“Times have changed. The Xuanyuan Village of those years has long since ceased to exist.”

“Even the [Reveal] Character seal script failed to obtain any clues from the Immortal Ancestor…”

“Perhaps, if I want to investigate the Xuantian King’s current situation, I still need to start with his childhood sweetheart.”

Within Li Fan’s sea of consciousness, countless points of light suddenly flashed.

Within every point of light, countless images rapidly flickered. Like a star sea, the countless points of light simulated different possible events of the future.

Yet this immense amount of deduction did not hinder the operation of Li Fan’s thoughts in the slightest.

This was one of the benefits brought about by the upgrade of the Dao Deviation Stone within his own sea of consciousness.

Its computational power seemed practically infinite. Even if he directed everything he had learned in the past toward deducing Immortal techniques, while simultaneously deducing the future course of this life, synchronizing and analyzing everything that happened within the Dreamland Paradise, and conducting an overall analysis...

Even with all of this combined, Li Fan still felt completely at ease.

He even developed a feeling of frustration, as though he possessed immense divine power but had nowhere to use it.

He had once used the Taiyan Sect’s [Inverse Calamity], a small game based on reversing chaos into order and disorder into order, as a test for himself.

Compared to the 49,999 sheets of paper left by Yi Yin in his tomb, the number of possibilities was ten thousand times greater.

The difficulty was worlds apart.

Yet after only a single breath of time, Li Fan had solved it without the slightest pressure.

With the computational power of the Dao Deviation Stone Mother, problems involving permutations and combinations could no longer obstruct Li Fan, no matter how enormous their fundamental scale was.

...

As he contemplated various matters, Li Fan said to Chen Tianhai, “Hasn’t the Taiyan Sect always wanted to see what lies beyond the High Wall? I can create independent bodies for anyone who has such an intention, allowing them to explore beyond the High Wall.”

Chen Tianhai was clearly tempted upon hearing this.

“Coming into contact with more variables beyond the High Wall will also help stimulate the hidden power of the Dao Deviation Stone Mother. Perhaps it may even awaken that consciousness deep within the Stone Mother,” Li Fan added.

Chen Tianhai quickly made up his mind.

The consciousness hidden within the Dao Deviation Stone Mother had not even been detected by the Taiyan Sect in the beginning. It was only after Li Fan pointed it out that the members of the Taiyan Sect, having merged with the Dao Deviation Stone Mother, were able to “see clearly” that hidden existence.

Relying on their mysterious connection with the Stone Mother, the people of the Taiyan Sect all believed that this consciousness could only benefit the Dao Deviation Stone Mother and would not harm it. It had merely fallen into a deep sleep for some unknown reason. If they could find a way to communicate with it, they might be able to uncover the mystery of the Stone Mother’s origin. It might even promote the Stone Mother’s further transformation.

Li Fan’s proposal was something the people of the Taiyan Sect simply could not refuse.

Chen Tianhai looked at the scenes from the Dreamland Paradise depicting the world beyond the High Wall.

In order to obtain as much authentic information about the world beyond the High Wall as possible, Li Fan had changed the way the dreams beyond the High Wall were generated. Everything was now generated based on the real environment, with fabricated and false elements eliminated.

After dozens of iterations, the Dreamland Paradise was no longer merely the Carefree Realm, or even a creation of Li Fan. It had become a collective derivative of the thoughts of countless living beings within the dreams.

Now, this enormous existence had already crossed the High Wall and was slowly exploring the world beyond it.

The Darkest Star Sea within the High Wall was merely a small portion of the Annihilation Land.

It was just that throughout most of the remaining regions, under the baptism of the Dao Annihilation Calamity, even the concept of “existence” had already disappeared. The tentacles of the Dreamland Paradise extended outward along the narrow passage beyond the High Wall.

Everywhere they passed was completely barren.

Yet when they looked back toward the location of the Darkest Star Sea, they could discover nothing at all. Even though a portion of the tentacles was still connected to the interior of the High Wall, they simply could not sense it.

This bizarre situation was as if a part of one’s own body had inexplicably vanished.

Li Fan controlled a portion of the dream tentacles to continue exploring toward the outskirts of the Annihilation Land, while allowing the rest to attempt to cross the High Wall and return to the Darkest Star Sea.

Because they could not sense the existence of the High Wall, they could only follow the traces of their own existence. In this way, they successfully groped their way toward the vicinity of the High Wall.

However, every other point was unable to enter or even discover the High Wall. Only by passing through the point where the dream itself had pierced through the High Wall, while remaining connected to both the interior and exterior, could they return inside the wall.

“The hidden and mysterious nature of the outer side of the High Wall truly far exceeds what we can see from within.”

Li Fan did not give up on exploring the High Wall.

Countless dream tentacles began spreading toward the outside world along the passage that had initially been opened.

Like creeping ivy, they densely occupied the area where the High Wall was located.

Although there was currently no way to completely lock onto the existence of the High Wall, the Dreamland Paradise contained the collective understanding of countless living beings, while the Dao Deviation Stone Mother provided assistance with the research. Li Fan believed that with gradual progress, they would eventually be able to completely unravel the secrets of the High Wall.

With the help of the Dreamland Paradise, Li Fan also sent a strand of his divine sense beyond the High Wall.

Since he was uncertain what he might encounter, the entire process was carried out with extreme caution.

Fortunately, no unexpected incident occurred. Li Fan’s Half-Immortal divine sense gazed toward the High Wall, seeing something different from what the beings within the dreams could perceive.

Where the dream tentacles could see nothing at all, Li Fan vaguely glimpsed a dark gray, sharp protrusion.

It seemed like a long, narrow cone, yet also seemed like nothing more than a line segment.

It quietly stretched across the void, piercing through space.

It seemed to be supporting something, yet also seemed to be connecting something.

“Is this the High Wall?”

Li Fan silently observed it, and a difficult-to-describe feeling suddenly arose within his heart.

He looked around.

The small region near the High Wall was the surviving land beneath the Dao Annihilation Calamity.

Beyond this surviving land, existence itself had already disappeared.

In a daze, Li Fan seemed to see the terrifying scene from when the calamity had descended and the Great Dao had crushed everything beneath it.

Across the vast and boundless Star Sea, enormous regions of light successively went out without warning.

Darkness devoured the world.

The apocalypse descended.

Only the High Wall remained as a support, allowing the surrounding region to barely survive beneath the Dao Annihilation Calamity.

And even after ten thousand years, the High Wall still stood unmoving, maintaining its “existence.”

“If the High Wall were to collapse...”

According to Li Fan’s deductions, even if the Dao Annihilation Calamity never descended again, the possibilities of this region would gradually dissipate.

In the end, it would follow in the footsteps of the surrounding regions, becoming annihilated and disappearing.

Observing the ruins left behind by the destruction caused by the Dao Annihilation Calamity, Li Fan gained an even clearer understanding of this terrifying disaster that could annihilate the Immortal Realm and even encompass and destroy all possibilities of the mortal world.

“It does not descend continuously.”

“Instead, it attacks intermittently, like wave after wave.”

“The Immortal Realm stood at a higher level, so when the Dao Annihilation Calamity descended, it was the first to be affected.”

“Perhaps, when the Dao Annihilation Calamity first erupted back then, the Immortal Realm was still barely able to withstand it. But eventually, one of the most violent waves suddenly arrived and completely swallowed the entire Immortal Realm before it could react.”

“The Immortal Realm collapsed, and the disaster began spreading toward the lower realm.”

“After the great wave, it seemed to begin accumulating strength. The Dao Annihilation Calamity entered a low tide, and thus the lower realm star sea, whose strength was far inferior to that of the Immortal Realm, suffered only the destruction of a portion of its regions. A vast amount of life still remained.”

...

With sufficient computational power supporting him, Li Fan’s ability to “fill in the gaps” had also undergone a qualitative improvement.

By combining the clues he had learned in the past, he could reconstruct various possible truths from nothing more than the broken walls and ruins scattered throughout the Annihilation Land.

Li Fan had vaguely glimpsed the pattern of the Dao Annihilation Calamity.

If this speculation is close to the truth, then perhaps the day when the possibility Li Fan currently inhabits is completely destroyed is not far away.

“For the Dao Annihilation Calamity, ten thousand years is by no means a long time, but it is certainly not a short time either.”

“Perhaps the black qi stirred up by falling from the highest point of the trend is a sign that the Dao Annihilation Calamity is approaching.”

“Just like ripples spreading across the surface of water. They only appear after something falls into the water.”

“The manifestation of the black qi means that the tide has begun to rise, and the water is spreading over.”

Li Fan pondered this, and a sudden sense of unease arose in his heart.

That invisible pressure seemed to have affected even True Immortals who had returned to the true state.

Not to mention the true Dao Annihilation Calamity, even the black qi of Dao Annihilation was something Li Fan was currently incapable of surviving within.

“Perhaps the power of the Celestial Spirit of Heaven and Earth, Ink Death, can help mediate it to some extent.”

Li Fan did not know what had happened to this experimental ground in the Xuanhuang Realm back then. It was almost as if, overnight, everyone involved had either disappeared or died.

All that remained was a field of ruins.

“Perhaps the existence of the High Wall was an emergency protective measure created at the same time as this experimental ground was designed.”

“Only, as time passed, when the Dao Annihilation Calamity truly descended, the measure was indeed activated. Yet not a single one of the people involved remained.”

“All that was left were us experimental subjects, our minds filled with doubts and bewilderment.”

Li Fan gazed at the High Wall once more with a profound look. Moments later, his divine sense returned to his body.

With Li Fan's guidance, the dream tentacles now had a clear path to follow. They began spreading and growing along the High Wall without restraint.

Although he had now truly seen the High Wall and deduced its possible origin, Li Fan still knew very little about its principles and how to break through it.

He could only spend the time ahead slowly deciphering and analyzing it.

“An experimental ground of the Immortal Realm.”

“Pieces on the Immortal Domain Go Board.”

Images that Li Fan had once seen within the Immortal Domain Go pieces surfaced in his mind.

Black and white pieces stood side by side on the Go board.

The victor remained, while the defeated was removed from the game.

The Immortal Domain Go piece left behind by Sun Piaomiao was merely one of those that had failed and been discarded.

Yet even within such a failed piece, there existed an entity like the Southern Immortal Celestial Pillar.

It was truly difficult to imagine what kind of foundation the Go pieces that ultimately remained on the board possessed.

“More importantly…”

“How could the Immortal Realm have only one experimental ground like the Xuanhuang Realm?”

This question suddenly emerged in Li Fan's mind.

From the glimpse of the Immortal Realm he had once caught, it appeared boundless.

It could genuinely be described as infinite.

As for the so called Immortal Domains, no one knew how many there were.

Even an unofficial force of the Immortal Realm like Sun Piaomiao had to leave behind numerous reserve Go pieces. It was difficult to imagine that if the vast Immortal Realm truly wanted to scheme toward some objective, it would rely on only a single operation.

“In the past, my horizons were simply too narrow.”

“Even after advancing to the Half Immortal realm, I only possessed the cultivation realm and status of one. Without undergoing the baptism of immortal spiritual qi, my level of thought was inevitably still inferior to that of a True Immortal.”

“But with the Dao Deviation Stone Mother as a supplement, it was like having enlightenment poured directly into my mind. Only then could my thoughts truly expand in all directions.”

“There may not be only one experimental ground in the lower realm star sea.”

“Thinking about it this way, the abandonment of the Xuanhuang Realm also makes perfect sense.”

Because the Dao Annihilation Calamity was raging, most of the domains had already been annihilated. Only a few ruins and broken remnants remained, supporting themselves within the Lands Of Annihilation.

They were like shallow sandbars floating upon a river.

“Even that flourishing region beyond the High Wall is probably nothing more than a somewhat larger island.”

“The starry sky is vast and boundless, obscured by countless lands of annihilation, making it impossible to see its original appearance. Thus, believing that the place one inhabits is the only place in existence is only natural.”

“But with the Dao Deviation Stone Mother in my possession, I can glimpse a corner and see the whole world…”

The complete panoramic view of the possibility in which Li Fan currently existed was finally being slowly filled in within his mind.

The scene depicted by this panorama was truly vast and boundless. Even the vast Darkest Star Sea was merely an insignificant point within it.

However, most regions within this panoramic view were constantly flickering between appearing and disappearing. This was because there was too little data at present to determine whether they truly existed.

Only the Darkest Star Sea within the High Wall, where Li Fan currently resided, remained brightly illuminated without ever extinguishing, regardless of how the light and shadows changed.

“The starry skies of all possibilities are able to shine because of my existence.”

“Let this possibility in which I reside be called the Yuanchu.”

Li Fan quietly thought this to himself.

Sooner or later, Li Fan's strength would become sufficient to leap into other possibilities.

There was no harm in establishing the identity of his own possibility in advance.

However, the most important task at present was still to make contact with the civilizations within the Lands of Annihilation.

Even with the living beings of the Xuanhuang Realm as his foundation, Li Fan still felt that the expansion of the dream tentacles was far too slow.

As early as ten years ago, Li Fan had already promulgated laws encouraging childbirth.

But after ten years, the increase in population was still extremely limited.

“In the short term, I cannot count on that. It seems I will have to find a way myself.”

Feeling the enormous amount of idle computing power within his sea of consciousness, a thought suddenly emerged in Li Fan's mind.

Back when he visited the [Era] apparatus in the Museum of Divine Treasures, Li Fan had already conceived an idea.

The countless worlds deduced by the Dao Deviation Stone were almost indistinguishable from reality.

If the Dao Deviation Stone itself continued to grow stronger, then sooner or later, each of these deduced worlds would become no different from real worlds.

“Perhaps it is precisely because the Stone Mother is the manifestation of all the Great Daos within a single possibility that it caused me to have such a thought.”

“In theory, every world that has ever appeared within the Stone Mother is completely reasonable and real.”

“It is like having already forged the molds. As long as they are filled, physical objects can be produced.”

“If my comprehension of the Transformation Between Truth and Falsehood advances another level, I would not even need to fabricate worlds myself. I could simply use the possibilities previously deduced by the Stone Mother to transform them from false into true. It would also save me a great deal of effort.”

Li Fan's eyes gleamed.

“But all I need are materials to build up the Dreamland Paradise. It does not matter if they do not exist in the real world.”

With this thought, within the Dao Deviation Stone in Li Fan's sea of consciousness, another Xuanhuang Realm began to evolve.

---

[T/N:- 原初 (Yuánchū), The core meaning is the original beginning or the primordial state at the origin.]

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