There is an ancient saying in the Li World: Where marching soldiers lightly tread, mountains blaze a thousand li ahead.
Did some unintentional move of mine completely throw the future off track?
Ye Feipeng furrowed his brow as he carefully recalled every detail since his regression, attempting to locate the source of this deviation.
Unfortunately, no matter how hard he racked his brains, he couldn't come up with even a remotely reasonable explanation.
After half a day, he finally gave up in frustration.
No matter what, the future I remember is totally untrustworthy now. It’s only good for hints, not as the absolute final word.
So, the real question is: Will the sea-scorching event still take place? And will those Spirit Transformation elders still team up to take Crimson Flame down on schedule?
The fat youth exerted all his mental abilities, conducting rough deductions.
After a long while, he reached a conclusion.
The sea-scorching event should still happen. But last time, the only reason those Spirit Transformation cultivators from the Congyun Sea were ready was probably that Zhang Haobo tipped off Myriad Immortals Island early.
Herding the winds straight to Myriad Immortals Island, facing those Spirit Transformation Immortals head-on...
Ye Feipeng visibly shuddered, his face twisting in clear reluctance. Forget it! I’m not doing that!
Let me think... of all the cultivators who joined the siege, only two were actually from Myriad Immortals Island. Everyone else was backup.
If those two had to face Crimson Flame by themselves, totally unprepared...
The plump youth's face drained of color.
There's no way they could win that fight.
Does that mean all my careful plotting and calculations will be pointless in the end?
His expression cycled between despair and determination. After a long moment, a ruthless glint sparked in Ye Feipeng’s eyes.
No! I have to find a way to leak the news about the impending arrival of Crimson Flame, even if that means making this knowledge public throughout the entire cultivation world...
His heart seized up instantly, and Ye Feipeng frantically shook his head. No, that won’t do.
It’s too dangerous. If someone deduces that I’m the one behind the rumors, the consequences would be worse than being killed ten times over.
After agonizing for most of the day without finding a solution, Ye Feipeng couldn't help feeling dejected.
Frustrated, he left the deserted island, wandering aimlessly while pondering countermeasures.
Distracted, he didn't notice where he was going until a spectacular and magnificent scene startled him from his contemplation.
The sun had disappeared from the sky. In its place, a gigantic eye hung directly overhead in the firmament.
The great eye stared down at the sea below. Wherever its gaze fell, the seawater, islands, and living creatures all became coated in a silvery radiance.
Then, under the influence of this silver light, they seemed to be pressed alive into a painting, transforming into illusory, flattened images that followed the silver light as it flew up into the gigantic eye in the sky.
This is...
Breaking out in a cold sweat, Ye Feipeng grew fully alert.
Extract the marrow of heaven and earth! A Nascent Soul cultivator is advancing to Spirit Transformation!
Although this was Ye Feipeng's first time witnessing it personally, the scene before him matched almost perfectly with the recorded description: Mountains, rivers, lakes, seas—all things in this world return to the grotto-heaven!
Ye Feipeng held his breath, quietly backing away.
Cultivators were extremely sensitive when undergoing their breakthroughs. If he were mistaken for someone having hostile intentions and casually eliminated, that would truly be an unjust death.
Silently praying that the other party wouldn't discover him, Ye Feipeng employed the fastest speed he had ever mustered in his life, hoping to distance himself from this dangerous area.
Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned.
The gigantic eye in the sky shifted slightly, its gaze immediately locking onto Ye Feipeng.
Ye Feipeng, who had been riding the winds and treading the waves, instantly became immobilized.
A layer of silver light enveloped his body.
Just as it was about to compress him entirely, absorbing him into the grotto-heaven, a brilliant blue light erupted from his body, repelling the silver radiance.
"Oh?"
A figure instantly appeared before Ye Feipeng.
His hair was snow-white, and his pitch-black eyes seemed to contain boundless wisdom.
Zhang Zhiliang?! The moment Ye Feipeng saw this person, his mind was thrown into turmoil.
He recognized this man. It was the very array master who would join several Spirit Transformation Immortal Eminences in besieging Crimson Flame a few years from now.
Shouldn't he be at the Nascent Soul realm? How is he on the verge of breaking through to Spirit Transformation?
Zhang Zhiliang slowly reached out, capturing a wisp of the blue light.
Silver light flashed, and the blue light was systematically deconstructed layer by layer.
"A Curio of Earth?"
A flicker of surprise passed through Zhang Zhiliang's eyes as he regarded the lowly Foundation Establishment cultivator with keen interest.
"You seem to know me?"
Not waiting for the utterly terrified Ye Feipeng to respond, Zhang Zhiliang lightly tapped Ye Feipeng's forehead, his gaze emotionless.
In an instant, images flooded Ye Feipeng’s vision—
A blazing sun suspended in the heavens, illuminating the newly manifested Soul Arbiter of heaven and earth...
Five Spirit Transformation Immortal Eminences joining forces with Zhang Zhiliang to battle Crimson Flame...
The Twenty-Eight Congyun Swords, a Golden Core cultivator striking down a Dao Unity entity...
The colossal eye in the sky snapped open in wrath.
Zhang Zhiliang’s face remained unchanged, yet his body trembled ever so slightly, betraying the violent upheaval in his heart.
“What... is this?”
His gaze locked onto the convulsing Ye Feipeng as he raised his hand again, intending to excavate even deeper secrets.
At that razor-thin moment between life and death, an overwhelming torrent of blue light erupted from Ye Feipeng’s chest, instantly engulfing his entire body.
Zhang Zhiliang’s expression finally shifted.
He immediately attempted to mobilize the authority of his grotto-heaven to suppress the surge.
But below, the Congyun Sea suddenly roared.
Waves churned violently, and the grotto-heaven’s domain control wavered, revealing a fleeting flaw.
In that infinitesimal instant, Ye Feipeng vanished, wrapped in blue light and fleeing to parts unknown.
Only Zhang Zhiliang remained, frozen in place.
A long time passed before he finally came back to himself.
“A regressor?”
“A Soul Arbiter of heaven and earth?”
The All-Seeing Eye Grotto-Heaven slowly receded from the sky. The blazing sun returned to its rightful place.
The world resumed its normal course.
Yet an invisible shadow lingered around Zhang Zhiliang, refusing to dissipate.
“Dao Unity...”
“Dao Unity...”
He murmured the words again and again, an unfathomable light flickering deep within his eyes.
***
Within the Tianxuan Mirror.
Startled out of cultivation, Li Fan, who had witnessed the entire scene, slowly stroked his chin.
He hadn’t expected Ye Feipeng’s aimless wandering to end in a chance collision with Zhang Zhiliang at the very moment the latter was attempting a breakthrough.
The anxious little fatty had been identified as an anomaly almost immediately.
Using a method bordering on soul-searching, Zhang Zhiliang had forcibly unearthed the secrets hidden within Ye Feipeng’s mind.
Fortunately, at the most critical moment, the Deepsea Pearl had activated of its own accord, preserving Ye Feipeng’s life.
Even so, the backlash was severe. Ye Feipeng’s mind had been heavily damaged, and he had fallen into a deep slumber.
What puzzled Li Fan was that, despite such a bizarre and dangerous incident, Ye Feipeng’s fate hadn't been impacted negatively in the slightest.
On the contrary, it had undergone an even more inscrutable transformation, one that even Li Fan could not fully comprehend.
Interesting.
It seems the Deepsea Pearl is determined to protect Ye Feipeng at all costs.
Could there be further secrets about him that I still haven’t uncovered?
And now that Zhang Zhiliang has learned of Crimson Flame’s arrival ahead of time while advancing to Spirit Transformation, what choices will he make?
In this lifetime... where will the sea-scorching calamity ultimately lead?
Li Fan let out a low, dark chuckle.