Chapter 1664: The Heavenly Net Once Snared the Dao
The Mountain and Sea Great Dao was, indeed, a sight of dizzying splendor.
Were it not for Li Fan's experience, forged through a hundred reincarnations and bolstered by Dao paths of a similar caliber, he might have found himself hopelessly lost in its depths, unable to break free.
But now, he could examine the Mountain and Sea Great Dao, captured by [Truth], with the pure detachment of an observer.
In his previous life, the clone Li Fan had created took Xingfu's place and entered the Life and Death Realm. Although he had completely severed the connection to his original self to avoid exposure, becoming a separate individual, Li Fan could not know what the clone had experienced.
However, upon activating [Truth], the memories of "Xingfu" returned to him as usual.
"Based on the accounts of the Five Fellow Calamity Venerables and my own years of contemplation and empty-thought emulation, I can be reasonably certain. The Xuanpin Dao was originally the power of the [True God]. It was first absorbed by the Mountain and Sea, and then, as the Dao Annihilation encroached, it was stripped away from the Mountain and Sea again."
"Or perhaps, everything within the Mountain and Sea originated from the [True God]. Though it transformed into the Mountain and Sea, as the world began to fracture and crumble under the corrosion of the Dao Annihilation..."
"The many Great Daos of the Mountain and Sea are destined to reappear in the world!"
Li Fan's eyes flickered. "According to the allegory left by that Mountain and Sea wanderer, the ultimate destination of the Mountain and Sea Great Daos was to return to the [Star]. As the saying goes, from whence it came, it shall return."
"But..."
"The Mountain and Sea did not completely absorb the power of the [True God]. For example, Shou Qiu attained [Longevity]."
"Furthermore, as the Dao Annihilation advanced and the apocalypse loomed, the various Daos that the Mountain and Sea had absorbed became more likely to be stripped away. As was the case this time, with the [Xuanpin Dao]."
"In other words, the more the Mountain and Sea collapses, the easier it is for [Saints] to be born."
"Originally, the flow of all power in the world was from the God to the Mountain and Sea, and then to the Star. But with the birth of Saints, a portion of the Great Daos that should have returned to the Star was seized by them."
"Therefore, the Star is destined to be inferior to the [True God]. And the more Saints there are, the weaker the Star's power becomes."
"From what I know, the Star is the ultimate source behind the advent of the Dao Annihilation. Therefore..."
A realization dawned in Li Fan's mind. "Preventing the Dao Annihilation from destroying the world is not some impossible fantasy."
"In fact, hope is plainly visible. With every new Saint born within the Mountain and Sea, the disparity in our powers is reduced by a fraction. A spark of fire, passed on, can save the Mountain and Sea."
"And beyond the contest between the Mountain and Sea, the Saints, and the Star..."
"There is [Truth]."
To this day, Li Fan still could not comprehend the true nature of [Truth].
He had originally thought it was merely a wondrous artifact, the reification of the Great Dao of True-False Transformation.
But after [Truth] unlocked the [Dao Return to Truth] ability, everything became shrouded in mystery once more.
Li Fan understood all too well the terrifying power of being able to claim the Dao paths of the Mountain and Sea as his own.
"From being a mere mortal at the beginning to capturing the [Xuanpin Dao], I've reincarnated less than two hundred times in total, and that's including the hundred lives I spent building my foundation."
"With infinite spirituality as my support, one can only imagine... with each reset, perhaps I, wielding [Truth], could truly and slowly claim for myself the shares that originally belonged to the Mountain and Sea, the Saints, and even the [Star]..."
"What would happen in the end?"
Almost instantly, an answer surfaced in Li Fan's mind on its own.
It made his heart stop.
[Truth], as if sensing his thoughts, emitted a strange fluctuation.
Li Fan tried to investigate it further, but the ripple vanished in an instant.
It left him momentarily baffled.
"The most important question is, after the [Dao Return to Truth], does the [Xuanpin Dao] still exist in the current Mountain and Sea?"
"Theoretically, since the Xuanpin Dao has returned to [Truth], even if [Truth] resets the Mountain and Sea, it shouldn't reappear out of thin air. But..."
Li Fan had a nagging feeling that something was not quite right.
To verify his conjecture, Li Fan needed to make another trip to the Life and Death Realm and replay the story.
With the experience of the previous life, he was even less likely to risk his own skin.
He once again sought out Xingfu to act as his substitute.
His true self, in disguise, paid a visit and imparted the [Shadow Projection for Dao Bearing] technique, casually resolving the crisis of fishing for Dao Annihilation along the way.
After taking over Xingfu, his original body departed gracefully, concealing itself within the Mountain and Sea.
Meanwhile, the clone, Xingfu, after making ample preparations, once again led the immortals of Guangwu Xinghai to the Life and Death Realm by invitation.
His experiences in the Life and Death Realm this time were no different from the last.
Only, without Bai Shuyue traveling to the Other Shore and disturbing the phantoms of the Saints, the [Empty Thought Construction] plan of the Life and Death Realm was never exposed.
It was allowed to proceed undisturbed, and all preparations were made even more meticulously.
After a million years of quiet contemplation and empty-thought emulation, the progress of the painting's formation had been greatly advanced. Xingfu had already earned the absolute trust of the Venerables of the Life and Death Realm.
On this day, they summoned Xingfu.
"May I ask for what reason the Venerables have summoned me?" Xingfu inquired with great respect.
The one who answered him was the white-haired youth, whose prototype came from the End of Mountain and Sea and had been resurrected through empty thought.
"Among all the awakened ones, your mastery of [Empty Thought Construction] is the deepest. It even faintly surpasses our own. Therefore, there are some things you ought to know."
Xingfu's expression remained unchanged. "The Venerables praise me too highly. My aptitude should be average. The only reason my performance surpasses others is likely due to my years of unwavering focus."
The white-haired youth smiled, offering no rebuttal.
He then asked, "How much longer do you think it will be before the painting is completely formed?"
Sensing the gazes of all the Venerables focused upon him, Xingfu did not answer lightly. After a long moment of contemplation, he finally said in a low, solemn voice, "If we continue at the current pace, it will take a hundred years at most before that incomparably mysterious Mountain and Sea Great Dao will surely reveal itself!"
The white-haired youth laughed heartily upon hearing this. "You are more optimistic than the rest of us!"
"Regardless, once the Mountain and Sea Great Dao appears, it will surely shake the heavens and the earth. The Saints of the Other Shore and the Tai Wei Saint Emperor will undoubtedly be drawn here by the sensation."
Xingfu's expression turned grave.
"To be frank, although we bear the title of Venerable, our strength is far inferior to theirs," the Inscription Immortal spoke up at this moment.
"But that does not mean we are completely incapable of buying time. The Saints are in the open, and we are in the shadows. We only need to stall until the Mountain and Sea Great Dao has fully descended. If someone can control it before the Saints notice, they can use the Dao's own divine power to conceal themselves."
"And even if we fail..."
The white-haired youth smiled. "The Saints will naturally chase after the Mountain and Sea Great Dao. I doubt they will pay us too much attention."
Xingfu cupped his hands, a look of confusion on his face. "Esteemed seniors, did you not say before that whoever obtains the Mountain and Sea Great Dao would depend entirely on their own fortune and opportunity? Such a vague and uncontrollable matter..."
Among the Five Fellow Calamity Venerables, Abyss Burial snorted coldly, interrupting Xingfu. "Secrets are not to be spoken of lightly. That was merely a platitude to placate you when you first arrived."
"If it were truly completely uncontrollable, why would we have poured so many years of painstaking effort into this plan?"
Xingfu looked utterly astonished upon hearing this.
The Inscription Immortal smiled and began to explain, "Do you recall when I told you about the appearance of a Mountain and Sea Great Dao in our ruined homeworld, down in the Star Sea?"
Xingfu nodded. "Senior once said that things of a kind attract one another. That Mountain and Sea Great Dao from the lower realms was perhaps drawn by the [Longevity] held by Shou Qiu Gong."
"In truth, that Mountain and Sea Great Dao did not simply vanish without a trace. It was actually found."
The Inscription Immortal spoke slowly, and upon hearing his words, Xingfu's heart pounded violently.
"What?"
"In fact, prophecies of a world-saving object descending from the heavens have circulated in the Immortal World since ancient times. Thus, faced with the ever-worsening Dao Annihilation and the powerlessness of the immortals, the Immortal Emperors began to seek out that legendary object."
"Through various calculations, they ultimately concluded that it would appear in the Star Sea of the lower realms. So, they secretly built experimental dojos in the lower realms, wove their traps, and quietly awaited the artifact's arrival."
"Did they... eventually wait for it?" Xingfu, engrossed in the tale, couldn't help but ask.
"Naturally, they captured it. It was precisely that Mountain and Sea Great Dao that had been lured over!" the Inscription Immortal said with a sigh.
"It was also because he obtained such a creation that the Heavenly Net Emperor came up with that utterly insane idea."
Xingfu finally put the pieces together, exclaiming in a shocked voice, "No wonder the Heavenly Net Emperor was so confident back then, claiming he had found the ultimate way to combat the Dao Annihilation. There were many who believed him, and just as many who cursed him. So that's how it was!"
"A Mountain and Sea Great Dao... if one could obtain such a divine object, one would indeed have the confidence to stand against the Dao Annihilation."
Xingfu stood dazed for a long while before coming to his senses. He quickly asked, "So, did the Heavenly Net Emperor ultimately succeed?"
As if recalling the Inscription Immortal's previous evasiveness, Xingfu had a sudden realization. "Senior said he may not have failed. Could it be that he truly..."
The Inscription Immortal shook his head. "He may not have failed, but he may not have succeeded either. The moment the Immortal World was destroyed, the Heavenly Net Emperor led his followers and vanished from within the Mountain and Sea. No matter what method we used, we could no longer contact them."
"But after that, many incredible changes did indeed occur. The most significant was that the potential of the surviving immortals of that era increased dramatically. The number who could attest to being Nameless was beyond count. Back when the Immortal World still stood, there was no such grand spectacle."
Xingfu murmured, "Now that you mention it, it is indeed strange. Our homes and worlds were destroyed, yet our group of True Immortals, far from declining with the Immortal World's demise, have repeatedly advanced our cultivation in these difficult apocalyptic times..."
"Thinking back, I do seem to recall that when I was in the Star Sea of the lower realms, cultivation felt much easier than it did in the Immortal World. I had assumed it was because I had weathered many calamities, and my mind and aptitude had been transformed. I never thought I was basking in the Heavenly Net Emperor's glory."
Xingfu was completely stunned.
The Inscription Immortal sighed. "This is also why I sent you all the invitations."
"On the one hand, having received that fortune, your average aptitude is indeed a cut above the True Immortals of other possibilities. And on the other..."
"If we could truly recreate the Immortal World through empty thought, bringing the Heavenly Net Emperor back to life..."
At this point, the Inscription Immortal paused. He glanced briefly at the white-haired youth beside him before continuing, "Perhaps, through the fabricated Heavenly Net Emperor, we could make contact with his original self."
"But it was as if the destruction back then took something of critical importance with it. The difficulty of recreating our homeland through empty thought far exceeded my imagination. I could only shelve the plan for the time being."
"So there was such a history behind it all," Xingfu murmured.
"Before the Heavenly Net Emperor executed his final plan, he invited me to lend him a hand. But I ultimately refused."
"Though he was somewhat disappointed, he still secretly shared the experience of capturing that Mountain and Sea Great Dao with me. This is the source of our confidence," the Inscription Immortal continued.
"When the Mountain and Sea Great Dao appears, we have a ninety percent certainty that we can control and restrain it. Of course, who can ultimately master it will truly depend on individual opportunity."
"The Life and Death Realm is home to countless living beings. As long as the one who benefits is one of us, one who shares our ideals, we can accept it," the white-haired youth spoke at this time.
After he finished speaking, the eight Venerables cast a spell together, revealing to Xingfu the "trap" they had prepared to capture the Mountain and Sea Great Dao.
It was a celestial net, meticulously woven and reliant on the Life and Death Realm itself.
The thousands of flowing currents of empty thought within the Life and Death Realm were the threads that composed this net.
"Of course, this net is merely the surface. The very core of the trap is the bait within, used to attract the Mountain and Sea Great Dao."
The yellow crystal suspended above the myriad phantoms of empty thought in the Life and Death Realm unfolded its countless facets, revealing the core within.
In the boundless darkness, thousands of starlights floated and spun.
Among them, a few central streams of light were the most dazzling and brilliant.
Their radiance was so intense it was like the sum of all the other starlights combined.
"This is..."
Xingfu stared at the magnificent scene before him. For some reason, he felt a faint sense of familiarity from this planetary starlight.
Life Devourer, one of the Five Fellow Calamity Venerables, said in a deep voice, "These are the cornerstones of the Great Daos we have stolen from the various possibilities within the Mountain and Sea. The original idea was to use them to construct a more solid Life and Death Realm. The starlight here was once mostly of equal intensity. But then, one day..."
"Some of them suddenly erupted with a dazzling light, so bright that one could not look at them directly."
The Inscription Immortal picked up the thread. "This Dao path is precisely what they stole from my homeland back then. It is shameful to say, but in my fury, I tracked them all the way here. Yet in the end, I was no match for the five of them and was instead imprisoned."
"It was not until after the anomaly occurred that they released me."
Light Death, one of the Five Fellow Calamity Venerables, chuckled. "It's all water under the bridge. Why bring it up again? When we saw the starlight flicker here, our past grievances no longer mattered."
Xingfu had already understood. "Just as we benefited and our cultivation aptitude soared, these stolen cornerstones of the Immortal World's Great Daos also underwent a qualitative change?"
The Inscription Immortal nodded. "I wrote these Dao paths with my own hand. They are reflections of the cornerstones of the Immortal World's Great Daos. But now..."
"Even I can no longer see them clearly."
Xingfu squinted, trying to peer through the blinding light and make out the True Immortal Seal Characters within.
But it was clearly a futile effort.
The Inscription Immortal paid no mind to Xingfu's actions and continued, "Although they have not yet reached the level of a Mountain and Sea Great Dao, they are already far beyond what the Dao paths of ordinary possibilities can compare to."
"They will be more than enough to exert a certain attraction on the Mountain and Sea Great Dao, to serve as bait."
(End of Chapter)
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