My Simulated Road to Immortality Chapter 2374: 1766: External Perspective (Part 2)
“No matter if our schemes triumph or crumble, they’re bound to emerge once more as Mountain Sea resets.” Zhen Shi Yin lingered at Zhang Fan’s side, her voice soft and soothing.
Truth be told, no one else’s words of comfort were required.
The jolt rippling through his core faded after just a handful of fleeting seconds, drawing Zhang Fan’s gaze entirely to the vast expanse of True and False Dao stretching out ahead.
Once bound to countless Heavenly Destiny Children by the millions.
Now it swirled softly, every strand funneling back into Zhang Fan’s grasp.
Clarity began to seep into the scene.
The gloom no longer cloaked Apocalypse Mountain Sea; every element felt within reach.
Before Zhang Fan, a grand scroll unfurled.
All that had ever defined Mountain Sea lay captured within its bounds.
Yet, under Dao Yan’s relentless corrosion, the vivid landscapes of Mountain Sea in the scroll grew ever more sheer and ghostly.
To the average onlooker, it appeared as though Mountain Sea had simply vanished from existence.
For the wielder of True and False Dao, however, a fresh surge of energy would summon it back into clear view!
“Behold, the [Mountain and Sea Change Outline].”
Captivated by this otherworldly display, Zhang Fan whispered to himself, a spark of enlightenment dawning.
Yet there was more to uncover.
Beyond the edges of the Mountain and Sea Scroll, a shadowy form loomed indistinctly—a enigmatic Scroll Holder.
Every shift inside the scroll, and the scroll’s very essence, bowed to this figure’s command.
After etching every nuance of the Mountain and Sea Scroll into his mind, Zhang Fan pushed hard against the scroll’s barriers, straining to catch a glimpse of the Scroll Holder.
This bold intrusion set the Mountain and Sea Scroll quaking with fury.
Waves of Mountain Sea crashed in, desperate to veil Zhang Fan’s searching eyes.
Drawing on his command of True and False Dao, Zhang Fan quelled the chaos. His resolve held firm, determined to behold the Scroll Holder beyond the canvas.
The fierce tug-of-war between powers tore the Mountain and Sea Scroll asunder, bit by bit.
At the same time, fissures spiderwebbed across Zhang Fan’s Divine Soul, threatening total shatter.
This went beyond mere bodily harm; it was the savage rebound from True and False Changes, gnawing away at the very roots of his being.
Longevity and Wangji, twin pillars of Mountain Sea Dao, labored to mend the fractures in Zhang Fan’s Divine Soul.
A tiny effort against the tide, yet it bought Zhang Fan precious extra instants for his scrutiny.
At last, Zhang Fan’s sight broke past the veil of the Mountain and Sea imagery, revealing the Scroll Holder.
Boom boom boom!
His Divine Soul reeled from the brutal impact, shoving the entire Mountain Sea vista and the encircling Void Realm Dao Yan to the sidelines, rendering them trivial and distant.
Even the countless Dao Paths, True and False Dao among them, drifted away like passing mist.
Zhang Fan’s vision locked on a single silhouette.
In that heartbeat, he beheld his own reflection.
And…
A thick shroud hovering directly above.
God Slaying Transformation World.
The moment Zhang Fan shattered through barriers and peered via the True and False Changes gateway at Li Fan.
Li Fan, using that borrowed stare, caught his first glimpse of himself from the outside.
And spotted the same heavy shadow drifting over his form.
Having purged all traces of experiences and recollections from after Reincarnation, reverting to that pristine state of crossing over.
Still, some alien presence lingered inexplicably above!
For some unfathomable reason, Li Fan felt no shock upon suddenly beholding this sight.
It was all foreseen ages ago.
In fact, to Li Fan, the real wonder would be if no contingencies shadowed his path.
“I wonder if this heavy shadow arises from my former self, or…”
“The fallen True God.”
The shared glance between Li Fan and Zhang Fan endured for only an instant.
Once the [Outside Vision] dissolved, Li Fan lost sight of the shadow that always hung over him.
It was as if it had never been, and not even True and False Changes could summon its echo into his Spirit Consciousness.
The recollection of this shadow in his Spirit Consciousness began to slip away, dimming steadily.
After futile efforts to halt the fade, Li Fan resolved to use the dwindling time to unravel the shadow’s source.
First, dismiss any plots from his earlier incarnation.
“My grasp of True and False Dao now nears the zenith of Mountain Sea. Against my past self, I hold my own without much gap.”
“I doubt he wielded the strength for such a deed.”
“Lurking unknown, invisible, unforgettable no more.”
“Beyond Mountain Sea’s grasp, beyond all knowing.”
“True God Shadow…”
In a flash, Li Fan reached his verdict.
“Drawing from what I already sense.”
“This realm dwells in Endless Reincarnation.”
“Even True Gods falter in endurance. Through endless epochs, fresh awareness fractures forth. Be it born from consumed Divinity or spawned anew from evolution.”
“In the end, the ancient God tumbles, the fresh God rises—this is the unyielding fate.”
“To label it a tumble might just mean a homecoming. For…”
“[God] holds to oneness. Upon claiming divinity, God remains God.”
“As the wheel spins into Mountain Sea’s Divine Split age.”
“The tide began to turn.”
“Mountain Sea serves as but the opening act in the New God’s birth, forged from dual fractured wills, merely a bridge spanning the True God’s end and rebirth.”
“Yet sensing their doom unavoidable, they refused to yield, scheming to defy the stars.”
“They staged a colossal drama, fooling the cosmos, shifting into Stars. Should the act end flawlessly, they’d usurp the fated God’s throne as the New God…”
Here, Li Fan’s reasoning hit a brief snag.
The True God Shadow dissolved quicker now, pressing him to accelerate his insights.
“God stays one. But which soul claims the divine seat lacks such unity.”
“Mountain Sea stood missing from the original roster of god-bound fates. Still, they thrust forward with their bid for alteration…”
“True God’s might knows no bounds, piercing past, present, future. At death’s edge, they glimpsed the shifts ahead.”
“Hence drawing me, rootless wanderer, as the outsider performer to shatter the loop.”
“However…”
“Is that the full tale?”
Suddenly, a sharp chill ignited in Li Fan’s stare.
“With God’s all-seeing eye, they must witness every ripple after I rip the Mountain Sea farce asunder.”
“Echoing Zhen Shi Yin and the rest’s words.”
“Mountain Sea crumbles, Reincarnation ends, everything flows back to me.”
“…”
“This falls short of what True God craved.”
“To offer themselves up just to snap this Heaven and Earth’s Endless Reincarnation, empowering me, a mere intruder?”
“Would God harbor such benevolence?”
Li Fan let out a frosty huff.
He cast aside this notion without delay.
“Yet that True God acted without pause.”
“Precisely because…”
“They trust my power to dismantle the Mountain Sea spectacle and douse the falling Star, but in the finale, I can’t fell the God.”
“God’s vision spans all tomorrows. Scouring every path, no glimpse of the instant I triumph in God-slaying. So they moved ahead.”
“Yanking me into the toil, even plotting for me to shoulder their downfall…”
“This borders on the absurd.”
The fury that once burned in Li Fan’s chest upon grasping the reality had ebbed.
Now, only a wry chuckle escaped him.
But beneath that mirth, Li Fan’s eyes gleamed with unprecedented ice.
“Does the sole certainty stem truly from this True God Shadow crowning my head?”
In the scraps of time left, Li Fan strained to plot a riposte.
The darkness fully drained away, the shadow gone for good.
A flicker of bewilderment crossed Li Fan’s face.
“It feels like…”
“Some vital piece has slipped from memory.”
Sensing that odd quiver deep within, Li Fan sank into deep thought.
“Any hints for me?”
His eyes turned to the Hai Zhen phantom nearby.
The Hai Zhen phantom, devoid of its own will, could only react like a machine.
In response to Li Fan’s query, waves of glow reached backward through time.
But in the end, it surfaced empty.
Still, Li Fan’s face betrayed no shift.
“At times, the absence of clues speaks volumes.”
“I’ve scaled the heights of this realm, and oddities like this arise solely from…”
“None but [God].”
“It changes nothing, whether lost to mind or etched forever.”