Chapter 1758: A Star Falls into the Mortal Dust
As Li Fan recovered most of his past memories, some of his longest-held questions were finally answered.
Ever since he had learned of the existence of his "former self," Li Fan had never been able to figure out how his very first incarnation had managed to succeed in his cultivation within the treacherous environment of the Xuanhuang Realm.
Having personally walked that path once, Li Fan knew just how brutal the journey was.
For a mere mortal, let alone cultivating, even surviving was a near-impossible feat.
Li Fan had been able to walk step-by-step to where he was today entirely thanks to [Truth], the experiences of his countless past reincarnations, and the Dao of Truth and Falsehood.
On what grounds could his original self, in that very first life, have come so far?
To explain it away with just "extraordinary innate talent" felt far too flimsy.
The Great Xuan, the Xuanhuang Realm, the Dark Star Sea, the High Wall.
Without the ability of foresight, it was doubtful that any ordinary cultivator, no matter how gifted, could have broken through such a predicament.
If he had died in his first life, how could he have later met the Saint at the End of Mountain and Sea and comprehended the transformation between truth and falsehood?
"But if I was an outsider to the play, a game-breaker snatched from across the void by the fallen True God, then everything can be explained."
"A single severed finger of the True God could rewrite and distort the will of the Mountain and Sea, and it could dim the brilliance of the lone Star. To protect a mortal and ensure his smooth growth to the realm of a Saint would naturally be as easy as turning its hand."
Looking at the two characters for [Divine Blessing] on the Truth panel, which appeared before "Change From Heart" and "Fantasy Becomes Truth," Li Fan was struck by a wave of realization.
It turned out there was no exaggeration at all.
Divine Blessing was truly a Divine Blessing.
"With the True God's protection and my former self's supreme talent, I not only broke the script written by the Mountain and Sea but also mastered a method to postpone the day of the Mountain and Sea's ascension to godhood indefinitely."
"But just as I once said, one can stop the Star for a moment, but not for an eternity."
"The Mountain and Sea fades, and the lone Star ascends to godhood. If this script does not change, the final outcome will remain the same."
"Damn it all!"
Li Fan's anger, of course, was not because he had lost his former parents or children.
Back when he was the Grand Preceptor in the Xuanhuang Realm, with a harem of wives and a legion of children, he might have still enjoyed and cared for so-called blood ties.
But now, Li Fan had mastered the transformation of truth and falsehood; he had personally buried and annihilated, then restored countless lives with a single thought. From his perspective, his former parents, wives, and children were no different from any other living beings.
If he wished, he could create his loved ones from memory at any moment.
When truth is treated as false, the false becomes true.
Truth and falsehood—there was no longer a distinction.
The reason for Li Fan's fury was himself.
It could only be because of himself.
No matter what, that past "Li Fan" was also Li Fan.
Inexplicably dragged here by a fallen True God to be its pawn.
He was originally an outsider to the play, but he had unknowingly become far too engrossed in his role.
He struggled desperately through countless reincarnations, only to discover in the end that everything he had done was a joke.
The former Li Fan had fallen into absolute despair.
But the current Li Fan only felt an uncontrollable malevolence rise within his heart.
So what if you are a True God?
You dragged me here, but did you ever ask for my permission?
"What you couldn't do, I will do. The revenge you couldn't take, I will take it for you."
"The Mountain and Sea, the Star, the God..."
"Not a single one of you will escape!"
A savage glint flashed in Li Fan's eyes, and a boundless killing intent spread out from him.
This killing intent was so intense that for a moment, even the transformation of truth and falsehood could not suppress it.
The True God's Finger, the dim starlight, and the sundered Mountain and Sea all seemed to sense it in that instant.
Li Fan felt as if he could see countless pairs of eyes turning to look at him all at once.
He calmed down in a flash.
The transformation of truth and falsehood once again heavily veiled him.
Ferocious self-interest was his instinct, but so was cautious prudence.
Although he had, in a moment of impulse, made a sworn declaration of slaughter, Li Fan himself knew that with his current strength, self-preservation was manageable. But as for slaying a god...
He was far from qualified.
In the past, he believed that as long as he comprehended the transformation of truth and falsehood to a certain degree, everything would naturally fall into place. But what he knew now told him that was likely not the case.
"My former self was able to break the True God's script, having cultivated the transformation of truth and falsehood to its absolute peak. But when faced with the new god that descended at the end of the script, he was still utterly helpless."
"The transformation of truth and falsehood only reversed its existence to a point before it appeared. It couldn't completely sever the possibility of the new god's descent."
"To slay a god..."
Li Fan couldn't help but think of that question again.
That True God, just why did it fall?
It was able to foresee its own future, even seeing the Mountain and Sea's escape plan of "a cicada shedding its golden shell" and summoning an outsider to break the cycle.
Yet it was unable to avoid its own demise?
"What can kill the old god can also kill the new god. If I can find the cause of the True God's death..."
Li Fan once again looked at the True God's Finger standing tall in the void realm.
Suppressing the starlight seemed to be an instinctive action after being provoked.
Now that the starlight had dimmed and gradually faded, the True God's Finger returned to its original mission.
Mountain and Sea No-Boundary!
The True God's Finger shot forward like a meteor, piercing into the space that separated the Mountain and Sea.
The Mountain and Sea, which had just completed its separation, seemed fated to repeat its past destiny.
Just then, two figures flew out from the Upper Mountain and the Infinite Sea, intercepting the True God's Finger.
Li Fan was, of course, intimately familiar with these two figures and recognized their identities at a glance.
"Lian Shan, Gui Hai?" Watching from a distance, Li Fan's pupils constricted slightly.
The appearances of the two Saints had undergone a heaven-and-earth-shattering transformation compared to before.
Lian Shan, the Saint, no longer had a face. He vaguely maintained a human form, but his countenance was covered with billions of carved marks, each line a record of a civilization that had once existed in the Mountain and Sea.
As for Gui Hai, the Saint, he seemed to be rooted in the endless possibilities within the Infinite Sea. Billions of tentacles served as his support, pushing him out beyond the confines of the Mountain and Sea.
Lian Shan and Gui Hai, their faces expressionless, stood resolute and determined before the rapidly descending True God's Finger.
Though the three Saints were powerful, Li Fan wouldn't have believed for a second that they could stop the True God's Finger.
But events took a turn that Li Fan had not anticipated.
A stream of light leaped forth from both Lian Shan and Gui Hai.
Then, one final glimmer of light emerged from the Mountain and Sea itself.
The three lights merged, and in an instant, a scepter took shape!
"As One Wishes?"
The moment he saw this scepter, its name naturally surfaced in Li Fan's mind.
At the same time, he understood that this was the very object that had been relentlessly searching for him in the void realm!
"It really did originate from the three Saints."
"Are they using the God's Eye to counter the True God's Finger?" Li Fan thought in a flash.
The appearance of As One Wishes caused a disturbance identical to the one before.
The void realm was thrown into immense turmoil, with ripples spreading endlessly, unable to calm itself. For a moment, it even abandoned its mission of devouring the Mountain and Sea, madly converging towards As One Wishes instead.
But this time, Lian Shan and Gui Hai did not promptly retrieve the scepter.
They simply let it lie quietly at the center of the storm's vortex.
Li Fan could even faintly discern that the two Saints seemed to be strenuously manipulating As One Wishes, forcing it to be swallowed by the void realm.
"To crack the puzzle of the True God's Finger, the Mountain and Sea chose to become the lone Star."
"But at the same time, to deceive the True God's Finger, the performance must be utterly convincing. On the day the great play begins, the Mountain and Sea is no longer the Mountain and Sea, but the lone Star. Its identity has been completely transformed."
"The beings dependent on the Mountain and Sea are merely actors used to complete the script. And the Dao Annihilation of the void is a prop to push the plot forward."
"It is precisely because this play is so realistic that the Mountain and Sea is unaware of its own role as an actor. Thus, under the corrosion of the Dao Annihilation, it will still instinctively awaken its own will to survive."
"Only when the script is broken and the performance is halted will the Mountain and Sea learn its true identity. This is why the Mountain and Sea backstabbed me after it triumphed over the Dao Annihilation in the past."
"And now..."
Li Fan calmly glanced up.
The starlight descended but was blocked by the True God's Finger.
The Mountain and Sea was about to merge once again, continuing according to the predetermined script.
Though Li Fan's intervention had introduced many variables, It ultimately did not affect the final outcome.
"Still within the script, which means the Mountain and Sea is unaware of its own true identity."
Li Fan's eyes narrowed instantly, his gaze fixed on As One Wishes at the center of the converging Dao Annihilation.
In this life, the Mountain and Sea had undergone an unprecedented process of merging, separating, and re-merging.
The True God's Finger had shifted its position twice, giving rise to a scene Li Fan had never encountered before.
The Dao Annihilation washed over As One Wishes like a tide, relentlessly corroding it.
The scepter's influence gradually dimmed, and with it, within the dark, silent void realm, a consciousness seemed to be rapidly awakening.
The entire void realm came alive!
"It seems I was only half right before."
"When the void realm obtains As One Wishes, it will indeed undergo a transformation. That's why the force behind the void realm desires it even more than its mission to devour the Mountain and Sea."
"But the change is not a step further, a direct ascension to godhood. It is..."
"The void realm, a tool for advancing the plot, awakens—or rather, recovers its original consciousness!"
The void realm, which had been a pitch-black expanse since the beginning of the Mountain and Sea, suddenly felt less desolate.
The corrosive, destructive power originating from the Dao Annihilation also began to slowly recede.
If the Dao Annihilation of the void realm was previously an infinite army, then at this moment, billions upon billions of soldiers had all returned to a single commander.
A distorted figure quietly emerged.
It looked towards the Mountain and Sea, a flicker of disgust in its eyes. But in the end, it still took action, intercepting the descending True God's Finger!
To be precise, it was a delay.
The True God's Finger was unstoppable, but at this moment, it seemed to have fallen into an endless mire of Dao Annihilation.
Its light continuously faded, yet it was never able to fly out of the void realm's range.
"It is..."
Li Fan felt a sense of familiarity from this figure.
It all stemmed from an extreme anger and hatred for the lone Star.
"The Dao Annihilation of the void was created by the Mountain and Sea, a tool to advance the plot."
"But where did this tool come from...?"
"After the god's division, there should be nothing else in the world besides the Mountain and Sea."
After temporarily stopping the True God's Finger, the void figure paid no more attention to the Mountain and Sea.
It then flew arrogantly towards the outer heavens.
All the way beyond the world, to the dim, lone Star!
Endless ripples erupted violently from the void figure.
Each ripple was like a sharp blade, viciously tearing open the gap between reality and the play.
Layer after layer of a black curtain seemed to be continuously unveiled under this fierce collision.
The originally dim starlight actually grew a little brighter.
"It's..."
"Pulling the Star into the script?"
Li Fan was extremely pleased to have inexplicably gained a potential ally who might share his stance.
But he still chose to observe the situation for now.
After all, the identity of the void figure was still unknown, and its appearance was exceedingly strange.
As the starlight under the celestial curtain grew brighter, the True God's Finger, trapped in the void figure's grasp, once again sensed the presence of the starlight.
Its target shifted from the Mountain and Sea, pointing once more directly at the hidden lone Star.
Only then did Li Fan finally understand: "If it's hidden outside the script, it might be able to fool the True God's Finger. But if it enters the script itself, then it can hardly escape the finger's discernment!"
The void figure pulsed with ripples, drawing in the starlight.
Unlike ordinary creatures that mutated upon contact with the starlight, it instead became even more profound and dark.
But it did not absorb the starlight for its own use.
Instead, it channeled it into the existing Mountain and Sea!
The trickles of starlight were not as domineering as when the lone Star truly manifested. Instead, they were more like the light scattered when the Mountain and Sea had once triumphed over the Dao Annihilation.
Witnessing such a familiar scene, Li Fan was instantly stirred: "This is it! The script is broken, and the Star has entered the stage!"
In the span of a single thought, the world was transformed.
Some kind of bizarre change began to occur across the Mountain and Sea as the starlight continuously painted over it.
The void figure suffered the same fate as the past Li Fan.
Starlight corrosion, Mountain and Sea betrayal.
Li Fan could faintly sense an extremely furious emotion from the roaring mountains, surging seas, and blooming starlight.
"You feel angry too?"
Li Fan suddenly felt a touch of schadenfreude.
Compared to the past Li Fan, the void figure seemed to have anticipated all the changes around it.
Especially the backstabbing from the Mountain and Sea.
Without mercy, it transformed into an endless, surging tide, completely surrounding the Mountain and Sea.
And began to devour it, as if to vent its rage.
As the tool created to devour the Mountain and Sea, the void realm's strength was already a cut above.
Now that it had obtained As One Wishes and become more "complete," the void realm, unleashing its full power, was no longer something the Mountain and Sea could resist.
Like a wilting flower, it was completely turned into nourishment for the void figure.
Li Fan looked at the figure standing amidst the withered Mountain and Sea, and the sense of familiarity in his heart grew stronger.
It was no longer just due to the shared hatred for the lone Star, but...
A sense of having seen it before.
"Sun. Piao. Miao."
A strange light flashed in Li Fan's eyes as he spelled out the name, one syllable at a time, in his mind.
In truth, his heart was not entirely certain, but as the void figure's devouring of the Mountain and Sea intensified, its form became clearer.
The premonition in Li Fan's heart grew stronger and stronger.
"It's really him? How is that possible?"
Li Fan suddenly thought of the question from before.
The Mountain and Sea had foreseen its own future and deduced the escape plan of a cicada shedding its golden shell. It needed to create a tool to drive the plot.
But at that time, the Mountain and Sea had just split from the god.
Besides the devoured god and the Mountain and Sea itself, there was nothing else in the world.
Where did the tool come from?
It couldn't have extracted its own essence to forge a world-destroying tool, could it?
"No. At the beginning of the Mountain and Sea's division, someone else was present."
"It was Sun Piao Miao, who wrote the fable of the Mountain and Sea!"
The fable of the Mountain and Sea described in detail the various matters between the mountains and seas.
At the beginning of the notes, the Mountain and Sea had not yet merged.
At the end of the notes, the Mountain and Sea was no longer seen, for a lone Star hung high, like the single eye of a god, standing over the Mountain and Sea.
"If he could reach the time before the Mountain and Sea merged, then he could reach the time when the Mountain and Sea was divided. A time traveler would never just stop moving forward."
"And the last entry in the notes..."
A thought suddenly struck Li Fan.
It was because he had once seen Sun Piao Miao's notes, seen the mention of the [Star] within, that he had subconsciously called the power the Mountain and Sea transformed into, the Star.
In reality, it was just a supremely pure, domineering power that tolerated no other existence.
The god that the Mountain and Sea became was the Star.
And the return of the former True God...
was also the Star.
Li Fan froze abruptly.
"So, the last entry in Sun Piao Miao's notes wasn't referring to events happening in the present world. It was referring to the ending the Mountain and Sea saw for itself through infinite deductions."
"To be able to peek into the heart of the Mountain and Sea..."
Li Fan could almost see it: the Mountain and Sea, vexed over its lack of a tool to create the apocalypse, suddenly discovering Sun Piao Miao, who had walked step by step to the very beginning of the Mountain and Sea's division and was now peering into its innermost thoughts.
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