Chapter 1491: Truth Grants a Divine Technique
Chapter 1491: Truth Grants a Divine Technique
Li Fan’s strike was a bolt from the blue, like a dark shadow materializing beneath the placid surface of a lake.
The Immortal Hunt cultivator from Shuo Xinghai registered the assault, his expression flickering with surprise for a brief moment before settling back into a calm facade.
Yet, a flicker of indignation simmered beneath his composed exterior.
Channeling the immense might of the Dao Net, he prepared to crush the audacious transgressor. He never imagined what would happen next...
The resplendent power of the Great Dao, for reasons unknown, dissolved like ice melting in the sun the instant it neared the shadow. He had unleashed a strike with the force to shatter mountains, yet it landed as gently as a falling feather, incapable of rustling a single leaf.
Worse still, the very foundation of his power—the Dao Net—was itself unraveling!
It was as if the shadow had corroded a gaping maw in the fabric of the Dao Net, and he was now plunging into the abyssal darkness within.
The fury in the Immortal Hunt cultivator's eyes vanished in an instant, replaced by sheer terror.
He could only watch, helpless, as the shadow devoured the Immortal Hunt cultivator.
"What business brings you here?"
Once the commotion subsided, Li Fan’s voice drifted out, languid and unconcerned. He made no mention of the vanquished cultivator, treating the affair with the same indifference one would show to swatting a fly.
The Nameless Immortal knew instantly that their presumptuous behavior had angered this capricious "Hidden Emperor," provoking him to act.
The thought that Elder Wei—a man whose power ranked among the top three in the Shuo Xinghai Administrative Council—had been so effortlessly subdued sent a chill down the Nameless Immortal's spine.
For years, the Council had employed every means at its disposal to analyze the Hidden Emperor’s strength. Yet, the power he had just casually revealed utterly shattered all their assessments.
"Even the High Lord himself could scarcely have accomplished such a feat."
"No wonder he never paid his respects, despite knowing of the Hidden Emperor’s existence for years. He was afraid..."
Though his mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, the Nameless Immortal's reaction was immediate. He bowed his head respectfully. "We detected a disturbance in the Great Dao at the edge of the Star Sea. We feared it might be your summons, Senior, so we rushed here to investigate."
He wisely made no mention of the captured cultivator.
"Hmph."
"I am merely drawing on your Dao of Order," Li Fan stated coldly. "That shouldn't be a problem, should it? After all, you have the Dao Net to sustain you, and in the past century, you've even been blessed by the phantom projections of several True Immortals."
With their powerful escort so easily neutralized, how could the Nameless Immortal dare voice any objection? He could only nod, a bitter taste in his mouth. "No problem at all, Senior. None at all."
"I have been awake for some time now," Li Fan continued. "The Dao Annihilation has begun to recede, and a new era awaits. I intend to re-establish the Celestial Court..."
The Nameless Immortal was still trying to figure out how he would explain this debacle to the Shuo Xinghai Immortal Hunt.
Li Fan's next words, however, struck him like a thunderbolt, blasting all other thoughts from his mind.
"Re-establish the Celestial Court?" The Nameless Immortal stood frozen, utterly stunned.
Visions of the magnificent, boundless Immortal Realm from ages past flooded his mind.
"The Dao Annihilation has not yet fully receded, so rebuilding the entire Immortal Realm is impossible for now. However, restoring a single Immortal Domain..."
"That is something I can manage," Li Fan declared with an air of supreme confidence.
"Construction will be complete shortly. When the time comes, those who are interested are welcome to attend. As for the rabble and those who lack proper etiquette, they need not bother."
The Nameless Immortal was still trying to process this earth-shattering news, his head swimming. He opened his mouth to respond, but the immense pressure returned to his shoulder. The world blurred around him, and before he knew it, he had been flung thousands of miles away.
He sensed that something else had been ejected along with him.
But this object only traveled for about a thousand miles before coming to an abrupt halt, standing silently in the void.
At first glance, it appeared to be a stone pillar.
Carved into it was the grand character for "Silence."
But after a moment of observation, a bone-deep chill seized the Nameless Immortal, as if he had been plunged into a glacial abyss.
That towering object was no stone pillar.
It was, unmistakably, the Immortal Hunt elder who had accompanied him!
"Since the very creation of the Dao Net, Elder Wei has been one of its pillars," the Nameless Immortal thought, horrified. "He has been immersed in its power for countless years, his very being fused with myriad Daos. He could hold his own even against several Nameless Immortals at once."
"During the last negotiation, he single-handedly repelled the combined assault of three powerful entities. Such might... To think he would end up like this..."
There was no sorrow in the Nameless Immortal's heart for a fallen comrade, only an ineffable dread.
"Our analysis concluded that the Hidden Emperor obtained Shou Qiu's techniques through some stroke of luck. But now... it seems more likely that Shou Qiu himself entrusted them to him. With this level of power, he could be Shou Qiu's closest confidant..." The more the Nameless Immortal pondered, the more his courage failed him. Daring not to linger near the petrified Elder Wei, he fled back toward Shuo Xinghai at his utmost speed.
This matter was far too grave; he had to report it to the Council immediately.
...
Li Fan watched the Nameless Immortal's receding figure with cold eyes before turning his attention back to the stone pillar.
Though it resembled a pillar, its essence was entirely different from the great pillars of Primal and the others.
Li Fan had merely used his Dao of Engraving to reshape the elder, rather than condensing a singular Great Dao into a physical form.
After all, the Immortal Hunt cultivators merely borrowed the power of the Dao Net; they possessed no Dao path of their own.
Once Li Fan used the power of Wuji to sever the cultivator's connection to the Dao Net, the man’s true strength was revealed to be less than even that of the Heavenly Doctor within the High Wall.
Though transformed into stone, the elder retained his consciousness. His earlier arrogance had vanished, replaced by a storm of fear, despair, and regret that raged within his mind.
Using the cultivator's terror as a key, Li Fan slowly began to corrode his defenses and peer into the depths of his mind.
As expected, anything concerning the Dao Net was obscured by a veil, hazy and indistinct. However, the various internal affairs of the Shuo Xinghai Administrative Council, both great and small, were laid bare for him to see.
"So this nascent alliance has already gathered four Nameless Immortals and thirty-six True Immortals..."
"While not as delectable as the thirteen ancient Dao forms, this could still be considered a grand feast."
If the Li Fan of the past would have fled at the mere knowledge of Shuo Xinghai’s might, the Li Fan of today felt an insatiable greed stirring within him.
But as he recognized this burgeoning avarice, Li Fan frowned, instantly pulling himself back from the fantasy of a gluttonous feast.
He closed his eyes, steadying his thoughts.
"Devouring the Nameless and seizing their Dao paths with the Myriad Dao Net... this method of gaining power is far too rapid. The term 'shortsighted' doesn't even begin to cover it."
"Inevitably, my mindset has been affected. If I continue down this path, I fear I will lose the patience for any kind of gradual progress."
"I might find a way to simply devour and assimilate the myriad Daos of this world. But the transformation between truth and illusion is something I must comprehend on my own, step by step..."
As Li Fan reflected, the voracious hunger in his heart slowly began to subside.
"The path of the Ink Death Myriad Dao Net may hint at transcendence, but the True False Transformation is my true foundation."
"The method may be profound, but it must not be allowed to sway my will."
...
After a long period of introspection, Li Fan finally managed to pull himself back from the brink of that near-uncontrollable state.
His plan to hunt the Nameless Immortals remained, but the burning, desperate hunger he'd felt before had cooled.
With the power he now commanded, Li Fan was confident he could suppress all four of Shuo Xinghai's Nameless Immortals if they came at him together, provided he was willing to pay the price. And in any case, it was highly unlikely they would commit all their Nameless Immortals during an initial probe.
The plan itself was not difficult to execute.
"The bait, however," he mused, "must be perfected."
Li Fan extended his hand, and dozens of faintly shimmering fragments materialized in his palm.
These were the remnants of the Immortal Domain chess pieces left behind by Sun Piao Miao. During the transformation of the Primal Bones into the great pillars, most of the domain had disintegrated, returning to its primordial state.
Only these few shards remained.
Even for the current Li Fan, recreating an entire Immortal Domain from these fragments alone was impossible.
But to construct a convincing facade of a Celestial Court...
...that shouldn't be a problem.
"What makes the Immortal Realm 'immortal' is twofold: it possesses the stature of the Upper Mountain, and it embodies the infinity of the Infinite Sea."
"If I can replicate both, then even if it isn't the true Immortal Realm, it will be perceived as such."
"I have the phantom of Shou Qiu and the great pillars. Their combined presence can withstand the Dao Annihilation tide, so their aura should be more than sufficient for the facade."
"The true challenge is replicating the attribute of infinity..." Li Fan mused, a flicker of hesitation crossing his mind.
The mysterious entity he had sensed in the depths of the Infinite Sea was terrifyingly powerful. Critically, it seemed capable of tracing the connection between his avatar and his true self, sensing the [Truth] within him.
This was why, despite having discovered a way to access the Infinite Sea, he had not dared to use it a second time in the last century.
After some hesitation, Li Fan decided to consult [Truth] directly.
The last time he had provoked a direct thought from [Truth], the experience had been a mental tempest. But after a century of further cultivation, Li Fan felt he might be able to endure more of its... reasoning.
Shortly after he conveyed his intent, [Truth] responded.
The response was unlike any before. It wasn't a simple emotional pulse, nor was it the overwhelming torrent of thought from the last time.
Instead, it was a pure, instructional "directive."
As Li Fan carefully absorbed its meaning, his expression grew animated with wonder.
This directive, he realized, was nothing less than a divine technique!
He thought of it as a possibility because what [Truth] had imparted was unlike any divine technique he had ever known.
Divine arts and spells revolved around the principle of "cultivation"—a gradual process of mastering an unknown skill, moving from ignorance to familiarity, and finally to complete control.
But what [Truth] offered him now seemed to bypass the arduous process of practice entirely, granting the result directly.
It was like an incantation that, once spoken, would instantly produce its effect.
Dubious but intrigued, Li Fan decided to attempt it for the first time, without any practice.
Of course, ever cautious, he didn't test it on his true self. The avatar, Li Bueren, would be the subject of the experiment.
After completing the "directive," Li Bueren felt no discernible change in himself.
Steeling himself, he drew upon the memories of his last venture and once again connected to the Infinite Sea.
Since a connection had already been forged, the previous tedious steps were unnecessary. With a single thought, he was back in the boundless ocean!
Even though this was not his first visit, Li Bueren was still awestruck by the sheer infinity that surrounded him.
But this time was different. Immersed in infinity, bearing the weight of eons, Li Bueren felt no pressure whatsoever.
It was as if he possessed a mythical water-parting pearl, a protective barrier shielding him from the crushing pressure of the sea, allowing him to drift freely through the Infinite Sea.
"This..."
Li Bueren was certain this was an experience beyond the reach of even Nameless True Immortals. Not even the so-called transcendent masters could likely rest so peacefully in the depths of the Infinite Sea.
Yet [Truth] had accomplished it with a single, wondrous technique.
Li Bueren’s mind reeled as he carefully analyzed the change that had come over him.
He realized he hadn't perceived the change earlier because the technique from [Truth] operated on a level beyond his own comprehension.
It had made him, an outsider, one with the Infinite Sea itself.
As a part of the sea, he was no longer subject to its pressure.
Li Bueren knew with absolute certainty that this was a supreme divine technique of unimaginable power.
But as he gazed at the endless tapestry of condensed time and events around him, he felt adrift, unsure of his next move.
In that moment of hesitation, a violent tremor ran through his entire being.
It felt as if the protective barrier was about to shatter, and the crushing pressure of the Infinite Sea threatened to descend upon him once more.
"So this transformation—or deception—has a time limit," Li Bueren realized.
Not daring to linger, he withdrew from the Infinite Sea while the technique was still active. RAN=0BE^S
Thanks to the aid of [Truth]'s wondrous technique, his avatar's foray into the Infinite Sea had gone completely unnoticed by the terrifying, unknown entity in its depths.
"And with this technique," Li Fan mused, "it seems I can draw upon more of the Infinite Sea’s power than other True Immortals."
"For the duration of the technique, I can draw upon it freely, without triggering the sea's pressure or backlash."
Li Fan replayed the entire exploration in his mind, his heart pounding with an excitement he could barely contain.
The celestial-grade Dissociation Disc could already manifest immortal power on its own.
Li Fan knew that while immortal power was inherently infinite, the amount an individual could wield was limited by their own cultivation.
A Nameless True Immortal could naturally command far more power than an ordinary one.
And beings like Shou Qiu were a class above even the Nameless True Immortals.
But now, with the technique granted by [Truth], Li Fan could seemingly bypass these limits, drawing upon infinite immortal power that transcended his own level...
Burning with eagerness, Li Fan immediately tried to use the technique again.
Only to find...
...it failed.
"Hmm?"
Undeterred, he tried several more times before finally identifying the problem.
It wasn't that he had performed the technique incorrectly; the technique itself had simply become inert for him.
"Can this deception only be used once?"
Li Fan’s eyelid twitched nervously, but after concentrating for a moment longer, he felt a wave of relief.
"It's not a one-time use."
"I just have to wait a while before I can use it again."
"This..."
"It's like..."
"A skill?"
A peculiar expression crossed Li Fan's face.
As he pondered this, something occurred to him, and he quickly checked the status panel for [Truth].
There, after his name, age, and energy level, but before the list of anchored items...
...was a new line of text.
Divine Blessing: Fantasy Becomes Truth.
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