Chapter 1701: A Killing Trap in the Void Realm
In the part of the Void Realm facing the "future," the figures of the Three Saints still stood tall.
Thus, Shou Qiu and Li Fan journeyed toward the "past" of the Mountain and Sea.
Without the guiding presence of the Three Saints or the positioning phantoms of the Armillary Ring, the moment they entered the Void Realm, they were plunged into a state of utter chaos, where past and present became indistinguishable.
It felt as if they were caught in a raging tide, constantly in danger of being swallowed by the churning waves.
“A dark night, a high wind... the perfect time for murder. This place, cut off from the outside world, is the ideal ground for slaying a Saint!”
Li Fan was the first to enter the Void Realm.
Though Shou Qiu followed close behind, he nearly lost his bearings the instant he entered the Void Realm.
Had Li Fan not deliberately released the aura of the Connecting Mountains Staff, Shou Qiu would have struggled to find him at all.
The two quickly reunited and, taking advantage of the fact that the Stealing Opportunity Saint and his allies were still unaware, began to confer once more.
“The plan hasn’t changed. We take down their leader first...”
As they spoke, they continued their mock battle, deliberately releasing waves of energy to lure the Saints deeper into the void.
“This spot should do.”
“Ahead lies the place where the Three Saints fell,” Shou Qiu warned. “We cannot go any further.”
At Shou Qiu’s reminder, Li Fan too began to sense something unusual about the surrounding Void Realm.
The Void Realm was meant to be a place of absolute nothingness, a void where the very foundations of existence could not persist.
Yet now, as Li Fan carefully observed his surroundings, he could clearly feel a faint “aura” drifting and flowing all around him.
It was like ice melting into water, or stone being ground into sand. The foundations of the Three Saints had already vanished, the vast majority of it gone without a trace. Only a small, trickling residue remained, flowing gently as the sole evidence that they had once existed.
He imagined it must have been far more substantial originally, but as the Void Realm encroached upon it, only this faint, almost imperceptible aura remained.
Li Fan attempted to gather these remnants.
Unfortunately, their divine nature had already been erased at the level of the Dao itself, and the [Truth] system remained completely unresponsive to them.
“Deep within the Void Realm, no matter how great the disturbance, it will not ripple out to affect the Mountain and Sea.”
“It is here that we shall subdue these villains and honor the fallen Saints.”
The two maintained the facade of their struggle, and in a subtle movement, Li Fan quietly passed the Connecting Mountains Staff and the Returning to Sea Shovel to Shou Qiu.
Once he sensed the approach of the Stealing Opportunity Saint and his cohort, Li Fan brandished the All Living Beings Stick and, with a single, powerful move, forced Shou Qiu back.
“Shou Qiu! Why must you press me so relentlessly! You already have the Connecting Mountains Staff and the Returning to Sea Shovel, isn’t that enough?!”
“Spare my life, I beg you! I am willing to trade the ultimate secret of the Mountain and Sea's fortune in exchange. You have already attained longevity through the Mountain and Sea; if you could also command its fortune, you might even be able to recreate the divine might of the Three Saints!”
Li Fan’s defiant roar echoed endlessly through the Void Realm, carried upon the lingering remnants left by the fallen Saints.
Shou Qiu remained silent.
The Connecting Mountains Staff and the Returning to Sea Shovel moved without pause, a clear sign of his unyielding intent to put Li Fan to death.
Although Li Fan still had the All Living Beings Stick to protect himself, he was ultimately no match for his opponent.
He was struck squarely on the chest and back, once by the staff and once by the shovel.
The pursuing Saints saw it all clearly. The blow left Li Fan grievously wounded, his form shattering as his own True Spirit began to dissipate uncontrollably, stirring the Void Realm into even greater chaos.
Yet Shou Qiu showed no mercy, his expression one of a man who had sworn to see Li Fan utterly destroyed.
“To think that Shou Qiu, who has always presented himself as a figure of benevolence, could be so ruthless in truth.” Witnessing this, the Stealing Opportunity Saint and his allies were all secretly astonished.
“It seems Shou Qiu is afraid the boy will escape and his true colors will be revealed to the Three Saints of the other Mountain and Sea segments. So, he’s decided to go all the way and finish the job,” Star Raft deduced.
“We can't let him reap all the rewards!”
Before the words had even left his mouth, Star Raft transformed into a ray of starlight that shot forward, enveloping both Shou Qiu and Li Fan.
Just like the Saints Lian Shan and Gui Hai before him, Shou Qiu brandished the bamboo staff and iron shovel, effortlessly scattering the surrounding starlight.
Within the Void Realm, a phantom image of the Mountain and Sea seemed to rise, its roar echoing without end.
And there, Shou Qiu stood firm atop this phantom Mountain and Sea, confronting the other Saints as they arrived.
Seizing this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Li Fan, who was on the brink of death, suddenly unleashed a final burst of strength.
He hurled the All Living Beings Stick upward.
In an instant, it split from one into two, two into four, and four into eight.
An infinite number of phantom staves rained down upon the heads of the Saints.
Without exception, every Saint present was struck by one of the phantom blows.
However, the sheer lack of power in the blow told the Saints everything they needed to know: Li Fan was a spent force.
Even when wielding a supreme weapon of slaughter like the All Living Beings Stick, his swings were weightless.
The attack had all the form of a devastating strike, but none of the threat.
The Saints looked over and, just as they expected, saw Li Fan’s True Spirit shattering even further. He was like a guttering candle flame, liable to be extinguished at any moment.
He paid no more mind to the All Living Beings Stick, simply dragging his broken body away in a desperate, high-speed retreat.
“With his True Spirit completely shattered, where can he possibly run? He’ll likely perish here in the Void Realm.”
“To think he could turn the tide and command us just because he held the treasures of the Three Saints. How naive.”
“The Three Saints themselves didn’t dare come, yet they sent this boy to test the waters and throw his life away. Truly, morality has no place in the Mountain and Sea.”
...
There was no need to pursue a dying man.
Instead, the Saints turned their attention to the now-ownerless All Living Beings Stick, and to Shou Qiu, who now possessed two of the supreme treasures.
After that recent struggle, the last remnants of the fallen Three Saints were about to dissipate completely.
Soon, the Void Realm would reveal its true, vicious fangs.
“Brother Shou Qiu, we have been comrades within the Armillary Ring for countless millennia. For you to hoard these supreme treasures for yourself... that doesn’t seem right, does it?” Karma Judge remarked slowly.
“If I kill all of you, then there will be nothing left to seem right or wrong,” Shou Qiu replied calmly.
Karma Judge was taken aback for a moment, then broke into a furious laugh. “Excellent. Just excellent. I am eager to see what skills the great and virtuous Shou Qiu, who has hidden his true face for so long, truly possesses!”
Sundial Fate, Broken Prophecy, Karma Judge, and Star Raft—the four Saints slowly materialized, surrounding Shou Qiu at the center of their circle.
Shou Qiu’s gaze swept over the Saints present, his expression as cold and hard as ice.
Deep within, however, a flicker of unease rippled through him.
“This is bad!”
It wasn’t his own safety that concerned him.
It was the unexpected absence of two of the Saints.
Stealing Opportunity, and...
Time Balance.
From his earlier conversation with Li Fan, Shou Qiu already knew that Time Balance did not exist in the next segment of the Mountain and Sea.
He had perished for some unknown reason during the hundred-thousand-year span of time that had since been swallowed by the Void Realm.
According to their plan, Li Fan was supposed to abandon all three of the Saints’ treasures and flee with only his shattered body.
Of all the Saints present, only Stealing Opportunity should have been interested enough in Li Fan to pursue him.
He had never imagined that this Time Balance would also ignore the supreme treasures and chase after Li Fan!
“He said he had other treasures of the Three Saints, enough to deal with Stealing Opportunity.”
“But if another Saint is added to the equation...”
Shou Qiu’s heart sank.
But there was little he could do now except try to stall the Saints here for as long as possible.
...
Deeper within the Void Realm.
In a place completely devoid of the Three Saints’ remnants, a figure fled at great speed.
Seemingly unable to get his bearings, his goal was not any particular past or future segment of the Mountain and Sea. Instead, he darted about within the Void Realm like a headless fly.
At first, he managed to press on with his final burst of strength.
But gradually, as if his luck had run dry, the void tides in his path grew stronger than elsewhere. Hindered by the churning waves, Li Fan’s aura grew weaker and weaker until he could flee no more.
He came to a stop.
The waves of the Void Realm surged, threatening to swallow him whole in the next moment.
Li Fan’s face was ashen. Yet he still hadn’t given up hope of survival. He sat cross-legged in the void and attempted to recover from his injuries.
But his luck, it seemed, had utterly failed him.
The more he tried to circulate his energy and heal, the worse his injuries became. He suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood, along with a large cloud of his dissipating True Spirit. He truly seemed to be on the verge of death.
“Stealing Opportunity. What a fitting name.”
Li Fan muttered to himself, glancing around.
Having once cultivated the Heavenly Fate Sutra and even devoured a molt of the Mountain and Sea’s fortune, he could now feel with absolute clarity the draining of his own luck.
It wasn't just his luck.
It was the ruthless shattering of every possible future that held a chance of survival!
As the saying goes, there’s always a way out.
But now, under the pressure of Stealing Opportunity, every path Li Fan could possibly take was a dead end.
Nowhere to run!
With a bitter smile, he seemed to accept his fate and gave up the struggle.
He stopped resisting, allowing the surrounding Dao Annihilation to consume him.
His body slowly began to dissolve, his True Spirit melting away like snow.
Just then, a mysterious power enveloped Li Fan, shielding him from imminent collapse.
“Tell me where the fortune of the Mountain and Sea is, and I will save your life. How about it?” a spectral voice echoed in Li Fan’s ear.
Li Fan acted as if he heard nothing, paying it no mind.
The voice of Stealing Opportunity continued to reverberate like a demonic chant, relentless, as if it would not stop until Li Fan answered.
Li Fan snorted softly and shook his head slightly. “And if I told you, would you believe me? It was just a ruse to deceive Shou Qiu.”
Stealing Opportunity chuckled. “I pursued the fortune of the Mountain and Sea for many years. If I couldn't even recognize its scent, I wouldn't be worthy of the name Stealing Opportunity.”
“Ah, what a nostalgic fragrance...” Stealing Opportunity remarked, taking a deep sniff as if savoring a memory.
“I’ll say it again. Tell me the whereabouts of the Mountain and Sea's fortune, and I will spare your life. I never go back on my word,” Stealing Opportunity stated proudly.
“If you kill me, you can just look through my mind yourself. Isn’t that the same?” Li Fan retorted.
Hearing this, Stealing Opportunity fell silent for a moment.
He seemed to be genuinely considering Li Fan’s suggestion.
But then, he shook his head in refusal.
He even drifted further away from Li Fan, a tangible increase in the distance between them.
His phantom form circled Li Fan, observing the dying man with extreme caution. “No, no, no. I can sense it. You may seem to be at a dead end, but there is still a sliver of a chance for you to survive.”
“And that sliver of life...”
“...corresponds to my own complete and utter doom!”
“There’s no mistaking it.”
Stealing Opportunity muttered to himself, paranoid and glancing around nervously.
Yet he could not figure out the source of his unease.
“I know you have a trump card.”
“Your performance with Shou Qiu was brilliant. But you cannot deceive the machinations of fate and luck.”
“What appears to be a faint glimmer of life is, in reality, a chance to turn the tables and kill me at any moment. Those fools back there are in the thick of it and don’t even realize it.”
“However... as long as I stay out of it, you cannot harm me.”
The voice of Stealing Opportunity was ghostly, coming from all directions at once.
It made it impossible for Li Fan to pinpoint his exact location.
At that moment, Li Fan finally believed what Shou Qiu had told him. This Saint, Stealing Opportunity, was indeed cautious to the extreme.
Coupled with his Great Dao that allowed him to peer into the fates and fortunes of others, plotting against him was a monumental challenge!
“Fine!” Li Fan sighed heavily. “The fortune of the Mountain and Sea is a dear friend of mine. But in the end, my own life is more important.”
“To escape those who coveted him, he underwent two transformations, becoming a mortal and hiding himself within the secular world of the Mountain and Sea. But he is the fortune of the Mountain and Sea, after all. He could never truly be buried like a common mortal. Even with no memory of his past, he ascended from mortal to immortal in the Desolate Age, relying solely on his mortal background. However, upon his return to the Mountain and Sea, he was discovered by an old enemy...”
“Speaking of which, that being who was always hunting him... that wasn’t you, was it?” Li Fan asked with a hint of suspicion.
Stealing Opportunity shook his head in denial. “I was trapped within the Armillary Ring back then. I had the will, but not the means. The fortune of the Mountain and Sea is a wondrous thing; many coveted it. I was merely one among them.”
Li Fan continued, “At the critical moment, the Fishing Old Man of the Mountain and Sea intervened. He fished him out of the Mountain and Sea, allowing him to escape disaster. This... is what happened in our segment of the Mountain and Sea. As for this one, I’ve only just arrived, so I know nothing.”
“The Fishing Old Man of the Mountain and Sea, is it? His luck truly is heaven-defying.”
Stealing Opportunity glanced back in the direction of the Mountain and Sea, pondering for a moment. Then, as if speaking to himself, he said, “After the fall of the Three Saints, I secretly searched the entirety of the shattered Mountain and Sea. I found no trace of its fortune.”
“He must have sensed his own corresponding destiny elsewhere and gone there as well. Only the fortune of the Mountain and Sea could act on its most beneficial instincts, even while the Void Realm severs all other forms of perception.”
With the answer he sought, Stealing Opportunity lost all interest in Li Fan.
He immediately withdrew his protective power and began to drift away.
The gravely injured Li Fan cried out in alarm, “What about saving my life? You promised!”
Stealing Opportunity chuckled lightly. “I just saved you, didn’t I? I told you, I never go back on my word.”
“However...”
“Saving you for a moment is not the same as saving you for a lifetime. Whether you can survive this storm in the Void Realm, well, that depends on your own destiny.”
The voice of Stealing Opportunity faded into the distance.
But the panicked expression on Li Fan’s face suddenly became calm.
“Well then, it can’t be helped.”
“I hope you really do find the fortune of the Mountain and Sea.”
“Hmm? What do you mean by that?” The voice of Stealing Opportunity suddenly drew closer.
“Just a sincere blessing, that’s all,” Li Fan said with a small smile.
As soon as he said this, Li Fan could feel the gaze of Stealing Opportunity freeze upon him, as if it had turned solid.
“Trying to bait me. Heh...”
Then, paying no more attention to the mysterious Li Fan, he floated away.
Li Fan did not try to stop him. Instead, he took a deep breath.
Something in the Void Realm seemed to stir in response.
A moment later, Li Fan’s shattered True Spirit began to recover at a visible rate!
And just like that, Stealing Opportunity returned.
“This is...”
But Li Fan completely ignored him, continuing to absorb True Spirit from the Void Realm on his own.
Those two blows from Shou Qiu had been part of the act, but they had been far from light.
He had nearly been beaten to the point of his soul scattering.
“Shou Qiu really hits hard...”
Fortunately, after this period of recuperation, he was slowly recovering.
As for the shattered True Spirit...
That was all just an illusion.
Even if he were to spit out ten, a hundred times more True Spirit, it would have no effect on him whatsoever.
But to the eyes of Stealing Opportunity, this strange phenomenon had a completely different meaning.
“You... you can draw upon the accumulated True Spirit in the Void Realm?”
Slowly, he began to understand what he was seeing, his voice filled with shock and disbelief.
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