"Is the entire mortal realm, including the Mountains and Seas, nothing more than an oversized Boundless Samsara?"
"Just as Heavenly Venerable Truth could never alter the Xuanhuang Realm's fate of being engulfed by the Immortal Ruins no matter how he tried, the Mountains and Seas, too, will ultimately fail to escape their destiny of merging."
"How, then, can one truly change this and achieve transcendence?"
...
When the timeline of Boundless Samsara reset once more, Li Fan's consciousness had already departed. Yet the questions raised by this attempt lingered in his mind from then on, refusing to fade for a long time.
Even when he quietly experimented with the Heavenly Pillar Immortal Dike in reality, related thoughts would frequently flash through his mind.
As it turned out, Boundless Samsara was nearly identical to the Primordial possibility. The results of Li Fan's experiments within it could truly be brought into reality without changing a single detail.
When Chengdao witnessed the methods of constructing the Immortal Dike that Li Fan demonstrated, he could not help but sigh in admiration. "Junior Brother, you are truly an extraordinary genius. So little time has passed, yet you have already managed to replicate this undertaking? And that was solely by relying on glimpses from memory, without having visited the site in person."
"Once the principles are understood, reproducing it is not inherently difficult. The new Dao Nets Senior Brother formed after your enlightenment are the truly remarkable feat. None of those existed in our world to begin with." Li Fan pointed at the Dao Net surrounding the Great Wall, speaking with immense modesty.
While Li Fan was contemplating the Immortal Dike, Chengdao had also truly integrated those original strands of Dao strings into the Dao Net. Li Fan could faintly sense that with the arrival of these fresh reinforcements, the starry sky near the Great Wall and the Shuo Star Sea had grown substantially more stable once again.
It seemed that having the auxiliary support of these Dao principles that had not originally existed produced an effect far greater than the sum of its parts.
Chengdao naturally noticed this phenomenon as well, and he shared an anecdote with Li Fan.
Once, during his communication with the Mound-Guarding Lord, he had inquired about possible methods to resist Dao Annihilation. Having studied under the Mound-Guarding Lord, Chengdao had also wished to emulate his master's heroic feat of old—saving an entire world single-handedly and turning back the raging tide.
The Mound-Guarding Lord had not mocked his disciple's overestimation of his own abilities, but had instead given two serious suggestions.
The first was to continue cultivating the art of the Phantom Bearing the Dao. As long as one grew strong enough, even if the ultimate fate of being swallowed by Dao Annihilation remained inescapable, one might still hold out until the very last moment of the Mountains and Seas merging.
If the first method relied on external assistance, then the second method was to strengthen the possibility itself. If it were inherently robust, there would naturally no longer be any need for Heavenly Pillars or phantoms.
However, the possibility Chengdao inhabited was already riddled with holes and terminally ill. To reverse a late-stage fatal malady, extraordinary measures were naturally required:
Absorb the Great Daos of other possibilities to replenish what one lacked.
Diminish the surplus to supply the deficient!
The Mound-Guarding Lord had also told Chengdao that such people did indeed exist across the Mountains and Seas—those who crossed into other possibilities to extract and refine their Great Daos, then returned to their homelands to shore up the collapsing heavens.
"So this corresponds to what Master spoke of. It seems that in all things, one must truly test them in practice; no amount of idle contemplation compares to trying one's hand at it." Chengdao stroked his beard and smiled, clearly quite pleased with his masterpiece.
Li Fan and Chengdao then exchanged their respective insights.
Though it was a pretense, they got along so naturally that they seemed just like true martial brothers.
Time slipped past in this exceedingly harmonious atmosphere. In the blink of an eye, fifty years went by.
Chengdao had still received no transmission from the Mound-Guarding Lord, but the Primordial Thirteen Dao Forms that Li Fan had waited for so long had finally arrived at their doorstep.
On this day, faint disturbances arose at the borderlands of the Great Wall and the Shuo Star Sea.
It was like the waves whipped up by a colossal vessel cleaving the sea, continuously battering the shore. Already encircled by the Annihilation Lands, the territory was held together solely by the support of the Great Wall's Dao Net.
Now subjected to these violent tremors, it suddenly felt like an isolated islet amidst a monstrous tsunami, teetering on the verge of capsizing.
Li Fan and Chengdao appeared simultaneously in a flash, gazing toward the direction where the anomaly originated.
It bore an uncanny resemblance to the scene beyond the world when Dao Annihilation approached.
Except that, aside from the roaring resonance of the Mountains and Seas, there was also a dull, thudding din akin to heavy metal hammers incessantly crashing and pounding.
With every boom that sounded, a thread seemed to be carved out of nothingness within the void.
The muffled crashes continued unabated. As myriad threads overlapped, they grew thicker and sturdier. Like divine might parting the sea, they carved a pathway right through the Dao Annihilation by sheer force.
Staring at the bizarre spectacle before him, Li Fan was suddenly reminded of the moment when the Black Heavenly Physician breached the Great Wall and descended with a roar.
"Senior Brother, have you ever seen someone cross over from another possibility?"
Hearing this, Chengdao was slightly taken aback. Then, recalling the foreign nameless figures Li Fan had mentioned to him before, his expression instantly turned grave.
"It seems that fellow, Di Sanmo, concealed quite a bit."
"A commotion of this scale is hardly something thirteen ordinary Nameless True Immortals could trigger."
Li Fan also nodded in agreement. "Those sonic booms can briefly repel Dao Annihilation... An ordinary Nameless True Immortal would likely be shattered into ash and smoke by the mere resonance."
"Still, with Senior Brother here, we have no reason to fear them."
Chengdao chuckled, then said coldly, "When it comes to materials for mending the heavens, the more the better. We welcome all who come."
The phenomenon at the edge of the Shuo Star Sea grew ever more magnificent, continuing until that thread within the void fully transformed from illusory to real. Only then did the pounding sound abruptly cease. A moment later, a pillar of green light shot skyward, bursting forth from that thread.
Behind the beam of light, Dao Annihilation swallowed the thread once again.
In stark contrast to the tremendous din of its opening, the devouring by Dao Annihilation was utterly silent. Soundless and still.
The pillar of light seemed to have locked onto the Great Wall's coordinates long ago. Although this was its first descent, it showed no hesitation, barrelling straight forward.
Yet as it drew near, it seemed to suddenly notice the layers of the Shuo Star Sea's Dao Net clinging outside the Great Wall like a barrier.
Only then did it abruptly halt.
The green light receded, revealing its true form.
It was an eerie, grotesque fleshball bearing a thousand hands.
A faint, somber green glow still enveloped its surface, cloaking its finer details.
Nevertheless, Li Fan could still vaguely discern the features of numerous exotic beasts upon the gigantic sphere of flesh.
"Junior Brother, it appears some monumental upheaval has occurred within this race of beasts."
"Senior Brother speaks truly; I see it as well. Within this massive amalgamation, there is not a multitude of consciousnesses..." Staring ahead, Li Fan's mind stirred, and he attempted to activate the Myriad Beasts Reincarnation Wheel.
Once the wheel turned, it indeed produced an effect. The hundreds of millions of tentacles on the massive fleshball swayed incessantly, as though fluttering in the wind.
Or perhaps it was mocking Li Fan.
"Brat, is the Myriad Beasts Reincarnation Wheel fun to play with?"
It was as if hundreds of millions of distinct voices spoke at the very same instant, each carrying a different emotion.
There was fury, derision, the ravenous greed of seeing a gourmet feast, the wild ecstasy of surviving a calamity, and the immense relief of finally spotting a habitable continent after drifting at sea for years.
Li Fan shook his head slightly and spoke to Chengdao with a touch of regret: "It seems I underestimated them after all."
"It is a civilization of an entire possibility, in the end. Even if they are an alien race, how could they be so easily plotted against? Even the same person undergoes vastly different changes across different possibilities, let alone an entire species," Chengdao offered in consolation.
"Still, they have come nonetheless. It precisely bears out Master's words: it matters nothing to the end."
Ever since his encounter in Boundless Samsara, Li Fan had grown increasingly fond of these four words. Aside from their inherently profound and inscrutable air, what Li Fan favored most was the serene composure within them—the sense that everything remained firmly in his grasp.
"Hahaha, well said, Junior Brother! It matters nothing to the end!"
"Arrogant beasts! Since you have come, you shall stay!"
Before Li Fan could make a move, Chengdao's figure vanished from where he stood.
The Dao Net hidden outside the Great Wall suddenly flared with endless brilliance in an instant. It then expanded violently, enveloping the entire surviving starry sky encircled by the Annihilation Lands.
Caught completely off guard, the gargantuan thousand-handed fleshball was ensnared within the net.
Although it had crossed possibilities by relying on the Refined Ancient Vast Source provided by Li Fan, the immense commotion caused during its arrival also attested to the monster's ferocity from another angle.
In all likelihood, it was an amalgamation formed by the fusion of the entire alien race, including the Primordial Thirteen Dao Forms. Its strength naturally could not be underestimated.
Yet, though it was now trapped in the net, it felt no fear, but rather delight.
"Delicious!"
"You brat, since you understand hospitality so well, I must thank you properly!"
"Jie-jie-jie-jie!"
Hundreds of millions of wild cackles erupted from the fleshball.
Images of countless savage beasts lit up across the fleshball one after another. Some had their eyes gouged out; some had their heads severed. Every single one was mutilated and bathed in blood. Yet without exception, they all made tearing, devouring motions toward the surrounding Dao Net.
As though preparing to devour the heavens and earth, an immense gravitational suction instantly radiated from the monster.
This pull was different from the one unleashed by the Hunger Immortal.
The Hunger Immortal's devouring arose from Hunger itself. This alien fusion, however, devoured purely for the sake of devouring.
The Great Daos of heaven and earth, all things and all existence—
To it, they were nothing more than nourishment!
And beyond mere consumption, a mad intention of acceptance and assimilation emanated from the thousand-handed fleshball.
It seemed intent on turning Li Fan, as well as everything in this starry sky, into a part of itself.
With just a single bite from the monster, a small void was torn directly into the Shuo Star Sea's Dao Net.
Even Li Fan had not expected this alien fusion to devour and assimilate Dao principles at such terrifying speed.
It was not merely consuming them; within an exceptionally short span, it had already converted them into a portion of its own strength.
Li Fan clearly saw that, following this single feast, over a hundred new tentacles sprouted upon the fleshball.
"Vile beast!"
Chengdao roared fiercely. The light erupting from the tangible Dao Net grew increasingly incandescent.
It stretched across the starry expanse.
The alien amalgamation's devouring efficiency slowed down in an instant.
At that very moment, Chengdao's hands tore through the void, descending over the thousand-handed fleshball.
Completely ignoring the beast's devouring, he clamped down on it firmly in a single grasp.
No matter how ravenously the beast phantoms gnawed at him, he remained utterly immovable.
Chengdao's figure was sturdier even than the Great Dao itself.
The alien fusion could chew through the Dao, yet it was helpless against an unyielding boulder from the Mountains and Seas!
In that single instant, tens of thousands of tentacles collapsed amidst shrill screams from the backlash.
Within the mangled flesh and blood that splattered downward, their original forms seemed faintly discernible.
Yet before they could even struggle, countless dense, slender tentacles surged across the surface of the alien amalgamation, dragging the flesh and blood back into its interior.
Before long, the massive fleshball had grown new tentacles once more.
"Wind, come!"
In the starry sky, one of the giant hands Chengdao manifested continued to pin the alien fusion down ruthlessly.
The other hand lightly beckoned toward the void where the thousand-handed fleshball had first appeared.
Buzz...
Like the harbinger of a hurricane, the earlier scene of heavy hammers incessantly pounding reappeared.
Only this time, it was not parting the sea or carving a path through nothingness.
Instead, ripples of Dao Annihilation were being drawn over!
Li Fan, watching the battle, narrowed his eyes. This was a technique Chengdao had never revealed before. Even during their regular discussions and exchanges on the Dao, he had never mentioned it. Clearly, the alien fusion's act of devouring had genuinely provoked his wrath.
"Those ripples... are no illusion. That is true Dao Annihilation!"
"Except it does not arrive as an earth-shattering surge, but as wisps of gentle breeze?!"
A look of wonder surfaced in Li Fan's eyes, and he swiftly saw through the mystery behind Chengdao's divine ability.
"The essence of Dao Annihilation is the merging of the Mountains and Seas."
"Where mountain meets sea, towering breakers crashing upon the shore signify the merging of the Mountains and Seas. Yet the roaring wind blowing between the mountains and the seas is likewise..."
Li Fan watched as the alien amalgamation's countless tentacles evaporated entirely within these ripples stirred from the Mountains and Seas, leaving not even a fragment of flesh or blood behind.
He seemed to behold the scene of a wind blowing from the Mountains and Seas, scouring the mortal world clean.
"Before the great tide arrives, the wind comes first."
"Only one who guards the mound and watches the sea can perceive it in advance."
Just as Li Fan gained this sudden enlightenment, Chengdao's guiding words sounded by his ear.
It had to be said that the alien amalgamation was extraordinarily ferocious.
Under the scouring of this great wind of the Mountains and Seas, perhaps the entire Shuo Star Sea might not have lasted long. Yet by relying on its immensely powerful regenerative capability, it stubbornly held its ground undefeated.
Even when the ripples obliterated hundreds of millions of tentacles from its surface, endless replacements swiftly surged out from within.
These tentacles were the kinsmen it had consumed. At this moment, they served as its numerous layers of defense.
Though it knew it was no match for this powerhouse who wielded the wind of the Mountains and Seas, the path it had come by was already severed. With no way to retreat, the dire straits only stoked the alien fusion's ferocity all the more.
Hundreds of millions of shrill shrieks exploded continuously across the fleshball's surface.
Tentacle after tentacle reverted to their original beast forms.
They flew away from the amalgamated body, scattering in all directions to flee.
Meanwhile, the massive fleshball itself split open down the middle, revealing a colossal fissure.
Deep within the profound crevice lay a hidden, amber-yellow eyeball.
Under the gaze of that eyeball, even the ripples of the Mountains and Seas froze for an instant.
Though the wind of the Mountains and Seas quickly resumed as before, that split second bought precious time for the tentacles that had scattered and fled.
Or it would have, had Li Fan not been present.
Shortly after myriad beasts flew out, they all vanished without a trace, inexplicably.
It was as if some unknown hunter had been lying in wait for a very long time.
The alien amalgamation even sensed that the portions of itself that vanished were suffering the exact same fate as those scoured away by the ripples of the Mountains and Seas.
Their connection to it was severed entirely.
"What the hell is this?!"
Chapter 1514