Chapter 584: Birth And Annihilation Are Parts Of The Same Whole

Perhaps because the Heaven-Earth Root feared damaging the newly born Five Elements Grotto-Heavens, the external pulling force lessened considerably the moment Li Fan drew near the five luminous spheres.

This spared him from complete dissolution, at least for now.

His body had shed half its original mass, yet all four limbs remained. His entire frame had simply shrunk, giving him the appearance of a child of seven or eight.

It was both comical and unsettling.

Fortunately, it did not hinder his movement.

He gazed quietly at the five flickering spheres of light not far away, making no move to perform the secret art and devour them. Instead, he watched.

With each flash from below, the Heaven-Earth Root wove the energies and laws of each attribute onto the corresponding grotto-heavens of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Through this process, the recently born, fragile grotto-heavens grew increasingly complete and resilient.

If this space is a womb nurturing life, then the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens are fetuses that have just taken form.

Existing now as lines, Li Fan was far more sensitive to the fluctuations of the surrounding laws than he had ever been in human form. Watching the grotto-heavens take shape, waves of understanding broke through his mind in rapid succession.

In his previous life, the transplanted Five Elements Grotto-Heavens had ultimately been annihilated by an imbalance of the five elements, and Li Fan had witnessed firsthand the terrifying destruction wrought within that black-and-white vortex.

Now, watching the five elements come into being, he found himself drawing comparisons. The similarity between the two was unmistakable.

Birth and annihilation. Birth is the beginning of annihilation; annihilation is the source of birth.

By applying the principle of the five elements' endless cycle of mutual generation, I drove Ink Death's Law and Heaven-Scorning's Law in tandem, combining them into the Great Five Elements Annihilation Sword. And this principle of birth and annihilation...

His thoughts raced to their limit.

Without any need for external aid, Li Fan slipped into a state of epiphany. He stood motionless beside the five spheres of light, solemn and still as a statue.

Yet his body was not entirely unresponsive to the world. Whenever a stray particle came whistling toward the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens, about to pass straight through him, his form would twist in an eerily prescient motion, effortlessly dodging the particle in a split second before snapping back to its original position as though nothing had happened. Li Fan himself remained deep in contemplation throughout, wholly unaware of his own movements.

Time passed.

Slowly, within the five spheres of light, faint scenes of growing detail began to emerge. Oceans, molten fire, forests... The later creations of the five elements were coming into being inside the grotto-heavens, unfolding like an infant growing in the womb, from an indistinguishable curled mass to something that gradually took on the shape of a child.

Different scenes evolved within each grotto-heaven.

The radiant light wreathing their outer edges began to draw inward, retreating into their interiors.

That light was like a supreme natural tonic; once absorbed, it accelerated the transformation a thousandfold.

A low rumble echoed faintly through the space.

The grotto-heavens began to grow, expanding outward into the surrounding void until they brushed against one another, then slowly came to a stop.

But the force driving their expansion had not been spent. Amid the sounds of grinding and squeezing, the five grotto-heavens began to merge, pressing together and flowing into one another, forming a natural and seamless whole. The Five Elements Grotto-Heavens were about to take their final form.

Excellent! Li Fan snapped back to himself.

His face, composed entirely of lines, showed no discernible joy. Yet it was clear his gains had been substantial.

That divine ability isn't suitable for use here. I'll test it after I leave. For now, I should focus on the main task.

He reviewed the scenes recorded in the Dao Transformation Stone, the scenes he had missed during his sudden epiphany, and gave a silent nod of approval.

My guess was correct. The Five Elements Grotto-Heavens have not yet fully separated from the Heaven-Earth Root.

Like a mother's instinct to protect her young, any attempt to devour them would inevitably provoke its full assault. Even a Dao Unity cultivator would likely meet their end here. This is its home ground, after all.

My only chance is the precise moment when the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens break free from the womb but have not yet manifested in the void of Tianling Province.

This understanding settled quietly in him. He waited for that moment to arrive, free of excitement or dread.

For any other cultivator, an opportunity like this, once missed, would mean a lifetime of regret. Even those with exceptional composure might crack under the tension. But Li Fan possessed Return to Truth. This was simply one attempt among infinite chances. His heart remained a still lake, undisturbed.

Like a seasoned hunter, he waited, motionless and watchful.

An indeterminate stretch of time passed.

In the distance, the varied landscapes within the grotto-heavens had begun to turn transparent. Within the Heaven-Earth Root, only the five interconnected circular outlines of the grotto-heavens remained, suspended in the void.

Rumble!

The Five Elements Grotto-Heavens began to tremble violently, and the internal space of the Heaven-Earth Root shook with them, as though the grotto-heavens were straining to break free from their maternal bonds, tearing their way out.

In Li Fan's vision, the countless crisscrossing lines of the world began to warp and distort.

Twang!

The sound of a snapping lute string rang out.

What appeared to be a severed line materialized in the space around the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens, there for only an instant before vanishing. But Li Fan was certain it was no illusion.

Sure enough, like the first link in a chain reaction, the snapping sounds continued without pause. Above the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens, countless broken lines fluttered in an unfelt wind before dissolving into nothing.

The grotto-heavens shook harder still.

Now!

In that instant, Li Fan's body completely disintegrated. The twisting, writhing lines shot toward the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens like a nest of venomous serpents, shielding the Golden Core within his dantian as they flew.

As though alerting the Heaven-Earth Root to his presence, the threads composing his form dissolved at an ever-increasing rate during his flight. Yet nothing could stop Li Fan from closing the distance.

At the very moment the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens were about to leave the space of the Heaven-Earth Root, cracks spiderwebbed across Li Fan's Golden Core. It looked as though it might shatter at any moment, yet it held, refusing to disperse.

From those fissures emerged a host of grotesque, writhing tentacles. They thrashed and clawed, ravenous and impatient, as though they had spotted a feast, lunging toward the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens now within their reach.

These tentacles were also called the "Heaven-Earth Root." Not the primordial root here that spawned worlds, but the Heaven-Earth Root that cultivators throughout the world had nurtured within their own bodies, following the new methodology of the Heavenly Venerable.

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