Chapter 1740: Cicada Concealment

Angry Squid:

“True Shiyin, False Yucun! You two each owe this old man a life!”

While Zhang Fan hesitated, the boundless purple energy was completely consumed.

Without the protection of the purple energy, this Eternal World once again plunged into turmoil.

“Alas, so close,” False Yucun sighed softly.

As the creator of this world, he vaguely felt as if some supreme, profound Dao principle was about to be born here, just one final step away.

But a single step was the difference between heaven and earth.

“If it could truly be born, the imprint would be complete. With this mark, my Eternal Void World would also give birth to its own True-False Transformation, allowing it to escape the endless cycle of reincarnation. Either way, I'm going to die.” As False Yucun pondered, he had already made up his mind.

“I'll buy you a little more time. Whether it succeeds or not…”

He didn't finish speaking before a silver light burst forth and rushed out beyond the heavens.

Although the Eternal World seemed to stabilize again, True Shiyin and Zhang Fan knew that its foundation was already lost.

It wouldn't be long until it completely collapsed.

“The True-False Transformation belongs to the True God.”

“And I, this Son of Destiny, this clone, will also return…”

“Into his body.”

“This is the so-called inescapable fate.”

Zhang Fan now vaguely understood why his final stroke could never land.

“So, even he hadn't fully comprehended this True-False Transformation. As a clone, it's natural that I couldn't surpass the main body.”

Zhang Fan immediately felt a sense of relief.

Then his heart stirred: “If that's the case, my comprehension of the True-False Transformation is actually no longer inferior to the main body's? How is this possible?”

In Zhang Fan's long-held belief, his main body, as the mastermind behind everything, must have reached an unimaginably powerful state, perhaps even able to contend with the True God.

Although he had never given up the idea of seeking an explanation from it, he had never dared to underestimate his main body.

He never expected to be startled to discover now that his lifelong arduous cultivation had already allowed him to stand on par with it?

This was a thought Zhang Fan had never had before.

He had never dared to imagine it.

The moment he realized this, an uncontrollable ambition grew within his heart.

“Who is true, who is false? Who is master, who is clone?” “It is still unknown!”

“There's still… one last chance!”

Zhang Fan knew that his main body must be waiting for him outside this Eternal World.

After this place shattered, and before he returned to the True God, his main body would first absorb him.

“But this is precisely my only chance for survival!”

Thinking of this, as he looked at the almost-finished painting and True Shiyin before him, a cold glint flashed in Zhang Fan's eyes.

“Please allow me to use your esteemed essence, Senior!”

The brush that had painted the True-False Scroll inexplicably appeared, then quietly descended.

It heavily touched True Shiyin.

A hint of surprise couldn't help but appear on True Shiyin's face; he didn't understand why Zhang Fan would undergo such a massive change in an instant.

“You all still have a chance to re-do, but I may not.”

“Please, Senior, grant me success!”

Zhang Fan saw that True Shiyin, despite being touched by his brush of true creation, could still forcibly endure, merely trembling slightly. He couldn't help but be inwardly shocked.

He did not forcefully apply the brush again; instead, with a flash of light, he transmitted everything he had just comprehended in that instant for the other party to know.

True Shiyin's gaze left Zhang Fan and looked beyond the Eternal Void World.

He didn't know what exactly he had thought of, but he actually gave up resisting.

His form dimmed, his light gradually receded, and he finally transformed into a dead-still white point.

Slowly, it fell into Zhang Fan's palm.

Zhang Fan was silent for a moment. Towards the place where True Shiyin had vanished, he solemnly bowed and paid his respects.

Then, without hesitation, he swallowed the dead-still white point.

Although for True Shiyin, vanishing was not truly dying, to sacrifice a lifetime just to give Zhang Fan a sliver of a chance was already an immense kindness.

Zhang Fan seized the last moments, carefully savoring the taste of the dead-still radiance left by True Shiyin.

“Death is but an appearance.”

“The Great Dao of True-False, for Senior True Shiyin, was unseen and unknowable. Yet, he attempted to emulate and symbolize the creation of True-False using the imagery of life and death.”

“The result was like a blind man feeling an elephant, grasping only a corner. But, surprisingly, it truly held some flavor of true and false.” “Very nourishing!”

As if struck by inspiration, Zhang Fan wrote furiously, adding another half-stroke to the True-False Scroll.

And then he looked at this Eternal Void World again.

He could sense that False Yucun had already vanished.

Just as False Yucun had said earlier, although this world could exist independently of mountains and seas, it was ultimately nothing but void, its entire foundation built upon False Yucun's cultivation.

Facing the might of the True God's descent, it had no means of resistance whatsoever.

It was no longer merely trembling but was about to directly and completely collapse.

Zhang Fan made a stroke, extinguishing this world before it could shatter.

“Life is governed by the void, beyond the realm of falsehood.”

In his eyes, a silver-white radiance, remarkably similar to that on False Yucun, flashed and disappeared. Zhang Fan completed the final half-stroke on the True-False Scroll.

“I don't seek to completely deconstruct the True-False Transformation, only to…”

“Surpass you!”

His left eye was silver-grey, and his right eye was pale.

Simultaneously, there appeared in his mind the various Ascended Beings: the Old Fisherman, Fate Cutter, Array Breaker, Oblivion, Fortune Weaver, Paper Folder, and others.

“This is the kindling to ignite the fire of true and false!”

The True-False Scroll, which he had painted with his own hands, was instantly consumed by flames, transforming into a blazing fire that only he could see.

The Eternal Void World was no more, and Zhang Fan fell into the divine return's end.

Even though he had simulated it countless times in his mind, when he was truly caught in it, he was still momentarily bewildered.

What a terrifying apocalyptic scene this was.

Living beings were no more, mountains and seas were no more. The Dao had vanished, and the void realm was no more.

Only a wisp of starlight, like a single divine eye, hung high above.

Like the rising sun, filled with red clouds, it leaped forth, about to devour everything.

Aside from the approaching deity.

Only two figures remained, like duckweed in the wind, struggling to hold on.

They were of the same origin, one body, the main body itself.

“Aren't you returning yet!” the main body's voice was cold, like an elder scolding a junior of the clan.

Zhang Fan felt himself uncontrollably drifting towards the other.

The strength of the pull to merge was even greater than that of the divine return.

At this moment, Zhang Fan noticed that he seemed out of place with the surrounding vast torrent of divine return.

Only with the main body ahead did he faintly harmonize.

“Is this what you're relying on?”

Zhang Fan sneered inwardly.

“A clone returning to its main body, it seems this is how it should be.”

“But today, I will tell you…”

“In this world, nothing is ever truly 'as it should be'!”

A trace of defiance flashed in Zhang Fan's eyes.

He not only abandoned his resistance to the main body's pull but even accelerated towards it.

Just as he was about to merge with the main body, a ball of true-false flames burst forth, blazing fiercely from within his body.

“Utterly foolish!”

“How can the creation of true and false possibly harm me?”

Facing Zhang Fan's counterattack, the main body remained completely unfazed.

It softly chanted: “When true becomes false, false also becomes true!”

The great fire that was blazing fiercely a moment ago instantly extinguished and disappeared.

As if it had never existed.

The main body's cold voice came: “Is this your reliance? You actually delusionally attempt to use the Great Dao of True-False to subvert and replace me…”

Before it could finish speaking, the main body's expression suddenly changed.

Because around Zhang Fan, blurry figures seemed to emerge.

True Shiyin, False Yucun, Old Fisherman, Xuanyuan Hong, Fate Cutter, Array Breaker...

They seemed like independent entities, yet also as if born from Zhang Fan.

“Didn't you always want me to merge with you?”

“In this life, I have comprehended many Great Daos of mountains and seas and thoroughly understood the foundations of all the Ascended Beings. My comprehension of the Great Dao of True-False is now even above yours! Yet I am willing to give it all to you; let us merge!”

There was a hint of madness in Zhang Fan's eyes; as the true-false flames extinguished, his figure collided with the main body.

Like two water droplets merging, they instantly became one.

But...

Yet, the figures of the Ascended Beings lingered like restless spirits, appearing within.

“Return to True! Return to True!”

The starlight from overhead became increasingly intense.

The vessel of the Great Dao of True-False uncontrollably drifted towards the high-hanging single eye.

A ferocious voice repeatedly roared, “Return to True!”

But because of the presence of the phantom figures, the True-False Transformation was difficult to activate.

Each time “Return to True” was about to activate, another faint voice would sound, interrupting its process.

“Return to True!”

“Not returning.”

“Return to True!”

“Not returning.”

The phantom figures of the Ascended Beings were not truly the vanished Ascended Beings.

Instead, they were anchors Zhang Fan used to distinguish himself from the main body.

Only the Ascended Beings of mountains and seas could retain some blurry memories amidst the constant resetting of mountains and seas.

In this life's interactions with the Ascended Beings, Zhang Fan confirmed that the main body had never interacted with them in previous cycles of reincarnation.

All possibilities within mountains and seas, the paths he had walked, the events he had experienced – the main body could have experienced them all.

Only the various aspects related to the Ascended Beings were exceptions.

Thus, they could be used to distinguish Zhang Fan from the main body.

Upon closer inspection, although the two drops of water had merged.

However, the drop that was added later had acquired certain unique characteristics, allowing it to temporarily exist independently. Without a doubt, given the main body's control over its clone, this unique characteristic could not last long.

A clone, after all, was just a clone.

From the moment it was created, an inescapable fate had been set for it.

Under normal circumstances, these phantom figures of the Ascended Beings could at best only prolong Zhang Fan's life for a brief moment.

They couldn't change anything at all.

But now...

Being in the end of the divine return, this fleeting opportunity was enough to reverse everything.

The descent towards the True God became increasingly close, yet Zhang Fan still showed no intention of giving up his struggle against it.

He seemed determined to drag the other down with him to a joint demise.

The main body finally completely lost composure.

“Do you want to die!”

“If you want to die, don't drag me with you!”

“As long as we can Return to True, there is still every possibility. If we fall into the True God, then we will be lost forever, with no chance of return!”

Anger, panic.

All of the main body's disgraceful displays were seen by Zhang Fan.

He merely met it with cold eyes: “Precisely because I don't want to die, I must risk my life in this fight!”

Starlight scattered everywhere.

As if completely leaping into the world.

The high-hanging star now resembled a great sun, standing proudly and independently.

Both Zhang Fan and the main body could clearly perceive that the True-False Transformation clinging to them was becoming increasingly thin.

It could completely depart at any moment.

“Madman! Madman! If this continues, we'll both die!” the main body roared, its composure broken.

“Return to True, oh, Return to True!”

Zhang Fan's gaze was burning; in the face of absolute peril, his mind grew even calmer.

Sensing that the long-awaited opportunity had arrived, Zhang Fan finally dispersed the anchor points of the Ascended Beings' images.

No longer resisting their complete merger, the main body was overjoyed.

It couldn't wait to completely devour Zhang Fan and then return to its original anchor point.

But...

The next moment, as if it had swallowed a stone, the main body not only failed to digest Zhang Fan but instead bit down so hard it bled from the mouth.

“How is this possible! How could you...”

Zhang Fan sneered maliciously: “Without the True-False Transformation's blessing, how much stronger can you, the so-called main body, truly be than me?”

“Let's have a fair fight then.”

“To determine superiority, and to decide life and death!”

Having said that, Zhang Fan lunged towards the main body.

No Dao spells, no divine abilities.

Only a bloody struggle of pure will.

Two extremely similar, or rather, identical souls were engaged in a life-and-death struggle for their own survival.

They would not stop until one died.

At this moment, they seemed to have forgotten the divine return's end outside, forgotten the fate of eternal damnation that awaited them.

Only the other remained in their eyes, vowing to determine a victor.

Regardless of the cost.

The ferocity of their struggle was beyond words for any outsider.

To outsiders, it seemed only an instant later.

But for the two in that battle, it felt as if eons had passed.

“Damn it, damn it, you damn it...”

The main body was on its last breath, constantly cursing.

Yet what answered it was only Zhang Fan's unrestrained maniacal laughter.

The water droplet changed again.

The two completely merged.

“Ultimately, I won.”

Zhang Fan, as the victor, was extremely weak, but his heart was not as joyful. A clone had devoured its main body, inheriting everything from the other.

But at this moment, he had no time to examine it closely.

The remaining True-False Transformation in his body was already as fine as a wisp of silk.

The return of the True God was already infinitely close.

“Fortunately, Heaven does not forsake me!”

“The True-False Transformation, even with just an inch remaining, can still be activated.”

“Return to True! Return to True!”

Zhang Fan finally shouted out those two words that the main body had shouted countless times before.

There was no longer any other will obstructing it.

After a brief pause, the Great Dao of True-False descended upon this place.

The starlight scattered across the sky suddenly dimmed.

It was as if an invisible giant hand had seized the great sun in the sky.

Then, with irresistible, immense power, it dragged it down, step by step.

Before Zhang Fan's eyes, a wondrous scene appeared.

It was as if time was flowing backward; countless overflowing brilliant starlight slowly returned into the star.

Eerie silence and darkness emerged once more.

That cold, dead silence, compared to the divine radiance, was ironically more reassuring.

This time it was truly too perilous.

It was only a hair's breadth from the True God's final descent.

Erasing the soon-to-descend True God and resetting it truly took longer than all previous times combined.

But ultimately, it succeeded.

The tense string in Zhang Fan's mind finally relaxed.

He let out a long breath.

He finally gazed at the fading figure of the True God, and with high spirits, declared: “I can defy fate and usurp the main body. From now on, I can shatter stars and execute gods!”

“Just you wait!”

As if sensing Zhang Fan's thoughts, at the last moment, the fading starlight suddenly burst forth again for an instant.

Then it vanished into nothingness.

Rolling darkness immediately followed, engulfing Zhang Fan's consciousness.