Chapter 124: Fish Gambling Becomes Betting

As the shockwave swept through, Li Fan felt like a withered leaf in a gale, uncontrollably blown backward until he was pushed hundreds of miles away before barely stabilizing himself.

Fortunately, the shockwave was more impressive in sound than substance, possessing no real destructive power.

It seemed as if the force was restrained, merely stirring a massive wave that spread across the entire Congyun Sea without causing other damage.

It felt a bit like a loud thunderclap with little rain.

But Li Fan dared not underestimate it in the slightest. Such extreme control over power only highlighted the terrifying strength of the opponent.

The lock of Formless Killing Intent had vanished. Clearly, that unlucky Cultivator had perished in the battle between the two big shots.

However, Li Fan did not retreat but instead advanced, flying back toward the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace.

Before long, he could see the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace again.

The massive blue transparent building was now tinged with black.

Above, dark clouds gathered, and thunder rumbled incessantly.

A huge vortex appeared above the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace, seemingly about to swallow the recently unsealed structure once more.

The entire sky trembled and shook. The continuous buildings tilted and slowly collapsed toward the center of the vortex.

Faint cries of unwillingness and anger seemed to emanate from the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace.

But they could not change the reality of its gradual disappearance.

After a long while, this ancient Sect, which had appeared in the world for only a little over five years, vanished once again from the heavens and earth.

Then, the thick black clouds with lightning and thunder gradually dissipated.

Soon, the sky and sea returned to a calm and peaceful scene.

"The Cloud Water Heavenly Palace has been resealed? This didn't happen in my previous life."

"Is it because of the Heavenly Doctor statue I sent in?"

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

"So, in my previous life, Sikong Yi embezzled the small statue and didn't send it into the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace?"

"That bold? Relying on the Heaven Stealing Sun Switching Art to be fearless?"

"No, there's another possibility. The Heavenly Doctor didn't give the white jade statue to Sikong Yi."

"But gave it to Lin Fan's Clone…"

"If that's really the case, did he see something?"

The eerie, terrifying wails from the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace resurfaced in his mind, and Li Fan's heart was filled with doubts.

"What exactly did the Heavenly Doctor do to make everyone in the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace hate him so much?"

Li Fan recalled the scene when he first met the Heavenly Doctor.

"I'm just an old man who should have died but didn't."

"…Use this statue to accompany them in my place…"

When the Heavenly Doctor said these words, his expression was wistful and full of emotion, not seeming fake.

But the more this was the case, the more Li Fan felt a chill in his heart.

"Regardless, this old man called the Heavenly Doctor is too dangerous. His strength exceeds my previous estimates. The Clone has already appeared in his sight, and the main body must never establish contact with him again."

"This world is not a static game after all. Often, casual actions can lead to many unexpected changes."

"I must be more cautious in the future."

"And that sword…"

"How many secrets are still hidden in this Congyun Sea?" Li Fan sighed, losing the desire to wander around, and hurried back to the Ten Thousand Immortals Island.

In the Tianxuan Mirror, he searched again for information related to "Heavenly Doctor" and "Master," but all he found were recent discussions among Cultivators.

There was no valuable information at all.

Li Fan was not surprised.

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

Occasionally, when he found a Cultivator on the verge of breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Stage, he would lock onto them with Formless Killing Intent to gain insights and accumulate the true meaning of Foundation Establishment.

He also took on some tasks from time to time to accumulate Contribution Points.

He planned to exchange for a Heaven and Earth Spiritual Object in the Tianxuan Mirror, then use it to charge [Huan Zhen] to unlock the second anchor point.

He now had a rough plan for how to use the second anchor point.

The specifics would have to wait until after unlocking it.

Monotonous cultivation is not the entirety of a Cultivator's life.

The vast majority of Cultivators are not maniacs like Zhang Haobo who Cultivate twenty-four hours a day.

They also have their own leisure hobbies.

In the Congyun Sea, the most popular activity is undoubtedly Fish Gambling.

On the northwestern border of the Congyun Sea, there is a solitary island surrounded by sheer cliffs on all sides.

Seawater flows up along the cliffs, converging in the center of the island to form a lake.

Every month, when the water accumulated in the lake reaches its peak, it erupts skyward, spraying the seawater back into the sea.

At that time, countless fish are carried along, leaping into the air.

Among them, one fish is sure to leap the highest.

Many years ago, a passing Cultivator happened to witness this marvel and acted on a whim.

He refined all the other fish in the lake into essence and fed it to the fish that leaped the highest.

That fish underwent a transformation, becoming nearly as powerful as a Yao Beast, and returned to the sea.

Since then, more and more fish have gathered in the lake on this solitary island.

Later, this Cultivator had a dispute with a friend over the ownership of a treasure.

He thought of this place again and proposed that each of them choose a fish from the lake as their representative.

They would see whose fish leaped higher on the day of the lake's eruption, and the treasure would go to the winner.

The friend found it interesting and agreed.

This move attracted several other curious Cultivators, who each threw in some stakes and joined in.

They also established rules for this Fish Gambling: set up a Formation around the island to prevent powerful sea beasts from entering by mistake.

Spend twenty-seven days observing and selecting their preferred fish. Three days before the lake's eruption, make the final confirmation, with no further changes allowed.

The winner takes all: the fish that leaps the highest wins all the treasures bet by the other Cultivators.

If one is lucky enough to select the fish that leaps the highest among all, it is considered the top prize, and the winnings are doubled.

Rely solely on one's own Divine Sense for subtle observation to select the representative fish; using Spiritual Qi to strengthen it is forbidden. If cheating is discovered, all Cultivators will punish the cheater together.

After the event, all other fish are still refined into essence to feed the "Fish Champion."

…

In the end, the Cultivator's fish only came in second, and he lost the treasure.

But he didn't feel regret, thinking he had just misjudged and had already grasped the key.

So he made an appointment to return here the month after next to settle the score.

The other Cultivators all agreed enthusiastically.

Thus, this "Fish Gambling Betting" gradually attracted more and more Cultivators to participate.

Later, as the number of participants grew, the rules were slightly adjusted.

A prize pool was introduced.

Each bet, half goes to the current round's reward, and half goes to the prize pool.

First place gets the top prize, and second to tenth place get secondary prizes.

The top prize takes half, and the second to tenth places split the other half equally.

If someone can guess the Fish Champion, they take all the rewards.

At the end of each year, the accumulated prize pool is cleared all at once, producing a super jackpot.