Chapter 1407: Heavenly Doctor's Enlightenment and Death

Angry Squid:

"Beyond the High Wall, the existence of Sinister Su Bai is truly astonishing."

"It's not just about Sinister Su Bai's power; it also concerns the truth of the entire mortal realm."

"Innumerable possibilities arise simultaneously..."

"No, it's far more complex than that!"

Li Fan watched as countless memories of the departed Mr. Xuanhuang Bai flashed past like meteors.

He couldn't help but look at the 7.36 million-year countdown on his 'Huanzhen' panel.

"Sinister Su Bai's memories contained not only monstrous slaughter but also scenes of truly terrifying calamities descending."

"Even with Sinister Su Bai's unfathomable power, he could only flee in disarray before that world-ending catastrophe!"

"It was the instantaneous collapse of an entire timeline!"

"The true Calamity of Dao Annihilation!"

Using the power of Mr. Xuanhuang Bai's Eternal Vestige, and through the eyes of Sinister Su Bai, Li Fan personally experienced the horror of the true Calamity of Dao Annihilation.

From the Xuanhuang Realm, to the Dark Star Sea, the Great Void beyond the stars, and even the endless cultivation worlds, including the Immortal Realm floating above the boundless sea.

These unimaginably vast and indescribable worlds, their very existence, collapsed in an instant.

They were annihilated without warning, in complete silence.

Not even the concept of nothingness remained.

Only by crossing into another possibility before the Calamity of Dao Annihilation reached them could one hope to survive.

"So, this 7.36 million-year period is the countdown until all possibilities vanish, as calculated by Huanzhen?"

Li Fan's thoughts churned, his heart unable to settle for a long time.

"Sinister Su Bai frantically slaughtered his counterparts in other possibilities. After sensing Su Bai's existence within the High Wall, he exhausted every means, all in an attempt to make Mr. Bai leap over the High Wall again and voluntarily join him..."

"It seems that for him, the existence of his counterparts in other possibilities is extremely important."

"In Sinister Su Bai's memories, each act of self-slaughter was accompanied by monstrous carnage. It was a hundred times more brutal than what he had done in the Heavenly Law Realm, leaving behind no corpses, no blood, no memories—only void filling the world."

Compared to what Sinister Su Bai had done, Li Fan's world-destroying actions were utterly negligible.

"Is this merely Sinister Su Bai's nature, or do all powerhouses of this caliber beyond the High Wall act this way?"

Li Fan took a deep breath.

"Regardless, Sinister Su Bai's existence is even more terrifying for the Xuanhuang Realm than the Calamity of Dao Annihilation."

"At the very least, there are no signs yet of the Calamity of Dao Annihilation descending. But if Sinister Su Bai from beyond the High Wall were to be summoned, everything within the High Wall would likely be instantly reduced to nothingness."

"That's why Mr. Bai willingly faced death, temporarily severing his connection with Sinister Su Bai. He even modified all memories of the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao that accompanied him, and everything related to Sinister Su Bai in the trials of the Immortalfall Realm."

"He only left crucial information within his own Eternal Vestige."

Countless complex memories slowly faded away.

Li Fan returned to reality. The skull in his hand transformed into shimmering starlight and vanished into thin air.

"During the period when he was influenced by Sinister Bai, Mr. Xuanhuang Bai's perspective transcended a single possibility."

"Although it's unknown precisely what he saw, it's almost certain that this information was left for future generations."

"Regardless of the method, the only one worthy of trust is the person who can pass the trials and, theoretically, defeat Sinister Su Bai."

"The secret to Sinister Su Bai's repeated survival and continuous growth amidst the Calamity of Dao Annihilation!" A gleam flashed in Li Fan's eyes.

"Huanzhen absorbed Tianyang's eternal will and awakened its avatar function. This originated from Tianyang's practice of transforming his body into myriad forms, which he had cultivated to near perfection."

"This time, the awakening of the Dao Origin function is also due to Sinister Su Bai's cultivation method."

Li Fan narrowed his eyes.

"Dao Annihilation. Dao Origin."

Deep within the Museum of Divine Artifacts, lay the ruins of the Southern Underworld Sacred Beast Mountain.

Li Fan's divine consciousness clone continued its conversation with Di San Mo.

"Our clan isn't always so fortunate as to arrive in a world where the Southern Underworld Sacred Beast Mountain is perfectly preserved."

"If, unfortunately, the energy sealed within the Sacred Beast Mountain there has already been depleted, then it's truly a dead end for us," Di San Mo said with a chuckle.

Before Li Fan's eyes, the scene from the Great Fissure Vortex reappeared: Di Yi, wearing a majestic divine mask, retrieved a colossal bronze-gleaming key from within the white snake and used it to unlock the immense energy inside the Southern Underworld Sacred Beast Mountain.

"So, it's a one-time consumable," Li Fan mused.

Di San Mo nodded, "This is also why I and some of the demonic beasts didn't follow, and why Di Yi tacitly allowed it. We were all taking a gamble. After all, given the characteristics of our clan, if Di Yi's group truly encountered an accident and was completely wiped out, then another Di Yi would soon emerge from the remaining population."

"So far, that hasn't happened. It seems Di Yi has won his gamble again," Di San Mo smiled faintly.

"But who can guarantee that he will keep winning?" Li Fan retorted.

Di San Mo remained silent.

"Even by leaping into other possibilities, one cannot escape. I truly wonder where such a terrifying calamity originates from," Li Fan sighed faintly after a moment of silence in the clearing.

"Immortal, perhaps you'd like to hear a story?" Di San Mo suddenly offered.

"Not long ago... a wisp of divine soul escaped from a device called 'The Epoch.' It had undergone hundreds of billions of reincarnations within 'The Epoch' yet always maintained its clear consciousness. Such a characteristic of a divine soul is rare throughout eternity."

Li Fan, having also undergone reincarnation within 'The Epoch,' couldn't help but be intrigued by this.

"That sounds like good material for creating an Eternal Vestige," he thought to himself.

"What is his condition now?" Li Fan asked, knowing that Di San Mo wouldn't speak idly.

"He has already completely dissipated from the world," Di San Mo gently shook his head.

"He chose to hide in these ruins. The residual energy within the ruins could protect his fragile divine soul, but ultimately, it was too little to sustain him for long. He preferred death rather than being thrown back into 'The Epoch'..."

"By the time I found him, he had become too weak."

"I only managed to sustain his life for a while longer, but ultimately, there was nothing more I could do."

"However, during his final days, I discussed many things with him. Based on my own memories and those of our entire clan, he proposed the reason for the descent of this terrifying world-ending calamity."

"Oh?" Li Fan's spirits were instantly stirred.

"But it's merely a conjecture, Immortal; please take it as just a story," Di San Mo cautioned first, then slowly began to speak.

"Everyone knows that beyond True Immortals, there are Nameless True Immortals. Nameless True Immortals merge with the Dao, and from then on, no records of them can be found in the mortal world; they become ethereal and traceless. From ancient times to the present, no one knows how many have achieved Nameless Dao. But..."

Di San Mo waved his hand, and a phantom image appeared in the ruins before them.

Countless fine lines intersected, supporting the entire world.

"While achieving the Nameless Dao realm is difficult and the probability is small, it's not so elusive when viewed against an infinite timescale."

"And each time a Nameless True Immortal is born..."

Di San Mo tapped his finger repeatedly.

A vertical line in the phantom image before them would disappear.

This repeated, for an unknown duration.

The network of heaven and earth, due to this continuous loss, became incomplete.

Slowly bending.

Li Fan's gaze suddenly sharpened.

Eventually, the network of heaven and earth could no longer maintain its form.

It violently collapsed!

Heaven and earth crumbled because of it!

Di San Mo waved his hand, and the phantom image vanished.

"This is merely our most superficial understanding, not the truth closest to reality."

"Perhaps every Great Dao in heaven and earth is more crucial than we imagined. Even the loss of just a few Great Daos could be enough to cause the collapse of an entire possibility."

"Or perhaps, besides Nameless True Immortals merging with the Dao, there are other inexplicable factors that cause Great Daos to vanish without reason. This is what led to the unstoppable world-ending calamity..."

Di San Mo's voice was faint and distant.

Before Li Fan's eyes, he seemed to see again the Nameless True Immortal's leg bone, which was used to construct the Southern Immortal Heavenly Pillar.

"Perhaps this truth is already very close to the facts."

Di San Mo continued, "Precisely because countless possibilities are collapsing in a chain reaction, it has become exceptionally easy for us to flee from one possibility to another."

"Originally, even if we completely exhausted the energy of the Southern Underworld Sacred Beast Mountain, it would have been impossible."

"To use a simple analogy, it's as if, due to the continuous collapse of countless possibilities, they are drawing closer to each other..."

Li Fan listened intently.

Before his eyes, a scene seemed to emerge.

In the darkness, countless lines of light simultaneously illuminated, arranged side by side, boundless and endless.

But suddenly, some of them began to vanish inexplicably into the darkness.

Slowly, more and more lines of light disappeared.

The remaining ones, under the influence of this inexplicable crisis, gradually drew closer.

Inevitably, they became twisted and chaotic.

"Great Daos annihilated."

"Great Daos crushed."

Li Fan recalled what he had seen in Sinister Su Bai's memories, and a chill ran down his spine.

"What was the name of this divine soul? To have such a conjecture, he was certainly no ordinary mortal," Li Fan's mind wavered.

Di San Mo did not conceal it, casually conjuring a phantom image.

"This person was named Qiao Sidao."

"Half a year ago, he finally couldn't hold on any longer and completely perished."

Li Fan looked at the person before him, observing the resolute expression in their eyes. He nodded slightly.

"Half a year ago, then..."

Dark Star Sea. The High Wall.

Heavenly Doctor seemed to have forgotten Li Fan's threat, now fully immersed in comprehending the High Wall.

His progress was faster than he had anticipated.

Perhaps it was due to the countless continuous attempts he had made over the years.

Or perhaps, after encountering Li Fan, a True Immortal, and witnessing the true distinction between immortals and mortals, a profound realization surged within him.

In any case, Heavenly Doctor had a faint premonition.

That he might not be far from fully comprehending the High Wall's secrets.

Upon realizing this, Heavenly Doctor's expression subtly changed.

He even began to harbor some doubts about his actions over the years.

"Perhaps that True Immortal was right?"

"If I had focused solely on cultivation, I might have found a way to save the Heavenly Law Realm much earlier."

Such thoughts merely flashed through his mind.

Heavenly Doctor cast aside all distracting thoughts and once again immersed himself in comprehending the invisible High Wall.

With sufficient accumulation, breakthroughs can sometimes occur in an instant.

An instant passed.

Or perhaps a span of tens of millions of years.

Suddenly, Heavenly Doctor retracted all the golden threads he had emitted.

In a daze, he seemed to have unraveled the High Wall's mysteries.

But at the same time...

An extreme sense of unease surged within him.

This unease had only appeared once before, when the Heavenly Law Realm was being ravaged.

Not even when he directly confronted that True Immortal had he felt such a profound shift.

"What on earth..." He stopped comprehending the High Wall's secret.

Heavenly Doctor instinctively wanted to distance himself from the High Wall.

Suddenly...

He seemed to discover something, and his pupils suddenly constricted.

At the location of the invisible High Wall ahead, where nothing should have existed...

The scenery inexplicably twisted.

His heart pounded violently again, the premonition of unease reaching its peak.

A black thread suddenly appeared.

Silently, it pierced through Heavenly Doctor's chest.

One transformed into a thousand, a thousand into ten thousand, ten thousand into a hundred million.

In an instant, it permeated Heavenly Doctor's body, transforming him into a marionette.

Heavenly Doctor's consciousness gradually blurred.

However, as he felt the countless threads permeating him, he surprisingly experienced a sense of déjà vu.

Perhaps it was an illusion, but soon after, a figure appeared before him.

Heavenly Doctor seemed to see his younger self.

Except, he wasn't wearing his favorite white robes.

Instead, he wore a black long robe.

His face was devoid of emotion.

Creak...

Heavenly Doctor's head was eerily twisted 180 degrees.

From front to back.

Streaks of light and shadow floated from Heavenly Doctor's body into the inexplicably appearing dark figure.

Heavenly Doctor's corpse slowly became ethereal and transparent.

And that dark figure...

Or perhaps, the younger Heavenly Doctor, subtly frowned.

"Do you understand?"

His gaze shifted towards Li Fan's true body, not far away!

Simultaneously.

Li Fan, who was engrossed in the secrets of Sinister Su Bai beyond the wall, also felt a sudden premonition of impending doom, just like Heavenly Doctor.

Moreover, this time it was more intense than ever before.

"Could it be that by triggering Mr. Bai's Eternal Vestige, I was sensed by Sinister Su Bai beyond the wall?"

Li Fan was terrified to his core.

After only a moment's thought, without any hesitation, Li Fan silently recited "Huanzhen" in his mind.

It was at this very instant that Li Fan also noticed something extremely peculiar.

On his 'Huanzhen' panel, his original lifespan limit of over three million years was inexplicably fluctuating.

Not decreasing.

But increasing!

In the brief moment Li Fan noticed, it jumped from three million to several billion more.

And it was still rapidly increasing at an terrifying rate!