Chapter 54

"What's going on?"

Shocked, Li Fan's Water Mirror Technique shattered with a loud noise.

His mind was in turmoil, falling into a temporary state of confusion.

After a moment, Li Fan slowly regained his composure.

"Could it be that there's something wrong with this 'Thousand Mechanisms Jade Ring Golden Chapter'?"

His first reaction was that there was a problem with the cultivation technique.

The so-called "discernment" might no longer be applicable in the world of cultivation after the great changes in heaven and earth.

After all, Li Fan was currently inside the protective array of Taian Island.

Taian Island was located in the central region of the Congyun Sea, within the sphere of influence of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance.

If everything had been safe before, how could a great disaster be imminent just because he had closed himself in seclusion?

However, sensing the dense aura of death around him, Li Fan could not easily convince himself otherwise.

His unease grew stronger.

Li Fan made a decisive decision. Regardless of whether it was real or not, he would first go to Immortal Island to avoid the disaster.

So he immediately planned to activate the teleportation array to go to Immortal Island.

But to his dismay, the teleportation array had no response!

Li Fan's expression turned grim.

He took out the communication spirit talisman given to him by He Zhenghao and tried to contact him.

After inputting spiritual energy, there was still no response!

The situation was now very clear; something strange and ominous had indeed happened.

Staying on Taian Island would be a dead end; he could not just sit and wait for death!

Li Fan summoned the Taiyan Boat and took out the "Congyun Sea Atlas," preparing to pilot the flying boat himself.

The spirit stones that originally powered the Taiyan Boat were almost depleted, but fortunately, Li Fan had bought a lot of spirit stones as part of the "Essential Kit for Lone Cultivators" during his recent shopping spree.

Li Fan estimated that it would take about two to three months to fly from Taian Island to Immortal Island.

The spirit stones would definitely be enough.

Without further ado, Li Fan no longer cared about the task of guarding the island and prepared to leave in the flying boat.

Just as the Taiyan Boat was about to fly out of the protective array, Li Fan suddenly sensed boundless killing intent from the outside.

It was like ten thousand sharp swords spread throughout the heavens and earth.

Li Fan's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately stopped the Taiyan Boat.

His intuition told him that if he left the protective array, he would surely die!

Li Fan narrowed his eyes, looking at the calm sea, unsure where the danger was coming from.

In the end, Li Fan decided not to take the risk.

He put away the Taiyan Boat and decided to ask the commoners on the island what had happened recently.

After his divine sense swept over the entire island, he was greatly surprised.

It turned out that a third of the island's population was missing.

The remaining people were all pale and emaciated, as if they hadn't eaten for a long time.

Realizing that something significant must have happened during his seclusion, Li Fan's expression turned grim, and he flew to the residence of the Taian Island Lord.

Since taking over the guardianship, Li Fan had been in seclusion and had not paid much attention to the island's affairs.

He had only met the island lord a few times.

Seeing Li Fan, the island lord immediately knelt down and continuously kowtowed, wailing.

"Merciful Immortal Master, merciful Immortal Master, please save us!"

The island lord wept bitterly, his forehead almost bleeding from the kowtowing.

"What has happened? Speak quickly!" Li Fan's expression was extremely grim.

"Immortal Master, life is unbearable. It hasn't rained for half a year, and the fresh water and food on the island are almost depleted. If this continues, everyone will starve to death!" the island lord said, crying and kowtowing.

"Half a year without rain?" Li Fan recalled what Zhang Haobo had told him a few years ago.

"The drought has come. But why did the Heavenly Profound Mirror tell me that nothing significant would happen? Could it be that a drought of this scale is not even worth the Heavenly Profound Mirror's attention?"

The island lord continued to cry and shout, "All the fish in the nearby sea have been caught, and the weather is so hot that no fishing fleet has returned from the distant sea. Everyone is really starving! Merciful Immortal Master, please save us!"

Li Fan was annoyed by the man's cries and, noticing that he was still quite plump despite being thin, became furious. "Half the commoners on the island have starved to death, and you haven't lost any weight?"

The island lord's face turned pale, about to defend himself.

But after Li Fan's divine sense swept through the kitchen of the island lord's residence, he became even angrier.

Without waiting for the island lord to speak, he slapped him into a pile of flesh.

"Feasting on the dead, you deserve to die!"

Li Fan coldly snorted and used the power of the array to broadcast a message to the entire island.

"The island lord has been struck down by me. All other officials, come to the island lord's residence immediately!"

A short while later, several commoners came trembling before Li Fan.

Seeing that they were also undernourished, Li Fan suppressed his killing intent.

From their tearful and heart-wrenching cries, Li Fan finally learned what had happened during his year of seclusion.

The drought began half a year ago.

At first, no one took the lack of rain seriously.

It wasn't until two months without a drop of rain that everyone on the island panicked.

The island had a fresh water source, but with no rain for so long, it was gradually drying up.

Initially, they could still rely on fishing in the nearby sea for food, but as the weather became hotter, they could no longer catch any fish around the island. All the fishing fleets that ventured out never returned, and Taian Island fell into famine.

Within just one month, a third of the island's population died, and countless tragedies occurred.

The remaining people were barely surviving.

If Li Fan had emerged from seclusion any later, he might not have found any living people.

Given the situation, Li Fan could not stand by and do nothing.

When he left Daxuan, the Taiyan Boat was mostly filled with food, except for a few cabins containing gold and silver.

He had prepared it out of caution, to explore the unknown world of cultivation.

He never expected that it would finally come in handy after nearly ten years.

The food inside the Taiyan Boat would not spoil due to the Purifying Dust Array.

Li Fan immediately expanded the Taiyan Boat to its maximum size and ordered the commoners to take out some of the food for emergency use.

Seeing the Immortal Master bring life-saving food, everyone knelt down in gratitude, continuously kowtowing.

Li Fan ignored them, allowing them to celebrate.

The food in the Taiyan Boat, if rationed, should be enough to sustain the people on the island for a few months.

The most important thing was to solve the fresh water problem.

With water, they could survive.

Li Fan went to the main fresh water source on the island, a medium-sized lake in the center.

The lake was already guarded by专人, preventing ordinary people from approaching.

Due to the lack of rain, the lake had shrunk to a tenth of its original size, almost completely dried up.

"When the protective array was built, no one thought about the possibility of a water shortage..."

Holding the Taian Island Guardian Order, Li Fan helplessly shook his head.

"It seems I need to build a seawater purification array."