More accurately, it was the smaller figure, the Grand Magus's chanting projection, that attempted to flee from Li Buren, carrying the Grand Magus himself.
"A thousand shifts of the soul, a hundred turns of the spirit."
"Boundless, infinite, blameless."
…
Surrounded by the chanting, Li Buren saw the two figures fading, attempting to escape his grasp. He felt a strange disconnect, their proximity contrasting with his weakened desire to capture them. He almost felt indifferent.
Clearly, even Li Buren's Dao Net body couldn't completely resist the chanting's influence. Fortunately, this chanting, though potent, wasn't an all-powerful wish-granting machine.
Drawing slightly upon the Hill-Guarding Immortal's power, Li Buren instantly broke free from the chanting's influence. It no longer resonated deep within his soul, but became a mere buzzing, easily ignored. He reached out, and the child-like figure, the Grand Magus of Tiandu, fell silent, as if choked.
However, to Li Buren's surprise, the chanting projection beside him was barely affected, merely rippling slightly before continuing. Under its influence, Li Buren felt the Grand Magus slipping from his grasp.
This wasn't a matter of strength, but a conceptual law of avoidance and blamelessness. Li Buren felt that even with the power of over two Unnamed True Immortals, he couldn't ignore this conceptual force. Perhaps unleashing all five of the Hill-Guarding Immortal's projections might work.
If Li Buren had used his full power initially, the Grand Magus might have escaped. Fortunately, he had underestimated the Grand Magus, seeing him as only a Half-Immortal, and used minimal force at first. Only after noticing the Grand Magus slipping away did he gradually increase his grip.
It wasn't a direct suppression of power, but a clash of opposing forces. Li Buren's power had limits. Eventually, the Grand Magus, aided by the chanting projection, would escape. But until then, he was like a statue, frozen in place.
As Li Buren approached, having blocked the chanting's influence, he finally saw the famed Grand Magus of Tiandu. He looked like a young Daoist attendant, simply dressed with a youthful face, but his eyes were dark and profound, as if having witnessed the rise and fall of countless worlds. He exuded an aura of tranquility, his expression unchanging even as Li Buren closed in.
He even seemed to ignore Li Buren completely.
Li Buren, instead of addressing him, first turned his attention to the chanting projection. Having seen the Dao Net, the Hill-Guarding Immortal, the Primordial Dao, and more, his perspective had changed. Observing from such close proximity, he could now discern the projection's true nature.
"Remnants of a transcendent being…"
"But these remnants weren't used as a pillar against Dao Obliteration, but continue their original Dao path."
"No wonder the Grand Magus remains oblivious to everything, refusing to leave this projection."
A strange glint flashed in Li Buren's eyes.
"After an Unnamed True Immortal transcends, the Dao they merged with should vanish. But if remnants remain, after some time, a new version of that Dao might emerge."
"Like regrowing from infancy, much faster than developing from scratch!"
Li Buren stared at the projection, trying to see through the chanting and discern its essence.
"Avoiding calamity when it strikes."
"Imparting scriptures when someone seeks guidance."
Recalling the legends surrounding the Grand Magus, a thought arose in Li Buren's mind.
"Not granting every request, but adapting to external changes, evolving oneself."
"Guiding by the circumstances, embracing all changes."
"This is…"
"The Dao of Illusory Creation!"
This was a Dao path that had vanished from the original possibility, leaving only this nascent remnant within the projection. The Dao of Illusory Creation was clearly no less profound than the Primordial Dao or Immortal Wuwei's Dao. Just a few glimpses gave Li Buren valuable insights.
It was then that he realized a new Dao path wasn't just a single path, but a gateway to faintly perceiving related Dao paths, even those that no longer existed in this world. As one of the Three Thousand Great Daos, through understanding one Dao, he could partially reconstruct these "lost Daos"!
"The Grand Magus is truly fortunate. Even in the Immortal Realm, this Illusory Creation projection would be a highly sought-after treasure. Yet, he, a mere Half-Immortal, has possessed it for millennia."
The reason the Grand Magus remained hidden above Daoyuan Prefecture, neither leaving nor appearing, was that he couldn't control the Illusory Creation projection. Until he fully refined and mastered it, he could only follow it!
"So I was wrong. Knowing the chanting's power, I subconsciously focused on it. I shouldn't have targeted the Illusory Creation projection, but the Grand Magus himself."
"If it doesn't sense any threat or calamity, it won't manifest avoidance methods."
Li Buren adjusted his power, focusing entirely on restraining the child-like Grand Magus. The Grand Magus's previously placid expression finally changed.
"Meditating before the Illusory Creation projection for so many years wasn't completely useless." Li Buren sensed a faint connection between the Grand Magus and the projection. The force restraining the Grand Magus inevitably affected the projection.
However, the resulting avoidance power was much weaker than before. This meant Li Buren had more time to deal with the Grand Magus. However, whatever secrets the Grand Magus held were less valuable than the Illusory Creation projection. So Li Buren remained focused on the projection.
After a long while…
"The Dao of Illusory Creation is essentially the concept of 'survival of the fittest' taken to its extreme."
"Transforming everything unfavorable into something advantageous. Theoretically, it could even devise countermeasures against the Dao Obliteration Calamity."
"But that's just theory. It has to develop those countermeasures before being consumed by Dao Obliteration."
Li Buren suddenly thought of Ink Slaughter in the Xuanhuang World.
"Ink Slaughter is closely connected to Dao Obliteration."
"Perhaps it was the testing ground's attempt to resolve Dao Obliteration. However, Dao Obliteration annihilates everything. There shouldn't be anything related to it…"
Thinking about why the Illusory Creation projection had appeared in the Xuanhuang World, Li Buren looked down at Daoyuan Prefecture below.
"The successful creation of the Heavenly Soul Ink Slaughter must have involved some influence from the Dao of Illusory Creation."
"This influence didn't vanish even after the Unnamed True Immortal of Illusory Creation transcended. It remains in the Xuanhuang World."
"It became the only Illusory Creation power in the original possibility, besides the projection. That's why the projection came here."
Li Buren's Dao Net consciousness swept across Daoyuan Prefecture and deep underground. Since losing ten years of time there, Li Fan had avoided Daoyuan Prefecture, even after achieving the Half-Immortal realm and mastering the Blissful Ignorance Dreamland, wary of the Grand Magus. It was a complete blind spot for him.
Now, empowered by the Hill-Guarding Immortal's projections, the shadows were lifted.
Thirty-three thousand meters beneath Daoyuan Prefecture, in a space seemingly independent of the Xuanhuang World, a pulsating, heart-like mass of ink-like darkness churned. Its pulsations were strange, not a smooth, continuous motion, but a series of intermittent frames.
The closer Li Buren's divine sense got, the more familiar it felt, a connection stemming from his main body's merging with the Heavenly and Earthly Immortal Souls.
He approached cautiously, recognizing what it was.
"Although Ink Slaughter is a Heavenly Soul, it's not native to the Xuanhuang World."
"It was modified, artificially created."
"Unlike other Heavenly Souls, its laws haven't merged with the Xuanhuang World."
"This underground area in Daoyuan Prefecture is its source."
The ink-like darkness seemed wary of his approach, growing agitated as it noticed him. The intermittent images shifted rapidly. Li Buren sensed that further approach might trigger an attack. Although unafraid, it might hinder his investigation. So he stopped.
"My main body needs to handle this."
Li Buren returned to confront the Grand Magus. Li Fan's main body, gathering the power of the Ink Slaughter Immortal Soul, manifested an avatar and descended into the depths of Daoyuan Prefecture.
He quickly arrived at the location Li Buren had pinpointed and saw the ink-like darkness. Unlike its wariness towards Li Buren, the darkness seemed to recognize Li Fan as "one of its own," mistaking him for an Ink Slaughter Heavenly Soul on a mission.
However, Li Fan still sensed countless faint, curious probes, questioning his unique aura. Although now an Immortal Soul, his essence was still Ink Slaughter power. He successfully merged with the darkness.
From this even closer vantage point than the Illusory Creation projection, surrounded by boundless darkness, Li Fan observed calmly.
"Hmm… the Dao of Destruction originating from Dao Obliteration."
"The transformative power of the Illusory Creation projection."
"And besides these two…"
Like savoring a fine tea, Li Fan carefully analyzed, recognizing another Dao path that had vanished from this possibility. Although unfamiliar with it, due to its strong connection to the Dao of Illusory Creation, Li Fan had glimpsed its traces in the fading projections.
"If the Dao of Illusory Creation is 'change' taken to its extreme,"
"Then this Dao is its opposite."
"Eternal order…"
Li Fan stared at the center of the churning sea of ink. As a destructive force, what maintained Ink Slaughter's existence? Amidst the forces of destruction and change, it was an eternal, unchanging force that acted as a binding agent, allowing Ink Slaughter to exist.
"Change and unchanging."
"Two opposing forces, combined."
"Restraining the destructive source of Dao Obliteration."
Li Fan's eyes widened in surprise. "Illusory Creation, Eternal."
"These two Daos, no less profound than Primordial, were once used in this experiment…"
Eternal as the foundation, Illusory Creation as the catalyst. After an unknown period of evolution within this ink-like darkness, Ink Slaughter was born. If the testing ground were still operational, Ink Slaughter might have become even more extraordinary, closer to its intended goal.
However, the abandoned testing ground and the struggling Xuanhuang World couldn't support its further development. Only Li Fan's ascension of the Xuanhuang World in his previous life had brought new change to this stalled experiment.
After observing him for a while, the darkness around Li Fan seemed to confirm his "advanced" state, churning excitedly, trying to emulate him. However, having achieved this through ascending an entire world, it wasn't something they could easily replicate. Like restless children, they struggled without success.
Li Fan watched, a sudden realization dawning upon him.
"The accumulation is sufficient."
"The only thing missing is energy."
And Li Fan had plenty of that. With a thought, the immense feedback from the Xuanhuang World's ascension in his previous life, channeled through his Ink Slaughter avatar, poured into the darkness.
Although externally, the ink-like mass remained unchanged, only Li Fan, within it, could see the dramatic transformation. They bypassed the intermediate steps of the Xuanhuang World's ascension. Having seen the final result, they could now directly emulate it!
(End of Chapter)