Furious Cuttlefish
Chapter 1438A Single Hand Overturns the Grand Dao
However, even with the aid of the Dao Transformation Stone, it was by no means easy for Li Fan to analyze the method of accessing the Dao Net within a short period.
Unable to replicate Ma Tiande's past learning process, Li Fan could only proceed by constantly experimenting, starting with the most basic Dao Net pattern instructions.
“Every pattern instruction would react with the Dao Net and be subject to the supervision of the Governing Council. There was only one or two opportunities for error.”
“However, my trial and error does not require connection to the Dao Net. I only need to verify whether the instructions composed of Dao Essences can be formed.”
In Ma Tiande's memory, when a Dao Essence instruction was successfully written, a strange, eerie energy would be felt within the body. This energy would connect with heaven and earth, acting like a key that unlocked the Dao Net patterns.
What Li Fan needed to do now was to continuously write Dao Essence instructions and verify the permutations and combinations of Dao Essences. Furthermore, he needed to disperse them before any instruction could connect with the Dao Net.
The difficulty lay in obstructing the transmission of Dao Essence instructions to the Dao Net.
However, Li Fan quickly thought of an ingenious idea.
“The Dao Net of Heaven and Earth is essentially the Grand Dao of Heaven and Earth. The Grand Dao is formless, flowing through all things. It is inevitable that all people and objects in the world exist under the shadow of the Grand Dao.”
“However, there is one thing that the Grand Dao of Heaven and Earth cannot avoid!”
A gleam flashed in his eyes. In an instant, a blurred figure emerged from the Xuanhuang phantom wrapped in Li Fan's divine consciousness.
It was precisely the Soul of Heaven and Earth, Mo Sha!
Initially, Mo Sha's form remained consistent with its primordial state in the Xuanhuang Realm. However, under the catalysis of Li Fan's divine consciousness, it began to rapidly transform.
As if the true Immortal Soul of Heaven and Earth, Mo Sha, had descended upon this place!
In fact, after Li Fan integrated with the Immortal Soul of Heaven and Earth, Mo Sha, into the Dao, his divine consciousness alone was sufficient to evolve into the Mo Sha Immortal Soul. However, the wisp of divine consciousness that had infiltrated the Shuoxing Sea was too weak, and even if fully activated, it would likely be quickly depleted in a confrontation with the Dao Net.
To wage a prolonged battle, he still needed to draw upon the energy within the Xuanhuang phantom.
“The Mo Sha Immortal Soul is not a Calamity of Dao Annihilation. Rather, it is a product of the fusion of Dao Annihilation black qi and the Grand Dao of Heaven. It is both a part of the Grand Dao and possesses some characteristics of Dao Annihilation.”
“As long as the fluctuations are not too violent, it should be able to block the Dao Net's perception.”
In a blink of an eye, the Mo Sha Immortal Soul transformed into vast expanses of black shadow, firmly sealing off Li Fan's surroundings.
Li Fan sat in the black void and began experimenting with combinations of Dao Essence symbols.
In the Shuoxing Sea, Dao Essence symbols are used to echo the power of the Grand Dao of Heaven and Earth. In Qin Zhuang's memory, combinations of hundreds of Dao Essence symbols could unleash power comparable to True Immortal Seal Script.
But now, within Elysium City, under Li Fan's personal experimentation, he surprisingly found that all the previous combinations had become ineffective.
Or perhaps, they had undergone some kind of upgrade.
Hundreds of Dao Essence symbols, even after trying all possible combinations, failed to produce any energy fluctuations. Li Fan gradually increased the scale of his trials.
Thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands…
It wasn't until a million Dao Essence symbols danced together that they finally seemed to form a key, inserted into the correct keyhole.
The moment the combination was complete, Li Fan indeed detected a wisp of energy spreading outwards like lightning.
With his current reaction speed, he couldn't stop it in time.
However, after this wisp of energy approached the shadow formed by the Mo Sha Immortal Soul, it seemed to encounter something terrifyingly fierce, and instantly halted its advance.
It attempted several times but remained stagnant!
Li Fan's plan had indeed worked.
The birth and transmission of Dao Essence instructions were incredibly swift, even far exceeding Li Fan's sensory speed.
But ultimately, they were no match for the Calamity of Dao Annihilation.
Unable to break through the Mo Sha Immortal Soul's blockade, it was tightly confined within the black spherical shadow surrounding Li Fan.
Li Fan observed the strange wisp of energy, which wriggled like a disturbed snake, but did not directly attempt to capture it. Instead, he observed from a distance.
“Dao Net patterns, basic level instructions…”
This wisp of energy seemed like a true living being with its own lifespan. Trapped and unable to advance, it gradually weakened from its initial vigor, slowly decaying, until it finally dissipated completely within the shadow.
Li Fan then noted down this success.
“According to Ma Tiande's memory, this was still the simplest type, belonging to the most basic introductory stage.”
“The instructions actually needed to access and manipulate the Dao Net were hundreds of times more complex than this. Some were even superpositions of multiple instructions…”
However, now that he had found a method for experimentation, no matter how complex the instructions were, they would no longer stump Li Fan.
Within the spherical shadow, Dao Essence symbols rapidly gathered and dispersed, evolving into countless different forms.
From time to time, electric-like energy signals emerged from them, but all were intercepted by the Mo Sha Immortal Soul.
Each time before their dissipation, they were recorded by Li Fan.
Slowly, Li Fan finally gained an initial grasp of the so-called Dao Net pattern instruction methods.
Just as he was about to attempt more advanced instructions, Li Fan inexplicably sensed a hint of danger in his heart.
He abruptly paused his impending action.
“Mo Sha's blockade should be fine.”
“Could it be that the energy signals that appeared to have dissipated had not actually vanished completely, but were still present in this space?”
Li Fan quickly found the possible reason.
His gaze was like a torch, fixedly scanning the area repeatedly.
Yet he still couldn't discern any clues.
After pondering for a moment, Li Fan changed his approach.
“He who tied the bell must untie it. This problem should be related to the Dao Net's power system. I should use something corresponding to resolve it.”
With a thought, countless Dao Essence symbols appeared. Under Li Fan's deliberate manipulation, they did not form any meaningful pattern instructions.
They merely floated and wandered around, seemingly attracting something.
After circling for a while, there was no result.
However, the sense of danger in Li Fan's heart never faded. So he tried a different arrangement.
Under patient experimentation, he finally had a breakthrough.
Within the space sealed by Mo Sha's shadow, a dim fluctuation suddenly appeared. The Dao Essence symbols created by Li Fan acted like a magnet, drawing out the hidden instruction!
Li Fan's eyes narrowed slightly. The Mo Sha shadow transformed into chains, swiftly coiling around and locking the instruction.
“This is… a portion of previous instructions remain when they naturally dissipate. If too many of these remnants accumulate at the same time, they will spontaneously combine into new warning instructions. And…”
This warning message, composed of remnants of Dao Essence instructions, was not as thoroughly suppressed by the Mo Sha Immortal Soul as other instructions.
Even under the suppression of the shadow, it constantly rioted and resisted. The chains violently rattled, and the warning message seemed poised to break free at any moment.
“This pattern instruction was not in Ma Tiande's memory. It should only circulate within the Dao Net itself. Used for…”
“Warning of the Calamity of Dao Annihilation!” Li Fan instantly analyzed this somewhat “fierce-looking” combination of Dao Essence symbols before him.
This instruction was somewhat different from those Li Fan had previously replicated.
It did not dissipate with the passage of time, as if an invisible force was maintaining its existence.
Furthermore, Li Fan vaguely perceived that this instruction would continuously replicate and strengthen itself based on its duration of existence.
Light and shadows began to undulate around the warning instruction.
It was a new warning, spontaneously formed by the summons of some force.
“It seems I can't just leave it like this.”
“One warning cannot break through Mo Sha's blockade. But if there are too many…”
Li Fan's heart tightened. The Mo Sha shadow began to charge towards the warning signal shackled in the center.
Under the gnawing of countless shadows, the warning signal's vitality appeared exceptionally tenacious.
It took Li Fan almost three days and three nights to completely devour it.
If it weren't for an energy supply equivalent to an entire Ascended Xuanhuang Realm, he might not have been able to outlast it!
“This is likely the underlying logic of the Dao Net. It is one of the fundamental reasons why the civilizations beyond the wall could barely survive the Calamity of Dao Annihilation!” Li Fan's heart was profoundly shaken.
Mo Sha's power was him, and he was Mo Sha.
During the process of devouring the warning signal, Li Fan also vaguely perceived its essence.
If Mo Sha was an attempt to lean towards the Dao Annihilation side, an approach of 'using foreign methods to counter foreign threats,' then this underlying warning signal pushed 'resistance' to its extreme.
Li Fan seemed to see figures that remained resolute and unyielding, even amidst the surging waves of the Calamity of Dao Annihilation, wave after wave.
He seemed to see the will to stand firm and prop up a crumbling sky, even as the Grand Dao was crushed and all things collapsed.
Almost instantly, the image of the Southern Immortal Heavenly Pillar he had once seen appeared in Li Fan's eyes. And from the Dao Net warning signal just now, he truly sensed an extremely similar aura!
“It's not an illusion!”
Li Fan pondered repeatedly, and after confirming it, his heart was filled with inexplicable shock and doubt.
“The reason the Southern Immortal Heavenly Pillar could become a heavenly pillar was due to the leg bone of an nameless True Immortal within the stone tablet. Heaven and earth are like a net, and the Grand Dao is like a pillar. The nameless True Immortal, though having integrated his body with the Dao and escaped from it, could still return to heaven and earth after death, transforming back into a support.”
“And this Dao Net can also achieve this…”
The vigilance in his heart dissipated.
With his conjectures, Li Fan continued testing the Dao Net pattern instructions.
All Dao Net instructions were built upon the most basic operations.
After mastering the basic instructions, and with the aid of Ma Tiande's memories, Li Fan's progress accelerated like a snowball.
Three days before the grand ceremony of Elysium City, Li Fan's Dao Net operational proficiency finally caught up to, and even surpassed, Ma Tiande's.
However, he had not yet formally connected to the Dao Net. Li Fan merely judged by comparing the speed and proficiency of generating Dao Net instructions.
“What exactly does the Dao Net look like? Let me have a glimpse.”
Around him, the Mo Sha shadow quietly receded, withdrawing its blockade.
From this moment on, every instruction Li Fan formed would connect to the Dao Net. Li Fan was also prepared for his possession to be exposed, ready to sever a limb to survive at any moment.
His expression was solemn. As his thoughts turned, a pattern formed before Li Fan.
This was something that had never appeared while the blockade was active.
Li Fan sensed an inexplicable power silently descending from heaven and earth. It even disregarded the blockade of Elysium City Lord Zhu Xue-shi, enveloping him.
His vision instantly soared infinitely high, Elysium City rapidly shrinking and becoming like a black dot, vanishing from his perception.
A vast, seven-colored interwoven net stood, spanning across heaven and earth.
However, this net did not fill every corner of his vision. Instead, it was surprisingly tattered and incomplete!
Not to mention the countless large holes scattered throughout.
Just the several large, missing sections were enough to be startling.
Beneath this seven-colored net, Li Fan also vaguely glimpsed the true Grand Dao of Heaven and Earth.
The Dao Net was like a blank sheet of paper, etched and laid over the horizontally and vertically interwoven Grand Dao of Heaven and Earth.
Serving as a connection, it became controllable by mortal cultivators.
Li Fan also saw countless seven-colored halos gathered in the damaged areas of the Dao Net, seemingly attempting to repair the gaps.
Beyond the vast blank areas of the Dao Net, an invisible giant hand vaguely existed. It continued to press the paper-like Dao Net down towards the location of the Grand Dao of Heaven and Earth.
Causing those existences not yet 'imprinted' to gradually manifest on the Dao Net.
Even though it initially appeared so ugly and crude.
However, what Li Fan saw at a glance still deeply captivated him with its magnificent sight.
“This is a scene of man conquering nature.”
“The myriad Grand Daos are formless, shadowless, and elusive. Yet, through such incredible methods, they can be crafted into creations that can be manipulated by humans…”
While marveling inwardly, Li Fan did not forget the operations required when initially connecting to the Dao Net.
The grand ceremony of Elysium City was imminent. As per custom, the area where Elysium City was located needed to be checked for Dao Net connection and coverage.
Naturally, Ma Tiande was not responsible for the inspection work.
He merely needed to send out a notification signal, and then cooperate with the relevant cultivators' work.
Li Fan saw seven-colored streams of light flying from the depths of the Dao Net. Through the signal he transmitted, they initially flowed towards the small points corresponding to Elysium City's location.
After circling once, they quickly returned.
Next, another stream of light appeared, but this one flew from a different direction of the Dao Net.
It continued to probe Elysium City's location.
This cycle repeated.
Li Fan silently watched all of this, and suddenly a feeling of "both advanced and backward" arose in his heart.
“Named 'Dao Net,' yet it still requires manual coordination…”
“Hmm?”
Li Fan's gaze suddenly flickered towards the Dao Net.
He wondered if it was his imagination, but while the Dao Net was operating and inspecting Elysium City, this entire "blank sheet of paper" covering the Grand Dao of Heaven and Earth…
…seemed to constantly undulate, as if gently swayed by a breeze.
Even…
…it seemed as if it could be peeled off at any moment!
However, beyond the Dao Net, the hand-like shadow remained firmly pressed down.
Preventing it from truly detaching from the Grand Dao of Heaven and Earth.
“So unstable…”
“This Dao Net does not appear to be in a stable state.”
Li Fan seemed lost in thought.
Aside from the invisible giant hand, Li Fan also noticed that other forces existed within the Dao Net, maintaining its stability.
Li Fan observed carefully, but gained no further insights.
The inspection of Elysium City was nearing its end.
Before disconnecting from the Dao Net, Li Fan suddenly had an epiphany: “Nameless True Immortal?”
He sharply glanced towards several key nodes within the Dao Net.
[12 seconds ago] Chapter 1496: Endgame Mystery
[2 minutes ago] Chapter 839: You want to play me to death
[7 minutes ago] Chapter 1495: Mountain and Sea Spirit Stone
[12 minutes ago] Chapter 1356: Fish
15390 · 0 · 29
18266 · 0 · 45
