Every True Immortal, immortal artifact, immortal formation, and even immortal servant possesses their own unique mark, connected to the Infinite Ocean.
This was likely a means used by successive immortal emperors in power to control the immortal populace.
Except for anomalies like Li Fan, who can stealthily cross the Infinite Ocean, most beings in the Immortal World cannot escape this constraint. Carrying the True Return and having experienced the merging of the Three Grand Daos, Li Fan would not court death by rashly connecting to the Infinite Ocean before restoring his Illusion-to-True body protection divine ability. Therefore, he needed to borrow other means.
As Li Fan modified the Taiyuan Ancient Immortal Formation, wisps of silvery-white light began to emerge from the erratic rings.
"Immortal spiritual energy, such a familiar and wonderful scent."
Li Fan squinted and took a deep breath.
Still in a mortal body, he cautiously poured all the immortal spiritual power drawn and generated by the immortal formation into the "Accumulation Formation" he had modified.
The immortal spiritual power within this reservoir, though not belonging to him in terms of ownership, could be freely accessed and utilized by him through the formation. This was similar to how Li Fan borrowed the immortal power within the immortal skin bestowed by the Lord of Elysium in his previous life.
Compared to power that purely belonged to him, mobilizing it felt somewhat obstructed, not as fluid and unrestricted.
However, the impact was not too significant.
In less than half a day, Li Fan skillfully completed the accumulation and circulation of immortal power within his body.
At the same time, something unexpected by Li Fan occurred.
It was absolutely a good thing, not a bad one.
Perhaps it was the experience of the Three Grand Daos merging that instinctively tied Li Fan's impression of the immortal power of Mountains and Seas, the infinity of True Return, and the Grand Dao of Longevity together.
When he once again personally savored the taste of immortal spiritual power, it seemed as if he naturally touched upon the other two in his mind.
However, Li Fan was not blinded by momentary greed. After a period of contemplation, he decided to temporarily set aside the Grand Dao of Longevity.
He only took the changes between truth and falsehood represented by the True Return.
As immortal power gradually returned, Li Fan's comprehension of the truth-falsehood transformations, which had been diluted by the merging of Mountains and Seas, slowly began to revive.
However, Li Fan felt little joy in his heart; instead, he grew increasingly solemn.
"It seems the influence of the Three Grand Daos merging on me has not completely disappeared."
"These are clearly three entirely different Grand Daos, yet within me, they seem to be bound together, closely interconnected..."
Even though Li Fan had deliberately tried to set aside the Grand Dao of Longevity, as the other two Grand Daos grew stronger, he keenly perceived that the lifespan of his current body was uncontrollably lengthening.
Although not a True Immortal, his lifespan was already comparable to that of an immortal.
It was like a calmly and slowly rising water level that had gradually submerged his knees, which was truly frightening.
Seeing this, Li Fan had no choice but to temporarily halt his progress in comprehending the other two Grand Daos.
While feeling helpless, he could only console himself: "At least, compared to being directly merged without any struggle in the previous life, this life has a barely tangible indicator."
"As long as I control the speed at which the Three Grand Daos' comprehension ascends, I should be fine for now."
Li Fan knew in his heart that he absolutely had to resolve the hidden danger of the Three Grand Daos merging. However, he currently had no clue how.
He couldn't even seek advice from others.
The Grand Daos of Mountains and Seas: obtaining just one was already a stroke of divine luck.
Obtaining two, one would be a figure like Old Man Shouqiu.
As for someone who could obtain all three...
Unseen since ancient times!
Even True Return itself had been severely damaged during the merging of the Three Grand Daos.
Li Fan could only grope for his own path to salvation.
"Perhaps the origin of this long river of time, the primordial Mountains and Seas before the Immortal World was born, would hold the answer."
"Or perhaps, at the end of the long river, the final era where everything merges, it would be easier to find a result."
At this moment, Li Fan stood at a node in the vast river of time, looking back at the past and gazing into the future. For a time, he was lost in confusion, unsure of what his next step should be.
He remained immersed for several days before finally emerging from countless illusions and profound thoughts.
"Overthinking is useless. First, let's deal with the matters at this temporal node."
Having barely recovered more than half of his abilities, Li Fan actually didn't care much about the current Xuanhuang World.
"One step at a time."
Li Fan took a step, and the next moment, he followed the horizontal golden lock, returning from the Taiyuan Realm to the Xuanhuang World.
Sensing the "master's" departure, the Taiyuan Overseer and Repair Official slowly rose to their feet.
They paid no heed to the Taiyuan cultivators below who were still wailing in pain; instead, they joined forces to construct a statue of Li Fan, meant to serve as an eternal reminder and memorial.
This was not at Li Fan's instruction, but an action they took voluntarily, driven by their "servant" instinct.
Upon returning to the Xuanhuang World, Li Fan did not immediately seek out the Xuanhuang Great Celestial Venerable.
Instead, he first returned to Evergreen Valley.
As compensation for slaying Baili Shan, Jiang Yingyue, in her capacity as the chief of the Grand Supreme Sect, provided some material aid to Evergreen Valley. Evergreen Valley's Sect Master, Zou Yunhao, was heartbroken by the loss of his disciple, whom he had virtually raised himself.
But he could not, for his sake, disregard the lives of all others in Evergreen Valley and directly confront the Grand Supreme Sect. Thus, he could only silently bear it.
Although they had lost a peerless genius, with the support of the Grand Supreme Sect, Evergreen Valley's situation had ironically improved. A scene of prosperity, it clearly showed signs of ascending to a first-rate sect.
"As the saying goes, blessings and misfortunes are intertwined; good and bad fortune are unpredictable."
"But precisely because of one's weakness, one can only drift with the currents, left to the whims of fortune or misfortune."
"If the Sect Master of Evergreen Valley had strength like mine, whether it was good fortune or ill, he would be able to decide for himself."
"This principle applies to me as well. Although the merging of the Three Grand Daos is a colossal disaster, it is also an unparalleled opportunity. Everything depends on what my true strength is."
Li Fan, having personally experienced the changes in Evergreen Valley and witnessed the transformations, felt waves of enlightenment surge within his heart.
After sensing the vengeful thoughts hidden deep within Zou Yunhao's heart, Li Fan subtly smiled and sent something out.
He then quietly flew into the Evergreen Valley's sect treasury.
Zou Yunhao, who was gazing at Baili Shan's mementos, reminiscing and feeling sorrow, suddenly felt a prick on his hand. Looking closely, he saw a thin piece emitting a mysterious aura, which he had never noticed before.
"Grand... Supreme... Dao..." Zou Yunhao painstakingly deciphered the words on the thin piece, and his expression suddenly changed drastically.
He instinctively put away the thin piece and cautiously looked around.
Several drops of cold sweat trickled down his forehead.
Inside the Evergreen Valley treasury, Li Fan swept his divine sense and indeed found his target.
"I almost forgot about this."
With a gentle wave, he drew a yellowed book into his palm.
Flipping through the first few pages, there was no difference from what Li Fan had seen ten thousand years later.
It was precisely the Mountains and Seas Allegory, left by Sun Piaomiao of the Medicine King Sect!
Previously, although Li Fan had found this allegory, which had been confiscated by the Grand Supreme Sect, in the Ten Sects' Migration Ground of the Thousand Crossings Dao Field outside the high wall, several crucial pages were missing from its middle.
Therefore, Li Fan wanted to see if, at this temporal node, this Mountains and Seas Allegory was still incomplete.
"Hmm... it's actually complete."
"Interesting. Who tore it apart then?"
A thought stirred in Li Fan's mind, and several suspicious individuals flashed through his thoughts.
Temporarily suppressing these thoughts, he first carefully read the previously missing chapters of the allegory.
They were composed of several short stories.
The first one, however, resolved Li Fan's previous doubts when reading the allegory.
Once, new lifeforms were born in the Sea. The Sea even shared its infinite lifespan with these weak beings, which even caused a dispute with the Mountains.
However, in later chapters, these lifeforms were never mentioned again. Only the Mountains and Seas remained between them.
Li Fan read with great interest what was recorded in the allegory about the fate of these lifeforms.
After the sea lifeforms were born, the Mountains and Seas did not speak to each other for many years.
But the Mountains and Seas always nestled together, never parting even half a step.
Suddenly one day, a lifeform followed the ocean waves, crossed the boundary, and arrived upon the mountains.
The Sea, fearing the Mountains' wrath, broke years of silence and proactively greeted: "Mountains, you don't need to be angry. What malice could these little ones possibly have?"
"Sea, is that truly how you see me? If they can live in the Sea, they can exist on the Mountains. Let them be!"
The Sea was overjoyed, thinking the Mountains had finally accepted these lifeforms.
So It actively stirred up waves, sending more lifeforms onto the mountains.
The Mountains merely watched in silence, expressing no opinion.
Lifeforms spread between the Mountains and the Sea.
Like a bond between Mountains and Sea, covering both mountains and oceans.
Years passed thus.
Then one day, the calm sea surged, suddenly rising straight up.
Unexpectedly, it swallowed countless lifeforms between the Mountains and the Sea.
The Sea was utterly astonished, but the Mountains had expected it.
"Mountains, they were clearly born in the Sea, so why were they drowned by the Sea instead?"
The Sea was deeply saddened, but powerless concerning the lifeforms already submerged at the bottom of the sea.
The Mountains sighed: "Our merging requires slow adaptation. How could they withstand such power?"
"If they had stayed in the Sea, perhaps they could have lived with you forever."
"Alas, they mistakenly ventured onto the mountains."
The waves surged for a long time without ceasing: "I harmed them."
"Without you, they would not have existed in the first place. How can you say you harmed them?"
The Sea did not reply.
After that, there were no more lifeforms in the Mountains and Seas.
Li Fan read this first story carefully dozens of times.
Finally, with a strange expression, he thought: "These sea lifeforms, or rather, Mountains and Seas lifeforms, do they refer to everything in the mortal world, all existence apart from the Mountains and Seas themselves?"
"The merging of Mountains and Seas is an inevitable trend. It is the fundamental reason why the Tribulation of Dao Annihilation will be born."
"Those who cannot withstand the merging of Mountains and Seas will be utterly annihilated within them."
"So, this means..."
Li Fan pondered, reaching a rather absurd conclusion in his mind.
It seemed that what this allegory recorded was mostly about events before the birth of mortal civilization, and...
...events after its destruction.
In Li Fan's view, the incredibly long span of time was merely two insignificant chapters in this allegory.
"Dao Annihilation is the end of the mortal world, but it is not the end for the Mountains and Seas."
"When stars appear and the Mountains and Seas are no more—that is the end. Or perhaps, what is not even recorded in this allegory is the real conclusion."
A feeling of bewilderment and loss arose in his heart, and Li Fan carefully re-read the allegory.
He ultimately confirmed the judgment in his mind.
Inevitably, at the same time, more questions arose: "Who is the author of this allegory?"
"If my conjecture is true, then to be able to record the anomalies of Mountains and Seas from the perspective after the complete annihilation of the mortal world... This..."
Li Fan suddenly recalled what Emperor Taitian had mentioned: traveling upstream from the end of time, joining forces with past cultivators across space and time to save the mortal world.
"Could it be left by a powerful being from the future, from the end of time?"
"What role does Sun Piaomiao play in this?"
With too many questions unanswered, Li Fan had no choice but to temporarily suppress them.
He first continued to look at the remaining chapters of the allegory.
Most were records of the Mountains and Sea interacting, with unclear meaning.
One chapter particularly caught Li Fan's attention.
Suddenly one day, the Mountains were sullen and unhappy. The Sea asked, but received no reply.
Upon asking again, faint thunderclaps could be heard from within the Mountains.
The Sea was inexplicably surprised: "Mountains, have you also undergone a change? This is a good thing, why are you unhappy instead?"
The Mountains sighed: "Sea, for you and me, change may not be something to celebrate."
"Have you forgotten the outcome of our initial changes?"
The Sea still retorted: "Didn't it also create the current you and me? Mountains, do not resist. Try to accept them."
The Mountains responded in silence.
After that, the thunder in the Mountains grew louder.
Finally one day, the Mountains and Sea trembled.
The thunderous sound vanished.
"The Transformation of Mountains and Seas." Li Fan vaguely sensed something from this allegory, but he couldn't articulate it.
It was as if an unshakeable white veil lay between him and the truth, causing immense discomfort.
"These torn-out notes seem to refer to certain major events that once occurred between the Mountains and the Sea."
"The demise of mortal civilization actually occupies only a few chapters within it. So what does this 'Transformation of Mountains and Seas' refer to? Could it be that, between the Mountains and Seas, entities similar to the current mortal civilization were once born?"
"But they all perished one after another?" Li Fan couldn't help but let his imagination run wild.
In addition, there was another chapter that Li Fan found particularly interesting. It even evoked a slight sense of fear, and...
...inexplicable confusion.
If the entire allegory was supposed to record matters concerning the Mountains and Seas, then this particular chapter felt somewhat out of place.
As if it had been forcefully inserted.
It described precisely how the first lifeform that crossed from the Sea to the Mountains discovered the existence of the Mountains while still in the Sea.
The Mountains and Seas were vast; those within them did not know their true nature.
Living within them, they were carefree, without disaster or misfortune. Yet one day, a lifeform came to the edge of the Sea and suddenly looked up.
It seemed to glimpse the silhouette of the Mountains.
That boundless form, akin to the Sea, filled its mind, causing it to instinctively tremble with fear, curiosity, excitement...
After this, it tried every possible method, and finally succeeded in using the Sea's winds and waves to cross over to the great mountains.
Born in the Sea, standing upon the Mountains.
Its vision instantly became incredibly vast and far-reaching.
And so...
Its gaze went beyond the Mountains and Seas.
It looked beyond the Mountains and Seas.
[5 minutes ago] Chapter 1658: True Spirit Lures to Sainthood
[10 minutes ago] Chapter 930: Immortal, Literary Saint, Novelist
[12 minutes ago] Chapter 1657: Starshine Festival Chronicle
[15 minutes ago] Chapter 4715: The First Person of the Ages
18369 · 0 · 45
15692 · 0 · 30