Chapter 1586: The Immortal Boat Is About to Sink
The turning point occurred after the reign of the previous Immortal Emperor, Zhai Yang, came to an end. His successor was not the Heavenly Net Emperor, but one named Xuan Yi.
Unlike the grandiose Heavenly Net Emperor, who sought to stake everything on a single, decisive campaign to end the Dao Annihilation Calamity, Emperor Xuan Yi's goal was clear from the very beginning.
He would concentrate every available resource and all power to ensure the survival of the nine central star domains of the Immortal Realm.
All other star domains, and even the countless cultivation worlds of the mortal realm, were acceptable sacrifices.
Emperor Xuan Yi's strategy yielded remarkable results. The nine star domains of the Immortal Realm became like a rising highland, standing firm above the great tide of Dao Annihilation. Although it came at the cost of countless submerged star domains below, they had, at the very least, secured a temporary victory.
Compared to the many star domains of the Immortal Realm, the fate of the innumerable cultivation worlds in the lower realms was paradoxically better. Their power level was so low that they didn't even qualify as sacrifices, and so they were preserved until the final moments. Once absorbed into the Immortal Realm, they no longer had to fear the calamity. The mortals of these lower worlds received a blessing in disguise, ascending in a single day to become immortals.
The reason the new Immortal Realm needed to absorb these lower worlds was simple. Although they had temporarily defeated the Dao Annihilation Calamity, Emperor Xuan Yi did not let down his guard. He knew full well that the calamity had not truly vanished. As the overall process of Dao Annihilation deepened throughout the Mountain and Sea, the calamity would likely return with a vengeance at some point in the future.
Absorbing these countless lower worlds was a precautionary measure. Compared to the vast star domains of the Immortal Realm, these worlds were as fragile as dust. This also meant they were far more sensitive to impending disasters.
Therefore, they could serve as an early warning system for the calamity's return.
Based on the number and speed of their destruction, the Immortal Realm could make an early judgment on the power of the oncoming Dao Annihilation Calamity.
...
"This Emperor Xuan Yi seems a bit more reliable than the Mount Tai Emperor."
"I could even borrow a thing or two from his early warning system," Li Fan mused, nodding to himself.
"But I wonder... there are countless possibilities in the Mountain and Sea, and surely there must be many who, like Emperor Xuan Yi, successfully resisted the Dao Annihilation. Why don't the other possibilities just copy their methods? I would think the Immortal Emperors, even if they can't cross the Mountain and Sea, should possess the ability to observe other possibilities..."
"Could it be that because the circumstances of each possibility are different, there is no universal method for salvation?"
Of the twenty-eight possibilities, twenty-six were quite similar to the Primal Possibility Li Fan inhabited. As for the other two...
In one, all living beings had abandoned their physical bodies, existing as pure spiritual forms. Freed from the shackles of flesh, they could attach themselves to the Great Dao of the Mountain and Sea at will, making it easier to survive the Dao Annihilation Calamity.
The other possibility was exceedingly bizarre.
It seemed that history had diverged at a very early stage. The Immortal Realm itself did not exist.
There was only a vast, primordial, and endless starry sky.
This starry sky itself was linked to the Mountain and Sea. Its life force was extremely vigorous, allowing it to resist the Dao Annihilation Calamity to a certain degree on its own. Even parts of the dead, silent cosmos that had been swallowed by the calamity could occasionally, slowly, recover their vitality.
Consequently, although the inhabitants of this primordial cosmos were extremely weak compared to immortals, they could survive longer against the erosion of the Dao Annihilation Calamity with far less effort.
"However, it seems this primordial starry sky is extremely hostile to cultivators. The Holy Merchant pioneer who infiltrated it had to completely abandon his cultivation just to survive there. According to his speculation, the stronger the cultivator, the stronger the backlash from heaven and earth. If a True Immortal were to go there..."
Li Fan reckoned that given the primordial sky's ability to resist Dao Annihilation to some extent, anyone without transcendent power would likely face death or crippling injury upon entry.
"In fact, this primordial starry sky could be seen as a powerful being connected to the Mountain and Sea itself. I just don't know what could have happened in the past to prevent the Immortal Realm from ever being born. Logically, the three Saints—Lian Shan, Gui Hai, and Tai Yi—should exist in all worlds..." Li Fan thought, a trace of doubt flashing in his mind.
"Then again, it's also possible the information sent back by the Holy Merchant pioneer was flawed. After all, with his level of power, he might not have been able to perceive the full truth of that possibility."
Li Fan shook his head slightly.
Across these twenty-eight possibilities, the Holy Merchant pioneers were like tall, bright lighthouses. If one had the ability to traverse the Mountain and Sea, one could simply follow the faint sense of direction to reach their destinations smoothly.
And in the memories of the Holy Merchant leader, Li Fan found the method the pioneers had used to travel to other possibilities alone.
An eyeball, as crystalline and translucent as a diamond!
The light projected from the eye seemed to span the entire Mountain and Sea. A single charge could send a consciousness to another possibility.
But this wondrous object, which could be called the supreme treasure of the Holy Merchants, had pitifully weak defenses. It was extremely fragile, unable to even withstand the force of a Nascent Soul cultivator's attack.
Therefore...
In all likelihood, it had been utterly destroyed along with the Holy Merchants.
Li Fan couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret, not having expected such a wondrous item to exist among the Holy Merchants.
But it was only regret.
Once his Xuanhuang Immortal Realm was complete and could serve as a world-crossing immortal boat, Li Fan could explore the Mountain and Sea on his own.
Knowing the lay of the land in advance would just be a convenience.
"Besides, transcendent experts should have ways to observe the possibilities within the Mountain and Sea, right? Otherwise, how would they accurately find their destinations in such a vast expanse?" Li Fan pondered.
"Even if I reached the transcendent realm through a clever trick and the path ahead is unseen, I can still follow these twenty-eight Holy Merchant coordinates. I won't be completely in the dark."
The path Li Fan currently walked was likely unique in the entire Mountain and Sea.
No other transcendent expert, not even the Saints, could serve as a reference for him. He had to take it one step at a time.
After processing the information about possibilities outside his own, Li Fan turned his attention back to matters within the Primal Possibility.
"The Ancestral Land."
"If I'm not mistaken, the so-called Ancestral Land should also be within the High Wall, inside the Rotten Axe Dojo."
"However, having received Shou Qiu's legacy, I know this experimental space like the back of my hand, and I've found nothing that matches the description of the Ancestral Land in his memory."
Li Fan's consciousness entered the control center of the Rotten Axe Dojo once more, searching through it to ensure he hadn't missed anything.
"When the Xuanshang Immortal Boat fled, it activated defensive measures. The Ancestral Land entered a sealed state. Could that be the reason?"
Li Fan checked again, meticulously.
His gaze swept back and forth across the familiar light screen composed of countless divided, square spaces.
This time, his focus was not on the areas shimmering with light.
Instead, he focused on the pitch-black starfields he had previously dismissed as dead lands, utterly consumed by the void.
"These black starfields are all regions that have been consumed by the Dao Annihilation Calamity. Given my familiarity with Dao Annihilation, I shouldn't be mistaken. Otherwise, I wouldn't have gone so long without discovering the so-called Ancestral Land of the immortal boat."
This time, Li Fan observed them one by one.
Once, twice...
Logically, no matter how well hidden the Ancestral Land was, it shouldn't be able to escape such a detailed inspection. But Li Fan had a faint premonition.
The Ancestral Land of the immortal boat might be anything but ordinary.
Thus, he searched with extreme patience, over and over, not letting a single detail escape his notice.
His divine sense enveloped all the black spaces, and he maintained his watch for a hundred days.
Suddenly, in one of the voids, an almost imperceptible fluctuation occurred.
It vanished in a flash.
If Li Fan hadn't been staring intently, he would have most likely missed it.
"This is..." A sharp glint flashed in Li Fan's eyes.
"An aura disguised to look like it was consumed by the Dao Annihilation Calamity?!"
"To think that with Ink Death as my trump card, I would one day be deceived by a similar trick!"
Li Fan was both surprised and delighted. He immediately dispatched a thread of his divine sense into the black starfield.
But to his surprise, the moment his divine sense entered, it vanished in an instant, as if swallowed whole.
Immediately after, wisps of black energy materialized out of thin air around Li Fan's true body.
"This..."
"This isn't a disguise! It's the real Dao Annihilation Calamity! My divine sense entered rashly, and the calamity followed the connection back to my main body!"
The hair on Li Fan's body stood on end as he instinctively unleashed the [Fantasy Becomes Truth] divine ability.
The black energy of the calamity, which had locked onto its enemy, instantly lost its target. But it didn't waver; instead, it turned and struck at the outer heavens of the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm.
It was as if his still-under-construction immortal boat was being gnawed through by termites, riddled with holes before it could even set sail.
The surging Dao Annihilation was slowly pouring in through these holes.
"The holes are still small; it's salvageable. If they get any bigger..."
"My Xuanhuang Immortal Boat is about to sink before it's even launched!"
Li Fan's heart tightened. He hurriedly directed Ink Death and the Dao One worm to patch up the holes.
Meanwhile, his own body flashed away, reappearing in the Shuo Xinghai.
Following the clues from the Supreme Dao Scripture, he captured and suppressed several True Immortals, as well as three Nameless ones—[Wealth], [Rock Solid], and [Speechless]—to use as filler for the heavenly pillars.
After a great deal of effort, he finally managed to quell the Dao Annihilation.
Half a day later, Li Fan inspected the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm and, after confirming there were no more signs of the calamity's influence for the time being, wiped the cold sweat from his brow and breathed a sigh of relief.
He looked at the new pillars holding up the heavens and sighed. "I had originally intended to leave these few for the Xuanhuang Dao Integration cultivators to practice on. But now, desperate times call for desperate measures."
Ever since regaining his memories in this life, he had never suffered such a significant loss.
Li Fan's expression turned grim as he once again looked at the black, shrouded starfield within the Rotten Axe Dojo.
It was pitch black, submerged in Dao Annihilation.
"The strange fluctuation I sensed before couldn't have been wrong."
"So, there's only that fleeting opportunity?"
Li Fan narrowed his eyes, focusing all his attention, waiting for the fluctuation to appear again.
This time, he waited for more than one hundred and fifty days.
Fully prepared this time, Li Fan saw the change with perfect clarity.
It was like a black curtain being pulled aside, revealing the normal, white light of life within.
It lasted for only a brief moment before the black curtain began to fall again.
Li Fan seized the chance, his divine sense plunging inside.
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