Chapter 1489: The Supreme Dao Scripture
Chapter 1489: The Supreme Dao Scripture
The Dao that Si Tu Xing had attained was [Engrave].
He wielded himself as a blade, capable of engraving anything in the universe, whether tangible or formless.
Initially inspired by the methods of the virtuous Inscription Dao Immortal, he had combined this revelation with his own greatest talents to forge a Dao art unique in all of heaven and earth.
The grandeur of Si Tu Xing's ascension ceremony stemmed from a single fact: his engraved creations could serve as a more accessible alternative to the original Dao Inscriptions.
The four Sage Lords of the Immortal Realm were lofty and remote.
Their deeds, such as paving the Immortal Road and tapping the Infinite Spring, had benefited all immortals and were of eternal merit. But to the vast majority of True Immortals, who had never experienced the desolate ancient era when "no immortals existed in the world," these achievements felt abstract. The existence of the Immortal Road and the infinite nature of immortal energy were, in their eyes, perfectly natural—the way things had always been.
The four Sage Lords were little more than deific symbols in their minds.
The Inscription Dao Immortal, however, was the one truly revered by the hosts of True Immortals. The reason was simple: the Inscription Dao Immortal was a prodigy of heaven-defying talent who had observed the three thousand Great Daos and comprehended them all. Moreover, he had inscribed and transformed the formless Daos he perceived, bestowing them upon the world.
It was said that nearly half of all Nameless True Immortals in the Immortal Realm came into being only after studying the [Supreme Dao Scripture].
Unfortunately, the scripture, which had once floated in the [Boundless Star Domain] for all immortals to behold, met with disaster during the first large-scale Dao Annihilation Calamity to strike the Immortal Realm.
Legend held that the moment the great tide of Dao Annihilation descended, every character of the Supreme Dao Scripture erupted with infinite light, transforming into celestial ribbons that temporarily held the calamity at bay.
This act bought the True Immortals studying below a precious few moments to escape.
But a scripture, however profound, could not ultimately resist such a terrifying cataclysm. In the end, it was swallowed by the Dao Annihilation, along with the entire star domain.
Only a few scattered Dao symbols survived.
Si Tu Xing was fortunate enough to have been born before the disappearance of the [Supreme Dao Scripture]. In his observation of it, he had precisely determined his own path.
To become the second Inscription Dao Immortal!
Although the Supreme Dao Scripture hung in the Boundless Star Domain for all to see, the Immortal Realm itself stood upon the [Upper Mountain], a place of immeasurable expanse.
The [Boundless] domain alone was beyond the ability of immortal energy to fully chart. Thus, those with the power, determination, and fortune to actually reach the Boundless Star Domain and view the scripture were few and far between.
The Supreme Dao Scripture was like a magnificent sculpture carved into a mountainside—immovable.
But if someone could engrave, record, and transport the scripture, allowing the world's True Immortals to glimpse its truths without undertaking the arduous journey themselves, it would be a deed of immense merit!
Si Tu Xing dedicated himself to this cause.
Without the scripture's direct guidance, becoming the second Inscription Dao Immortal was a path fraught with a thousand trials and ten thousand tribulations. But Si Tu Xing's aptitude and luck were both extraordinary. After stumbling through half a lifetime of effort, he finally achieved his goal, reaching the Nameless realm.
His attainment of the Dao of [Engrave] meant that the Inscription Dao Immortal had a successor, a revelation that naturally sent shockwaves through the Immortal Realm.
Countless Nameless Immortals flocked to visit him. It was the most glorious period of Si Tu Xing's life.
If only...
The act of inscription was far more difficult than he had ever imagined.
At first, he could rely on his memories of observing the [Supreme Dao Scripture] to give tangible form to various Daos.
But as time went on, Si Tu Xing gradually discovered that his success rate was plummeting. After becoming Nameless, his very being had merged with the Dao of Engraving, which naturally distanced him from all other paths.
To attempt to engrave them again...
He tried and failed. He tried again and failed again.
It was only when he finally abandoned the effort completely that Si Tu Xing, faced with this cruel reality, recognized the true power of the Inscription Dao Immortal.
The act of inscription was not something an ordinary person could achieve.
Unfortunately, after leaving behind the [Supreme Dao Scripture], the Inscription Dao Immortal had vanished without a trace, making it impossible for Si Tu Xing to seek his guidance on how to reconcile the myriad Daos.
But Si Tu Xing was not one to be defeated by setbacks.
Although he could no longer directly inscribe the Daos themselves, he found he could still engrave his own insights, and the insights of other immortals.
It was a step down, yet it still benefited the world. In a way, Si Tu Xing’s ambition to become the second Inscription Dao Immortal had, in fact, been realized.
...
"The [Upper Mountain]?"
"The [Supreme Dao Scripture]?"
Li Fan withdrew from Si Tu Xing's brilliant, fragmented consciousness.
Even as a remnant, the memory was incredibly real. Under the influence of the Supreme Dao Scripture within that memory, this wisp of Li Fan's divine sense had been completely immersed, almost losing itself.
Fortunately, the approaching Dao Annihilation Calamity had sent Si Tu Xing's thoughts into a turmoil, allowing Li Fan to awaken in time.
He returned the power he had absorbed to the other celestial pillars and Shou Qiu's phantoms. Supported by their combined strength, the pressure of the Dao Annihilation Calamity slowly faded into nothingness.
However, Li Fan keenly sensed that, compared to before, the pressure on each celestial pillar seemed to have increased slightly.
"It seems I can't use this trick of scaring them with the Dao Annihilation Calamity too often. Each time creates a crack in their defenses, and each time will hasten the calamity's true arrival."
But that was not a concern for Li Fan at the moment. He could likely repeat the process four or five more times before this lifetime's "truth" ran out, which should be more than enough.
Moreover, after suffering this "calamity scare," Si Tu Xing's mental sea had been breached. It was no longer the flawless, condensed state it had been before. With a bit of effort, Li Fan could now peruse his memories freely, just as he had with the Hunger Immortal.
From the memories of this long-ascended Nameless True Immortal, Li Fan indeed reaped a harvest of extremely valuable information.
"Mortals climb the mountain and become immortal."
"The Connecting Mountains Saint was the very first to ascend the [Upper Mountain], finding a path for all living beings to follow."
"Upper Mountain, Infinite Sea. They must be existences on the same scale as the mortal world."
"So-called immortals, though they occupy the mountain to create the Immortal Realm, are bound by the fate of the mountain and sea merging. This is what made the Dao Annihilation Calamity an inevitable conclusion."
Li Fan's consciousness had once personally visited the Infinite Sea, feeling its boundless nature firsthand.
Since the mountain was its equal, it must be of a similar, staggering scale.
"The Immortal Realm created on the Upper Mountain is endless and without bounds, also infinite in a sense."
Compared to the mountain and the sea, True Immortals were no different from ants. Yet, these ants had ascended and, for a time, stood with the mountain and sea beneath their feet.
The thought filled Li Fan with an almost exhilarating sense of humanity's power to conquer fate.
Besides the four Sage Lords like Lian Shan and Gui Hai, the Inscription Dao Immortal also belonged to this class of figures who seemed to defy the very scale of the mountain and sea.
In Si Tu Xing's memory, the Supreme Dao Scripture floating above the Boundless Star Domain was an object of both reverence and awe, as if it sought to exhaust the principles of the mountain and the sea themselves.
"The True Immortal scripts I've glimpsed before, including [Creation], all seem to have originated from this scripture."
"Just one or two characters are already so profound and mysterious. It's truly difficult to imagine how breathtaking the complete scripture must be."
Even in the lower realms, legends of the Inscription Dao Immortal persisted. Li Fan had first learned of his existence from Bai Hua. The resounding fame of the Inscription Dao Immortal and his profound influence on the Immortal Realm were plain to see.
As for the four Sage Lords of the Immortal Realm, and even Shou Qiu, they might have been more powerful, but in terms of sheer renown, they fell far short.
This was determined by the very nature of their different Daos.
"The Inscription Dao Immortal vanished long ago and no longer manifests in the world. Perhaps he has already left the [Primal] possibility."
"With his ability to inscribe three thousand Daos, it stands to reason that he could transcend."
...
As he considered this, a thread of doubt surfaced in Li Fan's mind.
Through his recent interactions with True Immortals, and even Nameless True Immortals, he had managed to piece together a rough understanding of the Immortal Realm's origins and the reason for the Dao Annihilation Calamity's arrival.
But now, an unavoidable question presented itself to him.
"The formation of the Immortal Realm is rooted in the mountain and the sea."
"But what, exactly, is the connection between different possibilities and the [Upper Mountain] and the [Infinite Sea]?"
"Based on my earlier theory of 'All-Selves-Return-to-One,' the mountain and the sea were clearly born as entities of that transcendent tier. Working backward, this implies that even among infinite possibilities, there is only one Infinite Sea and one Upper Mountain."
"Perhaps, coexisting within the same mountain and sea is the theoretical foundation that allows for travel between different possibilities."
...
After a long moment of contemplation, Li Fan gently shook his head.
Until he reached that realm himself, no amount of speculation could truly unravel the principles at play. But now that the mountain and sea had been revealed, they had illuminated a clear direction for his cultivation path, which had been shrouded in mist, halted at the level of a half-immortal.
"Setting aside transcendence for now..."
"To acquire great power while situated between the mountain and sea, one must inevitably borrow the strength of the mountain and the sea."
"Lian Shan, Gui Hai. The names of two Sage Lords, but also a pronouncement of the true essence of 'Immortal' power."
"Originally, all was well. True Immortals stood upon the mountain and sea, creating a glorious age. But the problem now is..."
"The merging of the mountain and sea."
From Si Tu Xing's memories, it seemed the Immortal Realm was built directly upon the so-called [Upper Mountain].
When the mountain and sea merged, everything on the mountain would plunge into the deep sea.
The Immortal Realm would naturally vanish along with it.
Recalling the Dao Annihilation Calamity he had witnessed with his own eyes, a thought suddenly stirred in Li Fan's heart. "The Dao Annihilation Calamity is not as simple as the Immortal Realm being swallowed by the Infinite Sea."
"Rather, when the mountain and sea merge, the mountain is no longer a mountain, and the sea is no longer a sea."
"Perhaps... it is a return to what existed before the mountain and sea..."
The allegory Sun Piao Miao had left behind resurfaced in Li Fan's mind once more.
The mountain and sea argued, and the sea retorted to the mountain: "What do you mean, 'what rightfully belongs'? Were these infinite lifespans of ours something we were born with?"
Numerous images began to form in Li Fan's mind.
"Si Tu Xing said the merging of mountain and sea is the grand trend of fate. But the key to solving everything lies in *why* the mountain and sea would merge in the first place."
Li Fan gazed toward the distant horizon, in the direction from which the Black Heaven Physician had come crashing through possibilities that day.
"Perhaps, in that so-called [Great World of the Other Shore], lies the true answer to this question."
"The Heavenly Doctor, Su Bai, the Inscription Immortal, Shou Qiu..."
"Whether I've met them myself or only heard of them in historical accounts, it's possible they have all gathered there."
As their faces flashed through his mind one by one, Li Fan took a deep breath to calm his turbulent thoughts.
Frankly, his own power was still a great distance from theirs.
But armed with the ultimate treasure, [Truth], it was an undeniable certainty that he would one day reach their level.
"The question is, how do I walk the path?"
"For now, my idea of using Ink Death to devour and manifest the three thousand Great Daos, merging them into one body, remains the most suitable path for me."
"Especially now that I know of the [Supreme Dao Scripture]'s existence."
"It's a pity the Supreme Dao Scripture was long ago devoured by the Dao Annihilation. If there were even a few surviving characters, it would be invaluable. Otherwise, if I could have devoured the scripture itself, I fear I would have instantly leaped to the realm of transcendence." A pang of regret touched Li Fan's heart at the thought of the lost shortcut.
But then another thought occurred to him. Though the true scripture was gone, there were perhaps still some who had seen it in the history of the Immortal Realm and survived to this day.
"To survive the great calamity of the Immortal Realm back then, their power must be considerable. There's a high probability they once traveled to the Boundless Star Domain and saw the scripture face-to-face. Such True Immortals, like Si Tu Xing, are all a potent tonic for my cultivation!"
"At the very least, they could save me millennia of painstaking contemplation!"
A sharp glint flashed in Li Fan's eyes.
The Myriad Dao Net of Annihilation he envisioned, if he were to rely solely on his own comprehension...
Given Li Fan's nearly infinite supply of expendable spirituality, he could probably achieve it through endless cycles of reincarnation.
But the efficiency would be far too low.
How could that compare to the convenience of directly asking the immortals?
Just as in this lifetime, after devouring the Hunger Immortal and the Grandmaster, he had already woven the preliminary threads of his Myriad Dao Net of Annihilation.
And now, by absorbing the memories in Si Tu Xing's mind, that net would instantly expand several times over.
"For a Nameless True Immortal, the theoretical limit within a single possibility is to merge with their Dao. To advance further, they must devour their counterparts from other possibilities."
"But for me, each aspect of Ink Death can reach the realm of a Nameless True Immortal. Merely within a single possibility, as the three thousand Great Daos all return to me, I could potentially grow to a level rivaling Evil Su Bai or the Black Heaven Physician."
"Not to mention..."
Li Fan's eyes narrowed slightly. "The ultimate limit for each of my Ink Death aspects is the level of those who have achieved 'All-Selves-Return-to-One'."
"What Evil Heaven Physician, what Black Su Bai..."
"They will be nothing more than a feast laid upon my plate."
With a cold snort, strands of Ink Death's black energy enveloped the celestial pillar that was once Si Tu Xing, extracting the nourishment Li Fan required for his cultivation.
With all hidden dangers in the Dark Star Sea eliminated, Li Fan could finally cultivate in peace and digest his recent gains.
A single thought flickered, and his formless Dao Net instantly blanketed the entire Dark Star Sea.
It analyzed and deconstructed every Dao that manifested within the star sea.
The [road] leading beyond the high wall reopened, continuously drawing in the more complete Daos of the Shuo Xinghai.
A single Dao, even for a peerless genius, could take a lifetime to comprehend. For Li Fan to grasp three thousand Great Daos simultaneously, progress was bound to be exceedingly slow.
He was long prepared for this.
Thus, he did not seek mastery for now, but focused on building the "empty frameworks."
Even if these frameworks were just faint outlines, fragile and useless for now, they could be filled with immortal essence later. That was all that mattered.
"First, I will build my pantheon..."
"Then, I will hunt the immortals of this world."
As Li Fan's thoughts roamed, the embryonic form of Ink Death's Myriad Dao Net gradually took shape.
The three celestial pillars, along with the five phantoms of Shou Qiu, were all veiled by the ever-thickening web of the Dao.
Time flowed on.
When Li Fan's dormant consciousness was awakened once more, a hundred years had passed.
It was not the arrival of the Dao Annihilation Calamity that disturbed him, but his sensing of someone's return that prompted him to wake.
The visitor was the incarnation of Emperor Sanmo's carefree dream power.
Previously, Emperor Sanmo had volunteered to find Wan Shiyong, only to vanish without a trace.
Li Fan had even asked Emperor Sanmo's true self, but he too had lost his connection to the dream incarnation.
All he knew was that the moment it entered the starfield where Wan Shiyong resided, all contact was severed.
Li Fan had assumed that this dream body of Emperor Sanmo would never return. He never expected that after a century, it would come rushing back.
And it wasn't just the dream body.
Emperor Sanmo's true self, upon finally perceiving his dream body's experiences over the years, underwent a sudden, drastic change in expression.
Without hesitation, he requested an audience with Li Fan.
The reason that had so moved this beast of wisdom, who had lived for an unknown age, was...
"You're saying you followed Wan Shiyong to another possibility?"
The figure formed by Li Fan's will gazed at the reunited Emperor Sanmo and spoke in a deep voice.
"Indeed. In truth, I did not stay in that possibility for long. After gaining a general understanding of the situation, I quickly returned. I never imagined a hundred years would have passed here. Although that withered shadow warned me in advance that such an unexpected situation might occur, the sudden passage of a century has still left me rather unsettled..." Emperor Sanmo's tone was heavy with emotion.
"Another possibility..."
"What is the situation there?" Li Fan asked, pondering.
"The thirteen ancient Dao forms all exist. My race lives in its supreme golden age," Emperor Sanmo stated slowly.
"Oh?" Li Fan raised an eyebrow, studying Emperor Sanmo carefully.
He tried to discern the truth of his words from his expression.
"Isn't that the place you've dreamed of? Why come back? Was it to retrieve your true self?"
"Rest assured, I will not stop you," Li Fan said placidly.
Emperor Sanmo shook his head. "Senior misunderstands. In that possibility's history, because the slaughter by human Nameless Immortals never occurred, my race has continued to thrive to this day. Although there have been various internal struggles and killings, we have ultimately maintained a state of great strength. However..."
"We still cannot escape the Dao Annihilation Calamity."
"And it's coming far too quickly."
A deep, hidden panic could be heard in Emperor Sanmo's voice.
"The thirteen Dao forms are struggling to hold it back, but I fear we will still be unable to escape our doom. The time left for my race is short."
"So?"
"You want to bring your kin here?" Li Fan had a vague idea of Emperor Sanmo's intentions.
Emperor Sanmo nodded. "Indeed, that is my thought."
"Our current world, though also suffering from Dao Annihilation, is comparatively stable in the lower star seas. At the very least, we have a long period of safety. If we could regroup here..."
Li Fan chuckled. "If you could make the leap on your own, I doubt you would have come back to see me."
Emperor Sanmo did not deny it, admitting frankly, "I require Senior's assistance."
"In that possibility, for some reason, the Xuanhuang Realm does not exist. Therefore..."
(End of Chapter)
Comments