Chapter 1651: Infusing Infinite Spirit

Angry Squid:

Yellow light wove a path forward.

Scattered footprints drifted out of nothingness, both guiding their way and serving as steps for them to traverse the Eternal Void.

Their perception of the outside world was already distorted.

The crossing felt instantaneous, yet also as if it had consumed millions of years.

Beyond the yellow light lay boundless, inky darkness.

Though protected by the yellow light, each passage through the blackness was merely a fleeting touch.

Still, the Eternal Void exerted a terrifyingly cold, oppressive presence on everyone.

Aside from Li Fan, everyone else, including the venerables, found the very foundation of their existence inevitably beginning to crumble. The most direct manifestation of this was a varying decline in their cultivation levels.

Even their inherent spiritual essence was subtly affected.

While a drop in cultivation realm might be slowly recovered through practice, a loss of spiritual essence...

A genius would fall, and a prodigy would become indistinguishable from the ordinary.

Ordinarily, the consequences would be irreversible.

However...

As everyone focused on stabilizing their minds for self-preservation, Li Fan, however, stared intently at the Eternal Void outside.

He faintly perceived that within the boundless darkness, beyond the cold stillness, something else existed.

“This is…”

“An accumulation of spiritual essence?”

“Why would the Eternal Void, which should be utter emptiness, possess such a dense aura of true spiritual essence?”

Initially, Li Fan was perplexed.

But after observing for a while, he quickly understood: “This is the spiritual accumulation produced after the Mountains and Seas were consumed by Dao Annihilation. It's like the ashes left after a raging mountain fire, or the fine sand swept up by crashing waves.”

Possessing infinite spiritual essence himself, Li Fan was naturally not tempted by the true spiritual accumulation within this Eternal Void.

However, noticing the struggle of the people from the World of Samsara, he had an idea.

“While I possess infinite spiritual essence, I can only use it for myself. To bestow it upon others, I would typically have to use the 'inheritance' option of True Return, a roundabout way to achieve my goal.”

“But what about these unowned substances before me?”

“I have now attained the Saint realm, yet my power seems to fall short of what I envisioned for a Saint. Only by successfully traversing the Eternal Void can I truly earn the title. Passing through this void will inevitably expose me to these spiritual accumulations. The Saints of the Other Shore are incredibly powerful; could their strength be linked to acquiring more spiritual essence?”

Thousands of thoughts flashed through his mind, and Li Fan reached out towards the boundless darkness above him.

An invisible vortex seemed to form out of thin air.

Unimaginable spiritual accumulation was stirred by a gentle wave of Li Fan's hand.

Like a violently gushing spring, it was drawn forth and descended from the Eternal Void.

The yellow light protecting everyone twisted abruptly, appearing as though it might dissipate at any moment.

But this phenomenon came and went swiftly.

As Li Fan withdrew his hand, the accumulated true spiritual essence in the Eternal Void ceased its surging motion.

In Li Fan's hand...

A swirling mass of true spiritual essence, almost imperceptible by any means, yet Li Fan could distinctly sense its presence.

“Summoned at will, dismissed at command.”

“Is it truly this easy to manipulate accumulated true spiritual essence?”

Li Fan pondered, bewildered.

His intuition told him that was unlikely to be the case.

Observing the others traversing the Eternal Void with him, they seemed completely unaware of the boundless true spiritual essence accumulating outside.

They continued to struggle, relying solely on their own perseverance. They couldn't even perceive it, let alone absorb and utilize it.

Li Fan had an inkling.

The reason he could extract it with such ease might be linked to his own infinite spiritual essence.

Though these accumulated spiritual essences drawn from the Eternal Void did not belong to him, he could command them as easily as moving his own limbs, manipulating them at will—like a general directing his troops.

First, Li Fan attempted to absorb this true spiritual essence himself.

Like a clay ox sinking into the sea, over half of the extracted true spiritual essence was instantly absorbed without any discernible effect.

This outcome was within Li Fan's expectations.

After all, his own spiritual essence was already 'infinite,' so absorbing more from external sources would hardly make a difference.

Li Fan secretly shook his head, ceasing such meaningless attempts.

Next, observing the people from the World of Samsara whose true spiritual essence was dissolving, Li Fan slowly began to experiment, attempting to refine and distribute the remaining accumulated true spiritual essence among them.

This proved far more strenuous than Li Fan had anticipated.

The invisible, accumulated true spiritual essence was indeed somewhat under Li Fan's control. It quickly divided into seven portions, gathering above the heads of all the venerables except Qiu Xinhui.

But they only drew close.

They did not truly integrate.

It seemed an invisible barrier separated their bodies from the accumulated true spiritual essence.

Li Fan applied slight pressure, but the barrier remained unyielding.

“It seems I was somewhat presumptuous. If increasing spiritual essence were truly this easy, Saints would likely be commonplace throughout the Mountains and Seas.”

However, Li Fan did not give up so easily.

Before reaching the End of the Mountains and Seas, he seized this rare opportunity during the crossing to continue studying the accumulated true spiritual essence.

The path of traversal seemed endless.

The protective yellow light meandered and drifted, as traces of the path left by the Mountains and Seas travelers flashed by. Li Fan keenly perceived that the fleeting glimpses of the Mountains and Seas, rushing towards them, were growing increasingly dim.

Meanwhile, the pressure emanating from the external Eternal Void grew ever more immense.

The protective yellow light was forced to contract.

The tendency of the people from the World of Samsara to collapse was steadily increasing.

“At this rate, even if they manage to reach the End of the Mountains and Seas, they will all be practically crippled.”

“Only the carried Fantastical Torrent is of any real use.”

Though he sat atop an endless treasure trove, he could not share a single fraction of it with others.

“It seems your fate is in your own hands.”

However, perhaps due to the blessing of infinite spiritual essence, Li Fan's research proceeded with unexpected smoothness.

As the downstream traversal neared its end, he actually discovered a method to forcibly inject true spiritual essence into others!

Instead of directly acting on the venerables from the World of Samsara, he first experimented on an elderly individual from the former Guangwu Star Sea who was on the verge of dissipation.

“The reason I can absorb it without hindrance is the presence of infinite spiritual essence within me. For true spiritual essence to return to me is as natural and logical as a hundred rivers flowing into the eastern sea.”

“But for others, the true spiritual essence within them is even weaker than what is about to be infused from outside. Against such a potent intruder, they naturally erect high walls…”

“If that’s the case, then I shall unleash a colossal flood to drown these walls!”

With this thought, Li Fan abruptly reached out towards the Eternal Void.

With a decisive grasp, he extracted an unimaginably dense mass of accumulated true spiritual essence.

He manipulated it, forming it into a descending waterfall that fiercely poured onto the experimental subject's head.

The true spiritual essence did not enter the body, yet neither did it dissipate.

Instead, it continued to accumulate above the subject's head.

Though undergoing the experiment and completely oblivious to his own plight, the subject faintly sensed a feeling of unease.

He cautiously looked around, yet ultimately failed to identify the source of his apprehension.

The true spiritual essence continued to accumulate, forming a hundred-zhang ominous cloud.

However, the barrier within the living being's body was incredibly resilient; even a hundredfold increase in external true spiritual pressure failed to shatter it.

Li Fan had no choice but to increase the intensity.

Since he was merely drawing upon the accumulated true spiritual essence from the Eternal Void, it wasn't a waste regardless of the outcome.

Finally, when the true spiritual energy used for the impact was several thousand times that of the experimental subject, the invisible barrier was utterly crushed.

In an instant, as if enlightened, the experimental subject's eyes widened, and he underwent a profound transformation.

He became incredibly spirited at a nearly visible pace.

He could even faintly perceive his own inherent qualities, and abruptly looked up in Li Fan's direction.

However, that single glance brought about his demise.

Li Fan frowned slightly and halted the infusion.

He remotely seized the experimental subject, then observed him carefully.

Despite a thousandfold expenditure in the process, ultimately less than one-thousandth of the spiritual essence was successfully infused into the subject's body.

Even so, for the experimental subject, it represented an almost world-altering transformation.

“Compared to True Return's inheritance-based method for increasing spiritual essence, my infusion technique is simple and crude. The cost, however, is…”

Though his spiritual essence multiplied rapidly, he also abruptly perceived many things beyond his comprehension in a short time.

Fear, dread, unease, and the unknown began to swirl in the experimental subject's mind.

His once sharp and clear gaze gradually became tinged with madness.

More critically, with the forceful breach of the invisible barrier within him by Li Fan, the experimental subject lost all resistance to the accumulated spiritual essence from outside. The overwhelming accumulation that had not been absorbed returned, surging back into his body.

The experimental subject could still absorb some of it.

However, the pace of his progress and transformation was ultimately limited.

It lagged far behind the relentless sweep of the accumulated essence.

With each successive surge, a scene that quite horrified Li Fan unfolded.

The experimental subject's soul, body, and consciousness finally dissolved and disintegrated completely under the impact of a surge of accumulated true spiritual essence.

In that instant, he vanished without a trace.

Becoming a part of the surging true spiritual essence accumulated by Li Fan.

This process of annihilation was too swift.

Li Fan had originally anticipated witnessing the subject's full transformation. He had not expected, however, that moments later, the subject would simply dissolve into the true spiritual essence's relentless flow.

The infusion experiment was both a success and a failure.

“Theoretically, by controlling the intensity of the infusion, the outcome of annihilation could be avoided.”

“However…”

Li Fan gazed at the vast amount of accumulated true spiritual essence swirling in his hand, as if seeing its origin.

The countless beings that once existed within the Mountains and Seas.

They appeared like myriad spectral figures, grimly arrayed, each wearing a strange smile, their gazes fixed on Li Fan.

An inexplicable discomfort arose within him. Li Fan shook his hand, tossing the accumulated true spiritual essence back into the Eternal Void.

“The Mountains and Seas perish, yet true spiritual essence accumulates.”

“The moment the Mountains and Seas are fully restored, stars will be born from the Eternal Void. If that is the case, isn't this boundless accumulated true spiritual essence the very cradle of their birth?”

Instinctively, Li Fan grew intensely wary of this spiritual essence he could so freely command. He temporarily abandoned the idea of further experimentation.

“From what I discovered about the previous experimental subject, that invisible barrier within the body is the fundamental reason why I possess infinite spiritual essence yet cannot freely utilize it. If that barrier were to be eliminated…”

As this thought arose, True Return, which remained silent in most situations, immediately emitted faint, trembling warnings!

Li Fan had never before sensed True Return so agitated.

It was as if breaking that barrier within himself would lead to a monstrous catastrophe that even True Return could not avert.

Such a commotion startled Li Fan, causing him to immediately abandon his reckless thoughts.

Still seemingly uneasy, True Return's warning continued to reverberate with lingering aftershocks in Li Fan's mind.

It wasn't until this journey of downstream traversal finally concluded, as they emerged from the Eternal Void into the End of the Mountains and Seas, that Li Fan finally understood the reason for True Return's solemn warning.

“For ordinary individuals within the Mountains and Seas, eliminating that barrier would, at most, result in the loss of their own spiritual essence or the infusion of external spiritual essence. Whether it leads to sainthood or annihilation, it would hardly impact the grand scheme of the Mountains and Seas.”

“But within my body, there is infinite spiritual essence.”

“Perhaps its volume is comparable to the entire accumulated spiritual essence within the Eternal Void after the complete demise of the Mountains and Seas.”

“If the barrier within my body is broken…”

Li Fan suddenly shivered.

“It wouldn't be just me who suffers.”

“This remaining fragment of the Mountains and Seas would likely suffer too!”

Before Li Fan's eyes, an endless flood of true spiritual essence seemed to appear, surging out of his body as the barrier collapsed.

It would be like a colossal deluge, unleashed after a dam's destruction, surging forth.

Enough to instantly overturn the Mountains and Seas.

“Already barely clinging to existence under the Dao Annihilation, if such a catastrophe were to occur,” “the Mountains and Seas would be annihilated in an instant.”

Upon realizing this, Li Fan understood True Return's reaction.

Simultaneously, a deeper question arose within him.

“Where did the infinite spiritual essence within my body come from?”

“What if…”

“After my true death, what would become of this unbound true spiritual essence?”

“Did True Return seek me out because of my infinite spiritual essence? Or did it impose itself upon me because it feared my infinite true spiritual essence would destroy the Mountains and Seas once unleashed?”

A barrage of doubts assailed him.

This caused Li Fan, now a Saint, to lose himself for a moment.

Fortunately, drastic external changes quickly forced him to shift his attention.

A single ray of light above him barely managed to pierce the darkness.

Like the first hint of dawn, though they had exited the Eternal Void, they hadn't truly distanced themselves from it.

It felt as if they could be dragged back into that boundless, icy darkness at any moment.

“Hold your breath, focus your minds, and steel your wills.”

The speaker, surprisingly, was Qiu Xinhui, who had grown terribly weak and almost vanished entirely during the traversal.

But now, he seemed like an entirely different person.

His entire being pulsed with the inspiring, instinctively admirable aura of a true leader.

Li Fan instantly realized.

The individual before him was not the fantastical creation, Qiu Xinhui.

It was Qiu Xinhui's true form, the Last Saint of the Mountains and Seas, who had absorbed the fantastical creation from the downstream traversal!

His gaze met Qiu Xinhui's eyes, and it was as if he were back in the presence of the Saints of the Other Shore.

The external facade, serving as a disguise, seemed to peel away layer by layer, revealing the core within.

But this time was different from before.

The Great Dao of Profound Femaleness transformed into a garment, gently concealing the secret that was about to be revealed.