Chapter 1500: All Realms, Myself as One

"An immortal from the Other Shore?" Li Fan's pupils constricted, and he couldn't help but lean closer.

"Is it *that* Other Shore?" he asked in a low voice.

"Yes and no," Cheng Dao replied, seeming to drift into memories, his expression somewhat dazed.

After a long time, he finally snapped out of it and lightly tapped the wisp of green smoke in front of Li Fan.

As the green smoke curled, numerous images emerged.

These were Cheng Dao's memories from when he was a spiritual stone on the edge of the Mountains and Seas.

"The legendary Other Shore is indeed a place yearned for by all beings in the Immortal Realm. Even Master, after achieving transcendence, went there. However, the term 'Other Shore' doesn't exclusively refer to that sacred land."

"Anything beyond the possibilities of the unknown can be called the Other Shore."

"In the ancient Immortal Realm, immortal coffins would occasionally appear, drifting across the Mountains and Seas, accompanied by the Calamity of Dao Annihilation. The nameless beings sleeping within them had most likely seen their homelands perish after encountering Dao Annihilation. Unable to find a way to escape their own possibility, they sealed themselves in these coffins, allowing themselves to drift through the Mountains and Seas in search of another place to reside..."

As Li Fan listened, he couldn't help but think of the previous Hunger Immortal, whose Dao aura clearly originated from beyond the primal possibilities.

"It seems perhaps he was one of these Immortals in Coffins."

"Unable to cross possibilities by their own power, they could only drift with the immortal coffins. While not yet at the transcendent realm, their ability to survive the great tide of Dao Annihilation within the coffin and successfully reach another possibility implies a top-tier strength among the nameless." Li Fan quickly pondered.

But then a new doubt arose.

"What... what exactly are these so-called immortal coffins? How can they protect the nameless from Dao Annihilation? If one collected enough of them, couldn't they construct an unsinkable vessel that could forever float above the great tide of Dao Annihilation?" Li Fan asked aloud.

Cheng Dao chuckled sardonically, "There's no such thing as 'forever.' It's merely a stopgap measure. Those immortal coffins are, in fact, the last remaining concentrations of the Great Dao within a given possibility."

"They still can't prevent the invasion of Dao Annihilation, but thanks to a special method of compression and condensation, they can delay the erosion's speed as much as possible. It's unknown who originally created this method, but it's universally used across all heavens. And indeed, its effectiveness is remarkable, granting the Immortals in Coffins ample time to drift."

"I remember, Master once personally witnessed and salvaged an immortal coffin. Unfortunately, the nameless being inside had long since decayed and perished. Out of pity for its fate, Master melted down its remains and the coffin itself into a stubborn stone similar to me, then cast it beyond the Mountains and Seas, hoping that one day it might regain vitality..."

Li Fan stared at the stubborn stone in Cheng Dao's memory. For some reason, a sense of familiarity welled up within him.

Yet, he searched his memories but couldn't find the source of this feeling.

It wasn't until Cheng Dao waved his hand, disrupting the image, and the stubborn stone transformed into thousands of specks of light, that Li Fan suddenly realized.

Every fragment derived from that stubborn stone surprisingly resembled a medicinal pill!

"The Medicine King Sect's square stone?"

The Scripture of the Medicine King of Dao Refinement, passed down by Sun Piaomiao, came from a massive square stone he usually sat on while refining pills.

By any other method of identification, this massive square stone was a pure, ordinary rock. Only by mentally acknowledging it as a medicinal pill and then consuming it would the faint voice of inheritance be heard.

This pattern, where something was indistinguishable when whole but revealed its Dao when separated, was something Li Fan had only encountered in Sun Piaomiao's inheritance. Yet now, he saw a glimpse of it in Cheng Dao's memories.

"Could it be that Sun Piaomiao was transformed from that stubborn stone?"

"Drifting through the Mountains and Seas for untold ages, his immortal body already decayed. He certainly possessed the conditions to glimpse the secrets of the Mountains and Seas."

"Furthermore..."

Li Fan recalled something Sun Piaomiao had once said in Liu Ruchen's memories.

"Birth, old age, sickness, and death—these are the eternal principles of the Great Dao. Even this starfield cannot avoid them, let alone you."

Li Fan's thoughts solidified: "These truly sound like words spoken by someone who has genuinely experienced the life and death of Dao. Moreover, the method of condensing and folding True Immortal Seal characters into chess pieces to transform them into an immortal domain also bears some resemblance to the immortal coffins."

"If he truly is the reincarnation of an Immortal in a Coffin..."

Cheng Dao seemed unaware of Li Fan's internal turmoil. After dispelling the image of the stubborn stone, he continued to speak about the Immortals in Coffins.

"You mentioned before that the Dao Sword and Dao Saber treasures used by the Guangwu Star Sea came from other possibilities. This indicates they have the power to connect with other possibilities. While they might not be able to cross over completely, at the very least, salvaging and capturing should be no problem for them."

Cheng Dao smiled, "Junior Brother, it seems you've encountered a formidable enemy this time. Are you afraid?"

Li Fan cooperated, responding with a carefree smile, "With Senior Brother by my side, let alone a mere Immortal in a Coffin, I'd dare to fight even a transcendent powerhouse with all my might!"

Highly satisfied with Li Fan's boldness, Cheng Dao's smile faded. "Confidence is good. But Junior Brother, you must not be careless. After all, these Immortals in Coffins could survive the great calamity of Dao Annihilation when possibilities were shattered, so their strength is undoubtedly significant."

"Furthermore, the Guangwu Star Sea released that immortal coffin specifically because of your method of subduing the Dao Sword and Dao Saber. It's likely not a randomly chosen one..."

"Speaking of which, Junior Brother, just how did you manage to subdue that pair of blades? I fear even I might struggle with them." Cheng Dao stared at Li Fan, chuckling, and suddenly asked.

Li Fan naturally had an answer prepared for this question.

Without a moment's hesitation, he took out the Dao Sword and Dao Saber, then, in front of Cheng Dao, activated the Myriad-Phased Dao Net.

Li Fan had used this divine ability during his confrontation with Cheng Dao, so Cheng Dao was no stranger to it. However, the next moment, the purplish-black aura surging from the Dao Net made Cheng Dao's expression change.

"This Dao Sword and Dao Saber indeed come from other possibilities. Even the Infinite Great Dao cannot shake them in the slightest. However, they remain within the Mountains and Seas, unable to transcend the mortal realm. The core of my Myriad-Phased Dao Net, the Moshaxian Soul, is a power close to Dao Annihilation. Naturally, it can suppress them!" Li Fan declared proudly.

As he spoke, the ethereal figure of the Moshaxian Soul, wreathed in purplish-black energy, floated out from the Myriad-Phased Dao Net, standing before Cheng Dao.

Cheng Dao, being a spiritual stone conceived on the edge of the Mountains and Seas, was naturally no stranger to the merging aura of the Mountains and Seas.

Upon seeing the ethereal figure of the Moshaxian Soul, he instinctively stood up, a look of tension on his face.

"Senior Brother, there's no need to worry. This power is entirely within my control," Li Fan said calmly, retracting the Moshaxian Soul.

"This... where did it come from?" A flicker of confusion and uncertainty crossed Cheng Dao's eyes.

Li Fan saw it clearly, so he didn't lie: "Senior Brother, you and I both originated from the Lan Ke Daoist Temple, so you should naturally be aware of the various mysteries of this experimental space."

Seeing Cheng Dao nod slightly, Li Fan continued, "In the world where I resided, there were entities known as the Souls of Heaven and Earth. They are roughly the embodiment of the laws between heaven and earth."

"Moshaxian was one of them. I accidentally discovered its wonders and then found ways to domesticate it..."

Li Fan wove a tale of truth and falsehood, narrating it calmly.

The Moshaxian Soul could be considered one of Li Fan's most crucial secrets. Its sudden revelation, even to Cheng Dao, caused considerable shock.

The most ingenious part of this fabrication was that the Myriad-Phased Dao Net's suppressive power over the Dao Sword and Dao Saber had only been nurtured *after* subduing the blades.

However, only the master of the Moshaxian Soul could truly know the full details. What Cheng Dao saw with his own eyes was the Myriad-Phased Dao Net, bolstered by the power of the Moshaxian Soul, effortlessly suppressing the Dao Sword and Dao Saber.

Cheng Dao was then filled with admiration: "Junior Brother, you truly have incredible luck. If I'm not mistaken, this must have been one of the goals the Immortal Realm sought to achieve through its experiments."

"The power of the merging Mountains and Seas."

"The starfield where I gained sentience also had similar creations. That spring that washes the stream water..."

"However, compared to your Moshaxian, Junior Brother, it's significantly inferior." While there was some envy, it was just that—envy. Having been enlightened by Lord Shouqiu, Cheng Dao harbored no thoughts of taking his junior brother's treasure for himself.

"By the way, Senior Brother, do you know why the Immortal Realm suddenly abandoned this experimental Daoist temple? They even neglected Master's inheritance. From my observations, it seemed they were perhaps close to truly finding a solution to Dao Annihilation." Li Fan's face showed confusion.

Li Fan's words didn't reveal that he knew the experimental site's original purpose was to capture the so-called "world-saving supreme treasure."

He merely guided the conversation towards resisting the Calamity of Dao Annihilation.

Cheng Dao fell silent for a moment.

Suddenly, he looked at Li Fan, his expression somewhat strange: "How do you know they didn't succeed?"

"Huh?" Li Fan was a little confused.

"This Daoist temple was built by the Immortal Realm at great effort and cost. There's no possibility it was simply abandoned suddenly."

"Its current emptiness might be because they accomplished their desired goal."

"But the Immortal Realm still perished in the end, and the Calamity of Dao Annihilation still descended, didn't it?" Li Fan was astonished.

Cheng Dao sighed, "Junior Brother, you're a bit too naive. Even Master, with his broad mind, didn't try to stubbornly defend against Dao Annihilation and save an entire realm. Otherwise, he wouldn't have simply departed when the Calamity of Dao Annihilation was at its peak. What about everyone else?"

"From beginning to end, what the immortals of the Immortal Realm, including the ruling Immortal Emperor, pursued was a method that would allow the majority of True Immortals to survive."

"If the Immortal Realm is gone, they can simply rebuild it on the Upper Mountain."

"Ultimately, the Other Shore is the place truly recognized by everyone as capable of resolving the calamity of the Mountains and Seas merging."

"Everything else..."

"Is irrelevant to the grand scheme."

Li Fan listened to these remarks, stunned.

"Then, the Immortal Realm's destruction, and the True Immortals falling like ants..."

Cheng Dao smiled, "Those who perished in the calamity of destruction were not the majority at all. Those who left are the true representatives of the Immortal Realm."

"As for the Three Treasures for Escaping the World, they were merely the self-preservation efforts of discarded wretches."

Li Fan vaguely felt that these remarks were incorrect.

"What about the Four Sacred Monarchs of the Immortal Realm then? Three of the four fell. Don't they count as true representatives of the Immortal Realm?"

Cheng Dao sighed softly, "Lianshan, Guihai, and Taiyi—those three Sacred Monarchs simply chose not to live anymore. Look at the Grand Sage Jingfen; isn't he still living perfectly fine? Could it be that the Grand Sage Jingfen's strength surpasses that of the previous three Sacred Monarchs?"

"Furthermore, what is called the 'fall' of these three Sacred Monarchs might not be a true fall at all."

"It was simply a selective abandonment."

Perhaps it was because Li Fan had revealed the secret of his Moshaxian Soul earlier, earning Cheng Dao's complete trust.

This time, Cheng Dao explained with exceptional detail.

Li Fan slowly recovered from his shock, gradually pondering the meaning behind Cheng Dao's words.

"Senior Brother, do you mean that the three Sacred Monarchs—Lianshan, Guihai, and Taiyi—who searched all over the Mountains and Seas, are actually just one person?"

"Perhaps not before. But ever since they opened the Upper Mountain and unblocked the Infinite Spring, that has been the case."