Chapter 55

Half a month later, a rudimentary seawater desalination array was built.

With a new supply of drinking water and food, the surviving residents of Taian Island knelt and thanked the immortal master for saving their lives.

However, Li Fan was not as happy; instead, he was somewhat worried.

After personally constructing an array, Li Fan had勉强踏上了阵法之道。

It was only then that he discovered the protective array of Taian Island was deteriorating at an extremely abnormal rate.

Generally, such protective arrays could last for over a hundred years.

But at the current rate of deterioration, the array would completely lose its effectiveness in just two or three years.

After a thorough investigation and referring to the "Introduction to Array Theory," Li Fan found the reason for the array's damage.

The spiritual energy in the world had become extremely volatile and intense.

This intense spiritual energy, as if it had its own will, began to slowly erode the key nodes of the array after being absorbed by the protective array.

The protective array was now like a machine with its critical parts slowly rusting; each operation reduced its lifespan.

Having found the cause, Li Fan had no good solution to save it.

The protective array was too complex, with over ten thousand key nodes, each composed of dozens of micro-arrays.

It was said that when it was built, it was constructed by several array masters of the Nascent Soul realm from the Myriad Immortals Alliance.

Now that there was a problem, it was beyond the capabilities of a novice like Li Fan to solve it.

Moreover, the main reason for the problem was the spiritual energy absorbed by the array.

Even if the array were temporarily repaired, as long as the nature of the violent spiritual energy outside did not change, it would only be a temporary fix.

"Staying on Taian Island is just waiting to die; I must find a way to leave here."

"But the outside world is in chaos, with violent spiritual energy rampant. Venturing out recklessly is a dead end."

Caught between a rock and a hard place, it seemed like a deadlock.

"Is this the heavenly killing intent..." Li Fan stared at the sky outside the protective array, feeling like a fly trapped in a spider's web, unable to move, struggling to survive.

But Li Fan did not immediately choose to return to the real world.

Returning to the real world would waste over a decade of recharging time, and without understanding what had happened, he would likely face the same fate again.

Even if he fled far from the Cloudy Sea, could he guarantee that he would not encounter new dangers?

After all, the malevolence of the Heavenly Dao towards cultivators was omnipresent.

Li Fan did not believe that changing his location would help.

So unless absolutely necessary, he would not choose to abandon this world.

In the following period, Li Fan continued to cultivate while seeking a way out of the deadlock.

However, the violent spiritual energy outside showed no signs of calming down; instead, it became even more intense over time.

The protective array, under its assault, was on the verge of collapse.

It could collapse at any moment.

"There's no way out." Li Fan felt somewhat helpless.

Ending this life so ambiguously was something he was unwilling to accept.

But it seemed there were no other choices.

"Return to the real world!"

Li Fan took one last, reluctant look at Taian Island, called out "Return to the real world," and prepared to end this life.

At that moment, he paused.

Looking down at the ordinary people gradually recovering their vitality, Li Fan suddenly realized that the violent spiritual energy outside did not seem to target ordinary people.

According to the descriptions of the ordinary people on the island, outside the protective array, it was just a bit hotter, with no particular danger.

"The heavenly killing intent is only aimed at cultivators; ordinary people should be fine."

If he dissolved his cultivation and temporarily became an ordinary person again, could he survive?

Li Fan thought of the "Great Supreme Original Scripture."

With this unique technique, dissolving his cultivation and re-cultivating would not result in much loss of cultivation. As long as he found a safe place, it would not take long to return to his original level.

"Is this what they call 'rebirth from the brink of death'?" Thinking of a solution, Li Fan felt a sense of joy.

Then, he naturally had more considerations.

He was currently cultivating two techniques.

One was the "Lesser Derivative Water Technique" exchanged from the Myriad Immortals Alliance, and the other was the "Thousand Mechanisms Jade Ring Golden Chapter" from the ancient Heavenly Mechanism Sect.

One was a new technique, and the other was an old technique.

The cultivation method of the new technique was to plunder heaven and earth.

This was precisely why it provoked the malevolence of heaven.

Now that heaven had set up numerous traps, the target was cultivators practicing the new technique.

If he only dissolved the "Lesser Derivative Water Technique" and retained the realm of the "Thousand Mechanisms Jade Ring Golden Chapter," would the heavenly killing intent be less severe?

Li Fan was a decisive person.

With the array on the verge of collapse, he made a quick decision, and the spiritual energy in his body began to flow as he activated the "Great Supreme Original Scripture."

"Great Supreme Nameless, return to the origin..."

As the technique operated, the water attribute spiritual energy he had cultivated through the "Lesser Derivative Water Technique" slowly dissipated like melting snow, transforming into a pure energy that settled in Li Fan's dantian.

In just half a day, the "Lesser Derivative Water Technique" was completely dissolved.

Li Fan did not feel any discomfort.

"This 'Great Supreme Original Scripture' is indeed miraculous." Li Fan sighed in admiration and flew to the edge of the protective array.

"Sure enough, this method works!"

Sensing the sudden reduction in the heavenly killing intent outside, Li Fan felt a surge of joy.

"Unfortunately, the 'Thousand Mechanisms Jade Ring Golden Chapter' is still cultivated in the manner of the new technique. Although the malevolence of heaven may be less due to the nature of the technique, it has not completely disappeared."

Realizing that he would still be in danger if he went out, Li Fan made up his mind and continued to dissolve his cultivation.

Soon, another stream of pure energy appeared in his dantian.

The two streams of energy, derived from different techniques, now merged without conflict.

"According to the 'Great Supreme Original Scripture,' the pure energy obtained from dissolving cultivation can last in the dantian for about a hundred years." Li Fan's realm had now returned to that of an ordinary person.

But he was not particularly worried.

"As long as I return to Myriad Immortals Island, I can quickly re-cultivate."

Without hesitation, Li Fan piloted the Great Derivative Boat and slowly flew out of the protective array.

The violent, scorching spiritual energy raged, dyeing the distant sky orange-red.

But Li Fan was now an ordinary person, and the rampant spiritual energy merely passed by without attacking him.

Li Fan breathed a sigh of relief, chose a direction, and accelerated the Great Derivative Boat to its maximum speed, heading towards Myriad Immortals Island.

On the way, Li Fan passed by many islands.

The ordinary people on these islands were all dead, with no signs of life.

Li Fan was secretly alarmed.

His speed increased even more.

Three months later.

Li Fan arrived at the location where Myriad Immortals Island used to be.

He opened the map and compared it four or five times but still could not believe his eyes.

The once vast Myriad Immortals Island had completely disappeared.

All that remained was a giant black hole, empty and desolate, stretching across the sea.