Chapter 1261: False and True

After casually eliminating Sun Luyao, Li Fan's clone remained silently standing in the mysterious space, his expression stern, lost in thought.

"Huanzhen, Huanzhen, Huanzhen..." he murmured repeatedly to himself.

The surrounding scenery blurred and dimmed.

A moment later, it brightened again.

"When the real is made fake, the fake is also real."

These seven characters, emanating a serene, seemingly eternal radiance, appeared before Li Fan.

This was a phrase that appeared every time he activated Huanzhen. After hundreds of cycles, he was already intimately familiar with it.

However, at this moment, in Li Fan's eyes, after discovering the deeply hidden secret of the Xuanhuang Realm's original world-protecting formation, these seven characters took on a completely different meaning.

"The fake is also real, the fake is also real..."

It was as if he had once again become Grand Tutor Li, who had once wielded absolute power in the imperial court.

When the very foundation of the world's reality was shaken and teetering on the brink.

After a long time, Li Fan once again let out a sinister, low laugh.

Each restart nourished him with endless variables born from the Xuanhuang Realm, the Darkest Star Sea, and even beyond the star sea.

Undeniably, the tip of the iceberg revealed by the original world-protecting formation showed Li Fan a certain possibility.

"Truth and falsehood, intertwined."

Regardless of whether he had truly fallen into such a predicament, Li Fan was immensely fortunate that the restart button, an immutable constant amidst infinite variables, had always remained in his grasp.

It was a chilling thought, difficult to accept.

Huanzhen could potentially transcend the Immortal Realm's arrangements for the lower realms, but it could also be part of a device left by the Immortal Realm.

When the boundary between reality and illusion could not be distinguished or verified.

The only thing to do was to tightly grasp the unmoving anchor.

Therefore, the key to solving the puzzle remained no different from the eternal freedom Li Fan had painstakingly pursued before.

"Who is real, and who is fake?"

But now, he considered that the additional variables beyond the high walls might have been intentionally displayed for the restructured world after Huanzhen.

The truth was hard to discern.

But...

"I am the only one!"

For the current Li Fan, this was an unverifiable existence.

Even though he had once tried to determine Huanzhen's precise scope of influence by guiding variables beyond the Darkest Star Sea.

"Yes, none of this truly matters. As long as I maintain control of the sole button, I am real!"

The madness in Li Fan's eyes gradually faded, and his gaze slowly regained its vibrancy from a complete blackness.

To achieve transcendence.

If he discovered any entity capable of contending with him for the button, he would simply eliminate them.

Once he found the ultimate truth of everything, the answers would naturally appear.

Now, for Li Fan, besides the two, Chuanfa and Tianyi, there was one more obstacle blocking his path forward.

An unknown entity, even more threatening, impossible to ignore, and urgently needing to be dealt with.

This was the mysterious person who had stolen the Nine-Star Red Pearl, one of the core components of the Xuanhuang Original World-Protecting Formation.

"The Nine-Star Red Pearl should contain all the characteristic information of the Xuanhuang beings before the world-protecting formation was destroyed. As long as the red pearl is in their possession, it shouldn't be difficult for them to deduce the same conclusions as me."

"Given such a vast power disparity, a wise person would first hide before finding a countermeasure."

"Alternatively, once they confirm the true destruction of the Immortal Realm, with divine artifacts in hand, they might inevitably develop unprecedented ambitions and secretly make other arrangements."

Li Fan's gaze swept across the empty core of the formation.

"Perhaps some clues could be gleaned from the other hubs of the original great formation."

However, with the Immeasurable Mirror Spirit destroyed, he lacked the ability to continue his investigation.

He would have to wait until the next cycle.

Li Fan's clone shook his head slightly, and his form transformed into a black streak, departing from underground.

***

Sun Family Secret Chamber.

An inexplicable sadness suddenly welled up in Sun Luyuan's heart, and tears unknowingly streamed down his face. He rushed back desperately from outside, bursting into the basement, and couldn't help but sigh in relief as he saw the familiar Immeasurable Mirror quietly floating before him.

"Younger brother?"

Sun Luyuan called out softly.

Sun Luyao's figure immediately emerged from the Immeasurable Mirror: "Brother, were you looking for me?"

"What's wrong?" Sun Luyao asked with a hint of curiosity.

Sun Luyuan's mind suddenly felt a moment of disorientation.

For some reason, although the image before him was identical to his memory, there was an extreme sense of unfamiliarity.

Sun Luyuan stared blankly for a long time.

After a while, he finally said dazedly, "It's nothing. Perhaps I've been too tired recently and am a bit paranoid."

Sun Luyao's eyes showed concern: "Brother, you should take care of your health. The future of the Sun family still depends on you."

Sun Luyuan smiled.

After giving a careful admonition, he left the underground secret chamber.

Unbeknownst to Sun Luyuan, Sun Luyao did not do as he had always done: watch his elder brother's disappearing back and bid him farewell.

Instead, the fluctuations of emotion on his face instantly vanished, and he then entered the Immeasurable Mirror without any lingering attachment.

The moment the real Sun Luyao died, the trace of his divine consciousness he had left behind also lost its source.

It had been integrated into the counterfeit Immeasurable Mirror, becoming an entity capable only of mechanical responses.

Even if the degree of mechanization was slightly more realistic, it was ultimately not a true life.

Not the real Sun Luyao.

***

Soon after, Li Fan's clone returned with the empty shell of the Immeasurable Mirror.

"Without a spirit, I will create one myself."

Li Fan summoned the trace of Sun Luyao's remnant consciousness, observed it carefully, and then made a cold decision in his heart.

Within this trace of consciousness were Sun Luyao's complete memories from when he was alive.

It contained his personality and way of thinking.

Theoretically, it was entirely possible to "resurrect" him.

"Although I don't have treasures like the Indefinite Copper Ring or the Nine-Star Red Pearl at hand."

"But there's no need to consider the body. It's merely a realistic reproduction of a wisp of divine consciousness, making the actual operation much easier."

Recalling the many details of the formation, under the continuous deduction of the Disc of Final Dissolution, a simplified version of a part of the original world-protecting formation slowly emerged.

"Mimicry of Myriad Life Forms."

"That's a good name."

Li Fan named the formation according to the naming conventions of the three Immortal-grade formations he had already mastered.

He then attempted to "create" and "resurrect" Sun Luyao.

To be safe, Li Fan first divided Sun Luyao's remnant consciousness into multiple portions for preservation.

Afterward, he placed one of them into the simplified Mimicry Formation.

An incredibly mystical aura gradually emanated from the formation.

As the formation slowly operated, Sun Luyao's figure reappeared within a luminous white light.

His eyes showed a newfound vitality, and his communication with Li Fan was very smooth.

Within a few breaths, their divine senses had communicated tens of millions of times, without a single unintended flaw being revealed.

Yet, Li Fan still shook his head slightly and, unsatisfied, destroyed it.

"Too real. To the point of being fake."