Chapter 1755: A Past Victory Over the Void Realm
"Could one of our old friends have willingly fallen?" Saint Tai Yi murmured, his brow furrowed.
"From the dawn of the Mountain and Sea to the present day, a hundred billion years have passed, and dozens have attained Sainthood," the Returning to Sea Saint countered, shaking his head gently. "Yet the Void Realm has always possessed a single, unified will. Defecting to it is not so simple. Otherwise, the Mountain and Sea would have been rife with traitors long ago."
"The change, perhaps, comes from within the Void itself."
The gazes of the three Saints met and intertwined, a silent conference passing between them.
Then, with a flicker of light and shadow, a jade scepter materialized before them.
It shimmered like still autumn water, radiating a cold, clear light that not even the combined brilliance of the three Saints could overshadow. Ethereal mists swirled around its head, periodically flashing with a deep, black luminescence. It was as if an eye lay hidden within, peering out at all of creation.
The curve of its handle was flawless, as if shaped by nature itself.
Its end, however, seemed to exist in a state between the real and the illusory.
It was like the confluence where a hundred rivers meet the endless sea, their borders blurring, their essences merging into one.
Yet for some reason, despite it being a mere creation from before the All Knowing Immortal's transcendence, the three Saints treated it with extraordinary caution.
Even when the armies of the Dao Annihilation had been at their doorstep, poised to consume half the Mountain and Sea, the Saints had not displayed such profound solemnity.
Confronted with the strange light shimmering on the surface of [As One Wishes], all three Saints, as if by unspoken agreement, closed their eyes.
"Let us use this to discover the truth."
"We must proceed with caution."
Without any visible manipulation from the Saints, the scepter began to dissolve into its surroundings, starting from its tail. The process accelerated a thousandfold.
The marvelous scepter slowly vanished from sight.
And at the head of [As One Wishes], the hidden eye snapped open.
Its gaze pierced into the Void Realm.
...
"The three Saints are not to be underestimated. They detected the anomaly and set up countermeasures after a single encounter," Li Fan thought. "Fortunately, I was one step ahead."
The spoils from this raid were not as plentiful as the first, but they were enough to create a second incarnation of Shou Qiu.
"The crucial part is the reward from the will of the Void," he mused. "The more of the Dao Annihilation I can command, the faster the Dao One Mountain Sea Map can convert it. The master of the Void..."
As Li Fan was lost in thought, an extreme sense of crisis jolted through him—the feeling of being watched.
Without a moment's hesitation, he invoked Fantasy Becomes Truth.
At the same time, he veiled himself with the Dao One Mountain Sea Map.
Thump... thump... thump...
Without Li Fan's will to command it, the Void Realm returned to its primordial silence.
In the oppressive darkness, Li Fan felt as if he could hear the pounding of his own heart.
It was a tremor born of pure, physical instinct.
"This power... it's no less than facing the new god itself."
"What... what is this?"
Li Fan dared not make a move. He forced his mind blank, erasing every stray thought, and remained hidden beneath the aegis of truth and falsehood, waiting to see what would unfold.
A ripple seemed to form within the very substance of the Dao Annihilation.
Its origin was unknown, but the wave spread in an instant, washing over every corner of the Void Realm.
It felt like a gaze sweeping across everything.
After a moment of silence, the infinite energies of the Dao Annihilation within the Void Realm began to seethe in response.
Not even when the Star descended, its light consuming all, had the Void Realm reacted with such ferocity.
It was as if it had encountered something of supreme importance. The Dao Annihilation—or perhaps the hidden will behind the Void—was using every means at its disposal to trace the source of that gaze.
Li Fan could feel an irrepressible frenzy radiating from the Dao Annihilation energies under his control.
"For the ever-composed master of the Void to lose its composure like this..."
"...it was willing to momentarily cast aside its mission to devour the Mountain and Sea."
"Consuming the Mountain and Sea is for the sake of the Star's descent. But searching for the source of this gaze... that is for the sake of..." Li Fan realized with a jolt. "...itself."
Li Fan slowly began to understand the reason for the hidden will's sudden obsession.
It was just as a Xuanhuang cultivator might behold the Crimson Flame, or a transcendent being might encounter the Great Dao of the Mountain and Sea, or as Li Fan himself had faced the True God Finger.
Though their realms and strengths differed, their pursuit of advancement—of the possibility of taking one more step—was identical.
"Could the Void Realm use this gaze—or more precisely, its source—to attain some unimaginable new power?" A tremor ran through Li Fan's heart at the thought.
The will behind the Void seemed to exist for the sole purpose of bringing about the Star's descent.
After all its painstaking efforts to consume the Mountain and Sea, the moment the Star broke free from its prison, the will itself would be unable to survive.
The will of the Void was surely aware of this.
But just as the Mountain and Sea were fated to return to the Star, this was its own inescapable end.
It could not be resisted.
But what if... what if it could take another step forward?
Even the new god born from the ashes of the Mountain and Sea would be no match for the Void's Dao Annihilation. If the will of the Void could advance further, wouldn't it possess the might of a True God?
How was that possible?!
"Could it be that this gaze originates from the True God? Just like the True God Finger... Is this the god's third contingency? Why have I never encountered this in all my past lives?"
In that instant, a hundred thoughts raced through Li Fan's mind, and he immediately grasped its likely origin.
"I had just escaped the three Saints' encirclement when this gaze pursued me," he reasoned. "Could it be..."
The timing was too perfect; Li Fan couldn't help but draw the connection.
"Connecting Mountains... Returning to Sea... Tai Yi!"
A cold glint flashed in Li Fan's eyes.
But with the tides of the Void and that mysterious gaze now intertwined, Li Fan dared not reveal himself.
He could only remain hidden under the protection of his Dao of truth and falsehood.
The Void Realm was boundless, yet the gaze seemed to encompass it all.
After its search proved fruitless, the presence slowly began to dissipate.
The will of the Void tried desperately to hold on, but the ripples were like sand slipping through its fingers, impossible to grasp.
Once the gaze was gone, the seething Void Realm returned to silence.
Then, Li Fan felt a command issue forth from the will of the Void.
In an instant, the Dao Annihilation began to boil once more, surging toward the Mountain and Sea with a furious roar.
Its power was immense, like a final, all-out assault.
For a time, the Mountain and Sea was plunged into imminent peril.
Li Fan, however, frowned slightly.
"Although the Void Realm holds the overall advantage, this shouldn't be the time for the final battle."
"The proper strategy is to prolong the conflict, constantly consuming the Mountain and Sea, gradually weakening its strength until a final, decisive victory is assured."
"But now, the appearance of that mysterious gaze has thrown the Void into disarray."
"Besides, I've siphoned off a portion of its power..."
"Could it be," an incredible thought suddenly surfaced in Li Fan's mind, "that in this lifetime, the Mountain and Sea will actually defeat the Void Realm?"
Li Fan was about to dismiss it as a laughable notion, to shake his head and cast it aside.
But the thought seemed to trigger something, like a keyword. A sharp pain lanced through his mind, and a flood of images flashed before his inner eye.
"Countless cycles... and I finally succeeded."
"Using the Mountain and Sea to suppress the Dao Annihilation... The will of the Void has collapsed. The threat to the Mountain and Sea is finally over!"
The joy in the memory was palpable, overflowing.
In the vision, Li Fan and the Saints around him were all celebrating their victory.
But for some reason, a sudden sense of foreboding washed over him.
The other Saints noticed nothing.
He was the first to look up.
A glimmer of starlight, its source unknown, drifted down upon the Mountain and Sea like falling snow.
The celebrating world fell silent, though no one seemed to notice why.
And then every being turned to stare at him, their eyes filled with a strange, unsettling light.
A chill seized his heart. In the next moment, everyone around him attacked in unison.
Even the Mountain and Sea itself—the very world he had fought so desperately to save—turned against him.
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