Chapter 1727: An Invisible Net Descends from the Heavens
"Real or false, who can tell the difference? Who can truly know?"
"Fellow Daoist Fan, the world you just derived has reached a state where illusion is indistinguishable from truth. It has surpassed what can be ordinarily called a mere 'deduction'," Shou Qiu remarked with a sigh, seemingly still immersed in the simulated vision.
Moral was also filled with wonder. "The Great Dao of truth and falsehood is truly this profound. It's less a deduction and more a genuine world, one that simply exists within Fellow Daoist Fan's mind, born from a thought and vanishing with a thought."
"Based on the information we currently have," he continued, "that enigmatic wanderer of the Mountain and Sea could very well be Qiu Tianhui. Strolling through the Mountain and Sea, surveying the entire board... his ambitions are no small matter."
Li Fan smiled. "Let them contend! With the transformation of truth and falsehood in our hands, we stand in an almost invincible position. We need only proceed step by step, and we can journey to the Beginning of the Mountain and Sea without issue. We might even be able to investigate that matter of the divided spirit!"
...
As Li Fan's trio exchanged their thoughts, a lively discussion also erupted among the Saints within the Armillary Ring on the Other Shore.
They had intended to follow the trail and locate the hidden sanctum of Qiu Tianhui and his wife, only to find that the couple had long since transformed and escaped.
And yet, they had deliberately left behind two lingering thoughts, two anchor points.
If they were to fall into the hands of the Void Realm, the Mountain and Sea could be plunged into crisis in an instant.
In the end, it was the three Saints—Connecting Mountains, Returning to Sea, and Tai Yi—who made the decision.
"Regardless, the importance of the Mountain and Sea segment ahead is beyond question. We are heavily besieged by the Void Realm, and a direct attempt to reconnect may provoke fierce resistance. Since we've discovered this vein they left behind, we can use it to infiltrate."
"We will suppress and protect these two. Once their safety is secured, we will initiate the reconnection from our downstream segment of the Mountain and Sea. By coordinating from within and without, we shall break the siege of the Void Realm!"
As they spoke, the three Saints turned their gaze upon Stealing Opportunity.
"You are the only one here who is a 'lucky child' of living beings..."
Stealing Opportunity's expression remained unchanged as he nodded in agreement. "I was just thinking of having a go at them."
"Once you are there, you must remain true to your purpose and prioritize the grand scheme of the Mountain and Sea," the Connecting Mountains Saint instructed with deep meaning.
Then, under the watchful eyes of the other Saints, Stealing Opportunity instantly closed his eyes.
The infant body he had possessed suddenly dissolved into motes of light.
Floating in the void, he followed that invisible vein of the Mountain and Sea, struggling to travel upstream against the current.
He trembled, his journey arduous.
With every short distance he covered, the light he was composed of dimmed a little more.
By the time he finally managed to slip into the forward segment of the Mountain and Sea, his light had become exceptionally faint, almost no different from that of an ordinary mortal.
"It seems the instinctive rejection of foreign entities by the Great Dao of Mountain and Sea's living beings is quite formidable. Most of the power Fellow Daoist Stealing Opportunity brought with him has been worn away. After being born into that part of the Mountain and Sea, I fear he will no longer possess the strength of a Saint. He will be no different from a mortal," the other Saints observed, shaking their heads slightly.
"The most crucial thing is whether Fellow Daoist Stealing Opportunity can retain his memories. If so, given his capabilities, rising again from a mortal state would be a simple matter," Sundial Fate declared, full of confidence in the Saint.
"Let us wait and see."
Stealing Opportunity's true body remained as still as a stone statue, while the other Saints waited patiently for a change.
After an unknown amount of time had passed, as if he had seen something, the Connecting Mountains Saint suddenly spoke again. "There is no need to wait idly. Let us continue the matter of the bait. Should Stealing Opportunity fail, we will still have a fallback plan."
Hearing this, the hearts of the Saints tensed.
Though unstated, the meaning was clear. There was a high probability that Stealing Opportunity's mission would fail. They needed to prepare another course of action.
"I wonder what Connecting Mountains saw?"
Li Fan, too, was somewhat puzzled.
He had crossed paths with the Stealing Opportunity Saint before and knew well that his disposition and willpower were among the absolute peak of all living beings in the Mountain and Sea.
Logically, he shouldn't fail.
Despite the rising doubts, it did not stop the Saints from once again scattering the bait of living beings.
In an instant, starlight twinkled as countless new lives began to gestate.
This time, the one who won the prize was the All Knowing Saint.
He was heard muttering to himself, his face a mask of annoyance.
Just then, the Stealing Opportunity Saint's eyes snapped open.
An unknown calamity had befallen him, one so severe it destabilized the aura of his true body. He coughed up a mouthful of blood, and his complexion instantly turned ashen. Before the astonished Saints, it was as if the very Dao of "Stealing Opportunity" he commanded had been severed, a portion of it lost forever!
Such a development sent a wave of shock and horror through the Saints in the Armillary Ring.
Li Fan narrowed his eyes, thoughtfully infusing True Spirit into Stealing Opportunity to aid him. At the same time, he used the opportunity to observe up close whether the Saint was feigning his condition.
He found that Stealing Opportunity's injuries were indeed extremely severe and not faked.
This left him even more speechless.
The Saints did not press him, waiting until Stealing Opportunity had recovered slightly before asking what had transpired.
"How bizarre! I clearly traced the current back into the forward segment of the Mountain and Sea. Even with the Dao Annihilation tide separating us, the temporal gap should not have exceeded one hundred thousand years at most. But..."
"What I saw was a scene of primal savagery! The Mountain and Sea was not manifest, the Great Dao was chaos... and ferocious beings roamed free. It was like the legendary Primitive Immortal Realm!" Stealing Opportunity took a deep breath, his expression grave.
"The Primitive Immortal Realm?" The Saints were stunned. To confirm Stealing Opportunity's destination, they once again looked ahead.
Although the forward Mountain and Sea was heavily besieged by the Void Realm, its general state showed no significant difference from their current one.
"It seems my observation was not mistaken," the Connecting Mountains Saint spoke at that moment.
"May I ask, Lord Connecting Mountains, what did you see exactly?" the Saints hurriedly inquired.
"It is not what I saw. It is that the moment Fellow Daoist Stealing Opportunity entered the forward Mountain and Sea, he vanished from my sight," Connecting Mountains stated plainly.
The Returning to Sea Saint's expression also grew serious. "Vast and obscure, it blots out the sun and sky. It spans across antiquity and the present, connecting the Mountain and Sea. Has that old friend of ours appeared? Wasn't he..."
"How could he be here?"
"The Great Dao of the Mountain and Sea's living beings touches upon the very foundation of the Mountain and Sea itself. Even we must treat it with the utmost caution. If we were detected by that group from the Beginning of the Mountain and Sea, it's well within the realm of possibility that they would follow the trail back to its source and attempt to devour it," the Tai Yi Saint declared, a flash of murderous intent in his eyes.
As if sensing its master's will, the All Living Beings Stick materialized before him, humming with eagerness.
Stealing Opportunity could no longer hold back and finally asked, "May I ask the three Saints, who is the architect of the trap ahead? That Primitive Immortal Realm I experienced..."
"His name is 'Snare.' He delights in using the power of latitude and longitude to devour the Mountain and Sea. The scene you just experienced was likely the facade of a Mountain and Sea he swallowed long ago. He has now released it to mask the current one," the Connecting Mountains Saint explained for everyone's benefit.
Upon hearing this, the Saints on the Other Shore were all visibly shaken.
None of them could have imagined that, right under their noses, an invisible, great net had already enveloped the Mountain and Sea ahead.
The current situation was starkly clear: 'Snare' already considered it his for the taking!
"Snare has always been timid and cautious, always hiding at the Beginning of the Mountain and Sea, refusing to leave even the slightest trace in later ages. For him to suddenly appear now..."
"It seems a great change has occurred at the Beginning of the Mountain and Sea. He can finally no longer restrain himself." The Returning to Sea Shovel quietly materialized before the Returning to Sea Saint as he spoke.
Evidently, just like the Tai Yi Saint, true killing intent had stirred in his heart.
"Do not fall into disarray," the Connecting Mountains Saint cut in with a single sentence.
His expression remained as calm as ever.
"We are not in our peak state, whereas 'Snare'..."
"...has, in a rare turn of events, descended in his true form. If we were to face him directly, I'm afraid we would not come out on top. We must deliberate carefully."
As the Connecting Mountains Saint finished speaking, a dead silence fell over the Armillary Ring.
A Saint from the Primal Era, descending in his true form.
One who could compete with the three Saints at their peak; his power was self-evident.
Though they were all in the realm of Saints, their combat prowess was on entirely different levels.
If even the three Saints, after several reconnections, said they would not fare well, the rest of them would surely be no match for him.
"To run into such a formidable foe, no wonder Stealing Opportunity was so soundly defeated," Li Fan thought to himself, a wave of understanding washing over him.
With this unexpected obstacle blocking their path, the three Saints did not act rashly.
Instead, they once again questioned Stealing Opportunity about his experience in detail.
"After that wisp of my incarnation was devoured, my memories were not fully inherited. I only vaguely recall that upon falling into that Primitive Immortal Realm, I seemed to have incurred the enmity of the entire world. Every living being I saw charged at me without reason, fighting to the death!"
"I fought and fled, exhausting all my strength, but in the end, I could not escape such a deadly tribulation!"
Stealing Opportunity's voice was still tinged with unwillingness.
"Moreover, the beings that initially hunted me were not much stronger than I was upon my arrival. But as my strength gradually recovered and grew, the power and number of the enemies pursuing me increased dramatically. It was as if..."
"As if the other party was deliberately toying with me, making me believe survival was possible, only to slowly torture me to death!" Stealing Opportunity's face grew uglier as he recalled the ordeal.
Tai Yi nodded. "That is indeed 'Snare's' method."
"On the verge of life, but not yet living; on the brink of death, but not yet dead. Only such a state can stimulate a being's full potential, allowing Snare to complete a full feeding."
"I imagine that in order to deal with the crisis, you were forced to use the methods of 'Stealing Opportunity.' It was the perfect chance for him to exploit you with his own technique..."
Only then did Stealing Opportunity understand why his own Great Dao had been damaged.
He was shocked and enraged, but also carried a hint of disbelief. "My mastery of the Dao is so profound, yet another can still interfere with it?"
The Connecting Mountains Saint gently waved his hand, calming Stealing Opportunity's mind.
He spoke slowly, "The Great Daos we command all originate from the Mountain and Sea. 'Snare's' greatest talent is devouring the Mountain and Sea. He was merely snatching food from another's plate."
"Does that mean my injuries are irreversible?" Stealing Opportunity suddenly realized something and was startled.
"Not necessarily. All 'Snare' cares about is the Mountain and Sea itself. He consumed 'Stealing Opportunity' only to aid his devouring of the Mountain and Sea. Once he fully comprehends the principles of the Mountain and Sea within it, he will voluntarily spit out the Dao of 'Stealing Opportunity' he consumed..."
"If he only ever took and never gave back, Snare would have long since become a public enemy and would not have survived to this day," the Returning to Sea Saint consoled him.
Stealing Opportunity breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. Still, the Great Dao he commanded had been snatched and swallowed. Its return depended entirely on when the other party finished digesting it.
This left Stealing Opportunity feeling an unprecedented sense of frustration.
"I only regret that I was but a sliver of divine sense, a mere incarnation. If my true self had gone, who would have been the devourer..."
"...is not yet certain!" Stealing Opportunity huffed coldly.
Despite his words, he was still within the Armillary Ring. Influenced by the shared heart and virtue of the three Saints, Stealing Opportunity would not rashly risk his life in a fight.
"What Snare seeks should be the 'Living Beings of the Mountain and Sea.' We cannot let him have his way."
"But as for how to break this impasse..."
Connecting Mountains glanced at the All Knowing Saint.
All Knowing, despite his reluctance, had no choice but to follow suit. He traced the vein of the Mountain and Sea, sending a sliver of his own will into it.
Whether intentional or not, All Knowing's performance was far worse than Stealing Opportunity's.
The mote of light had barely begun to enter the Mountain and Sea before it had mostly dissipated.
By the time it successfully vanished, only a speck the size of a grain of rice remained. From the looks of it, he would be no different from a mortal.
Sure enough, it wasn't long before All Knowing opened his eyes again.
"It is truly a scene from the Primitive Immortal Realm!"
"Both magnificent and savage!"
However, All Knowing had not lost any of his origin, unlike Stealing Opportunity.
It was likely because he had learned from the previous attempt and refrained from using his own Dao of "All Knowing."
He recounted his experience with lingering fear, "My experience was similar to Fellow Daoist Stealing Opportunity's. The moment I arrived, I was hunted by every living being in the surrounding world. However, with his experience as a guide, I tried to hide my strength while resisting. But..."
All Knowing looked somewhat helpless. "That world seemed to be able to perceive everything about my body. The ferocious creatures it sent were all precisely at a level that I could only handle by exerting my full effort. Once I understood that, to avoid being toyed with, I voluntarily ended my own life."
The Saints fell silent.
"Let us probe again," the Connecting Mountains Saint said after a moment of contemplation.
And so, the story repeated itself.
The third lucky one was Square Inch.
Square Inch did not seem to mind the temporary loss of his origin and did his utmost to deal with the situation.
He managed to survive for a duration several times longer than even Stealing Opportunity.
But in the end, he too was defeated.
It was obvious that the longer one held on, the more of one's origin was invisibly exploited and devoured.
When Square Inch's will returned, he looked as if he had suffered a grievous wound.
His face was as white as paper, his breath as faint as a thread!
Li Fan immediately infused him with True Spirit.
The three Saints also each sent out a wisp of their aura to stabilize Square Inch's injuries.
Once his condition stabilized, Square Inch described his encounter to the others. "With the experience of the previous two fellow Daoists, I originally planned to try a different method. Relying on my own speed, I would only seize and not kill."
"At first, it was indeed effective. Those ferocious creatures, though they swarmed like a plague, could not touch me in the slightest. Without engaging in combat, the creatures' strength remained at their initial level for a long time. But later..."
Square Inch coughed lightly. "They actually began to slowly master my Dao of 'Square Inch'! Their speed grew faster and faster, until they were almost on par with me. I was forced to fight them..."
"Naturally, I followed in the footsteps of Fellow Daoists Stealing Opportunity and All Knowing."
"Fellow Daoist Square Inch, to resolve the crisis of the Mountain and Sea, you did not hesitate to allow your own origin Great Dao to be drained. You are truly a model for us all!" All Knowing said, a hint of shame in his voice.
Square Inch replied with a serious expression, "In any case, 'Snare' will eventually spit it out. Compared to a temporary loss, it is more important to quickly figure out his scheme and devise a way to break it."
The Saints nodded, all in deep agreement.
The three Saints, however, did not continue the probing. Instead, they closed their eyes and began to deduce.
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