My Simulated Road to Immortality Chapter 2366: 1762: God Creation Guest (Part 2)
Previously on My Simulated Road to Immortality...
Xuan Yuanhong kept insisting, “The old fisherman is being far too humble. Sure, apart from the True God, every Saint stands on equal footing. Still, each one of us gathered here has touched the heights of Godhood in the past. Should a real battle erupt, none of us would back down in true terror.”
“Godhood…”
Those two words stirred deep, forgotten recollections among those assembled, plunging the scene into quiet stillness yet again.
“Back at the beginning of everything, in the Tai Chu Era, the Saints waged endless wars. All of it was to claim the Creation of Mountain Sea and to seize the sacred core of Godhood.”
“We let our inner selves get lost in the frenzy, much like we did long ago.”
“No words of reasoning could sway us. Only those who have actually ascended to Godhood and lived through it all can grasp the truth.”
“Everyone but you, Xuanyuan lad.” The old fisherman strolled leisurely to that spot bridging Heaven and Earth, then settled down to fish once more.
He clutched the stone tablet, completely dazed by the monumental secret it had just caught wind of, and resumed his angling.
Xuan Yuanhong gave a bitter smile, “Next to you venerable elders, I only possess a bit of honest insight about myself.”
“Through endless cycles of Reincarnation, the True and False Changes have flipped yet again. So be it. Resistance is futile for us.”
“However, this round feels like it might carry a genuine twist.”
Following their exchange among the Saints, they dispersed in different directions.
Concealed within the mortal realm.
“It’s truly unfortunate for Brother Zhang.”
“He was such a genuine soul, and I can’t help but wonder if we’ll cross paths once more,” the King of Mystic Sky lamented.
…
Among the many events unfolding in this realm, Zhang Fan, who had fled to a distant place, remained oblivious.
The initial thrill of his departure had slowly faded, allowing him to regain his composure.
He wouldn’t voice it out loud, but deep down, a twinge of remorse was creeping in.
The perils and boundless nature of Dao Yan far surpassed what he had anticipated.
Witnessing it from afar differed vastly from enduring it firsthand.
Simply locating another possible haven had drained nearly every ounce of Zhang Fan’s energy.
“If the Dao Yan within Mountain Sea is this brutal, what horrors await in the outer Void Realm?”
Fear began to swell heavier in Zhang Fan’s chest.
Yet with the arrow loosed, retreat was impossible. Zhang Fan lost the path home and pressed on with clenched jaws.
“Thankfully, Real still holds more than ninety activations remaining.”
Right as Zhang Fan took comfort in that thought, his face twisted in sudden alarm.
“Is another person close by wielding the Real? Why can’t I access it right now?”
“What could this signify?”
This blow hit Zhang Fan harder than his abrupt revelation about the Dao Yan truths in Mountain Sea.
From his earliest days onward, guided by the True and False Dao, he had always viewed himself as the fabled protagonist, the chosen son of fate. Thus, even if his golden finger came to light, he believed harm would never touch him.
He hadn’t foreseen running into someone sharing his exact mold so soon after venturing beyond the starting zone.
“What in the world is happening here?”
Shock and fury boiled within Zhang Fan’s mind.
But before deeper reflection could take hold, the nearby chaos erupted into blazing inferno.
Beneath the blistering blaze, Zhang Fan found himself compelled to emerge into view.
“Fellow Daoist, wait a moment…”
Zhang Fan yearned to converse with the foe about their parallel plights and uncover the mystery at play.
Yet the rival bearer of Real showed zero interest in talk. The assault didn’t ease; it intensified with greater fury.
The encircling fires carried the might to scorch the heavens and obliterate existence itself.
Even the turbulent waves of Dao Yan bowed momentarily to the flames’ dominance.
Zhang Fan tried to flee, but the wall of raging inferno sealed off every escape.
“You’re dead set on my destruction!”
Comprehension dawned on Zhang Fan at last, and on the edge of doom, a icy spark ignited in his gaze.
“Fine then, you leave me no choice!”
Having dwelled in a protected domain for years, untouched by peril or mortality, he had grown lax toward cultivation skirmishes.
Nevertheless, mighty figures surrounded him constantly.
Seeking their counsel now and then granted him boons and fortunes beyond a normal lifetime’s reach.
“A tempting lure!”
Zhang Fan narrowed his eyes, his vision piercing through the endless blaze to spot the schemer lurking in the shadows.
Using his arm as the line, he flung it forth with care.
The line dropped, and the prey was snared!
Without warning, Lin Fan, who had summoned the fiery ocean, ended up ensnared in Zhang Fan’s grip.
His features frozen in sheer disbelief.
He thrashed on pure reflex, yet his form felt bound by invisible angling threads, rendering movement impossible.
The foe fell into capture in an instant, and as death loomed near, Zhang Fan paused in uncertainty.
After all, he had never taken a life before.
Besides, this adversary’s destiny mirrored his own so closely, and even their presence felt eerily alike.
“There must be a link tying us together.”
Zhang Fan mulled over this quietly inside.
While he wavered, a sudden breeze seemed to whisper past.
The hooked Lin Fan began crumbling like he was consumed by wild flames, disintegrating bit by bit into scattered embers.
Zhang Fan’s pulse raced in panic.
Before any response, a dark blaze slammed into his brow.
“Is this where I meet my end?”
Within Zhang Fan’s spiritual awareness, flashes of bygone moments raced through.
Regret mingled with sorrow,
and wrath aimed at the assailant.
Right as the ebony flames threatened to reduce Zhang Fan’s Divine Soul to cinders,
a verdant glow flared up, shielding him from all peril.
“Brother Xuan Yuan!”
Zhang Fan grasped it immediately.
The lifesaver was the Jade Pendant bestowed by Xuan Yuanhong at their farewell.
He had figured that armed with Real, this Treasure would gather dust forever. Little did he know, his grand voyage crumbled at the outset, activating the pendant.
Aware no further reprieve awaited, Zhang Fan hardened his resolve.
“Life and Death, Depart!”
With those words, Zhang Fan appeared to divide in twain.
One part radiated lethal aura, akin to a dormant corpse; the other brimmed with life force, reminiscent of timeless verdant wood.
The embodiment of death swung ruthlessly at its own skull.
As the skull tumbled free, Lin Fan nearby unleashed a piercing cry.
His own head dropped without cause.
It went beyond mere flesh.
The Divine Soul and very thoughts suffered the same linked severance.
Tumbling straight into Zhang Fan’s grasp.
“Perish!”
Zhang Fan wasted no more time, and the death form jabbed at the severed head’s brow.
The form exploded into fragments.
Dragging the foe Lin Fan down with it.
The death form’s end left Zhang Fan’s true being unscathed.
Boundless emerald vitality surged through him, mending his wounds with swift renewal.
This clash’s mental toll outweighed any bodily or soul wounds.
Still, a prize emerged from the ordeal.
“The Real functions once more, pulling me from immediate peril.”
And beyond that…
“I sense the foe’s Real essence flowing into me now.”
Zhang Fan shut his eyes, attuning to the odd force expanding inside.
“The old fisherman stressed repeatedly that Real embodies the True and False Changes, the True and False Dao.”
“I quietly consulted Brother Xuan Yuan on this. He said this Dao is unique to my grasp and practice. Even a prodigy like him couldn’t fathom it.”
“But now, another one has surfaced.”
“And that’s merely the start.”
Upon slaying Lin Fan, Zhang Fan claimed fragments of his recollections too.
Prior to their clash, Lin Fan had crossed paths with three others bearing Real, triumphing over each, only to stumble fatally against him.
“This fellow pursued the Dao of Cinder Silence Fire…”
“Nothing exceptional in talent.”
Zhang Fan’s brow furrowed briefly, then smoothed out.
Through the rival’s mind, he discovered this Dao ranked among Mountain Sea’s elite paths, one average Cultivators chased fruitlessly across lifetimes.
“I had a faint inkling the old fisherman’s background was remarkable. Yet I never dreamed it could eclipse my wildest guesses…”
Only then did Zhang Fan truly comprehend Xuan Yuanhong’s warning of an irreversible departure.
Though regret flickered briefly, Zhang Fan’s will reignited steadfastly.
“Against the endless calm of sheltered eternity, this slaughter and seizure…”
“Fits my nature far more.”
Despite scant tangible rewards this time, a subtle, unstoppable thrill bubbled from Zhang Fan’s core.
“Let’s uncover how many others like me roam this immense Mountain Sea!”
“Any I encounter, I’ll eliminate, until…”
“I unmask the real orchestrator of all this!”
Though unaware, Zhang Fan might already be ensnared in a colossal scheme.
He burned to shatter it, to exact vengeance!