My Simulated Road to Immortality Chapter 2282 - 1712: The Truth of Hai Zhen (Part 2)
Previously on My Simulated Road to Immortality...
It felt like being imprisoned within a dream, a state of muddled confusion where only primitive, flickering thoughts remained.
Natural cognition had ceased to exist.
With no sense of how much time had passed, the shifting transformations beyond the dark veil finally seemed to conclude.
As if reaching the boundaries of the mountains and seas, the aura of deathly silence grew ever more oppressive.
A tiny spark of starlight emerged, attempting to rupture the gloom.
However, it was swiftly suppressed once more.
Within the absolute void where that solitary star had appeared and vanished, countless ripples of light and shadow began to fluctuate again.
The Mountain and Sea Void Realm was restored as a result!
Li Fan sensed that the draining of his body had at last stopped, and a tension in his heart that had been pulled taut finally snapped with a sharp twang.
Unable to fight the overwhelming exhaustion any longer, he collapsed into a deep stupor.
...
Time anchored: Year 1.
When Li Fan opened his eyes again, they were initially clouded with disorientation.
Then, memories of Lord Guardian Hill, the mastermind behind the Void Realm, and the subsequent endless siphoning of his true spirit...
The scenes flooded back like a surging tide.
That sensation of being hollowed out felt just as vivid as it did before the Hai Zhen reset.
It caused Li Fan’s pupils to contract violently.
"Hai Zhen!"
Li Fan cried out internally.
It was not a command to trigger the artifact again.
Instead, he felt a desperate urge to confront Hai Zhen and demand an explanation.
Naturally, Hai Zhen offered nothing but silence in return.
Li Fan felt a surge of agitation, but fortunately, he managed to regain his composure after a few moments.
"Thinking back, the countless Hai Zhens of the past were likely no different from this one."
"The only difference is that I usually fell into a slumber. This time, I remained conscious and witnessed the entire activation process of Hai Zhen."
"..."
"Hai Zhen clings to me and refuses to depart. There must be a justification for it."
"But this reason..."
Li Fan’s mouth gave a slight, bitter twitch.
Having endured so much, he was no longer a reckless youth driven by impulse.
It appeared that Hai Zhen was inseparable from him, but by the same token, he was tethered to Hai Zhen.
"Furthermore, even if I were to waste my life in total idleness, Hai Zhen would still activate upon my death. I would simply suffer the penalty of being drained regardless..."
After weighing it for a while, Li Fan had no choice but to accept this reality for the time being.
The internal resistance he felt slowly began to dissipate.
"Thanks to the reminder from Guardian Hill, I maintained my clarity and glimpsed the truth behind Hai Zhen’s function. Yet, it has only birthed more mysteries..."
"The True and False Dao theorizes the creation of Mountain and Sea power. What is the intent behind extracting my infinite true spirit?"
"Is it to reconstruct the mountain and sea?"
"And where exactly does this infinite true spirit of mine originate?"
Li Fan lifted his hand, inspecting his mortal frame which had not yet regained its Cultivation base.
"The feeling of being hollowed out has vanished."
"I have returned to a normal state."
"The infinite true spirit truly appears to be limitless."
And yet, the memory of nearly being extinguished by that excessive extraction during Hai Zhen's activation remained hauntingly clear.
Li Fan’s eyelids flickered, his emotions refusing to settle for a long duration.
"No wonder you’re pulsing so rapidly, what’s the hurry!"
Irritated, he brushed aside the flickering inheritance options manifesting before him.
Li Fan walked with heavy strides toward the peak of Dissociative Mountain, seeking to vent his frustration.
"It is ironic how I have always chased after longevity and freedom."
"Hai Zhen is simultaneously the key to the path of immortality and a set of shackles."
"Only by discarding it entirely one day can I be truly liberated."
Li Fan suddenly thought back to his Hundred Generations of Foundation Building.
He realized in an instant how mistaken he had been.
"My true 'Foundation Building with Me' should not involve merging Hai Zhen into my Dao Foundation."
"Instead, it ought to be a Dao Foundation crafted purely by myself, independent of Hai Zhen."
"However, both paths lead to the same peak, and both are equally difficult, difficult, difficult!"
Frowning, Li Fan remained seated atop the Dissociative Mountain for several years.
Spending his days observing the shifting clouds, he slowly came to terms with his circumstances.
"The transformation of true and false..."
Li Fan rose to his feet, pointing a finger toward an empty patch of ground on the summit.
A small wooden hut manifested out of thin air.
It was birthed from nothingness, existing as both false and real.
Li Fan tapped the air again, employing the "True is False" technique to wipe it from existence.
Analyzing the nuance between these two acts, a look of deep contemplation crossed Li Fan’s face.
Following this, Li Fan practiced the cycle of true-to-false and false-to-true repeatedly on the mountain peak.
Gradually, a wave of enlightenment washed over his heart.
"My grasp of 'True is False' and 'False is True' are not on equal footing."
"Especially after the previous life, when Guardian Hill annihilated all the saints with a single thought."
"The mastery of 'True is False' far outstrips 'False is True'."
"I can use my full power to try and erase the phenomena within the Void Realm. But conversely, trying to manifest such destructive force from nothing..."
Li Fan narrowed his eyes, reaching out as if to paint upon the distant horizon.
Several times he raised his hand as if holding a brush, only to lower it gently.
Finally, with a heavy sigh, he admitted: "I cannot do it."
He pondered further: "The True and False Dao are two sides of the same coin, unlike Dao and morality. While the comprehension levels of Dao and morality might vary slightly, they remain within a specific bound, maintaining a certain balance."
"But here, the disparity in understanding between the True and False Dao is staggering..."
"It is as if the True and False Dao is a composite of two different types of Dao."
"True is False, False is True. When the true acts as false... the false becomes true."
"Hai Zhen."
Li Fan felt as though he had caught a glimpse of something profound.
But it was merely speculation, lacking any concrete proof.
"Perhaps, at the end of time, if I encounter that Final Saint again, these questions might be answered. But..."
"It doesn't matter."
"To reach the ultimate answer and solve every mystery, I must first stand at the necessary height."
"God, star."
A sharp light flickered in Li Fan’s eyes.
Ambition flared within him once more.
If a vague pursuit of longevity and freedom had driven Li Fan through his previous cycles and simulations.
Then now, it was the raw instinct to shatter all chains.
Armed with the experiences of his past life and the knowledge of Hai Zhen’s "truth," Li Fan’s mindset and approach shifted abruptly.
"Even the powers behind the Void Realm cannot halt me. Even if I cannot overcome them, Hai Zhen will intervene."
"As Guardian Hill stated, the secret of True and False has never been about concealment or exposure."
"It is about following the heart!"
With that thought, Li Fan ceased his hesitation and chose to directly inherit the memories of Lord Guardian Hill!
He sat cross-legged, a flick of his sleeve signaling his readiness, as he waited for the shifts within the Bianxuan Jinghuan.
Within the Void Realm, Lord Guardian Hill—who was struggling to mend the Mountain Sea—displayed several changing expressions.
Then, the phantom inside the Bianxuan Jinghuan quietly departed, manifesting in the Xuanhuang Realm, within the Great Xuan Small World, atop the Dissociative Mountain Peak.
"How does it feel to return to life?" Li Fan asked with a faint smile.
"Rather, how does it feel to have experienced death once." Guardian Hill considered the question for a moment before offering a candid reply.
"...Not bad."
"What a 'not bad'! Guardian Hill, you are truly broad-minded; I cannot hope to match you!" Li Fan remarked, applauding in genuine praise.