Chapter 1652: All the Saints Display Their Divine Powers

The Great Path of Shan Hai possesses its own inherent profoundness. It is incredibly mysterious and multifaceted, making it difficult even for Saints to fully comprehend at a glance.

With Xuan Pin serving as a cover, Li Fan successfully shielded himself from the gaze of the Last Saint of Shan Hai.

However, Li Fan had a faint intuition that the "garment" he wore for concealment would not remain effective indefinitely.

"If the other party continues to gaze like this, it won't be long before my true existence is exposed."

Fortunately, Qiu Xinhui did not continue to probe.

The sensation of being spied upon slowly faded, and Qiu Xinhui's voice, filled with emotion, reached him:

"You have crossed mountains and seas, coming here despite immense hardship."

"Thank you for your efforts, fellow Daoist."

"The End of Shan Hai is a unique place. It might differ from the Shan Hai spacetime you inhabit. Please observe it first."

"I will first assist them."

As she spoke, countless yellow gems burst forth from Qiu Xinhui's hand, falling like a cluster of stars into the Realm of Life and Death.

The starlight was brilliant, illuminating all beings.

A mark of a yellow crystal gem was engraved on the forehead of every living being. Nourished by its radiance, those whose existential foundations were slowly disintegrating from their journey seemed to be made whole. Not only was their critical state alleviated, but many even instantly recovered completely.

It wasn't just living beings.

Within the Realm of Life and Death, the myriad streams of conceptualized thought, which were originally on the verge of collapse, instantly solidified after receiving aid.

They were virtually indistinguishable from the true possibilities within Shan Hai.

Even with Li Fan's current attainments, he found it difficult to discern for a moment whether they were real or fake.

As soon as this Last Saint of Shan Hai made a move, she displayed her unimaginably extraordinary power.

Li Fan looked at the venerable ones in the Realm of Life and Death who, under her treatment, had become vibrant again in the blink of an eye.

"It wasn't that the true spirits they lost in the Eternal Silence Void were infused and restored. Rather, Qiu Xinhui used the ultimate method of conceptualized thought to replenish their diminished aspects." "Although their cultivation talent is certainly not as good as before, at least their lives were saved, and they can still utilize about seventy to eighty percent of their original strength."

"This Last Saint of Shan Hai is truly remarkable!"

Li Fan was secretly astonished.

Li Fan, who had once deeply studied the Way of Conceptualized Thought, naturally knew how incredible it was to easily mend what was lacking in so many individuals. This meant Qiu Xinhui's understanding of each person's cultivation path had reached a level of effortless mastery, where she could conjure false elements that were indistinguishable from real ones.

And the myriad streams of possibility that were restored and stabilized also indicated that Qiu Xinhui's comprehension of Shan Hai had reached an unimaginable height.

But what puzzled Li Fan was that Qiu Xinhui resided at the End of Shan Hai. Even if her talent was extraordinarily monstrous, allowing her to easily comprehend all paths in the world, how could she clearly know all the past events of Shan Hai?

As if sensing Li Fan's inner doubts, the Last Saint of Shan Hai lightly repeated:

"Fellow Daoist, please observe Shan Hai."

"All your doubts will then vanish."

Only then did Li Fan withdraw his attention from Qiu Xinhui and look at what was called the End of Shan Hai.

Where everyone stood was enveloped by thick yellow light, like layers of solid earth, so Li Fan did not feel the oppression from the Eternal Silence Void outside.

Everything seemed normal.

But when Li Fan's gaze attempted to penetrate this protective layer to look beyond Shan Hai,

A boundless, icy sense of loneliness instantly assailed him from all directions.

It was vastly different from his previous journey across the Eternal Silence Void.

When traversing, it had been merely pure pressure.

But at the End of Shan Hai, this seemingly omnipresent darkness was filled with extreme aggression.

After sensing Li Fan's gaze, it immediately surged forth, like tempestuous waves crashing against the shore, violently sweeping and impacting.

Li Fan distinctly felt that the entire End of Shan Hai, enveloped in yellow light, was violently shaking because of it.

And once the offensive began, it would not easily dissipate. The impacts from the Eternal Silence Void came one after another.

Like a small boat in a raging storm, it seemed as if it could be submerged by giant waves at any moment.

Li Fan's expression became troubled, and he subconsciously withdrew his gaze from the outside.

The Last Saint of Shan Hai, however, had long since grown accustomed to all of this.

She did not speak, simply activated conceptualized yellow light to stabilize the situation.

Just like an experienced captain, she calmly guided the crew to deal with the sudden storm.

However, this storm was incredibly prolonged and showed no signs of weakening.

"Is this Eternal Silence Void truly so volatile?" Li Fan asked, surprised and doubtful.

"If we consider the struggle between Shan Hai and Dao Yan as a prolonged war, then at this moment, this war is finally approaching its conclusion. The soldiers' killing intent is at its most ferocious, seeking to achieve their goal in one decisive battle and completely end Shan Hai."

"The Eternal Silence Void you have seen, fellow Daoist, may still be in the nascent stage of war. Its aggressiveness would not be this strong." For Qiu Xinhui, the invasion of external darkness had long been commonplace.

She assisted the newcomers while simultaneously fending off the erosion of the Eternal Silence Void. She also had enough energy to introduce Li Fan to the specific situation of the End of Shan Hai.

"However, what I wish for you to observe, fellow Daoist, is not the void realm itself, but rather these—"

Following Qiu Xinhui's guidance, Li Fan then discovered that in the surging tides outside, some extremely faint specks of light would occasionally flash.

Even dimmer than firefly light, they were hidden in the darkness, barely distinguishable.

If one wasn't careful, they would be easily overlooked.

From these specks of light, Li Fan faintly perceived scenes of the past Shan Hai.

"These... are fragments of Shan Hai?"

Qiu Xinhui nodded.

"Precisely. They are remnants of Shan Hai, torn to shreds by Dao Yan."

"They are the last evidence that Shan Hai once existed." "Like grains of sand and debris, they pervade the darkness. Perhaps the Eternal Silence Void intentionally left them as proof of its accomplishments, or perhaps..."

"A threat to us, the last of the resistors."

Qiu Xinhui smiled.

"It's like dead coral from the seabed, constantly washed ashore by surging waves."

"Among these fragments that occasionally surface, although I am at the End of Shan Hai, I have been able to witness the glorious scenes of the past Shan Hai."

"And furthermore..."

"The memories of those of you who have traveled here from various points in the past."

Li Fan vaguely understood.

This Last Saint of Shan Hai before him had actually woven her understanding of Shan Hai, relying solely on the scattered fragments drifting from the past.

It was truly hard to imagine what heights she would have reached if she had lived in Shan Hai in normal spacetime.

"However, you don't seem to have become a Saint through the Way of Conceptualized Thought, fellow Daoist?"

During their previous mutual gaze, it wasn't only Li Fan who was scrutinized.

Li Fan had also perceived some mysteries about Qiu Xinhui.

In this End of Shan Hai, although the Way of Conceptualized Thought was ubiquitous, it was not Qiu Xinhui's foundational path of cultivation.

Qiu Xinhui did not deny it:

"The Conceptualized Thought method, though incredibly mystical and unusual, cannot sustain this last pure land in this dying age where Shan Hai is extremely weak."

"If I were to become a Saint through this method, my own existence might be preserved, but this place would certainly have ceased to exist long ago, swallowed by Dao Yan."

Qiu Xinhui did not explicitly state what her own cultivation path was.

But Li Fan vaguely felt that this Last Saint of Shan Hai before him seemed fundamentally different from Saints like himself who had achieved Sainthood through the Great Path of Shan Hai.

"The End of Shan Hai, all concentrated in one person." "She studied fragments from ancient and modern times and, in despair, understood the divine ability to save the world."

"If not for this person pushing Shan Hai practitioners against the current, traveling through all of time, the powerful ones in all Shan Hai time-spaces might still be fighting their own separate battles to this day."

Li Fan remained silent, looking at the so-called End of Shan Hai, shrouded in darkness.

Unlike the Shan Hai he inhabited,

Here, the River of Time no longer existed.

Only the last "point" remained.

No past, no future.

All events occurred simultaneously within this single point.

As Li Fan slowly adapted, many scenes naturally appeared before his eyes.

They were people like him, who had come here for support from various segments of Shan Hai's past.

Compared to Li Fan, their circumstances were more tragic.

The vast majority, upon arrival, had already become invalids with no cultivation talent.

Although Qiu Xinhui helped them recover through the Way of Conceptualized Thought, from then on, their state was fixed at the exact moment of their arrival.

And the number of Saints who successfully reached the End of Shan Hai was pitifully small.

Including Li Fan, there were only five.

They jointly guarded where everyone's last hope lay.

Before Li Fan, a starry Shan Hai landscape floated in the void.

This was precisely the collection of conceptualized thoughts that had traveled from the past Shan Hai.

"How much certainty do we have now?" One figure among them pointed towards the illusory form of Shan Hai ahead.

Instantly, the outside world seemed to surge with darkness. After the Shan Hai landscape flickered for a moment, it dimmed and extinguished.

This was repeated millions of times in an instant.

However, not once was the light and shadow of Shan Hai re-ignited.

"Still a bit short." That figure sighed.

"All of you, don't be disheartened. The fate of Shan Hai was originally predetermined. For us to defy heaven and change destiny, it is naturally not easy. I have intercepted the River of Time, fixing it at the moment before destruction. As long as my power does not disperse, we will still have ample time to accumulate more power."

The one speaking was a white-haired scholar.

It was he who created the current phenomenon at the End of Shan Hai where time stands still.

"The conceptualized materials are actually sufficient. But at the moment Shan Hai is fully restored, the devouring suction force that bursts forth from the Eternal Silence Void will be difficult to escape, even with our combined efforts." The figure who had been driving the Shan Hai illusion for deduction spoke again.

This Saint's figure was difficult to discern clearly, as if in endless flux, without a fixed form.

"It would be better if we had more help."

A silence fell over the gathering.

Qiu Xinhui offered reassurance.

"To have your assistance, esteemed ones, is already a great fortune. This plan for the End of Shan Hai is, after all, not as secure as going to the Beginning of Shan Hai. For most people, the future is unknown, but what happened in the past is fixed and unchangeable."

The white-haired scholar stroked his beard and sighed.

"This is human nature; it truly cannot be forced. Even if the plan succeeds, where it ultimately leads is an unknown. Unlike that other plan, there's even the hope of seizing the power of Shan Hai and achieving higher, more extraordinary feats."

As soon as these words were uttered, all the Saints present snorted coldly.

Li Fan naturally understood what the white-haired scholar was referring to.

If they truly, at the beginning of time, successfully prevented Shan Hai from devouring the gods,

Then it would indeed be possible to claim the power of the gods for themselves.

Just as Shan Hai once did. For the Saints in Shan Hai, the temptation was indeed extraordinarily immense.

"It's a pity. I observe the River of Time surging and changing, and there still seems to be no sign of this matter succeeding."

The white-haired scholar's gaze seemed able to penetrate the barrier of the Eternal Silence Void to look at an even older Shan Hai.

He spoke mockingly.

"Fellow Daoist, what are your thoughts?"

After the Saints had expressed their views, Qiu Xinhui looked at Li Fan, who had remained silent.

The outer garment woven by the Great Path of Xuan Pin strove to block the Saints' gazes.

After Li Fan pondered for a moment, he said:

"What I cultivate is the Way of Xuan Pin."

"Infuse the conceptualized Shan Hai so that its vitality spontaneously emerges."

As Li Fan spoke, his hand, like a paintbrush, drew threads of vitality into the illusory form of Shan Hai before him.

If it was previously just an impressionistic landscape painting, now it was transforming somewhat into a realistic ink painting.

"However, I can only assist the conceptualized Shan Hai for a little longer. The key to the plan still depends on all of you," Li Fan said apologetically.

"With your assistance, fellow Daoist, the odds of success are increased," the constantly changing Saint said, making another deduction.

Although the starlight of Shan Hai was still not rekindled, he still said so.

"However, I have an idea. I don't know if it's feasible."

After another long silence, Li Fan suddenly spoke.

"Feel free to speak, fellow Daoist," Qiu Xinhui nodded.

"In the Eternal Silence Void, those dormant true spirits, I wonder if they can be used as assistance?" "Since the aid from the past is not enough, then we can create our own."

"When traversing the void realm, I found that the true spirits accumulated within it were more than enough to pile up and form Saints. More than enough..."

Upon hearing Li Fan's words, all the Saints showed surprise in their eyes.

"Creating Saints?"

They did not directly voice an objection to Li Fan's plan, but instead asked very cautiously:

"While we can certainly absorb a very small portion of the accumulated true spirits and use them for ourselves, firstly, the true spirits originate from the void realm and will impact the mind and spirit. More critically, to utilize one part of true spirit requires ten parts of strength, which is difficult to sustain. Is it possible, fellow Daoist, that you are different?"

Li Fan did not deny it. He nodded proudly.

"Everyone, behold!"

As he spoke, Li Fan waved his hand towards the dark void of the End of Shan Hai.

A greater commotion occurred than during his previous traversing journey.

The End of Shan Hai was as if at the bottom of endless darkness.

All the accumulated true spirits from the past, formed by the devoured Shan Hai, were piled up here.

This gentle stirring by Li Fan instantly felt like the heavens collapsing.

Already enduring the impact of a violent storm, now there was an added violent collision from an unknown ferocious beast.

The Saints' expressions changed, and they joined forces to stabilize the situation.

After the wind and rain gradually subsided, all looked at Li Fan's hand with horrified expressions.

There, though no existence could be seen with the naked eye,

But they could feel the aura belonging to the accumulated true spirits.

"How can this be?!"

The white-haired scholar's beard and hair bristled as he looked at Li Fan in disbelief.

In his ancient eyes, it seemed as if the River of Time flowed backward, seeking to clearly see Li Fan's origin.