In an instant he had been brought under another's control. Li Fan was startled inwardly, but he did not show the least weakness in his words.
He asked in turn, 'A Retrograde Boat?'
His eyes stayed fixed on the small wooden boat resting on the scruffy man's shoulder, its appearance now looking utterly renewed.
The scruffy man gave a soundless laugh and released Li Fan.
'No wonder you're a disciple of the Mound-Guarding Lord — your learning is truly extraordinary.' He made no attempt at concealment, openly acknowledging the identity of the treasure in his hands.
'Mound-Guarding Lord…' Li Fan repeated the name silently — at once familiar and strange. A succession of images flashed through his mind. At the same time, he noticed something abnormal about his own body.
Ever since he had entered this painting, when he recalled the past, for some reason he no longer felt that stabbing pain inside his skull. It seemed he could browse his old memories at will.
Yet a dim intuition in his heart told Li Fan that if he did so, the outcome would surely be nothing good.
That fierce contradiction made Li Fan instinctively sense how strange this place was.
Seeing Li Fan silent, the scruffy man showed no irritation, and instead posed another question. 'As a disciple of the Mound-Guarding Lord, you ought to look down on a Retrograde Boat like mine. So why did you come here, young friend?'
'I thought I would never see another living person in this life.' The scruffy man spoke with a sigh of mixed feeling.
Li Fan noticed that although he had passed a great deal of vitality into the painting, all of it seemed to have been absorbed by the Retrograde Boat. The scruffy man, as the boat's owner, had not received so much as a fraction of it. He looked exactly as he had before.
Though his features were those of a middle-aged man, he gave off an indescribable air of death.
Li Fan, whose body nurtured vast amounts of vitality, was naturally acutely sensitive to it.
During this stretch of silence, he finally became convinced that the scruffy man before him was not a real living being, but something like a projection.
Still, Li Fan did not lower his guard because of it.
After all, the strength the scruffy man had just displayed was truly terrifying. Even as a mere illusory projection, he gave off such oppressive pressure. It was hard to imagine what realm the man had stood in at his prime.
'The Great Dao of Longevity. A disciple of the Mound-Guarding Lord.'
'Could this be the source of the boundless vitality within me?' Vaguely, Li Fan recalled more.
Since the other showed no particularly obvious hostility, Li Fan decided to press his advantage and probe further.
He said in a deep voice, 'Sir, your judgment is rather one-sided. Why should a disciple of the Mound-Guarding Lord be unable to covet a treasure like the Retrograde Boat? To reverse the flow of time — what kind of fortune and opportunity is that! It may well be no lesser than the Great Dao of Longevity!'
At these words, the scruffy man looked at Li Fan with some surprise.
Then, as if thinking of something, he smiled as though a weight had lifted from him. After that, he simply tossed the wooden boat from his bosom over to Li Fan.
'The Mound-Guarding Lord must be trapped in the Everlasting Silence Void Realm, which is why he passed on only his lineage and had no time to teach disciples. Take a look at this Retrograde Boat. See whether it is as wondrous as you imagine.'
Since the other dared to throw it, Li Fan dared to catch it.
With the peerless treasure in hand, he examined it carefully.
Seeming to sense the boundless vitality within Li Fan, the treasure boat grew ever more greedy, trying like a black hole to seize it. Li Fan did not completely block the flow of vitality; consciously, he continued to let out thin threads of it. At the same time, he used that trickle of vitality to sense the interior of the Retrograde Boat.
He had always been deeply curious: why did this treasure, said to be able to reverse the flow of time, need vitality to sustain its own existence, just like a living being of the world?
A wooden boat no larger than his palm, yet heavy as a mountain. Li Fan had to use all his strength just to hold it steady. His thoughts followed the flowing vitality and entered the boat's interior.
He found that the state inside the Retrograde Boat was even worse than its exterior.
Alarming cracks spread through every corner of the treasure boat, like a series of hideous scars. Through these fissures, Li Fan faintly glimpsed countless images that did not belong to this time and space.
Li Fan vaguely realized that this was no illusion of his. Nor were these images merely empty images. If he carelessly fell into one of these rifts, he might truly be lost in the chaotic spacetime currents.
Avoiding those extremely dangerous rifts, Li Fan's thoughts tried to pin down where the vitality across the whole Retrograde Boat was going.
Affected by the spacetime rifts running throughout it, his sense of vitality turned chaotic. It took him considerable effort before he finally made it out.
'Retrograde. Retrograde.'
Li Fan crouched down and lightly stroked the boat's deck with his hand, thoughtful. 'Though it appears to be merely an object, it is in truth a living creature. Sailing against the current, it too must spend its own lifespan. Under the wash of the power of time, the cost is multiplied a hundred times over, or a thousand, if not more. And besides vitality, it seems to consume something else as well…'
Li Fan narrowed his eyes.
In his perception, this Retrograde Boat was like an old man on the verge of death. Though it strove to draw vitality from outside to keep itself barely alive, at most it could only manage to cling to one last breath. And it was hard to say how much longer such an extension of life could last.
Had Li Fan not come here today and contributed such a great wave of vitality, then perhaps one day this world-shaking immortal treasure would have vanished without a trace, together with this painting.
'How could it be like this?'
Li Fan could not help but feel somewhat disappointed.
He had thought he had found news of a treasure capable of reversing the flow of time. He had never expected that this treasure would be in a state of near-ruin, so severely overdrawn.
After checking several more times and confirming the fact, Li Fan withdrew his thoughts from the Retrograde Boat.
'Well? Even if I gave you this treasure boat, would you take it? I'm afraid you'd drown in the river of time before you ever reached the time point you were aiming for…' The scruffy man spoke with a half-smile.
But he had not expected Li Fan to refuse to play his part at all. Li Fan said bluntly, 'I'd take it. Of course I would.'
'Even a Retrograde Boat on the verge of breaking down represents a chance to survive a hopeless situation. However faint the hope of success, when one is truly at the end of one's rope, it is still the only way to live.' Li Fan's expression was grave.
The scruffy man was taken aback, and the smile at the corners of his mouth slowly faded.
After a long silence, he said, his tone somewhat somber, 'What you say is not wrong.'
'If Xuanyuan Hong had possessed such understanding back then, he would not have left the Retrograde Boat here.'
Hearing a familiar name, Li Fan immediately followed the other's words. 'Xuanyuan Hong… is he the King Xuantian in the Xuanhuang Realm? Did he achieve what he did in the past by the light of this Retrograde Boat?'
Reminiscence showed in the scruffy man's eyes. He shook his head slightly. 'In my view, the reason Xuanyuan Hong reached such a height was three parts luck and three parts his own character and effort. Of the remaining four parts, the Retrograde Boat accounts for only half. As for the other half…'
'The Shanhai Fishing Pond deserves much of the credit.' The scruffy man's gaze drifted outside the painting.
'The Shanhai Fishing Pond?' Li Fan was first taken aback, then realized that what the other meant must be the fishing pond.
'But why name it with mountains and seas? What does that mean?'
In a daze, the vision of boundless oceans and rolling mountains leaped once more into Li Fan's mind. Appearing together with that mountains-and-seas vision was an endless expanse of light and heat — countless possibilities melting within that blazing radiance.
It seemed he was one step closer to fully recovering his memories.
At this critical moment, however, the scruffy man pressed a palm onto Li Fan's shoulder.
He pulled Li Fan out of the reverie of memory and back into reality.
Only then did Li Fan realize, with a start, the dangerous situation his real self was in.
Whether it was his avatar in the Xuanhuang Realm or his true body in the Great Xuan pocket world, the heads of both had already burst apart.
Even most of their bodies were evaporating from top to bottom, under the shock brought on by that mountains-and-seas vision. Even the Great Dao of Longevity within him could not stop this vanishing.
Had the scruffy man not woken him in time, before long Li Fan would likewise have become a being that existed only as a phantom.
'Your state… seems a little off?' The scruffy man studied Li Fan with uncertain astonishment.
Li Fan cupped his hands. 'Senior indeed has a discerning eye. To be honest, Senior, I seem to have gone wrong during my cultivation, and most of my memories of the past have vanished. What little I can recall still brings a fierce backlash upon my body. From a mortal, I have scrambled my way up and re-cultivated to where I am now. It is all thanks to instinct, and to the help of the Great Dao of Longevity within me.'
'As for the Mound-Guarding Lord that you speak of, Senior…'
'I do have some impression of him. But what I remember are only blurred images.' As he spoke, Li Fan presented before the scruffy man a lonely figure guarding the mound and gazing upon the sea.
Seeing the Mound-Guarding Lord, the scruffy man's expression turned solemn at once, in respect.
Then he carefully observed Li Fan once more before saying slowly, 'The Great Dao of Longevity within you is indeed under the command of the Mound-Guarding Lord. Since the Mound-Guarding Lord is present, it cannot be faked.'
'However, as for the Great Dao of Mountains and Seas, I was only fortunate enough to hear the Mound-Guarding Lord explain a little of it back then. I do not understand the details deeply, and cannot help you much.'
'Still, do not worry too much. With the Great Dao of Longevity protecting you, even if this world is annihilated, you will come through unharmed.' There was a trace of envy in the scruffy man's tone.
Li Fan nodded at this. 'Thank you for your guidance, Senior. By the way, I still do not know your name?'
The scruffy man waved a hand. 'A dead man's name is like smoke and passing clouds. Why mention it at all?'
But Li Fan replied, 'One day, when I have recovered my memories and returned to my master's side, I will surely explain today's events to him. Though you have fallen, Senior, there is still this phantom of you in the world. With my master's divine powers, it may not be impossible to turn death back into rebirth.'
The scruffy man had seemed to hold no hope of this at all.
But after a moment, thinking of something, he changed his mind.
'I am the Taidi Emperor of the Immortal Realm.'
'I governed for a thousand years, untroubled, and then withdrew into seclusion. When the Dao Annihilation descended and grew ever fiercer, I secretly sought a good method of salvation. This Lanke Dao Sanctuary was built under my direction.' The scruffy man spoke calmly.
The Hidden Emperor of the Immortal Realm, Lanke Dao Sanctuary, the Dao Annihilation Tribulation…
Each keyword triggered large chunks of memories in Li Fan's mind.
It took him a long while before he barely recovered from the trauma.
The look Li Fan now gave the scruffy man was different again.
'Since Senior was once an Immortal Emperor who governed the Immortal Realm, you must surely have attained mastery of Creation. How then did you end up in such a state?' The words were somewhat harsh, but Li Fan spoke without reservation, full of doubt.
He lifted the Retrograde Boat in his hand. 'Was it because of this thing?'
Taidi Emperor nodded. 'That is one reason. But the main one was that my cultivation fell short and I failed at the final step.'
He sighed, seeming to sink into remembrance of the past.
After a long while, he continued, 'Just now your divine sense entered this treasure boat. Did you sense the boat's vitality?'
'I did notice it. This treasure is an object in form, but a living spirit in truth.'
'That is because this Retrograde Boat was forged using my body as its material.' Taidi Emperor smiled.
Hearing this, Li Fan could not help but show shock.
Looking at the scruffy man before him, he made sure the other was not telling some joke.
'But rumor in the world says the Retrograde Boat was made by the so-called Retrograde Immortal…'
'Oh? A Retrograde Immortal? I have never heard of that. But there need not be only one Retrograde Boat in the world. Anyone who grasps the Way of Retrogression could forge a new one — that is not impossible.' Taidi Emperor's expression was calm.
'Grasp the Way of Retrogression?' Li Fan seemed to think of something.
'King Xuantian?'
Taidi Emperor neither confirmed nor denied it. 'I am only a wandering ghost. How could I know all that goes on in the outside world? But if there is anyone in this world who could build a new Retrograde Boat, I think Xuanyuan Hong is the most likely. After all, when we parted back then, his grasp of the Way of Retrogression was already quite substantial.'
Li Fan said nothing.
'Some things can only be understood after living through them. For instance, perhaps the great majority of worldly affairs can be altered by reversing the flow of time. But it is precisely that tiny portion which cannot be changed that finally decides the ultimate outcome of the river of time.'
'No matter how one changes the course of the river of time, in the end the surging waters still flow into that calm, boundless ocean.'
'Without the power to change the entire ocean, even reversing the flow of time is nothing but futile struggle.' Taidi Emperor spoke calmly.
Listening to the other's words, Li Fan faintly sensed something familiar.
It seemed he too had once held a similar thought.
'Beyond the End.'
Unbidden, four large characters surfaced in his mind, matching the image Taidi Emperor had described.
'Though I was once honored as an Immortal Emperor, how many Immortal Emperors has the Immortal Realm had over the ages?'
'How many were able to attain transcendence as the Mound-Guarding Lord did?'
'You are a disciple of the Mound-Guarding Lord, and possess the Great Dao of Longevity. You already have the foundation for transcendence. There is no telling how far you surpass an ordinary Immortal Emperor.'
Though Taidi Emperor praised him in this way without pause, Li Fan felt no honor at all. Instead he felt wave upon wave of discomfort.
It was as though he did not quite accept the identity of a disciple of the Mound-Guarding Lord.
'Strange.'
'Could it be…'
Li Fan suppressed this odd thought, then followed up on Taidi Emperor's words. 'Someone like my master should possess the power to change the entire ocean that you spoke of, Senior?'
'He has only a sliver of that possibility. Within the Everlasting Silence Void Realm, I fear even the Mound-Guarding Lord would find every step difficult.
Chapter 1527