Chapter 1776: A Taste of Divinity
The Mountain and Sea shatters, then returns to the Star. This is destiny, an immutable conclusion.
Even with the combined might of all the Saints, the tide could only be turned for a fleeting moment.
But all the God-Becoming Guests sought was to delay the inevitable for as long as possible.
Beyond creating enough time for the Eternal Silent Void Realm to nurture the Dao marks of Truth and Falsehood, they needed to find a fundamental solution to the final return to the Star.
The lifespan of the Mountain and Sea, though long, felt insufficient for the task.
From the dawn of the Mountain and Sea to the end of time, its history spanned a continuous one hundred and sixty billion years.
The number of fragments torn from it by the invading Dao Annihilation tide was in the millions.
Reconnecting even a single segment of the Mountain and Sea was a monumental undertaking that required the unified efforts of numerous Saints.
Yet, what had once seemed an impossible task progressed with surprising speed.
The God-Becoming Guests and the Saints of the Primal era oversaw the entire operation.
And so, the shattered Mountain and Sea, fragmented over a hundred billion years, was slowly, piece by piece, made whole again.
Even the Saints who had participated from start to finish found it incredible when they looked back on their achievement.
"I once scoffed at the very notion of reconnecting the Mountain and Sea," one remarked. "Now, looking back, it doesn't seem so difficult after all!"
"For all the Saints to work in unison, setting aside every conflict... That alone was a near impossibility. I can't help but wonder what those God-Becoming Guests are truly plotting."
"Ah, let it be. Thinking about it only brings more worry. We've been weary for too long. Once this is all over, I'm going to take a long, long rest."
"Soon," another agreed. "Very soon."
As everyone watched, the final fissure in the Mountain and Sea was sealed. A profound sense of relief washed over the Saints, but it was swiftly followed by a faint, unexpected sense of confusion.
For an eternity, their sole purpose had been to reconnect the Mountain and Sea. The goal had become so ingrained it was almost an instinct.
Now that the great work was finally complete, the Saints felt adrift, uncertain of what to do next.
The God-Becoming Guests had honored their promise.
The Cutting Fate Knife hanging over their heads slowly faded from view, its threat vanishing with it.
But then, the God-Becoming Guests vanished as if they had evaporated from the Mountain and Sea, leaving no trace behind.
Some of the Saints, weary of it all, sought out quiet corners of the Mountain and Sea to live in seclusion. Others, captivated by the power of the God-Becoming Guests, let their ambition guide them back to the Primitive Immortal Realm.
And still others, having grown accustomed to the company of mortals during the long restoration, chose to become ordinary people and hide themselves among the masses.
The Eternal Void World was no longer a realm of utter nothingness.
A magnificent, sacred hall now stood at its center.
The hall was boundless, a world unto itself.
Within its vast, unending space, every Great Dao stood in solemn array.
The God-Becoming Guests surveyed the great hall of Daos, nodding in approval.
"The Dao paths of every Saint in the Mountain and Sea have been collected within."
"In its current, whole state, the Mountain and Sea should hold for another ten billion years. After that, the Dao Annihilation will rise again, and the world will shatter once more," Array Breaker said slowly, his gaze seemingly piercing through the veil of reality to the dark tide that had been temporarily forced into retreat.
Zhang Fan continued, "When that time comes, I will use the power of Truth and Falsehood to erase the Saints. Then, with this hall of Daos, I will forge a new generation of Saints for the Mountain and Sea. And so, we can begin another cycle of reconnection."
Xuanyuan Tuo sighed. "We did make them a promise, after all. Forcing them again would inevitably lead to conflict. While subduing them would be simple enough, I fear they would not work with the same zeal as they did the first time."
"It is better to simply recreate them with Truth and Falsehood."
None of the other God-Becoming Guests disagreed; it was clear they all shared the same thought.
Having wielded the power of Truth and Falsehood for countless eons, their way of thinking had subtly, almost imperceptibly, changed.
They might have caught glimpses of this change themselves, but after mastering such absolute power, it was difficult to view other beings as their equals.
Furthermore, the vast majority of their collective energy was focused on confronting the final return to the Star.
They paid little mind to such minor details.
"The Dao marks of Truth and Falsehood are two-thirds formed."
"But the closer they get to completion, the slower their evolution becomes. It may take three times as long to fully manifest."
"No matter. It is merely another three cycles. We have already grasped the essence of the Saints. With the Great Dao of Truth and Falsehood, we can create new Saints for the reconnection at any time. Our only real concern is the Mountain and Sea itself."
An image of the vast, unending Mountain and Sea materialized before them.
In reconnecting the world, the Saints had left their footprints on every corner of the Mountain and Sea.
And through them, the God-Becoming Guests had seen it all.
As the true architects of this restored reality, they held nearly every inch of the Mountain and Sea in their grasp.
"The Mountain and Sea's return to the Star is destiny. An unstoppable fate."
"Though we have reversed it with force, with each cycle of rebirth and destruction, the backlash will grow ever more ferocious."
"Doubling in strength each time."
"Until... the Dao Annihilation appears, and the Mountain and Sea is devoured in an instant."
"Leaving us no time for a slow reconnection."
"Therefore, the time we have left is short indeed."
As the God-Becoming Guests watched, the image of the Mountain and Sea flickered through many transformations.
Then, a solitary star appeared, hanging high above the world.
"Fellow Daoist Fan, how go your preparations?"
"I have already mastered every existing Dao in the Mountain and Sea. I can replace it at any moment and ascend to the throne of a new god. The Star, the entity behind it all, is no match for me. My only concern... is the True God," Zhang Fan replied calmly.
"Therefore, we must still await the birth of the Dao marks of Truth and Falsehood."
Hearing this, the God-Becoming Guests all nodded slowly.
Over the years, as Zhang Fan's power had grown ever more profound, he had begun to drift away from the state of "Same Heart Same Virtue."
Even when he consciously tried to share his thoughts, his proximity to true divinity caused him to inadvertently vanish from their shared consciousness.
That was why his words felt incomplete.
Theoretically, the greater his power and the more thorough his preparations, the greater his confidence in slaying the True God should have been.
But in reality, the opposite was true.
Zhang Fan had lost count of the times he had simulated the events following the Star's destruction.
But the result was always the same: "Nothing."
No victory. No defeat.
It was as if, upon destroying the Star, he himself would simply vanish into thin air.
This bizarre outcome left Zhang Fan deeply perplexed.
He was now, without a doubt, the being closest to divinity in the entire Mountain and Sea.
And because of that, he understood more clearly than ever the sheer power of the True God.
"It's not enough."
A fleeting sense of powerlessness arose in his heart, though he quickly suppressed it.
In all these years, he had come to understand why his original self had scattered his clones across existence, seeking a way to break the deadlock.
It was because he had exhausted every possibility and found no answer.
"But I am not him."
Zhang Fan extinguished all stray thoughts.
"What he could not achieve, I just might!"
"Slaying the god..."
His gaze swept over the spectral image of the Mountain and Sea, yet it was as if he were seeing the real thing. In his heart, he made a decision.
...
Just as the God-Becoming Guests had predicted, after ten billion years of stability, the Dao Annihilation struck again.
The Mountain and Sea fractured, and the Saints were shaken beyond words.
As they witnessed the familiar scene, memories of the past came rushing back like a tide.
"Don't tell me they're going to drag us back to reconnect the Mountain and Sea again?"
"Damn it all! I'd rather die than obey this time!"
"Hmph! The God-Becoming Guests may be strong, but we are not without power. If they try to force us again, then..."
But while the Saints were still wavering, Zhang Fan's will enveloped the entire Mountain and Sea.
"Truth becomes falsehood."
The words were spoken with detached calm, carrying no emotion.
A moment later, the existence of every Saint was erased.
Not a single ripple was left behind.
"Fellow Daoist Fan's comprehension of the Great Dao of Truth and Falsehood has grown even more profound," the Fate Slayer Lord praised.
The Mountain and Sea, suddenly bereft of its Saints, was like a cargo ship that had lost its ballast. Battered by the waves of Dao Annihilation, it began to list precariously, threatening to be submerged at any moment.
"Falsehood becomes truth!"
Zhang Fan's cold voice echoed across the Mountain and Sea once more.
And then...
Figures began to appear one by one, dotting the expanse of the world.
Including the Primitive Immortal Realm.
Just as before.
These newly created Saints seemed completely unaware of what had transpired.
They remained immersed in the memories and behaviors of their past lives.
"Let's go. Time to round them up again," the Fate Slayer Lord sighed.
The Fishing Old Man felt none of his initial excitement, merely following in silence.
Soon, the great work of reconnecting the Mountain and Sea began anew.
But this time, none of the Saints—save for Zhang Fan and the God-Becoming Guests—knew that this was the second time they had undertaken this arduous task.
"Mountain and Sea... the Great Dao... Truth and Falsehood..."
Having accomplished this monumental feat, Zhang Fan felt no strain.
He was merely observing the strange sensation welling up within him.
"Is this... what it means to be a god?"
A peculiar light flickered in the depths of his eyes.
After that, Zhang Fan grew ever more silent and withdrawn.
He seemed to be immersed in a state of secluded contemplation, only occasionally informing the other God-Becoming Guests of their general progress.
The Mountain and Sea soon underwent its second cycle.
Reconnection, a period of peace, and then, destruction once more.
This time, the world remained whole for five billion years.
"Truth becomes falsehood!"
"Falsehood becomes truth!"
The God-Becoming Guests repeated their task.
A new cycle began.
But this time, a numbness had begun to creep into their hearts.
They felt no emotion, only the mechanical repetition of their duty.
...
And so it went, cycle after cycle.
With each turn, the backlash from the Dao Annihilation grew stronger.
The final limit predicted by the God-Becoming Guests—the moment the Dao Annihilation would appear and devour the world instantly—was fast approaching.
Within the Eternal Silent Void Realm.
"It's just the final sliver... why won't the marks of Truth and Falsehood complete their gestation?"
The usual calm was gone from the faces of the God-Becoming Guests.
The Dao marks had been on the verge of birth for a long time.
But for some reason, they had become stuck, making no further progress.
Even after three full cycles of the Mountain and Sea, there had been no change.
It made the God-Becoming Guests begin to doubt.
Could their plan truly succeed?
"Fellow Daoist Fan, what is your decision?" the Fate Slayer Lord asked.
His tone was uncharacteristically cautious.
Zhang Fan was not physically present, but the Fate Slayer Lord knew that the mere mention of his name would reach him.
Over the years, Zhang Fan's presence had grown increasingly ethereal, much like the elusive Great Dao of Truth and Falsehood itself—truly existing, yet not manifest in the world.
Their "Same Heart Same Virtue" connection had become a mere formality.
Zhang Fan's phantom image remained, but they could no longer perceive any of his thoughts.
After a moment, Zhang Fan's voice resounded in their minds.
"We have already done all that can be done. The Dao marks of Truth and Falsehood remain unborn..."
"This world, while called the Eternal Void, is not truly independent. A faint connection to the Mountain and Sea remains, a legacy of the False Universe Survivor. To truly birth these marks, we must sever all ties to the outside, banishing this realm beyond the Mountain and Sea."
"It is our only chance."
The God-Becoming Guests understood what he meant.
After a moment of silence, one spoke with a voice of resignation, "We have done all we can. Now, we leave it to fate. We have done enough."
"So be it," was Zhang Fan's one-word reply.
In the next instant, within the Eternal World, the bodies of the God-Becoming Guests dissolved into thousands of motes of light.
Like embers, they drifted upward, converging on a single point.
Then, the same began to happen to the entire Mountain and Sea.
It was as if an invisible fire had descended, silently consuming everything within it.
There was no pain, no awareness.
In a profound silence, the Mountain and Sea vanished, its creatures were extinguished, and its Saints ceased to be.
All the points of light, all the dying embers, flowed to a single destination:
Zhang Fan.
He now fully understood the thinking of his original self.
To face the True God while trying to preserve the Mountain and Sea... it was utter nonsense.
"Only by gathering everything into myself..."
"...is there a sliver of a chance for victory."
A flicker of doubt crossed his mind.
To be honest, even now, he could not see a clear path to victory against the True God.
But the arrow was already on the bowstring; it had to be loosed.
The Mountain and Sea was completely devoured by Zhang Fan.
The void, left without even a scrap, erupted in fury.
It had utterly failed the mission given to it by the [Star]. An endless tide of Dao Annihilation surged toward Zhang Fan.
But then, strangely, the tide itself fell into disarray.
It seemed the void itself was perversely anticipating this outcome.
Zhang Fan, of course, knew the reason.
"Sun Piao Miao..."
"I will grant you release."
"You were, after all, once a part of the Mountain and Sea. An indispensable part."
The nothingness of the void was a child's toy compared to the power of [Truth and Falsehood].
Wherever his will extended, the void was erased.
Or rather, it was returned to the state of Fan.
With both the Mountain and Sea and the void gone, the stage they had formed shattered.
And the one behind the curtain was finally revealed.
In an instant, endless starlight rained down upon existence.
In this familiar scene, Zhang Fan felt an infinite rage pressing down from above.
Under the starlight's glare, even the Great Dao of Truth and Falsehood trembled.
But Zhang Fan only snorted. "You coward hiding in the shadows, you dare compete with my brilliance?"
He made no move to evade the cascading starlight.
Instead, his form expanded infinitely, absorbing it all.
Within the light, he felt countless chaotic, frenzied thoughts and an immeasurable number of fractured images.
The images themselves had no real meaning; they were merely echoes of pasts from the world's endless cycles of reincarnation.
Yet each one carried the full weight of the Mountain and Sea, colliding with his consciousness upon contact.
Zhang Fan sat alone, looking up.
He felt as if every star in the universe was falling toward him.
The Zhang Fan who had just consumed his original self would never have been able to withstand such a terrifying assault.
But now, after countless cycles of the Mountain and Sea, having devoured everything, he could bear it all with ease.
"As I said, the so-called [Star] is no match for me."
"My only concern is, and has always been, the True God."
The stars that filled the sky began to dim.
Zhang Fan waited in silence for the final moment to arrive.
(End of this chapter)
Comments