Chapter 1705: Mountain and Sea Years

The Angry Squid:

"Fellow Daoist Qieji, have you noticed anything amiss?" Li Fan asked, feigning ignorance.

"Indeed, there's something strange. A moment ago, I... seemed to feel another Saint Qieji descend upon the Mountains and Seas." Saint Qieji said softly after a moment of hesitation.

"Two manifestations of the same Dao appeared simultaneously within the Mountains and Seas. I felt my foundation crumbling, as if it were about to be seized by the other. At the same time, both fear and greed arose within my heart..."

"That feeling was unprecedented!" Qieji said with a worried expression.

"Hm? Such a thing happened?" Li Fan was startled.

He immediately frowned deeply: "How is that possible? Fellow Daoist became a Saint through the Dao of Seizing. One Dao cannot tolerate two masters. How could there be a second one in the Mountains and Seas... hm?"

At this point, Li Fan seemed to suddenly recall something, and his words abruptly stopped.

Qieji immediately noticed Li Fan's unusual demeanor and quickly asked, "Have you remembered something, Fellow Daoist?"

Li Fan hesitated several times, wanting to speak but holding back: "The strange changes happening to you, Fellow Daoist, indeed have a traceable origin. However..."

Glancing at Shouqiu Gong beside him, Li Fan slowly said, "It concerns another's secret, so it's not proper to speak directly. Fellow Daoist, don't worry; let me inquire first."

"Then I'll thank you in advance, Fellow Daoist!" Qieji said with a solemn expression.

Li Fan put on an act, communicating for a while.

After a while, Li Fan finally transmitted his voice to Qieji, narrating slowly:

"Fellow Daoist must know that Shouqiu Gong became a Saint by obtaining a fragment of the Grand Dao of Longevity..."

Qieji was astute; Li Fan only hinted, and he instantly understood.

"Are you saying Shouqiu Gong once experienced the same feeling as me?"

"It was even far more severe than what you experienced, Fellow Daoist. Shouqiu once said that he is not the true Master of Longevity, but merely fortuitously obtained one of its fragments. The true Master of Longevity does not exist in the Mountains and Seas of Shouqiu's era; they only exist at the very beginning of the Mountains and Seas, just like many powerful beings from that time."

"To avoid the calamity of Dao Annihilation, they employed a divine ability to 'Sever the Future,' thus enabling them to permanently exist in the past. Unless under special circumstances, they would never set foot in the middle or end-period Mountains and Seas. That entity, who came from the beginning of the Mountains and Seas, also left in a hurry due to their exposure..."

"Before leaving, they seemed both anxious and angry. This, coupled with Fellow Daoist sensing another aura belonging to Qieji..."

Combining these conditions, Li Fan offered his conclusion: "Could it be that the one who descended at that time was an ancient Saint from the very beginning of the Mountains and Seas, who controlled the Dao of Seizing?"

Without Li Fan needing to say it, Qieji's body had already trembled slightly as he had already considered this possibility. Instinctively, he found it unbelievable, yet his fleeting sensation must have been correct.

"In the Mountains and Seas, there really is another existence who controls the Dao of Seizing?"

"Have I not yet fully mastered the Grand Dao of Seizing?"

"Born at the beginning of the Mountains and Seas, their foundation must be deeper than mine. Moreover, the proactive emotions that sprouted within my heart at that time..."

"Could this person's destiny be superior to mine?"

Qieji fell into deep self-doubt.

Afterward, Qieji seemed somewhat absent-minded.

It wasn't until he successfully branched out his consciousness again, residing within a fortunate creature within the Mountains and Seas, that he finally regained his composure.

Passing through the Mountains and Seas' network once more, he saw the Saints arrayed before him.

There were the Six Saints from the preceding section of the Mountains and Seas: Lianshan, Guihai, Taiyi, Guiming, Duancan, Shouqiu, and others.

There were also more than ten figures, resembling Qieji, who, though not outwardly appearing as Saints, were actually incarnations of Saints from a later section of the Mountains and Seas.

Qieji was already in mental turmoil, and at this moment, suddenly seeing the Mountains and Seas ahead and his own absence, his heart lurched even more.

Although he had previously learned from Li Fan that the battle in the Mountains and Seas ahead was fierce, with only six Saints remaining, Qieji, confident in his own strength, had firmly believed he would be one of the six survivors.

Unexpectedly, upon arriving here, he found his original seat empty!

He became even more distracted: "Even those far less powerful than me survived. Doesn't this implicitly reveal something?"

Fortunately, it was merely a mortal incarnation that had forcibly traversed through the Mountains and Seas' network, so the other Saints did not immediately detect the abnormality in Qieji's heart.

They were merely discussing the grand plan for reuniting the Mountains and Seas.

"Fellow Daoist Zhouhui is already searching the mountains and seas for ordinary talents that can be molded. While later generations are full of talents, this current era is exceptionally desolate. Yet, the Void Realm's momentum is growing fiercer..."

"Though we have converged now, we still cannot be careless," Saint Guihai sighed.

It was unknown what kind of cruel battles they had experienced, but the three Saints of this spacetime segment had less arrogance and more foresight and caution.

Before the Mountains and Seas were officially reunited, although they were the same person, they had slightly different personalities due to their varied experiences. The mental incarnations of the Three Saints did not try to usurp the main role, still deferring to the Three Saints of this spacetime as their core.

All nodded in agreement.

The atmosphere in the field became a bit heavier for a moment, and Saint Lianshan added, "Fortunately, as long as we overcome this tribulation, the Mountains and Seas ahead, as far as the eye can see, will be a smooth path! If this reunion succeeds, then for the next thirty million years in the Mountains and Seas, there will be no one who can stop us."

Upon hearing this, everyone couldn't help but be invigorated.

After several successful reunions, they already knew the benefits.

Yet, a few broken segments of the Mountains and Seas combined amounted to less than a million years.

Now, Saint Lianshan actually claimed that an even longer period of Mountains and Seas, spanning thirty million years, awaited them ahead.

If they truly connected each segment, to what extent would their strength expand?

The Saints couldn't help but fall into contemplation for a moment.

Even the somewhat dazed Qieji was invigorated by this.

"That's right, they hid at the beginning of the Mountains and Seas, their strength already fixed. While I go against the current, uniting all my past selves. The true ownership of the Dao of Seizing is still unknown!"

Li Fan suddenly opened his mouth and asked, "May I ask the Three Saints, how many years ago was the so-called 'beginning of the Mountains and Seas'? And how long will such reunions continue?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the Xuanji Ring instantly fell silent.

Not to mention the Saints present, even transcendent cultivators in the Mountains and Seas knew that the Mountains and Seas had existed for an immensely long time.

Measuring it step by step seemed romantic, but when actually carried out...

Furthermore, each segment was separated by Dao Annihilation and the Void Realm.

It was far from being summarized by the phrase "a thousand difficulties, ten thousand hardships."

In the past, the Three Saints did not speak specifically, only vaguely referring to the exact years.

Influenced by the Xuanji Ring, and with the Saints deliberately avoiding it, they had chosen to ignore this question. Now that Li Fan had pointed it out with a single remark, the Saints present had no choice but to confront it.

How long had the life of the Mountains and Seas truly continued?

No one present, except for the Three Saints, knew this answer.

Shouqiu, who wielded Longevity, was already considered the most ancient among the Saints.

Yet, in front of the Three Saints, he could only consider himself a youngster.

Even Shouqiu had no accurate answer to this question.

The Saints could only focus their gazes on the Three Saints.

It was clear that the Three Saints genuinely did not want to answer this question.

The Xuanji Ring fell into a long silence.

It was a divine consciousness incarnation from later generations who slowly spoke, breaking the dead silence.

"Since Fellow Daoist Zhouhui has asked, then let's speak."

"We didn't mention it in the past because we were worried it would hinder your will to reunite. However, after several successful Mountains and Seas reunions, I believe you all should possess sufficient resilience now."

Saint Lianshan heard his other self's words and finally nodded.

"Knowing early has its own benefits. Since that's the case..."

The Three Saints simultaneously waved their hands, displaying a continuous image of the Mountains and Seas before everyone.

It wasn't the first time they had seen a miniature panorama of the Mountains and Seas, but the Saints didn't actually have a clear idea of which segment of the Mountains and Seas they were currently in.

"The integration of Mountains and Seas has a discernible pattern."

"Like tree rings, each inch deeper is called a 'year'."

"One 'year' of the Mountains and Seas, in a chronology more familiar to us..."

"Is approximately one hundred million years."

At this point, the Saints' expressions were still relatively natural. The count of "a hundred million" seemed daunting, but after all, some Saints had indeed lived that long.

Therefore, they could still accept it for the time being.

Glancing at the emotions of those present, Lianshan then slowly said, "Since the Mountains and Seas integrated and we were born, as far as memory serves, the Mountains and Seas have existed for nearly a thousand 'years'."

As if stained by the aura of that immense age, Lianshan, in the eyes of the Saints, seemed to grow somewhat ancient in that instant.

Within the Xuanji Ring, there was dead silence.

One 'year' meant one hundred million years.

A thousand 'years' of the Mountains and Seas meant one hundred billion years.

At first glance, it didn't seem like an incredibly long number.

But all the Saints present had measured and reunited the Mountains and Seas with their own feet.

After several struggles, they had only restored a million years of time.

And ahead, a long journey of one hundred billion years awaited...

Even with the Saints' mental fortitude, after realizing this, they couldn't help but feel momentarily dizzy.

Even adding the thirty million years of smooth path mentioned by Saint Lianshan, they had only traversed one ten-thousandth of this path!

Could they truly complete it?

Such a thought suddenly emerged in the Saints' hearts.

Within the Xuanji Ring, the true bodies of the Six Saints were still relatively stable.

With the Three Saints' united will and blessings, even after knowing the truth, they still held a faint glimmer of confidence, barely holding on.

However, the divine consciousness incarnations of the Saints who had traversed earlier via the Mountains and Seas' network fell into mental storms of varying degrees.

If "ninety miles is but halfway on a hundred-mile journey," then what they were doing now was not even close to truly starting.

After understanding the arduousness of their mission, they did not collapse on the spot. This was already a manifestation of the Saints' mental fortitude.

Li Fan, like the other Saints, wore an inexpressibly shocked expression. In reality, he had long anticipated this.

After all, others could only roughly estimate the extent of the Mountains and Seas through the occasional phantom images displayed by the Three Saints. But Li Fan had once obtained the outline of Mountains and Seas' transformations recorded by Huanzhen.

What was recorded therein was not just a snapshot of the Mountains and Seas, but the complete picture of the Mountains and Seas.

Even with Li Fan's resilient spirit, he almost lost himself when he first witnessed such vast data. No wonder Huanzhen had always kept this option hidden, only revealing it when Li Fan had grown to a certain extent.

After he had used boundless spirituality to fully imprint the Mountains and Seas and become a Saint of the Mountains and Seas, Li Fan then felt deep suspicion regarding the reunion mentioned by the Three Saints.

The past years of the Mountains and Seas were truly too long.

The Saints' reunions in this manner were truly like an ant's journey.

Not to mention the various obstacles of the Void Realm...

With Li Fan's appearance and the infusion of his True Spirit's help, they had indeed successfully reunited the Mountains and Seas several times.

But what if Li Fan hadn't existed in the Mountains and Seas?

Could the Mountains and Seas truly reunite?

The matter of the Mountains and Seas' reunion originated at the end of the Mountains and Seas and was passed down by the Mountain and Sea Travelers.

With the Three Saints' strategic minds and temperaments, they actually acknowledged and believed in it, and executed it.

Indeed, theoretically, if one part can be done, a hundred can be done. Even repeating it a thousand or ten thousand times would just be a matter of systematic, gradual effort.

The Mountains and Seas indeed had the possibility of successful reunion.

But this was based on the premise that the Void Realm was calm and peaceful.

However, traveling back only a million years, Li Fan encountered Void Realm incarnations, bodies, ancient Saints weaving nets, and many other unforeseen changes. It was truly hard to imagine how many more twists and turns there would be on the path ahead.

Li Fan already felt that the life he had experienced so far was long enough.

But compared to the scale of one hundred billion years, he was truly like an infant in swaddling clothes.

Under this immense disparity, Li Fan's doubts arose naturally.

These doubts had been hidden in his heart for a long time, but there had never been a suitable moment to voice them.

Now that he had finally asked, Li Fan felt a sense of relief.

Raising this question was not merely a provocation or a challenge, but it genuinely contained a plea for guidance.

Even Shouqiu of Longevity could not resolve the doubts in Li Fan's heart.

He could only place his hopes on the Three Saints.

Witnessing the somewhat lost expressions of those present, Saint Lianshan smiled and gently shook his head: "It was precisely because we foresaw this scene that we were unwilling to truthfully disclose the true age of the Mountains and Seas."

"From the perspective of ordinary beings, witnessing the true vastness of the Mountains and Seas would indeed cause genuine confusion."

"However..."

"Since we are willing to execute the Mountains and Seas Reunion Plan, it proves that this plan must be feasible!"

"A hundred billion years, seemingly long, is also the path we have traversed, the path we came from."

"If you are willing, you can genuinely experience the past hundred billion years of the Mountains and Seas within our minds."

"I believe that once you personally experience it, the confusion in your hearts will naturally dissipate."

Saint Lianshan's voice echoed within the Xuanji Ring, stirring up faint white light.

The Saints couldn't help but feel a surge of exhilaration, regaining some fighting spirit.

Li Fan also understood somewhat. From the perspective of an ordinary lifespan, one would naturally be daunted by the terrifying magnitude of one hundred billion.

But the Three Saints could be said to be the embodiment of the Mountains and Seas.

Just as they said, one hundred billion was merely the path they had walked to get here.

Now, to traverse it once more, even with a few added hardships, what's wrong with that?

"It's precisely because they've experienced it that they believe it," Li Fan said thoughtfully.

He was also the first to speak: "I dare to borrow the memories of the Three Saints and undertake the long journey of the Mountains and Seas."

"As if it were a prophecy of reunion."

"Otherwise, I worry if I can truly endure."

Li Fan's emotions seemed a bit low.

Although the other Saints did not speak, most of them felt the same way inside.

The logic was sound.

But whether one has personally experienced it or merely relies on ethereal beliefs for support are two entirely different matters.

The Three Saints exchanged glances, seemingly having a careful deliberation.

Only then did they nod in agreement.

"A hundred billion years is indeed a long time."

"We will guide you through the experience, but you may not be able to persevere through the entire journey."

"Do not force yourselves; just do your best."

"A consciousness incarnation cannot endure it. It's better to come with your true body."

The one speaking, however, was Lianshan's consciousness incarnation.

The scene returned to Li Fan's true body, within the current Mountains and Seas Xuanji Ring.

Rays of hazy light began to emanate from the Three Saints' bodies.

As if immeasurable light and boundless scenes were contained within them.

The Three Saints asked one last question, and after all the Saints nodded in confirmation, the light gradually rose, completely engulfing the figures of the Saints!