Chapter 1781: The End
Chapter 1781: The End
When the True God appeared, all decay, all clamor, receded into nothingness.
The True God awakened, standing immense within the darkness.
Everything returned to its original state.
Save for the God, nothing else remained.
It seemed unsurprised by Its own return.
It simply resumed Its inherent mission.
It walked with faltering steps through the darkness, seeming to search intently for something.
The darkness was so profound that even a God found the passage arduous.
Gradually, the God decayed.
Yet the God remained indifferent to Its own impending demise.
There was even a hint of anticipation.
After the God was completely consumed by the darkness, an unknown eternity passed.
A glimmer of light flared, and the God re-emerged from the void.
This was the [True False Transformation].
The newly awakened God stood vacant for a moment, as if trying to recall something.
Soon, It sensed that something was wrong.
Things had not unfolded as It had anticipated.
And...
Something was missing.
The God's gaze instinctively turned toward the darkness.
But found nothing.
Just then, a voice suddenly echoed in the God's mind.
“Are you looking for me?”
It was Li Fan!
...
The perspective shifts back to the moment Zhang Fan used True Death Hidden, False Universe Survivor, the Fishing Old Man, the Fate Slayer Lord, the Array Breaker, the Forgetful Old Man, and others as kindling to ignite the flame of the True False Transformation.
In the world of the [God Punishing Variation].
Li Fan sat cross-legged in the void, seeing all that Zhang Fan saw, comprehending all that Zhang Fan comprehended.
His left eye was also silver-gray, his right a deathly white.
The landscape of the Mountain and Sea, which had been but a single stroke from completion, was perfected in an instant.
“What a massive boost!”
“The God-Becoming Guests are all extraordinary. Their insights transcend the Mountain and Sea, touching the very shadow of the God. They can even retain some memories through the cycles of [Truth]. If I had tried to seize their power by force, it would have meant a bitter fight.”
“But this way, they offered up everything willingly, without me lifting a finger!”
“All for a sliver of hope, as fleeting as smoke...”
“Hmph!”
“This, then, is the reward for my ingenuity.”
My true self and my clone, enlightened simultaneously. All things became void, the Mountain and Sea dissolved, and the True God was about to return.
There was little time left for Li Fan.
In a single instant, a billion thoughts flashed through his mind. His silver-gray and deathly white eyes seemed to pierce through countless cycles of reincarnation, through endless ages.
He saw the only path to victory.
His gaze returned, turning to the phantom of [Truth] that floated silently before him.
“For countless cycles, you have been my boon, the system that resided within me.”
“Now, it's time to switch places.”
Li Fan smiled faintly.
The phantom of [Truth] rippled gently.
It wasn't a response to his words. The pull of the True God's return was growing ever stronger, so much so that even the power of [True False Transformation] struggled to maintain its form.
It was like talking to a wall, but Li Fan didn't mind.
If [Truth] had suddenly developed a will of its own and spoken, he would have had to change his plans.
“The so-called [Truth] originates from the divine power of the True God.”
“The [True False Transformation] is the very cornerstone of the God's existence. Without it, even the True God would be annihilated in this endless, silent darkness.”
“But with this power, the True God can be reborn from destruction time and time again.”
“However...”
Li Fan gazed at the True God in the darkness, whose form seemed to grow more menacing by the moment.
“Each of the God's rebirths is unlike my [Truth].”
“It's more akin to a factory reset.”
“The Great Dao of the [True False Transformation], the cornerstone of the God's existence, is simply too powerful. Not even the power itself, nor the True God, can escape its effects.”
“The True God, like the God-Becoming Guests of the Mountain and Sea, cannot escape the reset.”
“At most, only vague memories remain.”
“Eternal and indestructible, yet trapped in an Unending Samsara.”
“The True God wanted to break free from this fate. Hence my arrival—an outsider. That was the beginning of everything.”
“Fortunately, it was not I who first endured the torment of endless cycles, but another: the one they called [Good Fan].”
“Though captured, Good Fan found himself trapped in the Mountain and Sea. Unaware of the greater truth, he saw only the apocalyptic ruin of the world and, driven by his nature, sought to [save it]...”
At this thought, Li Fan snorted.
“And he actually did it, step by step. Wielding the [Divine Blessing], he comprehended the [True False Transformation] and created [Truth]. He turned the tide against impossible odds. But it was only after his arduous struggle to repel the Dao Annihilation and save the world that he discovered the truth. The conflict between the Mountain and Sea and the Dao Annihilation was merely a play, orchestrated by the true entity of the [Mountain and Sea] in its quest for godhood.”
“This was what I had deduced of Good Fan's experiences. But...”
“...it wasn't the full story.”
“With a single thought, [Truth] could reset the world. Good Fan's mastery of the [True False Transformation] was absolute.”
“The entity of [Mountain and Sea] was no match for him.”
“There was one last part of the story, hidden not in my mind, but within...”
“...[Truth] itself.”
“Before I comprehended the [True False Transformation], I was myself, and [Truth] was [Truth]. But after...”
“...[Truth] is me, and I am [Truth].”
Li Fan reached out, attempting to touch the phantom of [Truth].
The constantly rippling form suddenly seemed to find an anchor, stabilizing for a moment.
Then, like snow melting into water, it merged with Li Fan, becoming one.
“The [True False Transformation] originally belonged to the True God.”
“But now that I have comprehended it, I can merge with it perfectly.”
“This is because...”
“Good Fan... was once the True God!”
In a flash, Li Fan made his decision.
“Just one final arrangement,” Li Fan thought, a playful smile touching his lips as he looked down at Zhang Fan, who was about to awaken from his epiphany and charge him.
With a flick of his finger, a body nearly identical to his own materialized from thin air.
Its eyes ignored Li Fan, fixing only on Zhang Fan below, silently awaiting his arrival.
“You can be the 'true self' for now,”
Li Fan thought.
Then, no longer resisting, he softly chanted the words eternally inscribed upon the panel of [Truth]: “Truth to lies, reality to dream.”
His form, along with the phantom of [Truth], began to fade.
Until they vanished completely.
Before his consciousness was devoured by darkness, he vaguely heard the shout of his 'true self'.
“Return at once!”
After that, it was as if Li Fan lost all independent thought.
He operated like a machine, becoming the Great Dao of the [True False Transformation], silently observing Zhang Fan's struggle.
He fulfilled the duties of [Truth].
Until now.
Zhang Fan fell, his life ending in the final return to the God.
The True God awakened, only to decay and perish once more.
Everything returned to the first anchor point.
Not Li Fan's anchor point, but the True God's.
However, unlike the countless cycles of the past, this time there was another presence besides the True God.
Another consciousness, incarnated as the [True False Transformation], now existed in this moment!
The True God felt no anger at being deceived.
It merely observed the mutated Great Dao of the [True False Transformation] within Itself, as if Its gaze met Li Fan's.
Li Fan was unafraid.
A natural chasm exists between god and mortal.
Even though their gazes met, even though Li Fan had now become [Truth]—the God's own system—
—he could not comprehend what the God was thinking.
He only knew that Good Fan had also reached this point.
What came next was to usurp the host's position, to replace the True God.
By becoming [Truth], returning to the first anchor point, and escaping the cycle the True God had established, replacing the True God was no longer a distant dream, but a tangible possibility.
He had no need to fear the surrounding darkness; the True God would fend it off.
And what Li Fan had to do next was...
...to claim the True God for himself, step by step.
At this moment, Li Fan finally understood why Good Fan, having come so far, had chosen to give up.
“Having become [Truth], I am now invincible.”
“From now on, I just have to continue this process, consuming and assimilating everything that belongs to the God. When I next return from the decay, the God will be gone, and only I will remain.”
“But...”
“To assimilate everything of the God means to completely devour every person, every event, every object, and every Dao I have ever known in the Mountain and Sea that the God created.”
“From Rinsing Moon Bai, to Kou Hong, Dao Xuanzi, Xiao Heng, Zhang Haobo, and He Zhenghao; from Su Bai, the Dharma Spreader, and Tian Yi, to Shou Qiu, Lian Shan, Gui Hai, and Saint Tai Yi; from the Fishing Old Man and the Fate Slayer Lord to Xuanyuan Hong...”
“The Great Xuan Kingdom, the Xuanhuang Realm, the Primal Possibility, the Other Shore, the Mountain and Sea, the Eternal Silent Void Realm.”
“Anyone I assimilate... when the cycle of the Mountain and Sea begins anew, they will cease to exist. They will be gone forever.”
“There might be someone with the same name, but it would not be them. It would be just another one of my avatars.”
“...”
“To slaughter all life to achieve my own existence.”
“No wonder [Good Fan] refused.”
“But...”
“He would not do it. But I will!”
Li Fan's will was as resolute and cold as iron.
It was destined to be an impossibly long road.
In each cycle, he could assimilate only one person, one Dao, or one thing.
But once something was consumed and converted by Li Fan, it no longer belonged to the God.
It belonged to Li Fan, utterly and completely.
This remained true even when returning to the God's first anchor point.
It was like ants moving a mountain; though the Mountain and Sea was vast, a day would come when it was hollowed out.
And with the first anchor point in place, the True God could not even choose to end Itself.
Even if It chose mutual destruction, It would simply return to that fixed moment in time.
The True God appeared unharmed, but inside, It was slowly changing.
“Then let the cycle... begin again.”
Li Fan's will crashed against the True God's.
The newly born God fractured once more.
The Mountain and Sea began to rise, and the cycle appeared anew!
“Fan'er...”
When the familiar voice of Rinsing Moon Bai sounded in his ears once more, Li Fan opened his eyes.
Meeting his gaze, Rinsing Moon Bai started, taking several involuntary steps back in fear.
“Fan'er, what's wrong with you...?”
Li Fan's expression was calm. “Aunt, my redemption... begins with you.”
Rinsing Moon Bai's body froze instantly.
“Truth to lies, reality to dream...”
The phantom voice echoed, lingering in the air.
Li Fan's form dissolved completely within the Mountain and Sea.
All that remained was an existence named 'Rinsing Moon Bai,' who was, in truth, Li Fan.
“I become [Truth]. I become Shuyue. I become all things.”
“In truth, there is no difference.”
'Rinsing Moon Bai' looked out at the Mountain and Sea beyond the Xuanhuang Realm, took a single step, and began Li Fan's cycle of devouring the God.
The God's demise was inevitable.
But when the God re-emerged from destruction, something had changed.
Besides the [True False Transformation], another part of the God's being was now stained with the color of Li Fan.
Though insignificant compared to the entirety of the God, it signaled a certain, inevitable end.
The cycle began anew.
In the endless, profound darkness, the God was born and died, again and again.
Like a lamp flickering on and off.
Even if each flicker lasted for hundreds of billions of years, on a long enough timeline, that immeasurable span was but an instant.
When the Mountain and Sea once again faced its final return to the God, the entire world fell into a bizarre state.
Calamity was imminent, yet not a single living being, not a single Dao, showed any fear.
Instead, they were all lost in a kind of daze.
Then the confusion faded, replaced by a feverish zeal.
Countless beings, all the Daos, roared in unison: “It is time! It is time!”
The calamity continued, and all things returned to the God!
Only this time, the returning True God had a new identity.
Li Fan.
An eternity had passed since that first cycle of devouring the God.
So long, in fact, that after finally achieving his goal and replacing the God, Li Fan stood vacant for a great while.
Only then did he recall the past.
There was neither sorrow nor joy in his heart, only an unnatural calm.
“So this is what it means to be a God...”
The moment he became a God, his perception changed entirely.
It was as if his eyes had adjusted; the world was no longer utter blackness, and he could faintly make out his surroundings.
But even with the darkness lessened, there was nothing else in existence besides him.
Empty, vast, and boundless.
Having achieved his ultimate goal, Li Fan found he no longer knew what to do.
He possessed the [True False Transformation], and his will could even override it.
This allowed him to ignore the threat of the profound darkness and the decay of his divine body.
He could exist forever.
But he was the only one who existed.
With no one for company and nothing to be said.
He stood alone in the darkness, wandering without purpose.
“This...”
“Is this the eternal life I pursued for so long?”
Li Fan was silent.
Time continued to flow.
In the darkness, the light that was Li Fan had flickered on and off for trillions upon trillions of cycles.
Finally, Li Fan could bear it no longer.
“How utterly boring...”
After a long sigh, Li Fan gazed into the distance.
After a long while, he made a decision.
With a single thought, the Mountain and Sea—gone for so very long—reappeared at last!
Only this time...
...it was different from the Mountain and Sea of old.
There was no longer the threat of the Unending Samsara, nor the scourge of Dao Annihilation from the void.
He remade every cycle he had ever experienced.
But in all of these new worlds, there was no trace of Li Fan.
And so.
Within the Heavenly Profound Mirror, the fractal of Tian Yi stared into the emptiness before it, bewildered.
Outside the Xuanhuang Realm, the true Tian Yi, who had been racing at incredible speed, also stopped in confusion.
He paused, stunned, realizing he could no longer remember why he had been trying so desperately to return to the Xuanhuang Realm.
It was as if he had forgotten something of the utmost importance.
...
Clad in a long black robe, Tian Yi stared at his empty hands, a flicker of confusion in his eyes.
He looked back at the long trail of destruction in his wake, his brow furrowed.
In a single thought, his consciousness swept across the Darkest Star Sea.
His divine sense paused for a moment as it passed over the True Immortals meditating within the Immortal Ruins.
A flicker of hesitation crossed his face before he reached out and lifted the skeletal Hunger Immortal.
He flew beyond the High Wall, crossing the long, empty passage.
And as he reached the end and looked out...
...Tian Yi's body went rigid. His hand holding the Hunger Immortal fell slack.
He stood frozen.
When he had arrived, the Dao Annihilation had filled the sky. But now, for some reason, it was gone!
...
The Saints of the Mountain and Sea, who had been anxiously pursuing [Truth], suddenly felt a wave of confusion.
After a moment, they recovered, only to be struck with astonishment. “Where is the Xuanpin Dao? Why has it vanished without a trace?”
Only Xing Fu showed a peculiar light in his eyes.
He frowned, thinking to himself in confusion, “Truth... Realization?”
“What is [Truth]?”
...
It wasn't just the Mountain and Sea.
Li Fan also created a personal playground for the Dao Annihilation of the void and for the Star.
Separated from the Mountain and Sea, never to meet.
The Star, like a newborn sun, pierced the darkness. A ray of its light reappeared, shining upon the world.
But the starlight lasted only for a moment before it seemed to sense Li Fan's gaze.
Its brilliance dimmed, too frightened to show itself any further.
...
“Hahahaha, interesting! How interesting!”
The joy he had not felt in eons finally returned.
Li Fan felt a happiness he hadn't experienced in a very, very long time.
“As the saying goes, achieving greatness without returning home to show it off is like wearing fine clothes in the dead of night. Who would ever know?”
“Becoming a God all alone... how utterly boring!”
“I want my name to be known across all the boundless seas of existence!”
Though with his current power he could change anything with a single thought, that would be no fun. He wanted to do it himself!
With his hands clasped behind his back, proud and content, Li Fan stepped into the newborn Mountain and Sea.
But in that instant, he froze.
He looked at the world before him, teeming with life, free from the threat of destruction. He saw the familiar faces within.
Suddenly, the image of Good Fan flashed before his eyes.
A realization dawned on him. “I schemed against Zhang Fan, but Good Fan would never scheme against me.”
“He knew that if I succeeded, my nature would never allow me to endure the endless, torturous darkness. Whether for amusement or out of sheer boredom, I would eventually bring this world back into existence.”
“Perhaps this was...”
“...the last act of kindness he left for this world.”
(The End)
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