Chapter 1722: The Void Realm Raises an Army Again
The Void Realm Raises an Army Again
The presence within Li Fan was merely a sliver of divine thought from the Connecting Mountains Saint. As such, it could not directly neutralize the oppressive power of the Turtle Shell.
The only reason it had brought the Turtle Shell to a halt was because this divine thought almost perfectly countered its malevolent energy.
This brought its ferocious descent to a sudden, staggering halt.
However, the disparity in power was simply too vast. A lone sliver of the Saint's divine thought was never destined to hold out for long.
But soon enough, Li Fan took its place.
Experiencing the Saint's consciousness was like living the moment himself.
Li Fan agreed wholeheartedly. "Well said," he declared. "What is meant to die, must indeed die. You are a relic of the past. No matter how much your heart seethes with unwillingness, it is all for naught. Resign yourself to your fate!"
In that instant, Li Fan's form seemed to merge with the Saint's consciousness, his own immense will crashing against the Mountain and Sea Molt with a thunderous roar!
It was a world vastly different from the one he knew.
It wasn't the Primordial Immortal Realm from the dawn of creation, either.
This was a past more ancient still.
The Mountain and Sea from the era when it had first devoured the True God!
As a creature born of the Mountain and Sea, it was difficult to imagine what this universe had been like before it obtained the power of the True God. But now, Li Fan was catching a glimpse.
It lacked the property of "infinity."
The mountains would strain to rise, but they always had a limit; upon reaching their zenith, they would inevitably begin to decline.
The sea, though seemingly endless, could not escape the fate of eventually running dry.
For seas to dry and stones to crumble—this was the inescapable doom of the Mountain and Sea.
Even though the Mountain and Sea as a living entity had grown to an unimaginable level of power, it still could not escape these limitations.
And so, the Mountain and Sea sought to devour the True God.
As for how the True God—the being that preceded all things and was the source of all creation—had fallen, the Turtle Shell naturally held no record.
It only showed the Mountain and Sea, after assimilating the True God's power, unhesitatingly casting aside its former self.
"Once you've tasted divine power, you naturally cast aside your crude past like a worn-out shoe."
"And to think it still dares to lash out, hoping for a resurgence."
"How utterly foolish!"
Holding fast to these thoughts, Li Fan stood as if rooted to the spot. Though the Turtle Shell carried a monstrous, malevolent power, it could not move him an inch.
This, of course, was merely his perception on a spiritual level. The physical pressure emanating from the Mountain and Sea Molt was still very real.
But Li Fan had his own way of neutralizing it.
Suddenly, ring after ring of fine, luminous threads began to glow at the edges of his form.
This was not the Dao of True False Transformation, but a clever neutralization using the power of the [Dao of Cycle Return].
The weight of the Mountain and Sea was more than any single living being could possibly bear. But what if that weight were distributed among the infinite beings across an endless cycle of rebirth?
To each of them, it would feel like nothing more than a slightly heavier burden to carry.
At first, the threads of the cycle bent slightly under the sudden, immense force. But as the cycle continued to expand infinitely, it absorbed the full pressure of the Mountain and Sea Molt.
Its spirit could not harm him, and its force could not break him.
The assault from the Void Realm's Turtle Shell was thus rendered utterly useless.
His defense appeared effortless, but in truth, Li Fan had pushed his comprehension of the [Dao of Cycle Return] to its absolute limit. It was only with the guidance of the Connecting Mountains Saint's consciousness that his spirit could completely ignore the influence of the Congenital Ferocity.
Otherwise, without resorting to the True False Transformation, even with his current power, he might not have been able to fully withstand a single blow from the Turtle Shell.
It was clear that the Congenital Ferocious Items, even as mere replicas forged by the Void Realm, were ferocious beyond measure.
Now that he was out of danger, Li Fan could finally spare some of his attention to check on the battles being waged by Shou Qiu and Moral.
Shou Qiu was faring far better than Li Fan, without a doubt.
"Since I could give you life," he said simply, "I can also take it away."
Facing the Ancestral Bone, which seethed with malevolent energy and indignation, Shou Qiu effortlessly deflected its corrupting influence with that single, understated remark. No matter how frantically the Ancestral Bone tried to take root and burrow deep, Shou Qiu remained as unmovable as a majestic mountain range.
Of the three, Moral was the only one in any real danger.
"Your fate is already sealed in death. Why do you still strive?"
Had Moral been alone, such a question from the Life Rope, striking directly at his soul, would surely have plunged him into hesitation and turmoil.
But now that he was within the Armillary Ring, the situation was entirely different.
Even without the direct guidance of Saint Tai Yi's form, Moral's divine consciousness remained largely unaffected.
After all, Li Fan had once promised that when the time came to inherit the memories of the [Truth], he would be among the chosen.
How many beings in the entire Mountain and Sea could claim to have truly experienced the Dao of True False Transformation and benefited from its power?
What an incredible stroke of luck!
He would have no regrets, even if he were to die at this very moment.
Moral's only disadvantage was his relative lack of strength.
He had only been enlightened by Li Fan in this lifetime, a hasty process that lacked the long ages of accumulation that allowed Shou Qiu to build such a profound foundation.
Relying on the perfection of his Dao, he could continuously neutralize the Life Rope's influence.
Ultimately, however, his struggle was not as effortless as that of Li Fan or Shou Qiu.
He teetered constantly on the knife's edge between life and death.
Fortunately, Li Fan provided a steady supply of True Spirit to replenish him, allowing him to withstand the drain on his power.
The battle between the true and the false raged on.
The Void Realm's contingency plan—the Congenital Ferocious Items—had been neutralized by the sudden appearance of Li Fan and his two companions.
For a time, the battlefield was once again locked in a stalemate.
The reaction from the entity behind the Void Realm was not as intense as it had been in the previous life, when it first witnessed the Dao of True False Transformation.
Instead, it fell into an unnerving silence.
It seemed to be contemplating whether it was worth diverting even more of its forces to this location.
After all, the Void Realm was waging war against the Mountain and Sea across the entire timeline. Devoting more power here would inevitably mean weakening the corrosive force of the Dao Annihilation at other points in time.
As one point waned, another would wax; a single change could trigger a cascade of consequences.
The entity behind the Void Realm considered each move with extreme caution.
It did not deliberate for long.
After a brief moment of silence, a tumultuous wave suddenly rose from the Void Realm.
"Be careful!"
The true forms of the Three Saints, having apparently sensed the impending danger, could not help but send a telepathic warning.
Li Fan gazed toward the disturbance in the Void Realm and was stunned to see more than a dozen new threats hurtling toward them.
His expression shifted. "What a move from the master of the Void Realm," he muttered. "How decisive."
"Even though we haven't revealed the Dao of True False Transformation—a power it would do anything to obtain—it's still willing to send four times as many forces!"
They were already barely coping with just three of the Congenital Ferocious Items.
Under normal circumstances, there was no way they could withstand an assault from twelve more.
"Should we...?" Moral asked, a thought flashing through his mind.
Shou Qiu looked toward Li Fan, his expression grave.
Li Fan mulled it over for a moment before clenching his jaw. "No," he said resolutely. "If we use the True False Transformation, the outcome will be exactly the same as the last life. What would be the point of this attempt then?"
"We'll face it head-on! Let's find out just where our limits lie!"
"Have no fear. Even if we perish, we can simply begin again! In the past, I forged my foundation across a hundred lifetimes, turning the impossible into reality."
"What we face today..."
"...is no more difficult than what I have overcome before!"
Li Fan's conviction had a profound effect on both Shou Qiu and Moral.
The tension on Shou Qiu's grave face instantly melted away.
He let out a soft chuckle. Facing the twelve Congenital Ferocious Items rushing toward them, his usual air of serene calm returned.
Moral gave a cold snort as well, adjusting his own state to one of perfect readiness.
"If we do not fear death itself, what are these Congenital Ferocious Items to us?"
"Nothing more than that."
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