Chengdao sat with his eyes closed in silence, and Li Fan was likewise on edge.
He watched their surroundings intently, prepared to immediately Revert to the True if anything went awry.
Even though the Mound-Guarding Lord was humble and never regarded himself as a powerhouse of the Mountains and Seas, Li Fan would never let down his guard. If his act of impersonating the Mound-Guarding Lord's disciple and perpetrating this deception were exposed, never mind the Mound-Guarding Lord—Chengdao would likely be the first to fight him to the bitter end.
Communicating between the mortal world and the interior of the Mountains and Seas seemed exceedingly difficult. Chengdao kept his eyes closed for three full days before he finally stood up, having completed the transmission.
"I have sent word and explained our general situation to Master. I just do not know when the elder will have the time to see it," Chengdao said with some regret.
Reaching out to the Mountains and Seas was clearly a heavy burden for Chengdao. His already aged countenance took on an added touch of decay and annihilation.
"Senior Brother, you must rest at once," Li Fan said repeatedly.
Chengdao did not force himself. He sat cross-legged in the void and only recovered after more than a month.
Li Fan was somewhat astonished. "Is contacting Master truly so difficult?"
"Naturally." Chengdao looked solemn. "The space between the Mountains and Seas is not a place ordinary mortal beings can set foot in. I can barely hold my ground only thanks to my somewhat peculiar origins. Otherwise..."
"To say nothing of whether one can bear the pressure exerted by the Mountains and Seas, even if one endures, one must constantly face an aura of Dao Annihilation countless times stronger than that of the mortal world. It is like a mortal falling into water, the mind overwhelmed by suffocation and drowning. Long before one is swallowed by Dao Annihilation, one would likely go mad first."
Chengdao sighed deeply. "Since ancient times, the Mountains and Seas have never been a realm mortal beings could casually venture into. Were it not for the pioneering feats of Sovereign Lianshan and Sovereign Guihai, we would not even be able to gaze upon them from afar."
Li Fan naturally understood the terrors of the Mountain and the Sea.
He had entered the Sea of Infinity in person; every drop of seawater seemed to possess weight enough to crush his soul entirely.
The difference was that Li Fan possessed the treasure of Revert to the True. Under the protection of Illusion Becoming True, Li Fan was now capable of roaming the Mountains and Seas unimpeded for a limited duration.
"What does it feel like to wander among the Mountains and Seas?" Li Fan pretended he had never seen them and inquired with an expression full of yearning.
Chengdao hid nothing, sharing in detail the insights gained from sending his intent through the Mountains and Seas.
Comparing this to his own experiences, Li Fan felt even greater awe at the might of Revert to the True.
Even a figure like Chengdao found traversing the Mountains and Seas exceedingly difficult. He moved trembling with fear, as if treading on thin ice; the slightest misstep brought the risk of falling to his death. Moreover, according to Chengdao, this was while under the protection of the Mound-Guarding Lord's imprint. Without the Mound-Guarding Lord's guidance, Chengdao's current strength would not allow him to travel very far at all.
From their casual conversation, Li Fan also confirmed that Chengdao had not mentioned him to the Mound-Guarding Lord in this transmission. After all, every moment spent there came with immense pressure, forcing him to report only the most critical matters.
Even though Chengdao said so, Li Fan did not take it entirely at face value. His mind remained ever vigilant against a sudden arrival by the Mound-Guarding Lord.
Now that he had reported to his master, Chengdao was unwilling to take arbitrary action on his own, choosing instead to await his master's instructions. Based on past experience, the speed of the Mound-Guarding Lord's replies was unpredictable, following no fixed pattern.
However, the passage from the Great Wall leading into the outer star sea was now entirely sealed by Dao Annihilation. Even if Li Fan and Chengdao wished to seek revenge against the Guangwu Star Sea, there was nothing they could do for the moment.
They could only wait patiently.
The Giant Rat Immortal's condensation of the Great Dao had also provided Chengdao with considerable inspiration. In Li Fan's perception, he could clearly see that the Dao Net clinging to the Great Wall was not only growing more solid, but had also sprouted many entirely new Dao strings.
Among them were Dao principles that no longer existed in the Primordial possibility. They were derived entirely from Chengdao's own comprehension and subsequent evolution. They could not serve as pillars against Dao Annihilation and were merely auxiliary parts of the Shuo Star Sea's Dao Net.
Chengdao gradually immersed himself in his contemplation, oblivious to the passage of time.
During this period, Li Fan turned his thoughts toward the method the Guangwu Star Sea used to fish within the tides of Dao Annihilation.
Since the unknown entity lurking in the Dao Annihilation had not traveled far, Li Fan naturally could not court death by testing things within the Great Wall.
Li Fan's true body appeared to be meditating within the Primordial Immortal Realm.
In truth, his consciousness had already entered [Boundless Samsara].
During the days Li Fan had left it unattended, the time loop in Boundless Samsara had continued to play out repeatedly. The ending of the Hunger Immortal destroying the world had already recurred countless times.
With his spirituality completely stripped away, Heavenly Venerable Truth possessed no cultivation talent whatsoever. He had even been driven mad.
Yet whether this outsider was present or not, Boundless Samsara continued to evolve along the span of time Li Fan had once experienced.
Li Fan's consciousness entered it this time with no desire to toy with Heavenly Venerable Truth.
Instead, he intended to utilize this flow of time to study the fishing arts of the Guangwu Star Sea.
"The first thing to verify is whether this Boundless Samsara created by Revert to the True counts as a complete possibility..."
With this thought, Li Fan's intent spanned the Pitch-Black Star Sea in an instant, arriving at the Great Wall.
Following the familiar path, he entered the test ground space.
Sure enough, he saw the five phantoms left behind by the Mound-Guarding Lord still inside.
"..."
Li Fan fell silent. Leaving the Great Wall, he explored the still-intact Shuo Star Sea.
The Dao Net, the Immortal Hunt, Chengdao...
All existed within this possibility.
Previously, when unlocking this function of Boundless Samsara, Li Fan had not given it much thought, nor had he found the timeline created by Revert to the True particularly astonishing. Only now, after stepping beyond the Great Wall, encountering numerous Nameless beings, and learning about the Three Sovereigns and even the Transcendent realm, did Li Fan truly understand how unfathomable it was.
He also vaguely realized that his Revert to the True had a qualitative difference from mere time reversal.
"In truth, it is essentially identical to the Primordial possibility I experience each time I activate Revert to the True. It is merely a segment of time intercepted from it. And..."
Li Fan attempted to enter the Sea of Infinity within this Boundless Samsara.
Unsurprisingly, he failed.
"The mortal world exists by relying on the Mountains and Seas."
"Yet this Boundless Samsara was fabricated from nothing by Revert to the True, existing solely by relying on Revert to the True. It cannot connect to the Mountains and Seas. It is like a sealed room. In a sense, it is absolutely safe for me."
"Deducing in reverse, however..."
"Every time I Revert to the True in reality, the state of the entire Mountains and Seas is reset."
Previously, Li Fan had judged from the mortal world's lifespan displayed on his Revert to the True interface that activating it reset the entire state of the Mountains and Seas.
Now, however, doubts arose in his heart once more.
Having witnessed the true might of the Mountains and Seas and the behavior of Revert to the True when confronting them, Li Fan realized that Revert to the True did not seem to stand above the Mountains and Seas. More likely, it stood on equal footing with them.
This could perhaps be inferred from the brief duration that Illusion Becoming True lasted when deceiving the Mountains and Seas.
"Of course, it is also possible that my physical body cannot endure deceiving the Mountains and Seas for prolonged periods. Blending into them for too long might bring unknown side effects. To protect me, Revert to the True deliberately set this duration and cooldown."
Li Fan shook his head slightly.
With his current strength, it was still far too early to peer into the true essence of the Mountains and Seas and Revert to the True.
Regardless, so long as it could serve his purposes, it was enough.
Within this Boundless Samsara, Li Fan had virtually no natural predators. Without having to worry about the Mountains and Seas, and aided by the experience accumulated in this lifetime in reality, he expended little effort to recreate the Primordial Immortal Realm within the Great Wall and erect numerous Heavenly Pillars.
"You could say this is a simulation within a simulation."
"Even the comprehension of the Great Dao I absorb here is entirely real and effective."
Li Fan gently caressed the fluctuations of Dao principles radiating from the Hunger Immortal Heavenly Pillar, marveling at the wonder of it all.
Although the Hunger Immortal was temporarily sealed, the starting point and end point of this timeline had long been fixed. Before long, she would return to the Immortal Ruins, remembering nothing.
With this thought, Li Fan paid no further heed to the Hunger Immortal.
He merely looked upon the Heavenly Pillars standing tall and straight across the grounds.
"Because it is not truly connected to the Upper Mountain and the Sea of Infinity, the tide of Dao Annihilation here is merely simulated by Revert to the True."
"Yet true becomes false, and false becomes true. With the power of Revert to the True, the false and the true are virtually indistinguishable. It is more than enough for my experiments. If I can successfully construct it in this Boundless Samsara, I can replicate it in reality."
"Moreover, I can adjust and manipulate the flow of time here at will..."
This entire Boundless Samsara possibility was essentially an amusement park tailored for Li Fan alone. A one-to-one recreation of the real world freed Li Fan of all worries.
He began to devote himself to researching the project of using the Heavenly Pillar breakwater to fish within Dao Annihilation.
Even though he had only caught a fleeting glimpse in the Giant Rat Immortal's memories, the underlying principle was not complicated.
Furthermore, using the methods of the Medicine King Scripture of Dao Refining to shear the Heavenly Pillars to varying heights was effortless for Li Fan.
In just over a dozen iterations of Boundless Samsara, Li Fan successfully constructed this wondrous sight for the first time.
With a thought, Li Fan temporarily withdrew the power of the Mound-Guarding Lord's phantoms within the Great Wall.
As the supporting power abruptly vanished, countless dark clouds began to manifest near the lowered Heavenly Pillars in the center.
The roar of crashing waves echoed endlessly, growing increasingly fierce.
Li Fan instinctively flashed away to a distance.
With a solemn expression, he scrutinized the dark abyss whirlpool before him. After observing for a long time, he still could not discern any difference between this "false" Dao Annihilation and the real Dao Annihilation connected to the Mountains and Seas in reality.
"It seems my path of True Becoming False still has a long way to go."
Steeling his resolve, Li Fan refocused his attention on the whirlpool of Dao Annihilation.
Without a true connection to the Mountains and Seas, no foreign objects would naturally be drawn or washed over.
Yet from the commotion stirred by the descent of Dao Annihilation, Li Fan confirmed that this initial attempt had already succeeded.
The only thing he could not yet accomplish was restoring the lowered central Heavenly Pillars to their original state after successfully snaring foreign objects in the tide of Dao Annihilation, as the Guangwu Star Sea had done.
The consequence was that once this project was initiated, it meant the apocalyptic calamity of Dao Annihilation was not far off.
"Shearing them down is simple. Giving back what was sheared away and restoring them to their original state in a short time..."
In Li Fan's mind, the eerie scene of True Immortal faces appearing on every Heavenly Pillar during the Guangwu Star Sea's fishing operation resurfaced.
"Without their active cooperation, it will likely be impossible."
Li Fan rubbed his chin and looked once more toward the sealed Hunger Immortal within the Heavenly Pillar.
The Hunger Immortal in this Boundless Samsara was almost identical to the one Li Fan knew from the Primordial possibility in reality. After witnessing Li Fan's heaven-defying methods and the miserable fates of her fellow True Immortals who had been sheared down even after turning into Heavenly Pillars, she wisely chose to cooperate.
"Since I can strip away your entire comprehension of Dao principles through the Medicine King Scripture of Dao Refining, you can naturally use the Medicine King Scripture of Dao Refining to reclaim what you have lost."
"'Life and death as one, uniting with the Dao in truth. Carefree beyond external things, my elixir is achieved.' This is the supreme art of the Great Pill of Heaven and Earth. Let me impart it to you..."
Li Fan held nothing back, passing on this supreme art in its entirety.
At first, the Hunger Immortal felt somewhat fearful, but as her understanding of the Medicine King Scripture of Dao Refining deepened, her entire focus was gradually drawn in.
Her comprehension could only be called decent.
Just as Li Fan was nearly out of patience, she finally attained a basic grasp of this profound art of Dao refining.
Only then did Li Fan discover that while the Hunger Immortal was slow to learn, she was even more proficient than Li Fan in its practical application.
After careful observation, Li Fan discerned a clue. "The Dao of Hunger is faintly harmonious by nature with the Medicine King Scripture of Dao Refining. The Dao Pills I refine must be ingested and converted by another person to be completely safe."
"Yet the Hunger Immortal has no such scruples; she swallows them directly, unconstrained by taboos. Granted, she is already imprisoned and has no need to worry about any hidden plots behind the Medicine King Scripture of Dao Refining. Even so, this partially demonstrates the uniqueness of this foreign Dao of Hunger. After all, it is a path capable of taking another's place and gaining new life even after arriving in a different possibility..."
In this manner, although Li Fan did not know how the Guangwu Star Sea managed to adjust the heights of its Heavenly Pillars, he achieved his desired outcome through his own learning after some effort.
Afterward, Li Fan used the Hunger Immortal's feedback to modify the imparted scripture.
He stripped away the nonessential portions.
The art needed only to coordinate with the movements of the Heavenly Pillars.
...
His objective achieved, Li Fan had spent only a little over twenty cycles in Boundless Samsara in total.
In the real world, only an hour or so had passed!
Such was the terrifying might of Revert to the True.
Looking at the Hunger Immortal, who had just mastered the profound art and was feeling pleased with herself—only to freeze in utter astonishment as the cycle reset once more—Li Fan suddenly recalled a phrase the Mound-Guarding Lord had once spoken to Chengdao.
"It has nothing to do with the outcome."
"Just as the beginning and end of this Boundless Samsara were long predetermined, perhaps everything in the mortal world was decided long ago as well."
"No matter how all living beings struggle, the ending remains unchanged."
Lost in thought, Li Fan stood momentarily dazed.
Chapter 1513