Chapter 1671: A Treasure in the Eyes of the Saints
The river of time roiled, its currents flowing backward through countless eons.
Yet, it ultimately failed to reflect the figure of Li Fan.
It was as if he had transcended the three realms, existing outside the five elements.
The white-haired Master's expression grew ever more solemn.
The other Saints, stunned by this incredible sight, all fixed their gazes on Li Fan.
They had all traversed the Eternal Silent Void Realm from different points in spacetime, so they knew just how monumentally difficult it was to command the True Spirits that had accumulated there.
Yet this man before them had merely waved his hand, and a multitude of True Spirits had swarmed to his call.
Could it be that this man actually represented the will of the Eternal Silent Void Realm itself?
At this thought, all the Saints grew wary.
Empowered by the Xuanpin Dao, he was on equal footing with the Saints before him. Whatever transpired, he had more than enough power to calmly activate his Truth Realization.
Just as tensions reached a breaking point, Qiu Xinhui, the Mountain Sea End Saint, stepped forward to mediate.
"The Mountain Sea spans countless realities, and every Saint is unique," she began. "In its long history, there have been innumerable masters. It is hardly surprising for all manner of miraculous abilities and esoteric arts to emerge."
"Though the accumulated True Spirits of the void have been drawn here, I sense no disturbance from the darkness. I believe this is a result of our fellow Daoist's own exceptional abilities."
The other Saints, though still suspicious of Li Fan, had always placed their unwavering trust in Qiu Xinhui.
Hearing her words, their expressions softened slightly.
Li Fan didn't try to defend himself. Instead, he simply smiled and said, "To be honest, I only discovered this peculiar talent while making the crossing myself. I'm quite curious about its origins, too. But for now, that's not what matters."
"What's crucial is whether these endless True Spirits accumulated in the void can truly be put to our use."
Sensing the sheer magnitude of the True Spirits piled in Li Fan's palm, the Saints all fell silent.
"Our friend speaks the truth," one of them conceded. "If we can truly harness this power, then even in this final age of the Mountain Sea, with the Great Dao withered and no new Saints able to arise, we could still create allies powerful enough to turn the tide."
"They wouldn't be Saints, but if their numbers are great enough..." the white-haired Master acknowledged with a nod.
"We could even absorb these accumulated True Spirits to replenish our own strength." The shifting figure grew fainter, seemingly calculating a future where it had integrated a vast quantity of these True Spirits.
"If that's the case, allow me to experiment first." A golden figure drifted out from Qiu Xinhui's body, its form veiled in a hazy, contemplative light. It appeared to be an avatar born from a single thought, yet it fully embodied her will.
The conceptual avatar floated slowly toward the mass of True Spirits, as if drawn by an unseen force.
It moved faster and faster until, in a flash, it became a fine thread of light, zipping through the swamp-like mass.
After making a single pass, it returned to stand before Qiu Xinhui.
As the others looked on, they could see that the avatar's conceptual form was now tinged with faint shadows after its passage through the True Spirits.
"The effect is indeed similar to traversing the Eternal Silent Void Realm. However, the efficiency of absorption is significantly lower."
After a long moment, Qiu Xinhui finally spoke.
The expressions of the other Saints grew even more astonished.
"And yet, it is far less perilous than being within the Eternal Silent Void Realm itself. There is no risk to one's mind or spirit. Doesn't that mean..." Before the shifting figure could finish, it plunged headfirst into the mass of accumulated True Spirits.
In a single moment, it seemed to pass through the mass dozens of times, sending ripples spreading through the True Spirits.
It only stopped, seemingly unsated, when it could absorb no more for the time being.
As if having feasted, the shifting figure was now strikingly clearer.
The speed of its transformations had also increased.
"Incredible," a voice exclaimed, though it came not from the figure, but from elsewhere.
And as the voice spoke, the shifting figure that had braved the True Spirits and reaped such rewards shattered with a thunderous clap.
It dissolved into a streak of light, flowing back to the source of the voice.
Li Fan saw it all clearly.
Both Qiu Xinhui and the shifting Saint had used avatars to instantly probe the true nature and dangers of the accumulated True Spirits.
Qiu Xinhui had used a conceptual avatar, whereas the shifting Saint...
"It appeared to have acted itself, yet its true form exists in a state of flux, a fusion of determined and undetermined states, a blend of countless future possibilities. It can, at any moment, relegate an outcome to a mere hypothetical within its calculations, preventing it from becoming an established fact. Conversely, it can also choose to affirm a result, making that hypothetical real."
As if to confirm Li Fan's judgment.
As the streak of light merged into it, the true shifting figure manifested the same results as its probe. Having absorbed a measure of the accumulated True Spirits, it was greatly invigorated.
With these two leading the way, the remaining Saints cast aside their reservations.
They each unleashed their unique abilities, beginning to absorb the accumulated True Spirits Li Fan had brought forth.
The auras of the assembled Saints surged, each one clearly having made significant progress.
*Could it be that all Saints besides me can absorb these accumulated True Spirits so easily?*
Li Fan watched, secretly puzzled.
But as the Saints finished their absorption, and he saw how their complexions and expressions had visibly improved, understanding dawned on him.
The Saints of this final era must have suffered injuries of varying degrees during their long struggle against the Eternal Silent Void Realm.
Even their own Spirituality had been gradually depleted.
With no conventional way to heal, these hidden wounds had worsened over time.
Even for a Saint's constitution, they had become a serious vulnerability.
While the Eternal Silent Void Realm did indeed contain accumulated True Spirits, venturing deep within meant annihilation at the slightest misstep. The cost was ten times the reward; it simply wasn't worth the risk.
Thus, the idea of traveling into the void to heal and enhance their True Spirits was pure fantasy.
But now...
A Saint had appeared who could seemingly transport accumulated True Spirits from the Eternal Silent Void Realm into the physical world of the Mountain Sea.
Moreover, these True Spirits were proven to be free of the void's contamination, allowing for safe absorption.
Having completed a round of restoration, the Saints now looked at Li Fan in an entirely new light.
When pressed by the Saints, Li Fan had been fearless.
Yet now, being stared at as if he were a priceless treasure, he felt a chill run down his spine.
"Originally, our odds of success were... lacking."
"But now, with your help, a chance of victory has finally emerged!" the shifting figure declared, overjoyed.
Only then did Li Fan realize that their "lacking" odds actually meant they had no chance of victory at all.
"Your arrival is a true blessing for us all," Qiu Xinhui remarked with deep emotion.
Her gaze drifted toward the past eons of the Mountain Sea, her eyes swirling with an inexplicable emotion.
"Truly... it seems some things are fated in the great dark." Lost in some memory, the Mountain Sea End Saint murmured to herself, her focus momentarily drifting.
"So, what do you all think of my plan to create new Saints? Is it feasible?" Li Fan asked, looking to the others.
"May I ask, friend," the white-haired Master began with utmost gravity, "what is the cost to you to summon these accumulated True Spirits?"
"It's as easy as breathing," Li Fan replied with his head held high. RAN10\B?ЕS
The expressions of the Saints grew stranger still.
A brilliant beam of light erupted from the shifting figure.
It seemed to contain hundreds of millions of intertwined lights and shadows, each one a deduction pointing toward a different possible future.
Within the span of a single breath, the beam's brilliance faded to desolation.
Yet it did not fade completely. A few slivers of light endured.
The light flowed back into the shifting figure.
"If what you say is true—that you can summon these accumulated True Spirits at will and without harm..."
"...then the probability of our plan succeeding has just surpassed one in ten!"
At this declaration, the expressions of both Li Fan and all the Saints present changed dramatically.
"That high?!"
"That low?"
After their astonished outbursts, Li Fan and the Saints stared at one another in mutual confusion.
"How can a mere one-in-ten chance be considered high?" Li Fan frowned.
Qiu Xinhui smiled and shook her head. "We are trying to find a glimmer of hope in an impossible situation. A one-in-ten chance of success is a wonderful outcome we never dared to imagine. In my previous calculations, even a one percent probability would have been worth staking our very lives on!"
The other Saints all agreed, but Li Fan remained bewildered.
He didn't press the matter, however.
Once the shifting Saint announced the results of its calculation, Li Fan keenly sensed that the oppressive atmosphere that had long shrouded this final age of the Mountain Sea had dissipated considerably.
Even the way the Saints spoke to one another had become more relaxed.
"We shall use the accumulated True Spirits to irrigate a conceptual Mountain Sea."
"When the reinforcements from within this Mountain Sea are endless and have grown to a sufficient scale, that will be the day we set our plan in motion."
The white-haired Master stroked his beard. "By then, my life should not yet be exhausted. Perhaps I will have the chance to witness the true face of the [Star]. What a blessing that would be!"
As the Saints conversed, Li Fan gained a deeper understanding of how they utilized [True Spirit].
For the vast majority of beings in the Mountain Sea, True Spirit was the tangible manifestation of their own spirituality and cultivation aptitude. The Saints speculated that True Spirit originated from the [God] who created the Mountain Sea.
Below the level of a Saint, True Spirit was determined by fate.
It could only be slightly increased by absorbing other versions of oneself from different possibilities.
But the extent of this growth was limited.
Once one stepped into the realm of the Saints, however, it could be replenished from external sources by traversing the Eternal Silent Void Realm.
Yet the problem remained: traversing the void was incredibly dangerous.
Self-preservation was difficult enough, let alone enhancing one's own spirituality.
Only the strongest among the Saints, those whose power reached a level where the expenditure of each crossing was less than the gain, possessed the qualifications to truly travel upstream against the current, heading toward the very beginning of the Mountain Sea.
In reality, none of the Saints at the End of Mountain and Sea had reached such a realm.
"All who possess such power would choose to journey to the Beginning of Mountain and Sea, to vie for the power of the [God] and seek to advance further."
"And the formless barrier I sense, the one that restricts my own True Spirit from connecting with the outside world, does indeed exist."
"Only by attaining Sainthood, with power on par with the Mountain Sea itself, can one hope to shake it."
"But if I were to use a massive amount of accumulated True Spirit to forcefully infuse and break through it..."
The image of the test subject being submerged in True Spirits and vanishing into thin air flashed through Li Fan's mind.
But for the Saints at the End of Mountain and Sea, this was not an insurmountable problem.
Their passion for research even surpassed Li Fan's.
They even began experimenting on themselves.
The methods of Qiu Xinhui and the shifting Saint need not be recounted.
But the divine abilities of the others were just as profound.
The river of time surged in the eyes of the white-haired Master.
It gushed forth, almost tangible, letting out a series of roars.
From the river, versions of the Master from his childhood, youth, and middle age continuously leaped out.
Whether the experiments conducted on them would affect the white-haired Master downstream in the river of time was entirely dependent on his will.
Another Saint held a steelyard balance.
Facing the accumulated True Spirits, he reached out and grabbed.
It was as if he had pulled them onto the scale.
On the other side, numerous lights and shadows soon played out.
The balance swayed continuously, indicating the different experimental results.
...
But the Saint who astonished Li Fan the most was the one who appeared the most idle.
A lazy, pot-bellied, middle-aged man with a nonchalant expression.
Yet, whenever the experiments of the other Saints yielded a beneficial result, this man's face would light up with joy, and he would flick his fingers repeatedly.
Points of light were drawn into his palm.
These points of light constantly collided and merged, slowly becoming one.
The final point of light that remained seemed to be the optimal solution the Saints were searching for.
The Saints each displayed their divine abilities, and the various esoteric arts they employed were a true eye-opener for Li Fan.
Yet, for some reason, a strange feeling began to well up inside him.
"The conceptual method, the art of deducing uncertain futures, reversing the river of time, inheriting through selection..."
As Li Fan took in the Saints' methods, he felt an ever-growing sense of inexplicable familiarity.
It didn't take him long to pinpoint the source of this feeling.
"True False Transformation."
"Every one of these Saintly abilities seems to be a variation of True False Transformation, similar yet distinct."
"What in the world..."
Li Fan grew increasingly astonished.
"Could it be that True False Transformation is so profound that it encompasses every aspect of the Mountain Sea's Great Dao? And so, now that I'm truly encountering the Daos wielded by the Saints, it's like I'm glimpsing aspects of True False Transformation from specific angles?"
"Then [Truth] is..."
Li Fan's thoughts raced. His mind stirred, and he wanted to question [Truth] once more.
But ever since arriving at the End of Mountain and Sea, [Truth] had fallen into a deep slumber. It was hidden more profoundly than ever before, as if there was something in this outside world it was unwilling to face.
The only thing that set Li Fan's mind at ease was that he could still call up the [Truth] panel at will.
With a single thought, he could activate it, reverse everything, and return to a safe anchor point.
"I'll wait a bit longer, and listen to the results of the Saints' research."
At the End of Mountain and Sea, the river of time had been intercepted by the white-haired Master. No time flowed here.
Time seemed to have lost its meaning. After an unknown duration, after countless joint experiments, the Saints finally reached a conclusion.
Qiu Xinhui's face showed a level of excitement not seen in a long time.
"The barrier of True Spirit, though innate, is not irreversible."
"Through our combined efforts, we have finally found its weakness. Infusing a massive amount of True Spirit can certainly be destructive, but it also brings ruin. That approach is not viable."
"However, if we were to create thousands of selves and have them all receive the True Spirit infusion simultaneously..."
As Qiu Xinhui spoke, she pointed at the test subject before them.
A dreamlike yellow light instantly enveloped the meditating subject, whose eyes were shut tight.
In a flash, hundreds upon thousands of his conceptual figures appeared, as if copied.
"The method of transcending to Sainthood is the unification of myriad selves."
"But this method of True Spirit infusion is the opposite. It is I Birth Infinite!"
(End of Chapter)
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