The surrounding seawater poured ceaselessly into the black hole, only to vaporize into mist the moment it touched the event horizon.
Above the void, the air twisted and shimmered from the intense heat. Wreathed in rising clouds of steam, the scene was a stark, monochrome tableau of destruction.
A wave of primal fear crashed over Li Fan as he watched from the deck of the Taiyan Boat.
Myriad Immortals Island was just... gone?
Memories flashed through his mind—the Dao Transmission Plaza with its countless statues, the endless streams of cultivators coming and going, the grand, majestic buildings at center of the island said to house Spirit Transformation powerhouses... All of it had been simply erased. Not even a speck of dust remained.
What kind of power could accomplish this? The malice of the Heavenly Dao?
Li Fan didn't know. His thoughts were a chaotic jumble in the face of such overwhelming devastation.
Cultivation, attaining eternal life... the goals he had clung to now seemed utterly laughable.
In the face of this sudden catastrophe, cultivators were no different from mortals; all were as insignificant as ants.
Once that terror took root, it became impossible to suppress.
Escape! I must get away from this damned place!
Li Fan’s eyes turned bloodshot as he pushed the Taiyan Boat to its limits, fleeing desperately toward the western region of the Congyun Sea.
He had to get to a continent. He had to put as much distance as possible between himself and this hellish region of the sea.
He flew for what felt like an eternity, his mind a numb void.
Boom!
The Taiyan Boat slammed into something invisible and shuddered to a violent halt.
Thankfully, its protective arrays held, preventing the vessel from shattering and killing him instantly.
The impact jolted Li Fan, causing a few minor injuries, but the shock also helped clear his head.
He looked outside. Nothing was there.
In the distance, a coastline stretched into the horizon. He was close to the continent.
He tried to maneuver the boat forward again.
Boom!
Something barred his path. He rammed against the invisible barrier again and again, but he couldn't advance an inch.
He tried every direction. The result was the same.
An unseen barrier separated the Congyun Sea from the nearby continent. It allowed entry, but not exit.
Li Fan stared, dumbfounded. A phrase surfaced in his mind: a turtle trapped in a jar.
After a long moment, he let out a hollow laugh. He looked up at the sky.
How ruthless.
Then, a sense of bewilderment set in. Should he activate Return to Truth and return to the initial anchor point? Or should he look around a bit more first? He felt adrift, his purpose gone.
Aimlessly, he piloted the Taiyan Boat, drifting across the Congyun Sea.
He passed Yelan Island. Like all the others, it was a scene of apocalypse, devoid of survivors.
He passed Liuli Island. Its island protection array was shattered. He Zhenghao was nowhere to be found. The island was littered with corpses, not a single trace of life remaining.
Liuyun Island, Zhongqiu Island... all had become dead zones.
On the rare occasions he encountered other survivors, they had all been driven mad. They screamed and fled in terror once they saw Li Fan, as if he were a ghost.
Eventually, somehow, he found himself back at Tai’an Island. Here, and only here, did he finally sense a sliver of vitality. Perhaps these were the only living souls left in the entire Congyun Sea.
Li Fan walked through the streets, observing the mortals of Tai’an Island.
They remained unaware of the cataclysm that had unfolded beyond their shores, their faces still etched with the relieved smiles of those who had narrowly escaped death.
Little did they know that what awaited them was an inescapable doom.
Yet, perhaps ignorance was a blessing in itself. Witnessing such an apocalyptic scene would surely haunt their nightmares every night thereafter.
Li Fan couldn’t help but mock himself inwardly.
He continued walking when suddenly, the sound of devout prayers reached his ears.
“O Immortal Master who saves from suffering and calamity, bless us with favorable winds and rains, and grant us plentiful harvests year after year.”
“O Immortal Master who saves from suffering and calamity, protect my little Yu’er and let her grow up safe and sound.”
Li Fan paused, turning to look.
It turned out that a temple had been erected on Tai’an Island at some point.
Inside, a statue was enshrined. On the plaque before it, the following words were inscribed: “Immortal Master Who Saves From Suffering and Calamity.”
The statue bore a faint resemblance to Li Fan. Its eyes were slightly downcast, gazing with compassion at the people kneeling before it.
Immortal Master Who Saves from Suffering and Calamity... Li Fan thought silently.
After a long while, he let out a deep sigh.
Very well. I shall protect you for as long as I am able.
***
Yet, shielding mortals from the killing mechanisms of heaven and earth was clearly no simple task.
Li Fan initially believed that the disaster had already passed.
What he hadn’t anticipated was that the true catastrophe had only just begun.
One year, two years, three years...
The sky showed no signs of rain.
The sea level began to recede, and the waters pulled farther and farther from the islands.
Even with the seawater desalination arrays, the mortals of Tai’an Island found it increasingly difficult to obtain water.
Each trip required them to traverse great distances over long periods of time just to find a source.
They didn’t understand why heaven had inflicted such a calamity upon them, but they feared the Congyun Sea would eventually dry up completely.
And so, household after household enshrined wooden statues of Li Fan, praying to him day and night without cease.
Li Fan was powerless to change their fate.
The changes of heaven and earth were not something he could hope to oppose.
The only silver lining was that the killing mechanisms targeting cultivators had gradually faded from the world over the past three years, perhaps because most of the Congyun Sea’s cultivators had already perished.
Li Fan seized this opportunity to cultivate anew, reaching the mid-stage Qi Refinement realm.
The day you stop praying to me shall be the day I return to the anchor point. He resolved silently, finding the constant adoration of mortals day and night to be a peculiar experience indeed.
He activated the Discernment of Mechanisms divine ability, observing the ever-thickening aura of death above the mortals’ heads.
Wait. Why is there a faint thread of white hidden within this black aura of death? Li Fan was taken aback.
Since restoring his cultivation, he had inspected the energy mechanisms of Tai’an Island every day without fail.
This time, for some reason, he detected a faint aura of vitality he had previously failed to notice.
Where was this vitality coming from?
Li Fan pushed the Thousand Mechanisms Jade Cosmos Scripture to its limits and discovered that the survival of the people of Tai’an Island was connected to him!
This only deepened his confusion.
After verifying it repeatedly, Li Fan finally confirmed that the vitality did indeed originate from him. Not from Li Fan himself, but rather, from an object he carried. Something he had nearly forgotten.
It was the Curio of heaven and earth: the Deepsea Pearl.
As it had not yet fully formed, he had stored the Deepsea Pearl away in a corner of the Taiyan Boat.
It was only today, under the illumination of the energy mechanisms, that he remembered it.
Unlike when he had first seen it over a decade ago, it now shone with a deep blue hue, thick with moisture that clung to its surface. It looked as if a sea was gestating within.
"As one sea perishes, another is born."
Li Fan stared blankly at the Deepsea Pearl in his hand, then a sudden thought struck him.
He boarded the Taiyan Boat and ascended, climbing higher and higher until he reached an altitude of ten thousand meters, then looked down.
After the long drought, vast stretches of the Congyun Sea’s seabed were now laid bare.
One after another, previously submerged mountain ranges gradually revealed their true forms.
The islands of the former Congyun Sea were, in fact, the peaks of these very mountains.
A vision of Kou Hong's enthusiastic face suddenly flashed before Li Fan's eyes.
.....
"No matter. Once you leave this place, you can look for me in Lingtian City, within the Congyun Mountain Range."
......
Li Fan shook with laughter, pressing his hands to his face.
Congyun Sea, Congyun Mountains.
So they were the same place all along.