Chapter 1654: Desiring to Leave but Unable to Part

The Enraged Squid:

“I am infinite!”Using the Method of Emptiness, the experimental subject replicated countless versions of itself.Facing the destructive, surging deluge of accumulated true spirit, it stood as a dam, absorbing the full impact in that instant!“I see true spirit!”At that very moment, all the experimental subjects opened their eyes.Through the immense pressure they felt, they seemed to truly “see” the formless, invisible true spirits filling the sky!

Although there were numerous experimental subjects present, they all originated from the same source. Each was an innumerable clone, artificially created by a single main subject through the Method of Emptiness.Consequently, they appeared to share a single True Spirit barrier.At Qiu Xinhui’s signal, Li Fan increased the intensity of the accumulated true spirit’s onslaught.The dam formed by thousands of experimental subjects gradually began to falter, a crack appearing under the immense pressure.The accumulated true spirit seized the opportunity, silently surging in with destructive force, like thunder and wind.If only one experimental subject had faced this ordeal, it would have been destined to be overwhelmed and dissolved by the accumulated true spirit.But at this moment…Faced with this terrifying calamity, the thousands of experimental subjects showed no fear.With their main body as the core defense, they collectively and evenly bore the immense pressure exerted by the accumulated true spirit.

One person facing it would be like an ant trying to shake Mount Tai, destruction coming in an instant.But what about thousands, or even tens of millions?Moreover, yellow light continuously pulsed and shimmered from the original experimental subject. With an endless stream of newly created Emptiness clones joining, the accumulated true spirit, though fierce, could not immediately shake the collective dam.What was originally a surging dragon of power was instantly transformed into thousands of converging streams.The single, long river formed by the accumulated true spirit’s impact would be unbearable for an individual experimental subject. However, absorbing a mere one-ten-millionth of the diverted stream was far less difficult.Although the absorption and utilization rate of the accumulated true spirit by Li Fan was further reduced, the initial goal had already been achieved!

Nourished by the true spirit, the experimental subject’s previously hazy eyes gradually became bright and intelligent. He looked around, seemingly understanding his situation.He did not complain or lash out at the surrounding observing Saints.Looking at the countless other versions of himself beside him, and with sudden insight, he focused his mind.He began to retrieve the Emptiness clones that had been used to distribute the pressure of the accumulated true spirit, one by one.The experimental subject had not previously studied the Way of Emptiness; these Emptiness clones had been generated by Qiu Xinhui’s intervention.Therefore, the initial retrieval speed was not ideal.Most of the Emptiness clones, after completing their mission, vanished without a trace.The accumulated true spirits they carried, upon losing their hosts, quietly dispersed like flowing water.However, to be noticed by the Saints and chosen as an experimental subject, one’s innate talent was extraordinary.Now, having received the true spirit infusion, his spiritual essence was even more exceptional than before.He learned quickly.And he did not waver due to the rapid disappearance of the surrounding Emptiness clones.He simply adapted and put in his utmost effort.Initially, only one or two figures were drawn back to him.Later, the experimental subject’s speed in retrieving the Emptiness clones increased rapidly.Like countless stars converging into one body, endless brilliant light gathered upon the experimental subject.

The white-haired scholar stroked his beard and praised,“Although the Emptiness clones carrying the true spirit cannot be fully absorbed at once, they are ultimately stored within the body, ready to be converted into resources for one’s growth at any time. It’s like having an inexhaustible treasure mountain within, which can be continuously mined to enhance one’s potential as strength increases.”“One can benefit from this until achieving sainthood.”“This method of ‘My Infinite Birth’ and receiving the true spirit is truly ingenious! If applied during a prosperous period of the Mountains and Seas, this method might indeed create thousands of Saints!” The shifting phantom’s presented image flickered continuously, seemingly deducing the possibilities of the Mountains and Seas if the ‘My Infinite Birth’ method became widespread.The Saints’ gazes involuntarily converged on Li Fan once more.“It is a pity that while the Method of Emptiness can indeed be learned by anyone, the means to summon and control the accumulated true spirit of the Void Realm are unique to the Mountains and Seas,” someone remarked. “Since we have reached the end of the Mountains and Seas, there is no turning back now.”The Saints sighed inwardly.“Matters of the past are for those in the past to bear. We only need to consider our future,” Qiu Xinhui said with a smile, drawing the Saints’ attention away from Li Fan.“With Fellow Daoist Fan’s help, all our deficits have been completely replenished. Moreover, we can create aid far exceeding our expectations.”The shifting phantom then spoke:“Our chances of victory are now above fifty percent!”“Above fifty percent, further increasing our chances holds no more significance. Everyone, unleash your powers and teach the ‘My Infinite Birth’ method. No further Saint assistance is needed; merely a thousand or so Half-Saints…”“Then it will be time to trouble the scholar to unlock the long river’s seal and face the end of the Mountains and Seas directly,” Qiu Xinhui bowed slightly to the white-haired scholar.The white-haired scholar nodded proudly, appearing somewhat impatient himself.

Among the Saints present, only Li Fan hesitated.“Isn’t this a bit hasty?”“If there’s a method to continuously strengthen ourselves, why not accumulate more power?” Li Fan was somewhat perplexed.Qiu Xinhui merely smiled without answering.“Only by fighting can we win.”“A thousand plans, a hundred calculations… ultimately, nothing compares to direct combat.”Qiu Xinhui was undoubtedly the core of the Saints, and since her decision was made, Li Fan found it difficult to object further.Now, Li Fan had two choices.To return to reality directly, or to wait a little longer.To witness the final showdown between the Mountains and Seas and the Void Realm, and the desperate gamble of the Saints, before leaving.Although the fated decisive battle of the Mountains and Seas was indeed alluring, Li Fan had not lost his rationality.The moment the final battle arrived at the end of the Mountains and Seas would certainly be perilous.Even for Saints, survival or destruction would be decided in an instant.Li Fan, however, unlike the other Saints, was not fully prepared. “Using the power of the First Profound Pneuma, I successfully crossed the Void Realm. I obtained the method to control the accumulated true spirit, and with the help of the Saints, I deduced the ‘My Infinite Birth’ method of infusing true spirit.”“The gains in this lifetime have already far exceeded my expectations. It’s time to return.”After all, Li Fan was not a true Saint, but merely a transcendent cultivator wearing a cloak of the Profound Pneuma Great Dao.Although in the past, the Saints’ attention had been captivated by the true spirit infusion method, they rarely focused on Li Fan.But now that the method had been fully deduced, the probability of the Saints’ gazes falling upon Li Fan was increasing.Every moment he stayed, the secret of his ability to return to reality became more susceptible to exposure.“This is not a place to linger.”Li Fan seized an opportune moment when the Saints were distracted and silently called upon his power to return to reality.The mysterious power of truth and falsehood once again surged silently.It sought to overturn everything and start anew, just as it had in the past.

But suddenly, Li Fan sensed something was amiss.As if perceiving his imminent departure, a mysterious power arose from the surrounding Mountains and Seas. Like tendrils, it coiled around Li Fan’s body, preventing his return to reality!Li Fan’s expression shifted slightly as he scanned his surroundings, searching for the source of this power.However, the Saints seemed oblivious to the change in the field, their expressions unchanged.It was then that Li Fan realized with a shock that it wasn’t other entities in the Mountains and Seas stopping him.What was entwining him was his very foundation for achieving sainthood:The Profound Pneuma Great Dao!“This…”Being bound by himself was truly somewhat absurd.Li Fan was both startled and enraged, trying his best to remove the shackles on him.It did work.As a Profound Pneuma Saint, his control over the Profound Pneuma Great Dao still existed. But…For it to take full effect, it would require some time.Li Fan forced himself to calm down, and upon careful consideration, he finally understood what had happened.In this life, he had used the First Profound Pneuma Great Dao to become a Saint of the Mountains and Seas.Having achieved the rank of a Saint, he had slowly become the Profound Pneuma of the Mountains and Seas itself.As previously stated, Li Fan’s core was ultimately the transformation of truth and falsehood; Profound Pneuma was merely a cloak he wore, which he could shed at any time.But now, he had worn this heavy garment for too long.So much so that it had become somewhat adhered to his body, making it difficult to remove quickly.The Profound Pneuma Great Dao had intricate ties with the current Mountains and Seas.When Li Fan wanted to return to reality, these connections became an obstruction.“To return to reality, I first need to shed this Profound Pneuma cloak.”“This is not a task for a day or two.”“However long I’ve existed with the power of a Saint, will it take roughly a tenth of that time to fully detach?”In reality, it was already quite efficient, but for Li Fan, it was unacceptable.He had genuinely not anticipated that impersonating a Saint would have such consequences!He had stayed at the end of the Mountains and Seas for a long time this lifetime, and now, the final fated battle of the Mountains and Seas was about to begin.Yet, at this crucial moment, he found himself unable to return to reality.

“This…”“Return to reality! Return to reality!”Li Fan repeated inwardly.He wasn’t trying to activate his return power, but rather to awaken the dormant ‘return to reality’ ability itself.However, the current situation was exactly like what he had experienced in the simulations. His return power remained silent. “Without the severe injuries from the fusion of the three daos, it’s simply feigning deafness and dumbness.”After realizing this, Li Fan’s alarm and anger quickly subsided.“If there were true danger, my return power wouldn’t be so indifferent.”“Moreover, my spiritual perception hasn’t issued any warnings.”“Just what in the world…”Li Fan’s unease eventually drew the attention of the Saints.“Fellow Daoist, fret not; just do what is right.”To minimize the Saints’ scrutiny, Li Fan could only nod silently.Compared to the long years of research that preceded it, the preparation for the final fated battle seemed extremely rushed.After the true spirit infusion method had cultivated over a thousand cultivators who were just a step away from sainthood, the shifting phantom calculated and nodded.The white-haired elder then pointed, severing the frozen River of Time.Like shattering ice, the stagnant torrent thundered forth.In that instant, Li Fan felt a brief sensation of dizziness.It was as if the years he had experienced in the temporal stagnation suddenly erupted the moment the River of Time resumed its flow.Countless images flashed before his eyes, millions of years passing in an instant.Without any preparation time, the end of the Mountains and Seas had arrived!The last ray of the sun was about to dip below the horizon.The final tip of the iceberg was about to be swallowed by the ocean surface.The last possibility of the Mountains and Seas where they remained was about to sink into endless Dao annihilation!As if to celebrate the ultimate victory of this protracted battle, waves of eerie, turbulent fluctuations emanated from the cold, desolate Void Realm.Li Fan could clearly feel an entity lurking beneath the accumulated true spirit.It moved slowly at times, rapidly at others, eyeing the soon-to-be-submerged Mountains and Seas with a predatory gaze.Darkness pressed in, steadily approaching.And at this moment, the apocalyptic Mountains and Seas let out its final, mournful cry!Li Fan had heard the sound of the Mountains and Seas before.But never had it evoked such profound, empathetic sorrow and unwillingness from the depths of his being!Before Li Fan’s eyes, a glorious scene seemed to appear, from when the Mountains and Seas had just been born.The Mountains and Seas resonated in celebration, an act of “stealing from gods” and new birth.Yet, what rose vibrantly also perished swiftly.The Mountains and Seas, having endured countless ages, were but a fleeting moment in Li Fan’s eyes.Images flashed by with indiscernible speed.When Li Fan recovered his senses, he found himself overlapping with the reality of the Mountains and Seas’ demise before his eyes.In its twilight years, its extinction was inevitable.The great mournful cry was the last sound the Mountains and Seas could make.And it did not last long.As darkness fully enveloped everything, the echoes of the Mountains and Seas abruptly vanished.The Mountains and Seas perished at this moment!

His body, after all, originated from the Mountains and Seas.Now that the Mountains and Seas were perishing, Li Fan’s emotions were affected, and his own existence began to dissipate along with them.As if empowered by the final outcome of the battle, the erosion from the eternally silent Void Realm intensified a hundredfold compared to his previous crossing.It surged in from every perceivable dimension.Li Fan’s disintegration speed was unimaginably rapid.“Why are they not acting yet?”Li Fan tried to locate Qiu Xinhui and the others in the darkness. But they seemed to have been caught in the destruction of the Mountains and Seas, showing no movement.“Did the struggle fail just like that?”Just as this thought flashed through Li Fan’s mind, a beam of light once again illuminated the eternally silent Void Realm.It was the Mountains and Seas, which had been completely devoured, yet for some unknown reason, it returned and reappeared!However, this brief resurgence lasted only for a short moment.The scene of the Mountains and Seas had already become blurred.Soon, it was compressed by the eternally silent Void Realm, leaving only two white specks.Yet, the resilience of these two white specks seemed even greater than that of the entire Mountains and Seas.Despite the surging black tide, it struggled to completely extinguish their faint glow.Amidst the stalemate, another anomaly occurred.Two thin lines drilled out from the white specks of the Mountains and Seas, respectively, and fled into the Void Realm.Instantly, this caused the darkness to churn.The suppression on the white specks eased slightly.The white specks burst forth with light, astonishingly re-evolving into a Mountains and Seas phenomenon.“This is…”Li Fan, barely maintaining his existence, felt a familiar aura from one of the thin lines.It was the terrifying aura he had sensed when he first entered the boundless sea.At this moment, even if his ‘return to reality’ power was present, it was too preoccupied.Instead, it was engaged in a desperate struggle with the eternally silent Void Realm.Waves of intense fluctuations swept through, and the very foundation of Li Fan’s existence was battered as if by giant waves.He disintegrated further.“Return to reality!” Unable to protect himself, Li Fan called out to his ‘return to reality’ power again.But the result remained the same.Just as the battle between the Mountains and Seas and the Void Realm reached its most critical juncture, and Li Fan was reduced to mere remnants…The Saints of the End of Time, who had been patiently awaiting this opportunity, finally made their move.They had not been devoured by the eternally silent Void Realm; in fact, they seemed to have known what would happen at the end of the Mountains and Seas and had been waiting for this opportune moment.