Chapter 1689: Fatespine Alters Creation
Chapter 1689: Fatespine Alters Creation
"I first believed that stream of light to be my great fortune. It was only when it truly stood before me that I understood..."
"...that I was its fortune!"
The phantom of Tai Yi chuckled softly. "The light seemed to feed on the Dao itself. It stood motionless, yet I was drawn to it uncontrollably, as if I had originated from that very light. Can you all imagine the terror I felt at that moment?"
The phantoms of the Saints all nodded in silent understanding.
"Though I had yet to become a Saint, my strength at the time was nearly equivalent to the Transcendent state of today. Yet, beneath its overflowing radiance, I found myself completely bound, unable to struggle. Like helpless prey, I was slowly drawn in."
"Within that dreamlike brilliance, I saw in a daze thousands of Dao paths laid out before me. Some positions were vacant, some were being reclaimed, and others were blank voids, completely erased, with only faint traces remaining."
"All the Daos were arrayed within a magnificent hall."
"And above them all, a phantom sat enthroned."
The phantom of Tai Yi waved its hand, attempting to recreate the scene for the Saints.
However, the image flickered for a mere instant before dissolving like a bubble.
Astoundingly, even with the power of Saint Tai Yi's phantom, he could not sustain or replicate the specific appearance of what he saw in the light.
Tai Yi, as if long accustomed to this failure, did not try again and continued his description. "Upon seeing this staggering scene, my body and thoughts seemed to freeze as I drifted toward the seat labeled [Tai Yi] within the hall. At the same time, I understood that if I truly fell into it, I would be trapped for eternity. Alarm bells rang in my mind, and I struggled with all my might..."
"But how can an insect escape a web? In the end, I only drew closer and closer to the seat of Tai Yi."
Although they already knew Tai Yi must have survived, the Saints couldn't help but hold their breath as they imagined the perilous scene. Just as they awaited the conclusion, the phantom of Tai Yi fell silent.
"What happened next? How did you escape?" It was Bai Xiao who couldn't resist asking.
"That... I do not know," Tai Yi said, a sudden smile gracing his features.
The newly ascended Saints were stunned.
The Saints of the Other Shore, however, had clearly heard this before and simply shook their heads in resignation.
"It's not that I'm unwilling to disclose it, but that I truly escaped from that Hall of Daos in a complete daze. This has been the greatest puzzle of my life. Even later, when the Mountain and Sea took shape, when the primordial Immortal Realm shattered, and even when I achieved Sainthood..."
"I never again encountered that stream of light."
Tai Yi spoke with a touch of melancholy, his gaze sweeping over the Saints present. "If one day, any of you should encounter this stream of light, perhaps you could ask it for me what exactly happened back then. It would resolve the confusion that has plagued my heart for countless years."
After listening to such a fascinating story, only for it to end so abruptly without a resolution, the Saints were naturally frustrated.
Bai Xiao paused, wanting to say more, but ultimately just cleared his throat. "You have lived a long time and naturally have seen more than us. None of us have ever seen a so-called Primordial Creation. I fear that even if we did encounter it, we wouldn't be able to recognize it."
"That won't be an issue. Just like this object clutched in the hands of Fatespine, even if it is formless and shapeless, you will surely be able to sense its extraordinary nature," the phantom of Tai Yi said, pointing to the flickering Mountain and Sea memory in the void realm.
From this, Li Fan learned the identity of the mysterious figure he had seen sitting and weaving a web in the Xuanhuang Realm.
"Listening to Lord Lian Shan, it seems you are old acquaintances with this Fatespine?"
"Merely a fellow traveler on my journey up the Upper Mountain. At that time, the structure of the Mountain and Sea had not yet been settled, and countless heroes and prodigies sought to lay the foundation for an eternal enterprise. Naturally, I was not the only one who wished to ascend the Upper Mountain."
"Countless attempted the ascent, but this Fatespine was the only one who could keep pace just behind me. That is why he left such a deep impression."
"However..."
"I ultimately reached the summit a step ahead of him. As I stood with my eyes closed in meditation, I suddenly saw a look of terror on his face, as if he had foreseen something utterly terrifying. He then gritted his teeth and fled, vanishing without a trace. Since then, he has not been seen in the Mountain and Sea, and I have not laid eyes on him for many, many years." Saint Lian Shan's voice sounded somewhat distant.
"Perhaps he thought Lord Lian Shan would perform the act of 'Sitting on the Mountain,' and feared being suppressed under you for all eternity, which is why he fled in such a hurry," Bai Xiao jested.
"That's what I thought at the time as well," Lian Shan said suddenly, causing Bai Xiao's smile to freeze on his face.
"Although my final choice was the result of deep deliberation, I had not yet made my decision before Fatespine disappeared. It was his terrified flight that ultimately led me to decide. To *connect* the mountains, not *sit* on the mountain."
There seemed to be an unspoken depth to Saint Lian Shan's words.
Li Fan and the other Saints naturally understood the hidden meaning.
Most likely, the yet-to-be-enlightened Lian Shan had been full of pride. The fact that Fatespine had fled in panic before he had even made his choice inevitably sparked thoughts like, "How could he see me like that?" or "Am I really that kind of person?"
And so, it had influenced his decision at that crucial moment.
The newly ascended Saints smiled to themselves. In that moment, the image of the world's first immortal became more concrete in their minds, no longer just that of an unfathomably powerful being.
"So, Fatespine's initial attempt at enlightenment failed, and he then sought a way to reverse his fate. This Primordial Creation became his target. If it truly is a progenitor of the Mountain and Sea, a source of its divinity... perhaps it really could change everything."
"I wonder what he has been plotting and pursuing all this time. Judging by the look of joy on his face when he first entered, this probably wasn't his first attempt to trap it," Bai Xiao murmured to himself.
The Saints remained silent, their gazes returning to the memory of the Mountain and Sea.
Finally, Shou Qiu spoke.
"The priority right now is to reconnect the Mountain and Sea. As for the clues about this Primordial Creation... once the Mountain and Sea are linked, perhaps we can go to the scene ourselves and investigate thoroughly."
The Saints nodded, then withdrew their gazes, their attention returning to the areas perceived by their own consciousness.
Li Fan committed Shou Qiu's words to memory.
"When the Mountain and Sea are reconnected, everything within them will be restored to its former state."
"But Return to Truth has transcended the Mountain and Sea. Since it is already inside my body, it will not reappear out of thin air."
"The same probably applies to that Saint, Fatespine."
"The so-called 'scene' will be nothing more than a more tangible trace, a step up from a memory phantom."
On this point, Li Fan felt no anxiety.
"I just don't know if the stream of light Tai Yi encountered back then was indeed Return to Truth."
"The Hall of All Daos he described bears an uncanny resemblance to the Hall of Returning to Truth, but I can't be certain."
"If it wasn't Return to Truth... does that mean other Primordial Creations exist within the Mountain and Sea?"
As a thousand thoughts raced through his mind, Li Fan's focus slowly returned to the body of "Li Bufan."
Now that he had identified the key memory node of the Mountain and Sea, his task was to ensure that this illusory memory continued to flow along its original course.
"Fatespine is not here, so I must become Fatespine."
"The captured object will not appear, so I must create the illusion of its presence. I just need to stage a play to deceive the Mountain and Sea as it transitions from illusion to reality."
"But how to stage this play... that requires careful consideration."
First and foremost, he could not use the Saintly power of his true body, which existed outside this phantom world.
He had to rely on the inherent strength of this body, "Li Bufan."
Otherwise, the phantom Mountain and Sea would surely detect the manipulation of an external force.
"But only a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation..." Li Fan's brow furrowed for a moment, then smoothed out.
"Fortunately, he also cultivates the Mountain Meditation Technique."
This version was quite different from the one He Zhenghao had obtained in later generations.
The later version, though still called "Mountain Meditation," was in practice "People Meditation."
After all, trying to find a genuine, ever-growing mountain to settle on and cultivate...
One would likely turn to dust before such a target was even found.
Instead, sponsoring promising talents and building good karma by casting a wide net was a reasonably efficient alternative.
But the most ancient version of the Mountain Meditation Technique from the Divine Wood Sect was truly about meditating on a mountain!
This was because the Divine Wood Sect possessed a Divine Wood.
Li Fan reviewed the memories of Li Bufan, recalling the cultivation methods of the Divine Wood Sect's disciples.
The Divine Wood, which had come from beyond the heavens, was the very foundation of the sect.
It was rooted in the earth, its canopy sheltering an area over fifteen thousand kilometers in radius.
As the wood grew, so did the earth.
The place where the Divine Wood now stood was originally a vast, flat plain.
But as the tree shot up from the ground, the plain had long since transformed into a majestic, sprawling mountain range.
The Divine Wood was entwined with this entire mountain range.
And as the Divine Wood continued to grow, the mountain beneath Li Fan's feet was also rising at a perceptible rate.
For those in the Divine Wood Sect who practiced the Mountain Meditation Technique, their cultivation progressed by leaps and bounds even when they sat still.
The weaker the cultivator, the more pronounced the effect.
After all, compared to the Divine Wood and the mountain range, even the slightest bit of their growth represented an unimaginably vast amount of power for a low-level cultivator.
"Once they use the Mountain Meditation Technique to achieve a solid foundation, they can then switch to other cultivation methods."
"Aided by the mountain-raising power of the Divine Wood, the number of low-level cultivators in the Divine Wood Sect far surpasses that of any other sect in the Xuanhuang Realm. They are everywhere, covering the mountains and plains!"
Li Fan's gaze swept over the landscape. Beneath the shade of the Divine Wood, nearly every mountain peak had courtyards built upon it, housing meditating cultivators.
"No wonder Ruomu was determined to fight this Divine Wood to the death. At this rate, if it's allowed to keep growing, I'm afraid that after a few tens of thousands of years, it would completely take over the Xuanhuang Realm."
"This Divine Wood came from beyond the heavens. I wonder whose handiwork it is. They must have also been coveting the so-called opportunity..."
"A pity it was so crudely cut down," Li Fan scoffed internally.
"The battle between the Divine Wood and Ruomu should have been a stalemate. But with Fatespine acting in the shadows, the Divine Wood Sect was quickly defeated. The tree died, and the sect was annihilated..."
"This time, I will act as Fatespine did, but from the position of a Divine Wood Sect disciple."
With this thought, Li Fan walked out of the courtyard to the spot where the original disciple had practiced.
It was on the edge of an open-air cliff, from which one could gaze up at the majestic form of the Divine Wood.
Li Fan sat cross-legged, feeling the rhythmic pulse and growth of the mountain range beneath him as he silently circulated the Mountain Meditation Technique.
Just as expected, with each faint, imperceptible tremor from the mountain, the growing rock fed cultivation back into the cultivator sitting upon it.
The mountain's growth was invisible to the naked eye.
But the feedback of cultivation within his body was clear and distinct.
It was like a gentle but steady stream, constantly flowing into him.
"This speed naturally can't compare to the world's greatest geniuses. But it can absolutely crush the vast majority of cultivators. It's much faster than He Zhenghao's practice, at the very least."
"With a true mountain, there's no need to sit on people, immortals, or the heavens."
"The original intent of the Mountain Meditation Technique and its ultimate, deduced form are unexpectedly one and the same. Nothing has changed."
"It's just that this mountain is not that mountain."
After experiencing it for a while, numerous insights welled up in Li Fan's mind.
Cultivating by meditating on the Divine Wood was fast, but it still couldn't satisfy Li Fan's needs.
He needed to increase the strength of "Li Bufan," the body he possessed, as much as possible, while also concealing his actions to avoid alerting the phantom Mountain and Sea.
"You all sit on the mountain, so I will sit on you."
Li Fan looked at the hundreds of thousands of Divine Wood Sect disciples scattered across the mountain range, and a plan formed in his mind.
For the time being, Li Fan gave up on his own cultivation.
Instead, he spent a full year traveling to every corner of the Divine Wood Sect's territory.
His actions were simple.
For every person he met, at every place he visited, he would present a gift.
The value of the gift didn't matter; the gift itself was what counted.
As long as they accepted Li Fan's "gift"...
Then a bond was formed.
How much they would repay, and when they would repay it...
That was no longer up to them.
For the very few who were unwilling to accept, Li Fan's methods ensured that, one way or another, openly or secretly, they ended up owing him a favor.
As for where the resources for these hundreds of thousands of gifts came from...
"You wretched child... in just one year, you're going to bankrupt our family!"
Li Bufan's parents were a mixture of shocked and furious.
But there was nothing they could do about Li Fan.
They couldn't very well kill their only son, could they?
Besides, he wasn't spending the wealth on himself, but distributing it among the sect's members.
Thanks to his actions, the reputation of his parents, two elders of the Divine Wood Sect, had improved dramatically.
All they could do was sigh and find new ways to accumulate more wealth.
And Li Fan...
He now stood before the sect's sacrificial hall on the highest peak of the Divine Wood Sect.
He looked down upon the countless disciples below.
"My debts, unweighed, are lighter than a feather. But once placed on the scales, they are heavier than a thousand tons..."
"After a year of hard work, it's time to collect some interest."
"Consider this a rehearsal for my Saint Meditation Technique!"
The Heaven Meditation Technique began to circulate silently within him.
Boom...
At that moment, every disciple of the Divine Wood Sect who had ever received a favor from Li Fan felt a slight tremor in their body, as if the flow of spiritual power in their dantian had quickened.
Unaware of the reason, they assumed it was the Divine Wood showing its grace, further accelerating their cultivation speed.
They were all overjoyed.
What they didn't know, however, was that as the spiritual power circulated within them, for every bit of cultivation they generated, nearly half was being siphoned away.
It all converged upon Li Fan.
But Li Fan was using the Heaven Meditation Technique to secretly stimulate the disciples, temporarily boosting their cultivation speed at the cost of their own life force.
Therefore, their overall cultivation progress did not decrease, but actually increased.
Li Fan performed all of this with extreme secrecy.
The methods of a Saint were naturally imperceptible to ordinary people.
"You're all going to die in the upcoming battle between the Divine Wood and Ruomu anyway."
"Drawing on your potential in advance won't affect the course of the Mountain and Sea's timeline."
Feeling the continuous stream of feedback cultivation gathering within him, Li Fan nodded in satisfaction.
The power of one person, no matter how fast they cultivate...
How could it ever compare to the power of sitting upon the heavens!
In just three years, Li Fan had ascended from the Foundation Establishment stage to the Dao Integration stage.
The absolute limit for a mortal!
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