Chapter 1728: Holy Spirits All Caught in the Net

The moment Suo sensed Li Fan, it unleashed all its divine abilities without hesitation.

It was as if, having left the Primordial Immortal Realm, Li Fan had entered the immense net Suo had spent untold years weaving. Countless thin threads and shadows intertwined, both horizontally and vertically. Piled upon them were skeletal remains and billions of vengeful spirits. All wailed hoarsely, surging collectively towards Li Fan. Innumerable hands reached out, attempting to drag Li Fan into their midst.

For these vengeful spirits to still exist after being consumed by Suo, their power was undeniably formidable. In the later world of Mountains and Seas, they might even possess transcendent strength capable of traversing Dao Annihilation. Yet, in this Primordial Immortal Realm, they were merely sustenance for the Saints.

The simultaneous assault of billions of transcendent vengeful spirits would cause even the Saints of the Primordial Immortal Realm to momentarily freeze.

Caught in the net, Li Fan stood rooted to the spot. Facing the attacks of countless vengeful spirits, he neither dodged nor flinched, appearing to have given up resistance.

Suo was alarmed rather than pleased. Even though its prey was clearly powerless to struggle, Suo instead felt a dangerous sensation of being targeted. The countless tentacles of Suo’s net continued to entangle Li Fan. But the master of the net had already silently slipped away.

Li Fan was not in a hurry to pursue. With names recorded in the Grand Dao Reversion Hall, Suo had no escape in the Mountains and Seas Void Realm.

“This net is excellent; I can put it to good use.”

A cold light flashed in Li Fan's eyes. Wherever he made contact with the vengeful spirits of Suo's net, a face emerged, grinning sinisterly, and mercilessly devoured the spirits in return. In an instant, the tables were turned. The giant net Suo had poured its life's blood into weaving seemed on the verge of changing masters in an instant.

A streak of light flashed. Wherever its ethereal radiance reached, Suo's former minions were transformed into Li Fan's loyal servants. Within moments, Li Fan had brought the majority of Suo's net under his control.

And then, to everyone's surprise, Suo returned!

“You, too, understand the Great Dao of Suo?”

“No wonder you could so easily take control of the net I wove.”

Suo's faint voice emanated from all directions, making its exact location impossible to discern. Upon hearing the voice of their original master, the countless vengeful spirits within the net first felt an instinctive fear, then surprisingly showed signs of breaking free from Li Fan's control.

“Ignorant, greedy junior! How could my creation be so easily snatched away?” Li Fan, with a flick of his hand, suppressed the agitation in the net. He squinted outwards, but Suo was nowhere to be seen. However, he keenly sensed an impending crisis.

“This is...”

Li Fan, still within the entangled net, suddenly felt a jolt. A familiar sensation emerged from the net's vengeful spirits and within Li Fan's own mind. It was as if, at this very moment, they were within another, even larger net woven by Suo!

“So that's it. This visible net was merely a trap.”

Compared to the decoy net, the threads of the true net were formless and imperceptible. But in an instant, it had tightly bound its trapped prey. Beyond the darkness, an eye, resembling a rising red sun, slowly emerged. Utterly indifferent, it stared at Li Fan, like an assured hunter observing its destined prey. Pulling forces emanated from countless directions, binding ever tighter, making escape exceedingly difficult.

The decoy net, now controlled by Li Fan, was easily torn to shreds. And Li Fan, caught within the net, also seemed doomed. If Li Fan were an ordinary Saint, such a predicament would indeed pose a grave risk of his demise.

But...

Compared to the terrifying scene of a lone star descending and consuming all, Suo's current display lacked any deterrent power.

“No matter how many nets you weave, it will be to no avail.”

“The doomed will still perish.”

Firmly entangled by the invisible net, Li Fan's expression remained as calm as ever. Stepping forward, he astonishingly ignored the restraints of all the threads, simply walking out of the net as if from thin air.

“Trying to escape?”

Li Fan's gaze sharpened, and he lightly stamped his foot. Like ripples spreading, an identical replica of Suo's net emerged from beneath Li Fan's foot. It rapidly expanded, then enveloped the original net. Li Fan reached out, seizing something from the void. A figure was clumsily dragged out by him. Countless threads, dancing like dragons, instantly bound it tightly.

“How is this possible!”

Even after being captured by Li Fan, Suo remained filled with disbelief. No matter how much it racked its brain, it couldn't fathom how Li Fan had turned the tide of the battle in an instant. Li Fan naturally wouldn't explain to it.

With a slender finger, he pressed down through the air. The Grand Dao of True and False was instantly activated. It wasn't to directly erase Suo's existence, but rather, while 'falsifying' it, to absorb and comprehend Suo's Dao path. In the Grand Dao Reversion Hall, the character representing Suo gradually became clearer. Meanwhile, in reality, the temporal light gathered upon Suo's body grew increasingly dim.

The Primordial Immortal Realm's Dao paths for Saints were all Grand Daos shouldered by the Mountains and Seas, forged through countless trials, and were residuals not fully digested by the Mountains and Seas' divine avatars. Even with the enhancement of his past memories and experiences, Li Fan could not fully master them in a short span of time. Fortunately, this world was self-contained, rendering the flow of time largely irrelevant.

Suo was also deeply bound in the net, unable to move or struggle. It could only allow Li Fan to absorb and comprehend.

After an unknown period, the luminous aura gathered on Suo's body, like an outer garment, completely faded. This Primordial Saint then revealed its true form before Li Fan. It had the body of a spider, a human face, and tentacles that resembled human arms. Tens of millions of tiny eyes on its body were all intently staring at Li Fan. The hatred in its eyes was etched deep into its being.

Li Fan looked at one of Suo's eyeballs. Like a crushed spark, the eyeball vanished without a sound. As Li Fan's gaze shifted, the eyes on Suo's closed form slowly diminished. The rate of their extinction was steady and resolute. At first, Suo could still maintain a defiant glare. But when fewer than a hundred eyeballs remained, Suo's body trembled slightly. It finally shifted its gaze away.

“Even an ant struggles to survive; how much more so a Saint of Mountains and Seas?”

“Bowing to me is no disgrace.”

Li Fan did not mock aloud but spoke with a detached tone. “You have two choices. First, to perish here and now, leaving no trace in the Mountains and Seas. Second… as a Saintly Spirit in the net, though you will lose your freedom, you may yet have a chance for a future resurgence.”

“A living being in the net?” Upon hearing Li Fan's words, Suo was momentarily stunned. Then it saw the net that had captured it suddenly reveal its true form. Compared to the invisible net it had meticulously woven, this replica crafted by Li Fan was instead vibrantly colorful and dazzling. It seemed to contain the entirety of the Grand Dao of Mountains and Seas, brimming with endless vitality. Suo clearly understood that this was no illusion. Instead, this net before it truly seemed capable of containing mountains and seas!

Only at this moment did Suo truly understand the insurmountable chasm that lay between itself and Li Fan.

“Though our strengths both reside in the Saint realm, his foundation…”

“But, where did it come from?”

In the Primordial Immortal Realm, all adversaries were intimately familiar with one another. There was absolutely no one akin to Li Fan. As it pondered, a sense of emptiness emanating from all parts of its being interrupted Suo's thoughts.

“I am willing to become a Saintly Spirit in the net!” Suo exclaimed repeatedly.

The oppressive feeling vanished. A moment later, Suo's vision blurred, and it found itself within a magnificent, boundless hall. It was immeasurable and infinite, its beginning and end unknown. Yet, it saw myriad Daos standing tall, traversing the high heavens. Like bricks and tiles, they collectively formed this indescribable hall. Even with Suo's extensive knowledge, it was almost lost in the face of this scene. However, driven by instinct, it still flew towards its designated place.

Its heart was exceptionally calm, and all its previous schemes vanished at that moment. The instant it saw the flickering characters ahead, Suo understood that this was the location of the Grand Dao it had cultivated its entire life. With a shift in thought, it drifted into it.

The moment Suo returned to its place, a beam of light swiftly streaked from heaven to earth. Then it completely concealed itself.

Suo opened its eyes again. It was as if its recent ordeal had been nothing more than a nightmare.

“Hmm?” It paused, then quickly assessed its own condition. “There is no deficiency, and my Dao is not damaged in the slightest.”

“Could it be, it truly was an illusion?”

Suo's brows furrowed, and at that moment, it suddenly sensed a figure standing directly behind it. It attempted to turn and look back but found itself unable to move! Only then did Suo fully comprehend that everything it had just experienced was not illusory. After such dramatic turns of events, Suo had no choice but to reluctantly accept the truth.

“Though seemingly restored to its peak state, my life is now entirely in this person's hands. Every move can be manipulated by him.”

Suo could not discern the precise method of control, yet instinctively understood that if it attempted to break free from its binds, it would instantly perish, its Dao extinguished. In other words, Suo's very existence was now sustained by Li Fan's control. If that connection were to vanish, Suo would also dissipate into nothingness.

“This kind of method…”

Thoughts surged like a tide in Suo's mind, when it heard a faint voice from Li Fan.

“Do your utmost to bring chaos to the Primordial Immortal Realm.”

Before the words had fully faded, Suo felt itself return to the Primordial Immortal Realm. The world remained vast, but Suo was no longer its former self. It quickly rallied its spirits and began to act according to Li Fan's request.

The single word “chaos” seemed simple enough. But adding the phrase “do your utmost” before it drastically altered its meaning. Suo dared not neglect the task. Its first target was the Tower, against which it had plotted for many years.

The Tower's Dao path was based on the principle of “all things possessing order and clear hierarchy.” The Tower itself sat at the highest level, and all other Grand Daos were to be beneath it, suppressed by it. Suo and the Tower had always been at odds. Many years ago, at the critical moment when Suo was about to achieve sainthood, the Tower had launched a sneak attack, attempting to suppress Suo. Fortunately, Suo possessed some fortune and successfully evaded this calamity. However, a wisp of its own origin was suppressed within the Tower as a result. Although it had since been subtly diminished and naturally constrained whenever it encountered the Tower, this also allowed it to vaguely perceive the Tower's presence.

For many years, Suo had continuously sought ways to scheme and plot against the Tower. But it had never succeeded. Now that it had fallen under another's control, and since its life and death were no longer its own, it might as well go all out!

Suo deliberately created the appearance of severe wounds, hoping to lure the Tower. As the Tower had suppressed and sealed a wisp of Suo's origin, it should be able to immediately detect Suo's severely wounded state. However, having survived for many years in the Primordial Immortal Realm, all Saints were exceedingly cautious. This level of injury, as bait, was simply insufficient to make the Tower act carelessly. With grim determination, Suo directly sacrificed one-third of its origin, intentionally creating a massive commotion.

A shattered net appeared in the sky of the Primordial Immortal Realm. Suo's voice continuously echoed: “If I ever get another chance, I will make you pay a thousandfold!” The utterly venomous tone sounded anything but feigned. And the Saints clearly genuinely perceived Suo's critically severe injuries. Thus, they began to stir.

Just as Suo had deduced, the Tower was the first to attack it. By sealing a wisp of its origin, the Tower successfully pinpointed the location of the severely wounded Suo. Thin threads, like pillars of heaven, pressed down from overhead, sealing the sky and locking the earth, suppressing all within. Identical to the method used against Li Fan earlier, the visible net was merely a trap to lure the enemy. The true killing move was another net, meticulously woven by Suo in the shadows over countless eons.

What puzzled Suo was that this true net could clearly only be used once, and it had indeed been expended in the previous conflict. But as it joined Li Fan's ranks, this net inexplicably returned to its original state.

The net, obscuring the sky and sun, surged forth from nothingness. It enveloped the Tower, which pierced through heaven and earth. What was originally suppressed now became a menacing hunter.

The Tower, however, showed not the slightest hint of panic.

“Your petty tricks—who in this glorious realm doesn't know of them, who isn't aware?”

“To think you'd use this against an adversary, truly laughable!”

“You are still better suited to hiding forever in the shadows. Once you emerge, it's a dead end!”

The Tower's mocking voice resounded throughout the Primordial Immortal Realm. Although Suo's net had entangled the Tower, the Tower's body shimmered with light, and in an instant, it became identical in form and appearance to the surrounding net. As if it were originally a part of Suo's net. Suo could devour external objects, but it could not devour itself.

An endless, irresistible suction force emanated from within the Tower. The meticulously woven net, uncontrollably, began to plummet towards the Tower.

“What the Tower seized back then was merely a wisp of my origin. Yet, over all these years, it has actually studied it to such an extent, almost perfectly imitating me and forcibly impersonating me!”

“I have always been scheming against it, but hasn't it also always been scheming against me?”

Before its consciousness faded, a hint of realization flashed in Suo's mind. But surprisingly, facing its imminent demise, Suo felt little fear.

“Rather than always being controlled by others, it's better to simply vanish and be utterly free.”

“As for you…”

A fierce thought flashed through Suo's mind. The vast net instantly disintegrated, its form dissolving, transforming into a pure burst of energy. Darkness engulfed Suo.

“Hmm?”

After an unknown period, Suo awakened again from the darkness.

“What happened? I'm still alive!”

Suo was somewhat stunned. Confused, it quickly checked its condition. It had returned to its peak state.

“What I just experienced was an illusion.”

But soon, Suo dismissed its own conjecture. Because at this moment, signs of chaos had already begun to manifest in the Primordial Immortal Realm. Although the Tower successfully devoured Suo, Suo's desperate final strike also left the Tower severely wounded. Two Saints: one dead, one wounded. It was truly a situation unseen in the Primordial Immortal Realm for a very long time. As if sensing the opportune moment for the divine-mortal boundary to open, all the Saints began to stir with their own ambitions.

“I died. Yet how am I alive again?”

Just as Suo was bewildered, Li Fan's voice echoed behind it once more.

“Well done.”

“But it's far from enough.”