Chapter 1564: The everlasting name of Fengshen

The first Incarnation Stage cultivator was none other than Su Bai.

Above the sky, the Heaven-Ren Star erupted with a brilliance thousands of times brighter than usual, like a second sun, illuminating the sky of the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm in a brilliant white.

All other stars vanished, leaving only Heaven-Ren shining.

While all living beings in the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm were drawn to gaze upwards, a thin line also shot forth from this dazzling star, ascending straight into the Heaven Beyond Heaven.

If the inhabitants of the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm could still sense the anomaly of the Heaven-Ren Star, then the events unfolding in the Heaven Beyond Heaven were beyond their comprehension.

They could only watch the Heaven-Ren Star shine, gazing upwards and silently awaiting the outcome.

The blinding light, comparable to the sun, lasted for a full hour. As the radiance began to recede and the thin line shooting towards the Heaven Beyond Heaven gradually returned, a colossal, majestic figure suddenly materialized in the sky.

This figure was so immense that even the entire sky of the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm could not contain its form; only its seated upper body was visible.

Before they even realized the true identity of this magnificent figure, all living beings instinctively knelt.

Thus, all beings understood who it was: the Primordial Chaos Xuanhuang Spirit-Heavenly Saint Venerable Who Governs the World!

The multitudes trembled, their souls ablaze. It was as if they had encountered the Dao itself; their thoughts were frozen by dread, and their bodies seemed to be gradually drawn in and disintegrated by the mere appearance of the Saint Venerable’s phantom image.

They knew this was no illusion. The Xuanhuang Saint Venerable was simply too powerful; they could not withstand the divine holy might. Just as ice and snow are destined to melt under the sun's rays, in the presence of the great Primordial Chaos Xuanhuang Spirit-Heavenly Saint Venerable Who Governs the World, living beings were less than ants. Even a faint ripple of the Saint Venerable's aura would be irresistible, reducing them to ashes.

The reason they were still alive was that something stood between the Xuanhuang Saint Venerable and all beings: a boundless, unfurled scroll floating open.

The scroll had been empty, but now, it bore its first name: Su Bai!

Originally, a name was just a designation. You could be Su Bai, I could be Su Bai, anyone could be Su Bai.

But from the moment this name appeared on the Conferred God List, Su Bai in this world became a unique designation. It was, and could only be, that dazzling Heaven-Ren Star!

All those who shared Su Bai's name had already vanished like dust, leaving no trace of their former existence, not even a memory in the minds of their closest relatives.

And in the future, no second Su Bai would ever appear.

This was the meaning of the Incarnation Stage in the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm: to gain the Saint Venerable's notice and an eternal name. Of course, obtaining an eternal name was merely the most direct external perception of the Incarnation Stage. The truly earth-shattering internal transformations were known only to the individual.

The Saint Venerable's grand visage finally slowly dispersed.

Without the Saint Venerable's radiant light, the Conferred God List, though still floating in the Heaven Beyond Heaven, became invisible to all beings. Only Nascent Soul Stage cultivators who had manifested as stars could faintly glimpse its presence.

This intensified their desire to advance. Those who could cultivate to this realm naturally possessed a sense of pride. If Su Bai could ascend to the Incarnation Stage, why couldn't they? With the birth of the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm's first Incarnation Stage cultivator, the appearance of the second and third was not far off.

Su Bai seemed to have acted as a bridge, shortening the vast chasm between the Nascent Soul and Incarnation stages in the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm.

Other cultivators now exerted their various abilities, vying to become the second person on the Conferred God List.

However, Su Bai himself felt no joy from achieving Incarnation. Instead, his face was etched with pain, and he was deeply mired in self-reproach.

"After the changes in heaven and earth, the number of living beings in the world has multiplied untold times. How many of them shared my name and surname?"

"And now, they have all died because of me." Su Bai's face paled, and his body trembled incessantly.

"Saint Venerable, can the strong disregard the lives of the weak? Can the strong do as they please? Is this truly right?" After a long time, Su Bai finally emerged from his remorse and self-blame. Then, a question couldn't help but surface in his heart.

He looked up at the Heaven Beyond Heaven and directly posed the question to the Xuanhuang Saint Venerable.

However, he received no answer from the Saint Venerable.

Instead, he learned an unexpected piece of news that made his face pale again and his heart turn cold.

"The Grand Calamity of Xuanhuang? Heaven and earth will be reshaped, and all beings will perish. Only those with names on the Conferred God List can escape this calamity..." Su Bai felt as if he had been struck by lightning.

Having entered the Conferred God List, he should have felt fortunate that he was safe from disaster. But the thought of countless ordinary beings below turning to dust in the coming great calamity left Su Bai feeling suffocated.

"Is there no way to prevent this calamity?" he asked instinctively.

The Saint Venerable did not respond.

Only the cold Conferred God List hung high in the sky, reflecting upon the billions of living beings in Xuanhuang.

"There must be a way. There must be a way..." Su Bai murmured, his gaze gradually shifting from confusion to determination as he stared into the Heaven Beyond Heaven.

His idea was simple: if he could meet the Xuanhuang Saint Venerable face-to-face, perhaps he could persuade the venerable one to withdraw the decree of world destruction.

"Only through Harmonization with the Dao can one cross this invisible boundary."

"Harmonization with the Dao, then..." Su Bai narrowed his eyes, once again sensing the myriad Great Daos throughout heaven and earth.

This time, his desire to advance further was tens of millions of times stronger than before.

"Indeed, Su Bai is still Su Bai."

Having witnessed Su Bai's transformation from beginning to end, Li Fan couldn't help but sneer.

"He wants to save the world, but can he save everyone? If not the Grand Calamity of Xuanhuang, there'll be the Grand Calamity of Mountains and Seas. His own strength isn't much, yet he thinks so much." Li Fan naturally couldn't empathize with Su Bai.

But if it made Su Bai actively accelerate his cultivation and completely exhaust his potential, Li Fan wouldn't stop or change his mind.

"After the Eternal Dao was incorporated, the solidity of the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm increased by at least thirty percent. Moreover, this effect will grow as more names are added to the Conferred God List."

In fact, this was a pleasant surprise.

When Li Fan, posing as Taiyi, attracted Eternal's attention, and it glanced at the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm, engraving a trace of eternal essence into the world, Eternal then closed its eyes.

Li Fan was quite satisfied with this result. Afterwards, he simply projected his divine form into the minds of all Xuanhuang beings.

As for cultivators subsequently breaking through to the Incarnation Stage and leaving their names on the Xuanhuang Conferred God List, this was already part of Li Fan's plan.

However, what Li Fan had not expected was that when Su Bai ascended the Conferred God List, Eternal, which had clearly closed its eyes and ceased to concern itself with worldly affairs, actually reopened its eyes!

Although the duration of its gaze was much shorter than when Li Fan had initially summoned it, it nonetheless added another layer of eternal essence to the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm.

"I wonder if Eternal reopened its eyes because of Su Bai, or simply because of the emergence of a pure genius in this world."

"However, once the next person appears on the Conferred God List, it should be clear."

Li Fan's divine sense swept across the entire Xuanhuang Immortal Realm, identifying potential candidates.

Most were the expected individuals.

Only one, however, was a slight surprise to Li Fan.

Although this person was currently only at the Foundation Establishment Stage, Li Fan's estimation suggested he might even rank among the top three on the Conferred God List.

"Such a speed of cultivation and Dao comprehension..."

"It wasn't there before. Has it only just manifested?"

"Is it because of Eternal's involvement? Or..."

The person Li Fan was observing was a lean man named Zhang Shangzhi. Although he appeared righteous, an inexplicable gloom occasionally flickered in his eyes.

Upon observing his inner being more deeply, Li Fan finally understood why this person's Dao comprehension talent had suddenly skyrocketed.

The so-called Dao comprehension talent was, in essence, an affinity with various Great Daos.

Before this, Zhang Shangzhi's Dao comprehension talent was actually mediocre. Even now, it remained so.

The reason for the instantaneous, earth-shattering change was entirely due to the formal manifestation of the Primordial Chaos Xuanhuang Spirit-Heavenly Saint Venerable Who Governs the World!

The Xuanhuang Saint Venerable was Li Fan; it was the parent of Xuanhuang.

It was the greatest Dao in this world, the Dao above all Daos.

And Zhang Shangzhi had an excellent affinity with Li Fan!

Achieving goals by any means necessary; deep down, trusting no one; being cold and ruthless like a machine...

Many of his qualities, even his thought patterns and principles of action, were almost identical to Li Fan's.

If Li Fan hadn't known clearly that he had no blood relatives in the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm, he would have almost believed Zhang Shangzhi was his own flesh and blood.

Having understood the whole story, Li Fan couldn't help but be speechless.

The reason Zhang Shangzhi's cultivation had advanced so rapidly was simply "good luck"—he was similar to Li Fan.

"Outside the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm, he would be useless. After all, he doesn't have Huanzhen, nor does he possess infinite spirituality," Li Fan gently shook his head.

He decided not to pay excessive attention or deliberately interfere.

The Dao of Heaven was unpredictable; everything would take its natural course.

As Li Fan settled the Eternal Dao in the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm, intending to return to the Merchant Immortal Boat to retrieve the two cat treasures, he suddenly thought of something else based on Zhang Shangzhi's case.

"Xuanhuang and Mountains and Seas, the principles are interconnected."

"So-called talent, perhaps, is simply a similarity to certain existences."

"The Great Daos originate from Mountains and Seas, and Mountains and Seas, in turn, come from the so-called Creator Gods..."