Chapter 116: Swallowing Yuan White Mist Wall

The next day, Li Chenfeng and his two companions quietly left the island.

Guided by the Formless Killing Intent's perception, they traveled north, getting further and further away. As the sensory images grew increasingly blurry, Li Fan canceled his lock-on to Li Chenfeng.

"Another forty or fifty years, perhaps..."

"If the opportunity arises in the future, I could visit their empire."

However, in this life, he still needed to prioritize raising his cultivation to the Foundation Establishment stage.

Upon returning to Myriad Immortals Island, Li Fan first entered secluded cultivation for a period. He slowly digested the insights gained from observing the Foundation Establishment process.

After emerging from seclusion, he checked the "Geographical Atlas of the Cloud Sea Surroundings" that his clone, Lin Fan, had exchanged for. He had considered exchanging for the map of the entire Xuanhuang Realm at once, but the Heavenly Profound Mirror showed insufficient permissions and prevented viewing. So, he had to settle for the next best thing and first exchanged for the maps of the areas surrounding the Cloud Sea.

As the map appeared in his mind, Li Fan discovered that the seemingly boundless Cloud Sea was, in fact, merely an inland sea. It was as if a gap had been forcibly carved into the continent. The Cloud Sea was almost entirely surrounded by land. Only in the southeast, through a relatively narrow sea passage, did it connect to the endless ocean.

North of the Cloud Sea was Yongliang Province, where Li Chenfeng and his companions had fled. To the west and south, from north to south, were Jiushan Province, Shilin Province, and Yuandao Province, respectively. These three provinces all belonged to the Myriad Immortals Alliance's territory. Yongliang Province, to the north, was under the control of the Five Elders Association.

"It's been almost 14 years since I anchored here; it's time to plan an escape route."

"After I get my hands on the Azure Sea Pearl, I should leave the Cloud Sea as soon as possible, leaving a clone here to observe the situation."

"As for where to go..."

Li Fan meticulously browsed the information on the various provinces.

Jiushan Province bordered Yongliang Province and was not very peaceful. Shilin Province and Yuandao Province, however, were quite similar. Yuandao Province simply bordered the endless ocean, and its water-attribute spiritual energy was abundant. Considering he would use the Azure Sea Pearl for Foundation Establishment later, choosing Yuandao Province would certainly be more suitable.

Li Fan also noticed that in the Xuanhuang Realm, the boundaries between provinces were not artificially delineated. Provinces were naturally separated by something called the White Mist Barrier. Both mortals and cultivators could pass through them. However, the cost of crossing the White Mist Barrier each time was lifespan. The longer one took, the more lifespan was consumed.

Mortals hardly dared to cross the White Mist Barrier on their own, because with their travel speed, they would often die of old age within it before managing to exit. While cultivators flew extremely fast, each crossing of the White Mist Barrier would still consume at least thirty days of their lifespan. Although not a large amount, frequent crossings could be unbearable even for Golden Core cultivators.

Therefore, most cultivators followed a principle: No unnecessary travel. They generally only operated within their respective provinces. Fortunately, a single province was also extremely vast, its area no less than that of the Cloud Sea. Furthermore, with the existence of massive organizations like the Myriad Immortals Alliance spanning the entire cultivation world, resources would not be scarce. Thus, even if some cultivators spent their entire lives operating within a single province, it had no substantial impact on their cultivation.

Of course, one could also cross two provinces using ultra-long-distance teleportation arrays. But this only reduced the lifespan consumption to around ten days and was also quite expensive. Only a very small number of cultivators would use this method.

However, Li Fan investigated and found that there was no White Mist Barrier between Yuandao Province and the Cloud Sea. Furthermore, Myriad Immortals Island also had a dedicated teleportation array to Yuandao Province.

"If the 'Sitting Mountain Art' can be reproduced by me, then some exceptionally talented individuals will become quite important to me."

For a moment, several figures flashed through Li Fan's mind.

"After I leave, perhaps I can bring them along and see the effects of this 'Sitting Mountain Art'," Li Fan mused.

"However, bringing mortals would definitely present many inconveniences."

"I still need to make a trip in advance to make some preparations."

Li Fan had previously experimented and found that if the Taiyan Skiff contained living people, it could not be stored in the Return-to-Reality Space. After some thought, Li Fan still decided to use the teleportation array to travel to Yuandao Province for an inspection.

The overall structure of Yuandao Province was similar to that of the Cloud Sea. Almost every large mortal town had defensive formations and was guarded by Foundation Establishment cultivators. Above Yuandao Province, a massive floating city stood. It was named after the province: Yuandao Sky City. Yuandao Sky City's layout was identical to Myriad Immortals Island, almost as if carved from the same mold, which made Li Fan feel a sense of familiarity. The Heavenly Profound Mirror still existed in the center of the city, and when Li Fan entered it, he found it to be exactly the same as when he used it on Myriad Immortals Island. Li Fan even saw a familiar figure in Yuandao City.

"It seems that all territories under the Myriad Immortals Alliance are like this. I just wonder what the situation is like with the Five Elders Association."

Mortals could not enter Yuandao Sky City. The largest city in Yuandao Province was called Zhuoling City. After teleporting to Zhuoling City, Li Fan exchanged 50 contribution points with the city's guardian for a courtyard, which would serve as his future base.

After this, Li Fan mounted the Taiyan Skiff and flew all the way back from Yuandao Province to the Cloud Sea. This journey was to scout the route for his future withdrawal. By the time he returned to Myriad Immortals Island, it was already the 14th year since he had anchored.

During this time, Zhang Haobo had been continuously tracking the traces of the wind calamities. Initially, he would sometimes misjudge the timing and direction of the wind calamities. But gradually, Zhang Haobo's premonitions became increasingly accurate. He consistently appeared precisely at the location of each wind calamity.

Now, however, Zhang Haobo had stopped pursuing the winds. He floated in mid-air, gazing upwards at something. Motionless, like a stone statue. This had continued for a long time.

But gradually, an unusual aura began to emerge from Zhang Haobo. Li Fan immediately shifted his attention back to Zhang Haobo. He saw Zhang Haobo's clothes suddenly move without wind, flapping loudly. Meanwhile, he himself slowly ascended, as if being pushed from below. Gradually accelerating, he shot skyward like a slender shadow. His speed increased, reaching straight for the firmament.

However, when he flew past a certain altitude limit, he suddenly stopped. He then continuously hovered in that space, seemingly searching for something. But... He could not gain entry. Zhang Haobo's face remained placid; he simply transformed into a gentle breeze, continuously blowing across the area.

One day, two days, three days... Days passed, and he seemed to have gained nothing. But Li Fan noticed that Zhang Haobo's area of activity was constantly shrinking.

Once the final area was determined, he let out a long cry, suddenly accelerated, transformed into a streak of green light, and violently surged towards that void. A faint, almost imperceptible aquamarine glow also lit up on his body at that moment. Zhang Haobo's figure suddenly vanished from the world.

Li Fan's perspective was also carried along, entering a strange space. A translucent green figure stood with closed eyes. In her hands, she held a cage made of green light. A black sword hilt brimming with malevolent aura continuously struck against it, attempting to break free from the cage.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

Occasionally, wisps of green light, impacted by it, drifted down and landed across various parts of the Cloud Sea, transforming into wind calamities.