When Archmage Tiandu spoke, his tone was noticeably more respectful than when he had previously mentioned Lianshan, Guihai, or even his own master.
Evidently, this final "ineffable" Sacred Sovereign carried immense weight in his heart.
"The Immortal Realm was destroyed; sovereigns are sovereigns no more," Li Buren remarked coldly, ignorant and thus fearless.
The Archmage shook his head. "One does not become a sovereign by shouldering duty. It is because one is sacred that one achieves sovereignty. Whether the Immortal Realm survives or perishes actually has little to do with the sovereigns. Had Master understood this earlier, perhaps he could have lived much longer."
"Had your master known you would say such things, he should have taken you with him when he fell back then."
Faced with Li Buren's sharp retort, the Archmage fell silent.
He seemed to plunge into distant memories spurred by those very words.
"Your master was exalted as one of the Four Sacred Sovereigns of the Immortal Realm, and you served at his side for countless eons. How is it that even now, you are still merely a half-immortal?"
...
Li Buren chatted casually with the Archmage, tossing out one remark after another.
While fishing for information, he was also quietly using the Mo Sha black mist to taint the Archmage's sole remaining true body.
The myriad Dao manifestations Li Buren had previously devoured carried no memories whatsoever; they were purely records of the Dao reflected by the phantom of Illusory Life.
Judging from the corrosion of the Mo Sha black mist during this idle exchange, although the Archmage was only at the half-immortal realm, his physical body and divine soul were seamlessly blended into one, like a flawless creation that ought not to exist in this world. Not a single weakness could be found.
Destroying him outright would indeed be easy. But attempting body possession to pry into his past was not something the current Li Buren could achieve.
...
The Archmage seemed utterly unaware of Li Buren's covert maneuvers.
"Lianshan—joining the mountains—must ultimately return to the sea.
"Master and the other two Sacred Sovereigns proved this with facts. Why would I repeat their mistakes?
"Besides, were it not for my 'half-immortal' body, how could I have escaped the great catastrophe of the Immortal Realm's destruction back then? This is what is meant by every sip and bite being secretly predestined." The Archmage was completely indifferent to Li Buren's mockery.
"Had you not appeared, fellow Daoist—someone who should never have existed—I would surely have taken that anticipated step." The Archmage's tone carried a hint of wistfulness.
Just as Li Buren was about to sneer again to shake the Archmage's resolve and facilitate the infiltration of the Mo Sha black mist, Archmage Tiandu, who had been answering questions all along, suddenly turned the tables: "Fellow Daoist, you exist outside the destiny of heaven and earth. Could it be that you obtained that treasure?"
"Treasure? I have no idea what you are talking about." In the real world, Li Fan's true self was profoundly shaken. However, because Li Buren's primary consciousness was suppressed—acting purely as a tool carrying out Li Fan's commands—his reply sounded completely natural.
"Stop making excuses for your own failure. Ten thousand years ago, didn't King Xuantian almost capture you alive as well? You have merely a half-immortal's cultivation; dealing with you hardly requires someone outside of destiny," Li Buren retorted with unvarnished disdain.
The Archmage stared intently at Li Buren for a long time, unable to detect any flaw.
He then turned his gaze toward Yuandao Province and the Xuanhuang Realm outside.
Taking in the Xuanhuang Realm, where things remained but the people had changed long ago, he spoke leisurely after a long pause: "A mere moment of closed-door seclusion, and the outside world has been turned upside down. Curiously enough, none of the changes encompass the region where I comprehend the Dao.
"Fellow Daoist, you were guarded against me from the start. Yet this is clearly our very first meeting..."
The Archmage slowly closed his eyes, his inner thoughts unknown.
"Is the name of Archmage Tiandu not renowned enough in the Xuanhuang Realm?" Li Buren offered no further explanation, offering only this indifferent reply.
"You are definitely not someone of Xuanhuang. The Xuanhuang Realm, even this sea of stars—everything that once existed, exists now, and will be born in the future—was predestined long ago. Like chess pieces, they take turns upon board after board. Even if the destruction of the Immortal Realm introduced a few more variables, a chess piece remains a chess piece. It cannot transform into fine jade..." The Archmage spoke at a measured crawl, seemingly suppressing some inner emotion.
Upon hearing this, Li Buren narrowed his eyes.
The sky full of Mo Sha black mist hung like a dense overcast cloud above the Archmage's head, while the surrounding myriad devoured Dao manifestations cast exceptionally cold glares toward him.
No matter what the other party had deduced, Li Buren would not let this Archmage live any longer.
"The plan Master and the others devised back then was actually feasible.
"A pity it is too late."
Archmage Tiandu remained utterly fearless before the countless frigid glares surrounding him. He merely snapped his eyes open and gazed back at Li Buren as if looking upon a priceless treasure.
"No!
"Right now, it is not too late!
"If I can..."
The Archmage, who had previously worn an air of resignation, suddenly became extraordinarily agitated for some reason.
A burst of immense force erupted, expelling the corroding Mo Sha black mist from his body. The Daoist robes on the Archmage fluttered crisply without any wind.
"Everything can be salvaged," the Archmage declared with heavy emphasis, staring fixedly at Li Buren.
Though surrounded by the countless Dao manifestations controlled by Li Buren, it now seemed as if the Archmage was the one surrounding them instead.
In an instant, he assumed a commanding posture from above, completing a total reversal of dominance.
Li Buren sensed that although the surrounding myriad Dao manifestations were already subdued by his Mo Sha black mist, they still could not resist the urge to bow in reverence before the Archmage.
It was just like the scene Li Buren had witnessed upon first breaching the Archmage's body: the Archmage seated among countless Dao manifestations, receiving their deepest worship.
Like an emperor, like a sovereign—incomparably noble!
Even Li Buren was faintly affected. His body constructed from the Dao Net warped in an absurd fashion due to the Archmage's presence, as if the sheer weight of the Archmage alone outweighed the myriad other Great Daos combined!
Knowing he could wait no longer, Li Buren immediately commanded the myriad inky hues to surge forth from the Dao manifestations, assailing Archmage Tiandu at the center.
Tainted with different Great Daos, the Mo Sha black mist transformed into twisted humanoid figures. Manifestations of various Dao arts exploded around the Archmage like fireworks.
"First came Taiyi, and only then immortals.
"Wuji precedes even Taiyi."
Two calmly spoken lines acted like wind-calming pearls, instantly freezing the countless ripples of the Great Daos.
The Archmage's figure stepped out from the mottled silhouettes of the Dao, pace by pace.
"Now that you have seen Wuji...
"Why do you not disperse?"
With another soft question, the myriad Dao fluctuations encircling him truly scattered like a gentle breeze.
Even though the Mo Sha black mist had taken the dominant position, it was powerless to halt this process.
In the blink of an eye, Li Buren's "enforcers" were entirely wiped clean.
Only the power of the Immortal Soul of Mo Sha remained.
Li Buren even felt that Illusory Life and Eternity—the two pillars sustaining Mo Sha's presence in this world—were displaying subtle signs of resistance.
Suppressing the unrest, Li Buren was forced to reexamine Archmage Tiandu.
"'Wuji precedes even Taiyi'?
"What bold arrogance."
Though the Archmage still bore the appearance of a Daoist youth, his demeanor had undergone an earth-shattering shift.
Aloof and exalted, looking down upon all living beings, he seemed almost like Sacred Sovereign Taiyi in person, inspiring an awe that forbade direct gaze.
"Sacred Sovereign Taiyi is indeed my master.
"Yet the main reason he accepted me as a disciple was my own extraordinary nature.
"Do you truly think just anyone could remain safely under a Sacred Sovereign's tutelage for countless eons?" the Archmage said with pride.
"I bid Master disperse."
The Archmage pointed toward the black mist filling the sky from afar, then bowed slightly.
Li Buren felt the two foundations of the Mo Sha black mist shake violently, losing nearly half their power in an instant. Because the path of Illusory Life had evolved over many years and was no longer identical to Taiyi, a small trace of power managed to linger.
"I bid Martial Uncle disperse."
The Archmage bowed once more.
With those words, the other great pillar of the Mo Sha black mist—the path of Eternity—shivered slightly and abruptly dispersed.
With just two simple sentences, he had directly severed the foundation of the Immortal Soul of Mo Sha's existence!
Though the sky remained blanketed in black mist, all possibility of controlling it was utterly gone; it became like the Dao Annihilation Tribulation, indiscriminately hostile to all.
While the Mo Sha black mist had quietly possessed countless Dao manifestations, Archmage Tiandu had also seen through every secret of the Immortal Soul of Mo Sha!
The raging black mist cast a terrifying, formidable aura over the Archmage's visage.
Even though he had lost the support of the Immortal Soul of Mo Sha, Li Buren did not panic.
He was contemplating the cause behind this sudden turn of events.
Everything in the world had its underlying logic.
By what right could the Archmage disperse the paths of Eternity and Illusory Life into thin air with merely two sentences?
Recalling the earlier vision of the Archmage receiving worship from the myriad Dao manifestations, Li Buren suddenly realized the truth.
*The Archmage's goal was never to comprehend all these different Dao paths simultaneously.*
*He treated them as tools, just like the phantom of Illusory Life.*
*Tools to aid his own cultivation.*
Li Buren could hardly conceal the turmoil in his heart. *He does not cultivate the myriad Great Daos. He cultivates a Dao that commands the myriad Great Daos to bow in worship!*
*Is this nobility? Or supreme honor?*
Ordinary mortal creatures could never hope to attain such an unfathomable path.
Yet if the Archmage's claim was true—that his origins were unique and quite possibly tied to the Wuji that preceded Taiyi—he might truly be able to accomplish it!
*Cultivating this path means no Dao art or divine ability in the world can harm him.*
Li Buren tested it, and it was indeed so.
The moment any divine ability or spell approached within ten feet of the Archmage, it vanished into thin air.
While Li Buren was considering a countermeasure, the Archmage strolled leisurely through the center of the rampaging Mo Sha black mist, steadily drawing closer to him.
"That King Xuantian you spoke of, the one who almost took me alive...
"He was born at the juncture of the Immortal Realm's fall and was indeed exceedingly special. Because of that, he had the potential to leap off the chessboard, possessing an immeasurable future. I had no desire to clash with him, yet he continually sought trouble with me, so I could only use an avatar of the Dao to deceive him.
"I did not expect his fortune to be so remarkable that, through a confluence of karmic chances, he vanished directly from this starry sky."
Speaking as he walked, the Archmage arrived beside Li Buren.
Wherever he passed, all Great Daos yielded.
Li Buren, formed of the Dao Net, felt unprecedentedly feeble in his presence, as though he might dissipate at any second.
"Yet judging my strength solely by using King Xuantian as a benchmark is somewhat unfair, is it not?" The Archmage finally stopped in front of Li Buren, articulating every word clearly.
Their gazes met.
"Yield the treasure, and I will permit you to leave," the Archmage solemnly promised.
Li Buren frowned.
Not because of the demand, but because the Archmage appeared so... childish.
"I do not know what you are talking about," Li Buren repeated his earlier excuse.
The Archmage was utterly convinced of his deduction.
Seeing that Li Buren still refused to admit it, he shook his head with some regret.
"In that case, I will have to take it myself.
"Wuji...
"I bid all Daos disperse."
The Archmage bowed slightly toward Li Buren.
Li Buren felt the last remaining Dao principles within him poised to disperse abruptly upon these words.
Once all Daos vanished, only the treasure originating outside the Great Dao would remain.
"Are you truly that confident?"
Just as the Archmage stood brimming with assurance, Li Buren abruptly spoke.
A powerful hand suddenly clamped down mercilessly around the Archmage's throat.
The two were so close that the Archmage had no time to react to this sudden explosion of power.
"How is this possible?"
The Archmage stared at Li Buren, whose form had suddenly brimmed with power once more, his face filled with sheer disbelief.
"Perhaps all the Great Daos of heaven and earth must yield to your command.
"Yet what of mountains and seas?"
Li Buren's figure became hazy, appearing as though perched atop lofty peaks and along boundless ocean shores.
The Archmage was stunned for a moment, then came to a sudden realization: "The Duke of Shouqiu?"
Li Buren shook his head slightly. "It seems you truly have never met the Duke of Shouqiu.
"Nor did you know that the Duke of Shouqiu left behind a hidden contingency here.
"That is only natural. Who told you to be a mere half-immortal? Your words were correct: every sip and bite is secretly predestined."
Li Buren threw the Archmage's own words back at him.
After such an unexpected shift, Li Buren's intent to kill the Archmage had become unstoppable.
Yet he hesitated over how exactly to deal with him.
After all, he was only suppressing him momentarily with the power of the Duke of Shouqiu.
Conventional methods would still make it extraordinarily difficult to kill the Archmage. Moreover, he might very well be connected to the so-called Wuji.
Even with his throat firmly grasped by Li Buren, the Archmage did not panic.
"The matter of the Duke of Shouqiu was indeed somewhat unexpected.
"Yet my origin lies outside heaven and earth, at the inception of the Great Dao. Life and death are meaningless to me.
"You cannot truly kill me."
As if Li Buren were the one who had been captured, the Archmage still attempted to persuade him to hand over the treasure.
Li Buren found it almost laughable. "You do not even know what the treasure is, nor its specific powers. Why are you so obsessed?"
The Archmage replied with utmost gravity, "If you hold the treasure, you can at most reverse fortunes and save the world from peril.
"Yet if I hold it, I can correct everything that should never have happened.
"My master, and the other three Sacred Sovereigns of the Immortal Realm—perhaps their destinies can also be rewritten."
Li Buren shook his head. "No, they cannot. That treasure cannot achieve all of that."
"It can," the Archmage reaffirmed.
Chapter 1481