In the span of an instant, Sinister Su Bai had copied Li Fan, executing the Nine Heavens Dust-Descending Finger as well. And its power surpassed Li Fan's a thousandfold!
As the ineffable, colossal force crashed down, Li Fan did not "die" insensibly as he had the last time. Instead, he could distinctly feel the process of his body and divine soul being crushed to pieces over and over again, inch by inch!
Given the strength Sinister Su Bai had displayed earlier—capable of killing Li Fan in a flash—he was clearly torturing him on purpose!
Li Fan could even faintly make out the relishing expression on the other man's face!
"You son of a—"
The scene before his eyes shifted once and then shifted again!
Li Fan was back to the moment before he encountered Sinister Su Bai.
Two successive deaths left Li Fan utterly frustrated. Yet with the extraordinary temperament forged through countless years of reincarnation, he calmed down after just a brief moment.
His earlier shock and fury had merely stemmed from the extreme contrast of what he believed to be a "Longevity realm" cultivator being able to instantly crush and kill him, a "half-immortal."
Now, however, Li Fan was certain that Sinister Su Bai's strength was by no means as simple as the Longevity realm.
In the cultivation world, the strong were revered and the weak were meat for the strong; there was nothing to be furious about.
*This is not the real world. It is an illusory scene constructed by an Eternal Lingering Thought.*
*When that Sinister Su Bai appears here, he attacks without a word. Yet he still leaves a certain amount of preparation time for the person being tested.*
*Even if the trial ends in failure and death, one can instantly resurrect...*
As Li Fan pondered, he had already faintly grasped the subject of the trial left by Su Bai's Eternal Lingering Thought.
Defeat Sinister Su Bai!
*In reality, perhaps no one in the entire Xuanhuang Realm or Pitch-Black Star Sea could accomplish this.*
*Yet this place is a mirage generated by an Eternal Lingering Thought. It can be viewed as a thought experiment. Any method one can conceive of can be...*
*To a certain degree, this place is an advanced version of the Heavenly Profound Mirror's "Sit and Discuss the Dao" combat feature.*
Li Fan was struck with sudden enlightenment.
"Immortal array, Xuanyuan Primordial Spirit!"
His thoughts spun at lightning speed. Within his mind, the Dissolving Disc suddenly burst into endless radiance.
It was as if the missing portions of the Xuanyuan Primordial Spirit Grand Array had truly been completed in an instant!
Black and white hues swirled ceaselessly around Li Fan. Out of the nothingness, earth, fire, water, and wind were carved out, evolving into a world of its own.
Li Fan stood tall at the center, like a creation god or architect of legend!
He felt an illusion that as long as he remained within this array, he could regulate and diminish everything enveloped by it according to his will!
At present, the Dissolving Disc naturally had not acquired the complete array diagrams of the Xuanyuan Primordial Spirit Grand Array.
However, having already mastered three of the nine parts, it possessed a quantitative and qualitative understanding of the complete array's specific might.
Thus, with the aid of Su Bai's Eternal Lingering Thought space, it directly bypassed the intermediate process of reaching that state and "conceived" the final outcome straightaway.
In the void, Li Fan sat upright at the heart of the Xuanyuan Primordial Spirit Grand Array.
The world he had opened spread rapidly in all directions.
Soon, it engulfed Sinister Su Bai, who stood motionless where he was.
"I am the Lord of the Immortal Realm!" Drawing upon the majestic power of the immortal array, Li Fan transformed the countless laws of this newly opened world into chains, seeking to bind Sinister Su Bai.
The Xuanyuan Primordial Spirit, formed by uniting nine arrays into one, truly displayed its terrifying nature.
Punctate streams of radiance slipped away from Sinister Su Bai's body, merging into the world Li Fan had established.
Simultaneously, countless phantom figures of Su Bai appeared throughout heaven and earth.
Every single one of them seemed to possess Longevity realm strength.
Like swarms of ants, they surged toward Sinister Su Bai.
Tightly wrapped in more and more chains, Su Bai appeared to give up struggling. He remained completely still.
He simply allowed the Xuanyuan Primordial Spirit Grand Array to diminish his strength.
Yet the trace of an evil, bewitching smile on his face prevented Li Fan's heart from finding peace!
Soon, Li Fan discovered the true source of his unease.
The immortal array, Xuanyuan Primordial Spirit, seemed utterly unable to touch the upper limit of Sinister Su Bai's power.
Even though it directly deducted power every fraction of a second up to the theoretical limit allowed by the array, such endless depletion...
To Sinister Su Bai, it seemed entirely inconsequential!
*How is this possible?!* Li Fan was exceedingly shaken, even wondering whether this trial was merely a practical joke Mr. Bai had played on posterity before his demise.
Theoretically speaking, the complete Xuanyuan Primordial Spirit Grand Array could turn immortals into mortals and mortals into immortals with every breath.
This was equivalent to having a True Immortal's cultivation continuously shaved away, yet Sinister Su Bai stood firm and unyielding like an imposing mountain and a bottomless abyss.
*The Nameless Realm?* Li Fan grew increasingly suspicious and startled.
Meanwhile, Sinister Su Bai seemed to have grown bored of this dull game.
He even began actively transferring his power, allowing the Xuanyuan Primordial Spirit Grand Array to shave away to its heart's content.
A seemingly boundless reservoir of True Immortal cultivation surged into the world Li Fan had established.
It expanded without limit across the endless void—a hundred million li in a single instant.
Even for the immortal-grade Dissolving Disc, the burden gradually reached its absolute limit.
Fissure after fissure appeared until it could no longer hold out, shattering to pieces inch by inch!
Along with the collapse of the Xuanyuan Primordial Spirit Array, the "Immortal Realm" Li Fan had created welcomed its doomsday.
This time, Li Fan perished within the great catastrophe of the shattering Immortal Realm.
...
"The realm of a Nameless True Immortal."
A short while later, coming back to life once more, Li Fan began contemplating in the void the methods he possessed that could theoretically counter the Nameless Realm.
"Harmonizing with the Dao, becoming one with the Dao..."
When Sinister Su Bai attacked again, a seven-colored brush suddenly materialized in Li Fan's hand.
"Restrain!" With a flick of his mind, a True Immortal seal character appeared in the void ahead.
Like an invisible golden shackle, it imprisoned Sinister Su Bai.
"Chaos!"
"Hunger!"
"Bind!"
"Ancient!"
...
True Immortal seal characters representing the great laws of heaven and earth flew ceaselessly toward Sinister Su Bai under Li Fan's sweeping brushstrokes. In this moment, Li Fan seemed to become an incarnation of that legendary Dao-Inscribing Immortal.
Exhausting the principles of Heaven and Earth, wielding the Dao to oppose the enemy.
Countless characters reverted from seal script form into patterns of lines.
They wove into a hazy, fantastical dreamscape, dragging Sinister Su Bai deeper and deeper into it.
Li Fan's body was also enveloped by the boundless Great Dao, as if he had become the Dao itself, no longer distinctly visible.
Seeing that this battle seemed to hold hope of victory, Li Fan inadvertently glanced across, only to spot a trace of mockery lingering on Sinister Su Bai's face.
Li Fan's heart lurched violently.
Next, he witnessed a scene that horrified him.
Trapped in the very center of the Dao vortex, Sinister Su Bai slowly extended his right hand.
As if drawn by some irresistible pull, the endless lines shifted their target entirely, converging toward him.
Within three breaths, the boundless Dao inscribed by Li Fan vanished completely.
It condensed into a translucent, crystalline candy.
Sinister Su Bai tossed it into his mouth and, with a crisp crunch, chewed it to smithereens!
This time, Li Fan experienced what it felt like to be refined into a confection and swallowed alive.
...
*Even the Dao-Inscribing Immortal's path won't work?*
At this moment, not a shred of shock or fury remained in Li Fan's heart. Numb as he felt, he set aside whether the strength Sinister Su Bai displayed was reasonable or even possible.
His thoughts were focused entirely on how to kill or defeat him.
*If ordinary methods won't do, then I will use what I excel at most!*
Once again, he stood upon the arena of challenge.
"Ascent!" Li Fan roared in fury.
The phantoms transformed from the feedback of the Xuanhuang Realm's Ascent stored within his body all turned into reality one after another.
Within this space of imagination, their numbers were even amplified ten million times over.
In an instant, countless Xuanhuang Realms shone like stars.
All ascending to immortality together!
This extraordinary spectacle even drew the attention of Sinister Su Bai, who had rushed over to execute Li Fan.
Just as the hundreds of millions of Xuanhuang Realms were about to reach the threshold of transformation, Li Fan, with a single thought, cut off their driving source of elevation.
In a flash, they plummeted from the height of their momentum.
Like countless massive boulders crashing into a deep ocean, terrifying, colossal waves were whipped up in an instant!
Boundless black qi seeped out from every fissure in space.
Gathering like grains of sand into towers, it morphed into the shapes of ferocious, terrifying beasts.
Where the black qi gathered in the greatest density, it even evolved into humanoid silhouettes!
They were eighty to ninety percent identical to Mo Sha, the spirit of Heaven and Earth of the Xuanhuang Realm!
Even Li Fan, the instigator, had not anticipated this development. His pupils contracted sharply as he watched this wild demonic dance before him.
The Dao Annihilation Tribulation: black qi taking form.
It surged toward the only two living beings remaining in this time and space.
And the vast majority targeted Sinister Su Bai.
Relying on the imaginary cultivation of a Nameless True Immortal, Li Fan could barely hold on and keep his life intact.
He observed Sinister Su Bai's performance when faced with the onslaught of these endless beasts formed from black qi.
Sinister Su Bai was no longer as leisurely as before, having abandoned his playful attitude.
He was exceptionally cautious, preventing any beast formed from black qi from touching his flesh.
With every gesture of his hands and feet, vast swathes of the formed beasts were reduced to nothingness.
Yet the tide of beasts surged relentlessly, trapping him for the time being.
Sinister Su Bai frowned slightly, appearing somewhat annoyed.
Li Fan only saw the other man's body ripple like water.
With each ripple, another figure of Su Bai appeared synchronously in this time and space.
Their faces were not as clear as Sinister Su Bai's.
Yet Li Fan could still faintly distinguish their expressions.
Some possessed the benevolence and sorrow for humanity of Mr. Bai of the Xuanhuang Realm. Some were like roguish wanderers, unrestrained and unruly.
Some were like scholars, pedantic and timid. Some were like butchers, radiating overwhelming murderous intent.
Every single Mr. Bai possessed cultivation identical to Sinister Su Bai's.
Moreover, all of these Su Bais were just like the beasts formed from black qi—
Endless!
Under the encirclement of this army of Mr. Bais, the world-destroying black tide was suppressed.
Yet during the encirclement, none of them touched Li Fan.
It seemed they intended to leave Li Fan's life for Sinister Su Bai.
Looking at the countless pairs of eyes staring fixedly at him—playful, mocking, sorrowfully compassionate—Li Fan decisively chose to end his own life.
...
Reborn once again.
*Even the black qi of the Dao Annihilation Tribulation doesn't work?*
This time, Li Fan did not resist, quietly pondering in the void instead.
*Perhaps only the true Dao Annihilation Tribulation could eradicate him.*
Regrettably, Li Fan had no idea what the Dao Annihilation Tribulation truly looked like.
Groundless imagination could not take effect within this Eternal Lingering Thought space.
Before Li Fan's thoughts could wander further, he was instantly killed by Sinister Su Bai once more.
Over the prolonged period that followed, Li Fan exhausted all his methods, striving to hold off Sinister Su Bai while contemplating a way to break the deadlock.
Although the damage to his divine soul from each death within the Eternal Lingering Thought was negligible, after reaching a certain threshold, unavoidable changes occurred in Li Fan's true self in reality.
*As long as I wish, I can withdraw from this trial at any time.*
When his divine soul's upper limit was shaved away by a third, the reborn Li Fan sensed an intangible change.
Yet he did not choose to flee immediately.
Instead, he weighed his decision with grave solemnity.
*In truth, I knew the method to deal with this Sinister Su Bai long ago.*
*Even if I cycled through countless more reincarnations, this sole possibility of victory would likely remain unchanged.*
Li Fan hesitated.
*Although I can easily suppress and execute this Sinister Su Bai's figure...*
*I would have to risk exposing Revert to the True.*
*Is it worth taking this risk?*
After an unknown stretch of time, he died under Sinister Su Bai's hand yet again.
Before dying, he saw that repulsive smile on the other's face.
The reborn Li Fan's gaze abruptly hardened with resolve.
*First, I trust the character of Mr. Bai of the Xuanhuang Realm.*
*Willing to sacrifice himself for the mortals of the world, he would not lay a trap within his own skull.*
*Furthermore...*
An unprecedented brilliance erupted in Li Fan's eyes.
*I have already ascended to immortality; I am no longer mortal.*
*Revert to the True has accompanied me for so long. How could a mere remnant skull wrest it away?*
In the real world, Li Fan's true self was already prepared to revert to the true at any moment.
Within the Eternal Lingering Thought illusion, looking at Sinister Su Bai flying toward him with a sinister grin not far ahead, Li Fan adopted a proud demeanor and softly intoned:
"When the true is taken for false, the false also becomes true."
The flying Sinister Su Bai abruptly halted.
An expression of disbelief appeared on his face.
Then, his body gradually faded, vanishing before Li Fan.
That overweening supreme powerhouse—who could crush a Nameless True Immortal and remain unscathed even amidst the tide of the Dao Annihilation Tribulation, Sinister Su Bai—had been slain so easily by a single thought from Li Fan.
*So this is...*
*The Dao of true becoming false.*
*It is no baseless fantasy.*
*It is a supreme Dao that is truly within reach.*
*It is just that I am still very far from mastering it.*
Having tasted the flavor of wielding supreme authority within the illusion, a faint sense of loss and melancholy welled up in Li Fan's heart.
Having theoretically succeeded in executing Sinister Su Bai, the Eternal Lingering Thought space began to dissolve.
In a daze, he returned to reality.
Li Fan felt a wave of excitement from Revert to the True, like that of enjoying a feast.
"Heavenly Venerable Xuanhuang truly loves all mortals.
"Seeking life within death, taking the world to revert to the true."
A moment later, the prompt from Revert to the True rang out in Li Fan's mind.
Chapter 1413