Chapter 1528: A Single Spark to Save the World
"The Eternal Silent Void Realm?" Li Fan echoed. This was the second time he had heard the term from the Mount Tai Emperor.
Though much of his memory was gone, Li Fan's impression of the Mound Keeper remained unshaken: he was one of the world's peerless powerhouses. How could such a figure find himself in a situation so dire it was described as a struggle with every step?
"What exactly is this Eternal Silent Void Realm?" Li Fan couldn't help but ask.
"What place?" the Mount Tai Emperor repeated, his expression turning peculiar.
He gestured around them. "Here, there, everywhere you have ever seen... it can all be called the Eternal Silent Void Realm. Even if a place isn't part of it now, it is destined to fall into it eventually. That is the fate of all beings in the Mountain Sea."
The Mount Tai Emperor's words only deepened Li Fan's confusion.
Yet this former Immortal Emperor—now fallen, a mere phantom—seemed intent on speaking in riddles, continuing with what sounded like an unrelated tangent. "Back then, I transformed my very being into the Reverse Flow Boat, traveling upstream against the River of Time, time and time again. In the beginning, despite my power being on the verge of transcendence, I could only barely make it back three thousand years..."
"Three thousand years may seem like an eternity, but it passes in the blink of an eye. With my foresight, I made countless preparations for the coming Dao Annihilation Calamity. But in the end, it was all for naught."
"I could save a few more True Immortals, but I could not save the Immortal Realm itself."
Though his tone was calm, the content of his words revealed the commanding presence of a peerless expert.
"Even as the Reverse Flow Boat became riddled with cracks, I held on to hope. Until..."
"That day, I finally saw the end of the River of Time."
An infinite sense of reminiscence flooded the Mount Tai Emperor's eyes.
"The end of the River of Time? How is that possible?" Li Fan's body jolted, his eyes filled with disbelief. Suddenly, fragmented images flickered through his mind, bringing a sharp, stinging pain. In an instant, a glimmer of understanding dawned on him.
The Mount Tai Emperor continued, "It was as if the river had sprung from nothingness. As one traveling upstream, no matter how desperately I struggled against the current, I could not advance a single step further!"
"The Dao Annihilation Calamity?" Li Fan breathed out the words slowly.
The Mount Tai Emperor nodded. "Precisely. The Dao Annihilation Calamity... this terrifying disaster doesn't just devour our world in the present. It erases every trace of our existence from history itself, reducing all of creation to absolute nothingness!"
"Seventy-four thousand, eight hundred and seventy-six years. That was the upstream limit I reached in the River of Time. But I haven't made the journey in a long time. After all these years trapped in this painting, I fear that number has shrunk considerably..." The emperor sighed.
Just by listening, Li Fan felt the crushing weight of that irresistible pressure. What could be more hopeless than a destiny that even reversing time could not change? It was as if he had journeyed alongside the emperor, witnessing firsthand the horrifying spectacle of the Dao Annihilation Calamity advancing step by step from the upper reaches of time, a relentless, cascading doom.
A flash of insight struck Li Fan. "So, the Eternal Silent Void Realm you spoke of, Senior... it refers to..."
The Mount Tai Emperor nodded. "Correct. The Eternal Silent Void Realm is the name for those places already devoured by the Dao Annihilation Calamity."
But even with this explanation, a far greater question began to form in his mind.
"Senior, if the Dao Annihilation Calamity has already devoured all of the past," Li Fan pressed, "then how could my master, the Mound Keeper, *go* to a place that shouldn't even exist? Traveling through the void of time... even he would face mortal peril. Why would he take such a risk?"
Faced with Li Fan's barrage of questions, the Mount Tai Emperor chose not to conceal the truth and answered them all.
With a wave of his great sleeve, a mighty river of shimmering lights and fleeting shadows materialized, flowing between them.
Using his finger as a sword, the Mount Tai Emperor swiped lightly. The upper portion of the brilliant river's image vanished, leaving only the lower half to flow on—a bizarre and unsettling sight.
"Have you ever wondered," he began, "why we still exist downstream, even when the upper reaches of the River of Time have been completely devoured?"
"Can we truly exist independently without the past as our foundation? It would be like me going back to your mortal days and striking you down. Would you still be standing before me now?"
Li Fan's eyes narrowed. He had indeed pondered this question, and his gut told him it was impossible. Yet, the undeniable fact that their world continued to exist forced him to accept the reality before him.
It seemed the disappearance of the river's upper course didn't directly affect what came after. Only when the Dao Annihilation Calamity reached the "present" would all of spacetime finally cease to be.
The Mount Tai Emperor gave Li Fan a profound look. "In the past, I believed that. So did many of the Immortal Realm's strongest, and even the three Sage Lords. Until later..."
"We realized we were utterly and completely wrong."
The Mount Tai Emperor didn't elaborate on how the immortals had discovered their error. Instead, he stated the conclusion with an unshakeable certainty that left no room for doubt.
He waved his hand again, and the horizontal image of the River of Time instantly turned vertical.
The image shrank countless times in an instant, revealing the part of the river that had seemed to disappear.
"The foundation of the River of Time still exists. The fact that we are all still alive is the best proof. The idea that it has been devoured by the Dao Annihilation Calamity is nothing but an illusion."
Li Fan stared at the wondrous scene the Mount Tai Emperor had conjured before him.
A continuous river of faint blue light stretched from bottom to top, as if connecting to the heavens, but it was being corrupted by an unknown darkness.
It was becoming fragmented, broken.
"The assault of the Dao Annihilation Calamity isn't proceeding chronologically. It's happening simultaneously at every point along the river. Some stretches of history were caught unprepared and vanished completely. Others, however, have managed to survive—for now."
"And we... we exist within one such surviving node!"
The Mount Tai Emperor's gaze shifted to the river's most distant past. "It comes back to the same point. The only reason we still exist is because within that seemingly all-consuming darkness, there are still people desperately holding on!"
"If the day comes when they all fall..."
"...we too will cease to exist."
"We won't even perceive our own disappearance. It will be as if we were never meant to exist. When that time comes, no one, no matter how powerful, can escape annihilation. Not even the Mound Keeper, who commands the Great Dao of Longevity." The emperor let out a long sigh.
"!" Li Fan's mind reeled from the revelation.
As his thoughts raced, he finally understood the reason the Mound Keeper had ventured into the Eternal Silent Void Realm.
It was a mission of salvation.
And of self-preservation.
"Once this was understood, all the powerhouses of the world shared a single goal: to traverse the silent expanse of extinguished time, reach the next surviving node upstream, and lend their aid, all while preserving their own existence. They would repeat this process, over and over, until finally..."
"...they could return to a distant past where the Dao Annihilation Calamity could be stopped at its source."
"Unfortunately for me, my time had come. The spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak. Traveling upstream was the absolute limit of my power; crossing the silent void of time was far beyond my reach," the Mount Tai Emperor lamented, his expression tinged with sorrow.
The truth the Mount Tai Emperor revealed was far beyond anything Li Fan could have anticipated.
Even in the memories he had lost, he felt certain there was no knowledge of this.
His mind, reeling from the shock, struggled to process the information.
After a long silence, a thought struck Li Fan, and he asked urgently, "Could it be... that the reason we all had that sudden awakening, the reason we gained this true understanding of the River of Time, was because..."
Li Fan pointed to the space above their own segment in the fragmented river of time.
"...a visitor from the future crossed the silent void to help us?" His voice trembled slightly as he spoke.
The Mount Tai Emperor nodded gravely.
Li Fan gazed at the sight before him, and for a moment, he could almost see it: the magnificent saga of countless powerhouses, united in purpose, fighting to save the devoured River of Time.
A storm of emotion washed over him, leaving him breathless.
It took a long while for the feeling to subside.
But after the brief surge of heroic passion faded, he stared at the image before him, and new questions flooded his mind.
How could anyone possibly cross that silent void?
And how could they be certain that reaching the most ancient past would even provide a solution? What if countless heroes fought and died across eons, only to reach the beginning and discover that it was all irreversible...?
What then?
...
After mulling it over for a long time, Li Fan couldn't contain himself and voiced his doubts.
The Mount Tai Emperor's expression grew stern. "If we do not try, then all that awaits us is oblivion. By trying, we might just grasp that one sliver of hope for survival."
"We can only hope that the great ones of the ancient past can hold on until reinforcements arrive."
The Mount Tai Emperor raised his hand, gesturing toward the world beyond.
"You must understand, those capable of reaching the Other Shore are all legendary figures whose deeds echo through history. And those qualified to cross the silent void to the Eternal Silent Void Realm are rarer still, one in a billion. Such individuals will fight for their lives even when faced with absolute hopelessness. How could their will be shaken by the mere *possibility* of failure?" The emperor's expression and tone were graver than ever before.
"Though you have the Mound Keeper's legacy, and your transcendence is all but assured, if you maintain this mindset, you will not be worthy of advancing further when you reach a grander stage."
"The Great Dao of Longevity can only grant you a long and carefree existence *here*."
Li Fan looked at the segment of the river the emperor indicated, his expression one of humble acceptance.
"What cultivator among us, upon hearing of such a plan, would not be filled with passion, willing to offer their very life to the cause? It is my greatest regret that my own fate prevented me from taking part."
"You, however, still have a chance!"
"Stumbling into this place... perhaps it was destiny," the Mount Tai Emperor said, his voice trailing off into a murmur. His expression grew intense, almost fanatical, as if seized by an electrifying thought. A unique aura began to rise from his phantom form, pushing back the shroud of death that clung to him.
"There is no meaning in this wretched existence any longer. So be it! Today, I shall impart to you all that I have learned of the Dao of reverse travel!"
"If, one day, you can journey to the Eternal Silent Void Realm in my place and lend your aid, my sacrifice today will not have been in vain!"
The Mount Tai Emperor seemed to have reached a sudden epiphany.
His form erupted in a brilliant light.
His silhouette drifted into the Reverse Flow Boat, slowly becoming one with its frame.
The Reverse Flow Boat shot up and, in a flash, hurtled toward Li Fan.
A moment ago, Li Fan had been deeply moved by the Mount Tai Emperor's heroic declaration.
Now, as the boat flew toward him uncontrollably, his instincts screamed at him to dodge.
But he was no match for the Mount Tai Emperor.
Even as a mere phantom.
So he could only watch, powerless, as the Reverse Flow Boat slammed into his body.
Boom!
The image of the River of Time the emperor had conjured seemed to crash into his mind along with it.
All of the Mount Tai Emperor's journeys against the current, everything he had experienced in the River of Time, now replayed in Li Fan's mind.
The sensation was identical to being swallowed by his own lost memories.
But the emperor had clearly taken Li Fan's "frail" constitution into account.
As the torrent of fleeting images washed over him, all the trivial, unimportant scenes slowly faded into the background.
Only the most crucial events and the emperor's insights into the Dao of reverse travel remained, settling like sediment in his consciousness.
The emperor's legacy seemed to resonate with Li Fan's lost memories.
Stimulated by the influx, scenes from his past erupted from the depths of his mind, impossible to suppress.
"[Truth]?!"
Amidst the chaotic flood of images, Li Fan latched onto the most important thing.
He finally remembered the name he had given his ultimate treasure.
And the many wondrous functions of [Truth].
"What's happened? How did [Truth] end up like this?"
"The Unending Samsara and other functions are gone, and even the anchor points I set have all vanished?"
Though he had recovered some of his lost memories, his mind was far from settled.
On the contrary, it grew even more turbulent.
Combined with the influx of the Mount Tai Emperor's legacy, the situation worsened.
Back in the Xuanhuang Realm, in the secret chamber of the Grand Preceptor's Manor, the immense pressure caused Li Fan's true body to explode from the waist up, leaving only a pool of gore. The aura of Longevity poured endlessly from his remains, attempting to reconstruct his form.
But the turmoil raging in his mind was far too much for him to bear.
Even the Great Dao of Longevity he commanded seemed powerless to save him.
"[Truth]! [Truth]! [Truth]!"
Seeing no other way, Li Fan cried out desperately in his mind.
But just like before, a terrifyingly familiar scene unfolded.
[Truth] remained utterly silent, as if it couldn't hear him.
Unwilling to give up, Li Fan called out again and again.
The result was the same.
A mix of terror and rage filled him. As he watched his consciousness being devoured, despair began to set in.
But then, through the haze of pain, he recalled the Mount Tai Emperor's words.
"Such individuals will fight for their lives even when faced with absolute hopelessness!"
The panic slowly receded, replaced by an unyielding resolve in his eyes.
In that instant, he saw his path to survival.
The... Reverse... Flow... Boat!
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