Chapter 1761: All Saints Enter the Net
Without a word, the instant Snare sensed Li Fan, it unleashed its full might.
It was as if Li Fan had been ripped from the Primitive Immortal Realm and plunged into a colossal web, one Snare had spent untold ages weaving.
Innumerable fine threads and shadows crisscrossed, their surfaces laden with heaps of shattered bones and legions of resentful souls. They all wailed themselves hoarse, surging toward Li Fan in a unified tide. Countless hands stretched out, trying to drag him down among them.
To have even a trace of themselves remaining after being devoured by Snare spoke to the formidable power of these souls. In a later age of the Mountain and Sea, they might have even possessed the transcendent strength to traverse the Dao Annihilation calamity. But here, in the Primitive Immortal Realm, they were nothing more than a meal for the Saints.
The combined assault of these legions of transcendent souls would have given even the other Saints of the Primitive Immortal Realm a moment's pause.
Caught within the web, Li Fan simply stood frozen. He made no move to dodge or evade the endless assault of resentful souls, appearing to have abandoned all resistance.
Instead of triumph, Snare felt a jolt of alarm.
The prey was clearly helpless, yet Snare was overcome with the dangerous feeling of being targeted itself.
Countless tendrils of the web continued to coil around Li Fan.
Li Fan felt no urgency to give chase. Snare’s name was now recorded in the Dao Return Hall; within the bounds of the Mountain and Sea, it had nowhere to run.
"This web is excellent," Li Fan mused. "I can make use of it."
A cold glint flashed in Li Fan's eyes. Wherever his body touched the resentful souls of the web, a face materialized.
With a predatory grin, these faces turned and mercilessly devoured the souls.
In an instant, the roles of predator and prey were reversed.
The great web, the culmination of Snare's entire existence, seemed poised to change masters in a single moment.
A streak of light flashed, and wherever its ethereal radiance fell, Snare's minions were transformed into Li Fan's loyal servants.
In a matter of moments, Li Fan had seized control of the majority of the web.
But just then, Snare reappeared!
"You... you also know the Dao of the Snare?"
"No wonder you could assimilate my web so effortlessly."
Snare's eerie voice echoed from all directions, its source impossible to pinpoint.
Hearing the voice of their original master, the countless souls in the web first recoiled in instinctual fear, then began to show signs of struggling against Li Fan's control.
"Ignorant, greedy child! Did you truly think my creation could be stolen so easily?"
With a casual gesture, Li Fan quelled the unrest within the web. He narrowed his eyes, scanning the void, but Snare was already gone.
Yet, he sharply sensed an imminent danger.
"What is this..."
Li Fan, still within the web, felt a sudden, violent tremor.
A familiar sensation arose, emanating from the web's resentful souls and echoing in Li Fan's own heart.
It was as if they were now caught within another, even larger web.
"I see," Li Fan realized. "The visible web was merely a trap."
Unlike the bait, the threads of the true web were invisible and intangible.
Yet in an instant, they had already bound the prey within.
Beyond the darkness, an eye like a rising crimson sun slowly materialized.
It stared at Li Fan with utter indifference.
The gaze of a predator upon its inevitable catch.
A constricting force pulled from all directions, tightening its grip, making escape seem impossible.
The bait web that Li Fan had occupied was torn to shreds with ease.
And Li Fan, caught within, seemed doomed to the same fate.
Had Li Fan been an ordinary Saint, he would indeed have faced the peril of annihilation.
But...
Compared to the terrifying spectacle of the solitary Star descending to devour all existence, Snare's posturing was utterly devoid of threat.
"It matters not how many webs you have woven; it is futile."
"The doomed will meet their end."
Tightly bound by the invisible web, Li Fan's expression remained perfectly serene.
He took a single step forward, ignoring the restraints of every thread, and simply walked out of the web as if it wasn't there.
"Trying to flee?"
Li Fan's gaze sharpened, and he tapped his foot lightly.
Like ripples spreading across water, an identical copy of the web emerged from the point of contact.
It expanded rapidly, enveloping the original web.
Li Fan reached out, grasping at the empty void.
A disheveled figure was violently dragged into view.
Countless threads, dancing like dragons, instantly swaddled it completely.
"Impossible!"
Even in Li Fan's grasp, Snare's mind reeled with disbelief. It racked its brain, but could not fathom how Li Fan had reversed the situation in the blink of an eye.
And Li Fan, naturally, had no intention of explaining.
He pressed down with a slender finger, the motion traversing the void.
The Dao of Reality and Illusion activated instantly.
He wasn't erasing Snare's existence directly, but rather rendering it 'false' while simultaneously absorbing and comprehending its Dao.
In the Dao Return Hall, the character representing Snare began to grow distinct.
Meanwhile, in the physical realm, the aura of time condensed around Snare's form grew increasingly dim.
The Daos of the Saints in the Primitive Immortal Realm were all profound paths, tempered over millennia to rival the Mountain and Sea itself—remnants that the world's fragmented consciousness had yet to fully digest.
Even with the aid of his past memories and experiences, Li Fan could not master such a Dao in a short time.
Fortunately, this pocket of existence was self-contained, and the flow of time held little real significance.
Snare, too, was bound fast within the web, unable to move or struggle.
It could only submit to Li Fan's absorption and comprehension.
An unknown period passed before the cloak of light condensed around Snare’s form finally faded completely, revealing the Primeval Saint's true appearance to Li Fan.
It had the body of a spider and the face of a human, with tentacles that resembled human arms.
Millions of tiny eyes covering its body were now all fixed on Li Fan.
The hatred in those eyes was etched into its very being.
Li Fan's gaze fell upon one of Snare's eyes.
Like a snuffed flame, the eye vanished without a sound.
As Li Fan's gaze swept across its body, Snare's eyes vanished one by one.
The pace of their annihilation was steady and resolute.
At first, Snare managed to hold its furious glare.
But when only ninety or so eyes remained, its body began to tremble.
Finally, it looked away.
"Even an ant clings to life. How could a Saint of the Mountain and Sea be any different?"
"There is no shame in submitting to me."
Li Fan spoke not with mockery, but with a detached calm.
"You have two choices. The first is to perish completely, your body and Dao wiped from existence, leaving no trace in the Mountain and Sea."
"The second..."
"...is to become a spirit within my web. You will lose your freedom, but the future may yet hold a chance for you to turn the tables."
"A spirit in the web?" Snare repeated, startled by Li Fan's words.
Then, it saw the web that held it captive suddenly reveal its true nature.
Compared to the invisible web it had so painstakingly woven, this replica crafted by Li Fan was a dazzling, seven-colored spectacle.
It was as if all the Great Daos of the Mountain and Sea resided within it, brimming with endless life.
Snare knew with certainty that this was no illusion.
The web before it truly seemed to contain the weight of mountains and the breadth of seas.
Only then did Snare finally comprehend the insurmountable chasm that separated it from Li Fan.
"Our power may both be at the Saint realm, but his foundation..."
"But where did it come from?"
In the Primitive Immortal Realm, all the rivals knew each other intimately.
There was no one like Li Fan among them.
As it pondered, a creeping sense of nullification spreading through its body shattered its train of thought.
"I am willing to become a spirit in your web!" Snare cried out.
The pressure vanished.
A moment later, Snare's vision blurred, and it found itself inside a magnificent, boundless hall.
It was an endless expanse, its beginning and end lost to perception.
It saw countless Daos standing like pillars, traversing the high heavens.
Like bricks and tiles, they formed the very structure of this indescribable hall.
Even with its vast knowledge, Snare found itself nearly lost before such a sight.
However, driven by instinct, it flew toward its designated place.
[Snare].
Its mind was utterly calm; all its former schemes vanished. The moment it saw the shimmering character ahead, Snare understood that this was the seat of the Dao it had cultivated for its entire existence.
With a single thought, it drifted inside.
The instant Snare took its place, a beam of light streaked from the heavens to the earth.
Then, it vanished completely.
...
When Snare opened its eyes again, it felt as though everything it had just endured was nothing more than a nightmare.
"Hm?" It froze, then quickly assessed its own condition.
"Nothing is missing. My Dao is completely unharmed."
"Could it have been an illusion after all?"
Snare's brow furrowed. Just then, it abruptly sensed a figure standing directly behind it.
It tried to turn, but found it could not move!
Only then did Snare fully understand that what it had just experienced was no illusion.
After such a dizzying turn of events, Snare had no choice but to accept its new reality.
"I may appear to be at my peak," it thought, "but my very existence is in this person's hands. My every move is subject to their will."
Snare could not perceive the exact method of this control, but it knew instinctively that if it ever tried to break free...
...it would perish in an instant.
In other words, Snare's very existence was now sustained by Li Fan's control.
If that connection were to disappear, Snare would fade into nothingness along with it.
"Such methods..."
As thoughts surged like a tide through its mind, Snare heard Li Fan's quiet voice.
"Do everything in your power to throw the Primitive Immortal Realm into chaos."
The words had barely faded when Snare felt itself back in the Primitive Immortal Realm.
The realm was as vast as ever, but Snare was no longer the same.
It quickly rallied its spirits and began to act on Li Fan's command.
The word "chaos" seemed simple enough.
But prefaced with "do everything in your power," its meaning became vastly different.
Not daring to delay, Snare chose its first target: the one it had plotted against for years, the Saint known as Tower.
Tower's Dao was one of hierarchy: that all things possessed a natural order, a clear distinction between high and low.
Tower sat at the apex of this order, and all other Daos were to be beneath it, suppressed by its might.
Snare and Tower had always been at odds.
Many years ago, at the critical moment of Snare's apotheosis into a Saint, Tower had launched a surprise attack, attempting to suppress it.
Fortunately, Snare possessed a measure of destiny's favor and managed to escape the calamity.
However, in the process, a sliver of its origin was captured and suppressed within Tower.
From that day on, Snare found itself naturally constrained in Tower's presence, its very being diminished. But this connection also allowed it to faintly perceive Tower's location.
For ages, Snare had schemed, laying intricate plans to deal with Tower.
But success had always eluded it.
Now, under another's control, its life and death were no longer its own. It might as well risk everything!
Snare deliberately feigned a grievous injury, hoping to lure Tower into taking the bait.
With the sliver of Snare's origin it had sealed away, Tower would be the first to sense its dire condition.
But the Saints had survived in the Primitive Immortal Realm for eons; all of them were exceedingly cautious.
The lure of such an injury was not enough to make Tower act rashly.
Steeling itself, Snare severed a third of its own origin.
And it deliberately made a grand display of it.
A shattered web materialized in the skies of the Primitive Immortal Realm.
Snare's voice echoed across the void: "If I ever get the chance for a comeback, I swear I will make you pay a thousandfold!"
Its tone was so venomous, it couldn't possibly be an act.
And the other Saints clearly sensed the gravity of Snare's wounds.
And so, they began to stir.
Just as Snare had predicted, Tower was the first to strike.
Using the sealed sliver of origin, Tower successfully pinpointed Snare's location.
Threads of power, like celestial pillars, descended from above.
They sealed the heavens and locked the earth, suppressing all within their grasp.
It was the same tactic used against Li Fan: the visible web was merely a trap.
The true killing blow was another, hidden web that Snare had meticulously woven over countless ages.
What puzzled Snare was that this true web could only be used once, and it had indeed been consumed in the previous battle.
Yet, after submitting to Li Fan, the web had somehow been restored to its original state.
The web blotted out the sky, leaping forth from the void.
It enveloped Tower, which seemed to pierce through heaven and earth.
The suppressed had become the predator.
Tower, however, showed no signs of panic.
"Your petty tricks are known to everyone in this vast realm," Tower's voice boomed.
"To think you would use them against me is laughable!"
"You are suited only for the shadows. The moment you emerge is the moment you die!"
Tower's mocking voice resounded through the Primitive Immortal Realm.
Though the web had coiled around Tower, a brilliant light flowed across its form. In an instant, it had taken on the exact appearance of the web itself.
It became as if it were a part of the web. Snare could devour others, but it could not devour itself.
An endless, irresistible suction emanated from within Tower.
The meticulously woven web began to fall uncontrollably into Tower.
"What Tower seized back then was merely a sliver of my origin. In all these years, it has studied it to such a degree that it can almost perfectly impersonate me!" Snare thought in dismay. "I was always plotting against it... but was it not also plotting against me?"
A flicker of understanding passed through Snare's mind just before its consciousness faded.
But surprisingly, Snare felt little fear of its impending demise.
"Better to vanish and be truly free than to be forever controlled by another," it thought.
"As for you..."
A final, vicious thought flashed through its mind.
The great web instantly disintegrated, its form dissolving into a pure, explosive burst of energy.
Darkness swallowed Snare.
...
"Hm?"
After an unknown time, Snare awoke from the darkness once more.
"What happened? Am I still alive?"
Snare was stunned. Bewildered, it quickly checked its condition.
It was back to its peak state.
"Was that... just an illusion?"
But Snare quickly dismissed the thought.
Because now, the first signs of chaos were already appearing in the Primitive Immortal Realm.
Although Tower had successfully devoured Snare, Snare's final, desperate strike had also wounded Tower severely.
One Saint dead, another injured.
It was a situation the Primitive Immortal Realm had not seen in a very long time.
As if sensing an opportunity, the other Saints began to harbor their own designs.
"I died. But how am I alive again?"
Just as Snare was wrestling with this confusion, Li Fan's voice sounded from behind it once more.
"Well done."
"But it is far from enough."
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