Chapter 1730: Mountain and Sea Separation God Begins

Angry Squid

The Great Dao of Illusion and Reality enveloped Li Fan like a light veil, concealing his presence and that of the Sacred Spirit Net he carried.

Even so, the moment he stepped into this realm of divine division, Li Fan still felt two gazes sweep over him.

Mountain and Sea paused their consumption for a moment.

Li Fan held his breath and concealed himself.

After a prolonged, fruitless search, Mountain and Sea resumed their focus on devouring the True God.

"This place appears to be a vast, boundless void, where neither Mountain and Sea nor the True God are visible."

"There is no past, no future."

Li Fan did not act rashly; instead, he first carefully observed the current situation.

It was as if it were an independent spacetime. The moment Li Fan crossed the boundary between the divine and the mundane, he was cut off from the future Mountain and Sea, trapped in the present.

"The divine division of Mountain and Sea is not just a brief moment."

"Given the True God's immense size, for Mountain and Sea to divide and consume it, and then slowly digest it, must surely take a considerably long period of time."

"No... that's not right."

A thought stirred in Li Fan's mind. He momentarily redirected his attention past the two colossal beings in the void, focusing instead on the spacetime itself.

"Here, there isn't truly a concept of 'time passing'."

"What determines this place's existence is the unfinished process of Mountain and Sea devouring the God. In other words, anyone who arrives here will always find themselves at the moment when Mountain and Sea have yet to complete their divine consumption."

"Once Mountain and Sea complete the divine consumption, they will evolve into the Mountain and Sea of later ages and the Primordial Immortal Realm. This spacetime will then naturally dissipate."

"Although there's no concept of time passing, it doesn't mean I can stay here forever."

"Entering this place actually means having already participated in the struggle of divine division."

"In this divine division, as one fades, another grows. If one remains inactive and completely loses the right to contend, they will be expelled from this spacetime."

Li Fan vaguely felt that he had landed on the colossal corpse of the fallen True God, formally joining the ravenous feast of contention.

"From the perspective of Mountain and Sea, they are still at the undecided moment of divine division. All future events have yet to occur."

"But from the perspective of us 'reverse travelers,' everything is already predetermined."

"Is this the stagnant, yet infinitely recurring moment of divine division...?"

Li Fan vaguely sensed that the True God's corpse was like a cage.

It trapped Mountain and Sea, or any other being that dared to covet the True God's remains. "Transcending spacetime, it conceptually anchored the prisoner attribute of anyone entering this place and participating in the struggle of divine division."

"No one involved in the divine division can truly escape from it."

In the pervasive darkness, Li Fan seemed to see the fallen True God, its remains standing tall, observing with indifference.

"Although I have come here, I have no intention of contending in the divine division. I am merely here to glimpse the secret of the God's fall."

"However, the same applies: first, I need to genuinely see the God's corpse."

The True God's existence transcended Li Fan's current comprehension.

Thus, he could neither see with his eyes nor hear with his ears.

"You all shall be my eyes and ears, thoroughly peering into the True God's secrets."

"If one of you can achieve sudden enlightenment, perhaps you can use divine power to tear apart this binding net of mine and regain your freedom."

Li Fan said, smiling, to the Twenty-Eight Sages within the net.

Even though it was abundantly clear that Li Fan's stated chance of success was virtually zero, a glimmer of fantasy still lingered deep within the Sages' hearts.

Contending with Mountain and Sea for divinity was something the Sages of the Primordial Immortal Realm had always dreamed of.

However, due to the existence of that boundary between the divine and the mundane, all Sages were trapped within the Primordial Immortal Realm, unable to advance even an inch.

Through years of exploration, the Sages had reached a consensus.

Only by using a Saint's body to break through the limits of Mountain and Sea could one enter the moment of Mountain and Sea's divine division.

Yet now, Li Fan, by his own power, had brought them all in together.

The Great Dao of Illusion and Reality was indeed extraordinary.

"However, if we could obtain divine might..."

"Even the transformations of Illusion and Reality would have to yield!"

Since Li Fan had given them the chance to fully comprehend, how could they refuse?

The Twenty-Eight Sages, at this moment, cast all thoughts of life and death aside.

They immersed themselves wholeheartedly in comprehending the dark void before them.

To become a Saint, especially a Saint in the Primordial Immortal Realm, one must undoubtedly be among the most top-tier talents of Mountain and Sea.

The God and the future Mountain and Sea also shared commonalities.

As the Sages each observed, the dark space gradually began to brighten.

With every bit of darkness that dissipated, the 'divine might' Li Fan perceived intensified. The divine might of the fallen True God was no different from that carried by a newly descending True God.

The transformations of Illusion and Reality, protecting the Sages, subtly warped at that moment.

It was at this moment that Li Fan was the first to experience a sudden enlightenment: "The deepening understanding from observing the God's corpse is remarkably similar to the process of a new god descending."

"The moment one perceives the True God's full form, it is as if the True God is physically present."

"However, since the True God has already fallen, there will be no matter of 'returning to godhood'."

"But the True God's might is not something ordinary Sages can withstand. One must be like Mountain and Sea..."

"Eating while comprehending."

Then, naturally, a question arose. The divine division of Mountain and Sea was already at their acceptable limit.

How then could they permit other beings to contend with them?

"A struggle is inevitable."

"Let the Sages fight Mountain and Sea on my behalf."

From beginning to end, Li Fan's goal remained perfectly clear.

To witness the True God's complete form and glimpse the secret of its fall!

As the Sages' comprehension of the Dao deepened daily, the overlapping images of the God also gradually became clearer.

Mountain and Sea, who had been consuming, paused once more.

This time, they finally confirmed that others had intruded here.

With their meal targeted, Mountain and Sea seemed utterly enraged.

The True God's overlapping images were replaced by the illusory forms of Mountain and Sea.

The God that the Sages had perceived seemed to temporarily vanish from this spacetime.

Only endless mountain ranges and swirling seas remained in the darkness.

Although the Sages had not yet been exposed, they were already surrounded by Mountain and Sea.

This was completely different from the Mountain and Sea known in later ages.

Mountain and Sea at the time of divine division were wild, cruel, and ferocious.

Slaughter and consumption were their only means of dealing with outsiders.

The illusory forms of Mountain and Sea collided, stirring up waves and ripples. The Sages firmly believed that without the protection of the Great Dao of Illusion and Reality, they would have been instantly revealed.

"Seize this final moment and quickly comprehend the Dao."

"Mountain and Sea are stirring violently; there isn't much time left to persevere."

Li Fan's faint voice drifted over, and all the Sages' hearts tightened.

They forced themselves to calm down, attempting to continue peering into the True God's mysteries from beneath the overlapping forms of Mountain and Sea.

It seemed the intruders had completely enraged Mountain and Sea. At this moment, Mountain and Sea actually temporarily ceased their divine division and fully focused on searching for the hidden 'little bugs'.

Roars seemed to resound through the mountain ranges and echo continuously across the sea surface.

The torrents surged higher and higher, and under the collision of Mountain and Sea, even the very foundation of this spacetime—the True God's remains—trembled.

Faced with a life-and-death crisis, the Sages' comprehension of the Dao surpassed all their previous achievements.

Even surrounded by darkness, they gradually discerned the faint outline of the fallen True God within.

This was true for every single Sage.

Not to mention Li Fan, who was observing through the eyes of the Twenty-Eight Sages.

The "True God's remains," previously without concrete form in their perception, finally materialized in an instant.

Suddenly, it felt as if a heavy weight pressed down on Li Fan's shoulders.

His body and divine soul both trembled from it.

"It's time."

Li Fan's eyes flickered slightly as he gripped the massive net containing the Twenty-Eight Sages.

Then, with a gentle tug, he tossed it.

Simultaneously, he withdrew the transformations of Illusion and Reality. The Sages, like stars, shone dazzlingly.

Instantly, they drew the gaze of Mountain and Sea.

Even though they had already anticipated their fate, they had not expected Li Fan's abandonment to be so swift.

"Everyone!"

Disregarding everything else, the Sages instantly united, joining forces to confront the wrath of Mountain and Sea.

Streaks of radiant light illuminated the dark spacetime.

For a moment, they cast Mountain and Sea in a vibrant array of colors.

The Twenty-Eight Sages all possessed power comparable to Mountain and Sea. Although Mountain and Sea were enraged, they could not overcome them immediately.

The faint trembling sounds of Mountain and Sea resumed.

In the void, some inexplicable existence seemed to fall and descend.

Plop...

Like pinching a bug to death, one of the twenty-eight bright lights instantly extinguished.

"Just now, that was..."

The Sages were bewildered, but Li Fan, hidden in the shadows, saw clearly.

"This is the true power of a god."

"It's like the True God's finger."

"Mountain and Sea have indeed gained something from devouring the God."

Through this action by Mountain and Sea, the True God's body in Li Fan's vision became somewhat clearer again.

The closer he got to the God, the further away he seemed from all other things in the mundane world.

Li Fan felt as if he were leaping over the sea, then gradually climbing through the mountains.

All the commotion at the foot of the mountains and on the sea surface receded into the distance.

Only the True God remained above his head, accompanied by the sparse Mountain and Sea around him.

Li Fan no longer cared about the swiftly extinguishing lights in the distance. He ascended, seemingly slowly but in fact incredibly quickly.

What he saw around him, what he felt beneath his feet.

From time to time, it brought him a strange sense of familiarity.

"All laws, all things, originate from the God."

"Mountain and Sea are like this, and so is the Great Dao of Illusion and Reality."

"To reverse the universe with transformations of Illusion and Reality... this is, in essence, the God's own transformations..."

After all twenty-eight star-like lights had extinguished, Mountain and Sea, finally regaining their senses, seemed to have at last detected Li Fan's presence.

The mountains beneath him trembled, shaking continuously.

The sea wind howled, threatening to blow Li Fan away.

"When the true becomes false, the false also becomes true!"

Donning a straw cape, Li Fan ignored the wind and rain between Mountain and Sea. He ascended step by step, as if taking a leisurely stroll.

As he continued to climb higher, even the mountain ranges and the vast sea slowly receded completely from him.

All that entered his sight were a few solitary mountain peaks, and in the distance, a glimpse of the sea.

But in the end, they could no longer affect Li Fan.

The True God's face above him became increasingly clear.

Each step Li Fan took required increasingly greater effort.

"Mountain and Sea, the God..."

Everything he had experienced in past cycles of reincarnation transformed into a vortex, continuously echoing in his mind.

It seemed as though everything could find its reflection on the divine body.

Using past memories and experiences as points of reference, he gradually depicted the formless, shapeless God.

When Li Fan could no longer take another step forward.

The God finally appeared above his head.

Li Fan's body and divine soul both seemed frozen at this moment.

His mental activity ceased.

Fortunately, the True God had already fallen, leaving only its remains in existence.

After an unknown period, Li Fan's awareness, previously stilled, finally began to slowly stir again.

"Is this... the God?"

It was vastly different from what he had imagined.

There was none of the imagined divine majesty or disdain.

Only a vast expanse of deathly silence stretched above.

Li Fan's recent mental freeze was not due to divine pressure, but rather the aftermath of the God's fall.

"When I had not yet seen the God's full form, I vaguely felt its divine might was omnipresent."

"But now that I have seen the God's true face..."

"The God is no longer a God. Emptiness and deathly silence abound."

Li Fan frowned slightly.

The True God's body was indeed boundless and all-encompassing. All understanding, all principles, seemed to find their answers within the boundless overcast sky above him.

But one fact was undeniable.

The True God had fallen.

"Why did the True God fall?"

"Perhaps only by becoming a god can one find the answer."

At this moment, Li Fan appeared deep in thought.

He parted his lips slightly, and the boundless overcast sky above him slowly rotated, being absorbed by Li Fan.

In just a few breaths, data comparable to all of Li Fan's past experiences was forcibly poured into his mind.

It completely exceeded what Li Fan could tolerate.

The normal method of dealing with it would be like Mountain and Sea, slowly consuming and digesting it over an infinitely long period.

But Li Fan took a different approach.

"Furthermore, let the true also be false..."

Everything he had gained from the God instantly became ethereal and illusory.

It no longer held the weight of direct application, yet it still existed there. If he wished to access it, he could still find it.

Feeling his body lighten, Li Fan accelerated his consumption.

"Only by consuming all of the God can one inherit the God's full power."

"But what I seek is not to become a god, but to possess a god's perspective..."

Precisely because he had personally witnessed the fate of new gods being born, Li Fan would not be swayed.

His resolve was unwavering. He swallowed the True God's remnants whole, ingesting them completely.

He did not seek to digest them, only to fully ingest them.

Li Fan might have maintained his composure, but his contenders, Mountain and Sea, fell into extreme rage.

Mountain and Sea had sensed that Li Fan's consumption speed far surpassed theirs.

If this continued, Li Fan would undoubtedly be the one to become a god.

Therefore, Mountain and Sea gambled everything.

The mountains beneath them collapsed with a roar.

The vast sea in the distance was no longer visible. Beneath the True God's overcast sky, two similar masses of dark clouds suddenly appeared beside Li Fan.

They were noticeably smaller than the True God's body.

They closed in, pressing in on Li Fan.

Li Fan felt no ripple of emotion, simply treating them as more remnants of the True God.

And swallowed them whole.

But he hadn't expected...

The effect was surprisingly good.

It seemed that Mountain and Sea had no essential difference in 'taste' from the True God's body?

The only difference was that the two masses of dark clouds, Mountain and Sea, were filled with frenzied resentment.

It was not just the traces of their bodies being seized, but also countless indescribable resentments transcending them.

These seemed even more ancient than Mountain and Sea themselves.

Compared to the erosion of Mountain and Sea's power, these resentful emotions were, surprisingly, even more troublesome.

Even with Li Fan's current mental fortitude, his face couldn't help but twist from time to time.

Inside his mind, countless new personalities seemed to emerge.

They sought to replace Li Fan.

Li Fan's true self, watching one 'self' after another surface before him, felt a strange sensation arise within him.

It was as if Mountain and Sea's original birth had been similar.

Then he recalled that the dark clouds of Mountain and Sea closely resembled the fallen divine body.

Li Fan had a sudden realization: "Mountain and Sea originally detached themselves from the God."

"But their consciousness originated from what the God had once devoured..."

"Other gods?"

Before Li Fan's eyes, images seemed to surface: numerous gods overlapping, fighting, and dying one after another.

Just as he was about to continue his deduction, he was interrupted by the countless newly generated 'selves' in his mind.

Li Fan's eyes gleamed with fierceness: "Perfect. Let's taste them all together and see what they're truly like!"

The vortex of his intent devoured without discrimination.

Even if the opponents all bore his own likeness.

He swept them all up and swallowed them.