Chapter 1579: Mountain and Sea Give Birth to the Annual Rings

Angry Squid...

Perhaps the extremely similar characteristics of Mo Sha and Dao Yan triggered the defensive mechanisms of the Transcendent Remains and the Black Box. Bizarre transformations rapidly began to occur in both.

On the Black Box's formerly smooth surface, numerous protrusions suddenly appeared, like grimacing, pained faces. As if stimulated by something, they surged wildly, attempting to bore into the head of the Remains.

The Transcendent Remains, however, seemed completely oblivious to the Black Box's intrusion, reacting only to Mo Sha's assault.

Accompanied by a piercing wind sound from an unknown source, a lone sail rose with the wind.

The Mo Sha dark cloud was instantly repelled by an inscrutable isolating force. If before it was like gnawing on a steel plate, then now, with the appearance of this lone sail, an insurmountable barrier seemed to have formed between it and the Remains. Previously, it could slowly gnaw, trading eight thousand of itself for a hundred of the enemy.

But now, it could do absolutely nothing to the other side!

The Guangwu Star Sea, which had gradually descended into a crisis of turmoil and destruction due to the sudden demise of all the immortals, suddenly restored to calm with the appearance of this lone sail.

It was as if it attracted all the wind and waves from the mountains and seas. In the Star Sea, only this sail rustled. Everywhere else was silent.

"This is the Way of Transcension..." Li Fan muttered softly, staring intently at the lone sail manifesting within the Remains.

This was the second time Li Fan had witnessed its existence.

Having personally traversed Dao Yan, Li Fan this time gained an even deeper understanding of this lone sail.

"However, this sail is clearly much newer than what I saw in my previous life."

"Logically," he mused, "after a mere ten thousand years, the Way of Transcension should not have corroded so quickly." Li Fan's gaze narrowed slightly, and he turned to look at the Black Box adhering to the head of the Remains.

With the Mo Sha dark cloud approaching, the myriad writhing faces appearing on the Black Box now resembled countless borers, attempting to infest the lone sail.

Capable of traversing mountains and seas and withstanding Dao Yan, the lone sail's defenses were naturally impenetrable to these borers.

Yet, these Remains were not a true transcendent being. Even with its transcendent capabilities still present, it was now merely a corpse. While it could block the attacks of billions of borers, it couldn't completely seal off all their corrosive effects.

And only a single borer managed to slip inside the lone sail...

Li Fan saw a large number of grimacing faces gathering within the tiny pores on the lone sail.

"This Black Box can actually corrode another's Way of Transcension," Li Fan was secretly astonished at the sight.

"Perhaps the Black Box may not have the ability to traverse mountains and seas, but by parasitizing the Transcendent Remains, it can also survive in Dao Yan."

To Li Fan, the lone sail before him would be of great use for the Xuanhuang Immortal Boat to traverse mountains and seas. How could he allow these borers to gnaw away at it?

"Since Mo Sha isn't working..."

"Then let's switch to Dao Yi Insects!"

A thought flashed, and the Mo Sha dark cloud receded like a tide. In its place appeared a boundless, transparent, and invisible swarm of Dao Yi Insects.

This time, the situation was reversed.

Feeling no threat from Dao Yan, the lone sail within the Transcendent Remains gradually faded from view. Conversely, the Black Box seemed to genuinely perceive the countless Dao Yi Insects surrounding it.

The grimacing faces incessantly emitted hissing and roaring, seemingly as a show of force.

The Dao Yi Insects were naturally unfazed and charged collectively towards the Black Box, fearless of death. In an instant, they engulfed the Black Box like a tide.

Li Fan clearly saw that the moment they made contact with the faces on the Black Box, a large number of Dao Yi Insects seemed to evaporate, vanishing into thin air.

On the Black Box's surface, consequently, a few more faces appeared!

"Even Dao Yi Insects can be absorbed and transformed... This Black Box."

Li Fan's eyes narrowed. Under his command, the Dao Yi Insects continuously streamed from the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm.

"If you like to swallow," he thought, "then I'll let you eat your fill!"

Unlike the nascent Mo Sha power,

Mo Sha, once depleted, required some time to recover its vitality.

But as long as Li Fan willed it, and with ample energy support, the Dao Yi Insects could multiply exponentially. The corrosive consumption of a mere wooden box was completely negligible for the swarm!

Like moths to a flame, the Dao Yi Insects launched continuous suicidal attacks on the Black Box.

The principle was the same as the Black Box's corrosion of the lone sail.

Even if the Black Box could block almost all of the swarm, as long as a single Dao Yi Insect broke through the blockade and formally touched the Black Box's surface, the swarm's subsequent attack efficiency would double.

Furthermore, with the blessings of the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm phantoms in Li Fan's palm, the Dao Yi Insect swarm had no need to worry about its own attrition.

With this constant attrition, the Black Box gradually began to falter.

All eight surfaces were completely covered by countless terrifying faces. The newly formed faces had no more room to settle, and the Black Box trembled violently, as if under severe impact. It was as if something within the Black Box was struggling to break free!

Buzzing...

When the Black Box's high-frequency vibration reached a certain threshold, it suddenly stilled. A faint light flashed, and all the myriad faces that had previously appeared on the Black Box's surface vanished as if purified.

The few Dao Yi Insects that had successfully penetrated also completely disappeared in this purifying sweep.

The Black Box returned to its original state, as if all previous efforts had been rendered futile.

Not only that, but it seemed even the Black Box's inherent nature had undergone an inexplicable change.

The Dao Yi Insects' smooth offensive was also thwarted. It was as if they were facing something completely different, and they would have to expend a large number of 'bodies' to probe it again.

However, what Li Fan feared least was attrition!

As long as Li Fan's will remained unchanged, the Dao Yi Insects' offensive would not weaken in the slightest.

Slowly, the Black Box's surface was once again filled with countless grimacing faces.

A familiar scene played out again: faint light flashed intensely, everything returned to its original state. The Black Box changed its appearance once more.

Yet, a hint of a smile appeared on Li Fan's face.

Through these two observations, Li Fan was certain that the faint light emerging from the Black Box, which purified and altered its own nature, consumed something from the Black Box with each activation.

"Then let's see whose foundation is deeper," he declared.

Li Fan snorted coldly, and in an instant, consecutively crushed several Xuanhuang Immortal Realm phantoms.

Empowered, the Dao Yi Insect swarm's offensive became even fiercer.

The faint light that flashed explosively on the Black Box from time to time appeared with increasing frequency.

Li Fan observed from the sidelines, watching the two sides clash.

"I wonder what exactly is the essence of this Black Box," he mused. "Its foundation even far surpasses my Xuanhuang Immortal Boat."

"If not for the phantom power feedback from my Zuo Tian Jue, I'm afraid I truly wouldn't be able to contend with it."

Li Fan frowned slightly, and a tiny wood chip floated from his fingertip.

It was a small piece successfully gnawed off the Black Box by the Dao Yi Insect swarm after unremitting efforts.

From the outside, the Black Box appeared pitch black. But when peeled off and examined individually, its color was like a clear, azure sky.

"Interesting."

Li Fan cast this azure glow into the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm, slowly refining it using the Dao Refining Method.

As wisps of azure energy ascended from this wood fragment and were absorbed by the world,

The distance between heaven and earth slightly increased within the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm.

"World growth power?"

The Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao, which had completely submitted to Li Fan's might and for a long time had not dared to exhibit self-awareness, now, for the first time in a long while, sent a plea to Li Fan.

It seemed this azure energy was a rare and potent tonic for it.

Its nourishing effect could even be compared to the various methods employed during its initial ascension and sublimation.

Since absorbing the azure energy was beneficial to the Xuanhuang Immortal Boat, this request was naturally permissible.

A whole piece of azure wood was cast into the furnace, and the alchemical flames instantly surged.

Wisps of azure energy, after a period of refinement, reappeared between the heaven and earth of Xuanhuang.

This time, no living beings in the Xuanhuang Realm benefited.

Only the Xuanhuang heaven and earth itself freely absorbed and grew.

In Li Fan's eyes, the deck and hull of the Xuanhuang Immortal Boat gradually took on a hint of azure.

As the material of the entire Immortal Boat transformed, the hull's structural integrity also rose to a new level.

"This is only a tiny piece from the Black Box."

Li Fan stared at the remaining portion of the Black Box, his heart quickening.

"If I could fully refine and absorb it..."

Li Fan, however, deeply understood the principle that haste makes waste.

Even if he could refine the entire Black Box, it wouldn't be wise to feed it all to the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm at once. While strengthening the Immortal Boat was good, it needed to be done gradually. Too sudden an increase in power carried the risk of losing control.

Furthermore, given the mysterious nature of the Black Box, it might possess the ability to return souls to corpses. Caution was required, and further verification was necessary.

Next, the azure energy absorbed by the Dao Yi Insects, Li Fan directly channeled into one of the Xuanhuang Immortal Realm phantoms in his palm.

Blessed by the azure energy, the phantom showed signs of slowly solidifying.

Everything within this world was lifelike, like a miniature sculpture, indistinguishable from the actual world.

The Mo Sha dark cloud, which had previously retreated, wounded and frustrated, now quietly appeared beside Li Fan.

Li Fan fed this azure Xuanhuang wood carving to Mo Sha.

Hoping to leverage Mo Sha's devouring and analytical abilities, he aimed to uncover the Black Box's true nature.

If it were the complete Black Box itself, it might have been able to resist Mo Sha to some extent.

However, this detached fragment was no match for Mo Sha.

Smoothly, the Mo Sha dark cloud engulfed the wood carving.

After a brief silence, the dark cloud churned ceaselessly. In a very short time, it rapidly expanded in size.

As if it had just had a full meal, Mo Sha's feedback only arrived slowly then.

A series of blurry images flashed continuously in Li Fan's mind.

It was a possibility, the process of its birth from within the mountains and seas.

Innumerable possibilities existed within the mountains and seas.

As the mountains and seas merged, these possibilities were fading.

But in the past, myriad possibilities had evolved from the mountains and seas, from nothing to existence.

Even the mountains and seas themselves were growing and changing.

At different stages of the mountains and seas, the possibilities that evolved also differed significantly.

They were like rings of mountain and sea 'growth rings,' which, to some extent, reflected the state of the mountains and seas themselves.

"This azure energy comes from the possibilities that evolved during the early, wild growth phase of the mountains and seas."

"There, not only were there no immortal realms, but even animals and humans did not exist."

"As far as the eye could see, everything was the most primal life form: world-spanning green algae."

"Yet, the vigor of their life force was no less than that of ordinary True Immortals."

Li Fan saw that as the mountains and seas grew, this ancient possibility was subsequently extinguished.

But the world-spanning green algae did not vanish as a result.

Instead, they settled and were compressed in the depths of the mountains and seas, merging once again with other possibilities.

Like deathless specters, they stubbornly persisted, witnessing the birth and destruction of one possibility after another.

Among all the possibilities they experienced, any existence with life force as vibrant as their own would be absorbed by them, becoming a part of their collective.

Consequently, they evolved from their initial state as simple green algae into something with a far more complex composition.

However, they were ultimately not the true Way of Longevity.

After an unimaginably long time, they slowly transitioned from prosperity to decline.

The demise of each possibility they parasitized was a devastating blow to them.

Not to mention, the mountains and seas began to merge. While they could escape the inherent changes of the mountains and seas, they could not escape the calamity of Dao Yan.

Since they had no way themselves, driven by the survival instinct honed over countless years, they began searching for beings capable of surviving such a calamity.

Transcendent beings within the mountains and seas.

However, those capable of traversing Dao Yan were not something ancient mountain-and-sea artifacts like themselves could contend with.

Thus, they had to settle for the next best thing, setting their sights on the Transcendent Remains adrift in the mountains and seas.

The lone sail was not their first target for parasitic absorption.

Prior to this, they had successfully utilized seven drifting objects. The newly discovered lone sail was the strongest and most suitable host they had found.

Everything progressed smoothly.

Until the Lone Sail Remains were forcibly pulled out of Dao Yan by Li Fan.

"Azure to black, a relic of the mountains and seas?"

The life forms of these green algae were far less complex than humans, and it was hard to say they possessed truly formed intellect; they had only simple consciousness.

Their memories, therefore, were fragmented.

Nevertheless, Li Fan could still glean a glimpse of the primordial era of the mountains and seas from these fragmented images.

"If I'm not mistaken, this stage of the mountains and seas should have just absorbed the so-called Creator God..."

"Truly from nothing to something, turning decay into wonder."

"Using every possibility extending into the infinite future as growth impetus, it spurred the mountains and seas to transform and grow. This was entirely different from the cultivation methods of ordinary living beings, and something even we cultivators found difficult to emulate."

Li Fan seemed to see that the birth and disappearance of each possibility was like a growth ring formed within the mountains and seas.

Countless growth rings overlapped, accumulating one after another.

Ultimately evolving into the boundless mountains and seas of today.

"However, trees have limits, and so do mountains and seas."

"When the mountains and seas themselves grew to a limit they could no longer sustain..."

"Then, the great calamity of Dao Yan, where mountains and seas merged, began."

Before Li Fan's eyes, countless possibilities, representing the growth rings of the mountains and seas, were annihilated amidst the compression.

The mountains and seas themselves consequently broke into fragments.

"In the temporal dimension, the mountains and seas were originally continuous and a single entity."

"However, due to the calamity of Dao Yan, they fractured."

"The fractured portions are the so-called Eternal Silence Void Realm."