Chapter 1696: The Place the Three Saints Overlooked
“Xuan... Heh, I should say [Zhouhui] now.”
“Now that Zhouhui has returned to his rightful place, it is time to look ahead to the next segment of the Mountain and Sea.” The voice of Saint Tai Yi interrupted Li Fan’s thoughts.
For Saints, the concept of rest did not exist.
To traverse the Void Realm, to act as a bridge with their very bodies, and to reconnect the Mountain and Sea—this was the singular pursuit to which they were devoted.
“As I mentioned before, after two reconnections, the segment of the Mountain and Sea we now inhabit spans a total of 339,800 years. However, our next journey will not be so easy.”
The Saints all understood that Saint Tai Yi never spoke idly, and they immediately focused their attention, listening intently.
“According to my investigation, the Void Realm ahead of us now occupies a span of nearly one hundred thousand years. If the Void Realm encroaches further and breaks this limit...”
“The connection to the Mountain and Sea will be completely severed, and I fear any hope of reconnection will be lost.”
“First, we must guard the Mountain and Sea, facing the assault of the Dao Annihilation, and we cannot retreat another step.”
Saint Lian Shan waved his hand, revealing a vision of the sprawling Void Realm before the other Saints.
It was profoundly deep and distant, and the pressure it exuded was even greater than that of the Void Realms they had previously encountered.
As if they were physically present within it, the Saints felt their forms being tainted by the darkness, and all fell silent.
“Of course, there is good news as well. After two reconnections, our strength has been augmented to a certain degree. And...”
“With the added foundation of over a hundred thousand years of the Mountain and Sea, and with our new traveler of the Mountain and Sea here, we might be able to create several more Saints to aid us.” As Saint Tai Yi was speaking, a brilliant golden light erupted from within the Mountain and Sea, shooting straight toward the Other Shore.
It was the Tai Wei Saint Emperor.
This time, as before, there were no pleasantries; he went straight to the point. “With the True Spirit Infusion method, I no longer needed to refine the Saint-Becoming Medicine. This time, I converted everything into the Great Luck Saint Medicine. I have drained the accumulation of three hundred thousand years from two segments of the Mountain and Sea, including the parts turned from void to reality.”
“I have created nine more.”
The Tai Wei Saint Emperor glanced around at the assembly and produced nine orbs of light. They glowed with a crystalline translucence, each seeming to possess a life of its own.
“Thanks to the reconnection of the Mountain and Sea, the Great Luck Saint Medicines refined this time are more potent than ever before. Consuming one may subject you to the impact of the devout thoughts of trillions of beings from my Sacred Dynasty. I, the Emperor, stopped after consuming two. New Saints should proceed according to their capacity.”
“The next batch will be in thirty thousand years.”
With that, without waiting for the Saints to respond, the Tai Wei Saint Emperor departed as swiftly as he had arrived.
“So many of us to share nine, and he takes two for himself,” the All Knowing Immortal muttered under his breath.
Saint Tai Yi smiled. “Tai Wei’s true body must suppress the immense fortune of his magnificent Sacred Dynasty and cannot move easily. That is why he is always in such a rush when he comes and goes. As for this Great Luck Saint Medicine...”
“Zhouhui, you may take one first.”
Hearing this, Li Fan was slightly taken aback.
Last time, he hadn't been able to partake in the Great Luck Saint Medicine. Why now, with more people to share among and a more potent medicine, was he being offered a share?
The three Saints—Lian Shan, Gui Hai, and Tai Yi—were of one mind.
Since Saint Tai Yi had spoken, the other Saints naturally had no objections.
Seeing Li Fan’s hesitation, Saint Tai Yi explained, “Although you have already attained the Dao of Zhouhui, a portion of the Dao was inevitably lost in the process of subjugating it. Besides, you will be responsible for True Spirit Infusion in the future...”
With a gentle point of his finger, Saint Tai Yi sent one of the orbs of light drifting slowly over to Li Fan.
Li Fan felt a pang of shame, but he accepted the Great Luck Saint Medicine and consumed it nonetheless.
He closed his eyes and began to absorb it.
Li Fan received one for himself, while the other Saints divided the remaining eight.
The three founding Saints required none. The newest Saints each received one portion, while the more powerful ones, such as Stealing Opportunity and Sundial Fate, received half.
Before long, the treasures sent by Tai Wei had been consumed by the Saints.
It was just as the Tai Wei Saint Emperor had said—in fact, he had understated it.
The medicine’s potency this time was nearly double what it had been before.
The moment the orb of light entered him, Li Fan’s sea of consciousness was engulfed by an infinite flood of images and shadows.
His perspective swept rapidly onward, as if soaring across a boundless land.
As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but endless fertile soil.
All beings lived in peace and prosperity, enjoying an era of great tranquility. In their moments of leisure, every household would silently recite their gratitude for the Saint Emperor’s benevolence.
Within the Sacred Dynasty, there was no famine, no disaster.
Everyone was well-fed and well-clothed, and all had a roof over their heads.
The shadow of the Saint Emperor presided over the world, perceiving everything. All corruption, all sin, was instantly erased the moment it occurred.
It was, without a doubt, a golden age.
And only such a golden age could produce a great medicine that could benefit even the Saints.
Li Fan had once possessed the avatar of a Saint Emperor himself.
He naturally understood that such a glorious age was built upon the formidable strength of the Tai Wei Saint Emperor.
Without the Saint Emperor’s power to maintain order, all this beauty would likely decay in an instant, and then collapse.
“No wonder the Tai Wei Saint Emperor cannot leave for long.”
“It is precisely because he is constantly correcting deviations and restoring order that the Sacred Dynasty can truly be called sacred.”
A single Great Luck Saint Medicine seemed to contain the condensed thoughts of the Sacred Dynasty’s countless subjects.
The experiences of their entire lives, down to their every thought and feeling.
After death, all of it flowed like a gentle stream, to be condensed and extracted by the Saint Emperor and refined into this potent medicine.
Li Fan carefully experienced and understood it all.
With his strength of will, even a medicine as extraordinary as this could not truly affect him or make him feel any genuine reverence for the Tai Wei Saint Emperor.
Instead, within the confluence of countless thoughts, he discovered something interesting.
Even in the Tai Wei Sacred Dynasty, a paradise that seemed to exist only in ideals, not all of its subjects were content.
Some even secretly complained in their hearts that the Saint Emperor’s lifelong reign was far too controlling.
From time to time, impractical and dangerous ideas would flash through their minds.
Of course, with their limited abilities, they were naturally incapable of resisting the Tai Wei Saint Emperor.
But that didn’t stop them from indulging in these fantasies every now and then.
None of the beings in the Sacred Dynasty would ever know that every single thought in their minds was actually under the Saint Emperor’s control.
Yet Tai Wei intentionally allowed these discordant elements to exist.
And perhaps it was precisely because of these “evil thoughts” that the Great Luck Saint Medicine was not so cloyingly “sweet.”
Allowing it to be safely consumed.
“This Tai Wei Saint Emperor is quite a fascinating individual.”
“It’s a shame, though. It must be exhausting.”
Li Fan’s will was like a rock. Amidst the countless converging thoughts, neither praise for the Saint Emperor nor slander could shake his core.
He simply browsed and absorbed the lifelong experiences, making them his own.
In the Other Shore, time flowed unnoticed.
When Li Fan had fully absorbed the medicine’s effects, he suddenly opened his eyes.
Only then did he realize he was the first among the Saints to awaken.
“It seems the trials in the Unending Samsara have allowed Zhouhui to grow considerably,” Saint Tai Yi said with a nod.
Li Fan gave a slight bow, only then noticing that the true bodies of the three great Saints were gone. They had already entered the Void Realm.
Only their phantoms remained, seated in meditation.
“We have gone ahead. A Void Realm spanning one hundred thousand years is no small matter.”
“Before the segments of the Mountain and Sea were joined, our inability to advance a single inch was not only due to the immense length of this Void Realm, but for other reasons as well. Now that our strength has been doubled, we will probe it again. If we can resolve the issue, all the better. If not, we will discuss another method.”
Li Fan was curious what kind of crisis in the Void Realm could trouble even the true bodies of the three great Saints. However, Saint Tai Yi’s phantom did not elaborate, instead changing the subject.
He pointed back towards the Mountain and Sea. “Zhouhui, you should return to that endlessly looping possibility. While you were absorbing the medicine, we looked back and discovered something that was nearly overlooked.”
These words were transmitted telepathically, spoken to Li Fan alone and not made public.
Li Fan was stunned.
He had already subjugated a Great Dao of the Mountain and Sea itself. What else could he have possibly missed?
But the three great Saints would not jest about such matters. Li Fan’s expression turned serious as he looked once more upon the endless loop.
Because his residual Zhouhui power was holding it in place, the cycle had not yet collapsed.
Compared to what he had personally experienced, nothing seemed to have changed.
Using his Saint-level consciousness, Li Fan scanned the tiny domain back and forth several times, but he could not find what the three Saints said he had missed.
He did not give up easily and ask Saint Tai Yi’s phantom for guidance, but instead began to ponder it himself.
Scene after scene from the past reappeared in his mind, as if he were experiencing it all over again.
Only this time, it was from an outsider’s perspective.
This time, Li Fan finally discovered a clue.
“The Zhouhui Dao should not have been aware of the Saints’ existence outside the Other Shore. When I was lost in the samsara, it had ample opportunity to escape.”
“Why did it delay its departure? Why was it so determined to guard this place that it dragged me into the cycle?”
“Even when it severed a limb to survive in the end, it only took a small part of its essence, leaving behind a rather large shell to continue maintaining the looping possibility.”
“Without external interference, as long as the Zhouhui Dao remained within the Mountain and Sea, that cycle could continue to exist.”
“Was it both escaping and luring the tiger away from its mountain?”
“There must be something that the Zhouhui Dao was guarding, or rather, something it valued!”
Li Fan understood in a flash. A sharp light glinted in his eyes as he scanned the looping possibility once more.
Something that even the three Saints had nearly overlooked would naturally be hidden extremely well.
But now that Li Fan knew its value, he became exceedingly patient.
He explored the countless possibilities one by one, no longer sweeping over them hastily.
His mind became fully immersed.
During this time, other Saints began to awaken. Seeing Li Fan still with his eyes closed, they assumed he was still absorbing the great medicine and paid him no mind.
They were more focused on the three great Saints’ expedition into the Void Realm.
Silently, Li Fan spent an amount of time similar to how long he had been lost before, thoroughly investigating the entire endlessly looping possibility.
Finally, he found his target.
One could say that the existence of all the looping possibilities was a maze constructed by the Zhouhui Dao as a concealment.
And the reason the Zhouhui Dao had departed so reluctantly only at the very last moment...
...was precisely because of this object’s existence.
In one seemingly ordinary looping possibility, the world cycled through the four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter.
Upon an endless prairie, a stone stele stood in solitude.
On its surface, some faint inscriptions seemed to be carved.
Li Fan’s figure flashed into existence before the stele, and he reached out to touch it.
But his hand passed through it as if through a phantom, grasping only empty air.
“Even when I scan from above with my divine consciousness, I cannot see it.”
“Only by coming here in person can one perceive its form.”
“This stele...”
Li Fan was certain that the three Saints had already been here.
Even though he couldn’t sense any aura left by them, the stele itself reflected the images of the three Saints!
Or, to be more precise, it reflected lines.
Li Fan’s gaze swept over the dozens of mottled marks on the stele one by one, searching for the traces belonging to the three Saints.
“Here... and here,”
Two new marks represented Lian Shan and Gui Hai.
“And...”
“...here.”
An old mark, but one that had a new stroke added to it. This was the trace left by Tai Yi.
Just a simple, ordinary stroke, yet it was enough to summarize and represent the image of the three Saints.
The lines were inscribed upon the stele, like silhouettes left by the three Saints, as if they were present in person.
“Then the other dozens of marks on this stele...”
For a moment, Li Fan was completely stunned.
But he quickly came to his senses.
With the Mountain and Sea being devoured by the Dao Annihilation, the three Saints of today were far from their peak state and strength.
They could only represent themselves within a specific period of time.
“Still, anyone who could leave a mark on this stele could not be weak. At the very least, they must have possessed the strength of a Mountain and Sea Saint.”
“And they must have existed even before the Mountain and Sea was fractured...”
Li Fan faintly sensed the auras of other Saints from the other mottled lines on the stele.
Shockingly, most of them were Saints who had achieved their status through a Great Dao of the Mountain and Sea!
“This stele must have existed for ages. Because even Lian Shan and Gui Hai had no prior marks on it.”
“It’s from an ancient era, before even Saint Lian Shan was born.”
“Only Tai Yi existed back then.”
“But at that time, Tai Yi was still far from reaching his own peak.”
Li Fan reached out again, wanting to touch the inscribed lines representing the various Great Daos of the Mountain and Sea.
“It seems there are more Great Daos of the Mountain and Sea than I imagined.”
“It’s just that the ancient Saints had already claimed them. That is why later generations who wished to become Saints had to find alternative paths, attaining the Dao through the unification of all selves or by creating new worlds.”
“...”
As he thought of this, Li Fan’s mind paused for a moment.
He suddenly realized something was wrong.
If there were so many Saints in the Mountain and Sea in the past, why are only a handful, like Lian Shan and the others, left now?
Where did those who left their marks on the stele go?
“Either they perished in the current timeline...”
“...or they disappeared before the Mountain and Sea was fragmented by the Dao Annihilation, which is why they do not exist in the current era.”
“...”
“It must be the second option.”
Given the current state of the Mountain and Sea, the Saints are united with the sole purpose of salvation. It’s almost impossible that they would kill one another.
And if they had fallen to the Dao Annihilation, the Saints on the Other Shore would have surely mentioned it at some point.
But the matter had never been raised.
This meant that these Saints did not exist in the current Mountain and Sea to begin with.
In short, those who left their imprints on the stele had not even lived to see the era of Li Fan’s birth.
They had perished even before the calamity of the Mountain and Sea occurred.
What caused their demise? What power could possibly slay a Saint?
Numerous questions could not help but surface in Li Fan’s mind.
Yet, the three great Saints had only pointed out the stele’s existence, without revealing the information behind it.
Li Fan knew almost nothing about that overly ancient era.
It was truly difficult to guess.
“Even a Saint cannot last forever.”
And just as Li Fan was sighing with emotion, a faint ripple emanated from the [Truth] within him.
Comments