Chapter 1547: Whether It Works or Not

Angry Squid:

Scenes from the memories of the previous Hunger Immortal, or rather, the Devourer of Daos from other possibilities, flashed one after another in Li Fan's mind.

His skeleton transformed into streaks of flowing light, becoming another Heaven Pillar. Although it was also only half a pillar, compared to what Li Fan had obtained previously, it undoubtedly represented a greater condensation of the primal Dao of Hunger.

Li Fan did not pull this Heaven Pillar out of the Immortal Ruins. Instead, he buried the half-pillar that sealed the Hunger Immortal near it. It could be perceived that, due to their shared enlightenment of the Dao of Hunger, even though the core of the two Heaven Pillars was not the same person, they still showed a tendency to merge.

"Unable to attain the Dao of the Nameless in life, but still having a chance after death. Consider it fulfilling your wish," Li Fan muttered to himself, nodding.

After temporarily settling the two Heaven Pillars, Li Fan then recalled what he had just witnessed. Although the previous Hunger Immortal's memories were brief, there were three points that Li Fan found particularly noteworthy.

First, there was the Dao of Devouring Paths. The domineering desire to swallow mountains and drink seas, hidden within the Dao of Hunger, was not Li Fan's illusion; it was precisely the embodiment of this Path-Devouring. The ability to completely devour an entire Dao of Possibility and turn it into one's own resources was undoubtedly an extremely terrifying power.

"However, he overestimated himself and chose the wrong opponent," Li Fan scoffed. "Devouring a single possibility, he still had strength to spare. But against the Mountains and Seas..."

Without personally witnessing the Infinite Sea and the Mountains Above, it was impossible to imagine their grandeur and vastness. Even the Mortal Realm, which contained all possibilities, was merely a small corner of the Mountains and Seas.

The previous Hunger Immortal paid the price for his arrogance. After drifting for a long time in the Dao Annihilation, he barely managed to reach the Primal World, surviving by chance. But with the Three Sages of the Primal World present, he dared not act presumptuously, so he changed his identity and used the Dao of Hunger as a substitute for the Dao of Devouring Paths. Although the two paths had similarities, it was clear that their power could not be compared. His ultimate fate was to be easily transformed into a Heaven-Supporting Pillar.

The second point Li Fan cared about was the Immortal Coffin of Transcendent Tribulation, which had sustained the Hunger Immortal for a long time while drifting in the Dao Annihilation. The memories left by the Hunger Immortal were not extensive, yet the Immortal Coffin was mentioned repeatedly.

Clearly, the Hunger Immortal was greatly concerned about the loss of the Immortal Coffin of Transcendent Tribulation. For a ruthless being like the Hunger Immortal, who destroyed and devoured single possibilities, to care so much about this treasure, the Immortal Coffin of Transcendent Tribulation must surely possess its own profound mysteries.

"It's just that I don't know who stole this Immortal Coffin of Transcendent Tribulation," he mused. "Since the Immortal Realm is destroyed, if it still exists, it should be somewhere in the lower Star Seas."

Although he had personally witnessed the destruction of the Primal World, Li Fan had not yet explored all of its surviving territories. His footsteps were so far limited to only three places: High Wall, Shuoxing, and Guangu.

The reasons for this were twofold: first, the obstruction of Dao Annihilation made travel difficult; and second, none of the forces that had survived until now amidst the destruction of the Immortal Realm were easy to deal with. In his previous life, the ultimate weapons unleashed by the Guangu Star Sea, such as the Dao Swords, Dao Blades, and Dao Chronicle Projection Orbs, all possessed world-destroying power. What was true for the Guangu Star Sea was also true for other Star Seas.

In the context of the Dao Annihilation, these Star Seas were destined to be exceptionally hostile to outsiders. Exploring all the Star Seas of the Primal World was truly not an easy task.

Of course, the most important reason was that there was no need. Li Fan's main exploration destinations in the future were the Mountains and Seas beyond the Primal World, and even the Eternal Silence Void Realm reached by going against the current. High Wall, Shuoxing, Guangu — to Li Fan, there was no essential difference between them.

As for the last point, which Li Fan cared deeply about and even greatly dreaded, it was the True Immortal of Morality. From what he gleaned from the Hunger Immortal's memories, this True Immortal of Morality was not only extraordinarily powerful but also completely different from the supreme beings Li Fan had encountered before.

Duke Shouqiu, Emperor Taitian, Ziyi, the Three Sages, and others were indeed powerful. But they, more or less, possessed the demeanor of "powerhouses" and acted according to certain rules. But this True Immortal of Morality, despite being named Morality, in reality, acted without any morality whatsoever!

They habitually stood on the moral high ground to control and manipulate others. The lives and deaths of others were irrelevant to them. Anything that could bring them benefit must be fought for, and anything that threatened them must be mercilessly destroyed...

Li Fan was all too familiar with this style of conduct!

Even though they hadn't even met, Li Fan already had a faint premonition that this True Immortal of Morality would definitely be a great enemy in the future!

"Interesting. Let's see who is more 'moral,' then," said the First Immortal Puppet, lightly stepping on the ground of the Immortal Ruins.

Under the sweeping power of Path-Devouring, the former ruins of the Immortal Realm were instantly shattered into countless tiny particles, then quickly devoured by the First Immortal Puppet. The Immortal Ruins would no longer exist. Only two Hunger Immortal Heaven Pillars, one new and one old, remained, supporting the collapsing sky of this place.

Using the body of the First Immortal Puppet, Li Fan carefully savored the taste of the Immortal Realm's ruins. The entire Immortal Realm was opened on the Mountains Above. Therefore, as he slowly processed it, scenes of vast, continuous mountain ranges involuntarily appeared before Li Fan's eyes.

"With this power of distant sight, I can indeed comprehend certain principles of the mountains," he mused. "However, it's still far inferior to personally reaching the Mountains and Seas. Even Duke Shouqiu's Dao of Sitting on Mountains and Gazing at Seas is vastly superior."

Li Fan was not surprised by this, as he had only devoured one Immortal Ruin. "It's like walking towards the mountain," he thought. "The more I devour, the closer I get to the mountain."

The Immortal Realm had been destroyed, and not many ruins or remnants remained. Naturally, Li Fan's gaze fell upon the Immortal Domain chess pieces left by Sun Piaomiao.

At the time point ten thousand years ago, the positions of the chess pieces still had subtle differences compared to ten thousand years later. However, they were all within the High Wall, and Li Fan had already collected them all within the three years of setting traps and hunting the Hunger Immortal.

The people of Yaowang Sect, who thought they had escaped the Immortal Ruins and gained new life, enthusiastically inquired about the situation from the cultivators ahead. Only to be horrified to discover that they had actually returned to the Xuanhuang Realm. Fortunately, the Ten Sects were currently too preoccupied dealing with the Myriad Immortals Alliance's offensive to bother with them for now.

After much deliberation, the terrified Yaowang Sect members, who couldn't figure out what had happened, simply gritted their teeth and defected to the Myriad Immortals Alliance. They had initially thought that with their medical skills, they could make a living anywhere.

However, the characteristics of the new-style cultivators—that their Caverns were indestructible, their souls imperishable, and their bodies immortal—rendered many of Yaowang Sect's profound techniques useless. Instead, some peculiar elixirs, previously considered idle pursuits, provided them with the capital to establish themselves.

Li Fan didn't care much about these matters. Casually abandoning the entire Yaowang Sect instead of devouring them along the way was already out of consideration for past connections.

After expanding the Immortal Domain and devouring it all into its belly using the Path-Devouring method, the First Immortal Puppet temporarily reached its limit. Although the faint images of the Mountains Above became clearer, the immense oppressive feeling of the approaching mountains also descended upon the First Immortal Puppet like a shadow.

Immortals, by nature, were creations that connected the Mountains and Seas. The infinitude of the Sea and the towering power of the Mountains, when balanced, created True Immortals. Now that the First Immortal Puppet had devoured an entire Immortal Domain using the Path-Devouring method, the Mountains had subtly started to overpower the Sea within its being.

Li Fan faintly perceived that certain unpredictable changes were occurring within the First Immortal Puppet. He could not yet determine whether these changes were good or bad.

He decisively stopped further devouring. Li Fan attempted to invoke the power of infinitude, using the Sea to resist the Mountains. Amidst the sounds of ocean tides, the invisible oppressive feeling brought by the shadows of the Mountains Above finally began to recede. Only then did the First Immortal Puppet barely regain its ability to move.

"That situation just now, where I seemed about to be swallowed by the shadows of the continuous mountain ranges," he mused, "was quite similar to the feeling of the Three Daos merging that I experienced before?"

The First Immortal Puppet sat cross-legged on the spot to regulate its breath, while Li Fan carefully replayed the experience in his mind. After a long while, he finally confirmed.

"Only, when the Three Daos merged," he concluded, "I would dissipate into a collection of unknown mysterious forces."

"Whereas what the First Immortal Puppet just experienced," he continued, "was merely being submerged by the Mountains Above..."

Li Fan couldn't help but think of the Fallen Immortal Realm. In the Fallen Immortal Realm, there was only the Infinite Sea, and no Mountains Above.

"If I were to disregard the consequences and apply the Path-Devouring method to its extreme," he pondered, "could I create another Fallen Immortal Realm, opposite to the current one, built upon the Mountains Above?"

Li Fan narrowed his eyes. Relying on his personal experience of the Three Daos merging, he rapidly began to deduce. If one could still maintain one's sanity while being swallowed by the shadows of the Mountains Above, one should be able to clearly see this opposing Fallen Immortal Realm.

The Immortal Ruins, the chess piece Immortal Ruins — all these Immortal Realm soils that he had once devoured reappeared perfectly intact, but not in their real-world forms. Instead, they appeared as they originally did when they were on the Mountains Above!

Scattered like stars, they were distributed among the endless mountain ranges, like clusters of stars in the darkness.

"Being far from the confluence of Mountains and Seas, in a sense, it can also evade the tribulation of Dao Annihilation," he thought. "But the price..."

Li Fan, like a phantom, looked around. In the Mountains Above, there was complete silence. There were no sounds of ocean tides, which represented life, only towering mountain peaks.

"Absolute order and hierarchy."

"Life, in this place, is meaningless."

Li Fan suddenly understood why, in the Mountains and Seas Fable left by Sun Piaomiao, all living beings were born from the Sea. This was because the Mountains Above themselves were inherently contradictory and opposed to life.

"Even if True Immortals could borrow the power of the mountains, it didn't mean merging into them," he mused. "They merely stood upon them. Even the Three Sages of the Immortal Realm were the same."

"As for the outcome of merging into the mountains..."

The shadows of the mountains closed in from all directions. The scattered points of land he had devoured soon vanished within the endless mountain ranges.

Li Fan awoke from the deduction illusion, a layer of cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. This was not due to fear in his heart, but out of life's instinctive reverence for the Mountains Above. And large swathes of shadow covered the First Immortal Puppet's body.

"Swallowing mountains and devouring seas is not mere fantasy," he realized. "But one must simultaneously deal with the backlash from the Mountains and Seas."

"While devouring the Mountains and Seas, one is also devoured by the Mountains and Seas."

Li Fan understood. He helped the First Immortal Puppet connect to the Infinite Sea to alleviate the shadows of the mountains. It took a full half a year to finally wash away the shadows from the First Immortal Puppet's body.

Li Fan couldn't help but sigh inwardly: "Sovereigns Guihai and Lianshan are truly geniuses. Even if one of them were missing, the so-called Immortal Dao, when cultivated to its extreme, would probably not end well."

"The only outcome," he continued, "would be to merge with the Mountains and Seas, becoming assimilated by them."

"But precisely because of the two Sages' great feat of opening up the Mountains and Seas," he added, "it was in the mutual balance of the two that Immortals found their footing."

"However, accordingly, since they stood within the Mountains and Seas," he concluded, "they also had to participate in facing the tribulations of the Mountains and Seas themselves: the merging of Mountains and Seas, the tribulation of Dao Annihilation..."

All Daos in the world were merely principles of the Mountains and Seas. Through the Path-Devouring method, Li Fan directly devoured the Immortal Realm ruins, skipping the process of enlightenment and thus being able to directly face the Mountains and Seas.

Although the cultivation speed was fast, the side effects were also unbearable for ordinary people. It was fortunate that Li Fan had the assistance of Revert-to-True, allowing him to emerge unscathed from the calamity of the Three Daos merging. Only then could he maintain his stability in the face of this lower-level "descent."

"All things merge into the Mountains and Seas, and the Mountains and Seas merge, returning to something higher."

"Even Longevity and Revert-to-True, which were on the same level as the Mountains and Seas, were within this merging sequence..."

Li Fan once again recalled the legend of the Creator God.

"This legend subtly points to the greatest truth between the Mountains and Seas."

"The so-called Creator God evolved the Mountains and Seas, and created all things in the Mortal Realm," he theorized. "But ultimately, everything in the world will return to its origin."

"The Mortal Realm fades, and the Mountains and Seas merge. This is the grand trend, this is the destiny that beings between the Mountains and Seas must face."

In Li Fan's mind, the terrifying scene that made even the Mountains and Seas shudder quietly emerged. A solitary star hung high, like a divine eye, gazing down.

"Are the True Immortals who traversed space-time, with their sparks continuing, resisting this very destiny?" he wondered.

Li Fan stood in the dark starry sky, gazing beyond the Primal World, silent.

"With my abilities, I can discern this truth," he thought. "How much more so those transcendent powerhouses, even the Three Sages?"

"Even so, there isn't the slightest hesitation or despondency..."

"How remarkable!"

Li Fan sincerely praised.

If anything was subtly orchestrating the merging of the Mountains and Seas, perhaps it was the will of the so-called "Creator God" who had vanished. To save the Mortal Realm and reverse the grand trend of the Mountains and Seas merging was, in essence, to contend with the Creator God. For ants between the Mountains and Seas to raise their antennae and attempt to contend with the solitary star hanging high beyond them was already an incredible feat.

"When the sky falls, the tall ones bear it," Li Fan mumbled, suppressing the uneasiness in his heart. "Since they can still hold on, let them hold on a bit longer..."

Half of Li Fan's uneasiness came from the apprehension after glimpsing the truth of the Mountains and Seas, while the other half came from distrust. One must know that Li Fan was never one to entrust his fate to others. Even if the opponents were Ziyi, Shouqiu, the Three Sages, or others whose strength far surpassed his. When it came to his own life and safety, Li Fan would secretly wonder in his heart, "Can these people really do it?"

Before the grand trend of the Mountains and Seas merging was completely reversed, this doubt would never dissipate.

"Perhaps in the end, only by personally taking action can I feel at ease."

Li Fan's gaze was profound; his vision seemed to pierce through the fractured river of time and space, directly reaching the source of all things.