Chapter 1605: The Weakest Transcendent
"Potential?" Xiao Wangsheng seemed to find the concept difficult to grasp.
"In the dynasty, we did occasionally see one or two individuals who were... disabled, unable to perceive the full Mountain and Sea. But firstly, we Mountain Sea Sacrificers could help them recover. And secondly, with a population in the countless billions, their absence made little difference."
"But I have never heard of such a disability occurring on a massive scale within a single possibility..."
It was no surprise that Xiao Wangsheng kept using the term.
After all, from his perspective, anyone unable to achieve synchronous perception with their counterparts across all possibilities was, in essence, crippled.
Li Fan didn't argue, his mind already turning over the implications. "If Spirituality is considered a quantifiable resource, then the people of the ancient dynasty of Yi possessed a level of it that far surpassed the current inhabitants of the Mountain and Sea."
"They were both born from the Mountain and Sea, yet such a disparity exists..."
"It seems the Mountain and Sea itself was severely damaged during the Dao Annihilation Calamity."
Li Fan didn't dwell on the topic, instead shifting the conversation to the precautions they would need to take upon entering the Other Shore.
"Even in this final era, ravaged by the Dao Annihilation, the possibilities within the Mountain and Sea remain infinite. All sorts of situations can arise. A survivor from an ancient civilization like yourself is by no means unheard of. And since you are the sole survivor of your people, there is no risk of our secret being exposed, as long as you don't reveal any flaws."
"Those who reach the Other Shore are all individuals of immense talent, willpower, and vision. Their beliefs cannot be changed overnight. It may take a very long time to see any results. Brother Xiao, you mustn't be impatient..." Li Fan advised him at length.
"Rest assured, my friend. I have that much composure," Xiao Wangsheng replied gravely.
Of course, Li Fan wasn't truly concerned for Xiao Wangsheng's well-being; he was merely looking for a way to keep him occupied. And reviving him, a task that had taken considerable effort, was precisely to have an extra layer of security after reaching the Other Shore.
He had sparred with Xiao Wangsheng before. As expected of an ancient powerhouse who had evolved to be on par with the Mountain and Sea itself, his strength was not to be underestimated, even as a mere surviving fragment.
Even the True Spirit Flame, ignited by burning possibilities, could not harm him in the slightest.
In Xiao Wangsheng's own words, only a cataclysm on the scale of a massive collapse of the Mountain and Sea could truly threaten him. Or, an entity like the Star, a power that transcended the Mountain and Sea entirely.
Otherwise, standing within the Mountain and Sea, he was virtually invincible.
"In the past, most Mountain Sea Sacrificers weren't particularly skilled in the art of combat," Xiao Wangsheng explained. "Why would we be? Within the Mountain and Sea, we had no equal. We could eliminate any target with a single thought. What need was there to study techniques?"
"Absolute power renders all techniques moot," Li Fan mused, having tried every method at his disposal only to find them completely ineffective against Xiao Wangsheng.
Although Xiao Wangsheng had little to teach Li Fan about techniques and divine abilities, these frequent spars with a being on par with the Mountain and Sea greatly honed Li Fan's ability to adapt to its presence.
Gradually, the roaring call of the endless Mountain and Sea became less jarring to his mind. Li Fan could now, like Shou Qiu, maintain a state of calm detachment, to Sit Mountain View Sea.
In fact, over the years of implementing the True Spirit Dispersal Plan, as the phantom Xuanhuang Immortal Boat's journey covered nearly every corner of the Mountain and Sea, Li Fan's own strength had grown at an unbelievable rate.
His consciousness now covered one percent of the present-day Mountain and Sea. While he had not yet reached the state of unifying all his selves, he was not far from the concept of a true "Transcendent" powerhouse of the Other Shore.
This was because Li Fan was different from other experts who walked the path of unifying their selves. For beings like the Black Heaven Physician and Evil Su Bai, their other selves across different possibilities varied in strength.
The strongest might reach the realm of a Nameless True Immortal, while the weakest might not even attain the True Immortal stage. After all, against the backdrop of the rampant Dao Annihilation, the shattering of the Immortal Realm and the severing of the path to ascension were high-probability events. Devouring a self that had not even become a True Immortal offered very limited improvement.
But for Li Fan, the phantoms he had quietly scattered were guaranteed to possess a certain degree of his own strength, at least on par with a True Immortal. This provided a solid foundation. Furthermore, supported by the unique structure of the Myriad Phenomena Dao Net, he could instantly lend a portion of his main body's power to a phantom on the far side of the Mountain and Sea.
Moreover, these phantoms, entrenched in different possibilities, could continue to cultivate by plundering the resources of their respective realities. The improvement of each point contributed to the improvement of the whole. It could be said that if Li Fan were not deliberately concealing his power, the rate of his growth could increase several times over.
This was the highly efficient cultivation brought about by a unified, coordinated will, much like the people of the ancient dynasty of Yi.
The increase in strength he accumulated with every breath was something a cultivator in a single possibility could not hope to achieve even in millions of years.
"This is why the Transcendent realm represents a true qualitative leap compared to an ordinary Nameless True Immortal. It allows one to transform the very infinity of the Mountain and Sea into a part of their own foundation..."
Li Fan recalled his first encounters with Evil Su Bai and the Black Heaven Physician. It was truly like an ant gazing upon the bright moon.
"No wonder the Transcendent are so indifferent to the affairs of a single possibility."
"Everything you see is but an insignificant fraction of my field of vision."
However, Li Fan also noticed that this rapid growth, which leveraged the infinite possibilities of the Mountain and Sea, had a clear limit. Once this threshold was crossed, the gains from expanding into new possibilities would rapidly diminish.
And right now, Li Fan had officially touched that threshold.
This was why, after spreading his phantoms to about one percent of the Mountain and Sea—enough to ignite the great True Spirit Flame at any moment—Li Fan had ceased further expansion and turned his attention to the true reason for the Other Shore's evolution.
"To advance further, to reach the Saint realm of someone like Shou Qiu, who could traverse the Eternal Silent Void Realm... I have no idea what method that would require."
Regarding this, Li Fan's knowledge was a complete blank. He feared he would only find the answer after reaching the Other Shore.
Despite his leap in power, Li Fan had not grown arrogant. He was keenly aware that his method was purely a clever shortcut.
Compared to the "unification of all selves" practiced by the immortals of the Other Shore, his foundation was extremely unstable.
At the very least, for beings like the Black Heaven Physician and Evil Su Bai, even if the Mountain and Sea collapsed and most possibilities were annihilated, their strength would not diminish in the slightest.
But for Li Fan, with the disappearance of every possibility where one of his phantoms resided, his strength would be chipped away. He didn't even need to be hit by the Dao Annihilation Calamity; if a Transcendent powerhouse decided to eliminate his phantoms one by one, pinpointing each possibility...
...then Li Fan would be almost instantly crippled.
He could be dealt a severe blow without ever needing a direct confrontation.
And aside from igniting the Mountain and Sea to take everyone down with him, Li Fan could think of no way to counter it.
"The fastest Transcendent to rise, and also the easiest to kill," Li Fan mocked himself inwardly.
Beyond that, what made Li Fan most aware of his true standing was that none of this could be saved or recorded by [Truth].
"[Truth] only exists within my main body. Even with the [Dao Origin] function, its scope is limited to the Xuanhuang Immortal Boat."
"Once I use [Truth], this grand design I've spent countless eons building will vanish in an instant."
"I would have to start accumulating all over again."
"My true strength is merely that of a Transcendent who has adapted to the turbulence of the Mountain and Sea."
This was the predicament Li Fan currently faced, a problem that even the awakening of [Truth] could not solve.
"All these years of accumulation are only enough for a single expenditure. So I must leverage the advantage this immense power gives me as much as possible."
"I must even borrow strength from others, to maximize my leverage," Li Fan thought, glancing imperceptibly at Xiao Wangsheng beside him.
He then followed the other man's gaze into the distance.
"I hope I can find other ownerless Transcendent intents on the Other Shore."
"Only when [Truth] awakens will I have my true foundation."
Perhaps it was Li Fan's bad luck, or perhaps Transcendent intents were simply too rare.
The Xuanhuang Immortal Boat had traveled through one percent of the Mountain and Sea, yet aside from the [Solitary Sail] at the very beginning, Li Fan had not found a single other Transcendent intent.
Thus, despite the long passage of time, the awakening of [Truth] remained a distant prospect.
Clearly, this kind of injury could not be healed by time alone. It required nourishment from an external power.
"It's more likely that the powerhouses of the Other Shore periodically patrol the Mountain and Sea, actively searching for and collecting ownerless Transcendent intents. That's why I've found nothing." Recalling the care with which Ziyi had put away the [Solitary Sail] in his past life, Li Fan couldn't help but think this was the case.
...
"My friend, look ahead!" Amidst the long silence, Xiao Wangsheng suddenly spoke.
He didn't need the reminder. The violent tremors shaking the Xuanhuang Immortal Boat had already told Li Fan what he needed to know.
They were not far from the Other Shore.
Just as the waves grow stronger the closer one gets to the coast, the presence of the [Other Shore] made the impact of the Dao Annihilation in this part of the Mountain and Sea far more intense than in other regions.
It had been a long time since the Xuanhuang Immortal Boat had been tossed about so violently. Fortunately, Li Fan had refined it to be sturdy enough not to disintegrate in these stormy waves.
Li Fan stood on the deck, gazing into the distance.
A colossal wall of light stretched across his entire field of vision.
Li Fan was certain that before this moment, this wall of light had not existed in the Mountain and Sea he had perceived.
It was as if it had suddenly materialized after the Xuanhuang Immortal Boat passed through a wave of Dao Annihilation.
Li Fan reached out his hand, feeling a faint familiarity in the warm radiance emanating from the wall.
During his travels across the Mountain and Sea, although he had never observed this wall of light, its brilliance had indeed shone in nearly every corner.
It was formless, shapeless.
Before seeing the Other Shore, Li Fan had been unable to perceive its pervasive existence.
Only now, having truly witnessed the Other Shore and looking back on all he had seen and heard, could he belatedly realize its presence.
"One can only perceive what one knows; without knowledge, it remains unseen."
"This method feels... familiar..."
Almost instantly, Li Fan thought of the many relics left behind by Sun Piao Miao.
The methods Sun Piao Miao used to hide his secrets were remarkably similar in nature to the light of the Other Shore.
As Li Fan's thoughts churned, the Xuanhuang Immortal Boat continued forward.
As it drew close enough to the wall of light, the surrounding turbulence abruptly subsided.
As if traveling through a silent void, just as the Xuanhuang Immortal Boat was about to collide with the wall of light, a crisp female voice suddenly rang out.
"Halt."
Within the wall of light, overlapping shadows flickered.
A gigantic eye slowly materialized, staring intently at the Xuanhuang Immortal Boat and the countless beings within.
The boat's forward momentum was cut off, leaving it motionless.
Li Fan's expression remained unchanged. "Junior has endured countless hardships and searched the entire Mountain and Sea to finally reach the Other Shore," he declared in a clear voice. "May I ask if I have caused any offense? Why does Senior block my path?"
"To have made it here proves you are qualified to join the Other Shore. However... everyone else arrives alone, a solitary figure. To come with your entire household in tow like this... is a first for the Mountain and Sea."
"The Dao of the Carrier Vessel... I must ask." The giant eye showed no emotion. After this simple reply, it vanished from the wall of light.
Li Fan patiently waited, though inside, his mind was already in turmoil.
At first, he hadn't recognized it.
But as the eye spoke more, Li Fan was struck by a startling realization: the voice was hauntingly familiar.
It was ninety percent identical to that of the Hunger Immortal!
"Could it be? I've run into an old acquaintance the moment I arrived at the Other Shore?"
"Thankfully, I gave that Hunger Immortal I sealed into a celestial pillar on the Xuanhuang Immortal Boat to Evil Su Bai long ago. Otherwise, this could have been troublesome."
Unaware of Li Fan's inner thoughts, Xiao Wangsheng simply stared at the wall of light. After a long moment, he sent a telepathic message: "My friend, there is something strange about this wall."
"Oh? Please explain, Brother Xiao."
"When I look at this wall, it is like looking at the Mountain Sea Sacrificers of old," Xiao Wangsheng transmitted quietly.
"Or rather, like seeing the Mountain and Sea itself."
Hearing this, Li Fan couldn't help but narrow his eyes.
With his current level of perception, however, he could not yet discern the form of the Mountain and Sea within it.
Xiao Wangsheng continued, "If I am not mistaken, this wall is formed by the combined power of many beings who are on par with the Mountain and Sea. Some are dormant, but most are still active. Only... they do not seem to be within this Mountain and Sea."
"But regardless, the foundation of this Other Shore is far stronger than I imagined."
Li Fan and Xiao Wangsheng waited on the bow of the immortal boat for a long time.
It was not until thirty days and nights had passed in the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm that the eye of the Hunger Immortal reappeared.
"Although your situation is highly complex, the Saints have deliberated and grant you permission to enter the Other Shore."
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