The Heavenly Physician Comprehends the Dao and Dies

"Beyond the High Wall, the existence of Sinister Su Bai is truly too appalling." "It is not merely his immense strength, but touches upon the truth of the entire mortal realm." "Infinite possibilities arising alongside one another..." "No, it is far from that simple!" Li Fan watched the countless memories of the late Mr. Bai of Xuanhuang stream past like shooting stars. He could not help but glance once more at the countdown on his [Revert to the True] interface: 7.36 million years. "In Sinister Su Bai's memories, there is not only boundless slaughter, but also scenes of the descent of a truly horrifying catastrophe." "Even with unfathomable, towering might like Sinister Su Bai's, before that world-destroying calamity, he could only flee in disarray!" "That was... the instantaneous collapse of an entire worldline!" "The true Dao Annihilation Tribulation!" With the aid of the power within Mr. Bai of Xuanhuang's Eternal Lingering Thought, through the eyes of Sinister Su Bai, Li Fan personally felt just how terrifying the true Dao Annihilation Tribulation was. From the Xuanhuang Realm, to the Pitch-Black Star Sea, to the Great Void beyond the Star Sea, and to endless cultivation worlds—including the Immortal Realm floating atop the Infinite Sea. All these unimaginably, unspeakably vast worlds—their very existence collapsed in a single instant. Without any omen or sound, they were annihilated. Even the very concept of nothingness ceased to exist. Only by leaping across to another possibility before the Dao Annihilation Tribulation reached oneself was there any chance of survival. ... "So this span of 7.36 million years is the countdown calculated by Revert to the True until every possibility vanishes?" Thoughts churned in Li Fan's mind, refusing to settle for a long time. "Sinister Su Bai madly slaughters versions of himself across other possibilities. Upon sensing the existence of Su Bai within the High Wall, he exhausted every means just to make Mr. Bai leap over the High Wall once more and voluntarily submit..." "It seems that to him, his own existence in other possibilities is of utmost importance." "In Sinister Su Bai's memories, every time he slaughters one of his counterparts, it is accompanied by boundless slaughter—a hundred times crueler than what he did in the Tianfa Realm. It leaves behind neither corpse, nor blood, nor memory, filling the world with nothingness." Compared to Sinister Su Bai's deeds, Li Fan's own acts of world destruction were hardly worth mentioning. "Is this Sinister Su Bai's own nature, or is this simply how all powerhouses of his level beyond the High Wall conduct themselves?" Li Fan took a deep breath. "Regardless, the existence of Sinister Su Bai is even more terrifying to the Xuanhuang Realm than the Dao Annihilation Tribulation." "At the very least, there are currently no signs that the Dao Annihilation Tribulation is about to descend. But if Sinister Su Bai beyond the High Wall were summoned, everything within the High Wall would likely be reduced to nothingness in an instant." "That is why Mr. Bai chose to die, temporarily severing the connection with Sinister Su Bai. He even altered all memories connected to Sinister Su Bai within the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao that followed him, as well as in the inheritance trial of the Fallen Immortal Realm." "Only within his Eternal Lingering Thought did he preserve critical information." The countless sprawling memories slowly faded away. Li Fan returned to reality. The skull in his hand dissolved into flecks of starlight and vanished into Heaven and Earth. "During the period he was infected by Sinister Bai, Mr. Bai of Xuanhuang's perspective was able to transcend a single possibility." "Though it is unknown what he truly saw, it is practically certain that this information was left behind for his successors." "No matter what method was used, the one capable of passing the trial—the one theoretically able to defeat Sinister Su Bai—is the only person worthy of being entrusted with this." "The secret of how Sinister Su Bai repeatedly survived the Dao Annihilation Tribulation and grew stronger all along the way!" A sharp gleam flashed in Li Fan's eyes. "Revert to the True absorbed Tianyang's eternal consciousness and awakened the [Avatar] function because Tianyang cultivated [Embodying Creation] almost to the utmost." "And awakening the [Dao Origin] function this time is likewise due to Sinister Su Bai's cultivation method." Li Fan narrowed his eyes. "Dao Annihilation. Dao Origin." ... Deep within the Museum of Divine Treasures, at the ruins of Mount Nanming Sacred Beast. The conversation between Li Fan's divine sense avatar and Di Sanmo was still ongoing. "Our race is not always fortunate enough to arrive in worlds where Mount Nanming Sacred Beast remains intact." "If, by misfortune, the sealed energy within the Sacred Beast Mountain there has already been exhausted in advance, then it truly is a dead end," Di Sanmo said with a chuckle. Before Li Fan's eyes arose the scene he had witnessed in the Great Boundary-Rifting Maelstrom: Di Yi, donning the majestic divine mask, retrieved a massive bronze-sheened key from the white serpent's body to unleash the immense energy within Mount Nanming Sacred Beast. "So it's a one-time consumable," Li Fan remarked thoughtfully. Di Sanmo nodded. "That is also why neither I nor a portion of the demon beasts followed along, and why Di Yi acquiesced. Everyone was taking a gamble. After all, given our race's unique nature, if Di Yi's group met with misfortune and was completely wiped out, another Di Yi would soon be born among the remaining population." "So far, that has not happened. It seems Di Yi won his gamble yet again." Di Sanmo chuckled again. "Yet who can guarantee they will keep winning forever?" Li Fan countered. Di Sanmo fell silent. "Unable to escape even by leaping into another possibility... One truly wonders where such a terrifying catastrophe originates." After a moment of silence in the area, Li Fan murmured wistfully. "Senior, why not hear a story?" Di Sanmo suddenly spoke up. "Not long ago... a wisp of a divine soul escaped from that contraption called [Era]. To endure hundreds of billions of reincarnations within Era while keeping his sanity intact throughout—such a soul trait is exceedingly rare across the ages." Li Fan had also reincarnated within Era, so his interest was piqued upon hearing this. *Sounds like prime material for crafting an Eternal Lingering Thought,* he mused inwardly. "What is his condition now?" Knowing Di Sanmo would not speak without purpose, Li Fan inquired. "He has already completely dissipated from this world," Di Sanmo shook his head gently. "He chose to hide right here in these ruins. The residual energy within the ruins was able to shelter his fragile divine soul, but there was too little of it after all, unable to sustain him for long. And he would rather die than be thrown back into Era..." "By the time I discovered him, he had already grown too weak." "I only managed to prolong his life for a short while, but in the end, it was beyond remedy." "Nevertheless, during his final days, he and I discussed a great deal. Based on the memories recounted by myself and our entire race, he proposed a theory for the reason behind the descent of this terrifying world-destroying tribulation." "Oh?" Li Fan's spirits were lifted. "It is merely speculation, of course. Treat it as nothing more than a diverting tale, Senior," Di Sanmo prefaced gently before slowly speaking. "The world knows that above True Immortals are Nameless True Immortals. A Nameless True Immortal merges with the Dao. From then on, no record of them can be found in the mortal world; they become ethereal and traceless. From antiquity to the present, no one knows how many have attained the Nameless Dao. But..." Di Sanmo waved his hand, and a phantom image appeared in the ruins before them. Countless fine lines crisscrossed, propping up the entire world. "Though attaining the Nameless realm is difficult and the probability infinitesimal, across an infinite scale of time, it is not something completely out of reach." "And with every Nameless True Immortal born..." Di Sanmo tapped his finger repeatedly. In the phantom image ahead, vertical lines vanished one by one. Repeated thus, who knew how much time elapsed. Because of these continuous losses, the web of Heaven and Earth became incomplete. It slowly warped. Li Fan's eyes abruptly narrowed. In the end, the web of Heaven and Earth could no longer maintain its form. With a tremendous crash, it gave way! Heaven and Earth collapsed! Di Sanmo waved his large hand, dispersing the illusion. "This is merely our most superficial understanding, not necessarily the closest to the truth." "Perhaps every Great Dao of Heaven and Earth is far more crucial than we imagine. The absence of even a few Great Daos might suffice to bring about the collapse of an entire possibility." "Or perhaps, besides Nameless True Immortals merging with the Dao, other mysterious factors are causing Great Daos to disappear without cause, leading to this unstoppable world-destroying tribulation..." Di Sanmo spoke in a quiet, solemn tone. Before Li Fan's eyes, the thigh bone of the Nameless True Immortal used to construct the Southern Immortal Heavenly Pillar seemed to appear once more. "Perhaps that theory is already quite close to the truth." Di Sanmo continued, "It is precisely because of the chain-reaction collapse of countless possibilities that our act of fleeing from one possibility to another has become exceptionally easy." "Originally, even burning away all the energy of Mount Nanming Sacred Beast would not have made it possible." "To put it in simple terms, because countless possibilities are constantly collapsing, they are drawing closer to one another..." Li Fan listened intently. Before his eyes, a picture seemed to emerge. In the darkness, countless rays of light lit up simultaneously, lined side by side, boundless and endless. Yet suddenly, some of them began to vanish into the dark without reason. Gradually, more and more rays disappeared. Those that remained, under the influence of this mysterious crisis, slowly drew closer together. Inevitably, they became twisted and tangled. "The annihilation of the Great Daos." "The crushing collision of the Great Daos." Recalling what he had seen in Sinister Su Bai's memories, Li Fan could not help feeling a chill rise in his heart. "What was the name of that divine soul? To form such a conjecture, he was certainly no ordinary man," Li Fan said, his mind stirred. Di Sanmo did not conceal it, casually projecting another phantom image. "His name was Qiao Sidao." "Half a year ago, he finally could hold out no longer and perished completely." Li Fan looked at the man before him, at the resolute expression between his brows, and gave a slight nod. "Half a year ago, was it..." ... Pitch-Black Star Sea. The High Wall. The Heavenly Physician seemed to have forgotten Li Fan's threat, completely devoting himself to comprehending the High Wall. His progress was faster than he had anticipated. Perhaps it was due to the countless continuous attempts he had made over all these years. Or perhaps, after meeting Li Fan—a True Immortal—and witnessing with his own eyes the genuine disparity between immortal and mortal, genuine insights had surged within his heart. In short, the Heavenly Physician had a faint premonition. Perhaps he was not far from thoroughly comprehending the secrets of the High Wall. Upon realizing this, a subtle change emerged in the Heavenly Physician's expression. He even felt a twinge of doubt regarding his own actions over all these years. *Could that True Immortal have been right?* *If I had focused wholeheartedly on cultivation, perhaps I would have found a way to save the Tianfa Realm long ago.* The thought flashed through his mind and vanished. Casting aside all stray thoughts, the Heavenly Physician once again immersed himself in contemplating the invisible High Wall. When sufficient accumulation has been achieved, a breakthrough sometimes happens in the span of a single moment. A single moment passed. Or perhaps tens of millions of years went by. Abruptly, the Heavenly Physician drew back all the golden threads he had radiated outward. In a daze, he seemed to have unraveled the mystery of the High Wall. Yet at the same time... A feeling of extreme dread surged within his heart. This dread was something he had felt only once before—when the Tianfa Realm was being slaughtered. Even when directly facing that True Immortal earlier, he had not experienced such an ominous foreboding. "What in the..." No longer contemplating the secrets of the High Wall, the Heavenly Physician instinctively moved to pull away from it. Suddenly... As if noticing something, his pupils contracted violently. Ahead, where the invisible High Wall stood—a place where nothing ought to exist—the scene inexplicably distorted. His heart thumped wildly; the sense of dread peaked. A black thread abruptly materialized. Silently, it pierced straight through the Heavenly Physician's chest. One became a thousand, a thousand became ten thousand, ten thousand became billions. In an instant, they shot through the Heavenly Physician's body, turning him into a marionette on strings. The Heavenly Physician's consciousness gradually blurred. Yet, feeling the countless threads piercing his body, a sense of déjà vu inexplicably rose within him. Perhaps it was an illusion, but soon after, a figure appeared before him. The Heavenly Physician seemed to see himself in his youth. Except this figure was not wearing the white robes he loved most. Instead, he wore a black robe. On his face was neither sorrow nor joy. *Crack...* The Heavenly Physician's head was twisted 180 degrees in a bizarre fashion, turned from front to back. Streaks of light and shadow drifted from the Heavenly Physician's body into the shadowy black figure that had inexplicably appeared. The Heavenly Physician's corpse slowly turned insubstantial and transparent. And that black figure... or rather, the Heavenly Physician of his youth, faintly furrowed his brow. "Do you understand what you see?" His gaze turned toward where Li Fan's true body was located, not far away! ... At the same time. Li Fan, who was still immersed in the secrets of Sinister Su Bai beyond the wall, suddenly felt a dreadful sense of imminent doom surge in his heart, just as the Heavenly Physician had. Moreover, this time it was more intense than ever before. *Could it be that triggering Mr. Bai's Eternal Lingering Thought caused me to be sensed by Sinister Su Bai beyond the wall?* Li Fan was terrified to the extreme. Without even a breath's hesitation, Li Fan silently invoked Revert to the True in his heart. And in that very instant, Li Fan noticed an extraordinarily bizarre anomaly. On his Revert to the True interface, his original lifespan upper limit of over three million years was jumping frantically. It was not decreasing. It was increasing! In the brief instant Li Fan noticed it, it leaped from three million by tens of billions. And it was still surging upward at an utterly terrifying rate!