Chapter 139: 幸又得沧海

Over the past two years, besides Zhang Haobo's feat of riding the wind to reign over myriad immortals, several other significant events also transpired.

In Year 21, at the edge of the Cloud Sea, near the Boundless Ocean, two Soul Transformation True Lords, for reasons unknown, engaged in a fierce battle there. The conflict raged for over a month without a decisive victor. Ultimately, the sky tore open, and brilliant starlight enveloped them, finally ending the grueling battle that had attracted countless cultivators to witness.

Also in Year 21, not long after the battle of the two Soul Transformation True Lords, an event occurred in Yuandao State, which borders the Cloud Sea. Heavenly and earthly anomalies covered the entire state, signaling the demise of Blue Feather Immortal Venerable of the Dao Integration realm. Blue Feather Immortal Venerable was said to be a grand cultivator who had survived the Great Tribulation and had controlled Yuandao State for nearly three thousand years. However, he ultimately failed to achieve true immortality; his great limit approached, and his body perished, his Dao vanished. After Blue Feather Immortal Venerable's death, Yuandao State also fell into considerable strife.

In Year 22, in the northwestern sea region of the Cloud Sea, a cave mansion ascended from the seabed and then flew directly towards Jiushan State. This attracted many curious cultivators who followed to investigate. However, none of them ever returned, their whereabouts unknown.

Li Fan noted down these anecdotes one by one. Afterwards, Li Fan checked the records of his communication talismans.

The collection of Dao Rhyme ancient artifacts seemed to be progressing quite smoothly; with a group of prodigies assisting, the progress was much faster than anticipated. However, the intervals between Zhao Erbao's reports were growing longer, with the last message having been sent half a year ago. It seemed he needed another profound lesson.

Xiao Heng generally did not disturb Li Fan. Only Su Xiaomei would send messages to Li Fan every now and then. There was nothing particularly important in them, just her respectful greetings and constant addressing of him as "Master." She would also report her joy every time she broke through a realm. As expected of an innate immortal physique, her cultivation advanced rapidly; in just over two years, she had already reached the late-stage Qi Condensation realm. Xiao Heng's progress was slightly slower; he was still in the mid-stage Qi Condensation realm, but it was said he was also close to a breakthrough. The rest were casual greetings from cultivators he had met while wandering on the island, none of them important.

However, upon entering the Heavenly Profound Mirror, Li Fan discovered that in Year 21, a Foundation Establishment cultivator named He Xingxing had sent several visit requests. Sporadically, these continued until they ceased half a year ago. But at that time, Li Fan had been diligently cultivating formations with Zhang Zhiliang, so naturally, he couldn't receive the messages.

"He Xingxing..." Li Fan pondered, his expression suddenly turning strange. Could this person be related to He Zhenghao? He suddenly recalled that in his previous life, when he was on Glazed Island and encountered a wind disaster for the first time, the one who activated the island's protective formation was indeed a female cultivator. However, he had never met her again afterwards, so he gradually forgot about it.

"Could this He Xingxing have only stayed in the Cloud Sea for a short while before leaving?" Li Fan could only speculate. After some thought, he still didn't actively seek her out. If fate allowed in the future, they would surely meet again.

With all miscellaneous matters handled, Li Fan no longer delayed. He used a teleportation array to arrive at Flowing Cloud Island. According to what Wu Xingzhou of the Myriad Splendor Merchant Association had said previously, the Azure Sea Pearl was obtained by him from a fisherman on Flowing Cloud Island. So, the Azure Sea Pearl must have originated in the sea, and then been swallowed by a fish. This was how it ended up in the fisherman's hands. It was unclear, however, whether the Azure Sea Pearl was still in the sea at this time, or if it had already been retrieved.

As usual, Li Fan activated his Concealment Talisman, flew above Flowing Cloud Island, and carefully sensed. In his previous life, he had once embodied the Azure Sea itself and was extremely familiar with the aura of the Azure Sea Pearl. If it were on this island, he would surely be able to detect it. Unfortunately, after circling the island, he found no trace of the Azure Sea Pearl. Thus, Li Fan could only use Flowing Cloud Island as his center and search the surrounding sea regions outwards. The ocean was vast, and the Azure Sea Pearl was still in its nascent stage, its aura extremely faint. This endeavor was truly no different from searching for a needle in a haystack. Fortunately, it only cost him some time. Three months later, Li Fan still managed to safely acquire the Azure Sea Pearl without major incident.

"When an Azure Sea Pearl perishes, another one naturally emerges." Li Fan carefully examined this wondrous object, so familiar from his previous life. He keenly noticed that the Azure Sea Pearl seemed a bit weaker than when he had seen it in his previous life. The blue color it contained appeared somewhat diluted. It wasn't as profound as the ocean, but merely a faint sky-blue hue. "I thought I wouldn't see you in this lifetime," he mused, "but I didn't expect you also understood the principle of hedging your bets." A flicker of surprise passed through Li Fan's eyes, then he activated the Devouring Object Technique, swallowing the Azure Sea Pearl into his Dantian. True Foundation Establishment would still begin only after it fully formed. But that didn't prevent Li Fan from first swallowing it to comprehend its essence.

With the Azure Sea Pearl in hand, most of Li Fan's business in the Cloud Sea was concluded. Afterwards, he made a trip to Nightshade Island to check on the status of the prodigies and to continue intimidating Zhao Erbao. To deepen the impression, Li Fan employed multi-layered illusions this time.

In the illusion, Zhao Erbao suddenly fell into the nightmare again, where all his ancient artifacts were shattered. However, this was his third time experiencing it, so he had developed some resistance. As a result, he struggled to awaken from the illusion. However, he still pretended to be engrossed in the illusion to deceive Li Fan. It wasn't until Li Fan appeared that he suddenly attacked. With a single strike, he indeed killed Li Fan. Looking at the body lying on the ground, the nightmare that had weighed on his heart for so many years was finally dispelled. Zhao Erbao couldn't help but let out a triumphant roar towards the sky.

However, he was surprised to discover that there were no heavenly anomalies signaling a cultivator's demise. When he looked again, he saw Li Fan's head tilt, revealing a bizarre smile. The surrounding scene shattered layer by layer like glass, and he found himself back in his own base. Time seemed to have returned to the day he first met Li Fan. He was explaining the origin of Dao Rhyme ancient artifacts to Li Fan. But things took a turn: after Li Fan listened, he didn't care about replicating Dao Rhyme at all. Instead, he directly shattered the ancient artifacts in the base, then slapped Zhao Erbao on the head. The scene went black, and Zhao Erbao immediately woke up.

Covered in cold sweat, he was first bewildered, then abruptly looked around. He didn't see Li Fan's figure, but he was already having trouble distinguishing between illusion and reality. It took a good half a day for Zhao Erbao to fully recover. Knowing it was Li Fan's warning, he hastily sent a report message to Li Fan.

In the shadows, observing Zhao Erbao's expression and actions, Li Fan knew this deterrence had been successful. "However, this is indeed not a long-term solution. In the future, if given the opportunity, I must find a method specifically for controlling cultivators."

Afterwards, Li Fan went to check on Su Changyu. The miasma cleansing was still incomplete, but he remained calm, unhurried, and persistent. Furthermore, with Su Xiaomei and Xiao Heng occasionally bringing him treasures said to be beneficial for removing the miasma from his body, he was not far from complete eradication.