Chapter 1551: Heartfelt Worries and True Thoughts

As if it had encountered a terrifying natural enemy, the Ink-kill Dark Cloud instantly trembled violently and incessantly, trying to move away from the myriad overlapping projections of the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm in Li Fan's hand.

But it was firmly gripped by Li Fan, unable to advance or retreat.

What Li Fan held was by no means a simple illusion. It was the true power of the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm, formed by the feedback from the Sit-Heaven Art. Although it currently appeared ethereal, it could transform from illusory to real in a single thought.

With countless restrictive forces overlaid, no matter how special the Ink-kill Dark Cloud was, it was rendered docile.

As the dark cloud rolled and surged, it actually "vomited" out the previously swallowed fused Broken Pillars!

Li Fan meticulously perceived the Dao principles contained within them, noting that they were no different from before being swallowed.

"The original Ink-kill, though possessing destructive power capable of annihilating almost everything, its destructive process was irreversible. It simply couldn't achieve such free conversion."

"The Ink-kill, influenced by the power of the Dao of Longevity, is better suited for constructing the Myriad Manifestation Dao Net."

With a flick of his finger, he restored the Four Great Heavenly Pillars. Li Fan did not directly swallow the source of Ink-kill in the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm but rather returned it.

Using the connection to the Xuanhuang Realm, he began to meticulously perceive the transformed Ink-kill Dark Cloud.

Simultaneously, within Li Fan's body, specks of ink color began to appear synchronously within the myriad overlapping Xuanhuang projections.

This was Li Fan using his False Becomes True Divine Ability to directly modify the countless illusory Xuanhuang Realms, continuously refining them until they infinitely approached the real Xuanhuang Immortal Realm, thus giving birth to the boundless Ink-kill Dark Clouds he needed.

As one of the ultimate solutions for salvation provided by the Immortal Realm Experimental Ground, Ink-kill naturally possessed its profound and mysterious characteristics. In a sense, it was truly a creation by mortal beings, who sought to use worldly things to simulate the outcome of the Mountains and Seas Blending.

If the Dao Annihilation Tribulation was a great tide that swallowed everything, then Ink-kill was a man-made, controllable wave.

Whether used to resist the great tide of Dao Annihilation or to seize the opportunity to merge with it, it could serve to avoid disaster and escape peril.

From the perspective of its hierarchical standing alone, Ink-kill, which represented the power of the Mountains and Seas Blending, was even above the Nameless True Immortals of the mortal world. And on the foundation of the mountains and seas, the Dao of Longevity was added...

"Perhaps due to the special attribute of two Daos blending, each time the Ink-kill Dark Cloud completes a cycle of engulfment and transformation, it is equivalent to a cultivator's moment of enlightenment."

"Although it hasn't reached the stage of complete analysis, it only needs to be repeated a few more times."

Li Fan narrowed his eyes, gazing at the continuously expanding dark cloud in his palm, feeling the detailed Dao principle insights from the Four Great Heavenly Pillars that it had just swallowed and then expelled.

"In my previous life, to analyze the divine abilities contained within the Dao Record Projection Orb, I collaborated with Cheng Dao and, using all living beings in the High Wall Suoxing Sea as a foundation, initiated the Dao Restoration Plan. This allowed countless talented beings in this star sea to comprehend the Dao on our behalf."

"Compared to my solitary contemplation, the efficiency was tens of thousands of times greater. But now..."

"If I master this new Ink-kill power, I won't need the assistance of these myriad beings anymore. Wherever the Ink-kill Dark Cloud passes, the Three Thousand Great Daos will manifest themselves!" Li Fan's eyes flickered as he thought of more.

"This is only the blending of two Daos. If I were to add another one..."

It was merely a thought. As soon as it emerged, Li Fan actively extinguished it. He had not yet fully controlled the Ink-kill with two Daos blended. Adding another Dao would only bring unnecessary risks of losing control.

"Although I voluntarily withdrew from the realm of three Daos blending, it doesn't mean I intend to give up."

"What's more, I've only temporarily suppressed the hidden danger. In the near future, I will eventually have to confront this problem again."

"Using Ink-kill to scout the way is an excellent method of exploration."

The overlapping Xuanhuang images in his hand slowly faded away, but the myriad thoughts in Li Fan's mind did not cease: "The fundamental difference between my personal involvement and the Ink-kill experiment is that Ink-kill didn't truly participate in the blending process of the Mountains and Seas Dao. It merely imitated it using its own characteristics."

"Although it's still unclear how the immortals of the past Immortal Realm discovered such a peculiar Ink-kill prototype, it doesn't prevent me from utilizing it."

In fact, Li Fan already had a faint guess about the origin of the Ink-kill prototype.

"Either it's an existence of the same rank as the Mountains and Seas, Return to True, and Longevity Daos, or it's the remnants of a peerless expert who comprehended the Mountains and Seas Dao. Based on the various characteristics Ink-kill has displayed all along, I lean more towards the latter."

"If Return to True were still active, perhaps I could, when activating it, glimpse its true nature while in the Dao Concealed state."

"What a pity," Li Fan sighed inwardly.

The Dao Concealed state refers to the black-and-white area around Li Fan when Return to True is activated. Apart from Li Fan, everything else exists in a superimposed state of both real and illusory.

Li Fan could immerse himself in comprehension within a limited time.

Li Fan once, within the core of a Heaven and Earth Spirit, saw the figure of the Nameless True Immortal to whom it once belonged.

Although Ink-kill was extremely mysterious, Li Fan was confident that it would still be subject to Return to True. If Li Fan still controlled Return to True, its analysis would be twice as effective with half the effort.

"Return to True, oh Return to True, I wonder when you will finally recover." Li Fan couldn't help but think this.

In the days since arriving at the initial anchor point over eight thousand years ago, Li Fan had occasionally fantasized that this might be Return to True trying to solve his dependence on it, or to make him truly pass the trials of the Path of Traversing.

However, after each flight of fancy, Li Fan couldn't help but smile bitterly.

How could there be so many fortunate coincidences in the world?

Return to True had most likely been truly damaged and fallen into slumber during the blending of the three Daos.

"I just wonder, besides waiting for it to slowly awaken, is there any way to accelerate its recovery?"

What could make Return to True desire to devour, besides the Eternal Remnants, were the peculiar relics left by Sun Piaomiao. And Return to True's craving for Eternal Remnants far surpassed that for Sun Piaomiao's relics.

"Within the Gloom Star Sea, all existing Eternal Remnants, even their seeds, had already been consumed by Return to True at least once. And nurturing and giving birth to Eternal Remnants is not something that can be achieved in a short time. Nor can it be forced."

"Actually, outside the Gloom Star Sea, there's a ready-made feast right now."

As Li Fan thought this, his gaze passed over the High Wall, through the Suoxing Sea, looking towards the depths of the star sea, to where the Guangwu Star Sea was located.

"In the Guangwu Star Sea, there lies the remains of a transcendent powerful being."

"Within those remains, the transcendent path of its former life, 'Mountains and Seas Lone Sail,' is still preserved..."

Eternal Remnants were, in essence, the embryonic form of transcendent paths.

In his previous life, with the help of Ziyi and Cheng Dao, when Li Fan was fortunate enough to clearly see this 'Mountains and Seas Lone Sail,' he faintly sensed a stirring from Return to True.

However, at that time, Ziyi was still present, and Return to True maintained considerable restraint.

"Once the matters in Suoxing Sea are settled, I might conveniently retrieve the remains of that transcendent powerful being. However, in the previous life, Ziyi's all-reaching Grand Dao paved the way, so it might be somewhat difficult relying solely on myself this time."

The strength of the Guangwu Star Sea should by no means be underestimated.

Not to mention several hundred True Immortals, just the Dao Record Projection Orb alone was far beyond what the current Li Fan could resist.

"However, if the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm takes shape, I might not be without the power to fight."

Li Fan temporarily suppressed these thoughts, refocusing his attention on the construction of the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm.

The new Ink-kill Dark Cloud also required a considerable amount of time to slowly gestate.

Li Fan wasn't idle either. His divine sense swept across the entire Xuanhuang Immortal Realm and instantly located his desired target.

At this point in time over eight thousand years ago, besides the Xuanhuang Realm, there were still other cultivation realms surviving in the Gloom Star Sea. However, with the Xuanhuang Realm's sublimation and expansion, all these cultivation realms were eventually swallowed and merged into the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm.

Li Fan didn't pay much attention to these beings from newly integrated worlds.

However, some discoveries within this Xuanhuang Immortal Realm resolved some long-standing questions for Li Fan.

His figure flickered, and Li Fan appeared in a deep, secluded canyon.

The canyon was bottomless and shrouded in mist, with strange sounds echoing intermittently.

And beneath the canyon, Li Fan saw cultivators from the Heavenly Law Realm, such as Qin Tang, Tai Yi, and Han Hai.

They had arrived in this nascent canyon with the swallowing of the Heavenly Law Realm.

Their circumstances were even worse than those of the Xuanhuang cultivators.

The Heavenly Law Venerables who acted on behalf of the heavens, such as Tian Yin, Tian Jue, and Tian Yu, had completely lost all authority and became no different from mortals.

They could only start over, just like cultivators of other realms.

And they themselves had deeply integrated with the Heavenly Law Dao path. At this moment, wanting to break free from their original constraints and forge a new path, how could it be easy?

Their progress was even far slower than that of ordinary people.

"However, if they could comprehend the corresponding Dao paths within the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm..."

"...they could ascend to heaven in a single step."

Li Fan felt no pity and did not give special treatment to these old acquaintances.

In his view, whether it was the Xuanhuang Realm, the Heavenly Law Realm, or any other cultivation realm, all living beings held no essential difference in his eyes.

If there had to be one...

Unnoticed by anyone, Li Fan arrived inside an altar within the Heavenly Law Realm.

Li Fan could faintly sense the aura of the Heavenly Law Venerables who had once gathered here.

And, beneath this altar, a body still lay in slumber.

It was Heavenly Physician!

Identical to the benevolent, white-haired appearance Li Fan had once seen.

Li Fan examined it carefully: "The consciousness has completely fallen silent, like an empty shell."

"But the life aura remains. This is the result of activating the Heavenly Soul Reincarnation Art, projecting the consciousness into Xuanyuan Tuo, who was lurking in the Xuanhuang Realm."

"The vitality of this body, on the other hand, is collectively maintained by the Heavenly Law Venerables. It would only be forced to awaken under certain extreme circumstances."

"For instance, the fall of the Venerables, or the destruction of the Heavenly Law Realm!"

"So, the Heavenly Physician I saw in the illusion in Cloud Water Heavenly Palace was this very body. No wonder the Heavenly Physician's consciousness, connected to Xuanyuan Tuo, was able to perceive the tragedy in the distant Heavenly Law Realm." Li Fan nodded slightly, his doubts vanishing.

Once, in Han Hai's memories within the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace, Li Fan saw the scene of another Heavenly Physician rushing to the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace after it was massacred by "Heavenly Physician."

Later, Li Fan learned that the Heavenly Physician who massacred the Heavenly Law Realm was actually Su Bai, manipulated by an external consciousness from another possibility. But as for the Heavenly Physician who arrived afterwards, it was unclear why they appeared in the Heavenly Law Realm.

Because from the timeline, Heavenly Physician should have still been trapped within Chuan Fa's body in the Xuanhuang Realm at that time, and should not have been present in the Heavenly Law Realm.

"This way, it all makes sense."

"Only a split soul of Heavenly Physician was reincarnated, while Heavenly Physician's body remained in the Heavenly Law Realm. When the Heavenly Law Venerables were massacred by Evil Su Bai, the body was forced to awaken. Thus, it witnessed the tragedy of the Heavenly Law Realm."

"It was precisely because of this that Heavenly Physician's consciousness in the Xuanhuang Realm learned of the tragedy in the Heavenly Law Realm. Disregarding the consequences, it forcibly took control of Chuan Fa's body, solely to return to the Heavenly Law Realm."

"After returning to the Heavenly Law Realm, Heavenly Physician's consciousness returned to its own body and reverted to the familiar appearance I knew. Although its homeland was destroyed, Heavenly Physician did not give up, but instead devised a method of salvation by reviving souls through the Xuanhuang Realm."

"And Xuanyuan Tuo and Heavenly Venerable Chuan Fa naturally became crucial links in this plan."

"But he alone could not fully control Chuan Fa. So, in the end, he found a way to seek help from the Heavenly Demon on the Profound Immortal Ship."

The events that occurred in the river of past time were deduced and reconstructed by Li Fan one by one.

Although for the current Li Fan, none of this held much specific meaning anymore, it did resolve the doubts he once had.

Feeling a slight sense of clarity, Li Fan returned the Heavenly Physician's consciousness, which he had previously suppressed, to its original body.

And then...

"When truth becomes false, the false also becomes true."

A True-False Blade struck directly upon Heavenly Physician's body!

After all the effort Li Fan had put into this trip, how could he possibly be merely restoring Heavenly Physician out of kindness?

"That Black Heavenly Physician beyond the High Wall possesses unfathomable strength."

"This is a perfect opportunity to thoroughly verify my previous hypothesis."

Li Fan's expression was calm, without a trace of pity in his heart, his blade tirelessly carving away at Heavenly Physician's spiritual essence.

Although Heavenly Physician still maintained his youthful appearance with white hair, in his slumber, he had subtly lost an inexplicable divine charm.

When Li Fan finally stopped, Heavenly Physician no longer appeared so mysterious and unfathomable.

He was merely like a kindly old neighbor!

"Heavenly Physician and Su Bai, both for the unification of their various selves, continuously hunted other possible versions of themselves."

"Originally, there was no essential difference between their various possibilities. But now..."

Li Fan smiled faintly.

"Among numerous wondrous immortal pills, a poisoned one has been mixed in. I wonder if you can still attain Dao?"

This was an idea Li Fan had long harbored, but he had never had the conditions to implement it.

Now that the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm's foundation was established, Li Fan simply took the opportunity to do it.

Of course, Li Fan would not release Heavenly Physician beyond the High Wall immediately.

Only when he himself possessed the power to contend with the Evil Heavenly Physician would he throw Heavenly Physician out beyond the High Wall, thereby attracting the Evil Heavenly Physician.

"By then, perhaps I will learn more information about The Other Shore."

Just thinking about it, Li Fan was already immensely anticipating the expression on the Evil Heavenly Physician's face when he saw this extremely weakened version of himself within the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm.