Chapter 1501: A Mutual Strike at the Core
Chapter 1501: A Mutual Strike at the Core
The Nameless Immortal, [Rock Solid], faced Li Buren's sudden assault, an earthy yellow light glinting in his eyes. Despite having been imprisoned beneath the Dao Net for tens of thousands of years, he remained utterly composed.
He stomped his feet, and in an instant, his form swelled to the size of a towering mountain range, standing resolute between heaven and earth.
Li Buren's Myriad Forms Dao Net, which he had cast to ensnare his foe, felt as if it had been seized by a powerful hand, grinding to a halt in an unexpected stalemate.
The mountain range [Rock Solid] had become was vast and sprawling. Even as boundless power surged within the Myriad Forms Dao Net, it couldn't dissolve the mountain in a single stroke.
Slightly thwarted but without a moment's hesitation, Li Buren brought his staff down upon the ancient Nameless Immortal.
This was a scenario Li Fan had already foreseen. Though Li Buren had comprehended the Dao for a century and wielded the power of the Primal, he had not yet reached the point of embodying the Primal itself. Against a true powerhouse among the Nameless Immortals, achieving an instant, crushing victory was not guaranteed.
This was precisely why Li Fan had armed him with the Wuji Heavenly Pillar.
The Nameless Rock Solid might be ancient and resilient, but he was no match for the true Great Dao of Wuji. The Wuji Heavenly Pillar plunged deep into the heart of the mountain range, and the hard stone of the towering peaks crumbled like tofu at its touch.
"This Rock Solid... the mountain range he manifested from his Dao Path seems to be an imitation of the [Upper Mountain]."
He suppressed this Nameless Immortal as well and sent him inside the High Wall.
Savoring the insights he had just gained from his opponent's Dao Path, Li Buren proceeded toward the third pillar.
With two supreme treasures at his command, Li Buren met no significant resistance and successfully captured the third Nameless Immortal imprisoned within the Dao Net: [Speechless].
Three of the four great pillars were now gone.
The Shuo Xinghai Dao Net had now lost most of its anchoring points. Its suppressive power was drastically reduced, allowing Chaos and Shanhua to move freely within its confines without significant hindrance.
The weakening of the Dao Net triggered subtle changes in the very skies of Shuo Xinghai.
Against the backdrop of the encroaching Dao Annihilation, the Dao Net had acted as a series of great pillars, holding up a collapsing sky. Now, Li Fan had abruptly kicked away three of them. While this undoubtedly made the Star Sea within the High Wall more stable, the Shuo Xinghai outside was left teetering on the brink of collapse.
Life still flickered within the Star Sea for now, but the void beyond seemed to be veiled in shadow. From this darkness, deep, muffled rumbles echoed periodically, like the sound of collapsing mountains and raging tsunamis.
The two Nameless Immortals, Shanhua and Chaos, were clearly familiar with these ominous signs.
The memory was so deeply ingrained that it triggered a visceral response, a wave of profound unease and fear washing over them.
Li Buren ignored their apprehension, focused solely on executing Li Fan's orders.
He headed for the location of the final imprisoned Nameless Immortal.
Shanhua and Chaos had no choice but to follow, unable to resist voicing their concerns. "Something feels wrong. This has all been far too easy."
"The Dao Net is about to collapse, yet 'the Weaver' hasn't shown himself. Where could he be?"
"He wouldn't just run and hide. The Dao Net is his life's work; he would never abandon it so easily. Unless... unless he has a target even more important than the Dao Net itself?"
A chilling thought surfaced in both their minds.
Li Buren seemed to guess their thoughts. He paused for only a fraction of a second before continuing forward.
At the location of the final pillar, there were no more members of the Immortal Hunt left to resist.
It was eerily quiet. The last remaining pillar struggled to support the collapsing Dao threads around it.
Remove this final pillar, and the Shuo Xinghai Dao Net would cease to exist.
Li Buren repeated his technique, using the Wuji Heavenly Pillar to clear a path and dissolve the Dao Net's last vestiges of defense.
A gaunt, skeletal figure came into view.
He looked as though he had suffered unimaginable torture, or perhaps had been imprisoned the longest.
This final Nameless Immortal sat cross-legged, his head bowed low, his robes in tatters.
Compared to the previous three, his condition was utterly wretched.
Li Buren could sense that the Dao being extracted from this figure by the Shuo Xinghai Dao Net was greater than that of the other three Nameless Immortals combined.
He alone seemed to bear a pressure equivalent to all the other pillars put together!
His body was pierced by a dense web of Dao threads, a horrifying sight to behold.
"Do you recognize him?" Li Buren suddenly asked the two Nameless Immortals behind him.
Chaos and Shanhua studied the figure carefully, then both shook their heads.
"The Immortal Realm is boundless, and the number of those who have attained the status of Nameless is countless. It's only natural that we wouldn't know all of them," Shanhua explained.
Hearing this, Li Buren fell into thought, studying the prisoner before him without moving to rescue him.
With his current level of comprehension, he had been able to see through the previous three Nameless Immortals with a single glance.
Wealth and Honor, Rock Solid, Speechless...
Although these Daos were embodied by Nameless Immortals, the immortals themselves had not transcended, so their paths still left faint traces in the world. It was these traces that allowed Li Fan to perceive their nature.
But the being before him was a complete mystery.
A completely unfamiliar, unknown Dao Path.
"Could he be from another possibility? Or perhaps..."
Despite his doubts, with two supreme treasures in hand, Li Buren felt little fear.
Proceeding with caution, he brought the Wuji Heavenly Pillar down once more.
The remaining Dao threads coiled around the final prisoner dissolved into nothingness.
Just as the prisoner was freed and the Dao Net was on the verge of total collapse...
A pale, withered hand shot out and seized the Wuji Heavenly Pillar.
The Dao threads that had just vanished suddenly surged forth again from the man's body.
Though he was mentally prepared for trouble, Li Buren's heart still skipped a beat. He tried to retract the Wuji Heavenly Pillar.
But he found the grey stone pillar was stuck fast in the other's palm, as if glued there.
No matter how hard he tried to command it, the Wuji Heavenly Pillar would not budge an inch.
Li Buren also noticed that in the brief moment the prisoner had been holding the Wuji Heavenly Pillar, wisps of a Wuji aura had begun to emanate from his body.
A dark premonition welled up inside him.
And at that moment, the final Nameless Immortal abruptly opened his eyes.
"Young friend," he asked, "why do you destroy my Dao Net?"
...
A short while earlier, inside the High Wall.
Li Fan, who had been monitoring Li Buren's progress, was suddenly overcome by a baseless sense of agitation.
Startled, he immediately began to trace the source of this inexplicable feeling.
Ever since he began his cultivation through samsara, his spiritual intuition had saved him countless times.
Although he still didn't understand the origin of this incredibly accurate intuition, Li Fan had come to accept it as a unique talent of his, much like his own endlessly reducible Spirituality.
When his intuition sent a warning, there was always a reason.
Li Fan's thoughts raced, sifting through a thousand possibilities before locking onto a target.
"The Weaver?"
"His Dao Net is being destroyed, yet he does nothing. Is he planning to come directly for me?"
Li Fan found the idea absurd.
The Wuji Heavenly Pillar and the Dao Sword and Dao Saber were with Li Buren, but here, inside the High Wall, Li Fan was virtually invincible.
He was not only bolstered by the five Shadow Projections of Shou Qiu but also had the inhabitants of an entire Primordial Desolation Immortal Realm as his soldiers.
Unless he was facing a transcendent powerhouse among the Nameless, Li Fan had nothing to fear.
"This warning from my intuition is different," he mused. "It doesn't signal a fatal crisis, but it definitely points to a potential threat."
"This means the Weaver's strength cannot be underestimated."
After careful consideration, Li Fan decided against immediately using [Truth] to escape.
He intended to first meet this mysterious Nameless Immortal.
While he was contemplating this, Li Buren had already reached the final prisoner.
And just as that gaunt old man spoke the words, "Young friend, why do you destroy my Dao Net?"
A blue figure appeared like a phantom, without any warning, within the Primordial Desolation Immortal Realm.
It instantly locked onto Li Fan's true body.
The distance between them was a mere thousand yards.
The entire Primordial Desolation Immortal Realm was under Li Fan's control. He had, of course, sensed the intruder the very instant he appeared.
Which was why he was all the more stunned.
Without a doubt, the blue figure was the Weaver.
But Li Fan had no idea how he had managed to appear inside the High Wall.
Logically, with the High Wall as a barrier, the fluctuations from any True Immortal attempting to cross it should have immediately drawn Li Fan's attention. After all, as a semi-inheritor of Shou Qiu's legacy, he held authority over this entire division of the experimental site.
Yet the blue Weaver had completely ignored this rule.
"How...?"
Li Fan stared intently at the enigmatic figure, and without hesitation, he unleashed his full power.
The Shadow Projections of Shou Qiu, the sealing pillars...
...and even the Myriad Forms Dao Net that Li Fan himself had woven.
All were brought to bear, aiming to instantly suppress the Weaver.
In an instant, monstrous waves seemed to roil through the dark star sea. Within the Primordial Desolation Immortal Realm, storms gathered and the heavens tore asunder.
The Heavenly Emperor and Tianhen were startled by the celestial phenomena, their attention drawn to the two figures facing off in the Immortal Realm.
Seeing someone dare to challenge the majesty of their Creator Father-God, the inhabitants of the Primordial Desolation Immortal Realm were collectively enraged.
They descended in streaks of light, gathering like a storm cloud behind Li Fan, their gazes fixed furiously on the blue figure before them.
They waited only for Li Fan's command to surge forward and tear the defiant intruder to shreds.
But Li Fan, his expression cold and severe, was reeling internally.
Because he had discovered that the power from the Shadow Projections of Shou Qiu...
...was gone!
It wasn't that the five Shadow Projections within the High Wall had lost their power.
Rather, Li Fan could no longer draw power from them!
In a single moment, his greatest reliance had been inexplicably neutralized.
"Could this so-called Weaver be Shou Qiu himself?"
The thought made his heart pound uncontrollably.
At this point in time, he was in no way strong enough to contend with Shou Qiu.
"No. The Weaver's actual performance is far inferior to the legends of Shou Qiu."
"He fought a group of down-and-out Nameless Immortals to a stalemate that lasted for tens of thousands of years."
"It can't possibly be Shou Qiu himself."
Li Fan quickly calmed himself, his mind racing to find an explanation for this bizarre phenomenon.
"He seized my control over the Shadow Projections of Shou Qiu."
"He passes through the High Wall, in and out, as he pleases."
Li Fan's eyes narrowed. An answer was already forming in his mind.
"This Weaver, like me, originated from within the High Wall? And he also entered the hidden space of the experimental site and received Shou Qiu's legacy..."
"But... not from our dark star sea."
"But from another partitioned space within the experimental site."
...
The blue figure's next words seemed to confirm Li Fan's guess. "You received the legacy of Shou Qiu, yet you engage in such deeds?"
He gestured at the sealed pillars around them, his tone flat.
A hundred thoughts flashed through Li Fan's mind.
Since the other party hadn't attacked immediately, there was room for negotiation.
Whatever the case, he would first try to extract some useful information. With the protection of [Fantasy Becomes Truth], he was already in an invincible position.
With a wave of his hand, he dismissed the onlookers from the Primordial Desolation Immortal Realm.
Li Fan laughed heartily. "So it seems we've had a misunderstanding!"
"Perhaps I should call you Senior Brother?"
The blue figure coolly rejected the notion. "I would not dare."
Li Fan didn't press the point, changing the subject. "How is what I've done any different from what you have, fellow Daoist? We both turn immortals into pillars."
"This has been done in the Immortal Realm since ancient times. Even the Immortal Emperors of past ages couldn't condemn me for it."
Li Fan added with a cold smile, "Using immortal bodies to hold back the Dao Annihilation... one could even call it an act of great merit."
"Others may do so, but you may not. Because you have received Shou Qiu's legacy." The blue figure was not swayed by Li Fan's sophistry, directly defining the boundary for him.
"I may not... but you may, fellow Daoist? Heh, don't be too..."
"Of course, I cannot violate it either," the blue figure interrupted.
"But the star seas of the lower realms are on the brink of destruction. There is no time to slowly reason with the True Immortals. So I took the lead and entered the net myself."
As he spoke, the blue light surrounding his figure slowly dissipated.
Revealing his true appearance.
He looked exactly the same as the old man sealed in the deepest part of the Dao Net!
Or rather, they were one and the same person!
"If I did not lead by example, how could I expect other Nameless Immortals to join willingly?" the old man said faintly.
"You!"
Only now did Li Fan finally understand.
The mysterious Nameless Immortal who had built the Dao Net was also one of its four great pillars!
The master of the Dao Net was also its prisoner!
"Since you have the Shou Qiu Prose, why must you still act as a pillar yourself?"
"The Shadow Projections for Dao Bearing should be able to take your place!" Li Fan demanded after his initial shock, his eyes narrowed.
The old man sighed. "Unless one reaches the state of transcendence, no matter how real the shadow projection is, how can it compare to a true Great Dao?"
"Of course, the most crucial problem is that there is no time."
"If I had twice the time, perhaps I could have slowly cultivated a sufficient number of Shadow Projections."
As he spoke, the old man surveyed the Primordial Desolation Immortal Realm. "Shanhua and the others were not exaggerating. This place truly has the air of the old Immortal Realm."
He nodded in appraisal.
"I have yet to learn your name, fellow Daoist?" Li Fan asked, clasping his hands in a formal gesture.
"I have learned the Master's Dao, inheriting it with my body and bearing it with my will. My Dao Path is these two words: [Cheng Dao]," the old man declared solemnly.
(End of Chapter)
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