BXBX NOVEL Chapter 56 - 56: 56: Compassion for Mortals
Chapter 56 - 56: 56: Compassion for Mortals
The air above the black hole distorted due to extreme temperatures.
Under the mist rising from the surrounding seawater, a bizarre spectacle of alternating black and white hues formed.
Li Fan, piloting the Tai Yan Boat in mid-air, found himself suddenly engulfed by an endless fear as he witnessed the unfolding spectacle.
Had the Ten Thousand Immortals Island… vanished just like that?
Scenes from his past on the island flashed quickly through his consciousness.
The Dharma Dissemination Square, flanked by thousands of statues, busy with countless cultivators passing by, the splendid and grand buildings rumored to house figures in the Incarnation Stage at the center of the island…
Had they all vanished just like that?
Not even a layer of ash was left behind.
What kind of power could accomplish such a thing?
The malice of the Heavenly Dao?
Li Fan didn’t know.
In the face of this shocking scene, his mind was in complete chaos.
The cultivation of immortality, the proof of longevity.
Li Fan’s lifelong goals now seemed laughably insignificant.
In the face of this sudden catastrophe, cultivators became as helpless as ordinary mortals, as insignificant as ants.
Once fear took root in his heart, it was difficult to suppress.
“Escape! Get away from this hellish place! ”
Li Fan’s eyes turned blood red, and he set the Tai Yan Boat on a desperate flight westward across the Misthaven Ocean.
He wanted to escaDe to the land. awav from this Durgatorv-like sea.
Thus, in a state of mental turmoil, Li Fan didn’t keep track of how long he flew.
“Bang!”
It seemed as though the Tai Yan Boat had hurtled into something, forcing it to a stop.
Fortunately, the Protection Matrix prevented it from being directly destroyed, sparing his life.
Stunned by the violent collision, Li Fan suffered light injuries, yet it gradually calmed him down.
He looked outside the Tai Yan Boat.
Nothing was there.
In the distance, there was a continuous coastline; the mainland was not far off.
Li Fan maneuvered the Tai Yan Boat, trying to fly forward.
“Bang!”
Something stood in Li Fan’s way.
He tried ramming into it repeatedly.
But he could not make any progress.
Li Fan tried other directions, but it was the same everywhere.
An invisible barrier separated the Misthaven Ocean from the nearby mainland.
Entry was allowed, but not exit.
Li Fan was stupefied.
Suddenly a phrase crossed his mind.
A turtle in a jar.
Long after, a laugh escaped from Li Fan.
He looked up toward the sky.
How cruel.
Then he became somewhat bewildered, should he call out [Real] to return to the original anchor point?
Maybe he should look around a bit more.
Feeling somewhat helpless and aimless, Li Fan piloted the Tai Yan Boat, wandering over the Misthaven Ocean.
He passed Moonlit Island, where, just like the other islands, not a soul was left alive amidst an apocalyptic landscape.
He passed Liuli Island.
Its Island Protection Array was shattered, and He Zhenghao was nowhere to be found. Corpses lay scattered all over the island, devoid of any signs of life.
Liuyun Island, Zhongqiu Island…
All had turned into desolate lands.
Sometimes, he would encounter other cultivators who had managed to survive like him, but they had all gone mad.
Upon seeing Li Fan, they would scream and run away as if they’d seen a ghost.
In the end, Li Fan somehow found himself back on Taian Island.
Here, he felt a long-lost sense of vitality.
Perhaps the entire Misthaven Ocean now contained only this sliver of life.
Li Fan walked down the streets, observing the mortals on Taian Island.
They were still unaware of the calamity that had struck beyond Taian Island, their faces still showing smiles of relief from narrowly escaping death. Little did they know, they were on the verge of another catastrophe.
But perhaps, ignorance is indeed bliss.
Witnessing apocalyptic scenes might cause nightmares every night hereafter.
Li Fan ridiculed himself.
As he continued walking, the sounds of earnest prayers suddenly reached his ears.
“May the Immortal Teacher who relieves suffering protect us, pray for good weather and plentiful harvests in future.”
“May the Immortal Teacher who relieves suffering protect us and guarantee the safe growth of my child, Yu.”
Li Fan was startled and turned his head to look in the direction of the prayers.
It turned out that a temple had been built on Taian Island while he wasn’t paying attention.
The statue inside was inscribed with the words “Immortal Teacher who relieves suffering”.
The statue bore some resemblance to Li Fan. Its eyes were slightly lowered, looking compassionately at the people kneeling before it.
“The Immortal Teacher who relieves suffering…” Li Fan fell into silence.
After a considerable time, he sighed deeply.
“I guess I’ll protect you all for as long as I can.”
However, to protect mortals from the wrath of Heaven and Earth was evidently not easy.
Li Fan initially thought the disaster was over.
He never imagined that the real disaster was only beginning.
One year, two years, three years…
There was still no sign of rain in the sky.
The sea level began to drop, water continuously receding from the islands.
Even with the Seawater Desalination Array, obtaining water for the mortals on Taian Island was getting more and more difficult.
They had to travel long distances to find water.
They did not know why Heaven had unleashed such a disaster, but they feared the Misthaven Ocean would eventually dry up completely.
As a result, every household started to pray to Li Fan’s wooden statue day and night.
Li Fan felt helpless.
The drastic changes in the world were not something he could resist.
The only good news was that due to the death of many cultivators in the Misthaven Sea over these three years, the hostility towards cultivators in the world also gradually diminished.
Li Fan took this opportunity to cultivate back to the Mid Stage of Energy Refining.
“When you stop praying to me one day, I will return to the cultivation anchor point.” He smiled wryly at the strange experience of being prayed to day and night.
Using the “Machine Identification” Divine Technique to observe the mounting Black Death Aura over the mortals, he decided in secret.
“Wait, why is there a hint of white within this Black Death Aura?”
Li Fan was startled.
Since his recovery, Li Fan checked the spiritual energy of Taian Island every day.
For some unknown reason, he had discovered a line of vitality that he had previously failed to notice.
Where did this vitality come from?
With “The Golden Seal of the Jade Realm of a Thousand Mechanisms” running to its limit, Li Fan found that the vitality of the people on Taian Island was actually tied to him!
This puzzled him even more.
After multiple confirmations, Li Fan finally realized that the vitality indeed came from him.
Not from him personally, but from an item he was carrying.
An item he had almost forgotten about.
The Natural Treasure: Ocean Pearl.
Still in its embryonic form, this Ocean Pearl had been left in a corner of the Tai Yan Boat.
Until today, when it showed up under his energy inspection and made Li Fan remember its existence.
Unlike when he first saw it over a decade ago, it was now a deep blue, surrounded with a rich water vapor.
It seemed as if it truly contained a vast ocean within.
“With the ocean gone, a new ocean is born.”
Li Fan stared at the Ocean Pearl in his hand, thinking of something. He activated the Tai Yan Boat, and flew up to a height of 10,000 meters and gazed down.
Underneath him, the Misthaven Ocean, due to the long drought, had many areas where the seabed was exposed.
A series of underwater mountain ranges slowly revealed their true form.
And the islands that originally belonged to the Misthaven Ocean turned out to be the peaks of these mountains.
Kou Hong’s face flashed in front of Li Fan’s eyes.
Kou Hong once told him, “Not to worry. If you manage to leave here, you can find me in Lingtian City, in the Misthaven Mountain Range.”
Li Fan began to laugh.
The Misthaven Ocean.
The Misthaven Mountain.
Turned out they were the same place..