Chapter 1626: The Faceless Moral Immortal
"Oh, the loss... this time, it's truly catastrophic..." The Immeasurable Wall's anguished cries echoed relentlessly in Bai Shuyue's ears.
Like the tolling of a great bronze bell, the sound slowly summoned Bai Shuyue's scattered soul back to her body.
As if stirring from a long, deep nightmare, she finally awoke from the horrifying ordeal.
She tried to speak, but to her shock, found that she couldn't make a sound!
Muffled whimpers escaped her throat. Filled with dread, Bai Shuyue instinctively raised a hand to her face, trying to understand what was wrong.
The touch sent a fresh wave of horror through her, worse than the silence.
She hastily cast a water mirror spell to see her reflection, and what she saw confirmed her deepest fears.
Her facial features—eyes, nose, mouth—had all vanished!
Even the very contours of her face now bore a faint, horrifying resemblance to the figure she had encountered in the memory of the Star Sea's true essence!
"What a string of bad luck! We just escaped from that wretched woman's grasp, only to run into this absolute monster! I nearly lost everything! Listen, when you finally transcend, you'd better repay me big time!"
"I took a huge hit to my essence getting you out of there. I'm not exaggerating this time. You have to be more careful from now on..." the Immeasurable Wall grumbled, sighing dramatically.
Knowing the Immeasurable Wall's insatiably greedy nature, the fact that it would willingly sacrifice its hoard of treasures to save her filled Bai Shuyue with a sudden warmth.
"Don't worry," Bai Shuyue communicated with profound sincerity. "If the day comes when I transcend, I will never forget the help you've given me."
The Immeasurable Wall was overjoyed to hear this.
It had no idea, however, that Bai Shuyue's promise carried far more weight than it could imagine. She wasn't referring to just this life, but to every life since they had met, and every life yet to come.
Amid this shared adversity, their bond deepened.
Carrying Bai Shuyue, the Immeasurable Wall fled at top speed, soon reaching the edge of the Dark Star Sea.
The sight of the endless debris of shattered worlds stretching into the distance left Bai Shuyue utterly stunned.
"We just need to get past that barrier ahead, and we should be free of this place."
"However..."
"This barrier seems to be twofold, leading to two different destinations." The Immeasurable Wall observed for a moment before falling into contemplation.
"Forget it. Better not to complicate things. The most important thing now is to find a safe place to cultivate," the Immeasurable Wall quickly concluded.
Without consulting Bai Shuyue, it surged toward the High Wall.
With a flash of azure light, it shot across.
In the next instant, Bai Shuyue was out of the Dark Star Sea.
The Great Dao... it seems richer here, Bai Shuyue noted with keen perception.
But remembering her recent lesson, she was extremely cautious, refraining from immediately trying to comprehend the Dao. Instead, she began by carefully observing her new surroundings.
The Immeasurable Wall sped toward a distant land brimming with vitality.
"See? I told you there had to be other places suitable for cultivation outside the Xuanhuang Realm!"
As Shuo Xinghai drew nearer, the Immeasurable Wall grew smug.
"Cultivate well, and achieve transcendence as soon as you can,"
it urged Bai Shuyue.
Suddenly, for reasons unknown, the Immeasurable Wall's flight began to slow.
Countless intersecting lines, both horizontal and vertical, materialized around them, forming a colossal net that blocked their path.
Before either the Immeasurable Wall or Bai Shuyue could react, they plunged headlong into the Dao Net.
"An immortal artifact?" A cold snort echoed as a transparent hand materialized from the void, seizing the Immeasurable Wall in an instant.
Escaping from the clutches of the Hunger Immortal and the "What Matter" Immortal had depleted the Immeasurable Wall's reserves. Now, it was powerless to resist and was slowly suppressed by the Dao Net.
"Damn it! How can this be?!" it wailed in fury as its consciousness began to fade.
Inside the Immeasurable Wall, watching the layers of protective barriers around her begin to crack and shatter, Bai Shuyue sighed.
The outside world is far too dangerous. I should have just stayed obediently in the Xuanhuang Realm.
With a flicker in her eyes, her resolve was set.
For the second time, Bai Shuyue took her own life.
This time, however, the cycle did not end there.
A flash of azure light flared, and the Immeasurable Wall, which had been firmly suppressed by the Dao Net, instantly broke free.
It vanished without a trace.
The transparent hand paused, its owner clearly bewildered. It searched the area for a long while but found no trace of the Immeasurable Wall.
In the center of the Dark Star Sea, where the true essence of the cosmos was most potent.
The Immeasurable Wall suddenly materialized.
"Hahaha! I knew it! My destiny is not to perish!"
Free once more, the Immeasurable Wall was ecstatic, its pride swelling.
But when it looked around, it started in shock. "Oh no, how did we end up back here?"
Then, it let out a cry of despair. "No, no, no! Little lady, how could you just die like that?! It's over! It's all over..."
As the Immeasurable Wall wailed, unable to accept this reality...
Li Fan quietly materialized beside his aunt's body.
He gazed at her stolen face, then gently laid his hands upon it.
"Insolence! Who are you? How dare you defile..." The Immeasurable Wall's furious words caught in its metaphorical throat, stopping abruptly as if gagged.
But it wasn't Li Fan who had silenced it. He was busy examining his aunt's final memories.
Rather, upon seeing Li Fan, the Immeasurable Wall had been frightened into silence.
It had witnessed countless True Immortals in the Immortal Realm, even successive Immortal Emperors.
Intuition told the Immeasurable Wall that this person was dangerous.
Extremely dangerous.
The Immeasurable Wall's intuition was unusually potent. Its survival through the great calamity that shattered the Immortal Realm, and its successful raid on the Dao Palace, were both inextricably linked to that intuition.
The reason it had risked everything to help Bai Shuyue was that same intuition, which insisted she was a good person. An investment in her would yield a tenfold return in the future! Yet, it had never imagined she would die so easily.
And now, it had run into a being of such extreme peril...
He can't see me, he can't see me... the Immeasurable Wall chanted internally, not daring to make the slightest stir.
It was just like those long years ago, when it lay perfectly still and silent on the roof of the Great Change Palace.
Li Fan, of course, noticed the Immeasurable Wall's pathetic attempt at stealth.
But at his current level, he no longer needed to pay it any mind. If one of the Sage Lords were standing before him, he would certainly treat them with due gravity.
But a mere roof tile from a Dao Palace, built by a Sage Lord in just one of countless possibilities...
...was beneath his notice. Even acknowledging its presence felt like a loss of status.
"The 'What Matter' Immortal."
"The Moral True Immortal."
"'What does it have to do with me?' What a fine 'Moral True Immortal' indeed!"
Withdrawing from his aunt's memories, Li Fan gently smoothed his hand over her face, and the lingering immortal power was dispelled.
The blank canvas of her face slowly reformed into its original features.
The figure his aunt had encountered was none other than the Moral True Immortal—the very being who had transformed the previous Hunger Immortal into a celestial pillar to fend off the Dao Annihilation Calamity!
"The Immortal Realm has fallen, and the lower realms cannot hold out for much longer. Someone must stand up, for the good of all, and bear the weight of the Dao Annihilation. Why can't it be you?!"
"Sacrifice the one to save the many. We survivors will remember your contribution."
Speaking these high-minded words, the Moral True Immortal had then casually struck down and suppressed the old Hunger Immortal.
Then, upon arriving in the lower realms, he unleashed a world-ending calamity.
"With the Moral True Immortal's power, destroying the lower realms should have been as simple as a wave of his hand. Yet he didn't act directly. Instead, he inscribed numerous True Immortal Seal Characters and acted through their power..."
Li Fan frowned.
A being at the level of the Moral True Immortal would not engage in meaningless acts.
"It seems this may be related to his method of transcendence."
"And..."
With a flicker of thought, a statue appeared before Li Fan.
It was the divine statue of Xuan Tian, the one buried deep beneath Su Bai's ancestral home in the Xuanhuang Realm.
Back when he was still mortal, Li Fan had carelessly touched it and, under its influence, lost his own face. It was the exact same phenomenon his aunt had just suffered.
This was, in part, why Li Fan had revealed himself.
"So my old suspicion was true after all."
"The 'What Matter' Immortal is the Faceless Immortal. And he is also the Moral True Immortal."
"But..."
Li Fan was perplexed.
The Faceless Immortal had once saved the Xuantian King's life. Even after the King returned to the Xuanhuang Realm, the two had remained in contact.
His actions were completely at odds with the wanton cruelty of the Moral True Immortal.
Furthermore, when Li Fan was still a mortal, he had successfully used the Faceless Immortal's power to escape a dire situation.
If the Faceless Immortal were truly the Moral True Immortal, given the power the latter had demonstrated, the mortal Li Fan would have stood no chance of escape.
"To find the answer..."
Li Fan gazed at the divine statue of Xuan Tian and sent a wisp of his divine sense into it.
It felt as if he were traversing a vast, endless darkness.
"Who's there?"
a wary voice called out.
"An old acquaintance of the Xuantian King," Li Fan replied smoothly.
"A friend of Xuanyuan Hong?" The voice sounded skeptical.
"He doesn't know me, but I know him, and I have benefited greatly from his aid," Li Fan explained. And in this, he was not lying.
"I see."
After that single phrase, the voice fell silent.
It seemed to remain wary of Li Fan's unexpected appearance.
Li Fan paid it no mind. Instead, he inquired, "Fellow Daoist, your state seems... amiss. Is there anything I can do to help?"
"You? Help me?"
"If Xuanyuan Hong is the purest and most sincere person I have ever met, then you... you are the most wicked and vile!" the Faceless Immortal sneered.
Li Fan's eyes narrowed at his words.
"It sounds as though you have a talent for discerning the nature of others, Fellow Daoist."
The Faceless Immortal did not reply.
"You call me the most wicked and vile, but I must disagree. Let's not even speak of the two beings suppressed on the Eternal Heaven Steps of the Other Shore. Just consider a certain Moral True Immortal I know—his deeds are no less egregious than my own! I feel I am unworthy of such a title."
"It seems your divine ability has not yet reached a state of perfection!" Li Fan said with a chuckle.
"..."
Like a stone tossed into a placid pond, Li Fan could feel ripples of emotion emanating from the Faceless Immortal.
"So, you came to sound me out."
After a long pause, the Faceless Immortal snorted coldly.
"The Moral True Immortal is no longer I."
"Whatever grievances you hold, seek him out yourself."
"It has nothing to do with me!"
"'Nothing to do with me?' 'What does it matter to me?' And you still claim you aren't him?" Li Fan's voice turned sharp.
"No wonder. At first, to thank you for saving his life, the Xuantian King ordered the creation of your statues and commanded his followers to worship them. But later, he strictly forbade any further worship of the divine statues of Xuan Tian..."
"He must have discovered that you, his savior, were in fact the true culprit behind the calamity that befell the lower Star Sea!" Li Fan mused.
"I told you, that wasn't me!" the Faceless Immortal retorted angrily.
"The Moral True Immortal isn't you, but are *you* the Moral True Immortal?" Li Fan countered.
"..."
"No." The reply came after a long, hesitant pause.
"It seems your cultivation has gone awry, Fellow Daoist," Li Fan said, a look of understanding dawning on him.
"You may not know this, Fellow Daoist, but I am deeply versed in the medical principles of heaven and earth. Even the most stubborn ailments of the Mountain and Sea are within my power to treat. If you have a problem, speak freely. Perhaps I can lend you my aid," Li Fan offered with utmost sincerity.
"Heh..." The Faceless Immortal clearly didn't believe Li Fan's dubious words.
But for some unknown reason, he still explained. "It's not that my cultivation has gone awry. It is merely an inevitable step on the path to transcendence."
"I was once the renowned Moral True Immortal of the Immortal Realm. 'Dao' is that which is formless and without shape, which gives birth to heaven and earth, its heart untainted. 'De,' or Virtue, is that which is vast and magnificent, the cultivation of harmony, where one's actions are without regret. Dao and De are one body, with one's disposition as the root."
"I did not follow the secular morality of mortals, but the principles that flow throughout heaven and earth. However..."
The Faceless Immortal let out a long sigh. "With the corrosion of the Dao Annihilation, heaven and earth began to crumble. Even the principles of the world could no longer flow properly. Naturally, the 'Morality' I cultivated began to show flaws. In order to mend these flaws, I began to search for a solution."
"I never imagined it would lead me down such an unexpected path."
"Did your consciousness fracture and spiral out of control?" Li Fan asked.
"It's far more complicated than that," the Faceless Immortal said, his voice laced with resignation. "It was a Moral Separation."
"Moral... Separation?" Li Fan repeated, carefully considering the term.
"I am De, the Virtue. He is Dao, the Principle. The two could no longer be reconciled, so we parted ways."
"Freed from the shackles of Virtue, he acts without restraint, without scruple. He takes his own deeds, his own thoughts, as his virtue. And somehow, in doing so, his 'Morality' reached a new state of completion, and he advanced even further."
"And I..."
"His actions became my inner demons. My Virtue was no longer virtue, and thus... I lost my face."
"I can barely fend for myself, so how can I possibly pursue the Dao? Compared to him, I have fallen behind by more than a single step," the Faceless Immortal said, his tone laced with gloom.
Li Fan was no fool; with this explanation from the Faceless Immortal, he quickly grasped the situation.
But recalling his aunt's recent ordeal, he quickly spotted a potential flaw in this 'Moral True Immortal'.
He couldn't help but laugh aloud. "I believe, Fellow Daoist, that you are so mired in this situation that you cannot see the truth of it!"
"What do you mean?" the Faceless Immortal asked, surprised.
"Dao and De. Morality. Though they have separated, they are ultimately two parts of a whole, mutually dependent. Your Virtue is no longer virtue, so you lost your face. But what of a Dao that has lost its Virtue?"
"I suspect," Li Fan said with a faint smile, "that it, too, cannot escape the fate of becoming faceless."
"And if I'm not mistaken, that Moral True Immortal... he's been searching for you all this time, hasn't he?"
The Faceless Immortal met his question with silence.
Which only made Li Fan more certain.
"This Moral Separation may grant a moment of transcendence."
"But to achieve true completion, the two of you must eventually become whole again."
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