"Could it be that you understand [Truth] better than I do?"

Li Fan's true body sensed the Heavenly Capital Grand Mage's rather stubborn words and could not help finding them amusing.

Yet for some reason, an inexplicable trace of restlessness also welled up within him.

For Li Fan now, this was absolutely an unusual occurrence.

Li Fan froze slightly. After carefully pondering the matter, although he was somewhat unwilling to admit it, he nevertheless determined the source of the restlessness in his heart.

"Could it be that what the Grand Mage said is actually correct?"

His expression gradually became solemn.

After pondering for a while, Li Fan tried communicating with [Truth]. What he received in response, however, was only silence.

"The upper limit of [Truth]'s retrospection, Anchor Year 1, was the moment I had just crossed over into this world."

"With [Truth] attached to me, no matter how many times I return, the earliest point I can return to is this point in time."

"But what exactly determines this?"

After a moment of thought, a notion emerged uncontrollably in Li Fan's mind.

"It is me. In other words, the existence of the host of [Truth] serves as the starting point."

"If this conjecture is true, then..."

Li Fan gazed from afar at the Grand Mage in the skies above Daoyuan Prefecture, who was still filled with hope.

"The Grand Mage was born before Taiyi, before the mortal world had even come into existence."

"If it were truly possible to trace back to that time, perhaps everything really could be reversed."

"The arrival of the Dao Annihilation Calamity, the destruction of the Immortal Realm... Preventing them from their very source would certainly be far easier than dealing with the catastrophe now, when it has already become so overwhelming."

Li Fan could not conceal the shock in his heart.

However, when Darkened Heavenly Doctor had attempted to seize [Truth] back then, the lifespan of the mortal world had likewise increased dramatically. From the perspective of the final outcome, handing [Truth] over to Darkened Heavenly Doctor or the Grand Mage seemed to make little difference.

And Li Fan would absolutely never hand [Truth] over so easily.

No reason would be enough.

The reason Li Fan's thoughts had become unsettled was because he had suddenly remembered the legendary [Reverse Flowing Boat].

"All this time, I have felt somewhat regretful. Even though I possess the ability to return infinitely, I have always been confined to the period after Anchor Year 1. What if..."

"If I use some method to return to before Anchor Year 1, would that mean I could reconstruct an even more ancient past?"

Li Fan had never seriously considered this question before because, from his very first cycle, his reincarnations had begun from Anchor Year 1. His experiences over such a long period had created a powerful mental inertia within him. He had instinctively assumed that such a thing was impossible.

Until today, when the Grand Mage's inadvertent reminder awakened him to the possibility.

"What exactly is [Truth]'s purpose?"

Naturally, Li Fan thought of this question.

He could not help recalling the strange and complicated emotions that had surfaced from [Truth] when he was in the Infinite Ocean.

There was no doubt that [Truth] possessed its own consciousness.

Throughout his countless reincarnations in the past, Li Fan had already confirmed this.

And compared to the might of [Truth], even Li Fan, who had now reached the Half-Immortal realm, was merely a slightly larger ant.

Perhaps he was not even worthy of being called an ant.

[Truth] was willing to attach itself to Li Fan's body naturally because of his incomparably abundant 'spirituality', which seemed as though it would never be completely depleted no matter how many times [Truth] was activated.

"So what [Truth] wants is a vessel capable of supporting its continuous use of [Truth]."

"Therefore, it must have a purpose of its own."

Having realized this, Li Fan's mood instead became calm.

Regardless of the reason, being valued by [Truth] was indeed his good fortune. Otherwise, he would have already died of old age as an ordinary mortal in the Great Xuan Small World of the Xuanhuang Realm.

Li Fan did not feel any resistance toward [Truth] attaching itself to him with a purpose.

He was even faintly pleased by it.

In the past, he had repeatedly worried that [Truth] might suddenly leave him. This anxiety had not disappeared as his strength increased. Instead, it had grown increasingly intense.

But now...

"Only a combination of interests can truly make one feel at ease."

Li Fan closed his eyes and forcibly suppressed the countless thoughts surging through his mind like raging waves.

After a long while, he slowly opened his eyes.

Calm as before.

Although [Truth] possessed tremendous might, based on their interactions so far, its actions and intentions were at least logical. Therefore, it was possible to deduce and speculate about them from certain aspects.

Although the conclusions might not necessarily be accurate due to the lack of most of the relevant information, at the very least, it was possible to reconstruct the general outline of the truth.

"That unknown and terrifying existence submerged beneath the Infinite Ocean is an old acquaintance of Truth."

"Something happened between them in the past."

"The consequences of that event were so severe that even [Truth] itself could not reverse them."

"Therefore, it wants to borrow [external force]."

...

The instant this thought emerged, Li Fan felt as if he had been struck by lightning.

Storms raged within his soul.

Countless lights and shadows swept toward him like a vast tide.

Within every drop of rain was condensed hundreds of millions of years of time. It was just like the magnificent miracle Li Fan had witnessed in the Infinite Ocean, enough to inspire boundless awe in anyone who glimpsed such a scene.

This was an amount of information that Li Fan's soul could barely withstand.

Every inch of his soul seemed to be continuously crushed beneath the weight of the entire heavens and earth. His memories gradually became blurred, as though he were about to lose himself within the endless light and shadows.

Li Fan had once created the formation known as [All Beings Refine the Soul].

It condensed the thoughts of billions upon billions of living beings throughout heaven and earth into a magnificent force, using it to resist and even refine True Immortals.

What Li Fan was experiencing now was the highest level of power that [All Beings Refine the Soul] had only ever possessed in theory.

Within that boundless storm, there were not merely the living beings of the mortal world.

There were also the memories of the past belonging to every existence in the world.

Even with his extraordinary spirituality, Li Fan almost became lost within this torrential rain, completely losing himself.

Fortunately, at the critical moment, the storm suddenly stopped.

The terrifying rain of light and shadows that inspired dread merely by thinking about it vanished in an instant, as though it had never occurred.

Only Li Fan's nearly exhausted condition proved that everything had not merely been an illusion.

After a long while, Li Fan finally recovered somewhat from the lingering fear.

"Just now, that was..."

All of the changes had occurred within Li Fan's body.

Although he had been caught off guard at the time, after looking back over what had happened, Li Fan could still vaguely understand the cause.

His heart suddenly jolted, and he was overwhelmed with shock.

"Was it my deduction that finally triggered [Truth]'s true thoughts?"

"Its consciousness is simply too vast. Merely the aftershocks caused by its thoughts fluctuating were enough to tear me into countless fragments!"

Li Fan desperately tried to calm himself.

But hearing about the terrifying might of an unparalleled expert and personally experiencing it were absolutely two entirely different concepts.

It was as if his body and soul had been left with an imprint by the violent storm just now. Every time he recalled it, it felt as though he were experiencing it all over again. He could barely breathe, his heartbeat seemed to stop, and cold sweat poured down his body.

One instinctive reaction after another occurred in succession.

After undergoing another baptism by that storm, Li Fan finally became honest.

He controlled his mind and stopped letting his thoughts run wild.

"No wonder [Truth], despite possessing consciousness, has always remained so silent. Even the few fluctuations of consciousness it has displayed have only manifested as simple emotions."

"It is not that it disdains communicating with me."

"But..."

"I simply cannot withstand the price required to communicate with it!"

Knowing that Li Fan was now in the Half-Immortal realm, it had to be understood that, aside from lacking the immortal spiritual power with its infinite nature, his strength was even far greater than that of an ordinary True Immortal in the conventional sense.

Yet even so, he could not withstand even the slightest thought of [Truth].

Even Hill Guardian, who was capable of resisting the Dao Annihilation Calamity, had never made Li Fan feel such a vast chasm between them.

Only when facing the Infinite Ocean had Li Fan ever experienced such a sense of helplessness.

“The true power of [Truth] is actually...”

Li Fan remained silent for a long time.

Whenever he thought he had glimpsed the limits of [Truth], reality would always tell him that what he had seen was merely an insignificant peak among an endless range of mountains.

Because he was within the mountains, his vision was obscured by the towering peaks surrounding him. That was why he had been unable to see the mountain range as a whole.

Now, the mountain range had begun to tremble faintly, almost causing heaven and earth to overturn.

Only then had those within the mountains been able to catch a glimpse of the mountains' true form.

“At the very least, this proves one thing.”

“My speculation just now was capable of stirring [Truth]'s thoughts. That means I have already come somewhat close to the truth.”

Li Fan let out a long breath.

When he looked toward the Grand Mage again, his state of mind was completely different.

“It is not that I am monopolizing the supreme treasure and refusing to let it go.”

“Rather, we are bound together by mutual interests.”

“You claim to be an incarnation of [Wuji], but to force your way in like this... You are being far too naive!”

“Do you really think [Truth] has never examined you?”

“It simply does not regard you as worthy of notice!”

Amid the violent storm stirred by the thoughts of [Truth], Li Fan vaguely saw the memories that had once existed throughout the entire mortal world.

“When truth becomes falsehood, falsehood also becomes truth. These memories may be the very reason that the Transformation Between Truth and Falsehood can be achieved.”

The Grand Mage was an innate lifeform, so he had naturally fallen under [Truth]'s observation much earlier.

But since [Truth] had not chosen him, it meant that this Grand Mage was simply not qualified!

“Achieving [Truth]'s objective is clearly no easy matter.”

“The farther back into antiquity one retraces, reconstructing the past, the greater the repulsive force one may suffer.”

“And it is not something that can succeed in one or two attempts.”

“Grand Mage Heavenly Capital...”

“Wuji lies even before Taiyi. Quite an imposing claim. You actually want me to hand [Truth] over to you.”

“Then let me first see just how much Truth you can withstand!”

Within a few breaths, Li Fan had already recovered to his peak state. From afar, he lightly pointed toward Grand Mage.

His finger was like a pair of scissors, slicing through the air.

“I followed my Master and witnessed countless rises and falls of the Immortal Realm. This treasure had already appeared in the legends of the Primordial Immortal Realm and was known to the most ancient powerful existences. It was simply too ethereal and elusive. It had always been something people had only heard about, and no one had ever truly seen it.”

“Thus, the entire Immortal Realm gradually forgot about its existence. Only when my Master occasionally chatted with the two Sage Lords, Lianshan and Guihai, recalling the past, would they mention it from time to time.”

“When the Dao Annihilation Calamity drew ever closer, and every possible method had been tried yet all of them proved useless, the immortals of the Immortal Realm finally remembered this legend from the forgotten corners of history...”

Grand Mage continued to ramble on, displaying his supposed “depth of knowledge” to Li Buren.

But as he spoke, his figure suddenly froze, and his face filled with astonishment and suspicion.

For ordinary beings, they would never sense the slightest weakening of their own spirituality.

But the Grand Mage was indeed an innate lifeform. His body and soul were perfectly unified.

The instant that tiny portion was lost, he sensed it immediately.

“What did you do?!”

The Grand Mage's voice became somewhat shrill. Anger was mixed with a trace of fear as he demanded an answer.

Li Buren remained expressionless and shrugged.

He still uttered the same old response.

“I don't know anything.”

This time, Li Buren was not speaking recklessly.

He truly did not know that Li Fan had attacked.

When the thoughts of [Truth] erupted, the subtle connection between him and his true body had already been temporarily severed. Even now, it had yet to recover.

Even though the connection between this clone and his true self was established through the projected Dao Net and also carried the inheritance of Lord Hill Guardian's Dao-bearing phantom.

It still could not prevent this isolation.

The Grand Mage's expression changed countless times in an instant. It seemed that he had searched everywhere, yet still could not recover the wisp of 'spirituality' he had lost.

For an innate lifeform like him, the completeness of his spirituality seemed to be an extremely important matter.

Fear gradually crept across the Grand Mage's face.

His expression began to twist as he cursed Li Buren furiously.

He even forgot about the “treasure” he had been obsessing over.

“Give it back to me!”

He could only continue screaming.

The piercing voice echoed all around, causing Li Buren to frown slightly.

He discovered that these screams were not merely the Grand Mage's powerless rage.

The power of Lord Hill Guardian's phantom that he was invoking became somewhat disordered amid the repeated echoes.

The characteristic of causing all Great Dao to disperse had been driven to its extreme.

No matter how tightly Li Buren seized the Grand Mage by the throat, he could not stop him from making a sound.

It was as if a roar from before the birth of heaven and earth had erupted, growing louder and louder. Accompanying the birth of the mortal world, it had echoed until the present, seeking to return the newly born heaven and earth to its original state.

To return everything to the moment when heaven and earth had first opened, to the age of Wuji.

Lord Hill Guardian phantom was, after all, not Lord Hill Guardian himself. The five phantoms he had left behind had not transcended heaven and earth either. After all, they existed for the purpose of “bearing the Dao.”

Under the Grand Mage's roar, which sought to completely cleanse away the Great Dao of heaven and earth, even the phantom began to show signs of collapse.

But Li Buren remained unhurried.

His connection with his true self had already been restored.

He knew that his true body had struck again.

On the Xuanhuang land, Li Fan made another slash through the air.

It was as if he had been kicked brutally. The Grand Mage's voice abruptly ceased.

Li Fan gave the Grand Mage no opportunity to catch his breath. The [Truth and Falsehood] Blade continued striking without pause.

Each time this formless blade struck the Grand Mage's body, it was as though a truly tangible object had landed upon him.

The pain suffered by the Grand Mage was extraordinarily strange. It was a thousand or even ten thousand times more intense than what an ordinary person would experience!

Previously, when Li Fan had experimented on cultivators within the Xuanhuang Realm, even when their own spirituality had been completely stripped away, they had shown almost no particular reaction.

But when it happened to the Grand Mage, it was no different from having his flesh carved away while he was still alive!

After a few breaths, the Grand Mage was already in a dying state.

Only then did he finally react.

With a faint voice, he tried to call out to someone for help.

But Li Fan showed no mercy and brought down the final slash.

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