Chapter 1815: Chapter 1462: Immortal Guardian of the Sea and Hill

Accompanying the sudden appearance of these five virtual shadows were words as calm as could be.

It seemed that they were not directed toward the intruder Li Buren, but were rather a pre-recorded message.

“Immortal Guardian of the Hill Sheng De, I dare to pay respects to the wise ones.”

“Once bearing the nameless, originally for transcendence. Yet the Dao’s obliteration lurks, we cannot lose the burden upon our shoulders.”

“By chance, I obtained this excellent method, to use shadow in place of form, capable of resisting the overwhelming tribulations.”

“To share it with you…”

The five shadows spoke in unison.

What followed was not an ordinary sound. It was akin to a carving blade, directly imprinting this method upon the body of Li Buren, surrounded by the shadows.

He felt no pain, nor the slightest abnormality. It was as if memories originally belonging to him, yet sealed and forgotten, were once again revealed. It was not imparted, but “recalled” anew.

The entire process of pondering, learning, and mastering was entirely skipped.

Once known, it was already at the grand completion!

However, Li Buren felt somewhat regretful that the reason the five shadows actively transmitted the method was because it was equivalent to all the chess pieces of an entire Immortal Domain being present. In terms of rank, it was almost equivalent to a Nameless True Immortal. Therefore, the Guardian of the Hill considered all the chess pieces as a whole.

The engraving and imprinting were also conducted upon this whole.

What Li Buren received was only a small portion of it.

But this secret technique, which could only be cultivated at the True Immortal Realm, was enough to widen his horizons!

“This method is named [Rambles from the Guarded Hill].”

“By the edge of the Great Ocean, there was a tiny nameless hill.”

“Sheng De guarded the hill for a hundred and twenty-three cycles. Witnessing the tides rise and fall, life emerging and fading. Each time inspiration struck, he would jot it down. As time passed, the rambles became…”

Li Buren sorted through the “memories” in his spirit consciousness. The simple words seemed to paint a solitary figure, steadfast by the vast Great Ocean for a hundred and twenty-three cycles. Standing on the nameless hill, gazing at the endless ocean. A scene shared with the tides.

“This Guardian of the Hill, capable of resisting the Dao-obliterating calamity with five shadows, his strength and realm are definitely not as humble as depicted in the rambles.”

Li Buren exhaled deeply, seemingly trying to break free from the weight of the ages contained in those few lines of text.

“In the earlier transmission from Sun Piaomiao, there was a description related to the cycle of the Heavenly Net. A cycle should be a unit of the Immortal World’s calendar. I just don’t know how many years in the Xuanhuang World correspond to one cycle in the Immortal World.”

“But regardless, a hundred and twenty-three cycles must certainly be an extremely long time.”

“And to demand such span of time to forever guard the sea and hill, these must definitely not be ordinary seas and hills.”

Li Buren suddenly remembered the allegory about mountains and seas in what seemed to be a book left by Sun Piaomiao.

“If the sea represents the Infinite Sea, then what does the mountain represent…”

The rambles left by the Guardian of the Hill, Sheng De, not only simply imparted the method of leaving behind virtual shadows. Rather, it meticulously recorded the entire thought process of the Guardian of the Hill’s insight into this method.

This method was not created from a sudden enlightenment.

Instead, it was refined over time, amidst boundless contemplation.

Li Buren obtaining this method was as if he “traveled” back to the Guardian of the Hill’s past, reliving the vicissitudes of a hundred and twenty-three cycles with his body, divine soul, and thoughts.

Even if he faced only mountains and seas all day long.

The seemingly endless data almost overwhelmed Li Buren completely.

Fortunately, he shared this burden with other Immortal Domain chess pieces. Only with his divine sense as a Dao Network projection and his body as fragments of Immortal Domain laws, could he barely sustain it.

“No wonder the Guardian of the Hill’s shadow only appears before a Nameless True Immortal. It’s not that he is stingy and unwilling to impart this method to other immortals, but because those below the Nameless cannot bear it at all!”

Engulfed by the surging thoughts of the Guardian of the Hill, Li Buren seemed to return to the Infinite Sea. Every droplet around him contained billions of years of time.

“According to the Guardian of the Hill, the sea’s invasion of the mountain has existed since time immemorial. But like the tides in the Mortal World, it is unpredictable, sometimes strong and sometimes weak.”

“Since he began guarding the hill and watching the sea, its momentum has continuously fluctuated, but overall it remains on an upward trend in scale. Even… it has not yet reached what was estimated as the [extreme point].”

“In the twentieth cycle, the Guardian of the Hill noticed this tendency. The following hundred cycles confirmed this viewpoint.”

“Even long ago, he warned the world, but alas, his voice was too small to be heard?”

“This…”

Li Buren was immediately baffled upon hearing this.

However, the subsequent self-description by Sheng De, the Guardian of the Hill, provided the answer. It turned out that at that time, the Guardian of the Hill was still a “common” True Immortal. He had not yet attained the Nameless Realm. His words were naturally ignored.

But in the eighty-eighth cycle, the Guardian of the Hill built up strength over time and finally entered the Nameless Realm.

Yet he did not make a fuss, merely continued to quietly guard the hill and watch the sea.

At that time, it happened that the Immortal World seemingly underwent a change. All immortals in the Immortal World were too busy to take notice of the hill guard official by the distant sea.

The entire Immortal World seemed to have forgotten about him.

Until one day, the sea waves surged to the sky, overturning the hills as they came.

…

Emerging from the seemingly ordinary yet grand life of the Immortal of the Guarded Hill, Li Buren began to focus on the method of “Shadow Bearing the Dao”.

“According to the Immortal of the Guarded Hill, he sits on the hill and watches the sea, as the waves rise and fall, seemingly facing countless Great Daos of the world directly.”

“The blossoming waves move in rhythm with the Great Dao, essentially two sides of the same coin.”

“A person stands atop the mountain like a great stone. Every day, as the waves crash upon it, the stone endures wear. Yet at the same time, it leaves a mark unique to itself between the mountain and sea.”

“…”

The rambles from the Guarded Hill are extremely obscure and difficult to understand. Even though Li Fan has undergone reincarnation a hundred times and experienced countless trials, he found it hard to comprehend immediately.

“If it wasn’t for me possessing Hai Zhen and having personally entered the Infinite Sea, perhaps even if I acquired these methods, I would still be utterly bewildered, completely unaware of the reasoning behind it. I might even dismiss it as a joke!”

“Because this method is vastly different from the world’s cultivation systems,” Li Fan realized in his heart.

However, the mystical quality of the rambles from the Guarded Hill lies here. Even if those who are taught cannot grasp its intricacies, due to the automatic engraving of the five shadows, the taught ones can nevertheless effortlessly perform this wonderful technique of “Shadow Bearing the Dao”.

“It entirely requires no consumption of oneself. It merely refines the traces left in the history and the Great Dao into virtual shadows. To bear the weight of the Path-obliterating Calamity…”

“This divine technique is indeed somewhat beyond imagination!”

Moreover, Li Fan also felt that this wonderful technique of “Shadow Bearing the Dao” served more purposes than just resisting the Path-obliterating Calamity.

Or rather, bearing the Dao is just one of the many effects this divine technique possesses.

“Impervious to a hundred tribulations, repelling all laws, obtaining immortality…”

“Beyond all these, the most crucial is ‘Transcendence’!”

“It is the fundamental method to leap out of this Heaven and Earth’s Great Dao.”

As one refines all the traces left between the mountain and sea, it is also the process of severing all ties with the world.

Then, with a solitary self, one would not be constrained by the Dao Network…

Li Fan was deeply moved, with a longing sprouting within his heart.

At this moment, the journey of imparting the Dao from the Immortal of the Guarded Hill had reached its conclusion.

All the “Rambles from the Guarded Hill” had been completely engraved.

The five shadows left by the Immortal of the Guarded Hill and Sheng De slightly bowed toward Li Buren in the center, paying their respects.

Afterward, their forms wavered and slowly dissipated.

They returned to their previous state of silently bearing the Dao.

Li Buren solemnly returned the gesture with a bow.

He knew this was the Immortal of the Guarded Hill’s hope for future sages to also leave shadows bearing the Dao.

Thus, the other had made this gesture of respect.

“The shadows left by the Immortal of the Guarded Hill might not only be confined to this one location within the high wall.”

“After leaving these shadows bearing the Dao, where is he now? Has he already left the current possibilities?”

Thinking of the Lower Realm Star Sea, still vibrant despite the rampant Path-obliterating Calamity, Li Buren suddenly gained an insight.

And regarding this Immortal Guardian of the Sea and Hill, there was no doubt in Li Buren’s mind about his potential to transcend possibility.

“In any case, the ability to leave behind some shadows bearing the Dao and provide future generations with a miraculous method to save the world certainly means the Immortal of the Guarded Hill has lived up to his responsibilities.”

“No wonder he bears the name ‘Sheng De’.”

After a long time lost in thought, Li Buren finally returned from his contemplations and looked around at the Immortal Domain Chess Pieces.

After being engraved by the Immortal of the Guarded Hill, these chess pieces seemed somehow different than before.

Originally, these Immortal Domain Fragments merely floated silently, exuding an overwhelming sense. But now, they returned to simplicity, becoming inconspicuous. If one were not paying attention, they might easily overlook them.

“Or maybe, describing them as gradually detaching from this world would be more appropriate.”

A sense of vigilance suddenly arose in Li Buren’s heart.

He did not forget that previously, during the time of Hai Zhen, the leg bone of the Nameless True Immortal in the Immortal Domain seemed to resonate and follow toward him.

“The Nameless Realm can no longer be simply measured by life and death.”

“Though just a leg bone, still in a state of separation. But who knows what changes will occur after receiving the ‘Rambles from the Guarded Hill’.”

Li Buren experimentally moved to capture the white chess piece formed from the Medicine King True Cauldron.

Afterward, he disregarded everything else, manifested his original body from the state of the Dao Network Chess Piece.

A repulsive force struck, causing Li Buren and the Medicine King True Cauldron to fall from the peak of the circular hall.