My Simulated Road to Immortality Chapter 2263 - 1703: Hai Zhen After Facing God

The inferno raging across the mountain range paused for a brief moment as the Shadow of God manifested.

Under a weight of formless pressure, the once-furious blazes retreated as if their very essence had been drained. Centered upon the Shadow of God, the fires began to vanish with startling speed.

It was not merely the True Spirit Fire that was being erased; the Mountain and Sea, the Void Realm, and every concept within human cognition were disappearing. The space occupied by the Shadow of God appeared to transform into an absolute vacuum, a low point that siphoned everything in the vicinity into its depths.

Perhaps because the devoured Mountain and Sea were trivial in scale compared to a divine being, the profound Shadow of God remained unaffected and unchanged despite the consumption. It simply stood there, silent and still.

Beyond the crumbling Mountain and Sea, the thunderous roars that had been approaching rapidly fell silent once the Shadow of God had fully materialized. Within the observable horizon, a deathly stillness took hold.

Only Li Fan, whose True Spirit was currently dissipating, managed to retain a flicker of consciousness. Even so, he was helpless to intervene; he could only drift with the current, tumbling toward the Abyss where the Shadow of God resided.

“Is this...”

“Is this what a God is?”

Li Fan’s mind became unnaturally tranquil. Although he was on the verge of plunging into the Abyss, his heart felt no terror. It was as if the Shadow of God ahead was his true home, and this return was nothing more than his inescapable destiny.

With this newfound peace of mind, Li Fan was able to meticulously study the manifested Shadow of God. Streams of profound insight began to surge within him.

“Even the mere presence of a God is beyond the comprehension of ordinary men.”

“A God seems to exist far above the nine heavens, too distant from the mortal realm for common people to perceive.”

“And yet I, by embodying the True and False Dao, seem to already be dwelling within the sky.”

“I am so close to God, within arm’s reach, and thus I am capable of gaining this insight.”

In that instant, time appeared to freeze for Li Fan. He felt no dread or fear, no greed or joy, and no grief or anger. There was no sensation of enlightenment—the feeling of understanding the Dao and being ready to die by evening—nor was there any worship of God’s inscrutable nature. There was only the primal, instinctive act of observation.

Then, thoughts began to take shape.

“Neither spirit nor matter, neither existence nor non-existence, neither foul nor pure—a calamity that transcends all calamities.”

“It reflects every form while remaining formless; it gives birth to all laws while remaining devoid of thought.”

“All living beings are its offspring, yet they are also its Abyss.”

“If you see it as a vessel, you are drowned by that vessel; if you see it as the path, you are lost upon that path.”

“Unfathomable, immeasurable, invisible, inaudible...”

Murmurs and whispers erupted from Li Fan’s spirit consciousness. It felt as though nothing else remained in existence except for him and the Shadow of God. While he gazed upon the Shadow, the Shadow observed him in return. The two stood in direct opposition.

Suddenly, his descent into the Abyss accelerated. Amidst the silent flow, those whispers grew louder. Upon listening closely, Li Fan realized they were his own insights from witnessing God! It felt as though countless versions of himself were waiting within the Abyss of the Shadow of God, beckoning for him to join them.

“Return, return...”

As he neared the Shadow of God, Li Fan seemed to accept his end, embracing it with total composure. Even Hai Zhen remained quiet, allowing Li Fan to follow his whims. As one foot appeared to step into the Abyss, the shadow looming over Li Fan grew larger. Consequently, the instinctive insights surging in his heart began to dwindle.

His form elongated infinitely; his front half continued to fall into the Shadow of God, while his latter half remained suspended in the process of falling. Li Fan waited patiently for his total return to the Shadow of God. He waited and waited...

After an indeterminate amount of time, the surrounding Mountain and Sea Void Realm had been entirely consumed. But Li Fan’s fall was still not complete!

“What is happening?”

“Is it taking too long?”

Absolute calm did not equate to a total loss of cognition. Instinctive queries surfaced within Li Fan’s spirit consciousness, causing him to think once more. He quickly arrived at a conclusion.

“Ah... it is because my True Spirit is infinite.”

Like a pebble breaking the surface of a still pond, Li Fan’s state of divine “calmness” was shattered.

“It seems...”

“God isn’t actually that remarkable, is He?”

The moment that thought occurred, the world flipped upside down!

“The East Sea may devour all the world's waters, but what if water from no source falls from the heavens?”

“Even with the East Sea's vastness, it would struggle to contain it.”

“Ha! In the end...”

“It is merely a Shadow of God.”

Li Fan sighed inwardly. At that moment, the infinite True Spirit on the outside coalesced into a massive hand, giving a gentle shove. It forcibly extracted his own True Spirit, which had been halfway swallowed by the Shadow of God!

Furthermore, the True Spirits that were pulled back seemed to carry traces of shadows unique to God. The world had always been one to be swallowed by God, but today, God had been plucked instead.

The abyss-like darkness went still for a heartbeat before it began to boil. Previously, it held the poise of a God—sitting motionless and waiting for all things to tumble into its depths. Now, it exerted a violent force, intending to swallow Li Fan by choice!

Though he had escaped the initial fall thanks to his endless True Spirit, Li Fan felt he could not withstand the Shadow of God’s active devouring for long.

“Let us see how this so-called Shadow of God holds up against the True and False Changes.”

In the depths of his heart, Li Fan finally whispered, “Hai Zhen.”

The boiling abyss of shadows went still once more. The phrase “Turning the True to False and the False as True” manifested spontaneously before Li Fan’s eyes. It then exploded outward, blanketed the entire universe. Everything was covered in a layer of mist, becoming blurred and indistinct. Even the profound Shadow of God was no exception!

However, unlike the frozen entities of the Mountain and Sea, the Shadow of God became more aggressive as the mist surrounded it! It charged toward Li Fan at a speed visible to the naked eye. This was the first time Li Fan felt openly threatened by an outside force after invoking Hai Zhen. His heart couldn't help but skip a beat.

Just as the Shadow of God was about to reach him, a spark of light ignited within the white fog. Like a razor-sharp blade, it sliced through the charging shadow. The shadow was instantly bifurcated and then consumed by the white mist, becoming indistinct once again. The Shadow of God’s only opportunity for victory vanished.

Li Fan remained where he was, protected by Hai Zhen, as the Mountain and Sea began to restart.

...This time, his slumber felt exceptionally long. When Li Fan’s consciousness finally returned, his mind was a blank slate for a moment, unable to recall the final events of his previous life. Only after sitting in a daze for most of the day did the memories return.

“Hiss...”

“After encountering the Shadow of God, my behavior was rather reckless. That isn't like me; was I being influenced by something?”

Li Fan frowned, contemplating the matter for a long time without finding an answer. Rows of small characters continued to flicker before his eyes, seemingly pressuring him to make a choice.

“Could Hai Zhen have undergone another change?”

Pushing aside his scattered thoughts, Li Fan focused his mind. Unfortunately, there were no obvious differences compared to his previous life.

[The simulation ends here]

[You may choose one of the following options to retain:]

1. Your cultivation, or possessions, or the Dao path mastered in this simulation.