Beyond the mortal realm, something seemed to meet the purple-clad figure's gaze. After a brief silence, chaos erupted! Like the surge that shattered the Shuo Star Sea, but dozens of times more powerful! As if the figure's indifferent expression had enraged some unknown entity within the Dao Obliteration, intent on unleashing a cataclysm to consume the mortal realm.
The Guangwu Star Sea teetered on the brink of collapse. Even the purple-wreathed Heavenly Pillar, formed from the combined essence of countless immortals, struggled to endure. Li Fan suspected that without the purple-clad figure's presence, the Guangwu Star Sea, perhaps even all that remained of Primordial Possibility, would have crumbled under this onslaught.
"What… what is that? Could it be the Transcendent's remains that the Guangwu Star Sea fished out of the Dao Obliteration?" Li Fan and the Dao Bearer exchanged glances, uncertainty in their eyes.
Amidst this earth-shattering scene, the purple-clad figure remained unfazed. A faint smile touched his lips as if he had discovered something pleasing.
"You two juniors, watch closely." With that, he vanished.
In the next instant, the turmoil in the Star Sea ceased! Not because the source had been quelled, but because a greater tempest had arisen, like an absolute monarch drawing all lesser disturbances to itself. Li Fan scanned the surrounding starry sky, but the figure was gone. The point of convergence for these opposing forces lay beyond Primordial Possibility!
A thin line, resembling the heaven-reaching path, appeared overhead. Through this fissure, Li Fan glimpsed the boundless expanse of existence, a breathtaking vista of interconnected realms. This view was unlike his previous glimpses through the Immortal Realm's Ascension Platform or his foray into the Infinite Sea. In the Infinite Sea, every drop of water held the crushing weight of countless eons, preventing him from truly experiencing its wonders. Even with the protection of "Illusion Becomes Real," he had only seen fragments, not the true essence of existence.
Now, through this thread created by the purple-clad figure, he finally witnessed existence as a Transcendent saw it. Just a glimpse, yet it left him speechless. Even after over a hundred reincarnations, possessing a treasure of True Return, and venturing into the Infinite Sea, confronted with this boundless vista, Li Fan felt undeniably small.
"So this is the Infinite Sea and the Upper Mountain beyond the mortal realm…" he murmured. Comprehension was beyond him. His mind was overwhelmed by the indescribable majesty, leaving no room for other thoughts.
Unlike Li Fan, the Dao Bearer manifested a vision. A crystalline white light emanated from him, and the faint image of a weathered stone appeared behind him. He gazed skyward, as if back on his hill, watching the sea. Profound fluctuations emanated from this spirit stone by the sea, seemingly resonating with the realms beyond the heavens.
These fluctuations roused Li Fan from his stupor. A bitter realization dawned on him. "We both saw a glimpse of existence, yet I gained nothing, while the Dao Bearer is awash in understanding. The difference between us…"
His mind was clear, but his glimpse of existence had left no imprint. The gulf between him and that realm was simply too vast. An ant, even if it sees a mountain, truly sees nothing. With lesser Daos of the mortal realm, it would be different.
"It seems my current cultivation is sufficient for the mortal realm, but traversing existence is still a distant goal."
"Fortunately, my senior brother isn't stingy. He doesn't intend to hoard his insights." Li Fan observed the waves of comprehension emanating from the Dao Bearer. The spirit stone by the sea was now a mirror, reflecting the aspects of existence Li Fan couldn't perceive, allowing him to glean understanding through it.
With the heavens torn open and existence revealed, the tumultuous echoes of the Dao Obliteration faded. Li Fan attempted to locate the purple figure amidst the vastness, but even a Transcendent was like an ant in that boundless expanse, impossible to find.
"Watch closely, you two juniors…"
"Watch what?"
"Just this?"
Li Fan had a premonition. It couldn't be just this. But he was powerless, unable to see what the figure referred to. The Dao Bearer, however, seemed to have discovered something. The waves of comprehension radiating from him intensified.
"Junior Brother, focus your will here!"
The bond Li Fan had carefully cultivated with the Dao Bearer proved crucial. Unwilling to let his junior brother miss this opportunity, the Dao Bearer spoke from within his meditative state.
Overjoyed, Li Fan followed his guidance. His vision pierced the thread in the heavens, leaping beyond the mortal realm into existence itself. He could faintly discern the purple figure standing before a flattened sphere, countless threads radiating from its ends and converging at its center.
The same power that formed the heaven-reaching path enveloped the figure and the sphere. Threads tried to escape the sphere, but the figure held them fast. The sphere vaguely resembled a humanoid form, now decayed and unraveling into threads.
"The remains of a Transcendent who attempted to cross existence…"
Li Fan wasn't focused on their struggle, but on what was revealed within the disintegrating remains. Around where the head would have been, flickering lights emerged. To his astonishment, these lights within the remains' "brain" were images of existence itself! Even with the body decayed and the soul dispersed, these images persisted.
"Perhaps this is why the remains could drift through existence for so long," Li Fan realized.
But then, he saw something within these miniature realms that shocked him to his core. The existence within the remains' mind seemed no different from the existence he saw now. But upon closer inspection, a lone sail could be seen, traversing the vastness! Even the endless, ancient immensity of existence only slightly dimmed its color, unable to fully consume it.
Li Fan understood. "It's not the images of existence that preserved the remains, but this lone sail!"
"This is…"
"The Transcendent's Dao of Transcendence?!"
Staring at the lone sail, a sense of familiarity washed over him. Simultaneously, the long-dormant True Return stirred, sending faint ripples of intent, confirming his suspicion.
"Eternal Will?!"
Li Fan's heart pounded. More precisely, the lone sail traversing existence shared the same fundamental nature as the various Eternals he had encountered, but it was far more powerful. Even though it ultimately failed to cross existence, its ability to protect the remains for millennia within the merging tides of existence spoke volumes. Compared to this, the Eternal Wills of Tian Yang, Su Bai, and others seemed insignificant.
"But the essence is the same."
"It's not just a projection of the Dao, but a resonance of the will. This is the true foundation for traversing existence…"
"The vastness of existence is boundless; only I am the vessel!" The purple figure's words echoed in Li Fan's mind, like lightning illuminating the answer.
"If Tian Yang had reached Transcendence, his method of crossing would have been the vessel of 'Not Inferior to Others.' For Su Bai, it would have been the arduous crossing of 'Compassionate True Love.'"
"In short, these cultivators whose wills condense into Eternal Will after death have already taken the first step towards their own Dao. They are seeds of Transcendents! This has nothing to do with cultivation realm, it seems to be solely about one's character and will."
"But for Transcendence, both one's own path and cultivation realm are indispensable!"
"Sufficient cultivation without a vessel is futile. And even with a vessel, insufficient strength means certain death in existence."
Li Fan was deeply moved. This was a true opportunity. Through the Transcendent's remains, the purple-clad figure had illuminated the path to Transcendence for both him and the Dao Bearer. Perhaps Li Fan could have eventually deciphered this mystery through repeated returns to his True Self, but this guidance saved him countless cycles of reincarnation.
"The Dao of traversing existence… No wonder even True Return yearns for it every time it encounters it."
"Does True Return absorb these to simulate and deduce methods to contend with existence?" A bold thought arose in Li Fan's mind. As if sensing the nearby presence of the purple figure, True Return fell silent after its brief stirring, offering no response to his speculation.
Beyond the mortal realm, the purple-clad figure extracted all the threads surrounding the lone sail. Instead of absorbing them, he cast them into existence. Without the support of the Eternal Will, they dissolved like ice in water, swallowed without a trace.
The figure, who had maintained a Transcendent's demeanor since his arrival, now faced the lone sail with rare solemnity, tinged with genuine admiration. The slightly yellowed sail, as if sensing his intent, responded with shimmering, multicolored light.
The purple-clad figure displayed his heaven-reaching Dao, creating a thread across existence towards an unknown destination. The lone sail, bathed in multicolored light, followed this path and sailed away.
The figure watched until it vanished, then withdrew his Dao. Maintaining the passage clearly strained him. His magnificent robes fluttered as if blown by a wind. The pearl-like mark on his forehead pulsed red, restoring his composure.
After retrieving the lone sail, the figure didn't return. Before closing the passage, he sent a message from afar: "My business is concluded. The passage will last for three more days. Fend for yourselves." Then, as abruptly as he had appeared, he vanished. He showed no concern for the countless immortal purple talismans still scattered throughout the Guangwu Star Sea.
Li Fan and the Dao Bearer, still stunned, stood silently in the starry sky.
A long time passed.
As the thread in the heavens faded and the vista of existence vanished, the Dao Bearer reluctantly withdrew his gaze. With his comprehension subsiding, Li Fan's reflected understanding also ceased.
"Senior Brother," Li Fan asked, replaying the events, "where do you think that lone sail ultimately went…?"
"…To the Other Shore?"
The Dao Bearer's expression was grave. He didn't answer for a long time, but finally nodded. "It should be."
"That lone sail seemed to be the condensed essence of the Transcendent's will to cross existence. I wonder why that purple-clad senior went to such lengths to guide it to the Other Shore."
Li Fan sighed. "I never imagined that casually subduing the Dao Sword and Dao Blade would lead to all this."
"Don't blame yourself, Junior Brother. This is fate. Without your actions, how could we have received such a great opportunity?"
The Dao Bearer wasn't just referring to the guidance on the path to Transcendence, but also to the now-empty Guangwu Star Sea.
He surveyed the vast ruins. "The purple Heavenly Pillar shouldn't be touched. But the other immortal talismans… we can take them."
"But we must be quick. The three days that senior mentioned might not be the same as our three days."
The Dao Bearer's intuition was spot on. Just one day later, the passage connecting the Shuo and Guangwu Star Seas began to fade. Fortunately, they had already gathered nearly everything of value and returned to the Shuo Star Sea.
Watching the passage vanish and the darkness of the Dao Obliteration return, they felt as if they had awakened from a dream.
"Thanks to Master's protection, otherwise our fate would have been no better than these talisman immortals," the Dao Bearer said softly.
Li Fan nodded in agreement.
They then laid out their spoils in the starry sky: the fused forms of thirteen alien Dao incarnates and the talismans of the Guangwu Star Sea True Immortals, totaling three hundred and seventy-five. One supreme treasure: the Dao Chronicle Projection Pearl. And various scattered immortal treasures, too insignificant to mention.
"With so many materials, our Star Sea should be safe for a while," Li Fan said, his gaze fixed on the Dao Chronicle Projection Pearl. Since the purple figure's departure, the treasure, previously compressed into a point of light, had begun to expand once more.
(End of Chapter)