As Zhang Haobo looked at Li Fan, his eyes were filled with both respect and delight.
He had heard that this Elder Li had cleansed himself of the miasma and would soon become an Immortal Master revered by all.
Naturally, seeing him now inspired both joy and fear.
“So it’s you.” Li Fan’s impression of this man was fairly positive, so he smiled. “It’s been several years since we last met. How have you been lately?”
Zhang Haobo didn’t dare ignore the question and answered honestly, “Credit goes to you, Elder Li. The ship's turned handsome profits these past years. Your knack for returning with treasure every voyage has many young folks clamoring to join us.
“Our treatment and status on the island have risen as well. There's no shortage of envious eyes on us now.”
Halfway through, Zhang Haobo paused, as if he wanted to say more but was holding back.
“Feel free to speak,” Li Fan encouraged him to continue.
“But lately... our brothers aboard the Cangyuan have been talking about pulling out of Liuli Island altogether. I’ve been giving the idea some thought myself.”
“Oh?” Li Fan was somewhat surprised. “Where would you go?”
“To be honest, Elder Li, we haven’t decided yet,” Zhang Haobo said with a hint of trepidation.
Now Li Fan grew curious. “If life has been good, why the sudden thought of leaving?”
Zhang Haobo scratched his head. “You'll think me foolish, Elder Li, but... it's just an uneasy feeling.”
“Uneasy feeling? Explain,” Li Fan instructed.
Zhang Haobo fell silent for a moment, as though gathering his thoughts.
After a while, he glanced around and lowered his voice. “Truth be told, Elder Li, these days when we’re out on the water, we’ve been running into all manner of odd happenings.”
“Such as?”
“These last few runs, we've been hauling up thousands of pounds with every pull. Our nets come up bursting at the seams. Nine out of ten casts are the same, all varieties of fish mixed together.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
“It’s good, sure enough. But I’ve fished these waters for over ten years, and I’ve never seen the like of it.” A hint of confusion, and something close to fear, flickered in Zhang Haobo’s eyes. “It feels as though every fish in the sea is gathering up, all fleeing from something.”
“What else?” Li Fan pondered briefly before asking further.
"We’ve been on Liuli Island since we were young lads, long enough to know every reef in these waters. But in recent days, more rocks have been showing above the tide than ever before,” Zhang Haobo said gravely.
“You mean... the water level is dropping?” Li Fan understood immediately.
“Water levels rise and fall each year; that much is normal. But this season’s change feels off. We’re all uneasy about it.” Zhang Haobo explained.
“We sent word to the Liuli Administration a month back, but they clearly didn’t give it proper weight. Told us it was nothing more than the usual ebb and flow.” Zhang Haobo added.
“There’s one more thing that weighs on us even heavier. These past three years, we haven’t seen a single stormflood—not here off Liuli Island, nor anywhere across the whole Congyun Sea.”
“We’ve spoken with crews from other islands; every last one confirms it. Stormfloods have been absent from the Congyun Sea for three years running.” Zhang Haobo added quickly, afraid Li Fan might not believe him.
Uncertain what this meant, Li Fan remained silent.
“The stormfloods... they’d never stopped before. Not once in all my life. In wild years we’d see a dozen or more, and in calmer ones, at least two or three. It’s been that way for decades.
“But now, three full years without a single one. Some folks on the island are cheering, saying the Immortal Masters are watching over us. My brothers and I... we don’t see it like that.
“This isn’t good fortune. It’s too far from the norm. Something big is brewing out there. I can feel it in my bones,” Zhang Haobo stated with conviction.
“Perhaps it just means the weather will be getting a bit hotter in the future,” Li Fan mused after a moment’s thought, offering words of comfort. “The island is protected by a grand array, and Immortal Master He guards the island. Even if some situation arises, I imagine he will be able to handle it.”
“Your reasoning’s sound, Elder Li. Plenty of our brothers aboard think the same. But I... I’ve got this worry gnawing at me. No matter what I tell myself, it won’t let go,” Zhang Haobo said with a bitter smile.
“So I’ve made up my mind. I’m leaving the Congyun Sea altogether.” Zhang Haobo’s gaze gradually grew resolute.
Seeing his determination, Li Fan could only shake his head. “Leaving your homeland is no easy matter. You should consider it carefully.”
Zhang Haobo nodded.
Li Fan said no more. After bidding farewell to Zhang Haobo, he wandered the market for half a day before finally returning home.
Thinking it over carefully, Zhang Haobo wasn’t just worrying needlessly. All signs indeed indicated that something unusual was destined to occur in the Congyun Sea.
Perhaps a colossal stormflood was secretly gathering its strength, or maybe a severe drought was quietly taking shape.
But, in the end, it was of little real consequence.
Zhang Haobo was, after all, just a mortal. If a great calamity arrived, he would have no power to protect himself and would be left to the whims of fate. It was normal for him to worry and fear.
Li Fan, however, already had one foot across the threshold of becoming a cultivator. As long as he could break through to the Qi Refinement realm, he could go to Myriad Immortals Island.
Great numbers of cultivators gathered there; naturally, there was no need to worry about such disasters.
From another perspective, if a disaster that even cultivators couldn’t handle truly appeared, worrying about it would be useless anyway.
Therefore, what Li Fan needed to do now was continue peacefully cultivating the Five Spirits Qi Sensing Method.
Right, he could notify Yin Yuzhen and have her start preparing early.
***
This interlude soon passed, and Li Fan continued to cultivate.
Another year went by.
Zhang Haobo had ultimately chosen to leave the Congyun Sea with some of his brothers from the Cangyuan half a year ago.
The matter had caused quite a stir on the island, and people began to worry.
But these past six months had been calm and peaceful, without the slightest shadow of a great disaster, so people began to treat the whole affair as a joke.
Yin Yuzhen had finally accumulated sufficient strength and returned to Yelan Island in high spirits. After some turmoil, she managed to seize back the position of Head Shopkeeper of the Tianbao Pavilion’s headquarters.
With the recent stabilization of the situation on Yelan Island, a host of miscellaneous affairs still required her attention. To prevent petty individuals from changing sides and causing a reversal, Yin Yuzhen would have to remain on Yelan Island for the next few years and could not return. She only sent a messenger to bring the good news to Li Fan.
He Zhenghao no longer sent anyone to check on him either. In He Zhenghao’s view, the fact that Li Fan had taken nearly four years just to guide qi into his body clearly indicated that his potential was exhausted. He was no longer worth expending dedicated effort to monitor.
Xiao Heng, however, occasionally sent letters via messenger to inquire about Li Fan’s well-being.
It appeared that Xiao Heng was progressing with shocking speed and had already reached the mid-stage Qi Refinement realm.
***
The affairs of the world were tumultuous, but Li Fan observed them like a cold, detached passerby. He simply cultivated patiently.
On this day, Li Fan’s mind stirred.
He had accumulated a sufficient amount of the five spirits as fuel. The Heaven-Earth Root was finally about to take shape!
A faint silhouette appeared within Li Fan’s dantian. A moment later, he felt a new, subtle yet profound connection form between himself and the world.
Threads of spiritual qi, drawn from heaven and earth, flowed along the Heaven-Earth Root, slowly streaming into Li Fan’s dantian before rapidly spreading throughout his entire body. It resembled a waterwheel drawing from a river to irrigate parched, fertile fields.
In the seventh year since Li Fan entered the cultivation world, he finally stepped into the Qi Refinement realm.