chess piece had appeared here after crossing the High Wall, Li Fan would have definitely sensed it.
Now the chess piece was still nowhere to be seen...
He unleashed a vast amount of accumulated dream power, sending it probing beyond the Annihilation Zone.
Trying to find his vanished chess piece.
But even after a long while, he found nothing.
“Even the mark I left on the piece has vanished?”
A heavy feeling settled over Li Fan.
He replayed the brief moment in his mind, going over every detail.
“Could it be that the Immortal Realm piece failed to cross the High Wall?”
Inside the Darkest Star Sea, Li Fan carefully searched the place where the chess piece had disappeared.
He found no trace of it.
“Could it be an anomaly caused by the time difference between inside and outside the High Wall? Should I wait a bit longer?”
With this thought, Li Fan patiently waited for a while longer. But another day passed, and the chess piece was still nowhere to be seen.
“Could it be... that the problem is the High Wall itself?”
In the Annihilation Zone, the dream power gathered next to the perceived High Wall.
The so-called High Wall had no physical form.
It had appeared mysteriously as the Great Dao collapsed during the Dao Annihilation Calamity, propping up a corner of the falling heavens and carving out a small sanctuary of life amidst a region of utter devastation.
In other words, it was a pocket of space sheltered beneath the toppled ruins of reality.
Li Fan stared intently at the void before him.
He suddenly recalled the Mysterious Immortal Boat, which he had goaded into a desperate, final charge against the High Wall.
At that moment, as a connection was briefly forged between the inside and outside, the Dark Star Spirit had seemed to see something utterly terrifying and had fled in panic.
And Li Fan had also felt the same thing, a feeling of being observed by some terrifying existence through a pane of transparent glass.
“Shuo Xinghai exists outside the High Wall. They are unaware of the Darkest Star Sea within, a fact made clear when Qian Ruochang crossed over the wall's location without entering this space.”
“So, this inexplicable sense of dread, combined with the mysteriously vanished chess piece...”
A somewhat unbelievable thought suddenly surfaced in Li Fan's mind.
“Could it be... that there is something *inside* the High Wall?”
In this life, Li Fan had used the power of the Carefree Dream to escape the High Wall in an unconventional way.
But he had only seen what was inside and outside the wall, not what was within the wall itself.
This was because the wall was a formless, shapeless thing.
However, since it could prop up the Darkest Star Sea and this nearby region of the Immortal Realm, preventing their destruction during the Dao Annihilation Calamity, the High Wall must be more than just an ethereal law.
It was very likely a physical object, similar to the leg bone of the Nameless True Immortal or the Southern Heavenly Pillar.
However, this physical object was hidden by some special means.
Let alone Li Fan, even experts close to the level of Nameless True Immortals like the [Nothingness] Immortal and Qian Ruochang couldn't notice it.
“But He Gan Xian was no stranger to the Xuanhuang Realm. He even had many dealings with Xuanyuan Hong. Could it be that this [Nothingness] Immortal isn't who I always thought he was—that He Gan Xian?”
A flicker of doubt crossed Li Fan's mind.
But the most crucial thing now was to figure out if this place “within the wall” truly existed.
The power of the Carefree Dream enveloped the Transcendent World Coffin layer by layer.
Li Fan chose to temporarily set aside the two True Immortals in the coffin and deal with this unexpected matter of what was within the wall first.
“The Xuanhuang Realm and the vast star region surrounding it were once, it seems, a secret experimental site for True Immortals from the upper realm. Although it was later abandoned, the High Wall, as a protective measure, should also be part of this experimental site.”
...
Although his heart was eager to investigate, Li Fan did not act rashly.
“Judging from the feeling of being watched that I experienced earlier, there might be living beings within the wall. I must be on my guard.”
“Also, this High Wall might be selectively blocking things. After all, the Heavenly Sword Sect and the Merchant Immortal Boat truly did leap over the wall. Or perhaps... they discovered something *inside* the wall?”
When he thought about those two factions, he realized they hadn't been top-tier powers in the Star Sea. Yet after crossing the High Wall, they had suddenly gained the strength to hunt even True Immortals.
Even with the time difference and millions of years of accumulation...
It still seemed rather unbelievable.
“If they discovered something within the wall, in the ruins of the former Immortal Realm experimental site... then it would all make sense.”
Thinking of this, Li Fan became genuinely curious about what was “within the wall.”
The lost Immortal Realm chess piece... he could just use [Truth] to get it back. It wasn't worth worrying about.
“However, being inside an Immortal Realm chess piece and crashing into the High Wall might be a good method.”
“This matter is of great importance. I must handle it myself.”
Li Fan's true self pondered for a moment, then made a decision.
With a single thought, the numerous materials for creating a clone appeared before him.
It had been a long time since he had last wanted to forge a clone.
He had ascended to the immortal realm for some time now. After comprehending Mind-Manifested Divinity and learning the secrets of the Shuo Xinghai Dao Net...
Li Fan had new ideas about the method of refining clones.
“Qian Ruochang's Dao-string skeleton is an example worth emulating.”
“For this exploration within the wall, this clone's strength cannot be weak.”
With a thought from Li Fan, the numerous materials, as if roasted by fierce flames, instantly merged.
A human body faintly took shape.
“A projection of the Great Dao can serve as the heart's spirit.”
The human body suddenly turned transparent, like a mirror reflecting the myriad Great Daos of the heavens.
The light of the Dao condensed, weaving a network within the body.
“A fragment of the Immortal Realm can serve as the body's bones.”
Li Fan muttered under his breath and threw out an Immortal Realm chess piece.
The Immortal Realm chess piece continuously unfolded, transforming into a solid, stone pillar-like object, and slowly merged into the Dao net.
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