Chapter 1584: Immortal Vessel Enters the Dao and Perishes

“This incredibly familiar feeling is truly wonderful…” Flames roared, incinerating everything in this star sea.

The fire raged, even piercing through the Dao Annihilation like the Xuanghuang Immortal Ship, closing in on other remaining vibrant star seas within the primal possibilities.

Without Li Fan’s deliberate manipulation, the True Spirit Fire could sense the location of these “ignitable objects” and spread towards them.

Initially, the fire was confined to a single mountaintop. However, for reasons unknown, even after the entire peak was reduced to ashes, the flames within the mountain did not extinguish. Instead, they burned ever more fiercely, seeming to have no intention of subsiding.

Flames continuously burned mountains and boiled seas!

The twelve True Immortals gradually realized the unusual nature of this wildfire. Their inner fear caused them to tremble uncontrollably. However, outside the cramped wooden boat, the surroundings were filled with nothing but Dao Annihilation and True Spirit Fire. Either one could instantly claim their lives. Therefore, they dared not leave the wooden boat by a single step.

They could only watch helplessly as this strange True Spirit Fire spread.

Meanwhile, Li Fan remained immersed in the wondrous sensations brought by the True Spirit Annihilation technique.

Li Fan never acted without a clear benefit. If it were merely the stimulation of light and shadow, he would never let his spirituality serve as fuel, supporting the burning and spread of the True Spirit Fire as he was now.

Although theoretically, his current spirituality was “infinite,” Li Fan would not be willing to pay for meaningless expenditures.

He was not immersed in the destruction brought by the True Spirit Fire, but rather intoxicated by the process of “spirituality” being ignited as fuel itself.

All along, Li Fan knew that “spirituality” was an extremely precious resource. Each time he activated ‘Return to True,’ a portion of his spirituality had to be deducted. The upper limit a cultivator could reach was also closely related to the amount of their spirituality.

However, Li Fan had no idea how spirituality influenced all of this.

The process of True Spirit Annihilation, transforming into consuming fire, gave Li Fan a clear, concrete answer.

“In the Mountains and Seas, worldly possibilities evolve like tree rings.”

“Worldly possibilities can be ignited, and our spirituality can also be ignited. The flames produced by the incineration of both are fundamentally indistinguishable.”

“Living beings are like possibilities. In a sense, they are also creations of the Mountains and Seas, extensions of the Mountains and Seas themselves. In other words…”

“Any living being is one with the Mountains and Seas!”

“But this is limited to the essence of spirituality. After all, the magnitude of living beings and the Mountains and Seas are far from the same level.” As he watched his own spirituality transform into fuel and the True Spirit Fire burn fiercely, Li Fan’s thoughts raced.

“This is also the fundamental reason why living beings and cultivators can cultivate all the way to the transcendent realm.”

“It is precisely through the commonality between cultivators’ spirituality and the nature of the Mountains and Seas’ mundane world that the True Spirit Annihilation technique can use the so-called true spirit as bait, inducing the possibilities of the Mountains and Seas to burn together…”

In his previous life, during the calamity of the Three Paths merging, Li Fan resolutely chose to sacrifice himself and self-detonate in order to awaken Return to True. The boundless light and brilliance caused by the self-detonation instantly incinerated his original location and numerous surrounding possibilities.

Originally, Li Fan thought that such power was primarily due to him having obtained a portion of the Longevity Grand Dao from Elder Shouqiu.

Now it seemed, it was entirely due to his own infinite spirituality!

“In my previous life, I merely triggered it crudely through self-destruction. But now, I have mastered a more efficient method.”

“In fact, this is just the beginning. Through repeated active ignition attempts, I can continuously increase the efficiency of ignition.”

Li Fan did not like self-mutilation, even if this level of self-mutilation could not harm him.

As the True Spirit Fire spread, his own spirituality and the Mountains and Seas’ mundane world became inexplicably linked in a state of “burning.”

Thus, Li Fan could perceive the imagery of the Mountains and Seas.

This feeling of directly facing the Mountains and Seas was extremely similar to what was described in 'Shouqiu’s Casual Notes'.

However, in the past, Elder Shouqiu perceived the true essence of the Mountains and Seas by sitting on a mountain and gazing at the sea with his own eyes.

Li Fan, on the other hand, through the process of the Mountains and Seas being incinerated, glimpsed their primal essence amidst plumes of black smoke and through the ashes of the Mountains and Seas.

“If this wildfire were large enough, I might even be able to fully perceive the Mountains and Seas right now!”

A thought suddenly emerged in Li Fan's mind.

Along with this thought came an almost irresistible impulse.

What the world called the transcendent realm was merely understanding a single path, evolved from the Mountains and Seas’ mundane world, to its extreme.

To fully perceive the Mountains and Seas meant comprehending all principles within them.

Even the ‘Sage’ realm mentioned in ‘The Other Shore’ was far inferior in comparison.

Furthermore, in Li Fan’s view, reaching this step required no tedious enlightenment or a long journey of seeking one’s own path.

It only required continuously supplying his own spirituality, allowing the great fire to spread indefinitely.

“Why not? Why not indeed…”

The True Spirit Fire grew more ferocious, incinerating all remaining pillars of primal possibility. Only ashes filled the sky, still maintaining their original shapes, struggling to hold on.

Before long, the ashes could no longer maintain the existence of possibilities.

The flying ashes scattered, and one cycle of the Mountains and Seas completely vanished.

As if freed from some restraint, after leaving the primal possibilities, the True Spirit Fire suddenly expanded several times over.

Everything it touched in its surroundings was ignitable material.

Li Fan even felt that the pressure to supply spirituality had significantly lessened.

However, this smooth situation did not last long.

What first sensed the anomaly and then approached was none other than Dao Annihilation!

Even though the primal possibilities had been reduced to countless ashes, Dao Annihilation still did not cease its pursuit of them.

Furthermore, because the originally large targets had dispersed into countless tiny individuals, the wave of Dao Annihilation provoked was many times greater than before.

Like a torrential downpour, the burgeoning True Spirit Fire instantly fell into a precarious state. If not for the abundant fuel from the surrounding possibilities, this fire would likely have been extinguished directly.

Such a turn of events instantly pulled Li Fan out of his unrealistic fantasies.

He instantly sobered up: “True Spirit Annihilation is also within the scope of the Mountains and Seas’ own evolution. After these ashes return to the Mountains and Seas, they will undergo countless years of evolution and give birth to new rings of possibility.”

“As for the merging of Mountains and Seas…”

“That is to forcefully dig out these spiritualities from the Mountains and Seas!”

Where these entities, swallowed by Dao Annihilation, would ultimately go was not something Li Fan could currently know. But he understood in his heart that it must be related to the ‘Creator God’ mentioned in the prophecy left by Sun Piaomiao.

“Originally, the Mountains and Seas and Dao Annihilation were opposites.”

“Even if cultivators in the Mountains and Seas used the True Spirit Annihilation technique, it wouldn’t affect the standoff between the two. However, I am an exception.”

Li Fan narrowed his eyes, as if a scene appeared before him.

If he were to insist on unleashing an all-consuming fire with his infinite spirituality, even if it could incinerate the Mountains and Seas, the amount of spirituality he would need to expend would be astronomical.

Perhaps enough to recreate the Mountains and Seas.

Through the burning process, this spirituality transformed into ashes that filled the sky.

Either returning to the Mountains and Seas or being swallowed by Dao Annihilation.

“Wouldn’t that mean I’m using myself to nourish the Mountains and Seas, and the Creator God?”

Upon this thought, Li Fan’s expression instantly turned somewhat grim.

“Unless I can utterly incinerate the Mountains and Seas with one fire. Otherwise, if the Mountains and Seas receive nourishment, they can be reborn, even stronger than before.”

“This True Spirit Annihilation technique…”

“Whose True Spirit is it truly annihilating?”

As Li Fan’s perspective inexplicably shifted, the trembling twelve True Immortals witnessed a rather strange scene.

Li Fan, who had been completely intoxicated, suddenly had an extremely grim expression.

They didn’t know what caused this change, nor did they dare to ask.

“Hmph, how uninteresting!”

After mentally deducing it once more and confirming this helpless truth, Li Fan couldn’t help but say coldly.

He then withdrew the output of his spirituality.

“Ultimately, compared to the Mountains and Seas, I am still too insignificant right now.”

“Even if I can sustain the True Spirit Fire to burn endlessly, what appears as a vast wildfire in my eyes is merely a tiny spark to the Mountains and Seas.”

“Only if the speed of the fire’s incineration surpasses the speed of the Mountains and Seas’ rebirth and evolution, perhaps then I might have a chance.”

“Moreover, this doesn’t even account for other factors beyond Dao Annihilation and the Mountains and Seas.”

Li Fan acknowledged reality.

But he was not disheartened by it.

In any case, this True Spirit Annihilation technique truly counted as a supreme divine ability.

It could serve as a power for mutual destruction, and also had the effect of comprehending the Mountains and Seas, integrating both combat and cultivation.

“With this divine ability in hand, even facing those transcendent powerhouses in the Great World of the Other Shore, I have the power to protect myself. If pushed to the limit, I’ll start a fire…”

“The only flaw is that I cannot use it too many times openly. Otherwise, the fact of my infinite spirituality will surely be exposed. And at that point, the outcome might not be much better than if the secret of ‘Return to True’ were revealed.”

Without Li Fan’s behind-the-scenes support, this great fire, which had incinerated the primal and several surrounding possibilities, was finally beginning to slowly extinguish.

After losing the cover of the fire, the pressure of Dao Annihilation swept in.

Knowing that he could not stay here long, Li Fan summoned the Xuanghuang Immortal Ship, intending to ride the waves and depart.

“These ashes, however, cannot be wasted.”

“After all, I expended so much spirituality to obtain them.”

Glancing at the scattered ashes still drifting in the Dao Annihilation, Li Fan thought this, and his mind stirred.

The Xuanghuang Immortal Ship then absorbed these remaining ashes.

They transformed into a layer of dark armor outside the Xuanghuang Immortal Ship.

“The Great World of the Other Shore…”

The Xuanghuang Immortal Ship plunged into the Mountains and Seas, following the direction Li Fan was looking.

Colliding head-on with Dao Annihilation, the Xuanghuang Immortal Realm instantly trembled violently.

Li Fan had already rehearsed this scene countless times in his mind.

And his preparations could not be called insufficient.

Supported by the Nameless Heavenly Pillar, Mo Sha, Dao One Worms, ancient Mountains and Seas artifacts…

Now, there was an additional layer of protection from the ashes of the Mountains and Seas.

The impact received was much smaller than Li Fan had imagined, and the shaking of the Xuanghuang Immortal Ship quickly subsided.

However, Li Fan knew that this was just the beginning.

Being able to survive for a period within Dao Annihilation was not difficult. The challenge was to treat any Dao Annihilation storm, no matter how severe, as insignificant and reach the Other Shore directly.

Therefore, Li Fan did not relax his vigilance in the slightest. Countless dense Dao One Worms, under his control, swarmed and protected the outside of the Xuanghuang Immortal Ship.

Forming a huge buffer layer.

Even if the swarms of worms that came into contact with Dao Annihilation were instantly swallowed, a continuous stream of reserve swarms immediately took their place.

“The adaptation speed of the Dao One Worms is barely acceptable. But Mo Sha…”

Li Fan frowned slightly.

Mo Sha was an attempt by the Primal Immortals to imitate the power of Dao Annihilation.

However, when this experimental imitation truly came before its original master, it fell into an eerie silence.

Facing the omnipresent, surging Dao Annihilation, it was clearly not as active as it had been within the possibilities.

In Li Fan’s view, Mo Sha at this moment was like a wild beast raised by humans, suddenly returning to its original pack.

Previously, when encountering fewer of its kind, it could maintain its rationality.

But with too many of its kind around, it gradually fell into self-doubt regarding its identity.

This change was something Li Fan had not anticipated.

Li Fan did not disturb it for the time being; after all, even without Mo Sha’s power, the Xuanghuang Immortal Ship was not in significant danger. He merely kept a constant watch to prevent any sudden changes.

“Within the Mountains, Seas, and Dao Annihilation, it is indeed an excellent place to comprehend the Path of the Lone Sail.”

The deeper he ventured into the Mountains and Seas, and the further he moved from all possibilities, the more Li Fan finally understood why his previous comprehension of the Path of the Lone Sail had always been lacking.

“Even what was seen through the Dao One Worms’ erosion was still different from experiencing it firsthand.”

“This feeling of isolation and insignificance…”

Outside the Xuanghuang Immortal Ship was a complete and utter void.

Looking up, the sky was invisible; bowing his head, the ground could not be seen.

It was as if heaven and earth had instantly vanished from his perception.

His entire vision slowly grew dim.

Along with this darkness came the loss of vitality.

Vast and warm vitality gathered within the worldly possibilities. Now, as Li Fan delved deeper into the Mountains and Seas, a cold aura slowly overwhelmed it.

Within the Xuanghuang Immortal Realm, dark clouds gathered, obscuring the sun and sky. A heavy snowfall began to drift down slowly.

Even though Li Fan crushed the Xuanghuang wooden carving, causing the great sun in the sky to reappear.

But it did not dispel the chill between heaven and earth.

In the world of ice and snow, the sunlight appeared rather feeble.

As the extreme cold descended, the Xuanghuang Immortal Ship’s progress through the Dao Annihilation also seemed to slow.

“Ultimately, my foundation is insufficient. I rashly ventured into the Mountains and Seas without truly reaching the transcendent realm.”

“If my guess is correct, my own path of transcendence is the best way to resist this biting cold.”

“And the methods I use that rely on external objects…”

“They can protect me, but they cannot protect the living beings within this Xuanghuang Immortal Ship.”

Li Fan silently watched the people of the Xuanghuang Realm, their vitality slowly fading as the world froze over.

After a moment of thought, he still ignited a beam of fire.

“The Immortal Ship has just set sail; it’s not time for it to capsize yet.”

It was merely a faint spark, yet it instantly dispelled the coldness between heaven and earth.

It was precisely the True Spirit Annihilation technique!

“Benevolence of the Holy Venerable!” All living beings of Xuanghuang knelt and kowtowed in worship.