With the appearance of the wordless stele, the nascent Immortal Realm stabilized. Time seemed to freeze. A profound aura emerged, so vast that it nearly froze Li Fan's mind. If not for the stele's passive presence and its location within the Immortal Realm, Li Fan would have been obliterated.
Despite his power within the Dark Star Sea, he was now a mere ant before the stele, his life hanging by a thread. His expression changed drastically as he tried to summon his wooden sword, only to find its laws unresponsive, paralyzed by the stele's presence. Even the Interplay of Truth and Illusion was useless!
The stele stood as the center of all worlds, drawing everything towards it. Unlike the Immortal Ruins, which shattered things with its True Immortal power, the stele reduced everything to nothingness. Li Fan watched as remnants of True Immortal power and world fragments within the Dark Star Sea were drawn in and vanished.
"No!" As True Return's energy reserves plummeted and his vision distorted, Li Fan saw mottled shadows appear on the stele.
"It's not nothingness! Everything is returning to its primordial state, converging on the stele! This is the Dao's evolution, tracing back to its origin!" Li Fan's mind reeled.
This grand spectacle, akin to creation itself, deeply moved him. He felt as if he were witnessing the Dao itself, countless insights flooding his mind. This surpassed even his previous experience facing the Star Sea's fundamental will by a thousandfold! Even the Interplay of Truth and Illusion, which he could only grasp through True Return's simulations, felt within reach.
"What is real? What is fake? It's all a manifestation of the Dao! A thought creates worlds and all things! A thought brings destruction, returning everything to nothingness…" Like everything else drawn to the stele, Li Fan was captivated, unable to escape.
He didn't even notice the figures approaching, each maintaining a respectful distance. Several consciousnesses brushed past him, quickly shifting their attention to the stele. Before the stele's power, all were equal. True Immortals and Supreme Beings, all were ants. The usual hierarchy vanished. They gazed upon the stele, just as awestruck as Li Fan.
The stele was like a hole in the Star Sea, drawing everything inwards, forming a torrential waterfall. Only the strongest, standing at the Star Sea's peak, could maintain their position.
A rumbling echoed from the edge of the Star Sea – the Great Wall of Artifacts and the Great Wall of Shattered Worlds collapsing, countless ruins flowing towards the Immortal Realm, dissolving into beams of light before even reaching it, adding only faint shadows to the stele.
Even the barrier trembled, undergoing a strange transformation. Like gathering storm clouds, countless images appeared at its edge.
…
Amidst these terrifying phenomena, a clear, feminine voice, filled with surprise and fear, echoed, cutting through the stele's influence. Its ability to reach them despite the chaos spoke volumes about its power.
"The Southern Immortal Heavenly Pillar? Why is it here?"
The voice's owner transformed into a stream of light, rushing towards the stele, seemingly trying to enter the Immortal Realm. But a faint glow from the Immortal Realm repelled her.
"This is…"
"The Cangsheng Ancient Realm of the Tai Li Star Region!" The slender figure finally materialized. Her face was pale, as if recovering from a serious illness. Her eyes, deep and profound, seemed to hold countless secrets, drawing in all who gazed upon them. Her features were ordinary, yet she possessed a unique, unforgettable charm.
"She's…"
Her appearance snapped Li Fan out of his trance. Recognizing the familiar figure, he realized, "The True Immortal cultivating in the Immortal Ruins? I only saw her skeletal remains and illusory form before. I didn't realize she was a woman."
Seemingly sensing his thoughts, the True Immortal frowned, scanning her surroundings. Li Fan's heart pounded. But perhaps due to the stele's influence, she couldn't pinpoint him. After confirming everyone else was mortal, her attention returned to the Immortal Realm.
Her form rippled as she tried to merge with it, but the Immortal Realm seemed to repel True Immortals. A brilliant flash of light pushed her back. Her expression turned grim, her aura shifting. She vanished from sight.
Li Fan saw a distortion in space, a transparent bulge moving towards the Immortal Realm. The light surrounding the Immortal Realm momentarily stretched, then the True Immortal slipped inside.
Her goal was clear: the wordless stele.
Though the Immortal Realm appeared small from the outside, it took her a long time to cover even a short distance. The closer she got to the stele, the slower she became, as if the distance was truly infinite.
The events within the Immortal Realm didn't affect the Dark Star Sea. The remnants of the Great Walls continued their inevitable descent towards the stele.
The "waterfall" intensified, making it increasingly difficult for Li Fan to maintain his position. Each passing beam of light felt like the object it represented slamming into him, pushing him towards the Immortal Realm.
Nothing in the Star Sea could escape this fate. Not even Xuanhuang.
Li Fan saw the Legacy Transmitter and the Healer break free from the stele's allure, desperately trying to prevent Xuanhuang's demise, but their efforts were futile, merely delaying the inevitable.
Then, two figures, one large and one small, standing side-by-side, caught his attention.
"The Dao, ancient and eternal. Hardship, utter annihilation. Cultivate thoughts and actions, understand intent, and reach divinity. A thousand transformations of the soul, a hundred twists of the spirit."
"…without blame." A profound voice emanated from the larger figure. The smaller figure, a Daoist boy, gazed at the stele with a mixture of greed and fear.
"The Grand Magus of Tiandu!" Li Fan's heart skipped a beat.
"I've heard that chant before, when facing the Grinding Wind Calamity."
"What does it mean?" This time, he was close enough to hear it clearly. He memorized the words, repeating them silently.
An invisible force enveloped him, anchoring him amidst the stele's influence.
"This seems to offer protection from calamities?" He wondered.
The Daoist boy beside the Grand Magus glanced at him with a hint of mockery, but didn't speak, his attention returning to the stele.
Checking True Return's energy reserves, Li Fan summoned Tian Yang and Autumn Water. They appeared beside him, standing guard. Even their combined Supreme Being auras didn't distract the boy.
Li Fan, avoiding any interaction with the Grand Magus, looked back at the Immortal Realm. The True Immortal, somehow, was much closer to the stele. The blurry images within the Immortal Realm became clearer, revealing mountains and rivers.
He sensed the Grand Magus's aura fluctuating, as if he were about to act.
At that moment… the black Qi from the heart of the Star Sea arrived like a tidal wave, bypassing Li Fan and heading straight for the Immortal Realm.
The Grand Magus, as if jolted awake, his face filled with terror, vanished instantly.
The Immortal Realm's light couldn't stop the black Qi. Drawn by the stele, the black Qi condensed, transforming from a boundless sea into a long, dark ribbon descending from the sky.
Within the Immortal Realm, dark clouds gathered, threatening to crush everything beneath.
The True Immortal looked up. Though her expression was hidden, her next action surprised Li Fan. Instead of fleeing, she accelerated towards the stele.
Her form distorted as she approached. Then, under the influence of the dark clouds, disaster struck the nascent Immortal Realm.
The sky seemed to collapse inwards, the newly formed mountains and rivers crumbling into nothingness, replaced by surging black Qi. A black avalanche swept towards the center of the Immortal Realm, consuming everything in its path.
The sky continued to fall, the Immortal Realm shrinking.
Just as all seemed lost, the True Immortal reached the stele. She unleashed a brilliant light, striking the stele. Faint characters appeared on its surface. A beam of light erupted from the stele's peak, barely holding back the encroaching black tide and the collapsing sky. It was like a pillar supporting the heavens.
"The Dao Obliteration Calamity…"
"The Southern Immortal Heavenly Pillar…"
Li Fan finally understood what the True Immortal had meant.
But a single pillar wasn't enough. The stele's power, fueled by the True Immortal, couldn't stop the calamity. The black tide, though slow, relentlessly advanced.
Despair filled the True Immortal's face.
Having devoured the Immortal Realm, the black Qi changed, shadowy figures flickering within. Li Fan's sense of danger intensified. He saw countless tendrils of black Qi erupting throughout the remaining parts of the Dark Star Sea, not the original kind, but an enhanced version, like ghosts roaming in the night.
The figures within the black Qi emanated a terrifying aura, making Li Fan's heart race and his scalp tingle. Even True Return issued a rare warning, urging him to flee.
"Time for True Return." The thought arose as he watched the encroaching darkness.
But just as the True Return screen appeared, inspiration struck. He tossed a white ring – the White Ring, Falling to the Mortal Realm – towards the stele. Unlike the True Immortal, it wasn't repelled. It pierced through the black tide, colliding with the stele.
There was no explosion, only a flash of brilliant light from the ring before it vanished. At the same time, a character fully materialized on the stele – a True Immortal script character representing the fundamental principles of the Dao!
This character infused the Southern Immortal Heavenly Pillar with power. Its light intensified, pushing back the black tide.
The True Immortal, no longer despairing, poured all her remaining energy into the stele. Her flesh and hair vanished, reverting to her skeletal form. A second True Immortal script character appeared on the stele. The light beam expanded further, piercing the black tide, creating a giant ring of light in the sky.
The True Immortal, carrying the stele, broke through the darkness, seemingly intending to bring Li Fan with her.
But to her astonishment, he retreated, sending Tian Yang and Autumn Water to intercept her.
"True Return!" Li Fan thought.
(End of chapter)