Chapter 1615: The Birth of the Saint

Li Fan showed no intention of reprimanding the action; in fact, his expression was somewhat excited.

"Having traveled all over Shan Hai, I've finally found someone of like mind today!"

As he spoke, Li Fan casually conjured a streak of light and flame.

Fierce flames surged, instantly igniting the last remaining possibilities around him.

He Ganxian, who had initially harbored ill will, was stunned.

"I intend to overturn Shan Hai. Would you, fellow Daoist, be willing to join me?"

Li Fan asked with utmost sincerity.

The last vestiges of possibility were completely consumed by the True Spirit Flame.

The turbulent waves of Dao Annihilation surged, assailing the two of them.

Above Li Fan's head, a solitary sail hung high, resisting the engulfment of the Dao Annihilation.

However, the situation around He Ganxian was quite peculiar.

An invisible vortex seemed to exist around him; the flowing, eroding Dao Annihilation, after circulating for a while, was inexplicably diverted to other regions of Shan Hai.

Naturally, innocent possibilities suffered as a result, but He Ganxian, having already emerged from his enlightened state, felt no guilt at all in his heart at this moment.

Amidst the chaotic Dao Annihilation currents, Li Fan and He Ganxian faced each other.

"Overturn Shan Hai?" He Ganxian savored these four words carefully.

"The great tide of Dao Annihilation is vast and mighty. Those who follow it prosper; those who resist perish! Bi'an and the Sacred Dynasty are merely trying to smash rocks with eggs. Their hopeless struggles are nothing but a joke!"

"Why not follow the great trend, destroy Shan Hai, and return to the Divine Star? When order is rebuilt in the future, you and I might even be canonized as Saints for our contributions!"

"What do you think, fellow Daoist?" Li Fan said with fervent enthusiasm.

Within Shan Hai, a deathly silence seemed to fall.

Only the surging Dao Annihilation waves silently devoured the innocent possibilities that were inexplicably affected.

"What garbage..."

Silently gazing at Li Fan, He Ganxian eventually uttered this assessment.

"Die!"

As if he couldn't be bothered to waste words with Li Fan, He Ganxian reached out and grabbed towards him from a distance.

Not only were the surrounding Dao Annihilation currents and even the True Spirit Flame released by Li Fan affected, forming a swirling, shackling restraint, but Li Fan's mind also flashed with his past actions in that instant.

Destroying Xuanhuang, annihilating the Dark Star Sea, demolishing the High Wall, extinguishing the Shuoxing Sea, eradicating the Primordials, setting Shan Hai ablaze...

The scale of the disasters he caused gradually expanded.

The number of beings lost in the catastrophes also grew exponentially.

What were originally just a series of numbers now evolved into distinct faces, roaring in anger and surging from the depths of Li Fan's mind.

It was as if vengeful spirits were seeking retribution!

Facing these countless souls lost by his hand, if Li Fan had even a shred of guilt in his heart, he would surely be affected, his mind would waver and collapse, and he would ultimately be devoured by these evolving vengeful spirits.

But...

From beginning to end, Li Fan watched these suddenly appearing myriad vengeful spirits with extreme indifference. His heart remained utterly undisturbed.

There was even a hint of question in his eyes.

It was as if these lost souls had absolutely no connection to him!

If He Ganxian's "What does it have to do with me?" was a fierce conflict between lingering conscience and self, then Li Fan's "What does it have to do with me?" was simply a rhetorical question, devoid of any emotional color.

He Ganxian still possessed a lingering conscience.

As for Li Fan, he was...

He Ganxian faced Li Fan, who seemed more like "He Ganxian" than He Ganxian himself. An inexplicable fear arose in his heart, and he instinctively wanted to flee the place.

However, suddenly, streaks of True Spirit Flame rose before him, blocking his path.

"Where are you going, fellow Daoist? Could it be that you actually believe Shan Hai can be saved?" Li Fan questioned with a booming voice.

All his previous actions had been precisely for this very question.

His voice, like a clap of thunder, struck He Ganxian's heart. He Ganxian's body trembled violently.

"Can Shan Hai be saved?"

Li Fan persisted, pressing further.

The True Spirit Flame and the Dao Annihilation tide reflected each other.

Water drowned and fire burned; a terrifying tide of annihilation spread through Shan Hai. Even initially, it only affected insignificant, tiny possibilities.

But with each of Li Fan's questions, this dreadful calamity spread through Shan Hai at an unimaginable speed.

It was clear that it was becoming an unstoppable force!

Enveloped by the True Spirit Flame and the Dao Annihilation tide, He Ganxian tried repeatedly but found no escape. Watching the disaster spread across mountains and seas, and incessantly pressed by questions, He Ganxian finally started to crack.

He roared, losing his voice, "Of course Shan Hai can be saved! The only one who can save Shan Hai is I, the Moral True Immortal!"

Li Fan had finally forced out the deepest thoughts in his heart.

Li Fan, however, remained relentless: "Moral True Immortal? Who exactly are you?"

"Do you possess Dao? Do you possess De (virtue)?"

He Ganxian, furious, did not answer. Watching Shan Hai gradually shrouded by water and fire, his heart grew increasingly anxious.

He lunged left and right, trying to break through Li Fan's blockade.

However, his strength was inherently inferior to Li Fan's. The True Spirit Flame and the great tide of Dao Annihilation were both powers capable of devouring even Shan Hai.

Li Fan was not directly confronting him but merely using the power of burning mountains and annihilating seas to encircle him.

Even with a thousand kinds of powers, He Ganxian was helpless for a time. He was like a trapped beast in a cage, letting out mournful howls.

"Do you possess Dao? Do you possess De?"

Li Fan's relentless questioning never ceased.

Each question was like a sharp sword, piercing He Ganxian's heart.

He Ganxian's eyes turned crimson, and even bloody tears flowed out: "I save Shan Hai, how can I be without De? I save Shan Hai, how can I be without Dao?"

The first "I save Shan Hai" was an idea, a thought.

The latter "I save Shan Hai" referred to concrete actions and measures.

Hearing He Ganxian finally roar out these words, he nodded in satisfaction.

Then, a cold light flashed in his eyes, and with a wave of his hand, the True Spirit Flame burned even more fiercely.

More possibilities were affected by the firelight. The flames soared to the sky, completely obscuring He Ganxian's vision.

He could no longer see Shan Hai; only a sky full of firelight.

From He Ganxian's perspective, it was equivalent to Li Fan incinerating Shan Hai right before his eyes.

Not only that, Li Fan then sternly questioned, "Shan Hai is being consumed by fire right before your eyes. Do you still save Shan Hai?"

"How can you possess Dao then?"

This settled the matter.

He Ganxian was struck as if by lightning, his body rigid and unmoving.

"Do I possess Dao? Do I possess Dao? Do I possess Dao...?"

He muttered to himself repeatedly.

Finally, the flickering flames reflected in his pupils gave him the answer.

"Shan Hai is consumed; I am without Dao."

"I possess De, but not Dao."

"I possess De, but not Dao..."

The moment he uttered these words, He Ganxian's body instantly became transparent.

Meanwhile, another figure quietly appeared behind Li Fan.

However, Li Fan seemed to have anticipated his appearance!

"Because it lacks De, it loses its face."

"Your lack of De is not due to He Ganxian's influence. It is because you genuinely lack De!"

"He Ganxian appears to lack De, but in reality, he possesses De. For all his sins originated from his attempt to save Shan Hai. If Shan Hai were saved, all his sins would naturally vanish."

"Moral True Immortal, Moral True Immortal. He Ganxian is the De, and you..."

"...are the Dao!"

Clap, clap, clap.

A highly rhythmic clapping sound came from the figure behind Li Fan.

Faceless, it was indeed the Faceless Immortal!

"A brilliant deduction!"

"I didn't expect you to discern the essence of us two. I had merely intended to use your power to slightly impede his progress. I never imagined you would do far better than I expected."

"You even managed to characterize him directly."

"Truly remarkable!"

The Faceless Immortal took a gentle, relishing breath from the ethereal He Ganxian.

He Ganxian's phantom offered no resistance whatsoever and was absorbed by the Faceless Immortal.

After a moment of stillness, the aura emanating from the Faceless Immortal swelled by tens of millions of times!

It was as if a mortal had attained Dao and ascended to heaven in broad daylight!

The Faceless Immortal, who had been extremely weak, merely at the True Immortal level, now seemed to have not only inherited He Ganxian's realm and strength but also achieved a qualitative leap in cultivation.

From the realm of transcendence, he stepped onto the path of Sainthood!

The two became one.

He Ganxian, or rather the Moral True Immortal, became increasingly substantial.

His voice also changed accordingly. At first, two voices overlapped. Gradually, they completely merged, no longer distinguishable.

"Separated for a hundred thousand years, I am finally complete today."

"Thank you, fellow Daoist, for making this possible!"

The Moral True Immortal, having completed his attainment of Sainthood, actually bowed to Li Fan!

"However, there is one thing you said that was incorrect."

"I am not Dao, and he is not De."

"Dao and De can be separated, yet they cannot be separated."

"He is the same."

On the Moral True Immortal's previously ethereal face, features slowly began to emerge.

He gazed at Li Fan and said with a smile, "Before we were definitively characterized, I was Dao and also De. He was De and also Dao."

"It's just that we chose different directions for our evolution."

"I abandoned De, while he adhered to De."

"However, the Dao I chose did not bring me the strength I had anticipated."

"Conversely, the De he upheld – saving Shan Hai by any means necessary – caused his strength to advance by leaps and bounds."

"Originally, I was at a disadvantage, on the verge of losing this race."

"Who would have thought... who would have thought..."

The Moral True Immortal spoke with deep emotion.

"Moral True Immortal, Moral True Immortal. Dao gives birth to De, and De transforms into Dao. Dao and De are inseparable!"

"This is our foundation. Even if we evolve in different directions, this point remains. If one completely loses Dao, or completely loses De..."

"...the basis for their existence disappears. As for the outcome..."

The Moral True Immortal's smile instantly vanished: "It is to return to being one."

Facing a seemingly unexpected situation, Li Fan showed no panic.

Instead, he scrutinized the newly ascended Moral True Immortal with interest: "So, now, do you have more Dao or more De? Did you attain Sainthood through De, or through Dao?"

The Moral True Immortal shook his head: "Whether it is Dao or De, it doesn't matter. What matters is who can truly last until the end."

"The one who survives until the end is the true victor."

"The victor becomes a Saint."

A vast aura surged from the Moral True Immortal.

Like a heaven-sweeping wind, it instantly repelled the still raging True Spirit Flame and the Dao Annihilation tide.

Even during their recent conversation, the Moral True Immortal's aura had been continuously expanding.

Now, as if breaking through some shackles, the intensity of his expanding aura suddenly increased by hundreds of times or more.

The luminous flames and Dao Annihilation tide, capable of engulfing Shan Hai, were suppressed by this aura of Sainthood.

An earth-shattering brilliance soared upward from a corner of possibility.

Shaking Shan Hai!

"Though you helped me attain Sainthood. However..."

The Moral True Immortal, who had just achieved Sainthood, now looked at Li Fan with a sudden, inexplicable expression in his eyes.

Without hesitation, his left palm descended like a collapsing sky, suppressing everything immediately.

He didn't even finish his sentence, giving Li Fan no time to react!

At the same time, as if sensing the birth of a new Saint, Bi'an, the Sacred Dynasty, and certain other regions of Shan Hai.

All cast their gazes of concern.

The Moral True Immortal, however, paid no heed, his gaze fixed solely on Li Fan.

"Therefore..."

"You Saints are truly annoying."

A misty, curtain-like vapor enveloped Li Fan.

As if existing in a state where reality and illusion intersected, the Moral True Immortal's heaven-collapsing palm passed harmlessly through Li Fan.

It actually failed to cause any effect on him!

The Moral True Immortal, however, seemed to have anticipated this, merely looking at the misty curtain around Li Fan with a strange glint in his eyes.

His mouth opened slightly, as if to say something.

But in the end, he remained silent.

Instead, he began a solemn chant.

Confined within the Moral True Immortal's palm, Shan Hai seemed to vanish from Li Fan's sight.

The situation was exactly like before, when He Ganxian was trapped within the blockade of True Spirit Flame and the great Dao Annihilation tide.

What a cycle!

In Li Fan's eyes, the world was nothing but chaos.

Black and white energies surged forth from all directions.

They slowly formed a vortex around Li Fan.

As the vortex spun, the misty curtain immediately rippled in layers!

"Is this... the power of a Saint?"

"It's nothing special!"

Li Fan smiled with some difficulty.

Beneath the misty curtain, his body became ninety percent transparent.

Bai Shuyue had undergone nearly thirty cycles of reincarnation, and Li Fan had not been idle either.

With each "reversion to truth," his understanding of the transformation between truth and falsehood advanced further.

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

Li Fan had already achieved some mastery in his understanding of these seven characters.

Coupled with the accumulation over these twenty-eight lives, it had already allowed him to reach the threshold of qualitative breakthrough.

This layer of misty curtain around him was the protection he had woven using the transformation between truth and falsehood.

Enveloped by the misty curtain, he seemed to exist in a state of intertwined truth, falsehood, and illusion.

Even a Saint could not harm him in the slightest!

Originally, Li Fan had not yet developed this divine ability to such an extent; the misty curtain could only last for three breaths.

But after personally witnessing the Moral True Immortal's attainment of Sainthood, inspiration flared in Li Fan's mind like countless lit fireworks, bursting forth intensely.

Especially the scene where both He Ganxian and the Faceless Immortal were in an undefined state of Dao and De, which gave Li Fan even more inspiration.

Truth and falsehood, Dao and De.

In the ethereal realm, there seemed to be some similarities.

Li Fan drew inferences from other cases and suddenly had an epiphany. Only then was he able to weave such a misty curtain-cloak.

And it was precisely because of the existence of this divine ability that Li Fan, even witnessing the birth of a Saint, did not hastily "revert to truth" immediately.

Before the Nine Saint Phantoms, Li Fan had no power to resist.

Having personally experienced the magnificent power of the Saints of Bi'an, Li Fan was certain that the Moral True Immortal, who had just attained Sainthood before him, seemed somewhat weaker than those true Saints.

But he was indeed an existence of comparable status.

Were it not for the protection of the power of truth and falsehood, Li Fan's transcendent strength would be like that of an ant before him.

He would have no room for resistance whatsoever.

But now...

Even though the cost of activating the power of truth and falsehood was extremely steep.

His own existence gradually faded away as a result.

But after all, he truly withstood the Moral True Immortal's suppression!

Even before the misty curtain's protection disappeared, Li Fan's situation, though seemingly precarious.

Was in fact as stable as Mount Tai!

From the depths of Shan Hai, streaks of light seemed to be approaching.

Their aura did not seem weaker than that of the newly ascended Moral True Immortal.

The protective mist of truth and falsehood around him was also about to be completely exhausted.

"Revert to Truth!"

Li Fan gazed up at the Moral True Immortal beyond the colossal black-and-white vortex, muttering to himself.