Chapter 1716: The Mastermind Behind the Void Realm Appears
Three Saints, annihilated in a single move. All were stunned!
Although it was only the Void Realm avatars of the three Saints that had vanished, their power was undoubtedly on par with the Saints' true selves.
If Shou Qiu could instantly slay their Void Realm avatars, it meant...
An uncontrollable shock rippled through Lian Shan, Gui Hai, and Tai Yi.
Even knowing that Shou Qiu wielded the Dao of True and False Transformation, they could never have imagined that he, empowered by it, would be this strong!
So, had Shou Qiu's countless years stationed within the Armillary Ring—all his actions and behaviors—been nothing but an act?
What, then, was his ultimate goal?
Just as these doubts flooded the minds of the three Saints, they suddenly noticed that Shou Qiu's form had grown somewhat transparent.
"This is..."
"The price for forcefully using the True False Transformation to erase those avatars?"
"It seems his comprehension of this Dao has yet to reach its zenith." At this thought, the three Saints felt their turmoil settle somewhat.
Shou Qiu, however, paid no mind to the change in his own body.
His mind was a placid mirror, perceiving the myriad figures layered within the surrounding Void Realm.
With every flicker of his focus, he wielded his Dao, forcefully erasing the Void Realm avatars before they could even fully manifest.
"What is real, and what is false?"
"Reality, illusion, existence... all decided in a single thought. It is truly more profound than any living being can imagine."
As Shou Qiu annihilated the endless horde of Void Realm avatars, one after another, with more ease than crushing ants, a profound sense of unreality flooded his own mind, even though he was the one performing these acts.
With each application of turning truth to lies, Shou Qiu's understanding of the great Dao deepened, if only by a fraction.
Through countless overlapping shadows, Shou Qiu carved a path of slaughter, his power growing with every kill.
The Great Dao was as vast as the heavens. Yet, after he had casually annihilated all the surrounding avatars, he was startled to find himself exactly where he began, as if he had never taken a single step.
The summit of this Dao remained impossibly distant.
This path of enlightenment truly seemed to stretch on without an end.
Shou Qiu chuckled and shook his head. "True enough. If [Truth] itself were to act, it wouldn't be so troublesome. There would be no need to crush them one by one."
"A single thought, and the entire Mountain and Sea would be overturned."
The immediate crisis from the Void Realm seemed to be resolved, yet Shou Qiu did not lower his guard.
In the silent darkness, a far greater storm was brewing.
"In this war of the Void Realm devouring the Mountain and Sea, the Dao Annihilation was but a vanguard, and the avatars of the Saints were merely capable generals."
"And the one to appear next..."
"...could be called the grand marshal."
Shou Qiu sensed it, his focus locking onto a point in the void before him.
The accumulated power of the Void Realm began to recede.
As one waned, the other waxed. The Mountain and Sea began to revive, bursting forth with vigorous life.
But to the eyes of Shou Qiu and the three Saints, the more life that flourished in the Mountain and Sea, the thicker the stench of death became!
It all stemmed from the terrifying storm brewing within the Void Realm.
If summoning the avatars of the Saints was merely a deployment of troops, then this was a true gathering of force.
Across a near-infinite timescale, the Void Realm, eternal rival to the Mountain and Sea, was now mobilizing the vast majority of its power, focusing it all into a siege on this single segment of time.
It was forming a monstrous tsunami.
Though the wave had yet to crash, its pressure, as tangible as a physical wall, was already bearing down.
The very fabric of the Mountain and Sea began to warp under the strain!
It must be understood that the long war between the Mountain and Sea and the Void Realm had always been a near stalemate. The Void Realm held a slight advantage, one that required eons of accumulation to slowly erode and consume its rival.
For the Void Realm to now pull back its forces from every point in time meant sacrificing the vast majority of the advantage it had painstakingly built.
The Mountain and Sea would rebound, and for the Void Realm to regain its former position, it would have to spend countless ages anew.
Faced with such a monumental price, the Void Realm acted without a moment's hesitation.
Shou Qiu could almost see the unwavering resolve of the mastermind behind the curtain, the player moving the pieces.
"So decisive. Truly remarkable."
"A pity it's all destined to be for naught."
As the storm gathered, Shou Qiu stood as a lone bulwark between the Void Realm and this sliver of the Mountain and Sea. He alone shouldered the terrifying, ever-increasing pressure of the entire Void Realm's might.
His form wavered like water rippled by a gale, shimmering without cease.
His body grew dimmer, more transparent by the second.
He was like a dying star, ready to be devoured by the darkness at any moment.
Yet he remained standing, steadfast, awaiting the arrival of this "grand marshal."
"In my current state, I should be able to hold on for a while longer, to probe this one's secrets."
"The True False Transformation is endlessly profound, it's true. But ordinary beings of the Mountain and Sea truly cannot bear it."
"Even if one can turn all things to falsehood with a thought, one's own self will also be affected."
"And the process of reshaping the Mountain and Sea after using [Truth] is also a process of being erased by the Dao of True and False Transformation. It is unlike our own rebirths; one must maintain a connection to the true self of the previous life..."
"[Truth]... it is truly not something an ordinary person can wield."
"A sharp sword in a child's hand will only bring self-injury. Countless beings in both the Mountain and Sea and the Void Realm covet [Truth], but so few understand this simple principle."
Shou Qiu's thoughts were calmer than they had ever been.
Now that he could truly wield a sliver of the Dao's power, the last vestiges of greed and desire for [Truth] in his heart had vanished completely.
Others were unaware of this change in Shou Qiu, but Li Fan, hidden in the shadows, saw it all clearly.
"All of Shou Qiu's accumulated eons, unleashed in a single day after obtaining the Dao of True and False Transformation. He's certainly making quite a scene!"
Compared to this, Li Fan felt that everything he had done before—even burning mountains and boiling seas—was mere child's play.
"But one thing Shou Qiu said truly resonated with me."
"The profundities of this Dao care not for being hidden or revealed. Since I have [Truth] in hand, I should act as my heart desires!"
"In the past, when my power was low, it was right to be cautious and prioritize safety."
"But now that I have the power to contend with the Saints, there's no longer any need to be so timid."
Through the Armillary Ring's 'Same Heart, Same Virtue' effect, it felt as if he himself had been the one to annihilate the Saints' avatars and quell the endless shadows. Li Fan's spirit surged.
A blocked path in his mind suddenly burst open, and his entire way of thinking shifted.
It was, in every sense, a new beginning.
But excitement was one thing. Li Fan did not forget Shou Qiu's instructions and remained hidden, not revealing even a fraction of his presence.
Just as the pressure from the Void Realm condensed to its absolute limit, it suddenly vanished.
The accumulated power dissipated, replaced by a single figure standing in opposition to Shou Qiu.
This figure was the physical incarnation of the Void Realm's consolidated power. But intriguingly, its manifested form was identical to Shou Qiu's.
It lacked the dim, shadowy aura characteristic of Void Realm avatars. Looking at this other self, Shou Qiu felt the uncanny sensation of staring into a mirror.
It was more than a mere resemblance.
Shou Qiu could sense that this phantom had absorbed the data from countless versions of himself previously devoured by the Dao Annihilation. In other words, a part of its being was forged from the amalgamation of innumerable Shou Qiu avatars from the void.
"The Mountain and Sea has countless powerful beings. Why choose to imitate me?"
Shou Qiu did not believe the mastermind behind the Void Realm would make a pointless move.
He quickly understood the reason, sensing a subtle connection forming between his own body and the phantom.
"If it succeeds in killing me, it can take my place."
"Even if it fails, as long as it can pin me down, it can use this strange connection to slowly assimilate me."
"This connection stems from the parts of me devoured by the Dao Annihilation; it cannot be severed. If not for the protection of my Dao, my position within the Armillary Ring, and the mutual support of Daoist Fan and our companions, the speed of this 'assimilation' would be a hundred times faster, if not more."
"The grand marshal of the Void Realm... impressive methods indeed."
Yet this gradual assimilation was merely a prelude, a ripple sent out by the grand marshal before the true battle began.
The phantom Shou Qiu's true attack was a cataclysmic wave!
The Dao Annihilation consumes the endless Mountain and Sea, the pinnacle of destruction.
With a light wave of its hand, the phantom unleashed the ultimate expression of the Void Realm's devouring power.
Countless vortexes instantly erupted around him, and Shou Qiu felt as if he were trapped in a swirling morass, nearly unable to move.
The ancient, endless power capable of swallowing the Mountain and Sea whole was now focused entirely on him.
This was the killing force of a siege spanning all of time, concentrated into a single, crushing instant.
Its destructive power was multiplied by the entire span of the Mountain and Sea's existence.
Before this raging tempest that could blot out the heavens, Shou Qiu felt his past and future being severed, blocked off by the storm.
Memories of the past began to fade, and in the encroaching gloom, he could see no future.
Only his present self remained, struggling to endure.
He instinctively channeled the Dao to protect himself. And though his memories were fading, his mission remained etched in his mind with perfect clarity.
Staring at the other him, Shou Qiu attempted to render it false with a single thought.
But the effect was not what he had hoped.
If the Saint phantoms he had erased before were but a single sheet of paper...
...then this phantom Shou Qiu was made of countless such sheets, layered one upon another.
It possessed a corresponding substance and thickness.
While it couldn't stop the Dao's erasure, it could withstand it for a considerable time!
"It is still I who has not grasped the essence."
"Otherwise, no matter how thick the accumulation, it could be pared away in an instant."
As he considered the stalemate, a countermeasure formed in Shou Qiu's mind.
"This plan can slay the grand marshal. And perhaps force the mastermind behind the curtain to reveal a glimpse of their true face!"
Once the thought arose, he did not hesitate for a second.
"Daoist Fan, watch closely!"
With those words, he dropped all his defenses, allowing the phantom's corrosive assimilation to wash over him.
If Shou Qiu truly possessed [Truth], he would never have given up so easily.
But alas...
...he was merely the bait.
"When truth becomes false, the false becomes true!"
As his body sank into the Void Realm, Shou Qiu cried out, resolutely turning the blade of "Truth Becomes Falsehood" upon himself.
To slay all things is difficult; to slay oneself is easy!
After countless ages of sitting and watching the sea, Shou Qiu had long since come to know, understand, and comprehend his own self.
This act of self-erasure was as effortless and perfect as a master butcher carving an ox.
With a single slash of the blade, Shou Qiu's form grew even more transparent.
And with it, the phantom before him also began to fade!
The phantom was utterly astonished, never imagining that the 'Lord of the Dao of Truth and Falsehood' would resort to such a self-destructive tactic.
But the effect was already spreading like an avalanche.
The blade seemed to transcend space and time, spanning the entire river of ages.
To slay the Shou Qiu of the present was to slay the Shou Qiu of the past and the future.
And all the Shou Qius ever consumed by the Dao Annihilation.
The countless layers of data condensed within the phantom, meant to be its weapon against Shou Qiu, had now become the fuel for its own immolation.
"Outsmarted by one's own cleverness!"
Pressing his advantage, Shou Qiu accelerated his fusion with the void, relentlessly striking himself with the blade of unreality, again and again.
"If you want to devour me, then I'll let you have your wish!"
"In my entire life, I have no past that I'm ashamed to show!"
At the moment of his demise, Shou Qiu laughed with wild abandon.
Past, present, and future were all turning to nothing.
And in that final moment, Shou Qiu suddenly remembered his name.
Shengde.
Shengde Shou Qiu.
...
The fall of Shou Qiu was only the beginning.
Like a wildfire, like an unstoppable avalanche.
The accumulated blow, forged from the Void Realm's power over countless eons, struck nothing but air.
Instead, the fire turned upon itself. An unstoppable wave of unreality began to spread.
It was like a beam of sunlight scattering the darkness.
The Void Realm, once like an endless, overcast sky, was now riddled with holes, beginning to disintegrate.
The three watching Saints finally understood. The so-called Void Realm was not absolute nothingness.
Its very existence could be erased.
The conflagration of unreality burned on, and the endless clouds that had shrouded the Mountain and Sea slowly began to disperse.
Life returned to the Mountain and Sea. The danger of assimilation seemed to have passed.
And yet, for reasons they could not explain, a far greater sense of crisis bloomed in the hearts of the three Saints.
As if sharing a single thought, they all looked toward the same spot.
There, where Shou Qiu had fallen, thin black threads, like spider's silk, began to quietly emerge.
In an instant, they wove themselves into an unfathomable web.
The threads' origin was a mystery, yet they were rooted in the void itself. As they wove together, they arrested the Void Realm's collapse.
It was as if these threads were stitching the crumbling Void Realm back together.
And that was not all.
From within the web, a single thread extended outward.
It originated from the spot where Shou Qiu had perished.
And it was heading toward...
...someone's hiding place!
The true wielder of the Dao could not have vanished so easily.
Since Shou Qiu had fallen, it meant the true master of the Dao was someone else entirely!
Shou Qiu had been nothing more than a pawn, sent out to test the waters.
The mastermind behind the Void Realm, despite the setback...
...had quickly realized this.
It seized upon the remnants of Shou Qiu's demise, attempting to find the other hidden player!
Although Shou Qiu had been erased, severed in every aspect...
...the aftershocks of his existence still lingered.
Following these lingering traces, the mastermind sought to find Li Fan!
Even if the work of countless eons had been overturned in a day, the battle was not yet lost.
As long as it could find the source of the Dao, any price was worth paying.
The web moved in sync with the extending thread, and wherever it passed, space and time seemed to freeze solid.
The web expanded, and the reviving Mountain and Sea, sensing the danger, halted its own rebirth to avoid the web's path.
The three Saints, their faces grim, moved to evade it while joining forces to protect themselves.
At first, the web was no larger than a man's palm.
But in an instant, it had expanded into a celestial net, encompassing the entire cosmos!
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