Chapter 1594: Truth Temporarily Awakens
“In a sense, the Solitary Sail can be considered one of the pioneers of the Other Shore. Just one who failed to reach it...”
“No wonder Ziyi was so cautious about it, even making a trip personally.”
Li Fan couldn’t immersively experience the Solitary Sail’s complete journey through the Mountain and Sea, but that didn’t hinder the Dao One Swarm’s consumption process.
A single being might never witness the entirety of that epic voyage, but the Dao One Swarm, propagating for eons, was like the foolish old man moving mountains. The Solitary Sail’s experiences, while long, were not infinite. They could be fully comprehended.
Its physical remains, which had stayed complete through countless years drifting in the Dao Annihilation, slowly dissolved. Only its transcendent will—a single, solitary sail—remained, appearing before Li Fan like a brilliant, shining pearl.
At the same moment, two threads of intense longing reached him.
One came from the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm, the other from the slumbering Truth.
Now Li Fan faced two different choices. The first was to hoist this Solitary Sail upon the mast of the Xuanhuang Immortal Boat. This would vastly increase the vessel's safety while traversing the Mountain and Sea. With the Solitary Sail's protection, Li Fan’s path to transcendence via the Xuanhuang Immortal Boat would be a certainty.
The second was to feed it to Truth. There was a chance it could awaken directly from its slumber. With Truth’s assistance, even if his transcendence failed and the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm was destroyed, Li Fan could begin again with ease.
Yet Li Fan felt no hesitation. He immediately chose the latter, feeding the Solitary Sail to Truth.
The Mountain and Sea’s Solitary Sail vanished in an instant.
Without its suppressing presence, the once relatively calm Guangwu Xinghai began to churn with rising waves. The tide of Dao Annihilation drew ever closer.
Li Fan returned to the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm, preparing to set sail once more.
After consuming the Solitary Sail, Truth’s craving temporarily vanished. But to Li Fan’s slight disappointment, it did not awaken.
“Still, it should be soon.”
Li Fan calmed his mind, and a familiar screen of light suddenly flickered before his eyes.
But before he could clearly make out the characters dancing upon it, the screen vanished again.
After a long moment in darkness, the screen reappeared, repeating the cycle.
This screen, of course, was Truth’s interface.
From these fleeting glimpses, Li Fan managed to piece together a few fragmented lines of text.
“Name: Li Fan.”
“...”
“Void Transformation Charging...”
“Divine Blessing: Change From Heart, Fan...”
Unlike the detailed panel of the past, the current interface was shattered, with only a few lines of text remaining intact. It couldn’t even display Li Fan’s cultivation realm or lifespan anymore.
However, compared to before, a new entry had appeared.
“Previously, the Divine Blessing section displayed ‘Fantasy Becomes Truth’ in its entirety. It’s understandable that I can’t use its full power while Truth is dormant.”
“But what is this new [Change From Heart]?”
“Could it be related to the will of the Solitary Sail I just absorbed?”
Li Fan focused his spiritual sense, trying to extract information from the fleeting, fragmented screen.
Truth’s current state was still highly unstable, teetering on the edge between slumber and consciousness.
It was no longer like the past, where any thought from Li Fan would receive an immediate response with all the necessary information.
Thus, obtaining the specific details of this new Divine Blessing ability proved exceedingly difficult.
The only good news was that the transcendent will was genuinely helping to repair Truth’s injuries.
“If one isn’t enough, I’ll find two, or three.”
“The Mountain and Sea is vast, and transcendent experts are plentiful. I won’t lack for raw materials. Finally, there’s a glimmer of hope.”
Li Fan remained patient, using the Xuanhuang Immortal Boat’s final resupply and repair time in the Guangwu Xinghai to focus entirely on deciphering Truth’s interface.
By the time the Guangwu Xinghai had been scoured clean of any usable resources and the Xuanhuang Immortal Boat was preparing to sail to the next cluster of life, Li Fan had finally, piece by piece, managed to understand the full meaning of [Change From Heart] from Truth.
“To traverse the Mountain and Sea as my heart desires. All methods of transcendence can be learned and transformed...”
Li Fan’s eyes narrowed as he attempted to activate the Divine Blessing function.
In the past, when Truth was whole, he could activate [Fantasy Becomes Truth] with a single thought, even as a mortal cultivator. He could achieve a perfect, complete state of Fantasy Becomes Truth without any side effects.
But times had changed.
The most obvious difference was that activating a Divine Blessing now had a cost.
As if he were casting a technique himself, the moment [Change From Heart] activated, Li Fan’s expression shifted.
The power within his body was siphoned away in an instant, as if drawn into a vortex.
If Li Fan hadn't reacted quickly enough, crushing three Xuanhuang Immortal Realm wooden carvings for emergency power, he would have been sucked dry into a withered husk. While it might not have killed him, his vitality would have been severely damaged!
This absorption was subtle and untraceable, leaving no trail. And it targeted only Li Fan’s true body.
No external objects, such as his Great Heavenly Venerate immortal puppet clone, the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm itself, or even Ink Death and the Dao One Worms, could offer him any aid.
That was why it had caught him so completely off guard.
The cost was immense, but the effect was truly extraordinary.
The Solitary Sail of the Mountain and Sea, which had been fed to Truth and had disappeared, suddenly reappeared.
Only this time, it materialized within Li Fan’s body!
It felt as if it were the transcendent will he himself had condensed, residing within him without the slightest hint of disharmony.
“Like an extension of my own arm...”
Sensing the Solitary Sail within him, Li Fan was overcome with a joyous surprise. Gazing at the dead end ahead of the Guangwu Xinghai, his figure flickered and vanished from the Primal Possibility!
And he did so without the Xuanhuang Immortal Boat!
But Li Fan’s departure lasted only a brief moment.
Soon, he tumbled somewhat clumsily out of the void. Yet his face was alight with an inexplicable excitement.
“So that’s how it is. Just like how Truth could change my Foundation Establishment Wonder at will in the past.”
“Now, I can rely on its unfathomable power to change my path to transcendence as I wish.”
By stepping into the Dao Annihilation, into the Mountain and Sea itself, without having reached the transcendent realm and without the protection of the Xuanhuang Immortal Boat, Li Fan should have been instantly devoured.
And yet, facing the boundless, churning waves of the Mountain and Sea, Li Fan, though under pressure, was able to hold his ground.
It was all thanks to the [Solitary Sail] transformed by Truth.
It was as if Li Fan had become that transcendent expert from countless ages ago who left his home alone, heading for the unknowable Other Shore, traversing the Mountain and Sea with a single solitary sail.
But Li Fan knew that this Solitary Sail path was not one he had truly comprehended himself. It was a transformation wrought by Truth.
Most crucially, Truth was still in a deep slumber. Not only did the transformation require Li Fan to supply the energy, but how long it could last was also an unknown.
Once the effect of [Change From Heart] disappeared, if Li Fan was still within the Dao Annihilation, the only fate awaiting him would be utter destruction.
Thus, Li Fan was extremely cautious, only dipping his toes in the water. He quickly returned from the Mountain and Sea to the Primal Possibility.
“Ink Death!”
But instead of immediately exiting the Solitary Sail state, he had the clouds of Ink Death launch an all-out assault on him.
Ink Death faithfully executed Li Fan’s command, even when the target was Li Fan himself.
Boundless, rolling dark clouds swarmed around Li Fan.
Holding nothing back, they unleashed their full power, vowing to engulf him.
“This is already at seventy percent of the true Dao Annihilation's strength.”
“I am currently under the dual states of [Fantasy Becomes Truth] and [Change From Heart]. Let’s see how long I can last.”
A single solitary sail illuminated the surroundings. Li Fan sat serenely beneath it, and though the dark clouds were ferocious, they could do him no harm.
After a full one hundred and three breaths, Li Fan noticed the light from the Solitary Sail suddenly dim.
A great wind rose, and the sail rustled violently, seeming as if it could be torn from him at any moment.
“At this level, it can last a while longer. However, a transcendent will of this intensity is not enough to sail safely through the Mountain and Sea. Besides, the corrosive power of the Mountain and Sea's Dao Annihilation is far greater than Ink Death's.”
“The window of absolute safety is only fifty breaths.”
“And that’s while burning through a Xuanhuang Immortal Realm wooden carving...” At this thought, Li Fan couldn't help but frown slightly.
Even with his feedback phantoms providing an abundant supply of power, he couldn’t sustain this level of consumption.
“The ability is powerful, but it can only be used in critical moments.”
“To truly cross the Mountain and Sea, I must rely on the Xuanhuang Immortal Boat I have forged.”
The result was somewhat disappointing, but Li Fan had not a single regret.
He had a faint feeling that as Truth awakened further, and as his own comprehension of the transformation between truth and falsehood and the will of the Solitary Sail deepened, this conversion efficiency would improve.
“Ultimately, the issue is that I haven’t mastered the will of the Solitary Sail myself, and I need the heavily injured Truth to perform the conversion for me. That’s why the cost is so astonishingly high—it's an unsustainable drain.”
“However...”
After another Xuanhuang wooden carving was consumed, with no external source to support it, the Solitary Sail grew progressively dimmer.
Li Fan didn’t add more fuel, simply observing the sail’s transformation.
Like a lamp running out of oil, the Solitary Sail faded from solid to ethereal, its tangible light shrinking smaller and smaller.
Finally, only a tiny speck of light remained.
But perhaps because he was within the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm, with no external threat from the Dao Annihilation, this last point of light proved surprisingly resilient.
It persisted for a full hundred days before finally extinguishing completely.
“Just as I thought. Without the need to resist the Dao Annihilation, the will of the Solitary Sail doesn’t fade so quickly.”
“That's more than enough time for me to comprehend it slowly.”
Unlike his direct contact with the Solitary Sail before, comprehending this version transformed by Truth was not so immersive. He could naturally remain detached, experiencing everything the Solitary Sail had once gone through from an observer’s perspective.
However, the empathy with its state of mind and its sensations were not distorted or altered in the slightest.
“Truth’s handiwork is truly extraordinary.”
Experiencing the convenience brought by Truth once again after so long, Li Fan felt a joy that came from the bottom of his heart.
“The path of transcendence is incredibly arduous and obscure, but compared to the Great Daos of Fantasy Becomes Truth and Longevity, it is weaker by more than a single measure.”
“Within a hundred years, I should be able to grasp seventy or eighty percent of it.”
Li Fan’s mind focused on the solitary sail in his mind, like a faint flame, as he thought.
“By then, even if I cannot cross the Mountain and Sea on my own power, hoisting a flag upon this Xuanhuang Immortal Boat will be absolutely no problem.”
“A hundred years. In just a hundred years, I can truly transcend and sail into the Mountain and Sea.”
An image of endless mountains and seas seemed to stretch before his eyes, and Li Fan’s heart surged with excitement.
“Of course, during these hundred years, besides comprehending the Dao, I can’t be idle.”
“The Xuanhuang Immortal Boat still needs to be refined further, to minimize its flaws and increase its stability as much as possible.”
“The Guangwu Xinghai has no value left. On to the next location...”
At the Immortal Boat's signal, the Xuanhuang world once again trembled and roared, sailing into the Dao Annihilation.
Riding the wind and breaking the waves, it made its way toward the nearest life-filled star sea.
“Hopefully, the next place will yield a similar harvest.”
According to the information gathered in the Guangwu Xinghai, there were twelve known life-filled star seas in the vicinity, including Shuo Xinghai. The Guangwu Xinghai had maintained contact with all of them.
Li Fan’s next destination was a place called the [Heavenly Foot Star Sea].
Unlike the pure, empty starscape of Guangwu and Shuo Xinghai, a colossal mountain range stretched across the Heavenly Foot Star Sea.
It was said to have fallen from the Immortal Realm when it shattered.
Countless cultivation worlds, like floating islands, clung to this massive mountain range.
“Three Nameless True Immortals occupy the three largest peaks of Heavenly Foot Mountain.”
“The strength of this Heavenly Foot Star Sea is not to be underestimated.”
“But it’s useless.”
“You will meekly become materials for my Xuanhuang Immortal Boat.”
...
Seven days later, the Xuanhuang Immortal Boat broke through the Dao Annihilation and descended upon the Heavenly Foot Star Sea.
Its massive hull collided directly with Heavenly Foot Mountain.
In the world-shattering impact, countless floating island worlds in the star sea were instantly obliterated.
Three furious roars echoed from the mountain peaks.
However, before they could even reveal themselves, the continuous Heavenly Foot Mountain was snapped in half at its waist!
For all the beings in this star sea, it was an absolutely terrifying catastrophe.
Nearly ninety-nine percent of all life was annihilated in that collision.
And the few who were lucky enough to survive stared blankly as the Heavenly Foot Mountain, which they revered as divine and relied upon for survival, was brutally dragged into that colossal immortal boat.
Then, an endless torrent of Daoist techniques and divine abilities drowned them.
The conquest was even smoother than that of the Guangwu Xinghai.
With the "Heavenly Book" formed by the Dao Chronicle Projection, ordinary Nameless Immortals were no match at all. They were captured by the Xuanhuang immortals before they could even get a glimpse of Li Fan.
“Conquer, plunder, and fuel the growth of the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm.”
“The Sitting Heaven Technique provides ample power to the Dao Chronicle Projection, significantly increasing conquest efficiency. This creates a positive feedback loop...”
After refining the two halves of Heavenly Foot Mountain into a mast to hang the Solitary Sail, Li Fan mused with a certain degree of satisfaction.
The rumor that Heavenly Foot Mountain came from the Immortal Realm was indeed true.
It was even quite ancient, originating from the time of the Immortal Realm's creation, and it still carried the aura of the Mysterious Origin Primal Spirit Grand Array.
For the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm, it served a decent purpose.
Cleaning up this star sea took another half a year.
After a brief rest, Li Fan pressed on without stopping, continuing toward the next star sea, Yinxu.
In this manner, Li Fan spent ten years sweeping through almost every star sea near the Guangwu Xinghai.
Wherever he passed, all life was extinguished, leaving nothing but a swathe of ruin.
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