Chapter 1366: Chapter 1242: The Cup Pours Across the Heavens

On the dam, calm had been restored.

On one side of the dam was the Nether Oblivion Sea, where the waves roared on as ever.

Behind the dam lay an untouchable taboo, shrouded in mystery.

Two chairs had appeared.

On a stone table sat a pot of wine.

Li Fan was leisurely and at ease; the stone table and chairs he could create with a thought, while the wine was taken from a small mountain village.

With disregard for distance and space, he could take from the heavens anything he wished.

“Care for a drink?”

Li Fan raised his cup, looking towards The Quiet One.

The Quiet One’s hair had turned white; his vitality was withered, close to the collapse of his path, yet he smiled, calmly raising his cup and downing it in one go.

“What a grand deception.”

After drinking, The Quiet One couldn’t help but speak:

“Meticulously crafting this deception, all to ascend the dam, to enter beyond…”

At this moment, he understood.

Li Fan, from the very beginning… was performing.

Li Fan accompanied him in this act; he had set three trials for Li Fan, and Li Fan followed along, step by step, transforming into The Quiet One.

Moreover, his performance was so genuine that even he and the other side of the dam believed it.

“Betrayal, parting in death, powerlessness… did not destroy you, but instead blinded me and the side beyond the dam.”

He felt somewhat desolate, unsure if it was a sense of relief or self-mockery, or perhaps both.

Li Fan said calmly:

“The myriad heart trials you set for me couldn’t destroy even a fraction of me, yet they left you utterly exposed.”

He raised his cup and spilled its contents toward the heavens, saying:

“This cup is for you, and for those in this world who once resisted unyieldingly.”

In Li Fan’s eyes, there was a sense of remembrance and respect.

Time was infinite, eternity fleeting, yet how many fought? How many struggled?

How many lived brilliant lives, only to end as unasked-for floating corpses in the Nether Oblivion Sea?

Though beings like the Selfless One and the Unacting One once shone brilliantly in an era, their cultivation shook eternity, yet they too withered away.

Let alone someone like The Quiet One; his era had vanished, and those he wanted to protect no longer existed, yet he lived on under the chains of law in such cruel torment.

Their passing was silent and grim, their howls muted and powerless.

Li Fan, once in the time of universal destruction, alone, had laid siege to the dam nine times, so he understood too well the persistence without support, the loneliness when all was empty upon looking back.

In this world, whether humble or mighty, all deserve this respect.

To sing for the unyielding, to honor those who advance, to hold respect for the steadfast.

…

With the cup spilled toward the heavens, the wine drenches time.

At this moment, The Quiet One looked back, as if seeing all the souls who had ever passed in the heavens of eternity.

There were the weak, singing with grief and indignation along the path.

There were the mighty, whose path-hearts perished in the dark sea.

There were the sentimental, who embraced the bones of their loved ones and journeyed afar.

There were the selfless, who died before the nation’s gates.

…

He also saw once his world.

That kingdom.

Those Supreme Ones who supported each other, went along the Ascendant Path with true comradeship.

That woman who, to save him, sacrificed herself, whose dying smile was as radiant as a flower, who never regretted until the end…

Tears were already streaming from his eyes; he couldn’t help but cry in grief.

…

Much time had passed.

The shadows of the heavens had dissipated.

The departed souls, awakened by Li Fan’s cup of wine, were given a sight of the dam and solace for their past griefs.

…

The drinking went on.

One cup after another was consumed.

Chaotic thoughts, turbulent emotions.

At this moment, The Quiet One had freed himself from the Chains of Law’s restraints, and for the first time, he fully released his true self.

All these countless years, he had lived numbly, yet his heart was still occasionally torn with pain like a knife’s cut.

Every time those lingering feelings arose, he would be punished by the Chains of Law, suffering extreme agony, facing death.

Now he finally felt alive again.

He took a deep breath, looked at Li Fan, and said:

“When you laid siege to the dam nine times, did you know the truth beyond it? Did you know that the powers of the past and present couldn’t shake what’s beyond the dam, so you borrowed a future self?”

He once traced the past and the present, but never found Li Fan’s roots, as if there were no trace.

He speculated that Li Fan might belong to the future.

But does this world even have a future?

To borrow a self from a nonexisting future?

Li Fan smiled and said:

“Yes.”

The Quiet One continued, “The Li Fan from the Nine Sieges of the Dam had indeed perished, yet he used the power of nine lifetimes to summon the future you to this world; you are… a traveler.”

He contemplated and said:

“And from the day you crossed over, this grand scheme began; you deceived yourself, and through your dark self, you deceived us and the dam.”

“To fool us, you even fooled yourself… how ruthless.”

The Quiet One couldn’t help showing a complex expression.

As a traveler from the future, only Li Fan could transcend the forces that could destroy the present and the past, but he couldn’t kill his way beyond the dam, so he needed to deceive… deceive for that imprint, which is the key to beyond the dam.

Li Fan smiled and said:

“In truth, I was also deceived; do you believe it…”

“My nine selves tricked me for many years…”

He couldn’t help but want to complain.

The past nine bodies leading him to descend into this world was one thing, but the crucial part was creating a dog system…

Tricking him into farming and raising chickens and dogs…

Even leading him all the way to immortality…

Of course, this was also the result of his willingness to be deceived, otherwise, the system formed by the nine selves would still have many flaws…

One could only say that all these years, Li Fan had been performing with the system as well.

Acting for that dark self to see, and thus for The Quiet One, for the dam, for the other side of the dam to watch.

Until the performance was almost believable, when The Quiet One finally appeared before him, and he began to gradually awaken.

But the true awakening came after Yun Xi passed away.

At that time, the grand scheme was about to succeed; he only needed to enact The Quiet One’s “powerlessness” once more, then by all rights, he could ascend the dam as The Quiet One.

“It’s a pity, those people you cared about, they…”

The Quiet One felt a hint of reluctance.

Even though Li Fan’s mind was so strong, he survived betrayal, parting in death, and powerlessness, yet those he cared for truly had already passed away…

It was still great sorrow!

Li Fan chuckled softly and said:

“They are still here, even the power of the dam cannot kill them again.”

“I have no more worries.”

…

At this moment.

The Dark Firmament.

“What happened…”

“Has everything been restored?”

“The Domain of Utmost Darkness is restored, and that earth-shattering aura dissipated… surely the dam has suppressed everything!”

At this moment, the many Dark Supremes in the Dark Firmament were absolutely delighted!

…

And atop the Dark Throne, Dark Li Fan suddenly howled to the sky!

“Woof, this Emperor finally doesn’t have to pretend anymore, it is accomplished! The master has done it!!!”

At this moment, “Dark Li Fan” actually let out an astounding dog bark!

It shed a human skin, revealing the true form of Hei Gou.

It was a dog… wearing a human skin!

Then, looking at Dark Nan Feng, Dark Long Zi Xuan, and others, it said:

“Awaken! Woof woof woof, woof woof woof woof woof!”

The dog barks echoed through the heavens.

At this moment, those who had been darkly metamorphosed, Nan Feng, Zi Ling, Long Zixuan, Lu Rang, Dugu Yuqing, Qing Chen, Jiang Li, Wu Dade, Lin Jiu Zheng, Su Baiqian, Gong Ya, even Fire Spirit, and Mu Qianning, all suddenly awoke!

…

Good morning, good night.