My Simulated Road to Immortality Chapter 2254 - 1698: Stealing the Hai Zhen Dao (Part 2)
Previously on My Simulated Road to Immortality...
"Resembling a divine remnant, it possesses the power to crush the seas, shatter mountains, and bring order to the phantom stars..."
Despite the distance of thousands of miles, Stealing Mechanism could feel the profound majesty radiating from the True and False Path.
Even as the flames began to consume him, his physical form shuddered uncontrollably, driven by an overwhelming surge of excitement.
As a top-tier powerhouse within the Mountain Sea, Stealing Mechanism never anticipated he would experience the enlightenment of "attaining the Way in the morning, only to perish contentedly by nightfall."
Two streams of tears carved paths down his face, only to be instantly vaporized by the primordial fires.
Deep within his heart, an even more intense greed began to fester.
"An object of such wonder must be mine!"
Stealing Mechanism lost all reason. Holding nothing back, he ignited every remaining fragment of his existence.
This was no longer just the combustion of his primordial Tao; he sacrificed his thoughts, his emotions, and even his very body and Divine Soul.
He threw everything into this final, desperate gamble.
He lunged toward the True and False Dao he had sensed, straining to grasp it!
"Boom!!"
A vibration without precedent thundered through Li Fan’s Divine Soul.
While Li Fan’s face registered pure shock, Stealing Mechanism was consumed by a manic joy.
"I have found it!"
Ignoring the fact that his essence was nearly depleted, leaving only a shadow of his former self, Stealing Mechanism summoned his final spark of strength.
He intended to rip the True and False Dao from Li Fan’s being and seize it for himself.
However...
The expression on Stealing Mechanism’s face slowly froze.
The brilliant light in his eyes vanished in a heartbeat.
Though his touch had reached the True and False Dao, the object remained completely immovable.
"How... how can this be?"
Dazed and in utter disbelief, Stealing Mechanism made another desperate attempt.
The outcome remained unchanged.
Even after three tries, there was no difference.
Finally, Stealing Mechanism surrendered to his fate.
Because of his fatal miscalculation, his life was now at its absolute end.
Strangely, his features gradually smoothed into a state of calm.
"To behold such a Divine Object before my end—I have no regrets in death."
"It is a pity, though..."
"I could not make it my own!"
He gave one final, soft touch.
Ultimately, he felt nothing more.
Inside Li Fan, the chaos subsided. The light screen of Hai Zhen, which had been blurred, regained its clarity.
And the Stealing Mechanism Saint, engulfed by the roaring inferno,
Was reduced to Flying Ashes!
Li Fan shook his head slightly, attempting to clear the lingering sensation of intrusion from his consciousness.
Gazing at the primordial Tao flames flickering before him, he felt the heavy relief of one who had narrowly escaped a lethal crisis.
He truly hadn't anticipated that the Stealing Mechanism Saint possessed such terrifying power.
The man had not only endured the True and False Changes for a significant time,
But had actually detected Hai Zhen and tried to tear it away from him!
Even though the attempt failed, the experience left Li Fan chilled with lingering fear.
"I was indeed overconfident."
"True and False Changes are an absolute advantage against anyone below the Saint level. It can instantly strip an opponent of their true spirit, leaving nothing but dust. But against a Saint of the Mountain Sea..."
"Saints possess the accumulation of countless eons, enough to resist the effects of True Yet False for a brief window. In a battle between Saints, anything can happen in those moments."
Li Fan exhaled slowly.
If the Stealing Mechanism Saint was this dangerous, there was no telling how much more powerful the three Saints—Lian Shan, Gui Hai, and Tai Yi—would be.
"Luckily, those three Saints currently seem to possess some sense of morality. As long as I maintain my facade as the True Spirit Infuser and Mountain Sea Walker, I should be safe."
While lost in thought, Li Fan did not neglect to harvest the remains of the Stealing Mechanism Saint.
Though the Saint had self-immolated, the Mountain Sea Stealing Mechanism Dao remained behind.
It looked incredibly diminished and frail compared to the might of its former master.
With a mere thought, Li Fan watched the drifting sparks vanish.
In the column of the Hai Zhen Tao, several new characters suddenly manifested.
They represented the spoils of Li Fan’s victory.
Epoch and Stealing Mechanism.
The swirling light etched itself into existence, returning to the truth.
The third was Epoch; the fourth was Stealing Mechanism.
Seeing the Hai Zhen Tao column grow more substantial, Li Fan felt a surge of satisfaction.
Suddenly, he noticed a shift occurring within the string of characters.
The seven-colored radiance began to swirl like water, rearranging itself.
Stealing Mechanism, which was at the end, seemed to be pushing forward to take the lead position.
"Stealing Mechanism, Zhou Huan, Epoch, Xuan Pin..."
"Is this ranking them by their power?"
Li Fan began to understand the logic.
However, a thought occurred to him, and he frowned.
"It is better to maintain the original sequence."
"Destiny exists in the unseen."
"There are subtle truths hidden in the order of things. As for which is stronger..."
"Strength is not a fixed state. My victory over Epoch and Stealing Mechanism today is proof of that!"
Li Fan declared with pride, standing firm in his decision.
As if reacting to his will, the flowing seven-colored light of the Hai Zhen Tao paused.
Eventually, it settled back into its original configuration.
Everything bowed to Li Fan’s command.
The light grew still, no longer shifting.
Li Fan did not exit the virtual realm immediately; instead, he focused on healing his injuries.
This conflict had been exceptionally brutal.
While he had successfully seized the Daos of Epoch and Stealing Mechanism, the backlash he endured was grave.
The physical toll he took while maintaining his act before Shou Qiu and the other Saints was significant.
Furthermore, the subsequent battles with Epoch and Stealing Mechanism had nearly drained his reserves.
"The extreme fragmentation and the absorption of the true spirit took a toll even my physique struggled to handle. I can feel the symptoms of essence loss. It will take time to recover."
"Furthermore..."
Li Fan held out his hands, inspecting them with a grim expression.
"It isn't obvious, but I can feel it."
"It’s as if I am caught between the true and the false—both present and absent, distant yet near."
"This is the cost of using True and False Changes so forcefully against my enemies."
"If things had gone smoothly, the backlash wouldn't be this severe. But Stealing Mechanism’s ferocity was far beyond what I expected."
"I can use my injuries as an excuse to avoid suspicion from Shou Qiu and the others. But this specific trace might be impossible to hide from the three Saints like Lian Shan."
"It seems there is no going back in this lifetime."
Fortunately, Li Fan had never intended to return to the Mountain Sea to report to the three Saints anyway.
"The best course is to suppress and consume all the remaining Saints here."
Li Fan sat in a meditative posture within the virtual realm, employing True and False Changes to mend his broken body.
Likely due to the earlier intrusion, a flaw had appeared, making the restoration process incredibly difficult.
As he worked, Li Fan also began to process the insights gained from the Epoch and Stealing Mechanism Daos.
Within their paths, the final echoes of their previous masters' thoughts still lingered.
Ignoring Epoch for the moment, Li Fan found himself fascinated by Stealing Mechanism.
"The boundless foundation of all things, giving rise to changes between void and reality, maintaining the balance of all wonders..."
"Could this be the essence of True and False Changes?"
Li Fan reflected for a moment, then felt a wave of surprise.
"Is this understanding actually deeper than my own?"