As the memories of the previous Hungry Immortal, or rather, the Dao Devourer from another possibility, flashed through Li Fan's mind, their skeletal remains transformed into another Heavenly Pillar. Though still incomplete, it represented a purer essence of the primordial Dao of Hunger than the previous pillar.
Li Fan didn't remove this new pillar from the Immortal Ruins. Instead, he buried the sealed Hungry Immortal's pillar nearby. He sensed a merging tendency between the two, drawn together by their shared Dao of Hunger.
"Unable to achieve the Unnamed level in life, but granted a second chance in death. Consider this a fulfillment of your wish."
He considered the three key takeaways from the previous Hungry Immortal's brief memories.
First, the Dao of Dao Devouring. The all-consuming desire hidden within Hunger, the drive to devour even the Mountain and Sea, wasn't an illusion, but the true nature of Dao Devouring. A terrifying power capable of consuming an entire possibility.
"But they chose the wrong target. Devouring a single possibility is one thing. Facing the Mountain and Sea…" Li Fan scoffed. Without having seen the Infinite Sea and the Upper Mountain firsthand, one couldn't comprehend their vastness. Even the mortal realm, encompassing all possibilities, was but a small corner of their domain.
The previous Hungry Immortal had paid the price for their arrogance, adrift in Dao Obliteration before stumbling into Primordial Possibility. But even there, with the Three Sages present, they couldn't unleash their full power, forced to adopt the guise of Hunger. Though similar, Hunger was a pale imitation of Dao Devouring. They had been easily subdued and transformed into a Heavenly Pillar.
Second, the Tribulation Crossing Immortal Coffin, which had allowed the Hungry Immortal to survive their journey through Dao Obliteration. Its repeated mention in their fragmented memories suggested its importance. A treasure valued even by a being capable of devouring entire possibilities must be extraordinary.
"I wonder who stole it. If it still exists, it must be somewhere within the lower realms' Star Sea."
Though he had witnessed Primordial Possibility's destruction, he hadn't explored all of its surviving regions, his travels limited to the High Wall, the Shuo Star Sea, and the Guangwu Star Sea. This was partly due to the difficulty of traversing Dao Obliteration, and partly because the surviving factions were all powerful and hostile. The Dao Sword, the Dao Blade, the Dao Chronicle Projection Pearl… all possessed world-destroying power. And the ever-present threat of Dao Obliteration made these Star Seas particularly hostile to outsiders. Exploring them all would be a daunting task.
But more importantly, it was unnecessary. His true goals lay beyond Primordial Possibility, within the Mountain and Sea, and further upstream, in the Eternal Silent Void. The High Wall, the Shuo Star Sea, and the Guangwu Star Sea were all the same to him.
Finally, the most intriguing and concerning figure: the Morality True Immortal. The Hungry Immortal's memories painted a picture of a being not just powerful, but fundamentally different from the other powerful beings he had encountered.
The Hill Watcher, the Tai Heavenly Emperor, the Purple-Clad figure, the Three Sages… though powerful, they adhered to a certain code, a sense of… honor. But the Morality True Immortal, despite their name, seemed devoid of morality, manipulating others from a position of self-righteousness, indifferent to their suffering, pursuing only their own benefit, ruthlessly eliminating any perceived threat.
Li Fan recognized this behavior. Though they hadn't met, he sensed this Morality True Immortal would become a formidable enemy.
"Interesting. Let's see who's more 'moral'." The immortal puppet stood on the Immortal Ruins, the power of Dao Devouring shattering the remnants of the former Immortal Realm into dust, then consuming it.
The Immortal Ruins were gone, replaced by two Heavenly Pillars of Hunger, new and old, supporting the crumbling sky.
Li Fan, through the immortal puppet, savored the taste of the Immortal Ruins. Created within the Upper Mountain, they carried a faint echo of its essence, conjuring images of vast, towering peaks.
"This… distant observation… offers some insight into the Dao of the Mountain, but it's far inferior to being there, even less than the Hill Watcher's method." He wasn't surprised. He had only consumed the remnants, not the mountain itself. "Like walking towards a mountain, each step brings you closer."
With little else remaining of the Immortal Realm, he turned his attention to the Immortal Realm chess pieces scattered by Sun Piaomiao. Their locations were slightly different from the future, but still within the High Wall. He had already collected them while preparing his trap for the Hungry Immortal.
The Medicine King Sect disciples, believing they had escaped the Immortal Ruins, eagerly sought information from other cultivators, only to realize, to their horror, they were back in the Xuanhuang World. Fortunately, the Ten Sects, preoccupied with the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance's offensive, weren't paying attention to them.
Confused and terrified, they joined the Alliance, hoping their healing skills would be valued. But the Alliance's new cultivation method, granting near-invulnerability, rendered their skills useless. It was their previously overlooked alchemical concoctions that allowed them to find a new niche.
Li Fan didn't care about their fate. Sparing them instead of consuming them was already a gesture of goodwill, considering their past association.
Having devoured the expanded Immortal Realm chess pieces, the immortal puppet reached its limit. The image of the Upper Mountain in his mind became clearer, but its oppressive presence intensified, weighing down on the puppet.
Immortals were born from the union of Mountain and Sea, the Sea's infinite power balanced by the Mountain's potential. Now, having consumed an entire Immortal Realm, the Mountain's influence within the immortal puppet was overwhelming the Sea's.
Li Fan sensed a change occurring within the puppet, its nature uncertain. He stopped the devouring process and channeled the power of the Infinite Sea to counter the Mountain's influence.
As the sound of crashing waves filled his mind, the pressure subsided, and the puppet regained its mobility.
"That sensation… of being consumed by the Mountain's shadow… it's similar to merging the three Daos." As the immortal puppet meditated, Li Fan pondered this.
"But with the three Daos, I was dissolving into an unknown, formless power. And just now, the puppet was simply being overwhelmed by the Upper Mountain…" He thought of the Fallen Immortal Realm, connected to the Infinite Sea but not the Upper Mountain.
"If I pushed the Dao of Dao Devouring to its limit, disregarding the consequences… could I create a counterpart to the Fallen Immortal Realm, one rooted in the Upper Mountain?" He closed his eyes, his experience with the three Daos aiding his rapid calculations. If he could maintain his consciousness while being consumed by the Mountain's shadow, he could perhaps see this other Fallen Immortal Realm.
The Immortal Ruins, the chess pieces… all the remnants of the Immortal Realm he had consumed reappeared, not in their current form, but as they had been within the Upper Mountain: scattered points of light, like stars in the darkness, dotting the endless mountain range.
"Distant from the merging of Mountain and Sea… another way to avoid Dao Obliteration. But the price…" He observed his surroundings, a phantom within this desolate landscape. The Upper Mountain was silent, devoid of the Sea's life-giving energy, only towering peaks, an absolute hierarchy.
"Life… is meaningless here." He understood why, in the Fable, all life originated from the Sea. The Upper Mountain was antithetical to life itself.
"Even True Immortals, borrowing the Mountain's potential, don't truly merge with it. They simply stand upon it. Even the Three Sages."
"And the fate of those who do merge…"
The mountains' shadows closed in, consuming the scattered remnants of the Immortal Realm.
Li Fan withdrew from his vision, his forehead covered in sweat, not from fear, but from an instinctive reverence for the Upper Mountain. The immortal puppet's body was covered in shadows.
"Devouring the Mountain and Sea… not impossible, but one must withstand their backlash. You devour them, and they devour you."
He channeled the power of the Infinite Sea, lessening the Mountain's influence on the puppet. It took months for the shadows to recede.
"The Sea Returning and Mountain Joining Sages… truly exceptional. Mastering only one of those Daos… would lead to a terrible fate. The only outcome… merging with the Mountain or Sea, becoming one with them."
"But their union, their balancing act, created a space for Immortals to exist. And with that existence… comes the burden of facing the Mountain and Sea's own calamities: their merging, Dao Obliteration…"
The world's Daos were merely extensions of the Mountain and Sea's principles. By devouring the Immortal Ruins, Li Fan had bypassed the usual process of Dao comprehension, directly confronting the Mountain and Sea. Though rapid, this method carried immense risks. Only his experience with the three Daos merging, and True Return's intervention, had allowed him to survive this lesser "submergence."
"All things merge with the Mountain and Sea, and the Mountain and Sea merge with… something greater. Even Longevity and True Return, equal to the Mountain and Sea, are part of this merging sequence."
He remembered the legend of the Creator God.
"It hints at the ultimate truth. The Creator God created the Mountain and Sea, all of existence. But ultimately, everything returns to its source. The mortal realm fades, the Mountain and Sea merge. This is the inevitable fate of all beings."
The image that had startled even the Mountain and Sea appeared in his mind: a lone star, like a divine eye, gazing down upon all creation.
"Are those who traverse time, those who carry the torch of hope… are they fighting against this fate?" He stood in the darkness, looking beyond Primordial Possibility, towards the Mountain and Sea, lost in thought.
"Even I can see this. What about the Transcendents, the Three Sages?"
"And yet, they don't hesitate…"
"Impressive." He felt a surge of genuine admiration.
If there was a will behind the merging of Mountain and Sea, it was the vanished Creator God's, seeking to reclaim all of creation. To save the mortal realm, to reverse the merging, was to defy this will. Ants within the Mountain and Sea, raising their antennae against the distant star… a seemingly futile struggle.
"If the sky falls, let the taller ones hold it up. As long as they endure, I'll let them carry the burden…" he muttered, suppressing his unease.
This unease stemmed partly from glimpsing the truth, and partly from distrust. He had never relied on others, not even powerful beings like the Purple-Clad figure, the Hill Watcher, or the Three Sages.
"Can they really do it?" he wondered. Until the merging was reversed, this doubt would linger.
"Perhaps, in the end, I'll have to do it myself." His gaze pierced through the fragmented river of time, towards its source.
(End of Chapter)