Chapter 56

The surrounding seawater continuously irrigated the black hole, but it was instantly evaporated into steam upon touching the edge of the black hole.

Due to the extremely high temperature above the black hole, the air was completely distorted.

Under the constant rising mist, a bizarre scene of black and white formed.

Li Fan, piloting the Taiyan Boat, watched this scene in the air and was suddenly overwhelmed by endless fear.

Wanxian Island... just like that, it's gone?

Scenes from Wanxian Island flashed through his mind.

The Dharma Transmission Square with its myriad statues, the countless cultivators coming and going,

and the magnificent buildings in the center of the island, said to be inhabited by great powers at the Soul Formation stage...

Just like that, they're gone?

Not even a trace of ash left behind.

What kind of power could do all this?

The malevolence of the Heavenly Dao?

Li Fan didn't know.

Faced with this shocking scene, Li Fan's mind was in chaos.

Cultivating to achieve immortality.

Li Fan's goal all along now seemed so laughable.

In the face of this sudden disaster, cultivators became no different from ordinary people, as insignificant as ants.

Once the fear took hold, it was hard to suppress.

"Run! Get away from this cursed place!"

Li Fan's eyes turned bloodshot as he piloted the Taiyan Boat, fleeing westward from the Congyun Sea as if his life depended on it.

He wanted to escape to the mainland, far from this hellish sea.

In this state of confusion, Li Fan flew for an unknown amount of time.

"Boom!"

The Taiyan Boat seemed to collide with something and was forced to stop.

Fortunately, the protective array prevented the boat from being destroyed.

Although Li Fan sustained minor injuries from the violent impact, he gradually calmed down.

He looked outside the Taiyan Boat.

There was nothing.

In the distance, the coastline stretched continuously; he was not far from the mainland.

Li Fan tried to fly forward, but:

"Boom!"

Something blocked his path.

He kept colliding with it but made no progress.

He tried other directions, but the result was the same.

An invisible barrier separated the Congyun Sea from the nearby mainland.

Entry was allowed, but exit was not.

Li Fan was stunned.

He suddenly thought of a word.

"Fish in a jar."

After a long while, Li Fan laughed.

He looked up at the sky.

How ruthless.

He then became somewhat lost, wondering if he should summon [Return to Reality] and return to the initial anchor point.

Or should he look around a bit more?

Li Fan felt helpless, losing his goal.

He piloted the Taiyan Boat, wandering over the Congyun Sea.

He passed by Ye Lan Island, which, like the other islands, was a scene of desolation with no survivors.

He passed by Liuli Island.

The protective array was shattered, and He Zhenghao was nowhere to be found. The island was littered with corpses, showing no signs of life.

Liu Yun Island, Zhongqiu Island...

All had become dead zones.

Occasionally, he encountered a cultivator like himself who had survived, but they were all mad.

Seeing Li Fan, they screamed and fled as if they had seen a ghost.

...

Finally, Li Fan somehow returned to Tai'an Island.

Here, he felt a long-lost sense of vitality.

Perhaps, in the entire Congyun Sea, only these few people remained alive.

Li Fan walked down the street, looking at the ordinary people on Tai'an Island.

They were still unaware of what had happened beyond Tai'an Island, their faces still showing the smiles of those who had survived a disaster.

Unbeknownst to them, they were destined to face the same fate.

But perhaps ignorance was a blessing.

Witnessing such a world-ending scene, they would likely have nightmares every night.

Li Fan couldn't help but mock himself.

He continued walking, and suddenly, he heard devout prayers.

"May the Benevolent Immortal protect us, ensuring good weather and abundant harvests every year."

"May the Benevolent Immortal protect us, ensuring my daughter Yu grows up safely."

...

Li Fan was taken aback and turned to look.

It turned out that a temple had been built on Tai'an Island at some point.

Inside the temple stood a statue, and the plaque in front of it read "Benevolent Immortal."

The statue bore a faint resemblance to Li Fan, with downcast eyes, looking compassionately at the people kneeling before it.

"Benevolent Immortal..." Li Fan fell silent.

After a long while, he sighed.

"Fine, I'll protect you for as long as I can."

...

However, protecting ordinary people from the wrath of heaven was no easy task.

Originally, Li Fan thought the disaster had passed.

He didn't realize that the true disaster was just beginning.

One year, two years, three years...

There was still no sign of rain.

The sea level began to drop, and the seawater started to recede from the islands.

Even with the seawater desalination array, the ordinary people of Tai'an Island found it increasingly difficult to obtain water.

Each time, they had to walk for a very long time to find water.

They didn't know why heaven had inflicted such a disaster, but they feared that the Congyun Sea would eventually dry up completely.

So, every household began to worship a wooden statue of Li Fan, praying day and night.

Li Fan was helpless.

How could he resist the great changes in heaven and earth?

The only good news was that, perhaps because most of the cultivators in the Congyun Sea had died, the killing intent targeting cultivators gradually dissipated over the three years.

Li Fan took this opportunity to cultivate back to the middle stage of Qi Condensation.

"When you stop worshipping me, I'll return to the anchor point." Being prayed to day and night by ordinary people was indeed a unique experience.

He activated the "Discerning Mechanism" divine ability, seeing the increasingly heavy death aura above the heads of the ordinary people, and secretly decided.

"Wait, why is there a hint of white in this black death aura?"

Li Fan was taken aback.

Since his cultivation had recovered, Li Fan had been checking the qi of Tai'an Island daily.

This time, for some reason, he discovered a glimmer of life that he hadn't noticed before.

Where did this life come from?

Li Fan pushed the "Thousand Mechanisms Jade Ring" to its limit and found that the life of the people of Tai'an Island was linked to himself!

He was even more puzzled.

After repeated confirmation, Li Fan realized that the life indeed came from himself.

But not from Li Fan himself, but from an item on his person.

An item he had almost forgotten.

Heavenly Oddity: Canghai

Since it was not yet fully formed, this Canghai Pearl had been placed in a corner of the Taiyan Boat.

It wasn't until today, with the qi reflecting, that Li Fan remembered it.

Unlike when he first saw it over a decade ago, it was now a deep blue, with a thick layer of moisture surrounding it.

As if a vast sea was truly contained within it.

"Where there is a Canghai that perishes, there is a Canghai that is born."

Li Fan stared at the Canghai Pearl in his hand, suddenly thinking of something. He piloted the Taiyan Boat, rising to ten thousand meters in the sky, and looked down.

Below, the Congyun Sea, due to prolonged drought, had large areas of the seabed exposed.

Underwater mountain ranges gradually revealed their true forms.

And the islands of the Congyun Sea were, in fact, the peaks of these mountain ranges.

Li Fan's mind flashed with the enthusiastic face of Kou Hong.

He had once said to Li Fan, "No problem. If you leave, you can find me in Lingtian City in the Congyun Mountains."

Li Fan smiled.

Congyun Sea.

Congyun Mountains.

It was all one place.