Chapter 1454: Mountain and Sea Fable

For Li Buren, a pure creation of destruction, the emotion of "fear" was almost nonexistent.

The reason he could use infinite power but dared not was due to "instinct."

The moment the thought of employing the infinite Immortal Spirit power crossed his mind, the boundless vista of the Infinite Sea seemed to reappear before Li Buren's eyes. Gigantic waves, each drop laden with trillions of years of history, would pour down through the channel connecting him to the Infinite Sea. They would submerge everything in the world, including the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, leaving nothing in the mortal realm to survive.

This indescribable pressure made it impossible for Li Buren to press that invisible "button," even when it was so close he could almost touch it. Beyond the immense pressure emanating from the magnificent Infinite Sea itself, what concerned Li Buren even more were the terrifying entities hidden beneath it, unseen. Just the fluctuations caused by their thoughts, upon sensing Huan Zhen, were enough to stir up monstrous waves in the Infinite Sea.

Since returning to reality, Li Fan had been trying to communicate with Huan Zhen, hoping to gain more information about the Infinite Sea. However, he received no response. Fortunately, what offered Li Fan some reassurance was that Huan Zhen's power seemed unaffected in real-time; he could still activate it instantly. Huan Zhen was likely just in a bad mood and unwilling to respond.

However, the various insights gained from this brief journey into the Infinite Sea forced Li Fan to consider many things. For example, the fact that the Infinite Sea seemed closely related to the Tribulation of Dao Annihilation. Another example was that Huan Zhen must have a profound connection to the Infinite Sea and should be an old acquaintance of the terrifying, unknown entities hidden beneath it.

"Virtualize everything, return to the original anchor point.""Has the Infinite Sea, which lies above countless worlds, truly been rewound?"

A profoundly heavy yet unavoidable truth suddenly appeared before Li Fan.

All along, as Li Fan's cultivation realm improved, his understanding of Huan Zhen's abilities deepened. From appearing somewhat inadequate when facing true immortals to being able to spontaneously create isolated timeline fragments called the Samsara of No-Interval, Huan Zhen's power seemed to have no end. But today, after using the methods left by the ancient Immortal Realm to leap into and connect with the Infinite Sea, Li Fan seemed to have finally glimpsed the limits of Huan Zhen's power.

"The terrifying entities hidden beneath the Infinite Sea seem to be old acquaintances of Huan Zhen. If they are beings of the same rank, Huan Zhen's power of retrospection might not affect them.""However, to confirm this, I would need to enter the Infinite Sea again in the next life. But..."

A shadow of gloom flickered in Li Fan's eyes. This was the first time since he began his Samsara cultivation that he had to face enemies who, like him, could transcend the cycle of reincarnation. The experience of nearly "drowning" in the Infinite Sea, in particular, created a sudden surge of pressure in Li Fan's heart.

Moreover, Huan Zhen's performance in the Infinite Sea, with those few powers transcending everything in the mortal realm, reminded Li Fan of the legend of the Creator Gods he had once heard from Liu Ruchen. "Powerful Creator Gods defeated their peers and extracted their power to evolve all living beings in the world..."

Liu Ruchen claimed he had read this legend in an ancient text. Li Fan had previously soul-searched Liu Ruchen and indeed found this ancient text in his memory. However, when the Medicine King Sect hastily fled the Xuanhuang Realm, this text, not being considered important, was left behind and its whereabouts have been unknown ever since.

"This legend of the Creator Gods was not circulated or recorded elsewhere in the Xuanhuang Realm.""There's reason to suspect that the so-called ancient text might have been Sun Piaomiao's casual jottings...""Liu Ruchen merely skimmed this book, only reading the legend of the Creator Gods and another fable about a dialogue between a mountain and an ocean."

Li Fan recalled what Liu Ruchen had seen back then. In the primordial past, only mountains and seas existed. They encircled each other, coexisting harmoniously until one day, life suddenly emerged from within the sea. These beings were fundamentally different from the mountains and seas. While they brought much vitality to the sea, they naturally captured its attention.

At first, the mountain paid no mind. The creatures of the sea had finite lifespans, whereas the mountains and seas endured forever, immortal. Compared to the nearly infinite existence of the mountain and sea, the sea creatures were destined to be mere transients.

However, as time passed, the mountain was surprised to find that the number of sea creatures had not diminished; instead, they had become even more prosperous. Upon investigation, the mountain was shocked to discover that it was because the sea, unable to bear seeing its creatures die, had shared its own infinite lifespan with them.

The mountain was enraged: "O Sea! Why would you do this?! How are these little creatures worthy of enjoying the same infinite lifespan as us?"

The sea gently retorted, "O Mountain, why shouldn't I? You and I can exist forever in this world; even if we share our lifespan with them, it won't weaken us in the slightest. Wouldn't it be better for this world of mountains and seas to be a bit livelier?"

The mountain was momentarily speechless. It observed the creatures evolving in the sea and then sighed, "O Sea, it's not that I am stingy. It's just that these little creatures, once they grasp something that wasn't originally theirs, will instinctively crave more."

The sea countered, "What does 'originally theirs' mean? Was our infinite lifespan inherent from birth?"

The mountain finally fell silent.

"This seems to be just a simple fable. But if combined with the Creator God legend and what I witnessed on the Infinite Sea, there might be a deeper mystery. Sun Piaomiao..."

Li Fan pondered for a moment, deciding he must find that lost ancient text. However, when the entire Medicine King Sect fled, it was deemed an act of betrayal by the Ten Sects. The sect's property was quickly ransacked and looted. In the chaos of that time, no one knew where the ancient text went; it might even have been directly incinerated.

Li Fan first summoned the stone tablet. Although the stone tablet was said to record everything that happened in the Xuanhuang Realm, Li Fan knew its capabilities were limited to the original Xuanhuang Realm. Furthermore, it could not record transcendent powers like the Fishing Pond. So, he didn't hold much hope. As expected, the ancient text from Liu Ruchen's memory was not found.

However, with Li Fan's current grasp over the Xuanhuang Realm, if the book still existed within it, it would surely be found. Li Fan didn't need to do it himself; with just a single command, cultivators from the Myriad Immortal Alliance and the Council of Five Elders awoke from their dreams and began searching through their personal treasuries.

Li Fan's attention temporarily returned to his clone puppet, Li Buren. Although he hadn't activated his Immortal Spirit power, Li Buren, having returned from the Infinite Sea, now possessed the attribute of "infinity." Combined with a lingering wisp of immortal spirit energy transmitted from the immortal skin, it was as if some form of verification had been passed.

What was once merely a small corner, an invisible boundary like a high wall, instantly materialized and folded backward. This was a peculiar, yet hard-to-describe visual transformation. Li Buren felt that this confined space was rapidly expanding in all directions. Moreover, as the space grew larger, a diagonally ascending staircase gradually appeared in areas where nothing had existed before. The expansion of space seemed endless, and the staircase before Li Buren also seemed to stretch upwards indefinitely. There was no end in sight.

Li Buren did not rashly step onto the staircase but instead first surveyed his surroundings. This space did not extend infinitely like the staircase. Instead, after expanding to a certain limit, it gradually exhibited a strange curvature. Although still in a state of expansion, the rate at which its volume increased had significantly slowed. The space gradually filled, but aside from the faintly silver-glowing celestial staircase before him, there was nothing else.

To uncover the true secret of the high wall, Li Buren eventually stepped onto the staircase. The next second, Li Buren felt as if he had returned to the Infinite Sea. The surroundings were filled with high-speed lines moving forward. These lines were either solitary or clustered, some merely gray and white, others a myriad of colors. Li Buren tried to interact with these lines and discovered that, like the waters of the Infinite Sea, they stored and recorded vast amounts of history and life information. However, the volume of information was nowhere near the scale of the true Infinite Sea; Li Buren could easily bear it. Furthermore, the information within the lines was encrypted in some way, allowing Li Buren to only discern blurry outlines.

Caught in the torrent of lines, he surged forward. It wasn't long before Li Buren emerged from the stream. He arrived at the entrance of a dim passage, faintly imbued with an aura of death. The door sealing the passage had, for some unknown reason, been blasted open, leaving a large hole. Four damaged puppets lay scattered by the doorway. Parts of the puppets were still strewn across the ground nearby. Li Buren looked back the way he came and realized this location was the very end of the passage's entrance.

"The path ahead is boundless.""To leave, one must again use the method of traversing through those lines."

Li Buren looked at the fallen puppets nearby. Although they had been damaged for an unknown number of years, Li Buren could still feel a faint threat emanating from them. Reaching out, he picked up a fragment from the ground. Even with his full strength, Li Buren couldn't completely crush it, only cause further damage.

"The materials used to forge these puppets are extraordinary."

Choosing not to tangle further with these guardian puppets, Li Buren's figure flickered, and he entered the passage.

"Hmm?"

As he flew, Li Buren keenly noticed the difference between this place and the outer star sea. In the mundane star sea, he could merge with the Dao Net and travel along the Dao, traversing even the darkest star sea in just three breaths. But this place seemed to be a forbidden zone where the Great Dao was suppressed. His connection with the Dao Net felt as if it were obscured by an invisible barrier, making it much more difficult to draw upon. In his divine sense, the glittering projection of the Dao Net instantly dimmed. Only certain specific Dao paths remained unaffected, as if the complete Dao Net had been burned away, leaving only scattered remnants. Consequently, Li Buren's flying speed significantly decreased, and even his combat prowess was greatly reduced.

But he was not anxious. Instead, he began studying the dim passage with keen interest. For him, merely seeing this place made the journey worthwhile.

"In front of the Myriad Immortal Alliance's Protector Hall, there's a long path paved with Spirit-Transforming Stones. Within this path, spiritual energy is suppressed, preventing cultivators from flying, forcing them to walk.""This passage has a similar effect, but its restrictions apply not to ordinary cultivators, but to True Immortals who have comprehended the Dao!""And not just this passage, but all the structures here."

The passage Li Buren was walking through, which had been opened, also lacked physical boundaries. It only had conceptual restrictions, similar to the "high wall." This forced entrants to move only in a specific direction.

"Originally, the walls of this passage should have displayed some images, but they seem to be damaged and aren't appearing."

The passage was not long. Upon reaching the exit, Li Buren suddenly looked back, feeling a premonition. After that, there were no more twists. He walked out of the darkness through the only circular, brightly lit exit.

A strangely chaotic, hollow cylindrical hall appeared before Li Buren. The cylindrical hall towered upwards, its ceiling out of sight. It appeared somewhat empty, as if it had been plundered.

Following the faint aura of death he had sensed earlier, Li Buren found a cleaned-up mark on the ground. "This is..." He rubbed his fingertips on the ground, then raised them to his eyes, and a phantom, distorted face materialized. It shrieked and roared, "Save me!"

It was merely a remnant trace, re-energized by Li Buren's immortal power. He couldn't communicate with it; it only mechanically repeated phrases like "Save me" and "Escape quickly." Li Buren shook his head slightly, and after he withdrew his immortal power, the distorted face dissipated on its own.

Upon careful inspection, there were no less than thirty-seven lingering mental traces within the cylindrical hall. And these were just the ones that had remnants. As for those that had been completely purged, it was even harder to speculate.

"Judging by the intensity of these lingering regrets, they must have been left behind by fallen True Immortals.""The reason they are far weaker than the will to survive in the Abyssal Sea is, firstly, the difference in strength of the beings before their demise, and secondly, the thorough cleansing this place underwent.""True Immortals were slaughtered like ants. What exactly happened here?"

Aside from the thirty-seven traces, nothing else was found in the cylindrical space. And apart from the passage Li Buren had entered through, there seemed to be no other connections within this cylindrical hall. The investigation quickly reached a stalemate.

After a moment's thought, Li Buren suddenly looked at the few Dao paths that still glowed brightly in the miniature Dao Net within his divine sense. An idea gradually formed in his mind. Li Buren's body, which was formed by the unfolding fragments of his Immortal Domain, folded back upon itself. He transformed into a chess piece, concealed within the other Dao paths that were suppressed in this place. Only the parts that still glowed remained, harmonizing with the existing Dao principles of this place.

The cylindrical hall, originally of infinite height, suddenly shrank to a size of nine zhang and nine chi. One by one, items appeared, filling the empty hall. And on the cylindrical walls of the hall, Li Buren clearly saw countless square spaces arranged, displaying various scenes.