"…Empty words, life, life. Intent, spirit, body, soul, born from chaos, returning to chaos. Existence is eternal existence. Loss is also existence. Without beginning or end, without past or future. Mortal yet transcendent, sacred yet unborn…"
The Daoist melody emanating from the painting was even clearer and more detailed than what Li Fan had gleaned from the Healer and Legacy Transmission's memories. The Profound Heaven King's Daoist Sound held immense power, capable of influencing the past from the present, of changing reality through illusion. Li Fan, despite mastering the technique, had never understood its underlying principles.
Until his journey through the river of time.
"It incorporates the Dao of Upstream. Not physical traversal, but echoes of sound. Like a shout from downstream resonating upstream."
"The Profound Heaven King also possessed the Upstream Ark. Such a technique isn't surprising. If I wanted to…" Li Fan narrowed his eyes, his thoughts returning to his arrival in this time. Having traveled from the future, this was his furthest point upstream.
"You're finally awake," a voice had said. "Tell us what happened at the Medicine King Sect, or…"
"Just search his soul!"
It was the moment the Evergreen Valley disciples had surrounded him.
Now, Li Fan silently invoked the Daoist Sound. The subtle melody, traversing the currents of time, reached the disciples' ears.
Their expressions turned confused. They looked at him, then said, "Oh, it's you. What are you doing here?" He had rewritten their perceptions.
The danger he had previously averted with Illusion Becomes Reality was now neutralized effortlessly. His past self, witnessing this inexplicable change, seemed to understand, his gaze meeting Li Fan's across time.
A faint rumbling, like a distant storm, echoed in Li Fan's ears, not from the Xuanhuang World, but from time itself. Without that initial slap, those disciples wouldn't die. Though the lives of a few insignificant Foundation Establishment cultivators wouldn't significantly alter the river of time, it still caused ripples.
But Li Fan, with his deeply rooted anchor points, was unaffected.
He savored the sensation of the Daoist Sound traversing time. He had used it before to influence He Zhenghao and others, but he had only understood the technique, not its underlying principles. Now, he had witnessed the sound traveling upstream, even briefly connecting with his past self. Though the connection was fleeting, quickly obscured by the river's currents, he sensed a change within himself. His vision within the river of time had expanded, seeing slightly further into both past and future.
While the past was fixed, the future was fluid, a collection of possibilities. A brief glimpse was enough to make him dizzy. He withdrew, but the excitement remained.
"Mastering Upstream allows you to alter your own past, but it also invites backlash. A double-edged sword. Of course, with sufficient stability within the river, this backlash is negligible."
"I didn't experience any backlash before because, one, True Return protected me, and two, I was still within the river, a part of it. Even if it changed course, I wasn't significantly affected."
"But once you step outside the river, you're exposed to the elements. No longer a part of it, you face the storm alone."
"Before, I was a single drop outside the river. Now, I'm a small segment of the river itself." He felt a sense of pride.
"But still too short."
"As I flow downstream with the river of time, I'll grow longer. But this requires greater control…" He sensed his imprint on the river slowly extending.
"By using the Daoist Sound, by strengthening my connection to my past and future selves, I can maintain this state. The longer I live, the stronger I become."
"A thousand years, ten thousand, a hundred thousand…"
While the Hill Watcher's Dao of Longevity was strength leading to longevity, the Dao of Upstream was longevity leading to strength.
"Ordinary longevity doesn't necessarily lead to greater power. But within the river of time… it's different." He looked towards the heavens, as if seeing the river itself, insights flowing into his mind like waves.
His aura fluctuated. When he regained his focus, he felt even more attuned to the river of time, not through external anchor points, but through his own being, like a fish in water, or a bird in the sky, no longer just observing the forbidden zone, but becoming a part of it.
"Now, even if I lose all my anchor points, even if the Upstream Ark is destroyed, I can still survive within the river for a while, not instantly swept away by its currents." This was a comforting thought.
He no longer trusted "external" things. Even True Return could fail. What guarantee was there that anything else would last? He had to rely on himself, his true self.
His thoughts returned to the Daoist Sound. "Hidden within the Xuanyuan bloodline… a message from Xuanyuan Hong, transmitted through his descendants, across possibilities and time."
"But where and when did it originate?" He listened intently.
The faint, distant melody grew clearer. He felt himself rising, following the sound beyond the Xuanhuang World, beyond the Dark Star Sea, beyond the High Wall, beyond Primordial Possibility, facing the Mountain and Sea.
The river of time, visible from within the mortal realm, vanished. From this perspective, the Mountain and Sea seemed to exist outside of time, encompassing past, present, and future. It was a strange, almost paradoxical sensation. But Li Fan knew that everything he had experienced, everything he knew, everything he had ever heard of, existed within this timeless expanse.
"Dao Obliteration affects all points in time. No one is spared. I understand now." He felt a sense of detached understanding, almost forgetting why he was here.
Then, another question arose.
"What lies beyond the Mountain and Sea? And the Star that appeared at the end of time, mentioned in the Fable… what is it?"
As if sensing his thoughts, the tranquil, timeless Mountain and Sea suddenly stirred. He felt countless eyes upon him, a chilling, omnipresent gaze.
Startled, he abruptly withdrew, returning to reality. He looked at the sky, his heart pounding, the sense of danger lingering for hours.
"Good thing I'm used to using Illusion Becomes Reality. Even the simplified version saved my life." With True Return dormant, he had narrowly escaped a potentially fatal encounter. Even the three Daos merging hadn't prepared him for the Mountain and Sea's acute awareness.
"This isn't right." He frowned. This wasn't his first encounter with the Mountain and Sea. Previously, they hadn't paid him any attention, a mere ant beneath their notice.
"My theory was correct. The three Daos merging… even after True Return reversed it, it changed me, making me… different. Within the mortal realm, I'm safe. But outside… I'm under constant scrutiny, like just now." The thought was unsettling.
He couldn't comprehend the Mountain and Sea's power, let alone defend against it.
"Good thing I didn't ascend directly, using the immortal puppet and formation instead. It would have been fatal." He felt a sense of frustration. Since recovering his memories, every step had been a struggle. He had to constantly worry about both the river of time's backlash and the Mountain and Sea's gaze. The freedom he had enjoyed with True Return was gone.
But he couldn't fight them. He had to adapt.
"Patience. I'll focus on solidifying my existence in the river of time."
He returned to the Daoist Sound. He recalled his brief glimpse within the Mountain and Sea.
"The sound… originated from the distant past? But still within our timeline, not beyond the Eternal Silent Void. Could the Profound Heaven King be attempting to traverse the Void, to reach the past and save the world? Does he possess such power?"
"And the sound… it's not a message, but a marker, guiding others. Could it be…" A thought struck him. "Is he dead? Otherwise, why would he send such a persistent, unwavering signal across time?"
He considered this, then shook his head, silencing the sound. Even if it were true, he wouldn't risk it. If the Profound Heaven King had perished there, he wouldn't fare any better, especially without True Return.
"Perhaps, when I'm strong enough to walk freely within the Mountain and Sea, I'll investigate."
He carefully stored the painting, not casually but within the Root of Heaven and Earth.
"The second task is complete. Now…"
"The Black Healer, the Evil Su Bai." Compared to the overwhelming presence of the Mountain and Sea, which filled him with an instinctive urge to flee, dealing with these two Transcendents seemed almost manageable. He could at least formulate a plan.
These two were ticking time bombs, threatening the entire Dark Star Sea. The moment they left the High Wall, the bombs would detonate. Li Fan, with his anchor points rooted in the Xuanhuang World, had to neutralize them.
Based on the Grand Celestial Venerable's memories, he had pinpointed the current time: the Heavenly Law World wasn't yet destroyed, still recovering from a recent conflict.
"I'm not sure if the Healer has initiated the Heavenly Soul Transmigration technique yet. And Su Bai… hasn't been born. But it's coming."
He decided to meet the current Legacy Transmission: Xuanyuan Tuo, descendant of the Profound Heaven King.
The Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, having participated in the Taiyuan War, now had a better relationship with the Ten Sects. Their strength in battle had even convinced some cultivators to adopt their methods. And the Ten Sects, preoccupied with Taiyuan and the surrounding starry sky, were ignoring them.
The Alliance was growing stronger.
(End of Chapter)