My Simulated Road to Immortality Chapter 2309 - 1728: The Years of Mountain Sea

"Daoist Stealing Mechanism, have you sensed anything unusual?" Li Fan inquired, well aware of the situation.

"Yes, something odd is happening. Earlier, I... detected what felt like another 'Stealing Mechanism' Saint arriving amid the mountains and seas," the Stealing Mechanism Saint replied after a brief pause, his voice low.

"Two paths formed on the same day, right there between the mountains and seas. My own base started to shake, like it was getting snatched by the rival one. At that instant, fear and greed surged up inside me..."

"That sensation was totally new to me!" the Stealing Mechanism Saint added, his face showing clear concern.

"What? Something like that?" Li Fan reacted with surprise.

He promptly creased his forehead in thought: "This shouldn't be feasible. You achieved Sainthood via 'Stealing,' and no single path can have two rulers—how could a duplicate appear between the mountains and seas... Wait?"

Mid-sentence, Li Fan appeared to recall a key detail, causing him to halt abruptly.

The Stealing Mechanism Saint quickly picked up on Li Fan's odd shift and pressed, "Fellow Daoist, have you thought of something?"

Li Fan wavered a few times before going on: "The weird shift you went through does follow a certain pattern. But..."

With a look toward the nearby Lord Guardian Hill, Li Fan continued deliberately, "It touches on someone else's private matters, making it tough to discuss openly. Hold on, I'll check first."

"I appreciate your help ahead of time, Fellow Daoist!" the Stealing Mechanism Saint responded with gravity.

Li Fan feigned a period of mental communication.

After quite some time passed, Li Fan sent a transmission to the Stealing Mechanism Saint, enunciating carefully: "Fellow Daoist should be aware that Lord Guardian Hill attained Sainthood by securing a piece of the 'Longevity' Dao..."

The Stealing Mechanism Saint was quick-witted, grasping the implication from Li Fan's subtle cue right away.

"Are you suggesting that Lord Guardian Hill once went through a similar sensation to what I felt?"

"It hit him even harder than yours. Lord Guardian Hill insisted he's not the genuine Lord of Eternal Life, just lucky to claim one fragment. Yet that actual Lord of Eternal Life didn't appear during Lord Guardian Hill's era, but only right at the dawn of the mountains and seas—like all those mighty figures from back then."

"To dodge the disaster that wipes out paths, they used the 'Slice the Future' divine ability. As a result, they stayed locked in the ancient past forever. Unless under rare conditions, they'd never enter the middle or later stages of the mountains and seas. That 'Suo' originated from the earliest phase of the mountains and seas, then rushed off after revealing itself..."

"They left in a rush, seeming both pressed and furious. Plus the Fellow Daoist's detection of another tied to the Stealing Mechanism."

Putting these elements together, Li Fan offered the conclusion: "Might the visitor back then have been the ancient Saint, the original ruler of the Stealing Mechanism from the start of the mountains and seas?"

Even without Li Fan spelling it out, the Stealing Mechanism Saint already felt a chill run through him, recognizing the likelihood.

He found it hard to believe on instinct, yet that brief intuition rang absolutely true.

"Could there really be someone else commanding the 'Stealing Mechanism' across the mountains and seas?"

"Have I failed to completely seize the Stealing Mechanism Dao?"

"Emerging at the outset of the mountains and seas, their roots would run far deeper than my own. And those feelings that bubbled up unbidden in me..."

"Does this mean their Creation outstrips mine?"

The Stealing Mechanism Saint plunged into profound uncertainty about himself.

Afterward, the Stealing Mechanism Saint came across as somewhat unfocused.

Only after splitting his mind once more and entering the form of a lucky being in the mountains and seas did he regain his composure.

Again, via the mountain and sea channels, he observed the assembly of all the Saints.

In the group stood Mountain Lian, Gui Hai, Taiyi, Gui Ming, Duan Chen, Guardian Hill, and various other initial Saints from the mountains and seas.

There were also over a dozen resembling the Stealing Mechanism Saint—outwardly not Saints, but truly avatars of Saints from later in the mountains and seas.

The Stealing Mechanism Saint had been emotionally rattled to begin with, and spotting the future mountains and seas without his presence shook him further.

Though Li Fan had informed him of the fierce war's toll in the future mountains and seas, leaving just six Saints alive, the Stealing Mechanism Saint, trusting his power, believed he must be among those enduring six.

But when he arrived and found his spot vacant, it disturbed him deeply!

This rattled him more: "Beings much feebler than I made it through. Doesn't that hint at some fateful twist lurking beneath?"

Luckily, as just a mortal avatar who had pushed through the mountain and sea channels by force, the other Saints for now overlooked the turmoil in the Stealing Mechanism Saint's mind.

They kept debating the major scheme to link the mountains and seas anew.

"Daoist Zhouhui is scouring the mountains and probing the seas for promising talents. In future eras, such gifts abound, but here in this age, they're incredibly rare. Still, the Void Realm grows ever more intense..."

"Even with our assembly, we can't afford to slack off," the Sea Return Saint lamented.

No one could tell what harsh fights they'd weathered, but the three Saints of this period showed less pride, more wariness and readiness.

Before the mountains and seas fully linked, despite being the same individuals, their traits varied slightly from distinct experiences.

The avatars of these three Saints didn't dominate the scene; rather, the focus stayed on the three Saints of the current era.

Everyone nodded their assent.

The mood in the chamber turned somber briefly, until Saint Lianshan broke in once more: "On the bright side, enduring this trial means the path ahead in the mountains and seas lies wide open! Should we pull off this reconnection, the subsequent thirty million years of mountain and sea history will encounter no barriers from any force."

At those words, a spark of optimism ignited in everyone.

From repeated gatherings, they understood the gains involved.

And the mountain and sea segments collected thus far totaled under a million years.

Now, Saint Lianshan revealed that thirty million additional years of expansive mountain and sea stretched before them.

Should they succeed in fusing it all, their strength would balloon enormously.

For an instant, every Saint sank into reflection.

Even the somewhat scattered Stealing Mechanism Saint felt a surge of motivation from this.

"True, those concealed at the dawn of the mountains and seas have their might locked in place. But I, flowing backward, will merge every version of my past self. Who truly owns the Stealing Mechanism remains to be seen!"

...Li Fan then questioned abruptly, "Might I inquire of the three Saints: how many years back does this so-called dawn of the mountains and seas lie? And how extended will this reconnection effort endure?"

His words barely landed when a hush fell over the Xuanzhen Circle.

Not just the attendees, but even the transcendent cultivators spanning the mountains and seas grasped the immense timescales at play.

It sounded poetic in theory. But carrying it out for real...

Moreover, each segment faced destruction from the Dao, plus meddling from the Void Realm.

The challenge went way beyond mere "tough."

In earlier times, the three Saints had always skirted exact figures, keeping the timelines vague.

Under the Xuanzhen Circle's sway and the Saints' desire to sidestep, the group had brushed past such queries.

Now that Li Fan raised it directly, the attending Saints had to face the issue head-on.

How vast was the lifespan of the mountain and sea?

No one besides the three Saints held the true measure.

Guardian Hill, with his gift of longevity, ranked among the longest-enduring Saints.

Yet even before the three Saints, he could only view himself as a novice.

Not even Guardian Hill possessed a precise response here.

The Saints turned their attention squarely to the three.

Evidently, the three Saints had zero desire to tackle this.

A prolonged quiet stretched through the Xuanzhen Circle.

In the end, the divine avatar from the future shattered the quiet, speaking up.

"Since Fellow Daoist Zhouhui has posed the question, we'll address it."