My Longevity Simulation Chapter 1516: Dao Epoch Projection Pearl

A passage emerged from nothingness, born from annihilation.

It did not seem to be a physical entity, but rather an extremely peculiar form of energy that forcibly carved a path through the void.

The Purple-Robed man took a single step forward, and his figure vanished in an instant. In the next moment, he had already appeared at the other end of the passage.

Li Fan and Inherit Dao exchanged glances before following closely behind him.

If they had been alone, entering this foreign starry sky teeming with True Immortals for the first time, they might have exercised some caution. But now, with such a powerful expert leading the way, what was there to fear?

The moment they stepped onto this heavenly passage, a peculiar sensation unlike anything they had experienced before welled up within them. It was almost impossible to describe in words. If they had to put it into a single word, that word would be 'safety'.

Born into the mortal world and constantly threatened by the Great Calamity of Dao Annihilation, Li Fan might not have been particularly concerned about it on a conscious level. Nevertheless, there was no denying that this reality had instilled an instinctive sense of crisis deep within both his body and soul.

Years of conditioning had made him as skittish as a startled bird, living in perpetual unease. Even when the Dao Annihilation Calamity had yet to descend, and even with the support of the Celestial Pillars containing the Nameless True Immortals, the fear in his heart had never truly disappeared.

After all, even the Immortal Realm itself had been destroyed by Dao Annihilation, let alone a mere handful of Celestial Pillars. Who could guarantee how long these pillars would hold out?

Yet now, within the passage opened by the Purple-Robed man, this long-standing sense of apprehension had finally vanished.

"Even if Dao Annihilation eventually arrives, as long as this passage exists, I will be able to remain safe and sound."

Without any apparent reason, this thought naturally arose in Li Fan's mind.

It was a form of blind confidence, but he was not the only one who experienced it.

When he looked at Inherit Dao, he found that the latter felt exactly the same way.

The sense of crisis that was impossible to escape as long as one remained in the mortal world was gradually soothed. Li Fan suddenly felt calmer than he had ever been before.

Countless distracting thoughts slowly settled at the bottom of his heart, leaving behind nothing but the purest, clearest state of mind.

"What an extraordinary divine ability!" Li Fan exclaimed inwardly.

"It is just a pity that this passage is not permanent. It was created by the Purple-Robed man to clear a path, and it is destined to disappear soon after he leaves. Such a formidable power, capable of repelling Dao Annihilation..."

"Setting aside the fact that witnessing such divine power at close range is itself an immense fortuitous opportunity, the very environment created by this passage is something that countless beings in the mortal world could spend their entire lives seeking without ever obtaining."

"If I could remain here indefinitely, my comprehension of the Transformation Between Truth and Falsehood would surely advance by leaps and bounds."

The passage had reached its end. As they were about to leave, Li Fan unexpectedly felt a trace of reluctance.

He even found himself entertaining the thought of undergoing [Truth] in his next life, repeating all the actions he had taken before this life, solely to experience this brief period of time once more.

Li Fan genuinely gave the idea serious consideration.

"Judging from my current insights, even after using [Truth] more than ten times in succession, my comprehension of the Transformation Between Truth and Falsehood would not have improved as much as it has during this brief stay in the passage."

"By that calculation, it really would be worth it..."

Li Fan was immersed in the sense of security and serenity brought by the passage.

Inherit Dao was no different.

When facing the Mountains and Seas alone, one might still maintain an unwavering will.

But once a safe shelter capable of shielding one from wind and rain suddenly appeared, even a short stay inside was enough to gradually wear away the sharpness of one's spirit.

Even Inherit Dao's weathered and resolute face had softened slightly.

Perhaps having sensed the thoughts stirring within the hearts of these two juniors, the Purple-Robed man's voice drifted over, interrupting their reverie.

"You may observe it, but you must not imitate it."

"This is my Dao, not yours. Ultimately, you must forge a path that belongs exclusively to yourselves before you can earn the right to cross the Mountains and Seas."

Li Fan and Inherit Dao were shaken by these words. The trace of greed in their hearts vanished instantly.

"Thank you for your guidance, Senior."

Coming back to their senses, the two hurriedly expressed their gratitude to the Purple-Robed man. They had now realized that the absolute sense of safety they had experienced within the passage had made them develop a sense of dependence in a remarkably short time. It had even naturally given rise to various desires, including greed and the urge to monopolize this power.

However, because their minds had become so profoundly tranquil, these distracting thoughts had merely accumulated deep within their hearts without surfacing. Only after the Purple-Robed man exposed them did they suddenly rise from the depths of their minds, like bubbles bursting beneath a pin.

"The Mountains and Seas are boundless. Only I can serve as my own vessel."

"To travel freely across the Mountains and Seas, one must possess an unwavering Dao heart."

"The two of you are considered outstanding in both strength and temperament within the mortal world. However..."

"You are still lacking."

"What a troublesome pair..."

The Purple-Robed man shook his head and muttered these final words before his figure vanished from their sight.

Li Fan and Inherit Dao looked at each other in bewilderment. After stepping off the heavenly passage, they both turned around to look back.

Both were drenched in cold sweat.

Inherit Dao sighed emotionally. "Junior Brother, I finally understand why Master chose to minimize his contact with us."

"Such protection is truly not a good thing."

Li Fan nodded slightly as well. "If we had stayed any longer, I fear I might have been unwilling to leave."

Ultimately, the two managed to free themselves from the temptation of the heavenly passage and continued following the Purple-Robed man.

The Purple-Robed man's speed was astonishing. His figure had already disappeared from their field of vision.

However, there was no need to worry about losing track of him.

After all, the tremendous upheaval he caused wherever he went was like the roar of Mountains collapsing and Seas surging. He was simply too conspicuous to miss.

Within the nothingness swallowed by Dao Annihilation, a passage had appeared out of thin air. How could the Guangwu Star Sea possibly fail to notice such an extraordinary phenomenon?

Their response was remarkably swift. Judging from the distant auras, which stood as steady and imposing as deep pools and towering mountains, the entire top echelon of combat power in the Guangwu Star Sea had likely gathered at that moment.

Yet before the Purple-Robed man, they were utterly insignificant.

A powerhouse capable of crossing between possibilities was absolutely not someone the True Immortals of the present Guangwu Star Sea could withstand.

Following the route taken by the Purple-Robed man, Li Fan and Inherit Dao pressed forward. At long last, they experienced what it truly meant to sweep everything aside with overwhelming force.

The numerous purple talismans drifting through the surrounding space were, astonishingly, True Immortals who had been suppressed and crushed flat.

Li Fan secretly attempted to collect these talismans, only to discover that the Purple-Robed man had not killed them. He had merely sealed them away for the time being. Li Fan could even faintly sense the terrified thoughts emanating from the True Immortals trapped within the talismans.

After pondering the matter for a while, Li Fan and Inherit Dao decided not to act rashly for the moment. They continued hurrying toward the Purple-Robed man's location.

The closer they drew, the more sealed True Immortals they encountered along the way.

It seemed that something of vital importance lay ahead, something they were determined to protect even at the cost of their lives. They were willing to fight desperately to stop the intruder.

Yet their resistance was ultimately futile.

The disparity in strength between the two sides was simply too great.

Even when they fought with everything they had, they could not even manage to hinder their opponent.

Nevertheless, this was a civilization that had survived and reproduced through the Great Calamity, enduring all the way to the present. It had even managed to fish for Dao Annihilation itself. Naturally, it possessed its own hidden reserves of strength.

"Senior, you have gone too far!"

A furious roar erupted from ahead. The violent fluctuations that followed were already no less powerful than the upheaval caused by the Purple-Robed man himself.

Li Fan and Inherit Dao arrived at the scene to discover that an enormous region of absolute vacuum had formed in the surrounding starry sky.

What should have been a cluster of important buildings stretching across the area had been completely vaporized.

The Purple-Robed man was examining a light orb in his hand with great interest.

Images continuously shifted within the orb, countless figures seemingly leaping and flickering inside it.

Standing before the Purple-Robed man was a middle-aged man in tattered clothes, his face filled with despair.

"A Dao Epoch Projection. This is not something people like you could create. Did you fish it up as well?" the Purple-Robed man asked indifferently.

He exerted a little force between his fingers, compressing the light orb infinitely until it ultimately condensed into a single brilliant point of light.

Then the Purple-Robed man tossed the point of light toward Inherit Dao.

Apparently concerned that Inherit Dao might be unable to withstand the pressure emanating from it, he had also enveloped the point of light in a protective force resembling that of the Path to Heaven. This allowed Inherit Dao to examine the specific contents of the light without being affected by its power.

Inherit Dao thanked the Purple-Robed man once again before looking at the point of light in his hand.

A moment later...

Li Fan noticed that his senior brother's body had begun trembling slightly and uncontrollably.

Cold sweat streamed down Inherit Dao's forehead, as though he were bearing an enormous burden.

After a few breaths, Inherit Dao forcibly tore his gaze away. Nevertheless, his face was deathly pale, and he looked utterly drained.

Li Fan was immediately filled with astonishment.

After all, Inherit Dao's original form was a spirit stone from the edge of the Mountains and Seas. He had accompanied Lord Hill Guardian as he guarded the hills and gazed out over the sea.

Even the scenery of the Mountains and Seas had never overwhelmed him. What exactly was contained within this light orb that could make Inherit Dao lose his composure so completely?

Li Fan looked at him with concern and was about to ask what had happened. However, Inherit Dao seemed unable to recover from the aftereffects of examining the orb. He merely handed Li Fan the light orb known as the Dao Epoch Projection, gesturing for him to look at it himself. Then he closed his eyes to recuperate and said nothing more.

Seeing this, Li Fan grew even more curious.

He cautiously focused his mind and looked into the light orb.

With a single thought, the orb suddenly exploded, instantly filling the surrounding space and occupying Li Fan's entire consciousness.

Endless images unfolded in succession like flowing water.

From absolute nothingness, where the Great Dao did not exist, to the chaotic void where the Dao was born and continued to grow. Then came the world's first birth and the manifestation of living beings. Finally, living beings comprehended the Dao through their own enlightenment, and the Immortal Realm came into existence.

Countless years flashed past at an astonishing speed.

Until, at last, all the Great Daos withered, and everything reached its final end.

Everything that had happened from the beginning to the end, every living being that had come into existence during that span, had been compressed into this single point of light.

Yet it was far more than a mere recording of images.

Within the light, every Great Dao, divine ability, and spell fluctuation that had ever appeared along this possibility's path from birth to destruction had also been copied and incorporated into the orb.

When the light orb erupted to attack its enemies, it meant facing the combined strike of countless heroes who had existed over countless years along a single possibility, their accumulated power unleashed together across the river of time!

The sheer terror of this spectacle nearly caused the light orb in Li Fan's palm to slip from his grasp. The words "This is real" almost escaped his lips.

A drop of cold sweat trickled down his forehead as Li Fan withdrew his consciousness from the Dao Epoch Projection.

The light orb resting in his palm seemed to possess an inexhaustible weight.

For a moment, Li Fan even had the illusion that he could barely keep his fingers closed around it.

"Fortunately, the Purple-Robed man cleared the way for us this time. Otherwise, if Inherit Dao and I had faced this Dao Epoch Projection alone, we would probably have perished on the spot, our bodies and Daos destroyed."

Li Fan exchanged a glance with Inherit Dao, who had already opened his eyes again. Both could see the shock reflected in the other's gaze.

Neither of them had ever imagined that such a treasure could exist within the Guangwu Star Sea.

Compared with this, the Dao Sword and Dao Saber they had encountered previously were like fireflies beside the radiant moon.

"Fishing up Dao Annihilation is indeed a viable means of survival. Those who managed to survive within the Mountains and Seas were not limited to the True Immortals who staked everything in a desperate gamble during the apocalypse. There were also those mighty experts who failed to transcend, attempted to cross the Mountains and Seas, and were ultimately swallowed by them."

"Perhaps the Mountains and Seas have erased their minds, but their bodies may still survive, albeit with a small probability. The treasures they carried with them may survive as well. This Dao Epoch Projection must have come from such a source, correct?"

The Purple-Robed man first removed, one by one, all the Celestial Pillars that formed the dam. He gathered together the terrified True Immortals imprisoned within the pillars, then pressed both hands inward with tremendous force.

A brand-new Celestial Pillar, wreathed in purple qi, emerged just like that.

The Purple-Robed man planted the Celestial Pillar firmly in place. Only then did the thunderous roar of Dao Annihilation, which had erupted because of the missing pillar, finally cease.

Li Fan noticed that even though the phenomenon of Dao Annihilation had appeared during the brief interval when the Celestial Pillars were being transformed, the disturbance had been far less severe than the one previously triggered within the High Wall of the Shuo Star Sea.

Clearly, the Purple-Robed man was the reason.

Simply by standing there, he could resist Dao Annihilation to a certain extent, as though he were countless Celestial Pillars gathered into one.

In the Guangwu Star Sea, the middle-aged man in tattered clothes stared blankly at the Celestial Pillar of the Immortals before him, his mind completely empty.

More than a hundred thousand years of records had been overturned in a single day. The blow had nearly shattered his will.

When the Purple-Robed man questioned him, he did not respond.

However, after remaining silent for a while, the middle-aged man gradually recovered his senses.

In a hoarse voice, he said, 'Senior's assessment is correct. We were merely fortunate enough to obtain the remains of a mighty expert."

"This was supposed to be our great fortune, but who could have imagined..."

The Purple-Robed man interrupted him.

"This is indeed your great fortune. The Dao Epoch Projection itself may not be worth mentioning. However, the remains of that mighty expert might have already given rise to a new Transcendent powerhouse. It is a pity that you have strayed down the wrong path."

"With the remains as your teacher, you could have comprehended the Dao of a mighty expert from the past. Yet what did you do instead?"

The middle-aged man looked somewhat dazed. Only after a long time did he murmur, "We returned the remains to Dao Annihilation and used them as a vessel. First, we sought other safe places. Second, we searched for other treasures drifting through the sea..."

The Purple-Robed man snorted and rebuked him without the slightest mercy.

"Fools!"

The middle-aged man sighed instead.

"It is not that we were unwilling to comprehend the Dao. We simply could not."

"The remains were like a mountain standing right before our eyes, yet we were like people trapped inside that mountain, unable to see its true appearance."

"We tried for many years, but the result was always the same. With no other choice, we eventually gave up and sought a different way to use them."

The middle-aged man had assumed that this explanation would earn him some sympathy from the Purple-Robed man.

Unexpectedly, the Purple-Robed man merely nodded and replied coldly, "Then you are even more foolish. You are beyond saving."

The Purple-Robed man pointed lightly at the man from the Guangwu Star Sea.

The man opened his mouth, seemingly wishing to say something more.

A moment later, he burst apart like a bubble, transforming into countless violet streaks of light.

The surrounding starry sky swallowed them all.

A mighty expert whose cultivation had reached at least the Nameless True Immortal Realm had been casually erased by the Purple-Robed man just like that.

Seeing this, Li Fan and Inherit Dao could not help feeling a chill run through their hearts.

"If not for Lord Hill Guardian's sake, this Purple-Robed man would certainly not have been so lenient."

The Purple-Robed man seemed to regard what he had just done as an utterly insignificant matter and soon put the middle-aged man out of his mind.

He strode to the very center of the place where the Celestial Pillar dam had originally stood and fixed his gaze ahead.

His eyes seemed intent on piercing through the Mountains and Seas and the mortal world beyond.