Chapter 1459: 望海守丘仙

As the faces of the five illusory figures suddenly appeared, incredibly calm, faint words also emerged. The words did not seem directed at Li Buren, the sudden intruder, but rather appeared to be a pre-recorded message.

"I, Shengde, the Mound Guardian Immortal, dare to greet the wise ones who come after."

"Having attained the Nameless state, we are inherently meant for transcendence. Yet, with the Dao Annihilation lurking, we cannot forsake the heavy burden upon our shoulders."

"By chance, I obtained this excellent method: using a shadow to replace one's true form, one can withstand overwhelming calamities."

"I share it with you..."

The five illusory figures spoke in unison.

What followed was no ordinary sound. Instead, like a carving knife, the method was directly etched onto Li Buren's body, which was encircled by the illusory figures. He felt no pain, nor the slightest abnormality. It was as if a memory that had always belonged to him, yet had been sealed away and forgotten, was now re-emerging. It wasn't a lesson imparted, but rather a truth "recalled." The entire process of contemplation, learning, and mastery was completely bypassed. To know it was to have already achieved mastery!

Li Buren, however, felt a twinge of regret. The five illusory figures had actively transmitted the method because the collective presence of all the "chess pieces" from an entire Immortal Realm had gathered. In terms of cosmic standing, this was almost equivalent to a Nameless True Immortal. Thus, the Mound Guardian Immortal regarded all these chess pieces as a single entity. The engraving and imprinting were performed upon this collective entity. What Li Buren received was only a small fraction of it. Nevertheless, this secret method, cultivable only by those at the Nameless True Immortal realm, was enough to profoundly broaden his horizons!

"This method is called 'Mound Guardian's Extensive Notes.'"

"On the edge of a vast ocean, there lies a tiny, unnamed mound."

"Shengde guarded this mound for a total of 123 epochs. He witnessed the ebb and flow of tides, the generation and dissipation of water. Whenever a realization came to him, he recorded it. As time passed, these 'extensive notes' came into being..."

Li Buren processed the "memories" within his mind. The simple words seemed to depict a solitary figure who had stood watch by the boundless ocean for 123 epochs, gazing out at the endless sea from an unnamed mound, a silent companion to the tides.

"This Mound Guardian Immortal, capable of bearing the calamity of Dao Annihilation with five illusory figures, surely possesses a strength and realm far beyond the humble self-description in the Extensive Notes."

Li Buren let out a long breath, as if trying to free himself from the immense passage of time evoked by those few lines of text.

"Sun Piaomiao's previous message mentioned the 'Heavenly Net Epoch.' 'Epoch' must be a unit of time used in the Immortal Realm. I wonder how many years in the Xuanhuang Realm correspond to one Immortal Realm epoch."

"Regardless, 123 epochs must surely represent an exceptionally long stretch of time."

"And a sea and mound that necessitated such an expenditure of time to perpetually guard surely cannot be an ordinary ocean and hill."

Li Buren suddenly recalled the allegory of the mountain and the sea from the book suspected to have been left by Sun Piaomiao.

"If the sea symbolizes the Infinite Sea, then what does the mountain represent..."

The 'extensive notes' left by Shengde, the Mound Guardian Immortal, did not merely impart the technique of leaving behind illusory forms. Instead, they meticulously documented the Mound Guardian Immortal's entire journey of contemplation and realization that led to this method. This method was not born from a sudden, singular enlightenment. Rather, it was refined and perfected through countless days of accumulated effort and endless contemplation.

Upon acquiring this method, Li Buren felt as if he had "transcended" into the Mound Guardian Immortal of old, reliving 123 epochs of profound change through the Immortal's body, spirit, and thoughts. Even though he faced only the mountain and the sea day in and day out, the seemingly infinite data almost completely overwhelmed Li Buren. Fortunately, he was sharing this burden with the other Immortal Realm "chess pieces." Only with his extraordinary physique—a projection of his divine sense Dao Net and a body composed of Immortal Realm law fragments—could he barely withstand it.

"No wonder the Mound Guardian Immortal's illusory forms only manifest when confronted by a Nameless True Immortal. It's not out of stinginess or unwillingness to teach this method to other immortals; rather, anyone below the Nameless realm simply cannot endure it!"

Carried away by the Mound Guardian Immortal's surging currents of thought, Li Buren felt as if he had returned to the Infinite Sea. Each surrounding drop of water seemed to hold eons of time.

"According to the Mound Guardian Immortal, the sea's encroachment upon the mountain has existed since time immemorial. Yet, much like earthly tides, it shifts ceaselessly, fluctuating in strength."

"Since He began guarding the mound and watching the sea, its momentum, though constantly fluctuating, has generally been on an upward trend in terms of scale. Moreover... it is still far from reaching its estimated peak."

"The Mound Guardian Immortal first discerned this phenomenon in the twentieth epoch. For the next full hundred epochs, this observation was consistently verified."

"Had warnings been issued to the world long ago, only to be dismissed because his voice carried little weight?"

"This..." Upon hearing this, Li Buren was instantly perplexed.

However, the Mound Guardian Immortal Shengde's subsequent self-narration provided the answer. It turned out that at that time, the Mound Guardian Immortal was merely an "ordinary" True Immortal, having not yet even attained the Nameless state. His words would naturally be overlooked. Yet, in the eighty-eighth epoch, the Mound Guardian Immortal's sustained efforts culminated in a breakthrough, finally allowing him to enter the Nameless state. He did not, however, announce his achievement, choosing instead to continue his silent vigil by the mound, watching the sea. Coincidentally, at that very time, the Immortal Realm seemed to undergo a drastic change, leaving all the immortals preoccupied and unable to attend to him, the solitary mound guardian by the distant sea. The entire Immortal Realm appeared to have forgotten him. Until one day, colossal waves surged over the mound.

Detaching himself from the Mound Guardian Immortal's seemingly uneventful yet truly momentous life, Li Buren began to concentrate on the method of the illusory figures bearing the Dao.

"According to the Mound Guardian Immortal, as he sat upon the mound gazing at the sea, the undulating waves were akin to confronting the myriad Great Daos of the world directly."

"Each individual wave, and the rhythm of the Great Dao, were in fact two facets of a single entity."

"A person standing on the mountaintop, like a colossal rock, is battered by the waves daily, and thus worn down. Yet simultaneously, between the mountain and the sea, they leave behind unique traces of their own existence."

The Mound Guardian Immortal's 'extensive notes' were incredibly recondite and difficult to grasp. Even Li Fan, who had undergone a hundred reincarnations and countless experiences, found himself struggling to comprehend them immediately.

"Had I not possessed the 'True Return' ability and personally ventured into the Infinite Sea, I fear that even with this method in hand, I would have been utterly lost in confusion, completely unaware of its true essence. I might even have dismissed it as a mere fantasy!"

"This is because this method is fundamentally different from all other cultivation systems in the world," Li Fan realized.

Yet, the marvel of the Mound Guardian Immortal's 'extensive notes' lay precisely in this: even if the recipient could not fully grasp its profound mysteries, the active imprinting by the five illusory figures allowed them to effortlessly wield this wondrous art of Dao-bearing illusory forms, as if by instinct.

"There's no need to expend one's own essence at all. It simply refines the traces left behind in history and the Great Dao, transforming them into illusory forms, which then bear the immense weight of the Dao Annihilation..."

"Such a divine ability is truly somewhat beyond imagination!"

Moreover, Li Fan perceived that this wondrous art of Dao-bearing illusory forms served more than just to resist the calamity of Dao Annihilation. Or rather, bearing the Dao was merely one of the many functions inherent to this divine ability.

"Immunity to a hundred calamities, mastery over all laws, eternal life..."

"Beyond all this, the most crucial aspect is transcendence!"

"It is the fundamental method for escaping the Great Dao of this realm."

Simultaneously, the extraction of all past traces left between the mountain and sea also represented the process of severing all connections with the mortal realm. By then, with a solitary existence, one would be unfettered by the constraints of the Great Dao's net... Li Fan's heart stirred, and a profound sense of yearning arose within him.

At this precise moment, the transmission of the Dao from the Mound Guardian Immortal concluded. All of the 'Mound Guardian's Extensive Notes' had been fully imprinted. The five illusory figures left by Shengde, the Mound Guardian Immortal, unexpectedly bowed slightly towards Li Buren in the center, offering a respectful salute. Their forms then rippled, slowly dissipating. They reverted to their previous state of silently bearing the Dao. Li Buren's expression grew solemn, and he returned the bow with grave reverence. He understood this to be the Mound Guardian Immortal's hope that future sages would similarly leave behind illusory forms to bear the Dao. Hence, the reciprocated bow.

"The illusory figures left by the Mound Guardian Immortal are likely not confined solely to this one location within these high walls."

"Having left behind these Dao-bearing illusory forms, where is he now? Has he perhaps already departed from this current possibility?"

Connecting this to the Lower Realm Star Sea, which, despite being ravaged by the Dao Annihilation, still pulsed with vitality, Li Buren suddenly understood. Li Buren harbored no doubt that this sea-gazing Mound Guardian Immortal possessed the power to traverse possibilities.

"In any event, by leaving behind these Dao-bearing illusory forms and providing a mysterious, world-saving technique for future generations, the Mound Guardian Immortal has certainly lived up to the responsibilities he bore."

"Truly worthy of the name Shengde."

After a long period of contemplation, Li Buren finally returned to his senses and looked at the surrounding Immortal Realm "chess pieces." After being inscribed by the Mound Guardian Immortal, these "chess pieces" appeared subtly different from before. Previously, these fragments of the Immortal Realm had merely floated silently, exuding a breathtaking aura. Now, however, they had reverted to a state of profound simplicity, becoming utterly inconspicuous. An inattentive observer would easily overlook them.

"Or, perhaps, it would be more accurate to say they were 'gradually detaching from this world.'"

A sudden sense of alarm welled up in Li Buren's heart. He had not forgotten that during the previous activation of the True Return, the Nameless True Immortal's leg bone within the Immortal Realm had seemingly responded, flying toward him as if drawn by some sensation.

"The Nameless state can no longer be simply gauged by life and death."

"Though it's merely a leg bone, still in a fragmented state, who knows what transformations might occur after it receives the 'Mound Guardian's Extensive Notes'?"

Li Buren tentatively seized one of the white chess pieces. Disregarding all else, he then manifested his original body from his state as a Dao Net "chess piece." A repulsive force struck, and Li Buren, clutching the Medicine King's True Cauldron, tumbled from the highest point of the circular hall.