"[Dao Origin] function unlocked."
"Dao Origin: When activating [True Return], you can designate an area to be reverted to its state at the designated anchor point."
"Alternatively, you can forgo [True Return] and designate an area to neutralize [Dao Obliteration]."
…
Before Li Fan could process this new information, countless memories exploded within his mind like a supernova.
Most were fleeting, fragmented moments.
But the sheer volume of memories contained within this Eternal Remnant skull was overwhelming. It was as if this eternally persisting remnant was constructed layer upon layer from countless different consciousnesses.
Even Li Fan, with his True Immortal-level willpower, almost lost himself in this tidal wave of memories.
Fortunately, [True Return] remained a steady beacon within his mind, and a few larger, clearer memory fragments guided him like lighthouses in a stormy sea, preventing him from being completely lost.
Boom!
Li Fan's consciousness merged with Su Bai's remaining memories.
A ruined world, filled with the stench of blood. Corpses littered the ground like a scene from hell.
An oppressive silence hung in the air.
Rivers of blood flowed, and in their crimson reflection, Li Fan saw the face of the Healer!
But this "Healer" was filled with fear and confusion, his body trembling.
A voice echoed in his mind, identical to Su Bai's, yet filled with malice.
"Well? Are you satisfied?"
"I've done what you always wanted to do."
The "Healer's" face contorted, shifting back into Su Bai's form.
"What I always wanted to do?" he asked, his voice trembling with despair.
The sinister Su Bai's voice was laced with amusement. "Isn't that right? A venerable being of your world, yet you used Heavenly Soul Transmigration to enter the Xuanhuang World, attempting to use the Dao of Healing to sow chaos and distract them from their expeditions…"
"What I've done is no different from that Healer, is it?"
"Just… more thorough."
Sinister laughter filled the consciousness space.
"Oh, look, here comes the main event."
"Look at his face, it's truly delightful!"
Su Bai snarled, "You damned beast!"
His rage erupted like a volcano, his form shifting back into that of Master Bai of the Xuanhuang World.
The sinister Su Bai continued taunting, his voice gradually weakening.
"No need to be so angry."
"The deaths of these ants are inconsequential. I've seen far worse…"
"Hehehe, far more brutal. At least I was kind enough to leave them their corpses."
"Besides, I am you, and you are me…"
His voice faded into a whisper.
Sensing the Healer approaching, Su Bai's face was etched with pain.
But he gritted his teeth and fled.
…
Within the endless darkness of the void, Su Bai reached out, his hand stopped by an invisible barrier.
"The wall…"
Urgent, excited thoughts raced through his mind.
He pondered, taking out the Immortal Artifacts bestowed by the Immortal Realm, the legacy of the Grand Celestial Venerable of Xuanhuang.
He arranged them before him.
"The self-destruction of so many Immortal Artifacts, combined with the Xuanhuang World's power, should be enough to help me cross this threshold."
After a long hesitation, he detonated the artifacts.
Countless suns erupted at the edge of the Star Sea, momentarily illuminating even the Dark Star Sea.
The immense light and heat converged upon Su Bai.
His features became indistinct, his form a radiant white silhouette.
He stepped forward.
Like a phantom, part of his body vanished.
One foot had crossed the wall, on the verge of escaping the Dark Star Sea.
He looked back at the Xuanhuang World, a world filled with everything he cared for.
In that moment of hesitation, images flooded his mind.
Their content shook the benevolent Grand Celestial Venerable to his core.
Mountains of corpses, countless worlds destroyed, and the perpetrator of this carnage… looked exactly like him!
An unprecedented sense of danger washed over him.
Without hesitation, he pulled back his leg!
The radiant light surrounding him faded.
Shaken, he ignored the bewildered, enraged cries of the Xuanhuang World consciousness, angered by his sudden change of heart.
"What… was that?"
As his expression shifted, he heard his own voice in his mind, its tone strangely distorted.
"Oh? There's another one hiding here."
"Tsk, tsk…"
"Still so foolish."
The shift in tone affected his body.
A sinister, manic aura emanated from him.
The Xuanhuang World's Heavenly Dao consciousness, attached to him, also lost its reason, spewing venomous curses.
…
Within the Heavenly Sword Sect's Sword Tomb, countless swords stood upright, each with a hovering spirit, formed after eons of refinement.
Now, these countless sword spirits faced a single opponent.
Su Bai, sitting at the center.
Sword energy crisscrossed the tomb, like scalpels, dissecting his soul and mind.
Su Bai's face remained calm, but he couldn't suppress the occasional flicker of pain.
At the edge of the tomb, the Heavenly Sword Sect's Eldest Senior Brother watched impassively, taking swigs from his gourd.
But it wasn't wine this time.
It was water.
After an unknown amount of time…
Hum!
A shockwave erupted from Su Bai.
The Sword Tomb was devastated.
Countless sword spirits vanished.
Situ Yao winced.
But this wasn't the time for sentimentality. He appeared beside Su Bai.
"Celestial Venerable, how are you?"
A long silence.
Finally, Su Bai's weakened voice echoed, "I severed the infected parts of my soul. It's suppressed for now."
"But…"
"As he said, this is only temporary. He will return."
Situ Yao's expression turned grim.
"So, are you still willing to proceed with the plan? To gamble the lives of everyone in the Heavenly Sword Sect?" Su Bai asked softly.
Situ Yao took another gulp of water.
"Even if we stay, our destruction is inevitable."
"We sword cultivators do not fear death."
"Besides, he's after you. He might not bother with ants like us." His decision was made.
Su Bai, his expression solemn, stood up with difficulty and bowed deeply to Situ Yao.
Situ Yao accepted the gesture calmly.
…
Within the Xuanhuang World, in Ningyuan City, life, like weeds, was resilient.
A bustling city had risen from the ruins, even more prosperous than before.
Su Bai strolled through the streets, his face a mixture of relief and melancholy.
He finally reached his destination.
His old home.
Memories flooded his mind.
Seeing the children, now grown, he smiled.
"I shouldn't rob them of their hope."
"I must die."
He murmured.
"Let me do one last thing for this world."
Defy the principles of heaven and earth, to achieve Eternal Life!
A profound change swept across the Xuanhuang World.
…
Within the Immortal Ruins, a skeletal figure sat amidst mystical characters.
Another figure appeared silently behind her.
The meditating True Immortal didn't notice.
It was Su Bai!
But he now wore black robes, madness in his eyes.
"This is the source of your Xuanhuang World's, and even this Star Sea's, calamities."
"If you agree, I'll kill her right now."
He flicked the Starved Immortal's head, producing a crisp sound.
She didn't react, still immersed in her meditation.
Only silence answered the sinister Su Bai.
Unfazed, he looked around the Immortal Ruins with amusement.
"Comprehending a single 'Starved' character for so long, and this is all she's achieved?"
"I've killed countless beings like her."
"And trash like this has caused millennia of suffering…"
His voice dripped with scorn.
"Good? Evil? Does it even matter in the face of survival?"
He stepped on the Starved Immortal's face, grinding his foot into her skin, then leaned in for a closer look, chuckling softly.
She remained unresponsive.
"Do you believe me now?"
"Those weren't illusions."
"They really happened."
"Reality is far more cruel than you imagine."
"Kind people like you can't survive. Leave it to me…"
While treating the True Immortal like an insect, the sinister Su Bai was strangely patient with Master Bai of the Xuanhuang World.
He continued his persuasive, almost rambling, speech.
Master Bai's voice suddenly echoed, "You're so powerful…"
"Why can't you cross a single wall?"
The sinister Su Bai stopped talking.
He stomped on the Starved Immortal's face, sending her sprawling.
The golden chains binding her rattled.
…
"The sinister Su Bai isn't just a figment of Master Bai's imagination."
"He's real?"
As Li Fan's consciousness reeled from the shocking revelations within Su Bai's Eternal Remnants, his divine sense incarnation, guided by Di Sanmo, arrived at a seemingly ordinary ruin deep within the Divine Repository of Wonders.
Placed among other historical ruins of the Xuanhuang World, it didn't appear special.
"Do you recognize this place, Immortal?"
Disturbed by the scenes he witnessed within Su Bai's Eternal Remnants, Li Fan took a while to respond.
"This is…"
He examined the ruin, then paused.
"The Southern冥 Sacred Beast Mountain?" he asked uncertainly.
"Indeed, Immortal. Your eyesight is keen," Di Sanmo nodded.
"But this isn't the Sacred Beast Mountain of the Xuanhuang World. I brought this from my homeland."
"It's been here for… countless years," Di Sanmo said, his voice filled with age-old weariness.
Li Fan's expression turned serious.
He pondered Di Sanmo's words.
"The Xuanhuang World originally had no Demonic Beasts."
"We fled here from another possibility."
Di Sanmo didn't keep him in suspense.
Li Fan was startled.
"An infinite future holds infinite possibilities."
"But not all possibilities can endure," Di Sanmo sighed.
"We thrived in the Xuanhuang World for so long, forgetting our past."
"We thought we could survive here. But even this world met its end."
"So Di Yi led our people on another exodus. But I chose to stay." Di Sanmo entered the ruin, as if returning home.
"Why?" Li Fan's incarnation asked, curious.
"Even with the Immortal Ruins and the desolate Star Sea, this is still a relatively safe place," Di Sanmo smiled.
Combining Di Sanmo's words with what he saw within the Eternal Remnants, Li Fan's mind raced.
…
Within Su Bai's Eternal Remnants, Li Fan's consciousness was shaken. He witnessed the sinister Su Bai's terrifying power within Master Bai's memories.
A mere trace of his influence could grant a Longevity realm cultivator the power to crush True Immortals.
And as the influence intensified, Su Bai briefly experienced the sinister Su Bai's true power.
The world was no longer singular.
But countless possibilities, existing simultaneously.
He saw the countless futures of the Xuanhuang World after his death.
And amidst the myriad paths to destruction, he glimpsed a single path to survival.
Li Fan understood the purpose of this Eternal Remnant trial.
(End of Chapter)