Chapter 1514: Great Winds Rise Across the Mountains and Seas

“The entire mortal world, including the Mountains and Seas, is nothing more than a larger version of the [Unceasing Reincarnation]?”

“Just as the Truth Heavenly Sovereign could never change the fate of the Xuanhuang Realm being swallowed by the Immortal Ruins, no matter how hard he tried, the Mountains and Seas will ultimately be unable to escape their destined fusion.”

“How can one truly change this fate and transcend it?”

...

When the cycle of the Unceasing Reincarnation restarted once more, Li Fan's consciousness had already departed from it. However, the doubts raised by this latest experiment continued to linger in his mind from that point onward.

They refused to fade for a long time.

Even when he secretly experimented with the Celestial Pillar Immortal Embankment in reality, related thoughts would frequently flash through his mind.

The results proved that the Unceasing Reincarnation was almost entirely identical to the [Yuanchu] possibility. The results of Li Fan's experiments within it could genuinely be reproduced in reality without the slightest alteration.

After witnessing the methods Li Fan demonstrated for constructing the Immortal Embankment, Inherit Dao could not help but sigh in admiration. "Junior Brother, you truly are a heaven-gifted genius. How much time has even passed, yet you can already replicate this project? And you accomplished it merely by relying on what you glimpsed in your memories, without even visiting the actual site."

"Once you understand the underlying principles, reproducing it is naturally not difficult. The newly born Dao Net that Senior Brother created after comprehending the Dao is what truly deserves admiration. These things did not even exist in our world before." Li Fan pointed toward the Dao Net surrounding the High Wall and spoke with great humility.

While Li Fan was comprehending the Immortal Embankment, Inherit Dao had also successfully integrated the original strands of Dao Strings into the Dao Net.

Li Fan could vaguely sense that with the addition of these new forces, the starry sky near the High Wall and the Shuo Star Sea had become considerably more stable once again.

It seemed that these additional Dao Laws, which had not originally existed in this world, provided supplementary support and produced an effect greater than the sum of their individual contributions.

Inherit Dao had naturally noticed this phenomenon as well. He proceeded to tell Li Fan an anecdote.

In the past, while communicating with Lord Hill Guardian, he had asked whether there was any way to resist Dao Annihilation. As Hill Guardian's disciple, Inherit Dao also wished to emulate his master's great feat from back then, saving an entire era single-handedly and rescuing it from the brink of collapse.

Lord Hill Guardian had not mocked his disciple for overestimating himself. Instead, he had seriously offered two suggestions.

The first was to continue cultivating the art of [Phantom Shadow Bearing the Dao]. As long as one became sufficiently powerful, even if one ultimately could not change the fate of being devoured by Dao Annihilation, perhaps one could at least endure until the very last moment before the Mountains and Seas fused.

If the first method relied on external assistance to resist the calamity, then the second method was to strengthen the possibility itself.

If the possibility became sufficiently robust to begin with, it would naturally no longer need a Celestial Pillar or phantom shadows to support it.

Unfortunately, the possibility in which Inherit Dao resided had long since become terminally ill, riddled with countless flaws and wounds. Attempting to reverse the fate of a world in its final stages of decline naturally required extraordinary measures.

One had to absorb the Great Daos of other possibilities to replenish one's own deficiencies.

Take from those who have more than enough and give to those who have too little.

Lord Hill Guardian had also told Inherit Dao that such individuals genuinely existed among the Mountains and Seas. They crossed into other possibilities, extracted and refined their Great Daos, and then returned to their own homelands to hold up the collapsing heavens.

"So this is what Master meant. It seems that, in the end, everything must be verified personally. No matter how much one speculates and ponders in one's mind, it can never compare to actually trying it oneself." Inherit Dao stroked his beard and laughed, evidently quite pleased with his own creation.

Li Fan and Inherit Dao then exchanged their respective insights.

Although their relationship was an act, their interactions genuinely resembled those of two biological senior and junior brothers.

Time passed in this exceptionally harmonious atmosphere. In the blink of an eye, fifty years had gone by.

Inherit Dao had still not received any message from Lord Hill Guardian, while the Primeval Thirteen Dao Forms that Li Fan had been waiting for finally arrived at his doorstep.

On this day, strange fluctuations arose along the frontier of the High Wall and the Shuo Star Sea.

They resembled the waves generated by an enormous ship plowing through the sea against the wind, continuously crashing against the shore.

This region was already surrounded by Dao Annihilation on all sides and relied solely on the Dao Net of the High Wall for support.

Now, struck by these violent tremors, it suddenly resembled a lonely island caught in a colossal tsunami, seemingly on the verge of being overturned.

Li Fan and Inherit Dao appeared simultaneously, their figures flashing into existence as they looked toward the source of the strange phenomenon.

The scene bore an extraordinary resemblance to what happened beyond the world when Dao Annihilation was about to descend.

However, in addition to the roaring of the Mountains and Seas, there was now a deep, muffled sound, like enormous metallic hammers repeatedly colliding and pounding against one another.

With each resounding impact, it seemed that a strand of thread was being created from nothing, carved out of the void itself.

The muffled impacts continued without interruption. As countless strands of Dao Strings overlapped, they gradually grew thicker and more substantial.

It was as though divine might were forcibly parting the sea, creating a passage through Dao Annihilation itself.

Staring at the extraordinary spectacle before him, Li Fan suddenly recalled the scene of Darkened Heavenly Doctor breaking through the High Wall and descending into the world with a thunderous impact.

"Senior Brother, have you ever witnessed someone crossing from another possibility into this one?"

Inherit Dao was momentarily stunned by the question. Then he recalled the foreign Nameless Immortal Li Fan had previously mentioned.

His expression immediately turned solemn.

"It seems that this so-called Emperor Sanmo has concealed something from us."

"Such a commotion does not seem like something that could be caused by merely thirteen Nameless True Immortals."

Li Fan nodded in agreement. "That terrifying impact can briefly force Dao Annihilation back. Ordinary Nameless True Immortals would probably be shaken to ashes by the sound alone."

"However, with Senior Brother here, we have nothing to fear."

Inherit Dao smiled faintly and replied coldly, "Materials for repairing the heavens are always better in greater quantities. We welcome all who come."

The strange phenomenon at the frontier of the Shuo Star Sea grew increasingly magnificent. Finally, the strand of thread in the void completely transformed from something illusory into something real.

Only then did the deafening impacts abruptly cease.

Moments later, a towering green pillar of light shot out from the newly created thread.

Behind the pillar of light, Dao Annihilation once again swallowed the thread.

Unlike the tremendous commotion caused by its creation, the devouring action of Dao Annihilation was astonishingly quiet, occurring without the slightest sound.

The pillar of light seemed to have long since locked onto the location of the High Wall. Despite arriving here for the first time, it did not hesitate in the slightest, charging straight toward the High Wall with unstoppable momentum.

However, just as it was about to arrive, it seemed to suddenly discover the layers of the Shuo Star Sea's Dao Net attached to the exterior of the High Wall, resembling a protective barrier.

Only then did it abruptly come to a halt.

The green light gradually receded, revealing the true form hidden within.

It was none other than a bizarre, grotesque ball of flesh with a thousand hands.

A faint, eerie green glow still enveloped the surface of the flesh ball, concealing its finer details.

Nevertheless, Li Fan could vaguely make out the characteristics of various strange beasts on the enormous mass of flesh.

"Junior Brother, it seems that some enormous upheaval has occurred within the foreign beast race."

"Senior Brother is right. I noticed it as well. There is no longer any sign of multiple consciousnesses within this enormous fusion..." Li Fan stared at the mass before him. A thought stirred in his heart, and he attempted to activate the Myriad Beasts Revolving Wheel.

Once the ability was activated, it indeed produced an effect.

The billions upon billions of tentacles covering the enormous flesh ball swayed incessantly, as though dancing in the wind.

Yet they also seemed to be mocking Li Fan.

"Boy, are you having fun with the Myriad Beasts Revolving Wheel?"

The voices of countless different beings rang out simultaneously, as though billions upon billions of mouths were speaking at the same time. Each voice carried a different emotion.

Some were furious. Others were mocking. Some were filled with greed at the sight of delicious prey, while others expressed the wild joy of having survived a catastrophe. There was even the overwhelming relief of someone who had drifted across the sea for years and finally discovered a continent where they could survive.

Li Fan slowly shook his head and said to Inherit Dao with a hint of regret, "It seems that, in the end, I underestimated them."

"They are, after all, a civilization belonging to a complete possibility. Although they are an foreign race, how could they be so easily manipulated? Even the same individual can undergo vastly different changes across different possibilities, let alone an entire race." Inherit Dao offered words of consolation.

"But they have come here in the end. Just as Master said, unrelated to the final outcome.."

After an encounter in the Unceasing Cycle of Reincarnation, Li Fan had grown increasingly fond of these four characters. Aside from the profound and unfathomable meaning they conveyed, what he appreciated most was the calm confidence they embodied, the feeling of having everything firmly under control.

"Hahaha, well said, Junior Brother! The final outcome is irrelevant!"

"Arrogant foreign race, since you have come here, then stay forever!"

Before Li Fan could make a move, Inherit Dao's figure had already vanished from where he stood.

The Dao Net concealed beyond the High Wall suddenly radiated boundless light. Then, it expanded violently, covering the entire surviving starry expanse surrounding the Annihilation Land.

Caught completely off guard, the enormous ball of flesh with a thousand hands was immediately ensnared by the net.

Although it had relied on the Ancient Cang Primal Essence provided by Li Fan to traverse possibilities, the tremendous disturbance it had caused upon its arrival had also confirmed, from another perspective, just how powerful this fleshy monster was.

It was highly likely that the entire foreign race, including the Thirteen Primeval Dao Forms, had fused together to create this being. Its strength was naturally not to be underestimated.

Now that it had fallen into the net, however, it showed no alarm. Instead, it was delighted.

"Delicious!"

"You brat, since you understand the art of hospitality so well, I shall make sure to thank you properly!"

"Kekekekeke!"

Billions upon billions of wild laughs erupted from the fleshy ball.

Images of countless savage foreign beasts successively lit up across its surface. Some had their eyes gouged out, while others had their heads severed. In short, all of them were horribly mutilated and drenched in blood. Without exception, however, they all performed the same action toward the surrounding Dao Net.

They were devouring it.

As if they intended to swallow heaven and earth itself, an enormous suction force suddenly emanated from the monster.

This suction was different from the one generated by the Hunger Immortal.

The Hunger Immortal devoured because of [Hunger]. This fused foreign entity, however, devoured simply because it wanted to devour.

The Great Daos of heaven and earth, all things in existence.

They were nothing more than nourishment for it!

Besides devouring, the thousand-handed ball of flesh also exuded a mad desire to accept and assimilate everything.

It seemed intent on turning Li Fan and everything within this stretch of starry sky into parts of itself.

With just that single bite from the monster, a small section of the Dao Net of the Shuo Star Sea was directly swallowed into a void.

Even Li Fan had not expected the fused foreign entity to devour and digest Dao Laws so quickly.

It did not merely swallow them. In an extremely short time, it could even transform them into a part of its own power.

Li Fan clearly saw that, as a result of this devouring, another hundred or so tentacles had appeared on the surface of the fleshy ball.

"Abomination!"

Inherit Dao let out a thunderous roar, and the light radiating from the tangible Dao Net grew increasingly brilliant.

It stretched across the starry sky.

The fused foreign entity's devouring efficiency immediately slowed.

At that very moment, Inherit Dao's two hands tore through the void and descended above the thousand-handed ball of flesh.

Completely ignoring the savage beasts' attempts to devour him, he seized the monster and pressed it down firmly with both hands.

No matter how greedily the images of the savage beasts gnawed at him, he remained utterly unmoving.

Inherit Dao's figure was even more stable than the Great Dao itself.

The fused foreign entity could gnaw through the Great Dao, yet it was helpless against an unyielding rock between the Mountains and Seas!

In that instant alone, tens of thousands of tentacles disintegrated amid agonized screams from the backlash.

The indistinct flesh and blood that fell to the ground seemed to contain traces of the forms those tentacles had originally possessed.

Yet before they could even struggle, countless densely packed, tiny tentacles emerged across the surface of the fused foreign entity. They dragged the fallen flesh and blood back inside.

Before long, the enormous ball of flesh had grown a fresh set of tentacles.

"Wind, arise!"

One of Inherit Dao's enormous hands continued to press the fused foreign entity firmly in place.

The other gently beckoned toward the empty void where the thousand-handed ball of flesh had appeared.

Buzz, buzz...

It was like the prelude to an approaching hurricane. The scene of relentless, hammer-like blows from earlier appeared once more.

Only this time, the blows were not splitting the sea of the void and opening a passage through nothingness.

Instead, waves of Dao Annihilation ripples were being drawn toward them!

Watching the battle, Li Fan's pupils contracted.

This was a technique Inherit Dao had never used before. He had not even mentioned it during their usual discussions of the Dao. Clearly, the fused foreign entity's devouring had finally provoked his true fury.

'Those ripples... They are not an illusion. This is genuine Dao Annihilation!'

'But instead of descending all at once as a surging, overwhelming tide, it comes in the form of repeated gentle breezes?'

A strange light appeared in Li Fan's eyes. He quickly discerned the profound principle behind Inherit Dao's divine ability.

'The essence of Dao Annihilation is the fusion of Mountains and Seas.'

'When Mountains and Seas meet, crashing waves pounding against the shore constitute their fusion. But the wind howling between Mountains and Seas is also a form of that fusion...'

Li Fan watched as the countless tentacles of the fused foreign entity evaporated completely amid the ripples of the mountains and seas. Not even fragments of flesh remained.

It was as though he were witnessing the winds blowing from between the mountains and seas, sweeping through and purifying the mortal world.

'Before the great tide arrives, the wind has already come.'

'Only those who guard the hills and gaze toward the sea can perceive it before anyone else.'

Just as Li Fan was reaching a moment of enlightenment, Inherit Dao's guidance also sounded beside his ears.

One had to admit that the fused foreign entity was truly ferocious.

Under the sweeping winds of the Mountains and Seas, even the entire Shuo Star Sea might not be able to endure for long. Yet through its extraordinarily powerful regenerative abilities, the monster stubbornly held its ground without being defeated.

Even though the ripples had erased billions upon billions of tentacles from its surface, another endless mass soon emerged from within.

These tentacles belonged to its own kind, the foreign beings it had devoured. Now, they also served as its many layers of defense.

Although it knew it was no match for the powerhouse wielding the Winds of the Mountains and Seas, its path of retreat had already been severed. With nowhere left to run, the fused foreign entity's ferocity was instead driven to even greater heights by its desperate predicament.

Billions upon billions of piercing shrieks erupted incessantly across the surface of the fleshy ball.

One tentacle after another transformed back into its original savage beast form.

They detached themselves from the fused entity and fled in all directions.

Meanwhile, the enormous ball of flesh itself split open down the middle, revealing a gigantic fissure.

Hidden within the deep, shadowy fissure was an orange-yellow eyeball.

Under the gaze of this eyeball, even the ripples of the mountains and seas came to a standstill for a brief moment.

Although the Winds of the Mountains and Seas quickly resumed their original force, that brief pause had brought the tentacles that had scattered earlier precious time to escape.

If Li Fan had not been present, then shortly after flying away, the countless savage beasts would all have mysteriously vanished.

It was as if some unknown predator had been lying in wait for them for a long time.

The fused foreign entity even sensed that the parts of itself that had disappeared were suffering the same fate as those swept away by the ripples of the Mountains and seas.

Its connection with them had been severed completely.

"What the hell is that thing?!"