The Dao Transformation Stone within Li Fan's sea of consciousness finally felt the strain. Creating a world from scratch, even with a real-world template, was far more difficult than he anticipated.
The crux of creation lay in people. Creating countless bodies wasn't the challenge. The true difficulty was creating individuals with independent "thoughts."
Initially, Li Fan's approach was flawed. He tried to simulate true sentience, the consciousness of living beings, within his world.
The result: he consumed almost half the Dao Transformation Stone's computational power and only created three individuals.
Three conscious entities, possessing independent will, drifted within the simulated Xuanhuang World's sky.
These three were completely independent of the Dao Transformation Stone, their thoughts no longer reliant on it. But the computational cost was substantial.
The Dao Transformation Stone's performance plummeted by half. If not for Li Fan's ability to transform falsehood into truth, negating this consumption, he would have abandoned the attempt.
"Judging by their potential, these three entities far surpass me. But they are still nascent, ignorant and unaware, their vast computational power dormant…"
"If they weren't derived from the Dao Transformation Stone, allowing me to erase them with a thought, nurturing such behemoths within my sea of consciousness would be terrifying."
Li Fan observed the three dormant consciousnesses, like sleeping infants.
Then, his thoughts returned to the task at hand.
"Creating sentient beings shouldn't require such immense expenditure. I was trying to force the issue, using brute force instead of understanding the principles of creation, bypassing the natural limitations with sheer computational power."
"I was fixated on the wrong approach. The dream paradise doesn't need truly sentient beings. I simply need to add the 'dreaming' function to the simulated consciousnesses…"
After a brief pause, Li Fan connected the dream paradise to the simulated Xuanhuang World.
Light pulsed from the Dao Transformation Stone, streams of consciousness flowing into the dream.
Simultaneously, a massive influx of beings entered the dream paradise.
They appeared indistinguishable from real people, interacting, trading, and exploring the dream world just like ordinary cultivators.
And with this initial batch of sample data, the Dao Transformation Stone's simulated consciousnesses began iterating and evolving at an astonishing rate.
At first, their conversations were stilted and unnatural. But soon, even Li Fan could barely distinguish between real and simulated.
Maintaining these simulated beings required minimal computational power.
All their actions could be categorized into ninety-nine distinct behavioral patterns.
The Dao Transformation Stone only needed to maintain these ninety-nine basic templates to control countless simulated beings.
"They appear to be distinct individuals, but at their core, they are merely ninety-nine."
Having found the correct method, the exponential increase in simulated consciousnesses was slightly unnerving. But after confirming his absolute control through the Dao Transformation Stone, Li Fan's unease subsided.
The inhabitants of the simulated Xuanhuang World didn't need to exist in reality. They were all integrated into Blissful Ignorance's dream paradise.
With these "phantom soldiers," the dream tendrils' exploration accelerated dramatically.
Li Fan repeated the process, restoring the Dao Transformation Stone with layered applications of the Transformations of Truth and Falsehood, while simultaneously creating more simulated Xuanhuang Worlds.
After creating twelve more, he stopped.
"Thirteen worlds' worth of phantom soldiers is enough."
Looking at the three still dormant consciousnesses within the first simulated Xuanhuang World, Li Fan hesitated, then sent them into the dream paradise.
"I'll observe their potential within the dream."
"With such vast computational power supporting them, they can reach the pinnacle in any chosen field."
The three consciousnesses, named [Beginning], [Origin], and [End] by Li Fan, finally manifested bodies within the dream.
Compared to the simulated consciousnesses, they were clumsy and awkward, filled with childlike curiosity about their surroundings.
But Li Fan knew their growth would surpass all others.
He didn't interfere with their development, merely recording and preserving the method used to create them, ensuring he could replicate them even if they were destroyed.
Then, he turned his attention back to the dream tendrils' exploration.
Traversing the vast Obliteration Zone and the endless dead Star Sea, the tendrils finally reached the vibrant starry sky where factions like the Sword Domain and the Sacred Merchant resided.
They proceeded cautiously, an invisible veil slowly enveloping the region.
But to Li Fan's surprise, none of the countless beings within this starry sky were captured by the dream's power.
A natural barrier seemed to exist between reality and illusion, repelling the dream's influence.
Li Fan sensed that while he could forcefully breach this barrier with the full power of the dream paradise, it would inevitably alert the local factions.
He chose to wait.
His patience was rewarded. After a year, a change occurred.
A massive upheaval within the Star Sea, strong enough to affect even the ethereal dream paradise, caught Li Fan's attention.
Seven figures suddenly appeared in the starry sky, intercepting a dark, distorted figure.
"Hmm? Not on the [Immortal Capture Record]."
"An unexpected bonus while hunting the [Eternal Life Immortal]."
"Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to have reached the Nameless Realm."
"Don't underestimate him… I sense danger."
The seven figures spoke in the distinctive manner of the Immortal Hunters from Qin Zhuang's memories.
Their conversation didn't hinder their actions.
And for the first time, Li Fan witnessed the true power of Dao Origins.
If the Great Dao of heaven and earth was a vast, interconnected net, these seven Immortal Hunters could manipulate its threads, capturing their prey with ease.
Li Fan sensed profound and mysterious techniques.
Countless swords materialized, each backed by a faint, shadowy figure, unleashing a torrent of sword techniques that resonated with the Dao of the Sword, amplifying their power. Each strike seemed capable of splitting the Xuanhuang World.
The dim starry sky brightened, as if countless eyes were watching from beyond a veil. The seven Immortal Hunters' auras surged, while the besieged True Immortal's movements became erratic, his form flickering as if about to split.
An unseen brush seemed to be recording and altering the battle. Li Fan saw the True Immortal's long-prepared attack strike one of the hunters, causing him to stagger. But a moment later, it was as if it never happened. The injury vanished, and the hunter retaliated, striking the True Immortal.
Stunned, the True Immortal quickly lost ground, forced into a desperate defense.
…
As the seven Immortal Hunters unleashed their abilities, Li Fan noticed another, hidden hunter.
This one didn't participate in the attack but silently repaired the damaged starry sky!
He saw the Great Dao of heaven and earth, weakened and distorted by the Dao Origin's power, being restored and stabilized by this force of order.
Despite the True Immortal level battle, the starry sky remained largely unharmed. It even seemed to be recording the battle's data, strengthening its resilience for future conflicts.
"Besides Immortal Hunters, there are also [Heaven Menders]?"
"Interesting."
Destruction was easy; creation was difficult.
Li Fan watched from the shadows, his attention focused on the Heaven Mender.
He sensed that this individual might be the strongest among them. After all, they effortlessly repaired any damage caused by the Dao Origins, while the seven hunters only used techniques related to a single Dao.
The hunters seemed intent on capturing the True Immortal alive.
As the True Immortal was cornered, countless True Immortal inscriptions suddenly appeared, covering his body!
His aura exploded, shaking the net of the Great Dao, disrupting even the Immortal Hunters' techniques!
The True Immortal made a desperate gamble.
At that moment, a golden ring materialized, like a cage, sealing the battlefield.
The connection between the inside and outside was severed, even the dream paradise's tendrils being cut off.
The image vanished. Li Fan could only observe from beyond the golden ring.
The True Immortal's desperate attack was completely blocked. The outside world remained unaffected.
Looking at the golden ring, radiating a sacred aura, Li Fan felt a strange sense of familiarity.
"This…"
"Is this an Immortal Heavenly Pillar?"
The image of the Southern Immortal Heavenly Pillar, forged from a True Immortal's leg bone, overlapped with the golden ring in his mind.
Startled, Li Fan instinctively withdrew the dream tendrils, observing from a safe distance.
A figure in white appeared outside the golden ring, seemingly observing the battle within, occasionally looking towards the sky, recording something.
Li Fan sensed that the golden ring was supporting the weakened net of the Great Dao, preventing a catastrophic collapse.
The figure in white periodically sent out bursts of light, reinforcing the ring.
"This must be the [Heaven Mender]."
"Fortunately, they are preoccupied with the battle and the dream paradise's power is unique, allowing me to observe undetected."
Relieved, Li Fan still didn't dare approach.
After a while, the battle seemed to end. The golden ring's glow faded, revealing the seven Immortal Hunters.
But the True Immortal was gone.
Seeing the hunters' mixed expressions, the figure in white spoke, a hint of surprise in their voice.
"He escaped?"
One of the hunters explained grimly, "He was on the verge of defeat, but at the last moment, another force intervened and rescued him."
"Even my Heaven Painting Brush couldn't alter this fact. Clearly, a Nameless True Immortal was involved," another hunter added.
"And an unrecorded one."
At these words, the hunters' expressions shifted, a mixture of excitement and fear.
The figure in white nodded slightly. "Though we didn't capture the True Immortal, we gained information about a new Nameless True Immortal. A worthwhile trade-off. The rest of you return and report the Nameless Immortal's traces. Brother Chu, stay and help me repair the Dao scars."
Six figures vanished.
Only two remained, standing within the starry sky.
Without any visible action, Li Fan sensed the starry sky strengthening.
"Heaven Painting Brush. Brother Chu."
Li Fan recalled the distant hunter's words.
"Chu Youhong of the Divine Brush Sect?"
After a moment, he confirmed the individual's identity.
Chu Youhong, the former Divine Brush Sect leader. The cultivator who had once declared, "Even if you all die, it doesn't matter. As long as I live, the Divine Brush Sect lives. Master entrusted it to me before dying, and I won't let it be destroyed."
After leaving his mark on the Xuanhuang World's history, he vanished without a trace.
Unexpectedly, Li Fan had encountered him again in the vibrant starry sky beyond the wall.
He recalled Chu Youhong's abilities.
"To alter established facts with a brush, even rewriting them to a certain extent…"
"Though not a True Immortal, his combat power is likely no less than one."
Li Fan was inwardly shocked, finally gaining a clearer understanding of the [Dao Origins] beyond the wall.
As he pondered, Chu Youhong and the figure in white finished repairing the so-called "Dao scars."
"Brother Chu, what are your thoughts on the Nameless True Immortal who appeared?"
"He might have fooled the others, but not your keen observation."
"After all, Brother Chu, it's said you can even replicate the Great Dao itself."
The figure in white's words startled Li Fan once more.
(End of Chapter)