My Simulated Road to Immortality Chapter 2345: 1752: The Final Solution to the Mountain Sea Mystery
The starlight scatters apart.
A majestic presence stands tall, its aura slowly unveiling as the True God Finger shifts from nothingness into solid form, manifesting once more in existence!
For the starlight, this broken link holds far greater pull than anything Li Fan could offer.
All things drawn into its gaze converge upon the True God Finger.
Even the glowing specks that had claimed over half of Li Fan's form desert him without a second thought.
Bit by bit, Li Fan reclaims command of his own flesh, though he seems not yet settled in. Every inch feels alien to him, rigid and unyielding as if locked in place.
“Bathed in starlight for just an instant, yet it felt like endless ages banished from the mortal realm.”
The body's sharp unease dulls Li Fan's mind as well, like rust creeping over gears.
Still, his will to live pushes him onward, keeping him aware of the deadly danger closing in.
His mind aligns with intent, and the True and False Changes envelop him swiftly.
As if a simple rain cape shields him from a raging tempest, his body and spirit find sudden peace.
The biting erosion fades away; both his thoughts and mystical arts restore to full clarity.
He watches the strange sight unfolding before him.
In theory, only a single True God Finger should exist in the world.
So when the starlight gleams forth and the True God Finger emerges, chaos erupts in the Boundaryless Stele of Mountain Sea. Its core support vanishes, leaving just the lingering paths of Tao etched by the All Saints. It can no longer sustain the destiny known as [Mountain and Sea Without Boundary].
Those Tao remnants, akin to brittle twigs, snap one by one.
The hard-won union of Mountain and Sea immediately fractures, showing clear rifts!
Inside the Xuanji Ring, the Three Saints close their eyes tightly, battling the fierce backlash from deploying [Ruyi Heart] and forcing Ruyi back into submission.
“Hmm?”
Saint Lianshan is the first among them to sense the disturbance in Mountain Sea.
Mountain Lian embodies every civilization and entity that once sought to bridge Mountain over Sea. Much of their core strength stems from that very blending of Mountain and Sea.
With Mountain Sea now splitting apart, he endures the heaviest blow.
The steady Fang Mountain surges upward without cause, pulling away from the mortal plane.
Though Saint Lianshan stretches his bridging power to mend the growing tear, the pace of Mountain Sea's divide outruns his every attempt at repair.
Buzz, buzz, buzz…
Once the divide widens beyond a critical threshold, a faint rumble of breakdown echoes between Mountain and Sea.
The vibrations spread wide.
Ordinary mortals sense nothing of it.
But every True Immortal feels the shadow of catastrophe looming, their faces twisting in dread.
Immortals perch atop Fang Mountain, linked to the boundless Infinite Sea.
Their lofty stature commands endless mystical arts.
Yet now, the vital link upholding their tie to Fang Mountain shatters with a deafening roar.
The Immortals astride that bridge tumble down alongside it, sharing its doom.
Their Realm's essence visibly drains away at a rapid clip.
Saint, transcendence, nameless, True Immortal.
Regardless of their level, might, or desperate resistance, none can evade the fall.
All plummet back to the Mortal Realm.
Bearing mortal flesh, how could they grasp the infinite anew?
Those caught in Dao Yan fail to shield themselves, vanishing in a flash.
Those fleeing into Mountain Sea face the crushing rebound of Infinite Sea's might, dissolving into its endless depths.
With the Boundaryless Stele of Mountain and Sea erased in that moment, fully ninety-nine percent of all cultivators beyond True Immortal in Mountain Sea meet total destruction. The few survivors, though clinging on, face certain doom without escape.
For the reason is clear…
Mountain Sea stirs to life!
Freed from the True God Finger's hold, Mountain Sea divides, unveiling its primal hunger as a devouring entity. The myriad fallen cultivators inside it fuel its revival, merging back into its essence. The weakened Mountain Sea, like one who gulps a mighty tonic pill, surges with renewed vitality.
Not quite restored to full glory, yet armed with enough force for one final, desperate stand.
Even more crucially, the will of Mountain Sea, twisted by the True God Finger's meddling, resets to its true form.
Mountains stretch forth, rising in solemn grandeur.
The Vast Ocean sprawls without end, mirroring the mighty heavens.
Two distinct wills, true to Mountain Sea's core, descend across its expanse.
When fused, they tangle in disorder, hazy and formless, driven only by raw impulse.
But separated now, Mountain stands as pure Mountain, Sea as nothing but Sea.
Each will, freed from the other, flourishes with greater clarity.
Thus, the Three Saints face varied fates.
Though the Three Saints reel from the upheaval, dropping to Mortal Realm, they endure for differing causes.
As though foreseeing the end drawing near, Saint Lianshan turns to his companions with a heavy sigh: “No gathering endures forever…”
His words barely fade when Saint Lianshan, far from a mere fragment or echo in Mountain Sea, embodies every facet of it. All aspects dissolve into beams of light, flashing back to Upper Mountain.
Sea Return Saint offers only a soft exhale in reply.
Innumerable azure glimmers rise, flowing into the boundless potentials of Infinite Sea.
And finally, Saint Taiyi.
Countless visions seem to dissolve into mist, fading completely. Taiyi, with all the boundless deductive Tao it upheld, returns wholly to Mountain Sea!
Mountain Sea had once spun out endless Tao and myriad beings.
Now, every trace is drawn back in.
All reverts to the rawest origins!
Just as in the dawn of Mountain Sea's sacred division.
…
The upheavals shaking Mountain Sea stun beyond measure.
Yet they pale against the turmoil sparked by the clash of Starlight and True God Finger in the emptiness.
As if unlocking chains of freedom.
From the True God Finger's core, boundless starlight erupts in a flash.
Unlike the harsh Lone Star Li Fan had seen before, this starlight glows with a gentler hue.
At the very least, the Void Realm withstands the starlight's glow.
At the very least, Li Fan holds the True and False Changes steady, allowing him to keep watching.
The moment the vast starlight bursts forth, for a fleeting second, a faint outline lurks behind it, teasing the eye.
But as that moment slips by and the starlight swells a million times over, Li Fan's sight drowns in pure radiance.
“Was that just my imagination?”
Li Fan questions himself, unsure.
Soon enough, though, no time remains for such musings.
Starlight surges outward from the Void Realm's depths without limit.
As the focal point of the falling stars, the True God Finger senses the mounting glow encircling it and shifts once more.
This shift isn't in the True God Finger's essence, but in its “bearing”.
A profoundly arcane display, where a lone severed finger performs deliberate gestures.
Each gesture channels unique mystical arts and purposes.
Earlier, as Li Fan had observed, [Mountain and Sea Without Boundary] warped Mountain Sea's will, compelling their union.
And now, the finger adjusts, directing itself toward the sweeping starlight.
In that very blink, the brilliant starlight loses its vivid spark. From a piercing blaze, it dulls to muted shades of gray.
The whole void plunges into shadow.
Stripped of its radiant edge, the starlight seems robbed of its deadly bite, its menace sharply lessened.
Li Fan raises his eyes, sensing deep down that he could now face it without even calling on True and False Changes.
Still, Li Fan avoids testing fate recklessly; the scene before him defies all expectation.
“What's going on here? Why is the True God Finger turning on the Starlight all of a sudden?”
“Lone Star and True God Finger—aren't they both safeguards from the God, meant to drive Mountain Sea's fusion? Does the Lone Star's descent aim for that?”
The chaos before him shatters Li Fan's every theory.
As confusion swirls in Li Fan's thoughts, fragments of deeper truths about the God, Mountain Sea, and Star begin to emerge.
“Since their supposed roles and aims clash so hard with what actually happens, time for a fresh look.”
“Of the trio, Mountain Sea plays both the sinner in the divine split and its sufferer.”
“True God Finger…”
“It carries a subtle ancient presence. Plus, one lone finger overhauls Mountain Sea's will, forcing their merge. Now it scatters the endless starlight, locking the Lone Star away again. Such overwhelming might and arts—only the True God could wield them.”