Chapter 1759: Watching the True God's Return
Chapter 1759: Watching the True God's Return
To travel against the current of the Mountain and Sea was an arduous path, leading one to the very moment of its division. And from there, one could peer into the very heart of the Mountain and Sea.
Sun Piao Miao's strength was, without a doubt, immense.
Ultimately, however, he could not contend with the strongest version of the Mountain and Sea, fresh from having devoured the True God. Once they discovered him, his fate was sealed.
Thus, Sun Piao Miao was reforged into a tool, an instrument for the Mountain and Sea to break its own stalemate.
From behind the curtain of the Void Realm, he led the endless tide of Dao Annihilation, consuming all of the Mountain and Sea, returning it to a single, solitary Star.
"Perhaps only the Mountain and Sea, with its own profound self-awareness, could have created something like Dao Annihilation," Li Fan mused.
"In truth, even without the existence of the Void Realm's Dao Annihilation, the True God Finger's suppression made the Mountain and Sea's eventual fusion an unavoidable destiny. The problem was that, given the initial scale of the Mountain and Sea, the time required for a complete dissolution was simply too long. So long that even the Mountain and Sea grew impatient, fearing that some unforeseen variable might arise."
"And so, the calamity of the Void Realm and its Dao Annihilation was unleashed."
"As One Wishes was not the eye of a god, as I had once thought. It was a part of Sun Piao Miao that the Mountain and Sea stripped from him. With this piece missing, Sun Piao Miao was left with only a singular will, obediently carrying out the plan of encroachment and annihilation."
"After all, Sun Piao Miao's power was already an act of creation in itself. If he were to also gain the identity of the Lord of the Void Realm..."
"Even the Mountain and Sea would likely have to tread carefully."
"The scene before me is the best proof of that!"
Layers upon layers of Dao Annihilation vortexes intertwined, completely burying the Mountain and Sea, shrouding it from view.
Sun Piao Miao stood upon the crest of this great tide.
Above his head, the Star shone with increasing brilliance, constantly erupting with countless stellar flares.
Having been forcibly dragged into the script by Sun Piao Miao, the Mountain and Sea was no longer an untouchable entity.
Beams of starlight shot down in unison, like a thousand sharp swords plunging from the heavens.
Yet Sun Piao Miao did not dodge or evade. A ferocious, crazed look twisted his features.
As his body was savaged by the countless stellar rays, he became a bridge, sending the True God Finger into the celestial river of starlight above.
The Mountain and Sea could deceive the entire world, it could even deceive itself.
Outside the script, it might even have been able to deceive the True God Finger.
But now, both entities had been cast down into the mortal coil. They could no longer escape the suppression of the True God Finger.
It was just as the Mountain and Sea had foreseen countless years ago.
Within the endless radiance, it seemed as if billions of phantoms were overlapping one another.
The strange light slowly began to fade.
In its place appeared the sight of the Mountain and Sea merging, colliding, and shattering.
Endless, rolling mountain ranges; boundless, surging oceans.
The true form of the Mountain and Sea descended, manifesting within the Void Realm.
There could only be one Mountain and Sea.
The moment the real Mountain and Sea appeared, the actor it had created vanished in an instant, escaping the encirclement of Dao Annihilation.
It merged with its lost main body, becoming one.
The presence of the Mountain and Sea swelled in power. For a moment, it seemed to have returned to its strongest state after the great division, its mountainous roars and oceanic cries temporarily forcing the tide of Dao Annihilation to recede.
But...
This surge of power was merely an illusion.
The instant they were forced back into their original form, they once again began their so-called destiny of "fusion."
No matter how many eons they had fled, what was meant to be had finally arrived.
A fated end.
This time, it was no longer a rehearsal within a script. It was the true calamity of destruction, about to befall the Mountain and Sea itself.
The Lord of the Void Realm, Sun Piao Miao, witnessed all of this as if his great revenge had been realized. He looked like a madman, letting out a wild, unrestrained laugh.
Then, without any pause, the armies of Dao Annihilation answered his call, continuing their ravenous consumption.
Having returned from behind the curtain to the center stage, the Mountain and Sea, though its scheme had been foiled, was also in its most powerful state.
And Sun Piao Miao, having dragged the Star into the mortal realm and devoured half the Mountain and Sea, was at the height of his own power.
Both sides harbored irreconcilable hatred. Their confrontation could only end in death!
Compared to the battles between Dao Annihilation and the Mountain and Sea that Li Fan had witnessed in countless cycles, this battlefield was far more magnificent and intense.
Every single clash was comparable to the previous siege where the Void Realm had sealed off the living veins of the Mountain and Sea.
Both sides threw everything they had into the fray, seeking a swift conclusion, vowing to annihilate their foe.
To the Mountain and Sea, this mere tool, Sun Piao Miao, had not only betrayed them but had also ruined their grand plan for godhood. His crimes were worthy of ten thousand deaths.
As for Sun Piao Miao, he was once a Medicine King who saved lives, yet he had been forced to commit the act of annihilating all sentient beings. Every act of consumption was nothing short of torture. The calamity of the Mountain and Sea, a script spanning billions of years—he was truly trapped in an unending hell. This was a blood feud, an irreconcilable hatred.
When enemies meet, their eyes burn with rage.
The Mountain and Sea and Dao Annihilation fought without regard for their own expenditure, without considering future gains or losses.
They sought only one thing: the death of the other!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Mountain and Sea sank, plunging into the tide of Dao Annihilation, stirring up massive, oscillating ripples.
Veins of light and shadow roamed as the Mountain and Sea transitioned from illusion to reality, dispelling the boundless darkness.
It was as if a hundred billion years of conflict between the Mountain and Sea and Dao Annihilation had been compressed into a few short days.
The turmoil that erupted with every passing moment was incredibly violent.
Li Fan felt as though he were in a pool at the bottom of a ten-thousand-foot waterfall.
The sound of ten million giant drums beating simultaneously was deafening. Where the two forces collided, a low, deep hum resonated in the background.
The ripples were like colossal, surging waves, each one carrying the power to overturn worlds.
Faced with such a terrifying battlefield, the Dao of True False Transformation that shielded Li Fan felt like a flimsy straw raincoat in a hurricane, at risk of being blown away at any moment.
With Li Fan's current strength, if he were not protected by the Great Dao of Truth and Falsehood, death would have been instantaneous.
But he did not rashly use Return to Truth.
For one, at the most perilous point of the conflict, a sudden regression would undoubtedly draw the attention of both the Mountain and Sea and Sun Piao Miao, adding unnecessary risk.
And for another...
Li Fan still wanted to witness the return of that fallen True God!
"As fierce as this battle seems, it's nothing more than a caged beast's struggle," he thought.
"In the end, it doesn't matter who wins or who loses. It is unrelated to the final outcome."
"Since the Mountain and Sea's plan to break the stalemate has failed, all that awaits them is to return to the True God's destiny."
"The more ferocious their attacks become now, the more it reveals their own powerless rage."
Thinking this, Li Fan suddenly no longer found the masterminding Mountain and Sea to be so terrifying.
This great war seemed as though it would never end.
Yet, in the process, Li Fan could keenly sense that the scale of both Dao Annihilation and the Mountain and Sea was continuously shrinking.
And above them...
In the place where the Mountain and Sea had once stood apart, observing from the shadows, it felt as though some terrifying existence was stirring, awakening.
The deathmatch continued for an unknown length of time, but ultimately, the foundation of the Mountain and Sea proved superior.
Spurred on by the fate of imminent godhood, the true Mountain and Sea unleashed a host of divine abilities that Li Fan had never seen before.
A pure ideogram of the Mountain and Sea emerged: the mountains propped up its form, the seas proclaimed its infinitude.
Even in the process of their mutual fusion, numerous new creations sprang forth.
A range of indescribably magnificent mountains rose from the sea, seeming to carry an intent sharp enough to suppress infinity.
The ocean tides surged, rising without end, inverting the very space above.
...
It was clear that, in order to deal with the impending return of the True God, the Mountain and Sea had exhausted nearly every possibility, evolving methods to counter it, bringing all its means to bear.
Though he had reversed a segment of the Mountain and Sea's life and witnessed its journey from existence to nothingness once more as the Lord of the Void Realm, Sun Piao Miao still slowly began to falter against the endless new transformations evolved by the Mountain and Sea.
Eventually, he faded away, swallowed by the infinite images of the Mountain and Sea.
With all remnants destroyed, the victorious Saint should have been filled with soaring morale.
But the truth was, Li Fan could clearly sense a thread of fear from the Mountain and Sea before him.
When Sun Piao Miao was present, the Mountain and Sea could still suppress its inner terror with the unending deathmatch.
But now, its only enemy had vanished.
What the Mountain and Sea had to face next was that fallen True God.
Just as it had done in the past, the Mountain and Sea, still clinging to hope, attempted various methods of salvation.
It tried to halt the destiny of their fusion.
But the current Mountain and Sea was not the same one from the initial division.
It was a purified Mountain and Sea that had undergone several rounds of ravenous consumption.
There were no other living beings, no more scapegoats.
Ultimately, the Mountain and Sea could not avoid facing its destiny alone.
Another hundred billion years passed.
The Mountain and Sea transitioned from its peak to a gradual decline.
It continued to fuse and fade.
Beyond the Mountain and Sea, a speck of light had become faintly visible.
It was just as Sun Piao Miao had once recorded in his prophecy.
Like a lone star, like the eye of a god.
It hung high above, gazing down upon the Mountain and Sea with majestic authority.
The Mountain and Sea trembled before it.
Even in its final moments, it did not forget to struggle, a final act of desperation.
But it was all useless.
The instant the Mountain and Sea finally perished...
Li Fan, who had been observing everything, suddenly felt as if he had taken the place of the Mountain and Sea.
He was now directly facing the gaze of the True God!
Li Fan could even feel with perfect clarity his protective talisman, the Great Dao of Truth and Falsehood, groaning as if under immense pressure.
It felt as though it could shatter and fail at any moment.
It seemed that everything the divided entity had once devoured had now returned to the fallen True God.
Although the starlight remained but a single point, its power grew imperceptibly heavier, more profound.
The weight on Li Fan's shoulders grew greater and greater.
Even the Great Dao of Truth and Falsehood could no longer offer complete protection. His body began to dissolve into motes of dust, drifting toward the solitary point in the sky.
Only the resilient Great Dao of Truth and Falsehood was still struggling to hold on.
Even at this moment, Li Fan had not initiated Return to Truth, all to verify a single conjecture in his mind.
That was, did the Great Dao of Truth and Falsehood belong to the True God?
From the information he had gathered so far, every thing, every matter, every principle in the world originated from that fallen True God.
If the True God wished to revive, it would have to reclaim all that once belonged to it.
If the Great Dao of Truth and Falsehood was indeed once a part of the True God, then without a doubt, it too would be drawn into the point of light above as the True God's revival progressed.
While maintaining his own form, Li Fan observed the changes in the Great Dao he possessed.
The Mountain and Sea had fallen, but the True God did not descend immediately.
It seemed to be just one step away from revival, merely casting its brilliance, which grew ever more dazzling.
The radiance searched frantically, trying to find Li Fan's hidden tracks.
The brilliant light was blinding, filling his entire field of vision.
The stronger the radiance became, the more intense the pressure it emitted and the stronger its pull on Li Fan grew.
Finally, with a crisp cracking sound...
The Great Dao of Truth and Falsehood collapsed.
This was the moment Li Fan had been waiting for.
At the instant of its collapse, Li Fan was able to see the disintegration of Truth Realization.
The immortal palace of the Great Dao, built with the two pillars of "Truth to Lies" and "Lies to Truth" and filled with numerous other Daos, crumbled with a thunderous roar under the might of the True God.
The other Daos all returned like points of starlight to the soon-to-descend True God.
Only the Daos of Truth and Falsehood remained, struggling until the very end.
Yet, even between Truth and Falsehood, there was a difference.
The resistance of "Lies to Truth" was clearly weaker than that of "Truth to Lies."
In this perilous situation, it was "Truth to Lies" that desperately clung to "Lies to Truth," keeping Truth Realization from completely dissipating.
"So, it was as I first learned. All laws, all things, originate from the God."
Witnessing this scene, Li Fan let out a long sigh in his heart.
The connection between Truth and Falsehood was about to be torn apart by the True God. Li Fan dared not hesitate any longer.
He called upon Return to Truth in his mind.
A ray of light burst forth from both "Truth to Lies" and "Lies to Truth."
Its brilliance, its intensity...
In that moment, it seemed to overpower the celestial light from above.
"Truth to Lies" acted like an invisible hand, wiping away the vast starlight.
"Lies to Truth" was like a divine brush, repainting the faded Mountain and Sea.
In an instant, a billion years passed.
The world, which had become empty due to the True God's revival, was once again filled with life.
Li Fan returned to Anchor Point: Year 1!
Having escaped the True God's grasp several times now, Li Fan no longer felt fear or lingering dread.
He had gradually grown accustomed to it.
His expression was calm as he reviewed what he had seen in the previous life.
"The fallen True God and the Star that the Mountain and Sea became after its successful scheme... they are different after all."
"Of course, if not for a variable like me, the Mountain and Sea, having completed its plan, might have truly completed its ascension and become a God."
"But, because I possessed Truth Realization and privately held the Great Dao of Truth and Falsehood, which originated from the True God, the Mountain and Sea's transformation was incomplete. It could only ascend to a Star, not be called a God."
"I had previously conflated the Star and the God, simply because the power of either was so overwhelming, so intolerant of anything external. Their strength far surpassed that of all beings in the Mountain and Sea. Once they appeared, all life was utterly powerless to resist."
"I simply couldn't discern the difference between a Star and a God."
"I'm afraid that across the entire Mountain and Sea, I am the only one who knows the truth."
"The only thing lacking was Truth and Falsehood."
As his thoughts reached this point, Li Fan couldn't help but think of the Heavenly Net Emperor of the Primitive Immortal Realm.
He once believed that the Heavenly Net Emperor, leading the Immortal Realm to vanish without a trace, might have successfully transcended the Mountain and Sea.
But now, having faced the Star and the descending True God directly, he finally understood.
Everything was a preordained script of the Mountain and Sea. How could one possibly transcend it?
Beyond the script of the Mountain and Sea lay the true Mountain and Sea, lying in wait like a patient tiger.
"I fear the instant they broke away, they would have been destroyed, and then returned to the Mountain and Sea's script."
"The only thing the Heavenly Net Emperor could do..."
"Was to ensure that the nutrients from his own destruction, and that of the Immortal Realm, would be returned to the original living beings as much as possible."
"Perhaps that's why after the destruction of the Primitive Immortal Realm, the aptitude of all surviving beings improved."
Li Fan shook his head slightly. "The cage built from the words 'unrelated to the final outcome'... how could it be so easy to escape?"
"Even after countless cycles, armed with the Great Dao of Truth and Falsehood and having uncovered all the truths behind the curtain..."
"In the short term, I can't think of a way to break the cycle."
Li Fan frowned slightly, feeling for the first time that he was truly at his wit's end.
How could one possibly slay a god?
Could he rely on his own methods, creating countless Saints to attack it en masse?
Under the radiance of the True God, the Saints would merely melt away like ice and snow.
"They themselves originated from the True God. How could they possibly fight against it?"
"The fate of the Mountain and Sea has already proven this point."
"The fall of the God..."
Li Fan's gaze turned profound, looking beyond the Xuanhuang Realm, toward the very beginning of time.
"Perhaps, only by following in Sun Piao Miao's footsteps, by traveling to the moment of the God's division, can I catch a glimpse of the mystery behind the God's fall."
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