Chapter 56: Compassion for Mortals |
The surrounding seawater continuously poured towards the black hole but evaporated into water vapor when it reached the edge of the black hole.
Due to the extremely high temperature around the black hole, the air was distorted.
Covered by the rising mist around, it formed a strange sight of alternating black and white.
Li Fan piloted the Tai Yan Boat and, while hovering in the air, watched this scene. Suddenly, he was shrouded in endless fear.
Ten Thousand Immortals Island... had been obliterated?
Scenes from the past on Ten Thousand Immortals Island flashed quickly in his mind.
The square where countless cultivators passed by the towering statues, the grand buildings at the center of the island rumored to house Nascent Soul realm powerhouses...
All gone like this? Not even a speck of dust left.
What kind of power could achieve all this? The malevolence of the heavens?
In the face of this highly impactful scene, Li Fan's mind was in chaos.
Cultivation, seeking immortality.
Li Fan's lifelong goal now seemed so laughable.
In the face of this sudden disaster, cultivators were now no different from ordinary people, like ants.
Once the fear settled in the heart, it was impossible to restrain.
"Escape! Escape from this cursed place!"
Li Fan's eyes turned red. He drove the Tai Yan Boat and desperately fled towards the western part of the Cong Yun Sea.
He wanted to escape to the land, far away from this hellish sea area.
And so, Li Fan flew for an unknown duration in a state of mental chaos.
"Boom!"
The Tai Yan Boat seemed to collide with something and was forced to a stop.
Fortunately, there was a protective array, preventing immediate destruction of the boat and harm to its occupant.
With the intense impact, Li Fan suffered some minor injuries but gradually calmed down.
He looked out of the Tai Yan Boat.
But there was nothing.
In the distance, there was a continuous coastline, not far from the mainland.
Li Fan manipulated the Tai Yan Boat, attempting to fly forward.
"Boom!"
Something was blocking Li Fan.
Li Fan tried to move in other directions, but it was the same.
An invisible barrier separated the Cong Yun Sea from the nearby mainland.
No entry, no exit.
Li Fan was dumbfounded.
He suddenly thought of a phrase.
"A frog in a well."
After a long time, Li Fan laughed.
He looked up at the sky.
How ruthless.
Then he became somewhat lost. Should he summon [Truth] and return to the initial anchor point?
Or should he look around some more?
Li Fan became somewhat helpless, losing his sense of direction.
He piloted the Tai Yan Boat, drifting above this sea of clouds.
He passed by Night Island, a place now like the rest, displaying a post-apocalyptic scene with no survivors.
He passed by Liuli Island.
The island defense array was shattered, and He Zhenghao was nowhere to be found. The island was strewn with corpses, devoid of any signs of life.
Flowing Cloud Island, Zhongqiu Island...
All turned into wastelands.
When he occasionally encountered a cultivator who survived like him, he found that they had all gone insane.
They treated Li Fan as if he were a ghost, screaming and fleeing upon seeing him.
...
In the end, Li Fan somehow found himself back on Taian Island.
Here, he felt a long-lost vitality.
Perhaps, on the entire sea of clouds, only this little bit of humanity remained.
Li Fan walked through the streets, observing the mortals on Taian Island.
They were still unaware of the changes beyond Taian Island, still wearing smiles of relief on their faces.
Little did they know, a looming disaster awaited them.
However, perhaps ignorance was a form of bliss.
Witnessing scenes resembling the end of the world, they would probably have nightmares every night.
Li Fan couldn't help but laugh at himself.
He continued to walk, and suddenly, he heard devout prayers.
"May the Immortal Master save us from suffering and calamity, ensuring good weather and abundant harvests in the future."
"May the Immortal Master protect my daughter, Yu, and let her grow up safely."
...
Li Fan was momentarily stunned and turned to look.
In Taian Island, a temple had been built at some point.
Inside the temple, there was a statue, and on the tablet in front of the statue were the words "Immortal Master of Salvation."
The statue seemed to bear a faint resemblance to Li Fan, with slightly lowered eyes, looking compassionately at the people kneeling in front.
"Immortal Master of Salvation..." Li Fan fell silent.
After a long time, he sighed.
"Alright, let's see how long I can protect you all."
...
However, protecting mortals under the malevolence of the heavens and earth was evidently not an easy task.
Originally, Li Fan thought this disaster had passed.
What he didn't expect was that the true calamity had only just begun.
One year, two years, three years...
There was still no sign of rain from the sky.
The sea level began to drop, and the sea gradually moved away from the islands.
Even with the seawater desalination array, the islanders on Taian Island found it increasingly difficult to obtain water.
Each time, they had to walk a very long distance to find water.
They didn't know why such a disaster had befallen them, but they feared that the Cong Yun Sea would eventually completely dry up.
So every family began to worship the wooden statue of Li Fan, praying day and night.
Li Fan could only helplessly watch.
In the face of such a drastic change in the world, he couldn't contend with it.
The only good news was that in these three years, perhaps because most of the cultivators in the Cong Yun Sea had died, the killing intent towards cultivators in the heavens and earth slowly dissipated.
During this time, Li Fan took the opportunity to cultivate back to the middle Qi Condensation stage.
"When the day comes that you all stop worshipping me, I'll return to the anchor point." Being prayed to day and night by a group of mortals was indeed a peculiar experience.
He activated his "Discern Variations" technique and observed the increasingly dense death Qi above the heads of the mortals. He made up his mind in secret.
"Wait, why is there a faint white light hidden within this black death Qi?"
Li Fan was stunned.
Since his cultivation had recovered, Li Fan had been examining the aura of Taian Island daily.
This time, for some reason, he discovered a thread of vitality he had failed to detect before.
Where was this vitality coming from?
Li Fan activated the "Jade Cosmos Thousand Variations Sutra" to its limit and realized that the vitality of the people on Taian Island was actually resonating with him!
Perplexed, he further confirmed.
The source of this vitality was indeed him.
But it wasn't Li Fan himself; it was an item on his body.
An item he had almost forgotten.
Heavenly Treasure: Canghai Pearl.
As it hadn't fully formed yet, Li Fan had kept the Canghai Pearl in a corner of the Tai Yan Boat.
It was only today, under the reflection of spiritual energy, that Li Fan remembered it.
Unlike when he first saw it over a dozen years ago, at this moment, it had turned completely blue, exuding a rich mist of water vapor.
It was as if a vast ocean was incubating within it.
"From the abyss comes the sea, from the sea comes life."
Li Fan looked at the Canghai Pearl in his hand, suddenly recalling something. He raised the Tai Yan Boat and flew up to an altitude of ten thousand meters, looking down.
Beneath, the Cong Yun Sea, due to the prolonged drought, revealed vast stretches of exposed seabed.
One after another, the underwater mountain ranges gradually revealed their true appearance.
And the original islands of the Cong Yun Sea were actually the peaks of these mountains.
In his mind, Kou Hong's enthusiastic face suddenly flashed.
He had said to Li Fan, "No worries. If Daoist friend manages to get out, you can find me at Lingtian City in the Cong Yun Mountains."
Li Fan smiled.
Cong Yun Sea.
Cong Yun Mountains.
They turned out to be the same place.
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