Chapter 1561: Infinite Advancement
If the merging of Mountain and Sea was an inevitable trend, then the fusion of the three Daos was a miracle never before seen in the mortal world. The Mountain and Sea itself, or perhaps even [Truth], might have been silently anticipating the outcome.
Resisting the Dao Annihilation from the merging of Mountain and Sea was already an immense struggle. How much more difficult would be the tribulation of three Daos fusing?
Once the fusion process began, it was nearly impossible to break free without a power that transcended the three Daos. This held true even with the assistance of [Truth].
Even as Li Fan spat out his own essence blood, diluting the power of the Longevity Dao within him as much as possible, he could not reverse the inexorable trend of fusion. The slightest thought touching upon the concept of "fusion" would trigger the process anew.
"The bloodletting method only treats the symptoms, not the root cause. Only by finding and firmly believing in a more correct path can I sever this inertial dependency."
"But..."
Li Fan's brow furrowed slightly.
It wasn't just Li Fan; even the Three Saints likely had no answer at this moment.
"I'll take it one step at a time."
Within his mind, a wondrously mystical cauldron seemed to appear. All the knowledge he had ever acquired served as its alchemical ingredients. As Li Fan sorted and gathered them, they were slowly fed into the cauldron.
His divine sense acted as the flame, slowly refining the contents. Li Fan analyzed the essence of countless divine abilities as if unraveling silk from a cocoon. He stripped away their superficial forms, leaving only the purest core essence within the pill he sought to forge.
Li Fan quietly observed the great pill of divine abilities taking shape before him, feeling an unprecedented clarity.
"Rather than seeking answers externally, it is better to look within."
"I have been desperately pursuing the True Immortal transformation of [Truth], yet I almost forgot why [Truth] has always resided within me."
Li Fan could almost see, outside the cauldron in his mind, a gem that had been overlooked. It was, in fact, the most dazzling jewel of all, far outshining the other "alchemical ingredients" he had gathered from his reincarnations!
"Infinite spirituality..."
The other ingredients all originated from the world of Mountain and Sea. No matter how exquisite the refining technique, they could never produce a pill that transcended that world. Only this gem came from beyond.
If added to the pill, it could very well work a true miracle!
Li Fan's heart thundered, and the cauldron quaked.
In that instant, the brilliant gem erupted with an incomparably bright light.
It flew directly into the cauldron.
All the other ingredients within the cauldron spontaneously made way for it. The gem moved effortlessly to the very center, as if it was its rightful place all along.
Countless ingredients, like stars, orbited this resplendent stone, paying it homage.
And as they were bathed in the light radiating from the gem, the ingredients themselves began to undergo a mysterious transformation.
"Infinite spirituality is not just something [Truth] craves. It can also play a crucial role for the Great Daos of the Mountain and Sea."
Like a flash of lightning illuminating the darkness, Li Fan instantly understood another possible, marvelous use for his infinite spirituality.
"Array Dao."
In a moment of pure inspiration, Li Fan infused a hint of his infinite spirituality into one of the cauldron's ingredients. Almost immediately, he felt a faint dizziness.
Then, countless scenes flashed before his eyes.
They were images of one "Li Fan" after another, engrossed in the study and analysis of Array Dao.
There were the fledgling steps of a Foundation Establishment novice and the groundbreaking innovations of a True Immortal. Though their cultivation realms differed, they all poured their life's blood into the research of Array Dao. With single-minded focus, they toiled until their very last breath. Without exception, they were pure seekers of the Dao, as if nothing else in existence mattered.
With the rise and fall of each of these lives, Li Fan felt as though he had personally experienced that figure's lifelong dedication to the study of arrays.
Though it was like a dream, leaving no distinct memories, he felt that his sense of familiarity with Array Dao had not faded in the slightest.
The phantoms flickered faster and faster, and Li Fan's perception of "Array Dao" underwent an incredible transformation.
The arrays became increasingly familiar, intimate, and simple.
They were like close companions he had known for countless years, their minds already connected in perfect, unspoken harmony.
Li Fan knew that his talent in Array Dao had already reached a level that countless beings in the Mountain and Sea could only dream of. And even then, that talent was still climbing higher!
"The Mysterious Origin Primal Spirit Grand Array..."
When Li Fan contemplated this peerless immortal array, the formation that once seemed impossibly complex—difficult to deduce even with the help of the Dissociation Disc—was no longer so abstruse.
He could even deduce the remaining arrays based on the five he already knew, simply by understanding the connections between the nine sets of formations.
"Of the Mysterious Origin Primal Spirit's nine parts, I know five: Mysterious Jade, Myriad Spirits Return to Number; Desolate Fall, Void Room Generates Flowers; Boundless, Primordial Vision; Dao Arises, Life Everlasting; and Feather Transformation, Life and Death Adrift."
"The remaining four are..."
Before Li Fan's eyes, the five great arrays automatically extended countless fine threads into the adjacent empty space, slowly filling in the unknown.
The remaining components of the Mysterious Origin Primal Spirit Grand Array thus appeared before him.
"Establishing the Cauldron, Treading Mountains and Suppressing Seas."
"Spirit Ruins, Where Myriad Daos Converge..."
"Ah!"
The moment he perceived the two great arrays, a piercing pain shot through Li Fan's head.
The agony seemed to erupt from the deepest part of his soul, the very foundation of his consciousness. Words could not describe even a fraction of it; all the suffering he had endured in his mortal reincarnations was but a drop in the ocean compared to this.
Within his mind, not only did the deduced arrays instantly shatter, but even the image of the alchemical cauldron vanished in a flash.
Pain!
That was the only concept that remained in Li Fan's consciousness.
His soul, and even his body, felt as if they were starting to fragment under the extreme torment!
He didn't know how long it lasted, but when the pain began to subside, Li Fan managed to regain some capacity for thought.
He had a premonition that this sudden event was far more than just pain.
It was a terrifying crisis that could have utterly destroyed the foundation of his infinite spirituality.
"It seems I was reckless. Harnessing infinite spirituality is not as simple as I imagined. It carries immense risk."
"While it can rapidly enhance my talent, extracting a large amount of spirituality in a short time will also destabilize the very foundation of my existence."
His heart still pounding with lingering fear, Li Fan decisively halted his rash endeavor.
Fortunately, the "infinite" nature of his spirituality was, after all, real.
Once he stopped consuming it, the pain that had enveloped his mind quickly faded away.
Everything returned to normal, as if nothing had ever happened.
However, the two deduced arrays, [Establishing the Cauldron, Treading Mountains and Suppressing Seas] and [Spirit Ruins, Where Myriad Daos Converge], were now indelibly imprinted upon his mind.
That, and a sense of profound exhaustion, the kind that came from battling for three days and three nights without rest.
It was a constant reminder that what had just transpired was no dream.
"Though there were gains, a price was paid."
The only thing that gave Li Fan a measure of comfort was that his weakness was receding at a perceptible rate.
"I just need a period of recuperation to recover."
After seven days of rest and meditation, a re-energized Li Fan began to test his talent in Array Dao.
With the boost from his infinite spirituality, he could see through the Mysterious Origin Primal Spirit Grand Array and perform rapid deductions. Under normal circumstances, his ability wasn't quite so outrageous, but it still stood at the absolute pinnacle of the mortal world.
He might still be some distance away from using Array Dao as his path to transcendence, but he was now a master of the art, able to grasp its intricacies with effortless ease.
"Even though the Mysterious Origin Primal Spirit is one of the most complex immortal arrays in the mortal world, with my current talent, I would only need a hundred years of deduction to completely master it."
"But that's assuming I dedicate my entire being to it, just like those fleeting phantoms of my other lives. In reality, I can't be so completely focused. After all, I have the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm and many other worldly affairs to attend to."
"The more focused I am, the higher the efficiency. The more my attention is divided, the lower it drops. But regardless, a thousand years should be enough time to fully analyze it."
After a thorough assessment, Li Fan was quite satisfied with the improvement in his Array Dao talent.
After all, before this, without the aid of the Dissociation Disc, his talent for arrays was that of an ordinary person. If quantified on a scale of 100, his previous talent was a mere 9, barely enough to begin cultivation.
And now...
It had reached 99, almost the absolute limit.
Beyond that lay the theoretical maximum. Yet the gap of that single point was more difficult to cross than the entire journey from 1 to 99.
Even the infusion of infinite spirituality had not helped Li Fan cross that final threshold.
"Those who can take that last step are likely transcendent beings."
Li Fan thought with a hint of regret. His attention then returned to the two new arrays.
Their names were telling.
The Mysterious Origin Primal Spirit was a tool deduced by the Three Saints to facilitate the creation of an Immortal Realm on the Upper Mountain.
These two great arrays were both related to the stabilization of that Immortal Realm after its creation.
[Establishing the Cauldron, Treading Mountains and Suppressing Seas] was meant to solidify the Immortal Realm's foundation on the Upper Mountain.
[Spirit Ruins, Where Myriad Daos Converge] was designed to weaken the oppressive influence of the Mountain and Sea's might on the beings within the Immortal Realm, giving its True Immortals, even the Nameless True Immortals, the chance to comprehend the Dao without being overwhelmed by its power.
"Both will be of great reference in the construction of my Xuanhuang Immortal Realm," Li Fan nodded to himself.
"If I had all nine arrays of the Mysterious Origin Primal Spirit, I could truly create a new Immortal Realm from scratch, shaping a new world. And with my many methods, I might even be able to fulfill the past ambition of the Heavenly Net Emperor: to forge a truly transcendent Immortal Realm and escape the calamity of Dao Annihilation."
"Although the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm has integrated the Longevity Dao, its inherent flaws mean it can only nurture Nameless True Immortals at best. It cannot support the birth of a transcendent expert..."
He began incorporating the two newly comprehended arrays into his plans for the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm, and subtle changes once again rippled through heaven and earth.
"Just a small extraction of my infinite spirituality brought about such a dramatic change..." Li Fan mused, his gaze turning inward to the other "ingredients"—the divine abilities—within the cauldron of his mind.
"Master of a hundred Daos, proficient in all of them," Li Fan murmured, envisioning a future where, with the help of his infinite spirituality, he transformed into the greatest prodigy the Mountain and Sea had ever known.
"This growth in talent is by no means useless. Especially a simultaneous increase across all fields. It's like a rising tide lifting all boats; as I round out my talents, I will surely see my ultimate path with greater clarity. Perhaps even the True False Transformation could be easily replicated and performed."
After some deduction, Li Fan concluded that this was not mere wishful thinking.
The foundation of the True False Transformation was, in fact, all the Daos that existed within the mortal world of Mountain and Sea.
If he knew everything there was to know about every Dao, then mastering the Dao of True and False would undoubtedly become as easy as turning his hand.
However, for an ordinary person, this method of improvement was practically meaningless.
The difficulty of raising all talents to their peak far surpassed the difficulty of mastering the Dao of True and False itself!
Only the infinite spirituality within Li Fan could support such a seemingly unrealistic plan.
"Although the process of enhancing my talent with spirituality had some... complications, it was only because I was too hasty. If I proceed with caution, I may be able to avoid such drawbacks."
Just as Li Fan was pondering how to further develop his infinite spirituality, a familiar fluctuation appeared after a long absence.
"[Truth]?" A flicker of joy instinctively arose in Li Fan's heart.
But a moment later, his brows rose, his expression unreadable.
In that instant, Li Fan had already grasped the meaning behind [Truth]'s unexpected signal.
The reason [Truth] had awakened from its deep, wounded slumber was, of course, because of his use of the infinite spirituality. It had awoken to dissuade him.
As for the reason for its warning, it did not say before once again falling back into slumber.
Given Li Fan's personality, if anyone else tried to tell him what to do with his own possessions, he would have ignored them completely.
But the opinion of [Truth] could not be dismissed so lightly.
"Does [Truth] want to monopolize the infinite spirituality for itself, or is my method of using it to enhance my talents somehow harmful to me?" The question rose unbidden in Li Fan's mind.
Although he had stumbled upon a way to use his infinite spirituality by chance, Li Fan still did not understand its fundamental nature, or even what it truly represented.
After careful consideration, Li Fan ultimately decided to heed [Truth]'s advice for the time being.
He suspended all activities related to enhancing his talents with his spirituality.
But only for the time being.
Once one has mastered such a cheat-like method of improvement, it is difficult to resist the temptation to use it when faced with one's own shortcomings.
"Although [Truth] has been my greatest support on this journey..."
"I cannot simply follow its will blindly. In the end, I must be the one to make the final decision."
After experiencing the fusion of the three Daos and the extraction of his spirituality, Li Fan, who never truly trusted anyone, felt his trust in [Truth] finally begin to waver.
(End of Chapter)
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