Chapter 1772: False Universe Survivor
"So, let us see who the final victor will be." Faced with the dead end declared by this world's True God, Li Fan's will did not waver in the slightest.
As his thoughts churned, billions of radiant lights flickered into existence around him like a sky full of stars.
They were the thoughts, feelings, and epiphanies of the avatars he had dispatched before.
It was as if he had personally relived the unending cycle of the Mountain and Sea countless times, mastering a different Great Dao in each life.
A divine brush seemed to paint across the void, and the once somewhat empty Hall of Daos grew ever more sacred and solemn, poised to reclaim its original form within the Mountain and Sea.
And standing above the Hall of Daos, the Transformation of Truth and Falsehood—the spectral image of Truth—grew more tangible, more real. One could even faintly discern the blurred features of a face within the silhouette.
It bore a strong resemblance to Li Fan, yet it was also a composite of the features of countless "Sons of Destiny."
But the most astonishing change was within Li Fan himself.
"I am only myself. Even after countless lifetimes in this cycle, I will not change in the slightest."
Yet, Li Fan remained unchanged by them.
The starlight, burning like torches, helped him perceive his own being within the empty darkness.
"This Hall of Daos is magnificent, dazzling. It might easily suppress the beings of the Mountain and Sea, but before that True God, it is utterly useless."
"Every Dao, every law in the Mountain and Sea originates from the True God. No matter how high one's cultivation, there is no escaping the calamity of returning to the God. If there is an exception... perhaps it is [Truth and Falsehood]."
"[Truth and Falsehood] is akin to the True God's innate divine ability, allowing it to persist through endless cycles. Therefore, everything in this place, even the God itself, cannot escape Truth and Falsehood."
"In other words, the God can be seen as the true wielder of [Truth]. But compared to an outsider like me, it cannot retain its memories through each reset."
"Despite this characteristic, I still cannot use the Transformation of Truth and Falsehood to slay the God."
"Zhang Fan and True Death Hidden both believe me to be the master of the Great Dao of Truth and Falsehood. In truth, the only one qualified to be called its master is the [God]. A God without the Dao of Truth and Falsehood cannot be called a True God; it would merely be a God-Becoming Guest, born of an accident."
"[Truth] and the True God cannot coexist in the same world. If I could prevent [Truth] from returning to the God, I could in fact prevent the True God's advent. But alas..."
"It cannot be done."
Li Fan couldn't help but recall the final moments of every Mountain and Sea cycle.
All things returning to the God was the ultimate fate of the world. Once that trend was set, not even [Truth and Falsehood] could escape it.
"So it seems my previous deductions were correct. The only one who can slay the God is me. But before, I had no concrete idea how. Now, however..."
Li Fan's gaze fell upon "Zhang Fan" in the remnants of the Mountain and Sea.
"Perhaps... this is the key to breaking the stalemate."
...
"Did you find anything?"
The voice of True Death Hidden, sounding from beside him, jolted Zhang Fan from his momentary daze.
In the instant their eyes had met, upon witnessing those overlapping, phantasmal figures, Zhang Fan's mind had completely lost its way.
It was as if he had drifted into a dream.
He seemed to have experienced countless bizarre and fantastical events, but now, upon waking, he had forgotten every single one.
Only the two superimposed figures remained, like inescapable specters, flashing before his eyes and sending a chill through his entire body.
He relayed the vision to True Death Hidden, who also fell into a deep contemplation.
But the Mountain and Sea was not granting them much time.
The Tree of Truth and Falsehood had already withered, and the great tide of Dao Annihilation surged forth once more with ravenous fury.
The Mountain and Sea collapsed; the end of days had returned.
This time, there would be no looking back, no second chances.
Everything in the world was hurtling inexorably toward its predestined end. True Death Hidden seemed to have made a decision.
"It's time to have a talk with some old friends."
"Follow me."
A pale light enveloped Zhang Fan, and in a flash, they traversed the fractured Mountain and Sea.
They arrived at a peculiar location.
The deepest reaches of the Infinite Sea, the very foundation upon which the Mountain and Sea was built.
If the Mountain and Sea had tangible rings of age, this place would be the very first one to appear.
An ancient, primordial aura flowed freely.
But by now, even the most fundamental logic of the Mountain and Sea was beginning to crumble.
Yet here, a silver light shone with a distinct luminescence.
True Death Hidden led Zhang Fan onward, flying at extreme speed into the silver radiance.
In that moment, Zhang Fan felt as if he had returned to the sanctuary world where the Fishing Old Man and the other God-Becoming Guests resided.
The oppressive weight of the final return to the God vanished in an instant.
Zhang Fan tried to observe this world, only to find that even with his current power, his divine sense was suppressed.
He could only make a rough assessment.
It was boundless and vast, without end. Its scale seemed to be no less than that of the current Mountain and Sea.
But there were no worlds, no living beings—only an empty, desolate universe.
It seemed to exist independently of the Mountain and Sea; time itself was frozen here.
The final calamities of the Mountain and Sea could not affect this place in the slightest.
Even as the world outside faced its apocalypse, this realm maintained its eternal state.
"This is..." Zhang Fan was momentarily stunned.
"An old friend has come to visit. Why don't you show yourself!" True Death Hidden's voice echoed, lingering long in the void.
A figure materialized amidst faint ripples.
"We're all on the brink of death. What are you doing here?" The newcomer appeared to be a decadent man. He spoke listlessly, as if he had just been roused from a deep slumber.
"Hm? And who might this be with you...?" The moment he saw Zhang Fan, however, a sharp glint flashed in the decadent man's eyes.
Without another word, he reached out to grab Zhang Fan.
"To think that after searching high and low, you would deliver yourself right to my doorstep!"
Zhang Fan felt the eternal world around him vanish, or rather, it felt as though its entire weight was pressing down upon him.
His body and will were completely immobilized by the immense pressure.
He could only watch, helpless, as the man drew closer.
"Have you gone mad!"
True Death Hidden's sharp rebuke shattered the constraint.
Under the glow of the pale light, the eternal world reappeared, and the pressure vanished instantly.
"He's not the one we're looking for. This is merely a clone."
Hearing this, the decadent man's expression shifted several times.
He stared at Zhang Fan, scrutinizing him for a long while before he was finally convinced.
"To think such a variable exists..."
"This is bad."
The lazy aura surrounding the decadent man was swept away as his expression grew incredibly serious.
"Allow me to introduce you. This is False Universe Survivor," True Death Hidden said, gesturing to the man.
"Greetings, False Universe Survivor," Zhang Fan said with a clasped-hand bow.
He paid no mind to the man's earlier aggression. From what Zhang Fan could tell, the power he had just displayed was faintly superior to even that of True Death Hidden.
"That power... it must come from this eternal, empty world," Zhang Fan mused thoughtfully.
"Throughout the Unending Samsara, God-Becoming Guests are constantly awakening, and the measures they adopt are not always the same."
"False Universe Survivor attempted to weave an independent, void-like spacetime, hoping to escape the calamity of the Mountain and Sea's annihilation." Since False Universe Survivor showed no intention of speaking, True Death Hidden had no choice but to explain the origin of this world himself.
"Brother Jia's work is a masterpiece of creation, and he nearly succeeded. The Mountain and Sea may perish, but this realm will not. Even the ravaging Dao Annihilation tide cannot affect this place in the slightest. Unfortunately..."
"Ultimately, he cannot escape the fate of returning to the God," True Death Hidden sighed softly.
"Every Dao, every law in the world originates from the God, but not this void I have woven. If it were strong enough, it should be able to withstand the aftershocks of the True God's advent. However..."
"It can escape. I, on the other hand, cannot escape the calamity."
"If I cease to exist, this world will become like the moon in a mirror or a flower on the water. It can only endure for a brief moment before dissipating like a bubble," False Universe Survivor added with a sigh of his own.
"That is why I have always wanted to get close to the Great Dao of [Truth and Falsehood]."
"If I could obtain it, perhaps this world could be reborn, completely severing its ties to the True God of the Mountain and Sea."
"But the Great Dao of Truth and Falsehood is not something one can easily meddle with. If it chooses to hide, even our combined efforts would be insufficient to find a trace of it. I even recall brushing past it several times in numerous cycles. It was almost within my grasp, but in the end, it always slipped away."
"And in this lifetime, although ripples of Truth and Falsehood have appeared throughout the Mountain and Sea, they were all too weak. It was obvious at a glance that they were mere illusions created by the Great Dao of Truth and Falsehood, so I paid them no mind. Until I saw you..."
"It seems your comprehension of the Great Dao of Truth and Falsehood has reached a masterful level. You nearly deceived me," False Universe Survivor said, his gaze fixed intently on Zhang Fan.
Zhang Fan shook his head slightly. "Masterful is far from the truth. But perhaps it can be of some help to you, Senior, in weaving this world."
At this, False Universe Survivor's eyes lit up.
Zhang Fan looked out at the world once more, murmuring softly, "When the real becomes false, the false becomes real."
Mysterious ripples emanated from Zhang Fan's body.
A Tree of Truth and Falsehood seemed to sprout from between his brows, causing the ripples to spread with astonishing speed throughout this realm.
They echoed without end, sweeping across the entire world in an instant.
Although True Death Hidden and False Universe Survivor could not perceive the fluctuations of the Transformation of Truth and Falsehood, they could easily sense the changes occurring within this eternal world.
Undisguised joy filled False Universe Survivor's eyes. He clapped his hands and exclaimed, "Marvelous, simply marvelous! The Great Dao of Truth and Falsehood is indeed invisible and unknowable. But by using my [False Universe] as a medium, I might be able to imprint and record the various fluctuations caused by the transformation."
"This realm, besides myself, is an absolute void. In its primordial state, any subtle change becomes exceedingly obvious. With repeated attempts, we will surely be able to capture traces of the Transformation of Truth and Falsehood."
"Though they are only traces, and not the transformation itself. But..."
A glimmer of hope ignited in True Death Hidden's gaze. "Given time, we might be able to use the traces left by [Truth and Falsehood] to shape and evolve a version of Truth and Falsehood unique to this world!"
Zhang Fan paid no attention to their ecstatic remarks.
He was utterly focused, wielding the Transformation of Truth and Falsehood like a brush, painting upon the blank canvas before him.
True Death Hidden and False Universe Survivor could not see the changes, but he could.
And compared to deploying it within the Mountain and Sea, the Great Dao of Truth and Falsehood was undeniably clearer in this eternal, empty world.
The once elusive and mysterious Great Dao, stripped of all its complex manifestations, suddenly seemed simple.
With every moment he used Truth and Falsehood as his brush to write creation in this realm, Zhang Fan felt his comprehension of it multiply.
He was not doing this merely to help False Universe Survivor, but also for himself.
Formless ripples continued to resonate as all three became immersed in the process.
An unknown amount of time passed...
Boom!
A violent tremor jolted the three of them from their reverie.
True Death Hidden and False Universe Survivor exchanged a look. "It seems the Mountain and Sea has reached its end once again."
"There was too little time, not nearly enough to leave behind traces of Truth and Falsehood. Besides, we don't even know if these traces will disappear when the Mountain and Sea resets," False Universe Survivor lamented, his voice full of regret.
"Nevertheless, a glimmer of hope has appeared. It is worth fighting for."
True Death Hidden's tone was resolute. "We will stall for as long as we can."
With that, he transformed into a beam of pale light and burst out of the realm.
Zhang Fan ignored True Death Hidden's departure, continuing to concentrate on his inscription.
Through his relentless efforts, the formless [Truth and Falsehood] seemed to be gradually taking on a concrete shape.
Before long, True Death Hidden returned.
With him was a beam of purple light.
A grumbling voice accompanied it. "If you wanted to fight, you should have fought sooner! You only call me when you're knocking on death's door. What were you doing before!"
The voice belonged to a stooped, white-haired old man.
"Empty Daoist, enough nonsense! Help us protect the Dharma!"
"This is the only variable we have found after countless cycles. If we miss this opportunity, we may never find another!"
The stooped old man continued to mutter, but in the next instant, boundless, rosy clouds erupted from his body. Purple qi billowed like steam, seeming to flow from the east, filling the eternal, empty world.
"My accumulation of countless years!" Empty Daoist cried out, his heart aching.
True Death Hidden snorted coldly. "No matter how much you accumulate, it will all be lost when the Mountain and Sea resets."
"What the hell do you know! Though the Mountain and Sea resets constantly, the speed at which I condense purple qi grows faster each time. One day, I might be able to rival the God with this boundless purple qi. But in the past, I always ended my own life the moment the calamity of returning to God descended. By not seeing the God's face, I was less affected."
"Choosing to resist this time... I fear my past accumulations will be lost in a single day..."
"We have no choice! There is not much time left for us!"
At True Death Hidden's words, Empty Daoist fell silent.
He stopped his rambling, and his figure faded away, leaving only the boundless purple qi surging through the void.
Zhang Fan noticed that the purple qi had no effect on the eternal spacetime they were in; it only served to block the calamities from the outside world.
The canvas before him stabilized once more, allowing Zhang Fan to resume his work.
However, it was clear that the world outside had reached the final moment of the Mountain and Sea's destruction.
The purple qi was being consumed at a terrifying rate.
And the Transformation of Truth and Falsehood that Zhang Fan was executing began to show minute distortions.
It was as if the lines he wrote were repeatedly deviating from their intended course.
"This is..."
Almost instantly, Zhang Fan understood why.
"The True God appears, and Truth and Falsehood return to it."
His heart trembled, but he suppressed the shock and forced himself to continue drawing.
On the canvas, the Transformation of Truth and Falsehood grew more and more complete.
It was nearly identical to what he knew it to be.
But just as he was about to make the final stroke, Zhang Fan's hand froze abruptly.
For some reason, he could not bring himself to finish it.
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