Chapter 57: Opportunity Suddenly Appears

In his previous life, Li Fan broke through the blockade of the Immortal Severing Grand Formation by pure chance when his Lifespan was nearly exhausted, arriving in the Cultivation World for the first time.

The scene he saw at that time was a continuous mountain range and a towering city standing in the air.

But in this life, after Li Fan arrived in the Cultivation World, he landed above a vast ocean.

Before this, Li Fan had not thought much about it, only assuming that some mishap had occurred during the teleportation.

It was not until today, when Li Fan saw the dried-up Congyun Sea and witnessed the birth of the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Object, the Azure Sea, that he finally understood.

There was no mishap; the place he arrived at after passing through the Immortal Severing Grand Formation was indeed the same location.

It was just that the times he arrived in the Cultivation World were different.

In his previous life, Li Fan arrived in the Cultivation World when he was already 85 years old, which was the anchor year 65.

In this life, Li Fan entered the Cultivation World at 40 years old, after his Virtualization charging progress reached 100%.

That was the anchor year 20.

With a 45-year interval, one encounter was the sea, and one was the mountains.

It is no wonder Li Fan did not think in this direction.

Without having experienced it firsthand, even if someone had told him in advance that such a massive change in the world would occur, he would surely have been skeptical.

So, Li Fan smiled.

First, he laughed at himself for still being unable to shake off a Mortal mindset.

If he had been able to connect the various abnormalities Zhang Haobo had warned him about with the differences in what he saw both times, perhaps he could have detected this massive change in the world earlier.

Second, it was because he finally saw the hope for this disaster to subside.

In the anchor year 50, Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi broke into Great Xuan.

At that time, they claimed they were from Lingtian City in the Congyun Mountain Range.

Presumably, the drought had already passed before then.

The dried-up ocean would turn into vibrant mountains.

It is now the anchor year 34, which is not far off.

Waiting without hope is the most agonizing, but after knowing the final outcome, this seemingly endless disaster of fire no longer felt so terrifying.

Li Fan calmed his mood and returned to Taian Island.

Looking at the Mortals who were living in constant fear, already somewhat numb, and could only pray and kowtow day and night, Li Fan sent a voice transmission across the entire island, telling them that this disaster would eventually pass.

Having received instructions from the Immortal Master, the residents on the island were ecstatic and one after another rekindled their hope for survival.

Li Fan went into seclusion and took out the Azure Sea Pearl again.

"Does the sliver of survival lie here?"

Li Fan observed this azure Heaven and Earth Spiritual Object.

His Divine Sense surged into it, but it was like a clay ox entering the sea, disappearing in an instant.

"It seems that to use it, I will have to put in some effort," Li Fan thought to himself upon seeing this.

Heaven and Earth Spiritual Objects are the key to achieving a Dao Foundation; how to find and use them are both incredibly precious experiences.

The exchange price required in the Tianxuan Realm is also extremely expensive, needing nearly 2000 Contribution Points.

Li Fan can only explore it on his own right now.

Next, Li Fan made many attempts.

He tried infusing it with Spiritual Qi, nourishing it with his Divine Sense, and even bombarding it with external force; in the end, he even tried the method of blood refinement.

But the Azure Sea Pearl remained completely indifferent, unable to trigger the massive water vapor it contained.

Finally, Li Fan had a flash of inspiration and remembered that the "Thousand Machines Jade Universe Golden Chapter" contained methods for sensing and refining the Qi mechanism from various Heaven and Earth Spiritual Objects.

He immediately activated the "Discern Qi" Divine Ability and looked towards the Azure Sea Pearl.

A deep blue brilliance surrounded the Azure Sea Pearl.

Ancient, profound, vitality…

Although the Azure Sea Pearl is small, the complexity and power of its Qi mechanism surpass all living beings on Taian Island.

It is just that it is currently in a state of nourishment and dormancy, so unless one observes it carefully, it cannot be easily distinguished.

Li Fan cautiously sensed the Qi mechanism of the Azure Sea Pearl.

As soon as he made contact, Li Fan felt his body disappear.

It was as if he had suddenly arrived above the Nine Heavens, looking down at the ocean below from a bird's-eye perspective.

The Congyun Sea had existed since ancient times, nourishing countless living beings.

But one day, a certain will from between Heaven and Earth suddenly descended.

Thus, the ocean began to move toward death.

Heaven gives birth and Heaven kills; this is the principle of the Dao.

Heaven desires to burn the sea, and the sea has no power to resist.

But, it would not submit!

Thus, although the Azure Sea passed away, another Azure Sea was born!

…

Boom!

Li Fan broke free from that wondrous state.

Before he could even savor the scenes he had just seen, he suddenly felt a wave of weakness, almost failing to stand steady.

Upon checking, Li Fan was shocked to discover that, he did not know when, but he had gained a strand of white hair, and fine wrinkles had appeared on his face.

This was just from the split second of merging with the Azure Sea Pearl's Qi mechanism!

Li Fan opened the [Huan Zhen] panel again and gasped.

Name: Li Fan

Realm: Qi Refining Middle Stage

Physiological Age: 89 / 199

Psychological Age: 517 / 2280 ↑

In just that instant, Li Fan's physiological age went directly from 54 to 89.

In just a moment, it was as if 35 years had passed.

"No wonder that even in the Ancient Tianji Sect, very few people cultivated this technique. It was just the consciousness of a single ocean, yet contacting it caused one's Lifespan to be consumed rapidly."

"If my Lifespan hadn't been consumed so quickly, causing my body to trigger a warning, I fear I would have been assimilated by the ocean's consciousness just like that, inexplicably. At that point, it would be hard to say whether I could still activate [Huan Zhen]."

Li Fan realized what had just happened and felt a lingering fear.

"No, this is definitely not the method to manipulate Heaven and Earth Spiritual Objects."

Li Fan knew he must have gotten the method wrong.

The human sense of time scale is simply not on the same order of magnitude as that of Heaven, Earth, mountains, rivers, and the ocean.

Even those powerful Cultivators who can live for thousands of years are far from being comparable to it.

Rashly making contact with human consciousness only leads to one outcome: being assimilated.

Then, how exactly can one manipulate Heaven and Earth Spiritual Objects?

Li Fan held the Azure Sea Pearl, his expression uncertain.

…

Days passed, and Li Fan still had not figured out the method to use the Azure Sea Pearl.

The weather became increasingly hot, as if it were about to carry out a final, thorough purification of the Congyun Sea.

The Mortals on the island gradually became so weak that they didn't even have the strength to pray.

Li Fan knew that if this continued, these Mortals might die before they could wait for this disaster of fire to pass.

Dying just before the dawn arrives is despairing.

Li Fan could not help but become somewhat restless, with distracting thoughts arising in his mind.

In order to calm his mind, he could not help but activate the long-unused "Profound Yellow Heart Refining Mantra".

Since becoming a Qi Refinement Stage Cultivator, most of his energy had been spent cultivating techniques like the "Yan Shui Jue" and the "Thousand Machines Jade Universe Golden Chapter".

He had not deliberately cultivated the "Profound Yellow Heart Refining Mantra" for a long time.

Because it did not help with the substantial improvement of his cultivation, and even if he did not actively Cultivate the Heart Refining Mantra, it would still operate slowly on its own.

So Li Fan had set it aside.

At this moment, as the Heart Refining Mantra operated, the anxiety, fear, urgency, and other negative emotions in Li Fan's heart all slowly disappeared, becoming nutrients to strengthen his Dao Heart.

His heart became calm again, and Li Fan suddenly had a realization.

The Opportunity for his Breakthrough also lay in this Azure Sea Pearl.