Chapter 1521: One with Mountain and Sea
The prickly sensation on his back was gone, yet from time to time, an inexplicable chill would still seize his heart.
"Mastering a Dao at the level of the Mountain and Sea has little to do with actual combat strength. Take me, for example. Even with a supreme treasure like [Truth] in hand, my power was less than a Transcendent True Immortal's before I fully grasped the transformation between truth and illusion."
"Shou Qiu Gong may command the Dao of Longevity, but he hasn't reached a level comparable to the Mountain and Sea itself. Judging from the attitude Ziyi revealed, their strengths should be roughly equivalent..."
Li Fan mused, his gaze sweeping over the Shuo Xinghai and the starry sky beyond the High Wall, now utterly transformed from what they were a century ago. In the end, he decided against taking the risk.
"I'll study and experiment with the Dao of Longevity a little longer, then I can use [Truth]."
"I've gained too much in this life and have already reached a bottleneck. I need to carefully plan my next steps."
Thanks to the power of [Truth], Li Fan had already reached the pinnacle of the Dao of Longevity.
However, Li Fan didn't intend to inherit his current cultivation level in the next life. The anchor point was set to one year, but he had no idea where Shou Qiu was, or if he even resided within the mortal world of the Mountain and Sea. If Shou Qiu detected the sudden arrival of an uninvited guest on the path of Longevity...
Li Fan, with [Truth] still on cooldown, would be a sitting duck.
"It's not worth the risk."
"Besides, the core of my power increase in this life lies in my comprehension of the Daos. Even if I return to the starting point of a half-immortal, I can quickly regain my strength."
Even though he had decided not to inherit his cultivation, Li Fan still dedicated his remaining time to studying the Dao of Longevity. He returned to the very beginning of his comprehension, retracing his steps and savoring every detail.
He was, after all, paving the way for his next life.
Activating [Truth] and returning to the one-year anchor point without inheriting his cultivation would effectively sever his connection to the Dao of Longevity.
However, Li Fan hoped he could use the imprint left from this life to forge his own path to longevity.
It wouldn't be Shou Qiu Gong's path, and Li Fan had no illusions about reaching immortality in a single leap. It would be enough just to acquire a hint of longevity's essence.
"Shou Qiu Gong's path to longevity is strong enough to defy the Dao Annihilation Calamity. My own path only needs to be enough to traverse the Mountain and Sea."
"Of course, this is just the first step. In the future, I might be able to integrate it with the transformation between truth and illusion."
After learning of the inexplicable connections between Mountain, Sea, Star, the Mountain and Sea itself, Longevity, and [Truth], Li Fan had often wondered what would happen if he could master them all.
"To ascend to the realm of a True Immortal, imbued with the power of the Mountain and Sea. To grasp the transformation between truth and illusion, wielding the supreme might of [Truth]. And at the same time, to walk the path of Longevity..."
In a way, the current Li Fan had already become a union of all three.
Granted, his mastery of each was superficial at best.
He was still only a half-immortal, connected to the Mountain and Sea only through his clone. His understanding of the transformation between truth and illusion was merely scratching the surface. As for the Dao of Longevity, his exploration had been as cursory as glancing at flowers from horseback, leaving him without any real insight.
Even so, Li Fan could clearly sense that certain inexplicable, indescribable changes were taking place within him.
The most tangible evidence was the Dao Chronicle Projection Pearl. Before he had comprehended the Dao of Longevity, analyzing it—even with the help of the countless beings in the Star Sea—had required considerable effort, even if it wasn't exceedingly difficult.
But now...
To look upon it was to understand it; to perceive it was to know it.
It felt as if he had seen and performed the countless divine abilities within that possibility innumerable times before. This was merely a return to something familiar. He didn't need to relearn anything; he only needed to remember.
Moreover, this process of his body spontaneously attuning itself to the myriad Daos of the heavens was accelerating.
It reached a point where he no longer needed the help of the Star Sea's inhabitants to comprehend them. With a single glance, Li Fan could now see every individual thread within the Dao Chronicle Projection Pearl—that tangled mass of countless fine lines—and trace its every twist and turn.
Unraveling them, as if pulling silk from a cocoon, and reflecting their truths like a flawless mirror had become an ordinary affair.
What was talent?
This was it.
It was enough to frighten even Li Fan himself.
He felt no joy at this transformation; instead, he felt as if he were slowly being consumed by the Mountain and Sea itself.
Taking advantage of a moment when Cheng Dao wasn't looking, Li Fan ventured to the edge of the Star Sea and drew in a sliver of the Dao Annihilation tide's power to test himself.
Although he didn't actually step into it, just standing near the tide of Dao Annihilation was enough to show that the sense of mortal danger he once felt was gone.
If before it felt like standing at the edge of a bottomless abyss, where a single misstep meant being shattered to pieces, now it was like standing on the shore of a vast, endless lake.
Even if he were to fall in, he could struggle and make his way back to shore. As long as he didn't foolishly venture into its depths, his life wouldn't be in danger.
"And with each passing moment," he thought, "my ability to swim in these waters grows stronger."
"Even if I do nothing but continue to live, one day I will be able to use my own body as a vessel to traverse the Mountain and Sea."
An ordinary person would have been ecstatic to receive such a great fortune, but Li Fan felt only a profound sense of unease.
The strangest part was that [Truth] seemed completely unaware of the changes occurring within him. In fact, it almost seemed to welcome them, and so it remained silent. Only once had it ever shown the slightest hint of something different.
A look of hesitation, as if it wanted to speak but held back.
This only heightened Li Fan's sense of foreboding.
After carefully mulling over [Truth]'s intentions, Li Fan realized that not even [Truth] itself had likely ever witnessed the myriad changes that arose from the fusion of these three powers.
Hence its curious observation.
As time went on, Li Fan's sensation of being consumed grew ever stronger.
All sorts of phantoms began to surface in his mind, unbidden.
Li Fan was certain they were not from his own memories.
Instead, they felt like echoes of events that had once transpired in the mortal world of the Mountain and Sea.
The external manifestation of this was that Li Fan's very body began to assimilate into the world around him.
Most telling was how Cheng Dao began to forget him, whether intentionally or not.
Not long ago, he had frequently sought Li Fan out to discuss his insights into the Dao of Longevity.
But gradually, he seemed to forget that he even had such a junior brother.
Whenever he instinctively moved to do something, he would be overcome by a wave of confusion, unable to recall what he had intended. It was only when Li Fan appeared before him that he would, after some difficulty, finally remember.
Yet, strangely, Cheng Dao himself noticed nothing amiss.
If it was like this for Cheng Dao, it was even worse for other living beings.
As the creator of the Primordial Desolation Immortal Realm, he was now forgotten by all its inhabitants, from the Celestial Emperor to the Sky Scars. Even his connection to the realm itself had been severed.
It was as if the Primordial Desolation Immortal Realm had come into being on its own, having nothing to do with Li Fan whatsoever.
As every mark "Li Fan" had left on the mortal world gradually vanished, he merged ever deeper into the fabric of the Mountain and Sea.
This was no longer limited to the Primal Possibility.
Li Fan looked up at the firmament. The once-solid sky was now fractured with countless tiny cracks, as if split by an unseen hand. Through these fissures, he could glimpse scenes of the vast, unending Mountain and Sea.
And if he wished, he could step out into the Mountain and Sea at any moment!
The chance to transcend was right before his eyes.
An instinctive thrum of desire pulsed through him.
But a persistent warning from his spiritual intuition held him back from taking that final step.
"I can't stay here any longer."
The thought struck him in a moment of clarity.
The sense of unreality that came with being consumed by the Mountain and Sea had made him lose all track of time.
In his memory, only a few days had passed since he had accepted Cheng Dao's guidance and begun to comprehend the Dao of Longevity.
But when he checked on the state of Shuo Xinghai just before deciding to activate [Truth], he was horrified to discover that ten years had passed in the world!
Li Fan shook his head, trying to dispel the sense of temporal dislocation caused by his absorption into the Mountain and Sea.
Once he had calmed himself, Li Fan mentally commanded, "[Truth]!"
The mortal world seemed to freeze into stillness.
Li Fan waited for the darkness to consume him.
One second, two, three...
Yet the familiar darkness never came.
A bone-deep chill, like a bucket of icy water dumped over him in the dead of winter, washed through Li Fan. He commanded again, "[Truth]!"
"[Truth]!"
"[Truth]!"
...
But it was as if [Truth] had failed. Or perhaps it had abandoned him entirely. There was no response whatsoever.
An immense terror bloomed in Li Fan's heart, a fear a thousand times greater than that of being consumed by the Mountain and Sea.
His face contorted as he roared again and again.
Not just in his mind, but roaring aloud in a furious outburst.
But it was as if the mortal world had forgotten him; nothing and no one responded. RA?N0BEs
In his despair, a savage fury suddenly erupted within him.
Li Fan unleashed his divine abilities, attempting to vent his rage by destroying the Star Sea. But not only did his techniques fail to connect with reality, his very divine sense and physical body could no longer make contact with it either.
Vanishing from the mortal world, merging with the Mountain and Sea.
Li Fan didn't feel his body growing transparent or fading away.
And yet, he was slowly ceasing to exist within the world.
The fissures in the sky multiplied.
In the next moment, it seemed he would be uncontrollably pulled through them and into the Mountain and Sea.
"Is this really how it ends for me?"
When it became clear that nothing he did could alter his fate, a strange calm washed over Li Fan.
He had a nagging feeling that something was wrong, though he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.
It wasn't until half his body had already passed through a fissure...
...and he truly laid eyes on the magnificent Mountain and Sea beyond the mortal world, that he was jolted back to his senses.
Had [Truth] really abandoned him?
If he had truly lost [Truth], how could the Daos of Longevity and the Mountain and Sea alone sustain this state of being absorbed?
He would have broken free long ago.
Only the union of all three Daos could allow for such a natural fusion with the Mountain and Sea. No one else, not even a Transcendent cultivator or the Three Saints themselves, could achieve this.
This simple line of reasoning brought Li Fan to a sudden, startling realization.
"I haven't lost [Truth]."
As if clutching at a final straw, a glint of hope suddenly erupted in Li Fan's calm, indifferent, and otherwise emotionless eyes.
"Judging from [Truth]'s past behavior in the Infinite Sea and the fact that it actively taught me the Fantasy Becomes Truth technique, it absolutely does not want me to be discovered by the Mountain and Sea right now."
"If its previous silence during the fusion of the three Daos was merely due to curiosity, it makes no sense for it to remain indifferent now that I'm about to be completely consumed."
Li Fan's thoughts raced, becoming faster and faster. As he reasoned, his warped perception of time's passage returned to normal.
"So, it's not that [Truth] isn't responding."
"It's that..."
"The connection between us has been severed."
"Or, perhaps, it never heard my command."
Realization dawned on him.
"As long as [Truth] is still with me, there's a chance."
"If calling for it doesn't work, I'll have to kick down the door!"
Li Fan was now completely inside the fissure in reality.
The light from the Primal Possibility was vanishing as the rift sealed behind him.
Upon entering the Mountain and Sea, Li Fan felt the process of his absorption actually slow down. At the same time, however, the countless images and phantoms in his mind intensified, like a gathering storm.
It seemed that in the next instant, these phantoms would solidify into reality, truly manifesting within the Mountain and Sea.
From the depths of the Infinite Sea to the peak of the Upper Mountain, from the Other Shore and even to the realms beyond the mortal world, it seemed that powerful entities had sensed the disturbance where Li Fan was.
The Mountain and Sea thundered and roared.
In the next instant, Li Fan might be exposed to every living being in the Mountain and Sea.
But the more desperate the situation, the calmer he became.
And he quickly found the only way to save himself: self-detonation.
The energy he had accumulated through his cultivation, even his very soul and will, ignited in an instant. Then, without reservation, he erupted.
His immortal foundation, the Dao of Longevity itself—at this moment, it all became fuel for an endless, brilliant light.
Li Fan had never realized he contained such immense power. Ignited in an instant, it was enough to hold back the Dao Annihilation, to incinerate mountains and boil the seas!
The first to be engulfed was the Primal Possibility, its rift not yet fully sealed.
An infinite light, like a great sun, blazed across the once-dim starry sky.
Shuo Xinghai, the Primordial Desolation Immortal Realm, even the High Wall and the Dao Net—all of it dissolved like ice in the searing, brilliant flame.
Within the entire Primal Possibility, only a handful of individuals desperately held on.
From the Primal Possibility, the light spread like a raging wildfire, moving as fast as a glance could travel.
Wherever his gaze fell, light had already consumed it.
The towering inferno and its searing radiance shielded him from outside gazes.
Immersed in the endless light, Li Fan found a moment's respite.
In this final, fleeting flare of brilliance, he experienced his last moment of power.
From what Li Fan could observe, the possibilities being incinerated around him weren't truly vanishing. Instead, they were transforming into phantoms and returning to the Mountain and Sea.
He could even feel a synchronous connection to the images now echoing in his own mind.
"The Mountain and Sea... the mortal world... what is their true relationship?"
"And beyond the Mountain and Sea..."
After reaching this apex of power, it all suddenly collapsed. Li Fan's train of thought shattered, and he could think no more.
"So, in the end... I couldn't awaken [Truth] after all."
That was his final thought before consciousness slipped away.
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