Chapter 1425: Original Possibility

Times had changed. Xuanyuan Village, as it was back then, no longer existed. Not a single clue about the Manifestation Art could be found from the one who taught it. Perhaps, to investigate King Xuantian's current situation, I needed to start with his childhood sweetheart.

In Li Fan's sea of consciousness, thousands of light points suddenly flashed. Within each point, countless fleeting images appeared, like a vast starry sea, simulating various possible future events. Yet, this intense level of deduction did not impede Li Fan's mental processes in the slightest. This was the benefit of the upgraded Dao Transformation Stone within his sea of consciousness.

His computing power seemed endless. Even if he were to deduce all his past knowledge towards immortal arts, foresee the future trajectory of this life, and simultaneously synchronize and analyze everything happening in the Dream Paradise, Li Fan still felt completely at ease.

Li Fan even felt a sense of frustration, as if he possessed immense divine power with nowhere to use it. He once tested himself with the Taiyan Sect's 'Reverse Tribulation' – a mini-game designed to restore order from chaos and sequence from disorder. The number of instances was ten thousand times greater than the forty-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine papers left by Yi Yin in his tomb, and the difficulty was worlds apart. Yet, after merely a single breath, Li Fan solved it effortlessly.

Under the immense computing power of the Mother Dao Transformation Stone, permutation and combination problems, no matter how complex their base level, could no longer hinder Li Fan.

While contemplating these thoughts, Li Fan said to Chen Tianhai, "Hasn't the Taiyan Sect always wanted to see what lies beyond the high wall? I can create independent bodies for those who wish to explore that realm."

Upon hearing this, Chen Tianhai was visibly intrigued.

"Engaging with more variables beyond the high wall will also help activate the Mother Dao Transformation Stone's latent power. It might even revive the consciousness deep within the Stone Mother," Li Fan added, prompting Chen Tianhai to quickly make up his mind.

The consciousness hidden within the Mother Dao Transformation Stone was initially unnoticed even by the entire Taiyan Sect. Only after Li Fan pointed it out, and as they integrated with the Mother Dao Transformation Stone, were they able to discern that hidden existence. Through their inexplicable connection with the Stone Mother, the Taiyan Sect members believed this consciousness was beneficial and not harmful. It had merely fallen into slumber for unknown reasons. If they could find a way to communicate with it, it might unravel the mystery of the Stone Mother's origin and even facilitate its further metamorphosis.

Li Fan's proposal was utterly irresistible to the Taiyan Sect members.

Chen Tianhai gazed at the images from the Dream Paradise, depicting scenes beyond the high wall. To gather as much genuine information as possible about what lay beyond, Li Fan altered the dream generation method for that region, making it entirely based on the real environment and eliminating all fabricated or false elements.

After dozens of iterations, the Dream Paradise was no longer merely carefree or solely Li Fan's creation. Instead, it had become a collective entity derived from the thoughts and intentions of countless beings within the dream. Currently, this colossal entity had already crossed the high wall, slowly exploring the regions beyond.

The Darkest Star Sea within the high wall was only a small portion of the Annihilation Zone. In most other areas, however, the very concept of 'existence' had vanished under the baptism of the Dao Annihilation Tribulation. The dream's tendrils extended outwards along a narrow passage beyond the high wall, passing through utterly desolate regions.

Yet, looking back at the location of the Darkest Star Sea, nothing could be found. Even though a part of the tendril remained connected to the interior of the high wall, it simply could not be sensed. This eerie situation was as if a part of one's own body had inexplicably vanished.

Li Fan manipulated a portion of the dream tendrils to continue exploring the periphery of the Annihilation Zone, while directing the remaining ones to attempt crossing the high wall and returning to the Darkest Star Sea.

Unable to perceive the high wall, they could only successfully navigate to its vicinity by following existing pathways. However, all other points could neither enter nor even detect the wall. Only by breaking through the dream, penetrating the high wall, and maintaining a continuous connection between the inside and outside from his own location, could he return within the wall.

"The outer side of the high wall, with its hidden and profound nature, truly surpasses what we observe from within," Li Fan mused.

Li Fan did not abandon his exploration of the high wall. Countless dream tendrils began to spread outwards along the initially opened passage, densely occupying the area around the high wall like ivy. Although there was currently no way to fully pinpoint the high wall's existence, countless beings in the Dream Paradise were collectively comprehending it, aided by the Mother Dao Transformation Stone. Li Fan believed that with gradual progress, they would eventually be able to thoroughly unravel its secrets.

Using the Dream Paradise, Li Fan also sent a wisp of his divine consciousness beyond the high wall. Uncertain of what he might encounter, he proceeded with extreme caution throughout the process. Fortunately, no unforeseen events occurred. His semi-immortal divine consciousness gazed at the high wall, seeing it differently from what the dream beings perceived.

Where the dream tendrils perceived nothing, Li Fan vaguely caught sight of a dim, sharp protrusion. It resembled a long, slender cone, or perhaps just a line segment, quietly stretching across and piercing space. It seemed to support something, or perhaps connect something.

"Is this the high wall?" Li Fan wondered.

Li Fan silently observed, and an indescribable feeling suddenly arose within him. He looked around; the small area near the high wall was the surviving land after the Dao Annihilation Tribulation. Beyond this surviving land, existence had vanished. Li Fan vaguely seemed to witness the terrifying scene of the calamity's arrival and the crushing of the Great Dao. Vast star seas, large patches of light extinguishing one after another without warning. Darkness engulfed the world. The apocalypse had arrived. Only this high wall provided support, allowing the nearby area to barely survive under the Dao Annihilation Tribulation. Moreover, ten thousand years later, the high wall still stood unmoving, maintaining its 'existence'.

"If the high wall were to collapse..." Li Fan's deduction showed that even if the Dao Annihilation Tribulation never returned, the possibilities inherent in this area would slowly dissipate. Eventually, it would follow the fate of the surrounding regions, annihilating and disappearing.

Observing the destructive ruins left by the Dao Annihilation Tribulation, Li Fan gained an even clearer understanding of this terrifying calamity, capable of annihilating the immortal realm and even the mortal world with all its possibilities.

"It doesn't descend continuously," he mused. "Instead, it attacks intermittently, like one wave after another. The immortal realm, being paramount, was the first to be affected when the Dao Annihilation Tribulation arrived. In its initial eruption, the immortal realm might have barely held on. But eventually, the most torrential wave, catching them off guard, completely engulfed it. With the collapse of the immortal realm, the disaster began to spread towards the lower realms. After the great wave, it seemed to be accumulating strength. The Dao Annihilation Tribulation entered a low tide, and consequently, the lower realm star seas, whose power was far inferior to the immortal realm, were only partially destroyed, with much life still remaining."

With ample computing power, Li Fan's ability to 'envision' also received a qualitative boost. By integrating previously known clues, even the ruined walls in the Annihilation Zone could help reconstruct various possible truths. Li Fan vaguely glimpsed the pattern of the Dao Annihilation Tribulation. If this conjecture was close to the truth, then perhaps the complete destruction of the possibility where Li Fan resided was not far off.

"For the Dao Annihilation Tribulation, ten thousand years is certainly not a long time, but definitely not a short one either," he thought. "Perhaps the black qi triggered by falling from a high point of power is a sign that the Dao Annihilation Tribulation is approaching. It's like ripples spreading on water; they only appear when something falls into it. The manifestation of black qi indicates that the tide has begun to rise, and water is spreading."

Li Fan seemed lost in thought, and a sudden tremor arose in his heart. That invisible oppressive feeling seemed to inevitably affect even True Reality itself. Let alone the true Dao Annihilation Tribulation, even within the Dao Annihilation Black Qi, Li Fan could not survive now. "Perhaps the power of the Heaven and Earth Immortal Soul Ink Kill could mediate somewhat."

Li Fan did not know what exactly happened in the Xuanhuang Realm, this experimental ground. It seemed as if, overnight, all relevant personnel either disappeared or died, leaving only ruins behind.

"The existence of the high wall might have been an emergency protective measure created incidentally when this experimental ground was designed," he mused. "However, as time flowed, when the Dao Annihilation Tribulation truly descended, the measures were indeed activated. But not a single relevant person was to be found. Only us test subjects were left, filled with surprise and doubt."

Li Fan gazed wistfully at the high wall once more, and a moment later, his divine consciousness returned to his body.

With Li Fan's guidance, the dream tendrils had a path to follow and began to spread and grow uninhibitedly along the high wall. Even though he had truly seen the high wall and deduced its possible origins, Li Fan still knew very little about its principles and methods of decipherment. Only through the coming time could he slowly analyze and decrypt it.

"Immortal Realm Experimental Ground," "Immortal Domain Chess Pieces." In Li Fan's mind, scenes he had once seen in the Immortal Domain Chess Pieces appeared. On the chessboard, black and white pieces stood side by side: the victor remained, the loser exited the stage. The Immortal Domain Chess Pieces left by Sun Piaomiao were merely among those that had miserably failed. Yet, even so, they contained entities like the Southern Heaven Immortal Pillar. It was truly hard to imagine what profound foundations lay within the pieces that ultimately remained on the chessboard.

"More critically..." Li Fan's mind was suddenly struck by the question, "How could the Immortal Realm have only the Xuanhuang Realm as an experimental ground?"

From the fleeting glimpse of the immortal realm he had once seen, it was boundless, truly deserving the description 'infinite.' There were countless so-called immortal domains. Even non-orthodox forces of the immortal realm, like Sun Piaomiao, had to leave numerous backup chess pieces. It was hard to imagine that the vast immortal realm, if it truly wished to scheme something, would only take a single action.

"In the past, my perspective was too narrow," he reflected. "Even after ascending to semi-immortal, I only had the realm and status. Without the baptism of immortal spiritual qi, my thinking level inevitably couldn't compare to a true immortal. However, with the Mother Dao Transformation Stone providing insights, it was as if I was enlightened, and my thoughts could finally expand. There might not be only one experimental ground in the lower realm star seas. Thinking this way, the abandonment of the Xuanhuang Realm also made perfect sense."

Due to the ravages of the Dao Annihilation Tribulation, most realms had been annihilated. Only a few ruined walls remained in the Annihilation Zone, supporting what little survived, like shallow sandbars floating in a river. "Even the vibrant place beyond the high wall is probably just a slightly larger island," he thought.

"The starry sky is vast and obscured by countless Annihilation Zones, making its true appearance unclear. Therefore, believing one's own location to be the only one in the world is also natural," he mused. "But with the Mother Dao Transformation Stone within me, I can glimpse the whole world from a single corner..."

In Li Fan's mind, the panoramic view of the possibility he inhabited was finally slowly completed. The scene described by this map was truly vast and boundless; the immense Darkest Star Sea was merely a negligible speck within it.

However, most of the areas in this panoramic map were in uncertain flux, flickering in and out. This was because there was too little current data to confirm whether they truly existed. Only the Darkest Star Sea within the high wall, where Li Fan was located, remained brightly illuminated and indestructible, regardless of how light and shadow changed.

"The starry skies of all possibilities shine because of my existence," he thought. "The possibility I am in, let's call it the Original."

Li Fan thought this quietly. Sooner or later, his power would enable him to jump to other possibilities. It was fine to define his current location early on.

However, the most important task at hand was still to initiate contact with the civilizations in the Annihilation Zone. Even with the beings of the Xuanhuang Realm as a foundation, Li Fan still found the expansion of the dream tendrils too slow.

As early as ten years ago, Li Fan had already enacted laws to promote birth. But in ten years, population growth was truly limited. "In the short term, I can't rely on it," he thought. "It seems I'll have to find a way myself."

Feeling the large amount of idle computing power in his sea of consciousness, a thought couldn't help but surface.

As early as when he visited the temporal device in the Museum of Divine Artifacts, Li Fan had an idea: the countless worlds deduced by the Dao Transformation Stone, though illusory, seemed incredibly real. If the Dao Transformation Stone itself were continuously strengthened, then these deduced worlds would eventually become indistinguishable from real ones.

"Perhaps it's precisely because the Stone Mother is the manifestation of the Great Dao of all possibilities that I have such thoughts," he considered. "All worlds that have appeared in the Stone Mother are, theoretically, completely logical and real. It's like having molds already cast; one only needs to pour to produce physical objects. If my understanding of the transformation between true and false progresses further, I won't have to fabricate worlds myself. I can simply turn the possibilities once deduced by the Stone Mother into reality, saving a lot of effort."

Li Fan's eyes glowed. "But all I need is expendable material to add to the Dream Paradise. It's fine if they don't exist in the real world."

With that thought, within Li Fan's sea of consciousness and the Dao Transformation Stone, another Xuanhuang Realm began to evolve.