On the ground, Li Fan followed the voice and spotted Jiao Xiuyuan's figure. He wasn't surprised, simply offering a slight smile and a nod in his direction.
Jiao Xiuyuan blinked in momentary confusion upon seeing this.
"So he's an old customer..." Jiao Xiuyuan muttered under his breath, tilting his head and narrowing his eyes.
As the two locked eyes, the black sky descended completely, and Myriad Immortals Island was reduced to ashes.
After this day, the Congyun Sea would no longer exist in this world.
***
The phenomena of cultivator deaths lit the sky of the Congyun Sea like fireworks.
Meanwhile, in some unknown space, five statues with indistinct features stood arranged in a circle.
Their heads were bowed, and they gazed down at the center where a massive, glowing cloud floated in the air.
Within the cloud, miniature landscapes, mountains, and flowing water were faintly visible.
The cloud was divided into isolated regions, both large and small, each with a tiny point of light suspended within.
Suddenly, at the edge of this luminous cloud, within a small blue zone, the light point hovering in that region abruptly flashed red and began pulsing. An invisible fluctuation spread outward through this space.
Four of the five statues stirred awake in response.
The red light point projected a sequence of images upward. The scenes cycled at hundreds of times normal speed, replaying the events that had just transpired in the Congyun Sea.
Four immense consciousnesses exchanged thoughts among themselves.
"To think it provoked Ink Death..."
"An ambush against a Soul Arbiter of heaven and earth in the Congyun Sea? What was the Myriad Immortals Alliance thinking?"
"The old ones pay no heed to worldly affairs. It's no surprise those below remain unaware."
"Besides, the dead were two local Spirit Transformation cultivators from the Congyun Sea. The other three were outsiders they recruited from who-knows-where. None were core members of the Myriad Immortals Alliance."
"Even so, five Spirit Transformation cultivators, along with numerous others across various realms... That's too many deaths at once."
"No matter. They're all expendable resources."
"Yet we must control the overall number of cultivators. Not too many, not too few."
"The old ones remain absent all day. This matter still falls to us."
"Then let's relax the restrictions on technique redemption."
"I'll see to it. But the Congyun Sea has become a dead zone. We'll need to trouble Heavenly Venerable Wu You."
After a moment, the statue that had remained still until now transmitted a ripple of thought.
"I understand."
Then, silence returned.
The others seemed accustomed to this.
Exchanging a few more thoughts, they gradually fell silent one by one.
In the luminous cloud at the center of the five statues, the blue region at the edge slowly faded, then gradually turned transparent and vanished.
***
Yuandao Province.
The instant Ink Death utterly destroyed Myriad Immortals Island, Li Fan felt a strange premonition and turned to gaze into the distance.
"Master, what's wrong?" Su Xiaomei noticed Li Fan's unusual stillness and asked curiously.
Li Fan shook his head without answering.
After several days of travel, their group had finally arrived near Brightmoon Lake.
This place was exactly as Fei Nan had described—barren in resources, remote in location, and rarely visited by cultivators. Being located far from Yuandao Sky City made it extremely inconvenient to visit.
While unsuitable as a cave dwelling for ordinary cultivators, for Li Fan, it was a rather good choice.
First, Li Fan intended to use the Deepsea Pearl to build his Dao Foundation.
The vast, misty expanse of Brightmoon Lake, stretching eight hundred li, held water attribute spiritual qi that was scarcely weaker than that of Congyun Sea. This suited Li Fan’s needs perfectly.
Second, precisely because few cultivators came here, it would be relatively safe to store the ancient Dao artifacts here, as there was little risk of discovery.
However, establishing a cave dwelling was a matter of grave importance. He needed to personally check whether the lake held any hidden peculiarities. If it turned out he was building his lair in someone else's territory, that would be utterly foolish.
Li Fan soared over the lake's surface, intending to probe its depths.
A moment later, he abruptly halted.
Between heaven and earth, a massive surge of blue light manifested from the void, returning to the Deepsea Pearl. Simultaneously, countless images flooded Li Fan's mind.
So it failed in the end and has returned after all.
The originally feeble Deepsea Pearl slowly absorbed this sudden influx of blue light, gradually transforming into the deep azure form he remembered from his previous life.
Moreover, because the Congyun Sea had been destroyed ahead of time, the Deepsea Pearl's formation had accelerated.
Li Fan estimated that this Curio of heaven and earth, still in gestation, would reach its full form before long.
And with the return of the portion of power that had previously split off from the Deepsea Pearl, Li Fan also learned what had transpired with Zhang Haobo.
When he first used the Cloudwater Dream Illusion Art to create the regressor Zhang Haobo, Li Fan hadn't considered using the Deepsea Pearl on him. Li Fan intended to use this treasure for his own Foundation Establishment in this lifetime.
But this world was not some static game; events wouldn't always unfold as he predicted.
After Zhang Haobo “regressed,” his providence shifted dramatically, his fate twisting violently.
This drew the attention of the Congyun Sea's consciousness.
After some interaction, the Congyun Sea's consciousness uncovered a staggering secret: this man of strange fate seemed to possess knowledge of future events.
Crimson Flame would descend, scorching the Congyun Sea—this was an intuitive premonition, and past experiences confirmed the reliability of this information.
Knowing It truly would be baked dry over a decade later, the Congyun Sea made a choice different from the past lifetime.
In the past life, the Crimson Flame began drying up the sea without any sign or warning. By the time the Congyun Sea noticed, It was already powerless to resist.
Yet It refused to submit.
Thus, though one sea perished, another sea was born.
Heaven wished to burn the sea. But this time, the sea decided to rise in rebellion, to fight a desperate battle.
Yet, It would always leave itself a path of retreat. Therefore, It divided its power into two parts.
One part transformed into the Deepsea Pearl. The other part gathered within the "regressed" Zhang Haobo. For although It possessed vast, limitless power, It could not act directly.
Heaven might wish to burn the sea, but it still had to manifest a Soul Arbiter of heaven and earth. If the sea wished to retaliate, It naturally needed to find a representative. And Zhang Haobo was naturally the best candidate.
Everything proceeded smoothly. With Its help, Zhang Haobo's cultivation progress was unbelievably fast. In just a few years, he broke through to the late-stage Qi Refinement realm.
Guided and protected by It, Zhang Haobo was able to observe the struggle between Azure Wind and the sword hilt, successfully using this to build his Foundation Establishment.
Later, with the power of an artificial core, he rode the azure winds and soared above myriad immortals, meeting the Spirit Transformation Immortal Eminence of Myriad Immortals Island.
Although the Immortal Eminence was skeptical of Zhang Haobo's claims about foreseeing future events, the temptation of Dao Unity and learning how long Crimson Flame would take to dry the sea led him to a decision—they would ambush the descending Crimson Flame.
To this end, the white-robed Hong Xi contacted another Spirit Transformation cultivator from Myriad Immortals Island, Immortal Eminence Zi Yun.
He also invited Immortal Eminence Tian Yang, with whom he had crossed paths in a previous battle.
The three of them questioned Zhang Haobo again about Crimson Flame's predicted behavior.
Even as they formed a strategy together, they still felt insecure. So, Hong Xi traveled hundreds of thousands of li to Feiling Province and invited the Dao Unity powerhouse, Immortal Venerable Jin Ri, to oversee the battle as insurance.
During this time, it so happened that two other Spirit Transformation cultivators, Immortal Eminence Lan Cang and Immortal Eminence Hao Xuan, were engaged in a great battle in the Congyun Sea.
Thus, Immortal Eminence Zi Yun employed her Starlight Teleportation Technique to invite these two to Myriad Immortals Island as guests. She then invited them to join forces to slay Crimson Flame.
The temptation of Dao Unity was difficult for any Spirit Transformation cultivator to resist. So the two gladly agreed.
In total, there was one Dao Unity powerhouse overseeing the battle, five Spirit Transformation powerhouses launching a joint assault, plus a Nascent Soul array master who had prepared hundreds of thousands of Array Crowns.
On top of that, they were using a prepared plan against an unprepared foe, to slay a Soul Arbiter of heaven and earth that took nearly a decade to burn the sea. Their chances of victory were significant.
And indeed, that was the case.
With the combined Star-Sun Prison of Immortal Venerable Jin Ri and Immortal Eminence Zi Yun severing Crimson Flame's connection to its power source of heaven and earth, Crimson Flame's defeat seemed inevitable.
Yet Zhang Haobo, who was observing from the sidelines, and the Congyun Sea itself, felt a vague uneasiness, so they decided to take action personally.
It seemed like a fantasy for a Golden Core realm cultivator to intervene in a conflict between Dao Unity and Spirit Transformation powerhouses. But it wasn't entirely impossible, because the one acting was not Zhang Haobo, but the Congyun Sea.
The power accumulated by the Congyun Sea over countless years was extremely close to the Dao Unity level. A Golden Core cultivator's body simply could not withstand it.
So, Zhang Haobo resolutely shattered his Golden Core, using a body of laws to accommodate the power of the Congyun Sea.
If successful, Zhang Haobo would ascend to the heavens in a single step, transforming from Golden Core to Dao Unity!
The frustration of a future burned to ashes, the fury of refusing to accept his destined fate, combined with the Heaven-Scorning Sword Intent Zhang Haobo had comprehended, ultimately culminated in the Twenty-Eight Congyun Swords.
These were swords of defiance, of vengeance, and of slaughter.
They succeeded, and yet they did not.
Though Crimson Flame died, Ink Death arrived.
The moment Zhang Haobo died, the Congyun Sea knew the endeavor had failed and ultimately withdrew Its power, returning to the Deepsea Pearl.
Although the Congyun Sea might not possess the clear intelligence of a human, an instinctive consciousness drove It to spur Zhang Haobo to fight against Crimson Flame.
Unexpected fortune, but not heaven’s blessing. Just a pawn in the game between two players.
Li Fan sighed and shook his head.
But the Twenty-Eight Congyun Swords is truly a magnificent sword technique.
Instantly, the memory of Zhang Haobo executing this sword strike flooded his mind. Every movement and every insight was crystal clear.
Channeling the power within the Deepsea Pearl, Li Fan swung his sword.
A blue sword light shot forth, unyielding and relentless as it swept across the lake’s surface.
The lake waters parted before the sword's power, revealing the muddy bottom beneath.
The eight hundred li expanse of Brightmoon Lake was cleaved in two by a single sword stroke.