Chapter 123: Defining Fish Color Transformation Betting

Caught in the surging shockwave, Li Fan felt like a withered leaf in a gale, helplessly swept backward. He only managed to regain his balance after being propelled hundreds of miles away.

Fortunately, the shockwave was more show than substance, lacking any real destructive force.

It seemed as though the power was restrained; it merely generated a massive wave that rippled across the entire Congyun Sea without causing any further damage.

It was rather anticlimactic, like much ado about nothing.

Yet, Li Fan dared not underestimate it in the slightest. Such exquisite control over immense power only highlighted the terrifying strength of his opponent.

The lock of the Formless Killing Intent had vanished, indicating that the unfortunate cultivator had evidently perished in the clash between the two grand cultivators.

However, instead of retreating, Li Fan pressed forward, flying back towards the Cloudwater Celestial Palace.

Soon, the Cloudwater Celestial Palace reappeared in his sight.

The massive, transparent blue edifice was now strangely shrouded in a layer of black.

Above it, dark clouds congregated, and thunder rumbled incessantly.

A colossal vortex formed directly above the Cloudwater Celestial Palace, appearing poised to re-engulf the recently unsealed structure.

The entire sky vibrated and trembled, and the sprawling buildings began to tilt, slowly collapsing towards the vortex's center.

Faint cries of indignation and fury seemed to emanate from within the Cloudwater Celestial Palace.

Yet, nothing could halt its gradual disappearance.

A short while later, this ancient sect, which had only manifested in the world for just over five years, vanished once more from existence.

Immediately afterward, the thick, black clouds, rife with lightning and thunder, gradually dissipated.

The sky and ocean quickly returned to a serene scene of gentle clouds and calm breezes.

"The Cloudwater Celestial Palace has been re-sealed? This didn't happen in my previous life."

"Is it because of the Celestial Physician statue I sent in?"

In an instant, numerous thoughts flashed through Li Fan's mind.

"Does this mean that in my previous life, Sikong Yi secretly kept that small statue and never delivered it to the Cloudwater Celestial Palace?"

"So audacious? Was he unafraid of death, relying on the 'Heaven-Stealing and Sun-Shifting Art'?"

"No, there's another possibility: the Celestial Physician didn't give the white jade statue to Sikong Yi at all."

"But instead gave it to Lin Fan's clone..."

"If that's truly the case, did he discern something?"

The eerie, collective wailing and horrifying scene from within the Cloudwater Celestial Palace resurfaced in his mind, filling Li Fan with an array of doubts.

"What exactly did the Celestial Physician do to incur such deep resentment from everyone in the Cloudwater Celestial Palace...?"

Li Fan then recalled his first encounter with the Celestial Physician.

"I am merely an old man who should have died but didn't."

"...Let this statue accompany them in my stead..."

As the Celestial Physician spoke these words, his expression was filled with wistful emotion, appearing utterly genuine.

Yet, the more genuine he appeared, the more a chill settled in Li Fan's heart.

"Regardless, this elder known as the Celestial Physician is far too dangerous. His strength surpasses my previous estimates. My clone has already come into his view, so my main body must absolutely avoid any further contact with him."

"After all, this world isn't an unchangeable game; often, even unintentional actions can trigger numerous unexpected shifts."

"From now on, I must exercise even greater caution."

"And that sword..."

"Just how many secrets are still hidden within this Congyun Sea?" Li Fan sighed, his desire to wander dissipated. He hastily returned to Myriad Immortals Island.

Within the Heavenly Profound Mirror, he again searched for information related to "Celestial Physician" and "Master," but all he found were recent discussions among cultivators.

There was absolutely no valuable information.

Li Fan was not surprised by this.

For the next period, Li Fan resumed his previous leisurely life on the island.

Occasionally, when he discovered cultivators on the island nearing the Foundation Establishment stage, he would lock onto them with his Formless Killing Intent, using the opportunity to gain insights and accumulate the true meaning of Foundation Establishment.

From time to time, he also undertook various missions to accumulate contribution points.

He intended to exchange for rare Heaven and Earth treasures within the Heavenly Profound Mirror, then use them to charge Huanzhen and unlock the second anchor point.

He already had a rough plan in mind for how to specifically utilize the second anchor point.

The precise details would have to wait until it was unlocked.

Tedious cultivation was not the sole focus of a cultivator's life.

The vast majority of cultivators were not zealots who, like Zhang Haobo, practiced twenty-four hours a day.

They also had their own recreational hobbies.

In the Congyun Sea, the most popular pastime was "Fixed Fish."

On the northwestern frontier of the Congyun Sea lay an isolated island, its four sides defined by sheer cliffs.

Seawater surged up the cliffs, flowing against the current, and converged in the island's center, forming a lake.

Once a month, when the water accumulated in the lake reached its peak, it would erupt skyward, spewing seawater back into the ocean.

At such times, countless fish would be carried along, leaping high into the air.

Among them, one fish was always guaranteed to leap the highest.

Many years ago, a passing cultivator, upon stumbling across this marvelous spectacle, was seized by a sudden whim.

He refined all the other fish in the lake into vital energy and fed it to the fish that soared the highest.

That fish consequently underwent a metamorphosis, becoming nearly as powerful as a demonic beast, before returning to the sea.

From that day on, the lake on this isolated island began to attract an increasing number of fish.

Later, this cultivator had a dispute with a friend regarding the ownership of a treasure.

Remembering this unique place, he proposed that they each select a fish from the lake as their representative.

The treasure would then belong to whoever's fish leaped higher on the day the lake water erupted.

His friend found the idea amusing and agreed.

This action by the two attracted several other curious cultivators, who eagerly placed their own stakes and joined the challenge.

They even established rules for this "Fixed Fish" event: formations would be set up around the island to prevent exceptionally powerful sea beasts from inadvertently entering.

Each participant would have twenty-seven days to observe and select their chosen fish. Final confirmation had to be made three days before the lake water erupted, with no further changes permitted.

It was a winner-take-all scenario: whoever's chosen fish leaped the highest would claim all the treasures wagered by the other cultivators.

Furthermore, if one was fortunate enough to select the single fish that leaped highest among all, it was considered the grand prize, and their winnings would be doubled.

The selection of the representative fish relied entirely on one's subtle observation with spiritual sense; no spiritual energy enhancement was permitted. Any participant caught cheating would be jointly punished by all other cultivators.

After the event, all other fish would still be refined into vital energy and fed to the "Fish King."

Ultimately, the fish chosen by that cultivator only managed second place, resulting in the painful loss of his treasure.

However, he felt no distress, merely believing he had momentarily misjudged and had now uncovered the essential secret.

Thus, they agreed to return in two months for another decisive contest.

The other cultivators enthusiastically agreed.

In this way, the "Fixed Fish Wager" gradually attracted an increasing number of cultivators.

As participation grew, the rules were subtly adjusted.

A prize pool was introduced.

For each wager, half of the stakes would go towards the current period's rewards, and the other half into the overall prize pool.

First place received the grand prize, while second through tenth place received secondary prizes.

The grand prize winner received half of the current period's reward, with the remaining half evenly divided among those in second to tenth place.

However, if someone correctly predicted the "Fish King" (the single highest leaper), they would claim all the rewards for that period.

At the end of each year, the accumulated prize pool would be entirely distributed, creating a super grand prize.