Chapter 1465: [Truth]'s Guidance
Chapter 1465: [Truth]'s Guidance
The so-called "spirituality" was a unique quality that Li Fan's true self could only begin to perceive in cultivators and other living beings after comprehending the [Fantasy Becomes Truth] divine ability.
It was a comprehensive assessment of nearly every factor—disposition, talent, innate constitution, fortune, and more—all of which were tied to the probability of a being transcending possibilities.
In the past, Li Fan's perspective had been confined to the teeming masses of the Xuanhuang Realm. Those he had encountered in the Shuo Xinghai were all prodigies, and their numbers were too few to form a proper judgment.
Now, the scope of Li Buren's observation had suddenly expanded to encompass the entire experimental star sea. The Xuanhuang Realm was but a single star in a boundless firmament, and the volume of data had increased by tens of millions of times.
Li Fan was struck by a sudden realization. "Among the vast, ocean-like expanse of cultivation worlds, the innate quality of the beings from the Xuanhuang Realm is unquestionably among the very highest."
What factors could have led to such a disparity in the average aptitude of beings across different cultivation worlds remained a mystery.
"But the True Immortals in this experimental field must have discovered this peculiarity. It would only be natural for them to treat the Xuanhuang Realm as a key subject of observation."
Across the entire Dark Star Sea, the entity that concerned Li Buren the most was the Mysterious Merchant Immortal Boat.
For certain periods, all observation of the Immortal Boat would be completely lost. Shortly after, it would reappear as if by a "jump" to another location in the star sea.
Furthermore, there seemed to be some method within the Immortal Boat capable of interfering with the experimental field's recording systems.
The images were far from clear, intermittent and choppy like a lost signal. For Li Buren's exploration, this manifested as his divine sense hitting walls at every turn. He was completely unable to get a clear view of the events unfolding within the Mysterious Merchant Immortal Boat.
"It is said that the Mysterious Merchant Immortal Boat discovered the truth—that the beings of all worlds were being raised like livestock—and thus abandoned a settled life in a single realm. Instead, they began to wander the star sea, hoping to escape this fate. To a certain extent, they did indeed succeed."
"According to the account from the current Mysterious Immortal Boat, the original vessel likely possessed some kind of immortal treasure, or perhaps a method only usable by a True Immortal. Only by using an immortal's power to counter an immortal's power could they have achieved such a remarkable effect."
He mentally recorded the suspicious events that had transpired on the Mysterious Immortal Boat over the past fifty years, as was his custom.
Just as Li Buren was about to inspect the other two cube-shaped star seas, aside from the one containing the Xuanhuang Realm, he suddenly felt as if he had overlooked something.
Pondering this, his consciousness returned once more to the recorded fifty-year history of the Xuanhuang Realm.
This time, he no longer focused on the dazzling, prominent figures. Instead, his gaze fell upon the ordinary, teeming masses.
Li Buren discovered that some of the faces were strikingly familiar.
At the point in time being recorded, a person named Li Fan did not yet exist.
The reason Li Buren found some of them familiar was because they had once appeared within the Life and Death Heavenly Venerate's Reversing Life and Death Grand Array, as one of the countless frozen corpses.
"It's not just them. In fact, one or two of those faces exist even now in the present-day Xuanhuang Realm?"
With a flicker of thought, Li Fan's true self located two individuals within the dream-like Land of Carefree Joy.
They had both been ordinary mortals, only setting foot on the path of cultivation after the Land of Carefree Joy enveloped the entire Xuanhuang Realm.
And in the experimental field's recording, these two individuals had also existed in the ancient Xuanhuang Realm as unremarkable mortals.
"..."
Four faces, separated by an immense span of time, overlapped before Li Fan's eyes.
Even with his current power—enough to destroy the Xuanhuang Realm with a flip of his hand—he couldn't help but feel a faint chill creep into his heart.
He once again recalled the mortal he had seen in the recording, the one who had suddenly deviated from his life's path, as if becoming a different person entirely, to go and receive a True Immortal.
"These mortals are likely nothing more than NPCs, used to populate the Xuanhuang Realm and recycled ad infinitum. At certain critical moments, they can even receive special directives to carry out tasks assigned by the True Immortals..."
"This method of control isn't achieved through any divine ability or magical art. It's likely rooted deep within the very core of these mortals."
Even before becoming an immortal, Li Fan had been able to crudely create life using the "form of living beings." He had no doubt that the True Immortals of the bygone Immortal Realm possessed the ability to mass-produce living creatures.
"These created beings are used cyclically, which means the experimental field also took consumption into account. Because the base number is so vast, and thousands of years pass with each cycle, it's nearly impossible for anyone to notice."
"Even if someone were to discover it by chance, it could easily be dismissed as a coincidence, making it difficult to confirm."
"Only someone like me, who has spanned two distinct eras and holds the visages of every being in the Xuanhuang Realm in my grasp, could make such a definitive judgment."
"Not only are all events recorded, but even the cultivation environment and most of the living beings are pre-set. It truly is an experimental field..."
"I just wonder if it's the same for the other cultivation worlds, not just the Xuanhuang Realm."
The other worlds had all been destroyed. Li Fan had no way to verify his theory.
But he imagined their circumstances were likely the same as the Xuanhuang Realm's.
"The maintenance of this experimental field is definitely connected to the unstable ring I discovered in the ancient Xuanhuang array, and to the Nine Stars Red Pearl. The Nine Stars Red Pearl is gone, likely taken by someone."
"The scene was also left with traces of the 'Return' character."
"If an insider from the experimental field came to retrieve it, they surely wouldn't have needed to go to such lengths. Therefore, it must have been an outsider."
"From what I saw back then, the residual pattern of the Nine Stars Red Pearl, and the recorded data from this experimental field, that pearl must have stored all the life data of every being that ever existed in the history of the Xuanhuang Realm..."
In his mind's eye, Li Fan saw hundreds of millions of different faces flash past in an instant.
A question suddenly surfaced in his mind.
If the mortals were NPCs, created to fill the world's empty spaces, then what of the cultivators who were active throughout the history of the Xuanhuang Realm—those who were illustrious in their time, and even those peerless experts whose fame shook the ages?
"The history of the Xuanhuang Realm is not only filled with prodigies."
"All the True Immortals who ascended left no records behind. Either their records were deliberately erased, or they all achieved the Nameless realm and spontaneously vanished from the world's chronicles."
"The former would be one thing. But if it's the latter..."
Nameless True Immortals, even if they died like ants in the cataclysm that destroyed the Immortal Realm, were beings who had to merge their bodies with a Dao to advance. Their numbers were by no means large.
And that was across countless, immeasurable cultivation worlds in the lower realms.
No matter how spiritually blessed the Xuanhuang Realm was, it was impossible for it to have produced so many Nameless True Immortals.
Like a bolt of lightning, it pierced through the fog of confusion.
A thought inevitably arose in Li Fan's mind: "Could it be that Nameless True Immortals descended in some form? Using themselves as bait, they sought to lure and capture [Truth]?"
Li Fan's thoughts raced.
"A supreme treasure from the Infinite Sea, capable of reversing the Dao Annihilation Calamity. Even Nameless True Immortals would surely be tempted. If it were me, and I knew of this experimental field in the lower realms, I would also try to get a piece of the action. Even if it wasn't officially sanctioned, I would sneak over."
"After all, it would only be an incarnation, a casual gambit. But what if it actually worked?"
"But how could [Truth] be so easily baited? They were destined to return empty-handed."
"Those who could become Nameless True Immortals possessed unquestionable aptitude. Even if their incarnations lacked their true memories to make the bait more convincing, returning to the True Immortal realm should not have been a problem."
"As an experimental field, it should theoretically be impossible for any test subject to escape through ascension. But those who came from the Immortal Realm were naturally exempt from this restriction. Some of them might have even been figures that the True Immortals running the experiment couldn't afford to offend. They would naturally choose to let them pass obediently."
Li Fan suddenly recalled Mo Rubin's description of Xuantian King's memories.
"Xuantian King was able to ascend successfully because the immortal official in charge of the tribulation lightning had happened to perish in the cataclysm that destroyed the Immortal Realm. Thus, he was able to ascend to the Immortal Realm by a stroke of luck. In Xuantian King's own words, that tribulation was never meant to let any cultivator pass..."
"Xuantian King was arguably the single greatest figure in the Xuanhuang Realm's long history. He may even have had the aid of the Fishing Pond from the very start of his cultivation path. Even so, when faced with that ascension tribulation, he still had no chance of victory."
"It seems that under normal circumstances, escaping from this experimental field is simply impossible."
Li Fan's expression turned grim, yet he also felt a sliver of relief.
Fortunately, the Dao Annihilation Calamity had descended and destroyed the Immortal Realm. The True Immortals, seeking to save their own lives, had scattered in all directions. They could no longer be bothered with this experimental field.
"Otherwise, even with the advantage of [Truth], I would probably be just a bird in a cage, a fish in a net..."
At this thought, Li Fan suddenly froze.
He savored the idea: "Or perhaps, the calculations of the True Immortals of the past were not wrong. [Truth] did indeed appear in this designated experimental field. It's just that..."
"Perhaps they never anticipated that [Truth] has its own consciousness. Such a scheme might fool worldly mortals, but how could it possibly deceive [Truth]?"
"And so, it simply never revealed itself. It waited..."
"Not just for the destruction of the Immortal Realm and the experimental field, but also for a qualified, unique vessel."
Following this line of speculation, [Truth], which had remained dormant since his return from the Infinite Sea, finally stirred once more.
However, the emotion it conveyed this time was one that Li Fan found difficult to decipher.
"A measure of affirmation."
"And a measure of amusement."
"This..."
Li Fan's expression remained impassive, and he even had the audacity to try and ask for more guidance.
Having spent a hundred lifetimes in its company, he was aware of almost any subtle change that occurred with [Truth].
Li Fan keenly sensed that since returning from the Infinite Sea, and possibly having come into contact with its old acquaintances, [Truth] had gradually become more "active."
Previously, it would only offer a lazy response under the most extreme circumstances. But now...
This time, in the face of Li Fan's sincere request for guidance.
[Truth], which had always been impassive, actually provided an answer.
Li Fan himself was caught off guard by this outcome. He paused for a moment, then began to search for where [Truth]'s guidance could be found.
There was no change in his true self, nor in his puppet clone, Li Buren.
The change was present in...
The timeline he had created in this lifetime, known as [Unending Samsara].
Zhenshi Immortal Venerable, trapped within, had already experienced nine thousand, three hundred and sixty-three cycles of reincarnation.
No matter how he tried, he could never alter the final outcome of the Xuanhuang Realm's destruction.
And so, after his eight hundredth attempt, Zhenshi Immortal Venerable finally chose to give up.
He abandoned all his pursuits. At the beginning of each reincarnation, he simply resigned himself to his fate and awaited the coming annihilation.
Gradually, he came to feel that this wasn't so bad after all.
Since he would always return to the initial point in time, no matter how he was destroyed, didn't that mean, in a way, that he was immortal?
Having come to this realization, Zhenshi Immortal Venerable felt even more justified in his idleness.
He lived his days in a daze.
He paid no mind to the fact that the speed of his reincarnations was increasing, faster and faster.
From Li Fan's perspective, due to [Truth]'s intervention, the speed of this timeline's reincarnation had been drastically accelerated.
Zhenshi Immortal Venerable, trapped within, was unable to perceive it, but Li Fan could see tens of thousands of cycles evolving in a single instant, constantly playing out before him.
Having completely given up, Zhenshi Immortal Venerable ceased all struggle in every cycle of reincarnation.
The reincarnations, therefore, lost all their variables.
Each one was an exact replica of the last.
...
Staring intently at Zhenshi Immortal Venerable within the cycle, Li Fan's expression became somewhat peculiar.
Because he could see Zhenshi Immortal Venerable's spirituality being slowly whittled away with each increasing cycle.
It was just like when Li Fan continuously used his [Fantasy Becomes Truth] divine ability.
Eventually, his spirituality would be completely lost, his future severed!
A roar echoed through Li Fan's mind.
"When truth becomes fiction, fiction also becomes truth."
"The [Fantasy Becomes Truth] divine ability can diminish a cultivator's spirituality."
"And every time I initiate a cycle of reincarnation, isn't that equivalent to [Fantasy Becomes Truth]?"
"What's more, this [Fantasy Becomes Truth] is being initiated by [Truth] itself..."
Li Fan's heart trembled violently. He conjured a water mirror before himself.
He had observed the spirituality of countless living beings.
But he had never once looked at his own.
With a sense of apprehension, of dread.
Li Fan looked at himself.
His face, his body, were more familiar to him than anything else.
This time, under Li Fan's renewed scrutiny...
To his immense relief, what he had feared did not come to pass.
In fact...
Li Fan's expression grew rather strange.
He stroked his chin, and then it suddenly dawned on him.
What was [Truth]'s guidance, exactly?
What was the reason for Li Fan's uniqueness as its vessel?
Why, among the endless sea of living beings, was Li Fan the one it had chosen?
Li Fan gazed at his own face.
His spirituality did not seem particularly outstanding.
But, it gave him a peculiar feeling.
His own spirituality was incomparably rich and mellow.
Even after being worn away, cycle after cycle, it had hardly changed at all.
"If the ability to withstand [Fantasy Becomes Truth] is also a kind of aptitude..."
"Then perhaps, my aptitude in this regard is the best in the world."
"Unlike other cultivation aptitudes, this is what [Truth] truly values."
(End of Chapter)
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