Chapter 1424: Great Dao Manifests Form

The Great Dao Manifests

The so-called "Enlightenment Value" in the Dream Paradise was, in fact, the Great Dao insights gained by Dharma Spreader Jiang through the characteristic of "The Great Dao as Myself."

Just a wall separated them.

Dharma Spreader Jiang's enlightenment efficiency hadn't changed. What had changed was the environment itself. Simply put, cultivators training outside the wall would generally find it many times easier than those within the high wall.

Just as Li Fan had previously speculated, any cultivator, even an ordinary one, who could embark on the cultivation path by their own efforts, could be considered a "Heaven's Chosen" outside the wall!

Moreover, this was only the beginning.

Li Fan keenly noticed that after coming into contact with the environment outside the high wall, Dharma Spreader Jiang's enlightenment efficiency within the Great Heaven-Reaching Formation was slowly increasing. Long-term comprehension of the Great Dao was finally beginning to nourish him in return.

Li Fan synchronized with the other's perception. The heaven-reaching Great Dao he gazed up at, from bottom to top, seemed to gradually transform from gray and white into vibrant colors.

"Is this the difference between the so-called Great Dao Annihilation Land and a normal environment?" This magnificent scene caused Li Fan to momentarily lose himself in wonder.

"Beyond the high wall, the beauty is breathtaking. Yet, it also makes one hesitate to approach."

A voice sounded by Li Fan's ear, interrupting his reverie.

Li Fan turned his head to look at the blue figure beside him.

It was Chen Tianhai of the Taiyan Sect!

"I can feel that the demonic sound's influence on me seems to have intensified again. Past memories are becoming clearer. Even though I've personally witnessed Dharma Spreading Heavenly Venerate being suppressed. Even though I already know that those were merely altered memories."

"But that glimpse from back then still lingers like a nightmare, haunting me incessantly." Chen Tianhai's form fluctuated uncontrollably.

Li Fan didn't respond, instead attempting to silently chant the demonic sound of scriptures in his mind.

It was as if an invisible force had penetrated the Dream Paradise, subtly connecting him to the area beyond the high wall. Those mystical melodies became much clearer.

Li Fan's heart tensed. As a counterbalance, he immediately began silently reciting the Immortal Scripture of Blessing, which originated from the Grand Master.

"Dao gives birth, passed down through ancient times. Sorrow and bitterness, Dao extinguished."

The two sounds harmonized, and the influence of the demonic chanting was instantly diluted significantly. However, compared to its effect purely within the high wall, the neutralizing power of this Immortal Scripture of Blessing was clearly much weaker. It was gradually becoming incomparable to that mysterious and unpredictable demonic sound.

"Xuanyuan Hong..." Li Fan's expression was unreadable.

When Dharma Spreading Heavenly Venerate sought survival from death back then, he relied on the seemingly innate whispering power of the Xuanyuan clan to influence and alter the memories of Chen Tianhai from the Taiyan Sect, whom he had only met once. By deducing with the Dao Transformation Stone Mother, he found a way to kill many Immortals of the Ten Immortal Sects.

Although Dharma Spreader had been suppressed by Li Fan, the whispering mark left on Chen Tianhai did not dissipate. When Chen Tianhai also followed the power of the Dream Paradise and came outside the high wall, its influence erupted again. Even though Chen Tianhai had already become informationized and part of the Dao Transformation Stone Mother, he still couldn't escape its effects.

"Part of this is because the Great Dao is more distinct here. The profound sounds that depict the Great Dao through musical rhythm are naturally strengthened. If True Immortal Seal Characters were written, their power would likely also be similarly amplified several times over."

"But it's not just this reason."

"The extent of its strengthening is perhaps too great. The Immortal Scripture of Blessing, also a path of musical rhythm, wasn't amplified to such an exaggerated degree..."

Faint whispers, appearing and disappearing, sounded by his ear. After much thought, Li Fan could only attribute it to the missing Profound Heaven King.

Five years ago, when Li Fan went to the Taiyan Sect and met Chen Tianhai, he immediately revealed the truth of Chen Tianhai's erosion by the demonic sound with a single remark. Chen Tianhai initially didn't believe that his memories had always been tampered with. It wasn't until Li Fan imparted the Immortal Scripture of Blessing, neutralizing the tampering power, that he did.

Chen Tianhai, his true memories restored, was stunned as if struck by lightning and remained silent for a long time.

"It's not that you are incapable. How can mortals be exempt from immortal means?"

Only Li Fan's words truly liberated Chen Tianhai from his past pain.

The reason Li Fan came to the Taiyan Sect was, naturally, for the Dao Transformation Stone Mother. After helping Chen Tianhai resolve a nightmare that had plagued him for millennia, Li Fan half-coerced, half-enticed the Taiyan Sect into submission.

Now, this Dao Transformation Stone Mother resided within Li Fan's Sea of Consciousness. However, after some study, Li Fan chose not to directly merge it with the high-grade Dao Transformation Stone in his mind. In the past, when the entire Taiyan Sect chose to be informationized and integrated into the Dao Transformation Stone Mother, numerous thoughts became one with the Stone Mother, indivisible. This became an inherent characteristic of the Dao Transformation Stone Mother itself. Li Fan was unsure if he could erase these thoughts without damaging the Stone Mother.

If he were to simply devour it...

The Stone Mother's strength was immeasurably greater than that of the high-grade Dao Transformation Stone. The thoughts of the Taiyan Sect members within the Stone Mother were even more likely to contaminate the Dao Transformation Stone held by Li Fan. Although Li Fan could forcibly clear these thoughts afterward, a rather peculiar thought still lay hidden and dormant deep within the Dao Transformation Stone Mother, posing a considerable challenge even for Li Fan, who was a half-Immortal.

Moreover, Li Fan, having mastered the Truth-Falsehood Transformation, no longer needed to violently devour it to enhance his power.

Within his Sea of Consciousness, around the Dao Transformation Stone Mother, thousands of threads flew from the void, making contact, analyzing, and comprehending the essence of the Dao Transformation Stone Mother. And in a deep, secluded part of his Sea of Consciousness, separated from other areas, another crystal, visually identical to the Dao Transformation Stone Mother, floated quietly. However, it seemed to be in an ethereal, mist-like state, flickering unsteadily.

This was precisely the Dao Transformation Stone Mother that Li Fan was "replicating" through the Truth-Falsehood Transformation.

Having successfully replicated Jinggu Cangyuan, his own cultivation, and even the Azure Nether Pearl, Li Fan had initially thought that replicating this Dao Transformation Stone Mother would be a simple task. But to his surprise, the difficulty of replicating this crystal was even tens of times greater than that of the immortal artifact, Azure Nether Pearl. To replicate the Azure Nether Pearl, he only needed three times his cultivation. Although somewhat strenuous, he could ultimately succeed. However, against this Dao Transformation Stone Mother, brute force seemed ineffective. After several failures, Li Fan realized that it wasn't due to insufficient power. Rather, his understanding of the Dao Transformation Stone Mother hadn't reached the minimum requirement for its replication.

This was a first for Li Fan. In the past, when using the Truth-Falsehood Transformation, there had been no requirement for his understanding of an object's essence. However, after careful contemplation and arduous communication with Huan Zhen, Li Fan finally understood why. To put it simply, anything Li Fan could see completely at a glance could be briefly replicated through the Truth-Falsehood Transformation. This principle still held true for the Dao Transformation Stone Mother. The reason for the replication failures was that Li Fan had not been able to see the Stone Mother "completely." This was also why Li Fan had sealed the Stone Mother in his Sea of Consciousness, observing it day and night without cease.

Creating a separate area ensured the Stone Mother couldn't probe his memories. And the members of the Taiyan Sect could depart this area from Li Fan's Sea of Consciousness at any time to return to reality.

Now, Li Fan was able to replicate the Dao Transformation Stone Mother, enhancing the Dao Transformation Stone in his Sea of Consciousness through continuous superposition. He had, naturally, already seen the Stone Mother completely. Through his recent communication with the Stone Mother, Li Fan also understood why, despite being a half-Immortal, he couldn't "see" the Stone Mother's full appearance at a glance.

"Dao Transformation Stone Mother, Dao-Transformed Stone Mother."

With a slight thought, the illusory Stone Mother Li Fan had replicated transformed into a halo of light, attaching itself to his Dao Transformation Stone. He activated the improved Dao Transformation Divine Unity Secret Art, rapidly absorbing the exceedingly pure energy within. The illusory Stone Mother replicated by Li Fan contained no thoughts from the Taiyan Sect. Not even the mysterious thought hidden within the true Stone Mother was present. It was purely the Stone Mother itself, and thus could be absorbed without restraint.

Although the Truth-Falsehood Transformation only left behind a small residue each time, the Dao Transformation Stone Mother was so miraculous that every time it was replicated, the quality of the Dao Transformation Stone in Li Fan's Sea of Consciousness could improve exponentially. Within ten years, Li Fan had achieved nearly a hundred replications and superpositions. At this moment, the Dao Transformation Stone in his mind was not much weaker than the actual Stone Mother. Therefore, he also had a faint guess about the essence of the Dao Transformation Stone Mother.

This exotic treasure from beyond the heavens might very well be a direct manifestation of the Great Dao! It was the same principle as the ancient form transformations of the beast race. However, ancient form transformations only involved a single Great Dao. But the Dao Transformation Stone Mother... Li Fan speculated it might even be a collection of all complete Great Daos!

However, the likelihood of the Dao Transformation Stone Mother's origin was much weaker compared to what Li Fan was familiar with. It had also undergone the Tribulation of Dao Annihilation and the baptism of crossing probabilities. The Stone Mother had been further weakened. Hence, even as a materialized form of the complete Great Dao, its power was arguably inferior to that of an ordinary nameless True Immortal.

Of course, all of the above were merely Li Fan's conjectures based on his own insights during the process of replicating the Stone Mother. The only remaining memory of the Dao Transformation Stone Mother was that it seemed to have been frantically fleeing some calamity, and by chance, it arrived in the Xuanhuang Realm. It was then discovered by the Taiyan Sect. Li Fan speculated that the reason the Dao Transformation Stone Mother had completely severed ties with its past was to evade the pursuit of the Tribulation of Dao Annihilation. Although the Stone Mother had lost its past memories, Li Fan could still sense faint, ominous traces of the Tribulation of Dao Annihilation from its perception of that terrifying calamity.

Li Fan had some confidence in his own conjectures. After all, what in the entire mortal world could force a crystalline entity of a complete Great Dao to flee in such a panic? Moreover, the Dao Transformation Stone Mother had arrived in the Xuanhuang Realm through "coincidence." This also reminded Li Fan of scenes he had once seen in a True Immortal's memories.

"This Xuanhuang Realm must still hold mystical aspects I haven't discovered yet."

"It can attract numerous strange existences, crossing space-time and even probabilities, to arrive here."

"Perhaps even my own transmigration..."

The discovery that the Dao Transformation Stone Mother originated from another probability also raised some doubts in Li Fan regarding his own transmigration. While he felt no particular nostalgia for his life before transmigration and had no imperative to return, the key point Li Fan cared about was whether Huan Zhen's awakening had occurred within a body of this probability, making him merely an occupying cuckoo, or if it was inherently part of himself.

With the continuous development and utilization of the Truth-Falsehood Transformation, Li Fan's perspective and mindset had undergone extremely subtle changes from before. In the past, whenever Li Fan saw rare treasures in the mortal world, he couldn't help but develop a covetous desire to possess them, either out of greed or to enhance his life-preserving abilities. But now, Li Fan's desire to "possess" had gradually faded. What he thought of was merely "analysis, understanding." After all, with the Truth-Falsehood Transformation at hand, he could instantly conjure an endless number of replicated items for any treasure he wished.

The only thing Li Fan truly wanted to possess now was Huan Zhen himself.

Thousands of thoughts ceased as another illusory Dao Transformation Stone Mother integrated. Li Fan felt his thoughts operate much faster. His attention returned to the mysterious and unpredictable demonic sound by his ear.

Following Li Fan's reminder and based on the past memories in Dharma Spreading Heavenly Venerate's mind, the Stone Mother had replayed countless scenarios and reached a conclusion. The persistent whispering sound should be the work of the Profound Heaven King. However, it wasn't a desperate backup plan to resurrect from death. Instead, it was a natural change that occurred in the bloodline descendants after the source of their bloodline entered an inconceivable realm.

One piece of evidence was that the demonic sound's influence on the Xuanyuan clan had been progressively strengthening. It reached its peak with Xuanyuan Sheng. Xuanyuan Sheng simply couldn't bear it and wanted to completely sever this influence. But it still couldn't prevent this demonic sound from appearing on Xuanyuan Hong. And now, outside the high wall, the demonic sound had been further amplified. This deduction by the Dao Transformation Stone Mother seemed to be corroborated in some way.

"After Profound Heaven King mysteriously disappeared back then, he not only didn't die but advanced even further?"

This conjecture couldn't help but make Li Fan's imagination run wild. After meeting Black Heavenly Physician and Evil Subai, a thought had always seemed on the verge of sprouting in Li Fan's mind, yet he never fully understood it. It wasn't until the Dao Transformation Stone Mother's conjecture emerged that this thought finally took root, sprouted, and surfaced.

Black Heavenly Physician and Evil Subai both came from a highly peculiar probability. Then, could the probability Li Fan was currently in also have given birth to such an unknowable powerhouse capable of traversing probabilities? If this possibility indeed existed, then, in the history Li Fan currently knew, the one most resembling a protagonist would perhaps be that Profound Heaven King. After all, as the last ascended being before the destruction of the Immortal Realm, he was truly too legendary.

"Perhaps beyond the high wall, there are other even more extraordinary individuals."

"But regardless, any figure whose methods can cross the high wall and span ancient and modern times cannot be ignored."

The stronger they were, the more likely they were to know of Huan Zhen's existence. The more Li Fan interacted with them, the more careful he had to be in concealing himself.

"I wonder if the Profound Heaven King still has any other bloodline descendants in the Xuanhuang Realm today?"