Chapter 1222: Clear Breeze Nowhere to Be Found

Chapter 1232: Qingfeng: Nowhere to Be Found

When the pain subsided, it was followed by the rapid expansion of his divine soul.

Even a remnant of a world's will, particularly one confined to a single province, was an immense boon for a cultivator.

In the past, when Saint Emperor Li Ping supervised and monitored various affairs within the Great Qi Dynasty, he still viewed and managed countless trivial matters from a 'human' perspective. However, from now on, with the absorption of the Cloud Sea's consciousness, Li Ping might be able to oversee every detail within the Saint Dynasty from the omniscient perspective of 'the world itself'.

After the Cloud Sea's consciousness dissipated, there was no wind for seven days.

Li Ping stood between the sea and sky, waiting for the integration to be fully completed.

Even without actively trying, Li Ping, having devoured the Cloud Sea's consciousness, could effortlessly perceive every event occurring within the Cloud Sea.

He saw that most of the cultivators affected by the demon faces had not recovered from their madness, even after he withdrew his divine ability. After this catastrophe, less than one in a hundred cultivators remained sane.

He observed the Crimson Flame of the World's Essence brewing in the sky, which, due to the demise of the Cloud Sea's consciousness, no longer needed to descend and incinerate the sea. The coalesced power of laws quietly dispersed.

He saw the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace in the center of the Cloud Sea, which had originally loosened its seals and was about to re-emerge, fall back into silence after a flash of mysterious blue aura.

He also noted that the anomalies in the Cloud Sea had drawn the attention of certain entities in the Xuanhuang Realm. Several immense divine senses instantly descended, sweeping across the ocean. However, Li Ping, now having replaced the Cloud Sea's consciousness, was perfectly integrated with the heavens and earth. His own formations, combined with the concealment provided by the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao, ensured that Li Ping remained undetected.

Although he had temporarily evaded detection, the subtle sense of crisis in Li Ping's heart did not dissipate.

"It seems this is not a place to linger," Li Ping thought to himself, having thoroughly absorbed and digested the Cloud Sea's consciousness.

However, before returning to the Saint Dynasty of Great Qi, he still had one task to complete.

His figure flickered, and Li Ping instantly appeared at the seabed near the Cloud Sea and Flowing Cloud Island.

Within a rift on the seabed, a peculiar vortex existed.

In the center of the vortex, a pale blue pearl emitted a faint glow.

"The Azure Sea Pearl."

As part of the Cloud Sea's consciousness's strategy of hedging its bets, the Azure Sea Pearl was its last resort for survival.

Li Ping extended his hand, and the pale blue pearl flew out of the seabed vortex into his palm.

"Since it has already become part of the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao, then let's completely sever ties with the past."

Golden energy enveloped the Azure Sea Pearl, then surged into it.

After the light dissipated, the pearl in Li Ping's hand had transformed from pale blue to a deep azure. However, it had lost its previous vitality.

This was because Li Ping had completely erased the last faint trace of the Cloud Sea's will that had lingered within the Azure Sea Pearl.

"From now on, the Azure Sea Pearl will simply be the Azure Sea Pearl, with no further connection to the Cloud Sea."

Li Ping did not put the pearl away; instead, he flicked his finger, sending it randomly towards a corner of the Cloud Sea, awaiting a fated person.

Only after completing all of this did Li Ping finally depart from this ocean.

The cultivators of an entire province had all become imbeciles.

When the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance finally detected the changes in the Cloud Sea, they were utterly enraged.

While sending people to investigate, dealing with these dangerous, deranged cultivators also became a difficult problem.

Ultimately, it took the combined efforts of five Dao Harmonization cultivators to barely bring order to the chaos in the Cloud Sea.

Among these five was, coincidentally, Sun Luyuan, the head of the Sun family.

He had previously exhausted all methods to finally contact Fairy Kongyou.

Sun Luyuan had already thoroughly investigated Kongyou's background, knowing she was simple-minded and wore her emotions on her sleeve. Furthermore, she was extremely curious about new things, so Sun Luyuan concocted a half-truth, half-lie.

"I once heard that you, Fairy, turned an ungrateful male cultivator into a dog and tormented him day and night?"

"That scene was truly unbearable to behold. Coincidentally, when I previously traveled to a certain small world, I also encountered a similar situation. Criminals were likewise transformed into monstrous beasts as a means of punishment…"

Sun Luyuan selectively recounted some of his experiences from within the Saint Dynasty of Great Qi.

"The emperor of this small world's ideas actually align with mine? Interesting."

"And from your description, this small world's level of development is quite unusual…"

After several casual mentions, Kongyou was indeed intrigued.

She agreed that if the opportunity arose, she would visit it with a few other familiar acquaintances from the Alliance.

Seeing that the matter was settled, Sun Luyuan was naturally overjoyed.

He even thought it would be a good idea to use Fairy Kongyou's name this time to lure more elites from the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance there.

Who would have thought that a tragedy would suddenly befall the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance before the plan could even be implemented? The scheme to trick people had to be temporarily halted.

Originally, the chaos in the Cloud Sea had nothing to do with him.

However, Xu Yuanxian, the chief of the Protector Hall, secretly gave him a task.

This was why Sun Luyuan had to make the arduous journey.

"Qingfeng Hall. This is the place."

After subduing and gathering all the mad cultivators who attacked on sight, Sun Luyuan arrived at this building on Ten Thousand Immortals Island.

He sensed no living presence inside.

But when Sun Luyuan finally stepped inside and saw the situation, his pupils suddenly constricted.

An old man lay on a wooden chair, his entire body covered in tree-like roots, which tightly bound him and fixed him to the ground.

Although the old man was not entirely dead, a faint breath still lingered. However, in Sun Luyuan's eyes, he was no different from a corpse.

It seemed as if his divine soul had been completely absorbed by these strange roots, leaving behind only an empty husk.

"So this is the Qingfeng Hall caretaker Elder Xu mentioned. He was at least at the Nascent Soul cultivation level, yet he died so inexplicably."

Sun Luyuan shook his head slightly. His gaze left the old man and swept across the interior of Qingfeng Hall.

A moment later, he discovered a hidden entrance.

Raising his guard, Sun Luyuan strode into the faintly visible green crevice.

A somewhat empty space.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

The sound of the ground trembling continuously reached him.

Sun Luyuan looked towards the source of the commotion and saw a large tree that had grown two human-like legs. It was running across the ground.

At the center of the tree's trunk, there was an incredibly ancient-looking face.

At this moment, the tree's face was filled with endless terror.

The large tree was running frantically at high speed, constantly falling and getting back up because its two legs were insufficient to support its body. Yet, it never stopped its frantic movement.

It muttered to itself, "Again, the calamity has come. This terrifying sight, I have never seen it, not even in Father's most malevolent curses!"

"But it never happened!"

"It's not fake, it's not fake!"

The treant was incoherent, its words self-contradictory and utterly impossible to understand.

However, it was deeply entrenched in its own hysteria, and even Sun Luyuan's attempts to communicate with it were futile.

"A-Liu has gone mad."

Just then, a clear female voice suddenly sounded in Sun Luyuan's ear.

"Hmm?" Sun Luyuan was startled.

Because he had thoroughly investigated earlier and there seemed to be no one else there apart from the treant.

But then, Sun Luyuan recalled the task entrusted to him by Elder Xu.

He immediately asked, "Is that Fellow Daoist Qingfeng?"

The female voice did not respond.

"I was entrusted by Elder Xu to bring you back."

"According to him, this Spirit Wood has gone mad, and the passage within its body is unusable, so Fellow Daoist Qingfeng is trapped here."

As Sun Luyuan spoke, he meticulously observed his surroundings.

He wanted to ascertain Qingfeng's location.

But even with his Dao Harmonization realm perception, he found nothing.

"A-Liu has gone mad," the female voice repeated, still without directly responding.

Sun Luyuan couldn't help but frown slightly, wondering if this female cultivator had also been affected by the demon faces and gone insane.

"A-Liu and I had the best bond. Now that it's mad, who will play with me anymore?"

A faint, ethereal voice echoed in the small space. Overlapping with A-Liu the treant's intermittent wails, it sent shivers down his spine.

For some reason, Sun Luyuan felt the same chilling dread he had experienced while wandering through the Saint Dynasty of Great Qi.

"Fellow Daoist Qingfeng…" Sun Luyuan coughed lightly, steeling himself.

Although he didn't know the relationship between this female cultivator named Qingfeng and Elder Xu.

However, the fact that Xu Yuanxian, who was always rigid and emotionless, made an exception to privately seek him out, was enough to indicate that their relationship must be extraordinary.

Fortunately, things did not unfold as Sun Luyuan had expected.

Qingfeng seemed to sob softly for a while, then finally emerged from her grief.

"So you're sent by Little Xu. It turns out he hasn't forgotten me."

Qingfeng's simple sentence immediately made Sun Luyuan's hair stand on end.

"Little Xu? Xu Yuanxian?"

Sun Luyuan almost doubted if he had misheard.

Elder Xu had served as the chief of the Protector Hall for over three millennia; he was an undeniable old monster.

Yet this girl, whose voice sounded very young, called him Little Xu…

If she wasn't mad, then what could her age possibly be?

What exactly was the identity of this person called Qingfeng?

Innumerable thoughts flashed through Sun Luyuan's mind, but he dared not dwell on them, and his expression became reserved.

He no longer dared to address her as 'Fellow Daoist Qingfeng'; instead, he cautiously changed his address and asked, "Senior, why do you not reveal yourself? Has this junior done anything wrong?"

After a moment of silence in the space.

Qingfeng's somewhat strange voice sounded behind Sun Luyuan.

"Haven't I been here all along?"

"Oh, right. I forgot, ordinary people can't see me."

Qingfeng's words made cold sweat trickle down Sun Luyuan's back.

"Elder Xu said that he will send someone to deal with this mad Spirit Wood later. Senior, please return with me for now," Sun Luyuan quickly said.

"Ah! That's wonderful! I knew A-Liu could still be saved," Qingfeng exclaimed, delighted like a simple little girl.

"It's all because that scene of apocalyptic wailing was too terrifying; it temporarily scared him silly. If you hadn't come, I would have been alone for a long time without anyone to talk to."

Qingfeng's voice came closer and closer to Sun Luyuan.

It finally seemed to settle on his back.

"Alright. Then I'll listen to Little Xu and leave this place for now."

"The aura here has changed; it's become rather uncomfortable."

Feeling what seemed like a real weight on his back, Sun Luyuan's heart pounded, and he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

"This junior can just leave directly?" he asked tentatively.

"Yes, I'm already on your back."

Qingfeng's words confirmed Sun Luyuan's suspicions.

Sun Luyuan dared not linger and directly left the eerie space.

The voice of the mad Spirit Wood continued to echo incessantly there.

"Should we return to the Immortal Alliance headquarters?" Sun Luyuan asked again, flying rapidly as a streak of light through the Cloud Sea.

"Not there. It's uncomfortable there. Let's go to Luoyan Province."

Qingfeng's mood seemed to have improved, and she spoke with a somewhat cheerful tone.

"Luoyan Province?" Sun Luyuan nodded.

Elder Xu's task was merely to retrieve Qingfeng and settle her in a Qingfeng Hall in another province.

Sun Luyuan did not argue and headed towards Luoyan Province.

Along the way, he also pondered the true identity of the being on his back.

With the immortal artifact Boundless Mirror in his family, Sun Luyuan prided himself on being knowledgeable enough.

However, he had never heard of anything similar to such a bizarre existence as Qingfeng.

He couldn't even gauge Qingfeng's strength.

Did Elder Xu send him on such a long journey merely because he was worried about her being trapped?

From this perspective, Qingfeng's strength definitely wouldn't be very high.

But Qingfeng's strange phrasing and various bizarre behaviors made Sun Luyuan's scalp tingle.

Clearly, this invisible and formless being named Qingfeng was by no means simple.

Sun Luyuan inwardly complained and sped up again.

He only wanted to complete the task quickly and get rid of the other party.

Qingfeng said nothing throughout the journey.

And he was getting closer and closer to Luoyan Province.

Just as liberation seemed within reach, Qingfeng's sudden remark plunged Sun Luyuan into an icy abyss.

"You're getting a little impatient."

"Indeed, there are few in this world who are kind to me."

Sun Luyuan felt a chill rise from his heart.

Although Qingfeng said nothing further, his sense of unease grew stronger and stronger.

"What's wrong?"

Sun Luyuan knew that some change was occurring within him.

However, he couldn't perceive the specific details of the change.

It wasn't until Sun Luyuan arrived within Luoyan Province and casually glanced downwards that he suddenly realized.

He was very close to the ground.

A blazing sun shone overhead.

Yet, there was no shadow of him on the ground.

Sun Luyuan knew very well that he hadn't cast any spells to conceal his form.

But his shadow had vanished.

He extended his arms, somewhat bewildered.

He seemed to be becoming ethereal.

His existence was fading.

He was about to become like Qingfeng, formless and intangible.

The change happened so quickly that Sun Luyuan felt no fear, only a blankness in his mind.

His mind was simply blank.

Just as Sun Luyuan felt his connection to the world growing weaker…

A brilliant golden light suddenly surged from within him.

(End of Chapter)