Chapter 1595: The Primordial Genesis of Life
Chapter 1595: The Primordial Genesis of Life
"The Primal Possibility, I'm afraid, is not going to hold,"
Li Fan stood sentinel aboard the Xuanhuang Immortal Boat, his gaze fixed on the distant void. After a long observation, he arrived at this conclusion.
Compared to a decade ago, the state of the primordial star sea had changed dramatically.
Whether any pockets of life still survived was a separate question; the most critical issue was the sharp decline in its overall stability.
If the surviving enclaves of life in the primordial cosmos were once like scattered islands, surrounded and partitioned by the Sea of Dao Annihilation—islands that could barely sustain themselves against the occasional storm by acting as their own barriers—then things were different now.
Now, a terrifying, colossal tsunami was brewing upon that Sea of Dao Annihilation. It was almost a certainty that in the face of this impending deluge, all these islands would cease to exist.
"Fortunately, the Immortal Boat is nearly complete. Even if the Primal Possibility is annihilated, it will have little effect on me."
Li Fan's campaign to conquer the star sea, plunder its resources, and forge the hull of his vessel had proceeded smoothly. His comprehension of the Solitary Sail of Mountain and Sea, however, had been less than satisfactory.
"If we met by chance upon the mountain sea, and my humble boat had not capsized, what harm would there be in carrying you for a stretch..."
Li Fan savored the lingering flavor of these words before shaking his head after a long moment. "With my temperament, I'd at least have to collect a fare."
But even if it went against his instincts, Li Fan was willing to alter his way of thinking in order to fully grasp the true meaning of the Solitary Sail's transcendence.
"Over the years, the resources plundered by the Immortal Boat have been more than sufficient, even reaching a point of saturation. Perhaps, for a while, I'll try my hand at being a good person."
Upon the Sea of Dao Annihilation, waves churned relentlessly. Yet the Immortal Boat glided through them like a phantom, silent and unseen.
Compared to the earth-shattering presence it announced on every voyage ten years prior, its current stealth was a testament to its heightened mastery over the Dao Annihilation.
"As the saying goes, the greatest skill appears artless."
As the last syllable of his soft chant left his lips, the Xuanhuang Immortal Boat pierced through the Dao Annihilation once more, arriving in a new sea teeming with residual life.
"This time, we journeyed through the Dao Annihilation for a good half a year."
"It's too far from the now-extinguished Guangwu Xinghai and the others; there's been no contact between them. This is a completely unfamiliar domain..." Despite this, Li Fan's heart remained as still as a tranquil lake.
The closer one gets to the state of transcendence, the more equal all living beings appear.
Nameless, True Immortal, or mortal. All were without distinction.
The arrival of the Xuanhuang Immortal Boat went unnoticed by the inhabitants of this star sea.
At this moment, they were trapped in the panic and despair that preceded a sudden catastrophe.
This star sea had no name, for in their understanding, they were the sole surviving cosmos in the lower realm.
When the Immortal World shattered long ago, twelve True Immortals had fled here together. In the years that followed, under their protection, mortal civilization had not only survived but flourished.
Among the twelve True Immortals, half had even ascended to the Nameless realm.
The True Immortals had tried to search for any other survivors, but alas, even with the power of the Nameless, they could not traverse the Dao Annihilation. Trapped on this isolated island, they began to seek a way to leave the Primal Possibility altogether.
But before they could make any headway, the Dao Annihilation calamity had suddenly spiraled out of control.
The waves began to rise, threatening to swallow them in an instant.
At this moment, the twelve True Immortals gathered once more to discuss their options.
In this mortal star sea, their presence was so conspicuous that Li Fan spotted them the moment he arrived.
He began to probe them in secret.
The bond between these twelve True Immortals seemed exceptionally strong. The fact that six of them had achieved the Nameless realm had not created a hierarchy of rank and status between them. Instead, they had a different order.
The one they called "Big Brother" was merely an ordinary True Immortal.
"There's no sense to this Dao Annihilation! According to our observations and deductions, we should have had at least another ten thousand years of peace. Enough for all of us brothers to become Nameless. But now... the situation has deteriorated far too quickly!"
"Dao Annihilation... it reminds me of that terrifying scene when the calamity first struck and the Immortal World was destroyed."
"We were too careless. Think about it, weren't most of the immortals in the Immortal World just as optimistic as we were? Some even thought they could resist and tame the Dao Annihilation... No one expected it to come so swiftly."
"Seventh Brother is right. The Dao Annihilation is unfathomable and cannot be measured by common logic. The situation now is likely the same as back then; its advent is irreversible. The key is to find a path to survival."
As they spoke, all eyes turned to their "Big Brother."
The leader of the twelve True Immortals was a dwarf-like elder. His hair and beard were white as snow, and he was full of vigor, but his frame was like that of a child.
When he spoke, his voice was a strange superposition of aged resonance and youthful tones, creating an odd effect. "The original plan was for us brothers to unite our hearts and, with the power of twelve Nameless Immortals, forge a method of transcendence to seek a sliver of hope. As things stand, there's certainly no time for that. But we brothers long ago swore an oath: not to be born on the same day, in the same month, of the same year, but to die on the same day, in the same month, of the same year. The six of you who have become Nameless will surely not abandon us."
"The only course of action now is to take a great risk. If all twelve of us were Nameless, we'd have a sixty percent chance of survival. With only half of us having reached that state, our chances plummet to a mere ten percent..."
"Ten percent... that's high enough! It's worth a try!"
"Indeed, indeed! If we fail, the worst that can happen is we perish in the Dao Annihilation. We've lived this long anyway; we've had a good run."
The twelve True Immortals showed no fear at their bleak prospects; on the contrary, their spirits were unusually high.
It was as if their chance of survival was not ten percent, but ninety-nine.
The elder cleared his throat, suppressing the group's fervent excitement. "That being said, we must still find ways to maximize our safety."
"We have managed this star sea for tens of thousands of years, and it has grown to a considerable scale. Although not a single mortal has become a True Immortal, if we utilize them properly, they could add another half a percent to our chances!"
Upon hearing this, the expressions of the others varied.
Some showed reluctance, others were lost in thought, and a few were excited and impatient.
But it was clear that no one would raise an objection. After all, a great gulf separated immortals from mortals.
"Big Brother, do you mean... like last time... True Spirit Destruction?" asked the third among the twelve True Immortals.
As soon as he spoke, the scene fell silent.
The dwarf-like elder nodded heavily, confirming it.
"It harms the harmony of the heavens, it truly does."
"Actually, it's not out of the question. We're leaving anyway, and this possibility is most likely doomed. Even if we sever the path for those who come after, it's not a great matter."
After a round of exchanged glances, the matter was settled.
Besides this so-called "True Spirit Destruction," the twelve True Immortals seemed to have other means of preserving their lives.
Each one produced a fragment shimmering with a different color, which they assembled at the center into a circular sphere of light. From within the sphere, the faint sound of a slow heartbeat could be heard, as if something was sleeping inside.
"This Primordial Being... we brothers have nurtured it together for tens of thousands of years. Though we have yet to hatch it, we have each comprehended some divine abilities from it. It is truly worthy of being a lifeform that existed at the very birth of the Immortal World," the dwarf-like elder lamented.
"To say I'm not reluctant would be a lie. It's a pity, but without its help in this crossing, I fear we wouldn't even have that ten percent chance. Therefore, its sacrifice is necessary." The elder's words set the final tone.
The other eleven looked at the sphere with reluctance in their eyes, but in the face of such a priceless treasure, their opinions were completely unified. There were no dissenters.
"That's only natural. No matter how miraculous, it's just an external object. Our brothers' lives come first. If we miss this chance for transcendence, there will be others. But if our lives are lost, then everything is truly lost."
"Good. In that case, let us begin," the dwarf-like elder commanded in a heavy voice.
With that, he was the first to slap his own head fiercely.
The elder let out a muffled groan as a crimson flush spread across his face. Simultaneously, the heartbeat within the sphere faltered, as if it too had suffered a great injury.
It was not only the elder and the sphere.
The other eleven had yet to act, but they too seemed affected by the injury. After a brief pause for everyone to recover, the second brother continued the process.
Their life forces seemed to be connected as one. If one was injured, the others would show corresponding changes. But in return, the vitality of each one of them was far beyond what was normal.
Though none of them had certified a Dao related to longevity, their life forces were all incredibly vigorous.
After a round of self-harm, none of them seemed to have suffered any particularly severe effects.
The sphere at the center, however, was now on the brink of death.
Its already slow heartbeat was about to stop.
Faint, weak cries could be heard from within.
"Let's give it the final blow."
The immortals' expressions were complex, but none showed any intention of holding back.
However, at that very moment...
An inexplicable fluctuation suddenly descended, locking onto the sphere of light.
A moment later, under the watchful eyes of all, the sphere vanished into thin air!
Having existed for so long in a star sea ruled only by themselves, the twelve True Immortals had lost their vigilance against "external enemies."
Faced with this sudden anomaly, they were all momentarily stunned. Their first instinct was not to suspect an intruder, but to look at those beside them.
This subtle detail alone showed that although the lives and vitality of these twelve True Immortals were bound together by some mysterious method, their hearts were not necessarily one.
"Which immortal friend is playing such a joke on us?"
But after being brothers for tens of thousands of years, they knew each other inside and out. They quickly realized what had happened. Both shocked and enraged, they scanned their surroundings, searching for the thief.
"Immortal friend? A joke?"
A cold, faint snort was their only reply.
Without playing the part of a mysterious thief hiding in the shadows, Li Fan's figure appeared openly, right in the center of the twelve True Immortals' encirclement.
He swept his disdainful gaze over them, his eyes finally landing on the sphere in his hand, its life force now extremely weak.
He paid the twelve True Immortals no mind at all.
However, faced with Li Fan's brazen theft and contempt, the twelve True Immortals were furious but dared not speak.
For with Li Fan's appearance, they felt as if a boundless, continuous mountain range had been pressed down upon their shoulders. This mountain was so heavy that even with their combined strength, they could not move an inch.
The fear in the hearts of the twelve True Immortals was beyond description. It must be known that among them, six had already achieved the Nameless realm.
A Nameless True Immortal could withstand the Dao Annihilation. Yet, facing the might of the person before them, even they struggled to hold their ground.
Considering that no other True Immortals had been seen in this star sea for millennia, yet this person had appeared so abruptly today...
They understood Li Fan's identity at once.
"A Transcendent..."
"It is said that heaven has a virtue of cherishing life. This Primordial Being is not easy to raise. For your own selfish interests, you sought to kill it. This is not a benevolent act." Li Fan shook his head and gently patted the sphere.
The sphere, which had been gravely injured by the twelve True Immortals, healed at a visible rate. Moreover, as if it had received immense nourishment, its heartbeat grew faster and clearer.
The twelve True Immortals' eyes widened in astonishment.
In just that instant, the sphere's growth had surpassed all their nurturing over the past tens of thousands of years.
One must remember, in the past, it was the twelve of them working together, using the power of an entire star sea to sustain it!
And it was all outdone by a single pat from this Transcendent expert before them!
"Is this... transcendence?" The dwarf-like elder was in a daze. He seemed to have suffered a great blow, his expression becoming vacant.
Li Fan continued to feed the sphere in his hand with the Xuanhuang wooden carving and ancient mountain-sea artifacts.
At the same time, he addressed the twelve True Immortals, "All you seek is to survive the Dao Annihilation."
"As I still have strength to spare, it may not be impossible for me to carry you for a stretch."
His words were spoken very lightly, but to the twelve True Immortals, they carried the weight of thunder.
At first, due to Li Fan's forceful seizure of their treasure and the immense gap in their strength, they had already prepared themselves to die today.
They never imagined that in a single moment, their fate would take such a turn, and they would suddenly see a path to survival.
"This... Senior, are you serious?" the dwarf-like elder asked, finding it hard to believe.
Li Fan chuckled lightly. "Crossing the Dao Annihilation, a task that seems incredibly arduous to you, is for me but a single, smooth voyage."
As he spoke, a solitary sail manifested before their eyes.
Like a divine needle calming the seas, its solitary appearance made the winds cease and the waves quieten.
The sense of world-ending crisis that had plagued them ever since the Dao Annihilation's recent upheaval instantly dissolved the moment they witnessed the Solitary Sail of Mountain and Sea.
The twelve True Immortals no longer had any doubt about Li Fan's power.
He was undoubtedly a Transcendent expert!
"This sail... you should not gaze upon it for too long."
"My Dao of transcendence is not your Dao."
The twelve True Immortals were immersed in the vision of the Solitary Sail Li Fan displayed, but before long, Li Fan took the initiative to retract the apparition.
He offered them a kind reminder.
"To seek transcendence, you must first walk a path that belongs solely to you. The twelve of you as one is a passable method of crossing, but it is a lesser path," Li Fan commented coolly.
Hearing this, the faces of the twelve True Immortals fell.
The dwarf-like elder gave a bitter smile. "When the Dao Annihilation came and the Immortal World was destroyed, if not for this method of 'Symbiosis,' we would have long perished in that great tide. How could there be any talk of transcendence in the future?"
"To be able to cross the mountain and sea is enough to satisfy us. We do not seek a superior or lesser path," the elder said, bowing his head.
"To have such awareness is not bad at all," Li Fan praised lightly.
Only then did the expressions of the twelve True Immortals ease somewhat.
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