Chapter 1514: A Great Wind Rises in the Mountain and Sea
“The entire cosmos, including the Mountain and Sea, is nothing more than a larger version of the [Unending Samsara]?”
“Just as Zhenshi Immortal Venerable, despite all his attempts, could never alter the Xuanhuang Realm's fate of being devoured by the Immortal Ruins, the Mountain and Sea, too, is ultimately fated to fuse.”
“How can one truly change things, truly transcend?”
...
After the Unending Samsara reset once more, Li Fan's consciousness had already withdrawn. Yet, the questions raised by this experiment lingered, swirling in his mind.
Refusing to fade.
Even as he secretly experimented with the construction of the Immortal Embankment in the real world, these thoughts would often surface.
As it turned out, the Unending Samsara was almost perfectly identical to the Primal Possibility. The results of Li Fan's experiments within it could be transferred wholesale to reality, unchanged.
When Cheng Dao witnessed the methods Li Fan demonstrated for constructing the Immortal Embankment, he couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, "Junior Brother, you are truly a prodigy! How long has it been, and you've already managed to replicate this project? And you did it based on nothing more than a glimpse from your memories, without ever visiting the place yourself."
As Li Fan delved into the secrets of the Embankment, Cheng Dao had already woven the original Dao strings into the Dao Net. Li Fan could faintly sense that with this new infusion of strength, the starry sky around the High Wall and Shuo Xinghai had grown much more stable.
It seemed that the addition of these previously non-existent Dao principles created a synergistic effect, making the whole greater than the sum of its parts.
Cheng Dao naturally noticed this phenomenon as well, and he recounted an anecdote to Li Fan.
Once, during a conversation with Shou Qiu Gong, he had asked about possible ways to resist the Dao Annihilation. As Shou Qiu's disciple, Cheng Dao also wanted to emulate his master's heroic deed from long ago—to save a world by himself, to turn the tide against overwhelming disaster.
Shou Qiu Gong didn't mock his disciple's ambition; instead, he seriously offered two suggestions.
First, continue practicing the [Shadow Projection for Dao Bearing] technique. If he became strong enough, even if he couldn't ultimately change the fate of being devoured by the Dao Annihilation, he might be able to hold on until the very last moment of the Mountain and Sea's fusion.
If the first method was to rely on external aid, then the second method was to help the possibility itself grow stronger. If it was inherently robust, it would naturally no longer need any heavenly pillars or shadow projections.
However, the possibility where Cheng Dao resided was already terminally ill and riddled with holes. To reverse a terminal illness, one naturally had to take extraordinary measures.
Absorb the Great Daos from other possibilities to fill the deficiencies in his own.
Take from the surplus to supply the deficient!
Shou Qiu Gong also told Cheng Dao that there were indeed such people in the Mountain and Sea who crossed over to other possibilities to extract and refine their Great Daos. Then they would return to their homeland to uphold the collapsing heavens.
"This must be what Master was talking about. It seems one truly must test things for oneself. No amount of idle speculation can compare to a hands-on attempt," Cheng Dao mused, stroking his beard with a smile, clearly quite pleased with his masterpiece.
Li Fan and Cheng Dao then exchanged their insights with each other.
Despite the pretense, their rapport was like that of genuine master-and-apprentice brothers.
Time flew by in this remarkably harmonious atmosphere. In the blink of an eye, fifty years had passed.
Cheng Dao still hadn't received any message from Shou Qiu Gong, but the thirteen ancient Dao forms Li Fan had long awaited finally arrived.
On this day, a faint disturbance emanated from the border of the High Wall and Shuo Xinghai.
Like the waves stirred by a colossal ship riding the wind and breaking the seas, tremors constantly battered the shore. The region was already surrounded by the Annihilation Zone, supported only by the High Wall's Dao Net.
Struck by this violent tremor, it instantly felt like a lone island in a massive tsunami, on the verge of being capsized.
Li Fan and Cheng Dao appeared in a flash, looking in the direction of the phenomenon.
The scene was remarkably similar to the one outside their world, just before the Dao Annihilation arrived.
Except, in addition to the howling of the Mountain and Sea, there was now a dull, thudding sound, like heavy metal hammers constantly colliding and striking.
With each sound, a thread seemed to be forged from nothing, carved out of the void.
The dull thuds continued, and thousands of threads overlapped, growing thicker. Like a divine power parting the sea, a path was forcibly created through the Dao Annihilation.
Li Fan stared at the strange sight, suddenly recalling the moment the Black Heaven Physician had shattered the High Wall and descended upon the world.
"Senior Brother, have you ever seen someone cross over from another possibility?"
Hearing this, Cheng Dao was momentarily stunned, then recalled the nameless alien race Li Fan had mentioned before.
His expression instantly turned solemn.
"It seems that Emperor Sanmo was hiding something."
"A commotion of this scale isn't something that thirteen simple Nameless True Immortals could cause."
Li Fan nodded in agreement. "That booming sound can temporarily repel the Dao Annihilation... An ordinary Nameless True Immortal would likely be obliterated by the sound alone."
"But with Senior Brother here, we have nothing to fear from them."
Cheng Dao smiled, then said coldly, "As for materials to mend the heavens, the more the merrier. We welcome all who come."
The phenomenon at the edge of Shuo Xinghai grew more and more spectacular until the thread in the void fully materialized. Only then did the booming abruptly cease. A moment later, a pillar of green light shot out from the thread.
Behind the pillar of light, the Dao Annihilation once again swallowed the thread.
Unlike the great commotion when it was being forged, the Dao Annihilation's consumption was utterly silent. Soundless.
The pillar of light seemed to have already locked onto the High Wall's location. Despite this being its first arrival, it didn't pause for a moment, charging straight towards it.
However, just as it was about to arrive, it seemed to abruptly discover the layers of the Shuo Xinghai Dao Net clinging to the outside of the High Wall like a protective barrier.
Only then did it come to a sudden halt.
The green light receded, revealing its true form.
It was a grotesque, bizarre thousand-handed ball of flesh.
A faint, eerie green glow still shrouded the surface of the flesh ball, obscuring its details.
But Li Fan could still vaguely discern the features of numerous strange beasts on the enormous mass.
"Junior Brother, it seems this race of strange beasts has undergone some tremendous change."
"You're right, Senior Brother. I noticed it too. Inside this massive fused body, there aren't multiple consciousnesses..." Li Fan stared ahead, and with a thought, he tried to activate the Ten Thousand Reincarnation Beast Wheel.
When he activated it, it did indeed have an effect. On the giant ball of flesh, billions of tentacles swayed ceaselessly, as if dancing in the wind.
Yet it also seemed to be mocking Li Fan.
"Kid, is the Ten Thousand Reincarnation Beast Wheel fun to play with?"
The voice was like billions of different sounds speaking at the same time, each with a different emotion.
There was anger, sarcasm, the greed of spotting a delicious meal, the ecstasy of surviving a calamity. There was also the profound relief of finally sighting a habitable continent after drifting at sea for years.
Li Fan shook his head slightly and said to Cheng Dao with a hint of regret, "It seems I underestimated them after all."
"They are, after all, a complete civilization from another possibility. Though they are an alien race, how could they be so easily schemed against? Even the same person can change drastically in different possibilities, let alone an entire race," Cheng Dao offered comfortingly.
"Still, they came in the end. Just as Master said, it is unrelated to the final outcome."
Since his experience in the Unending Samsara, Li Fan had grown increasingly fond of these four words. Besides their profound and enigmatic meaning, what Li Fan truly favored was the detached confidence they conveyed—the sense of having everything under control.
"Hahaha, well said, Junior Brother! Unrelated to the final outcome!"
"Arrogant aliens, since you've come, you might as well stay!"
Before Li Fan could make a move, Cheng Dao's figure had already vanished from his spot.
The hidden Dao Net outside the High Wall suddenly erupted with an endless luster. It then expanded violently, covering the entire surviving starry sky surrounded by the Annihilation Zone.
The giant, thousand-handed ball of flesh, caught off guard, fell into the net.
Although it relied on the Ancient Cangyuan Essence provided by Li Fan to cross possibilities, the huge commotion it caused upon arrival was a testament to the flesh ball monster's power.
It was highly likely that it was a fusion of the entire alien race, including the Thirteen Primordial Dao Forms. Its strength was naturally not to be underestimated.
Though it was now caught in the net, it showed no fear, only delight.
"Delicious!"
"You kid really know how to treat a guest. I must thank you properly!"
"Gyehehehe!"
Billions of wild laughs erupted from the ball of flesh.
Images of countless ferocious strange beasts lit up one after another on the flesh ball. Some had their eyes gouged out, others were decapitated. All were mangled and dripping with blood. But without exception, every one of them made a "devouring" motion towards the surrounding Dao Net.
As if intending to devour heaven and earth, a tremendous suction force emanated from the monster in an instant.
This suction was different from the one caused by the Hunger Immortal.
The Hunger Immortal's devouring stemmed from Hunger. But this fused alien entity devoured simply for the sake of devouring.
The Great Dao of heaven and earth, all things in existence.
Were all nothing more than its sustenance!
And besides devouring, the thousand-handed flesh ball also exuded a mad desire to absorb and fuse.
As if it wanted to turn Li Fan, and everything else in this starry sky, into a part of itself.
With a single bite from the monster, a small blank space was torn directly into the Shuo Xinghai Dao Net.
Even Li Fan hadn't expected this fused alien to be able to devour and digest Dao principles so quickly.
It didn't just consume them; it turned them into a part of its own power in an extremely short time.
Li Fan clearly saw that because of this act of devouring, another hundred or so tentacles had sprouted on the ball of flesh.
"Vile beast!"
Cheng Dao roared, and the light bursting from the tangible Dao Net grew even brighter.
Stretching across the starry sky.
The fused alien's devouring efficiency instantly slowed down.
At that moment, Cheng Dao's hands tore through the void and descended upon the thousand-handed flesh ball.
Ignoring the beast's devouring power, he pinned it down firmly.
No matter how greedily the images of the strange beasts gnawed at him, he remained utterly unmoved.
Cheng Dao's form was even more stable than the Great Dao itself.
The fused alien could chew on the Great Dao, but it was helpless against the stubborn rock of the Mountain and Sea!
In that instant, due to the backlash, tens of thousands of tentacles disintegrated with screeches of pain.
The indistinct gore that splattered away seemed to contain traces of their original forms.
But before they could even struggle, countless tiny, dense tentacles emerged from the fused alien's surface, dragging the flesh and blood back inside.
Before long, the giant ball of flesh had grown new tentacles.
"Wind, come!"
In the starry sky, one of Cheng Dao's manifested giant hands continued to pin down the fused alien.
While the other made a gentle beckoning gesture toward the void where the thousand-handed flesh ball had appeared.
Hummm...
Like the prelude to a hurricane, the scene of constant heavy hammer blows reappeared.
But this time, it was not parting a sea or forging a path in the void.
Instead, ripples of Dao Annihilation were drawn forth!
Li Fan, who was watching the battle, felt his pupils shrink. This was a move Cheng Dao had never used before. He had never even mentioned it during their usual discussions of the Dao. Clearly, the fused alien's devouring had truly angered him.
"Those ripples... they're not an illusion. It's the real Dao Annihilation!"
"But it's not arriving as a roaring, overwhelming tide, but as... a gentle breeze?!"
A look of wonder appeared in Li Fan's eyes as he quickly discerned the secret of Cheng Dao's divine ability.
"The essence of the Dao Annihilation is the fusion of the Mountain and Sea."
"When the Mountain and Sea connect, the crashing waves are a form of their fusion. But the howling wind between them is also..."
Li Fan watched as the fused alien's countless tentacles evaporated completely in the ripples stirred by the Mountain and Sea, leaving not even fragments of flesh and blood behind.
It was as if he was seeing the wind blowing from between the Mountain and Sea, cleansing the mortal world.
"The great tide has not yet arrived, but the wind comes first."
"Only those who guard the mound and watch the sea can know it is coming."
As Li Fan was having this epiphany, Cheng Dao's guidance also reached his ears.
It had to be said, the fused alien was truly ferocious.
Under the assault of this Great Wind of the Mountain and Sea, the entirety of Shuo Xinghai might not have lasted for long. Yet, the creature, relying on its extremely powerful regenerative abilities, stubbornly refused to fall.
Even though billions of its surface tentacles were erased by the ripples, an endless new supply would soon surge out from within.
These tentacles were the kinsmen it had devoured. Now, they also served as its many layers of protection.
Although it knew it was no match for the expert wielding the Wind of the Mountain and Sea, its path of retreat was cut off. With nowhere to run, its desperate situation only ignited its ferocity.
Billions of shrill shrieks erupted from the surface of the flesh ball.
Tentacle after tentacle reverted to their original strange beast forms.
They flew away from the fused body, scattering in all directions.
Meanwhile, the giant flesh ball itself split open down the middle, revealing a massive fissure.
Within the deep, dark fissure, an orange-yellow eyeball was hidden.
Under its gaze, even the ripples of the Mountain and Sea stilled for a brief moment.
Although the Wind of the Mountain and Sea quickly returned to normal, it had bought the scattered tentacles precious time to escape.
If Li Fan had not been there.
Moments after the thousands of strange beasts flew out, they all inexplicably vanished.
It was as if some unknown predator had been lying in wait for a long time.
The fused alien even sensed that the parts of itself that had disappeared met the same fate as those cleansed by the ripples of the Mountain and Sea.
Their connection to it was completely severed.
"What the hell is that?!"
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