Chapter 1554: The Moral True Immortal
The reason he could so easily suppress the Tiandu Grandmaster was due to the natural counter provided by Li Fan's spirituality-severing blade. The Grandmaster's Infinite Dao was utterly defenseless before [Fantasy Becomes Truth].
However, [Fantasy Becomes Truth] would not be nearly as effective against the Hunger Immortal.
Before her spirituality could be fully suppressed, the Hunger Immortal, with power half a step away from a Nameless True Immortal, could have easily annihilated the first-generation Immortal Puppet. Without the safety net of [Truth] to fall back on, Li Fan’s true self would not make an appearance while clearing the threats around the Xuanhuang Realm, just to be safe.
As for the phantom of Shou Qiu...
In his past life, Li Fan had used his clone, Li Buren, to gather all the Immortal Realm chess pieces and win the favor of a Nameless True Immortal, which in turn unlocked Shou Qiu Gong's legacy. This time, however, the genuine Ink Death Immortal Soul within him had vanished during the tribulation of the three Daos merging. He could, with some effort, use [Fantasy Becomes Truth] to temporarily simulate its power, but it was a pale imitation.
But he lacked the strength to weave a complete and stable Myriad Forms Dao Net capable of containing the unfolding Immortal Domains from the chess pieces. Furthermore, the first-generation Immortal Puppet's power was nowhere near enough to even be noticed by Shou Qiu's phantom.
So this time, Li Fan had the first-generation Immortal Puppet display the power of "Sit Mountain View Sea," triggering a resonance with Shou Qiu's phantom inside the High Wall and directly gaining partial control over the Rotten Axe Dojo.
While this was far more convenient, it came with its own set of significant drawbacks.
Shou Qiu's phantom existed to support the nearby star sea and resist the Dao Annihilation Calamity. To draw upon its power, one first had to replenish it.
Now, however, he only possessed half an Ancestral Bone from a complete Immortal Realm chess piece, which was hardly enough. And while the Infinite Dao was of a high order, in terms of resisting the Dao Annihilation Calamity, it was only equivalent to half a Heavenly Pillar.
All told, he could only exchange for the power of a single one of Shou Qiu's phantoms, and he still had to consider his own safety. Thus, making a move against the Hunger Immortal required meticulous preparation.
One might recall the Hunger Immortal being suppressed into a pillar by Li Fan with almost no resistance in the previous life, but that was deceptive. When cornered, even when facing the Mountain and Sea power unleashed by Shou Qiu's phantom, she showed no fear. Her aura—one that could swallow mountains, drink seas, and turn everything in existence into sustenance—was no empty bluff. It was the power of the primordial Dao of [Hunger], a heritage from beyond the Primal Possibility itself.
To have drifted through the Dao Annihilation Calamity, survived to reach the Primal Possibility, and then merged and evolved—the current Dao of [Hunger] was far from weak. It was worth remembering that in the last life, Li Fan had to use the power of nearly three Ancestral Heavenly Pillars to completely suppress the Hunger Immortal, and that was when the immortal had only just become Nameless!
Having once stripped away and savored the Hunger Immortal's Heavenly Pillar, Li Fan understood this all too well. He couldn't afford a shred of carelessness.
Fortunately, when it came to understanding the Dao of [Hunger], Li Fan's comprehension was likely even greater than that of the current Hunger Immortal.
After a series of meticulous preparations, the perfect trap for the Hunger Immortal was set.
Three years later, in Xuanhuang Realm time.
On the desolate land of the Immortal Ruins, the skeletal figure seated in meditation suddenly snapped its eyes open.
Its gaze shot toward the "distant" heart of the Star Sea.
"What... what is happening?"
"Is someone trying to seize ownership of the Dao of [Hunger] from me?"
At first, there was only confusion. After a long moment, the Hunger Immortal finally understood why she had been so abruptly roused from her meditation.
The Hunger Immortal found the notion incredible. Amusing, even.
After all, the very skeleton of the previous [Hunger Immortal] lay beneath her. It was impossible that anyone in the world could understand the Dao of Hunger better than she did.
"Still stubbornly cultivating this path... they must not have discovered my existence. But to be able to jolt me from my meditation means this person has already achieved considerable insight into the Dao of Hunger."
The Hunger Immortal found this intriguing. "If I were to devour this person," she mused, "it might spare me some of the arduous effort of enlightenment."
With a single thought, the chains coiled around the Hunger Immortal's frame rattled and retracted into her body. As she took her first step, the flesh and blood that had wasted away from her form regenerated in an instant.
In a flash, she appeared near the location where she had sensed the other practitioner of the Dao of [Hunger].
"Hmm?" The Hunger Immortal felt a strange sense of familiarity from the stray principles of the Dao lingering in the nearby star sea.
For a moment, however, she couldn't place the source of this familiarity.
But the practitioner who should have been here was nowhere to be found. The Hunger Immortal's heart sank as she swiftly scanned the area.
Suddenly, her eyes fell upon a figure standing silently in the star sea not far away, its back turned to her. The Hunger Immortal froze. An instinct, welling up from the depths of her body and soul, nearly compelled her to cry out the word "Master."
This was because the figure, in both build and aura, was a near-perfect match for her master, the Non-Action Immortal!
As if sensing her probing gaze, the figure slowly turned around.
A gaunt face, a tranquil gaze.
The sight of that face struck the Hunger Immortal like a bolt of heavenly lightning, shaking her soul and clouding her consciousness.
"It really is Master?!"
As shock, doubt, and a dozen other emotions surged through her mind...
The surrounding star sea began to quietly transform.
Faint, almost invisible threads crisscrossed the void, forming a great, unseen net that enveloped the Hunger Immortal.
The figure of the Non-Action Immortal vanished, replaced by a series of shifting scenes that unfolded all around her.
The heavens and earth were on the verge of collapse as the Dao Annihilation Calamity descended! It was a scene straight from the deepest, most traumatic memories buried in the Hunger Immortal's heart.
Only this time, her master, the Non-Action Immortal, failed to withstand the cataclysm. In an instant, he was consumed by the tide of Dao Annihilation.
"Master!"
The Hunger Immortal trembled in terror. The aura of Dao Annihilation pressed in from all sides, triggering a primal instinct to flee. A moment later, she snapped back to her senses.
"Wait... This is a trap?"
Though the Hunger Immortal had finally realized the truth, it was too late. The grand array was complete, and there was no turning back.
The Hunger Immortal felt her vision begin to dim, as if an immense, invisible hand were pressing down upon her.
Her connection to the skeleton of the previous Hunger Immortal was mysteriously severed.
All her struggles were utterly futile.
A Heavenly Pillar slowly began to materialize within the array.
Only when the outcome was decided did Li Fan have the first-generation Immortal Puppet make its appearance.
"To attack the city is the lowest form of strategy; to attack the mind is the highest," he recited with a pleased expression.
First, he lured the tiger from its mountain. Then, he used the image of the Non-Action Immortal to shatter her composure, and finally, he leveraged his own understanding of the Dao of Hunger to sever her connection to the skeleton in the Immortal Ruins. With these steps, he had reduced the difficulty of capturing her by more than half.
Had he tried to fight her by force on the grounds of the Immortal Ruins, it would have been a far more difficult battle.
"A pity she hadn't yet become a Nameless."
"It's still just barely half a Heavenly Pillar."
Li Fan examined the three Heavenly Pillars he had collected so far and shook his head slightly.
Primal, Infinite, Hunger.
All of them were mere fragments, a far cry from the magnificent, complete pillars that had stood tall in the Star Sea during his peak in the last life.
"But I can't be greedy."
"Nameless Heavenly Venerates are powerful, but the risks are too great. One wrong move, and my Eternal Immortal Ark could capsize before it's even finished. For now, these three will have to do."
"If I can't have quality, I'll have to win with quantity," Li Fan comforted himself.
Without [Truth] to fall back on, Li Fan had learned to compromise. He no longer chased perfection, prioritizing stability above all else.
After storing the Hunger Immortal's Heavenly Pillar, Li Fan made his way to the land of the Immortal Ruins.
Even without the meditating Hunger Immortal, the skeleton of her predecessor remained, and so the outward pull of the Immortal Ruins had not completely vanished.
In his previous life, Li Fan had chosen to let the Hunger Immortal succeed. Once she became a Nameless, the skeleton had vanished.
But now, the massive character for "Hunger" remained, silently etched into the land of the Immortal Ruins!
Li Fan made no attempt to move the skeleton.
He could keenly sense the aura of the Dao Annihilation Calamity that the skeleton was holding back. Experience from his past life told him that if this skeleton were to disappear, the surrounding star sea would instantly be engulfed by the cataclysm.
"Having my hands tied like this is infuriating," Li Fan muttered.
Although he couldn't easily move it, nothing stopped him from doing as the Hunger Immortal had done: sitting down to meditate on the Dao.
Of course, Li Fan had no desire to become the next Hunger Immortal.
What he sought to comprehend was the path its original owner had walked *before* crossing the Dao Annihilation and arriving in the [Primal] Possibility.
Li Fan had a faint inkling that this original path, far more than the Dao of Hunger, could help him expand his Myriad Forms Dao Net.
He sat cross-legged upon the land of the Immortal Ruins, right in the center of the massive True Immortal Seal Character.
Unlike his predecessor, however, Li Fan did not bind himself with chains.
He was confident that his will alone was enough to resist the influence of the Dao of Hunger.
As his comprehension deepened, he began to resonate with the skeleton beneath him.
Fragmented memories from the skeleton began to surface in his mind.
They flowed from the recent past to the long-forgotten.
"It's happening again! It's happening again! I was lucky to escape the last time the heavens fell, but I doubt I'll be so fortunate this time! Damn it all, of all the times for the [Transcendent World Coffin] to be missing! I've spent years searching for it to no avail!"
In the distance, the endless heavens vanished without warning. The great tide of Dao Annihilation, hidden within the darkness, pressed in from all sides.
Faintly, from within the darkness, he could hear the roaring clash of the Mountain and Sea striking against each other.
The sound was horribly familiar. It was the death knell that had tolled ceaselessly during the fall of his homeland. An ordinary person could not perceive it; only a cultivator with insight into the Mountain and Sea could hear its song. Now, that symphony of destruction echoed once more, awakening a primal fear in the Hunger Immortal's heart.
With no thought of resistance, all he wanted was to flee.
"The fall of the Immortal Realm is a foregone conclusion. My only choice is to retreat to the lower realms to weather the storm and figure out another plan."
"Damn it, who took my [Transcendent World Coffin]?!"
As if long prepared for this escape, the Hunger Immortal moved in a flicker of light, arriving near the ascension passage well before most other immortals.
It was the nexus between the immortal and mortal realms. If he could just get through, he would be safe, at least for a while.
"The collapse of the Immortal Realm will take time," the Hunger Immortal thought anxiously. "Hopefully, I can find a way out before the Dao Annihilation reaches the lower realms." Just as he was about to proceed...
Suddenly, a voice called out to him.
"Fellow Daoist, a moment of your time!"
The Hunger Immortal grew instantly wary. He ignored the voice, pretending not to have heard, and continued to fly onward.
But the path, which should have taken only an instant to traverse, suddenly seemed to stretch into infinity. No matter how fast he flew, he could not reach its end.
"Fellow Daoist, you hear me but pretend not to. It seems you have no intention of showing me any courtesy."
"I had hoped to discuss matters with you, but I see now that there is no need!"
The voice drew nearer, materializing like a shadow. Within moments, its owner was right beside the Hunger Immortal.
"The Immortal Realm is doomed, and the lower realms will not last long. Someone must step forward for the sake of all and hold back the Dao Annihilation. Why should it not be you?!"
"Sacrifice yourself for the greater good. We survivors will remember your contribution."
The figure spoke with grave sincerity, and the Hunger Immortal felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder.
He was instantly paralyzed.
Terror struck first, followed by a surge of nameless rage.
"You're courting death!"
An infinite suction force erupted from the Hunger Immortal, frantically devouring everything in its path. The ascension passage itself began to tremble and collapse.
Many other fleeing True Immortals were devoured before they even had time to cry for help.
Yet at the heart of this all-consuming vortex stood the other figure, completely unaffected, gazing at the Hunger Immortal with an expression of regret.
"It seems your awareness is rather lacking."
"There is no need to even mourn you. It saves me the trouble."
In just a few words, he seemed to decide the Hunger Immortal's fate, without the slightest regard for what the immortal himself thought.
The Hunger Immortal was both terrified and enraged.
"If I hadn't altered my very being to integrate with this world's Dao, how could I possibly be humiliated like this?!"
"Damn you!"
The weight on his shoulder grew heavier and heavier, and he felt himself being slowly torn away from the world. An omnipresent, titanic force seemed intent on crushing him inch by inch.
In the final moment before his consciousness faded, the Hunger Immortal strained to see the figure's face.
"It's you?! The Moral True Immortal?!"
This was the last wisp of thought that echoed within the Hunger Immortal's skeleton.
It was filled with an immeasurable resentment that refused to dissipate.
...
"I'm finally alive again."
"They all died, and I'm the only one left. It proves I was right all along. Hmph. Master, junior brothers, you may all rest in peace now." Having crossed the Dao Annihilation and endured countless hardships to arrive in a new possibility, the Hunger Immortal gazed upon the long-lost scenery of the Immortal Realm, his mood exceptionally bright.
But his good mood was short-lived.
"Strange. The Transcendent World Coffin should have arrived in this reality with me. Where has it gone?"
"Furthermore, the Great Dao here seems to reject me."
"I'll have to find a solution."
...
"That Connecting Mountains Saint, that Returning to Sea... nothing but hypocrites trying to monopolize the Mountain and Sea for themselves!"
"The Great Dao of the Mountain and Sea is for everyone! Today, I shall swallow the mountains and devour the seas!"
In a shattered apocalypse, amidst the ceaseless roar of lightning, the Hunger Immortal roared at the heavens in a demonic frenzy.
"You vile creature..."
Beside him, an old man with only half a head remaining muttered a reprimand.
"Old fool! How does it feel, watching your disciples and their disciples, and the very Dao of the world you protect, being devoured by me one by one? Hahaha!"
"You vile creature..." the half-head gave no other response, merely repeating the curse.
"How dull!" the Hunger Immortal sneered, crushing the head under his foot.
Fragments of bone, flesh, and brain matter splattered instantly.
But halfway through their trajectory, they were pulled back, adhering to the Hunger Immortal's leg.
They writhed for a moment before sinking into his flesh and disappearing.
"I refuse to believe it!"
"I can devour the Great Dao itself! Why should I fear this Mountain and Sea?!"
The Hunger Immortal stared into the distant darkness, where the resonant symphony of the Mountain and Sea quietly played, his eyes a field of crimson.
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