Chapter 1731: The Art of Devouring Mountains and Seas
Chapter 1731: The Art of Devouring Mountains and Seas
As if plucking the strings of reality itself, Li Fan attempted to touch this world's rules with two fingers, seeking to change them.
"Use the power of devouring mountains and swallowing seas to weave a colossal net. Let it evolve into a world of its own, forcing any creature that enters to fight with all its might, a desperate battle to the death..."
"When a creature perishes within the net, it will instinctively be absorbed."
Li Fan once again looked upon the two sides locked in a mortal struggle on the battlefield.
It was as if, after their demise, orb after orb of light floated up, each representing the principles and fortunes mastered by those living beings on the battlefield before their deaths.
Perhaps not their entirety, but certainly the purest essence, forged in the crucible of a life-or-death struggle where all potential had been unleashed.
Upon the mountain of corpses and sea of blood created by the great battle, countless orbs of light of varying sizes rose, drifting toward the web of Snare that spanned the heavens and earth. The scene was unspeakably bizarre.
Li Fan seemed mesmerized, repeatedly flicking his fingers, trying to alter the trajectory of the light orbs.
By the time the battle concluded, although Li Fan had not succeeded once, a flicker of confidence had begun to kindle in his eyes.
As usual, he took nothing for himself.
He simply distributed the spoils gathered after the deadly fight among the enlightened creatures.
The surviving enlightened creatures showed little gratitude toward Li Fan, instead seizing every moment to recover and strengthen themselves.
As the native inhabitants of this world, they knew all too well that the battles to come would only grow more brutal, one after another, until they were utterly annihilated.
Yet, the instinct for survival would not permit them to simply give up.
Even if there was only a sliver of hope, they had to keep fighting!
"This is the nature endowed upon them by the web of Snare; it has nothing to do with my influence. It certainly makes things convenient for me."
The enlightened creatures had not yet fully rested when the next wave of enemies descended.
"Defend the line with the formation!"
Li Fan's divine sense rippled outwards like a wave.
In an instant, a wondrous and complex formation appeared in the minds of the enlightened creatures.
Though they found its principles difficult to grasp, it did not hinder them from taking their positions in sequence.
With Li Fan as the core and nexus of the formation, all the enlightened creatures were linked together.
Killing intent coalesced, transforming into a cloud of blood that soared into the sky, obscuring the heavens.
This formation was Li Fan's own creation, based on the Same Heart Same Virtue characteristic of the Armillary Ring.
Empowered by the great formation, the enlightened creatures shared their senses, moving as if they were a single entity.
Although there was no increase in their strength or cultivation realm, it invisibly forged the countless death-sworn warriors into a unified whole.
There was no need to worry about an attack from behind, as the support of their comrades always arrived at the most critical moment.
From fighting as individuals, they automatically split into countless small groups, working together to efficiently encircle and annihilate their foes.
The state of the battlefield changed in a heartbeat.
What had been an evenly matched duel to the death transformed into a one-sided slaughter with the appearance of this formation.
Li Fan had long anticipated this outcome, his attention remaining fixed on the sky of this world.
"Thank you, Master, for bestowing this art upon us!"
Only when the enlightened creatures roared in unison after their victory did he shift his gaze slightly.
"There are the remains of the defeated. You may devour them."
Li Fan pointed to the blood-soaked battlefield and stated calmly.
The enlightened creatures all froze for a moment.
But having been created to serve as instruments of deadly combat, they weren't overly scrupulous.
Hearing Li Fan's command, they immediately began to feast ravenously.
They quickly cleared the ravaged battlefield.
The remains on the battlefield, apart from slightly sating their hunger, seemed to have no significant use.
This was the case for the vast majority of the enlightened creatures.
But there were a few exceptions.
"You, you, and you."
"Come here."
Li Fan called them out, and three or five figures swiftly flew before him.
They knelt respectfully.
Although Li Fan's cultivation still appeared to be that of a mortal, a faint, formless aura emanated from him, triggering an instinctive tremor of submission within them.
They dared not show the slightest hint of insolence.
"So that's how it is."
After observing them for a long while, Li Fan suddenly spoke, though what he had seen was unclear.
A moment later, one of the kneeling figures suddenly exploded without warning, shattering into chunks of flesh and blood.
"You will consume this," Li Fan commanded the remaining figures.
Their bodies trembled slightly, but they did not hesitate, beginning to swallow the pieces with large gulps.
Only this time, as they ate, Li Fan's fingers traced slow patterns in the air.
It was as if he were touching something, or perhaps playing an instrument.
As the flesh entered their bellies, the few kneeling figures were all strengthened to varying degrees.
And just then, the next wave of enemies arrived.
"Kill."
Without another word, Li Fan gave a single command, and his created beings once again clashed with the monstrosities of Snare's web.
This time, Li Fan was not allowed the same advantage. The strength of the newly evolved creatures had clearly factored in the empowerment from the Same Heart Same Virtue formation.
They were more than a notch stronger than the previous wave of enemies.
However, the slight enhancement the enlightened creatures had gained from devouring the flesh was not part of this calculation.
As a result, Li Fan's side still held a slight advantage on the battlefield.
And what's more...
At the height of the slaughter, Li Fan's will echoed once more.
The enlightened creatures were stunned to find that as their enemies fell, they were able to capture and absorb faint, indescribable threads of power.
Some simply increased their vital energy and cultivation. But others contained fleeting memories of divine abilities and insights into the Dao!
Although the enlightened creatures were initially ignorant, their intellect grew with each passing moment after Li Fan's enlightenment. They were naturally skilled in matters of divine abilities and combat.
Without needing Li Fan's active instruction, many of them instantly grasped the memories and insights.
Even the few who remained unenlightened quickly unraveled the mysteries with the help of their comrades through their shared senses.
The battle evolved from a simple contest of strength and vital energy to one where divine abilities began to manifest.
The conflict was swiftly brought to an end.
If it was only a slight advantage at the beginning, then after the enlightened creatures started awakening their divine abilities, it became another crushing victory.
Having reaped the benefits, the enlightened creatures were like a pack of ravenous wolves, scrambling for the remains on the battlefield.
But the flesh was scarce and the wolves were many; there was simply not enough to go around.
And so, for the first time ever, they began to look forward to the arrival of the next wave of enemies with even greater anticipation!
A strange emotion and atmosphere began to brew and fester within their hearts.
After their initial confusion, they soon understood. This was the fortune Li Fan had brought them.
Thus, they all knelt respectfully to show their reverence and submission.
"Rise."
"I do not need you to kneel. What I need is..."
"For you to join me and tear this sky apart!"
Li Fan pointed at the web-like canopy of Snare and spoke calmly.
An inexplicable emotion seemed to be building within him. After a moment of dead silence, the host of created beings roared at the heavens in unison.
In that instant, their voices shook the cosmos and echoed through the heavens.
At the same time, a shadow seemed to flit across the sky.
Then, endless dark clouds began to gather.
A fierce wind rose, and thunder rumbled.
This was Snare's response.
The army of enlightened creatures had indeed grown much stronger, but as long as they did not exceed the limits of what Snare's web could bear, the web could always create enemies to match them.
The next wave of evolved monstrosities was, as expected, much stronger than the last.
It made the newly strengthened enlightened creatures almost feel the illusion that they hadn't grown stronger at all.
Without needing Li Fan's guidance, they spontaneously began to try their utmost to absorb and strengthen themselves amidst the fighting.
And in Li Fan's eyes, within the great web that was this world, a smaller web seemed to be weaving itself together.
"Still not enough."
After a long period of observation, Li Fan suddenly uttered this phrase.
And so, he raised the stakes once more.
"Your nature is chaotic, ignorant, and unenlightened. Thus, you can slay your foes by instinct, but ultimately, you will fall short."
"I have a method that I can impart to all living beings."
"Absorb the spirit of heaven and earth to gather its qi. Borrow the marvels of heaven and earth to build a Dao foundation..."
As Li Fan spoke, sentence by sentence, the gazes of the countless enlightened creatures present began to change as they looked upon the surrounding world of Snare's web.
It was as if they were seeing the remains of the previous battlefield.
Everywhere was filled with a fragrant aroma, alluring and delicious.
This world was created by Snare in imitation of its past devouring of the Primitive Immortal Realm. It could truly be said that every place held a marvel, every corner a supreme treasure.
But now, they all became cultivation sustenance for the enlightened creatures.
"Devouring mountains and swallowing seas..."
"Who doesn't know how to do that?"
"If you don't change, even with the foundation of the Primitive Immortal Realm, you'll only suffer the same fate as the old Xuanhuang Realm."
Li Fan confronted it with a cold gaze.
Although he had borrowed the name of the cultivation method from his time spreading the Dharma in the Xuanhuang Realm, it was, in fact, not the same method.
The reason his enlightened creatures were able to truly devour this world successfully...
...was entirely due to Li Fan's deconstruction of the web of Snare before him.
The essence of Snare's web was another manifestation of Snare's past devouring of the Mountain and Sea.
With [Truth] in hand, Li Fan had witnessed the countless transformations between reality and illusion in the Mountain and Sea.
Especially with the empowerment from the shared minds of Shou Qiu and the Moral True Immortal, his understanding of the True False Transformation, if not yet at the level of a master, could at least be considered rudimentary.
One must remember that Shou Qiu had once erased the void-realm incarnations of thousands of Saints with a single thought, and he himself had become a Saint through a virtual image of the Mountain and Sea.
Since this world originated from the Mountain and Sea, it was not so difficult for Li Fan to deconstruct it.
The difficult part was finding Snare, hidden behind the curtain.
Therefore, Li Fan had been waiting for Snare to rewrite the rules once more.
With change comes flaws.
To leap from only being able to devour evolved monstrosities to being able to devour the world itself...
The meaning behind this was utterly different.
Snare, possessing the ability to devour mountains and swallow seas, would not fail to understand this principle.
As Li Fan had said, if it didn't change the rules and allowed this band of enlightened creatures to continue their rampage, its web would likely be torn to shreds very soon.
Representing the will of Snare, a drastic change suddenly occurred in the world.
Tens of thousands of lightning bolts appeared simultaneously, momentarily illuminating the dark world.
The lightning did not vanish in a flash but seemed to freeze, gradually filling the sky.
They looked like cracks. Or like threads.
Dense and numerous, they covered the entire sky.
A moment later, an endless tide of creatures poured out from these cracks.
Their target was Li Fan and his army of created beings!
Even though they did not know the meaning of fear, the created beings couldn't help but feel their bodies stiffen at the sight of this scene.
Just as their master had said, they had torn open the sky.
But...
The number of enemies appearing at once was simply too overwhelming!
Faced with such a terrifying disparity in numbers, no matter how much they struggled, they would likely be easily crushed to pieces.
"Now that it has come to this, what use is there in hesitation?"
"It is but a final, desperate struggle. Kill one and you break even. Kill two and you've made a profit."
As their spirits were shaken, Li Fan's voice once again echoed in their minds.
It allowed them to barely regain their senses.
They contracted their defensive line, gathering together to face the surging tide of foes.
However, the disparity in power between the two sides was simply too vast.
The army of created beings crumbled at the first touch.
This was no longer the web's normal process of forcing a deathmatch for absorption. It had become a thorough and complete cleansing.
Li Fan ignored the army of created beings rapidly disappearing around him.
He even ignored the monstrosities from Snare's web that were about to assail him.
"I've finally found you!"
A cold glint flashed in his eyes, and his actions mirrored what the Tai Wei Saint Emperor had done before.
He stretched out his empty hands and ripped with all his might.
Yet, it was more than just a mere imitation of the Saint Emperor's actions.
The Saint Emperor's desperate strike had only exposed the hidden Snare.
But Li Fan's true purpose was to scrape off a pound of flesh from it!
Not for the Mountain and Sea, but for himself.
"The primordial Saints of the Mountain and Sea... I wonder how the Daos they commanded differ from those of today!"
"Devouring mountains and swallowing seas... this Dao, it suits my tastes perfectly!"
Separated by a vast void realm, connected only by the veins of the Mountain and Sea.
What the Saints in the Other Shore's Armillary Ring saw was entirely based on the images Li Fan transmitted.
Li Fan had no fear of exposing his secrets.
With a single thought, truth and falsehood were transformed.
"Since you're here, why not stay?"
Li Fan's mortal body was so small, so insignificant amidst the tide of hundreds of millions of monsters.
But without any visible action from him, all the monsters that approached him vanished in an instant.
As if they had been erased by an invisible force.
There were no exceptions.
And as Li Fan slowly strolled, ascending into the sky...
A long, massive void appeared in the monstrous dark clouds, following his steps.
No matter how fearlessly they were designed to be, upon witnessing such a bizarre scene, the creations of Snare's web instinctively felt a sense of resistance, unwilling to charge forward to a pointless death.
Beyond the shock of being instantly erased by the True False Transformation, the fundamental reason was their creator.
Snare, too, felt a sliver of fear.
Even the ability to devour mountains and swallow seas would dissipate in an instant before the True False Transformation.
Snare was a top-tier predator, but it was also extremely cautious.
Facing Li Fan, an entity of unknown origin who wielded an unimaginably divine ability...
In an instant, it had made its decision.
Retreat!
It could no longer remain in this part of the Mountain and Sea.
Even if the losses were heavy, it was better than being annihilated.
As if time, once frozen, had resumed its flow, the lightning that had been suspended in this world's sky slowly dissipated.
The world began to fall apart, and the shadow hidden behind the curtain seemed to be receding.
As for those evolved monstrosities...
They had become a grand feast for the remaining created beings.
"The Master's divine power is invincible! He did not go back on his word. He truly led us to tear open this sky!"
They were ecstatic, hunting the surrounding evolved beings with all their might.
The strength of some of the evolved beings was even far greater than their own.
But at this moment, they seemed to have lost their purpose, standing motionless in place.
They allowed themselves to be slaughtered and then devoured.
"Indeed, following the right person is crucial."
A nascent thought began to sprout in the minds of the created beings.
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