Chapter 1658: True Spirit Lures to Sainthood

Angry Octopus

In his previous life, Li Fan wore the Robe of Profound Origin and reached the very end of the mountains and seas. Having lived through countless eons, he already possessed a profoundly deep understanding of the Grand Dao of Profound Origin. In this life, through the "Inheritance" option from Huanzhen, the Grand Dao of Profound Origin now bore his unique personal mark.

"I no longer need to rely on the conceptual imitations of beings from the realm of creation and destruction. With my power alone, I can accomplish this again."

"However, the descent of the Grand Dao of Mountains and Seas will undoubtedly alert the Saints of the Other Shore. Unless Huanzhen can help me conceal it somewhat..."

Unfortunately, after completing its inheritance mission, Huanzhen seemed to have fallen back into a deep slumber. There was no response to Li Fan's request.

"It seems I'll have to figure this out myself."

In his previous life, beyond witnessing Huanzhen's true power, Li Fan's greatest gain was the 'Myriad Lives Nurturing True Spirit' method, collectively deduced by the Saints at the end of the mountains and seas. Even a powerful Saint like Qiu Xinhui could benefit from nurturing her True Spirit with this method, highlighting its profound mystery.

"My ability to command the accumulated True Spirits in the Void Realm as if they were my own limbs has little to do with the Robe of Profound Origin. Even with my current transcendent power, I can still summon wind and rain!"

With a glint in his eyes, Li Fan leaped out of the primordial possibilities and sped towards the earliest vista of this segment of the mountains and seas. He only began to slow down when the Void Realm, emanating a terrifying aura, appeared in the distance.

"Before the Eternal Silence Void Realm, the notion that previous grandeur diminishes current experiences no longer held true."

Even though he had witnessed the fully formed Void Realm completely engulfing the mountains and seas in his previous life, an instinctive terror still arose within Li Fan as he faced the darkness before him. It was as if there was no difference between the two.

The very foundation of his existence continued to disintegrate as he drew nearer.

"It seems merely having witnessed it is no help against the Void Realm. One still needs at least the power of a Saint to survive briefly within it."

Li Fan tried to approach slowly, but the maximum distance he could advance was still the same as his previous attempt with the Daoist Immortal of Virtue. There was no progress. "It seems this truly is the limit that a transcendent realm practitioner can reach."

Suppressing his inner unease, Li Fan did not push himself further.

"Fortunately, I'm close enough to sense the vast, accumulated True Spirits within the Void Realm."

Li Fan gazed into the distance, and in that desolate darkness, he seemed to see countless True Spirit soldiers, arrayed in neat ranks, awaiting his command.

"The reason these accumulated True Spirits can be easily controlled by me must stem from my infinite spirituality."

With a gentle wave of his hand, just as he had done at the end of the mountains and seas in his previous life, a formless and intangible mass of accumulated True Spirits answered his call.

"Hmm... this segment of the mountains and seas is, after all, still relatively intact. Unlike the Void Realm or the very end of the mountains and seas. With the same effort, the scale of True Spirits I can summon seems to be only half."

"But that's fine; I just need to wave my hand a few more times," Li Fan mused. He made an estimate and nodded to himself.

"With the materials acquired, the next step is to choose a suitable candidate."

To conceal the descent of the Grand Dao of Profound Origin, the best method for Li Fan, given his current power, was to generate a disturbance of comparable magnitude. This would draw the attention of the Saints first.

"The birth of a new Saint would be sufficiently eye-catching. And incidentally, I can also test my 'Saint-Awakening Project'."

"As for a suitable candidate..."

The face of the Daoist Immortal of Virtue instantly appeared in Li Fan's mind.

"I once said that if the opportunity arose, I would help you achieve Sainthood. Now, it's time to fulfill that promise," Li Fan chuckled darkly.

"The Daoist Immortal of Virtue was already only a step away from the Saint realm. He could even shed the nature of a Grand Dao and achieve an alternative form of Sainthood through the Daoist Division method. If he could receive the aid of this accumulated True Spirit..."

"Uh, I'm afraid that might not be enough."

In his previous life, Li Fan had personally witnessed Qiu Xinhui and others' Saint-creation project, thus knowing how terrifyingly vast the amount of True Spirit required to forge a Saint was. So, he pondered for a moment, then expended more effort to capture additional accumulated True Spirits from the Void Realm. He opened his mouth slightly and absorbed them. Only then did he float away.

Within the unchanging, silent Void Realm, a brief undercurrent seemed to stir due to the disappearance of the accumulated True Spirit. It was as if a thought had swiftly passed through.

But Li Fan had already departed, and thus was naturally unaware of this stirring undercurrent. It quickly subsided.

Li Fan had no way of knowing about the anomaly within the Void Realm. After all, in his previous life, whether he was traversing across time or at the very end of the mountains and seas, he had drawn upon the accumulated True Spirits countless times without any abnormalities occurring.

The mental conditioning formed by these experiences naturally led him to have no precautions.

However, he forgot that during his traversals, he swiftly moved through different time periods of the mountains and seas. And the end of the mountains and seas was also the end of time. Besides the Saints who had already reached it, no one else would visit. But in the current timeframe... the Nine Saints of the Other Shore, including Patriarch Shouqiu, frequently entered and exited the Void Realm.

The unnoticed vulnerability he inadvertently left behind is a matter for later. Let's just say Li Fan quickly found He Ganxian.

He Ganxian naturally regarded Li Fan, this unexpected visitor who had appeared out of nowhere, with a wary expression.

"Fellow Daoist, do you wish to become a Saint?" Li Fan asked directly, getting straight to the point.

"Huh?" He Ganxian narrowed his eyes, his expression unfriendly, listening to Li Fan's puzzling words. "Could it be that you, fellow Daoist, are utterly bored with cultivation and came specifically to amuse yourself with me?"

He Ganxian cautiously scanned his surroundings, as if searching for a hidden ambush. Li Fan scoffed softly.

"You're overthinking it, fellow Daoist. There's no complex meaning; it's just a simple question."

"Fellow Daoist, do you wish to attain the Dao and become a Saint of the Mountains and Seas?"

He Ganxian stared at Li Fan for a long time, then sneered: "The way you put it, is there truly anyone among the transcendent beings in the mountains and seas who *doesn't* want to take that step?"

"What's the mystery behind this strange question? Can you actually help me?"

"Precisely! With my assistance, your path to Sainthood will be as easy as turning over your hand!" Li Fan immediately interjected, his face filled with confidence.

"Heh heh..."

If those words had come from a Saint of the Mountains and Seas, He Ganxian might have believed them. But Li Fan's outward display was merely that of a transcendent realm practitioner. He Ganxian naturally dismissed Li Fan's words as a joke. He chose not to pay him any mind.

"How did I inexplicably run into someone like this..."

"Could it be another me, plotting in the shadows?"

As these thoughts ran through his mind, He Ganxian was about to conceal himself and depart. However, just then, he caught a glimpse of the scene before him, and his figure froze in astonishment.

Enveloped in a misty, yellow glow, two streams of energy, one black and one white, revolved ceaselessly around each other. Finally, as the black and white energies dissipated, two figures materialized out of thin air. They floated before He Ganxian and bowed with a smile.

"Greetings, fellow Daoist!"

He Ganxian observed their appearance, and to his shock, they looked exactly like him! Or rather, the two figures that had materialized before him were precisely He Ganxian and the Faceless Immortal!

Not only their outward appearance, but even the Daoist aura emanating from them was unmistakably that of Virtue.

He Ganxian was utterly horrified, as if he had seen a ghost, and immediately pulled back. "Who exactly are you?!" he demanded sharply, looking at Li Fan.

"Just an old acquaintance," Li Fan said with a smile, remaining silent otherwise.

"No need for caution, no need to worry. Earlier, you didn't believe my words about helping you achieve Sainthood..."

"Please observe first; it won't be too late to judge afterwards."

Li Fan displayed a mysterious smile, then whispered softly: "Myriad Lives."

The black and white energies regenerated. They spun rapidly, resembling a Taiji symbol. Conceptual figures of He Ganxian and the Faceless Immortal continuously drifted out from this Taiji symbol. They were like countless phantom soldiers arrayed in ranks.

Although they were merely ghost-like illusions, not the actual transcendent experts themselves, this extremely bizarre scene still made He Ganxian's scalp tingle and left him feeling utterly bewildered.

He watched the countless overlapping figures of himself before him. Recalling Li Fan's recent words, "an old acquaintance," his thoughts became chaotic, and his imagination ran wild.

"Though I don't know the method by which he created these illusory figures of me, to have such an understanding and mastery of the Grand Dao of Virtue..."

"Could he truly be someone I knew from the past? But who could it be?"

In the scene, once the number of conceptual illusions was sufficient, Li Fan uttered another low command: "All Saints, assemble!"

With a gentle pointing of his finger, a massive amount of accumulated True Spirits poured down like a cascading waterfall from the heavens. They were received by the countless illusory figures of the Daoist Immortal of Virtue.

Though He Ganxian could not see the immense torrent of accumulated True Spirits descending, he could acutely sense the wondrous changes occurring within the myriad illusory figures of himself before him.

If, before, they were merely soulless imitations, now, for some unknown reason, these illusory figures were slowly coming to life!

He Ganxian felt increasingly terrified, yet he remained rooted to the spot, unable to move an inch. This was because a faint premonition arose within him: the impending transformation of these illusions would be an immense fortune for him!

"Could it be that what this person just said..."

Once the thought emerged, it spread like wildfire through his mind, becoming impossible to suppress. Countless Daoist Immortals of Virtue came alive, each with a different expression.

But with another gentle pointing gesture from Li Fan, they were once again drawn into the ceaselessly spinning Taiji symbol of black and white energies. When the Taiji symbol finally ceased its motion, only a single, solid figure remained, seated cross-legged.

The solid figure suddenly opened its eyes. Its gaze met He Ganxian's.

For a moment, He Ganxian had the illusion that "he himself" was looking at him!

"The opportunity for Sainthood is right before you. Why do you still hesitate, fellow Daoist?" Li Fan's voice drifted over. Awed by Li Fan's inscrutable methods, He Ganxian temporarily ceased his questioning.

His body merely trembled slightly as he struggled to suppress the desire within him.

He Ganxian couldn't recall the last time he had experienced such an intense craving, such a powerful "want."

The figure of himself before him seemed to possess infinite magical power and allure. The spiritual composure accumulated over countless years of cultivation was effortlessly broken through. Even when he first comprehended and captured the Grand Dao of Virtue in the past, he had never lost his composure to this extent.

"What on earth..."

He Ganxian wanted to close his eyes and not look at the figure before him. He even thought about simply fleeing this trap.

But the illusion before him seemed to sense his thoughts, and it slowly drifted towards him on its own accord.

"It seems, fellow Daoist, that you still misunderstand me quite deeply."

"This conceptual figure, condensed from accumulated True Spirits, cannot remain in the mountains and seas for too long. If you hesitate any longer, all this effort will be wasted. Allow me, then, to lend you a hand," Li Fan's soft sigh drifted over.

His words struck He Ganxian like bolts of lightning. Especially the words "accumulated True Spirits" which instantly made him understand the nature of the fatal temptation he was feeling!

He knew his own circumstances. For an ordinary transcendent expert, the desire for this True Spirit figure might have been less intense. But he had undergone the Daoist Division, and his own True Spirit had been split in two, as if he were inherently incomplete.

At this moment, this True Spirit nourishment was all the more enticing. As the conceptual figure slowly approached, any trace of apprehension that arose in He Ganxian's mind was quickly suppressed by instinct.

In the end, he remained motionless, accepting it entirely.

In an instant, it was as if he saw countless versions of himself from different possibilities. Their life experiences were a blank slate, yet they seemed truly to exist. Furthermore, what they had comprehended was still the Grand Dao of Virtue that he himself commanded. Although they were slightly weaker than him, they served as a lubricating force, facilitating integration.

Almost without hindrance, He Ganxian completely devoured these countless figures that existed solely for his consumption. The damage caused by the Daoist Division was, at that moment, as if completely mended. Like a satisfying meal after extreme hunger, an indescribable sense of fulfillment arose within He Ganxian.

Most importantly, he could feel that his talent and abilities had clearly advanced compared to before.

"True Spirit..."

"What this person said was no lie!"

A tempest of realization instantly surged through He Ganxian's mind; he no longer bothered to fully assimilate the True Spirit that the conceptual figure was gradually releasing. He immediately bowed deeply to Li Fan.

"Fellow Daoist, your kindness is akin to rebirth. I am overwhelmed with gratitude and do not know how to repay you!"

At the same time, a look of shame appeared on his face.

"I had so thoroughly misunderstood your good intentions earlier..."

Li Fan chuckled. "It's normal not to believe such world-shaking claims at first. However, facts speak louder than any words. With the True Spirit now integrated, you will know the truth of my words yourself. So, I bothered no further with explanations."

"How do you feel, fellow Daoist?"

He Ganxian closed his eyes in contemplation, and after a long moment, he let out a long breath and replied: "It's like being reborn. The realm of Sainthood is indeed within reach!"

As he spoke, He Ganxian bowed and thanked Li Fan once again with immense gratitude.

Although he didn't know the other party's identity or purpose, the benefits were undeniably tangible. He Ganxian's thanks were sincere.

"My assistance today is not without expectation of a return. When you attain the Dao in the future, I have a matter to entrust to you."

At Li Fan's words, He Ganxian's heart instead relaxed. He feared most that Li Fan would simply disappear without a word. If that were the case, he might well be troubled by this matter even after achieving Sainthood in the future.

Now that Li Fan had a request, he could use it to settle this karma.

"Please speak, fellow Daoist," He Ganxian said with utmost solemnity, "I will not fail your trust."