Array of Dreams Born of the Mind

Within the endless cycle, Heavenly Venerable Truth lost all memory of ever meeting Li Fan and returned to Anchor Year One. A flicker of doubt crossed his eyes. Yet, at merely the Longevity realm, how could he resist the mighty power of Trueness? Soon, that faint wisp of doubt vanished without a trace. Following his original historical trajectory, he continued living his life. ... Li Fan sensed the rapid shifts of light and shadow within the Avici Samsara. The thousandfold acceleration of time exerted a peculiar pressure upon him. It was not like carrying an Immortal Domain chess piece, where a crushing physical and spiritual weight seemed to bear down upon him. Instead, an ephemeral haze seemed to cloak his entire surroundings. His thoughts, and even his every movement, felt as though they were adrift in a dream. Under this influence, Li Fan even began to harbor a faint doubt about the reality of his own existence in the waking world. Nor was it only Li Fan. Even the remaining four of the Five Heavenly Venerables standing beside him grew glazed and unfocused in their gaze. Some recalled long-past memories; others saw fleeting flashes of scenes they had never experienced; still others suddenly remembered a passing thought they had long since forgotten. None could resist this encroachment, sinking deep into it and unable to extricate themselves. Only as time sped forward in the Avici Samsara, passing through its first termination and initiating the second reincarnation cycle, did Li Fan gradually adapt. With a gathering of his focus, the surrounding haze thinned somewhat. A faint sense of abnormality lingered, but at the very least, it no longer hindered his actions. Only then did Li Fan find the opportunity to observe what was unfolding within the Avici Samsara. He paid no heed to Heavenly Venerable Truth, who had fallen into a state of mingled shock, joy, and dread over his "rebirth." The first thing Li Fan did was search for the existence of "himself" within the Xuanhuang Realm of the Avici Samsara. To his relief, he did not see another version of himself. Replacing him to advance the Avici Samsara toward its predetermined endpoint was a cultivator remarkably similar to him, named "Zhang Fan." "Naturally, there is no second [Trueness] either. All Zhang Fan possesses is the illusion that he can continually be reborn. When the Avici Samsara is triggered, his memories are reset without him ever realizing it..." "He is nothing more than a tool fabricated for this purpose." Li Fan gave a slight shake of his head and turned his attention away, looking toward Heavenly Venerable Truth. Heavenly Venerable Truth firmly believed that the total destruction of the Xuanhuang Realm he had witnessed in his "previous life" was by no means an illusion. Even so, he was in no hurry to speak of his rebirth to others. He simply set aside all matters and concentrated wholly on investigating the truth behind the world's destruction. Befitting an expert who had attained the Longevity realm, he soon discovered that the calamity's descent might be connected to the inexplicably appeared Heavenly Dao Bai. Tracking down every clue, his search led him all the way to Medicine King Valley. When the "Disorder" Formula was detonated and the Medicine King True Cauldron housing the Holy Embryo soared into the heavens, Heavenly Venerable Truth, lurking in the shadows, keenly perceived its presence. Just as he moved to intercept it— However... Heavenly Dao Bai, after rescuing the Medicine King Sect cultivators, flashed directly before Heavenly Venerable Truth. Though no match for Chuanfa, it was nonetheless the manifestation of the Xuanhuang Realm's Heavenly Dao will, capable of mobilizing the power of all the Heaven-and-Earth Essence. For a time, Heavenly Venerable Truth was utterly unable to break free. He could only watch helplessly as the Medicine King True Cauldron flew farther and farther away. In this lifetime, the outcome remained unchanged. The Xuanhuang Realm was once again destroyed by a single glance from the Hungry Immortal. ... "Is this the so-called linear constraint of Trueness?" Deep in thought, Li Fan further accelerated the time flow of the Avici Samsara. A wave of dizziness washed through his mind, and the pressure he bore intensified considerably. He fast-forwarded to Heavenly Venerable Truth's next attempt to save the world. Long before Heavenly Dao Bai descended, Heavenly Venerable Truth had already noticed Zhang Fan scheming in secret. Resolutely, he struck, intending to capture him. Yet the exposure of his aura somehow triggered the restrictions within the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals. A Longevity Heavenly Venerable of the Five Elders Association infiltrating their territory put the Alliance on high alert as if facing a mortal foe. The projection of Heavenly Venerable Chuanfa descended and, without a word of discussion, struck Heavenly Venerable Truth severely wounded with a single palm. Amid the chaos, Zhang Fan had already vanished without a trace. Before long, the world-ending catastrophe descended once more. "Fascinating. Chuanfa's projection never actually appeared in that lifetime. Activating the projection requires the sacrifice of several Immortal Chosen." "Yet this wasn't an arbitrary fabrication produced by the Avici Samsara's simulation. Rather..." A wisp of intrigue flickered in Li Fan's eyes. "It is as though Heavenly Venerable Truth's actions were foreseen from the start. Right when this reincarnation cycle began turning, the Alliance launched a grand, high-profile selection of Immortal Chosen. This introduced a certain divergence from what took place in the previous cycle." "Yet Heavenly Venerable Truth, fixated on uncovering the true culprit behind the world's destruction, inadvertently overlooked this detail." "It seems the so-called constraint of the Avici Samsara merely requires the beginning and the end to match the original. The specific details that unfold in between do not matter." The third reincarnation cycle. This time, Heavenly Venerable Truth simply lay in wait at the border of the Xuanhuang Realm, biding his time for the Medicine King True Cauldron to appear. Yet for some reason, the cauldron failed to show itself. What took him even more by surprise was that on the very day the apocalypse was due to arrive in his memories, the suction emanating from the Immortal Ruins above surged violently. Caught completely off guard, he fell uncontrollably toward the Immortal Ruins. Struggling with all his might to survive, he saw a skeleton standing erect across the ruin-strewn earth, surrounded by severed golden chains. The Hungry Immortal of the Immortal Ruins grabbed Heavenly Venerable Truth, who tried in vain to resist, and absorbed and refined him. Then, eyes brimming with crimson and an insatiable hunger, it gazed down upon the Xuanhuang Realm below. ... "Hm? This is a possibility I have never experienced." "Did the Hungry Immortal emerge early?" From the waking world, Li Fan gazed from afar at the Hungry Immortal within the Avici Samsara. Even though this being had attained enlightenment and possessed power bordering on the Nameless Realm, it still could not detect Li Fan's prying gaze. It only developed a vague premonition in the dark, startled and uncertain. ... The behavior of the enlightened Hungry Immortal gave Li Fan a start, prompting him to temporarily pause the Avici Samsara's simulation function. It was not out of fear of the Hungry Immortal. "Theoretically speaking, this Avici Samsara is a new stretch of possibility created out of nothing by Trueness." "Could there be peerless experts capable of traversing possibilities who might notice something amiss and leap out from the Avici Samsara?" "For instance, if I used my previous lifetime's experience as a template, wouldn't another Black Heavenly Physician be brought into existence within this newly created Avici Samsara?" Just as Li Fan felt unsettled with doubt, Trueness seemed to sense his thoughts and promptly conveyed a prompt. "The incomplete timelines created naturally do not include entities that transcend possibility." "Variables introduced by such entities in the template experience will manifest in other forms to ensure consistency between the beginning and the end..." As Li Fan silently sensed Trueness's fluctuations, he breathed a sigh of relief, accompanied by a touch of regret. "As long as nothing goes awry, it's fine." Looking at Heavenly Venerable Truth in the Avici Samsara, who had remained motionless for more than a decade in a state of utter breakdown, Li Fan shook his head slightly. "I wonder when this Longevity Heavenly Venerable will manage to break the destiny of this samsara." "I hope he doesn't disappoint me." Naturally, even if Heavenly Venerable Truth completely abandoned all hope of escape, Li Fan would not release him easily. For Li Fan had already noticed that every time the Avici Samsara began a new turn, it was equivalent to [Trueness] initiating a Transformation of Real and Unreal. The energy scale was incomparable to when Li Fan activated it himself, of course. However, its advantage lay in its continuity, and it did not interfere with Li Fan's actions in reality. "This is a sharp weapon to aid my comprehension of the Transformation of Real and Unreal." "Unfortunately, with my current strength, I don't seem capable of sustaining the activation of a second Avici Samsara," Li Fan thought with some regret. His thoughts returned to reality. Li Fan looked toward Wuyou and the others. The four Longevity realm cultivators had been thoroughly subdued by the means Li Fan had displayed. "I can faintly sense that beyond the High Wall lies great terror." "That is the reason why, despite being capable of stepping beyond the High Wall, I have chosen to hold back." Li Fan's words caused the expressions of Wuyou and the others to shift drastically. "I know the Carefree Dreamscape you created has already explored up to the vicinity of the High Wall." "You can coordinate with my actions in reality, pursuing a two-pronged approach to probe the truth of what lies beneath the High Wall." Li Fan stared intently at Wuyou. This frail Longevity Heavenly Venerable hurriedly pledged, "To be able to serve Senior is truly Wuyou's fortune." "As for you three..." Li Fan looked toward Heavenly Venerable Rendao, Zhao Ruoxi, and Ji Wangxian. Flicking his fingers, he sent three specks of light flying into their glabellas. These were miniature formations centered upon the Mo Sha Dao Annihilation aspect and powered by the phantom of the Xuanhuang Realm gained through the feedback of the Heaven-Sitting Formula, capable of surveillance and counter-control. The moment they entered their bodies, thousands of formation lines sprouted like roots, boring deep into their divine souls. Yet what made Zhao Ruoxi and the other two even more terrified was that, from start to finish, they felt not the slightest twinge of pain. On the contrary, a supreme sense of satisfaction and joy welled up from their hearts. As the formation lines gradually enveloped their entire souls, their feelings toward Li Fan shifted from prior fear to reverence and loyalty. Even knowing full well that this luminous core rooted in the depths of their souls was unceasingly prying into their every secret, far from having any thought of resistance, they felt an impatient urge to turn their souls inside out and offer everything up to him. Heavenly Venerable Rendao's blood surged, stirring the impulse of a warrior willing to die for one who truly appreciated him. Ji Wangxian fell to one knee, deeply awed and conquered. Zhao Ruoxi's cheeks flushed red, her body softening as she slumped limply to the ground. Her eyes gazed up at Li Fan with dazed fascination, refusing to look away for even a single breath. Through his top-down observation within the Avici Samsara, Li Fan had gained a far deeper understanding of these Longevity Heavenly Venerables before him. Coupled with the formation modifications tailored specifically for them by the Dissolution Disc, it yielded such wondrous effects. 'It is even a hundred times more effective than the Truth Inducement Fruit back then,' Li Fan mused inwardly. Turning around, he spoke to the pale-faced Wuyou, who had witnessed the entire display: "The level of your dreamscape is far too shallow. If you wish to explore beyond the High Wall, it is likely inadequate. Seven days from now, all of you shall come together to the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals." "I will have someone assist you in making certain modifications to your dreamscape." While his voice was still echoing in the air, Li Fan's figure had already faded away, vanishing without a trace.