The following day, Li Chenfeng and the other two quietly departed the island.
Through his Formless Killing Intent, Li Fan sensed them traveling northward, getting farther and farther away.
As the perceived image grew increasingly blurred, Li Fan released his lock on Li Chenfeng.
"Another forty or fifty years, is it...?"
"If there's an opportunity in the future, I wouldn't mind paying their empire a visit."
However, in this lifetime, his first priority was still to advance his cultivation to the Foundation Establishment stage.
Returning to Wanxian Island, Li Fan first entered seclusion to cultivate for a period, slowly digesting the insights gained from observing those Foundation Establishment breakthroughs.
After emerging from seclusion, he examined the *Atlas of Geographic Regions Surrounding the Congyun Sea* that his clone, Lin Fan, had exchanged for.
He had considered exchanging for a complete map of the Xuanhuang Realm in one go, but the Heavenly Profound Mirror indicated that his authority was insufficient to view it.
Left with no better alternative, he had settled for exchanging for the regions around the Congyun Sea first.
As the map unfolded in his mind, Li Fan discovered that the seemingly boundless Congyun Sea was actually just an inland sea.
It was as though someone had forcibly gouged a massive hollow out of the continent.
The Congyun Sea was almost entirely surrounded by land.
Only to the southeast was it connected to the boundless ocean through a relatively narrow stretch of water.
To the north of the Congyun Sea lay Yongliang Province, the very place Li Chenfeng and his companions were fleeing to.
To the west and south, descending from top to bottom, lay Jiushan Province, Shilin Province, and Yuandao Province.
All three of these provinces belonged to the territory of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals.
Yongliang Province in the north, on the other hand, was under the control of the Five Elders Association.
"It is nearly Year 14 of Anchoring now. It's time to plan a retreat."
"Once the Vast Sea Pearl is in hand, I should leave the Congyun Sea as soon as possible, leaving my clone here to quietly observe how things unfold."
"As for where to go..."
Li Fan browsed the detailed information on the several provinces.
Jiushan Province bordered Yongliang Province, so it was far from peaceful.
Shilin Province and Yuandao Province were fairly similar, except that Yuandao Province bordered the boundless ocean and was rich in water-attribute spiritual energy.
Considering that he would later need to use the Vast Sea Pearl to establish his Dao Foundation, choosing Yuandao Province was undeniably the most suitable course.
Li Fan also noticed that in the Xuanhuang Realm, the borders between provinces were not demarcated by mortals or cultivators.
Provinces were naturally separated by something called the White Mist Barrier.
Both mortals and cultivators could cross it.
However, the price of crossing the White Mist Barrier every time was one's lifespan.
The longer one spent crossing, the more lifespan was consumed.
Mortals almost never dared to traverse the White Mist Barrier on their own initiative; given their travel speed, they would often die of old age inside before ever walking out.
And while cultivators could fly at extraordinary speeds, traversing the White Mist Barrier would cost at least thirty days of lifespan each time.
While thirty days was not an exorbitant amount, if done frequently, even Golden Core cultivators could not bear the cost.
Consequently, most cultivators followed a single principle:
Do not travel unless necessary.
Generally, they only operated within their respective provinces.
Fortunately, a single province was extraordinarily vast, with an area no smaller than the Congyun Sea.
Furthermore, with colossal organizations like the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals spanning the entire cultivation world, resources were never in short supply.
Thus, even if certain cultivators spent their entire lives operating within a single province, it had no substantial impact on their cultivation.
Of course, one could also cross between two provinces via ultra-long-distance teleportation arrays.
Yet that merely reduced the lifespan loss to about ten days, and it came at an exorbitant financial cost.
Only a rare few cultivators ever opted for that method.
Upon further inquiry, however, Li Fan discovered that no White Mist Barrier existed between Yuandao Province and the Congyun Sea.
Moreover, Wanxian Island had a dedicated teleportation array leading directly to Yuandao Province.
"If I can reproduce the *Mountain-Sitting Art*, then exceptionally gifted individuals will become quite important to me."
For a moment, several figures flashed through Li Fan's mind.
"After leaving, perhaps I can bring them along and test the effects of the *Mountain-Sitting Art*," Li Fan pondered.
"Still, bringing mortals along is bound to cause many inconveniences."
"I need to make a trip in advance to make some preparations."
Li Fan had tested it before: if the Taiyan Boat carried living people, it could not be stored into the True Reversion space.
After some thought, Li Fan took the teleportation array to Yuandao Province to scout the area.
The overall layout of Yuandao Province was similar to that of the Congyun Sea.
Nearly every large mortal city had a city-protecting array and was guarded by a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Suspended in the skies above Yuandao Province stood a massive floating city.
It took its name from the province: Yuandao Sky City.
The layout within Yuandao City was identical to Wanxian Island, carved almost from the exact same mold, giving Li Fan an unexpected sense of familiarity.
The Heavenly Profound Mirror stood at the center of the city as well. When Li Fan entered it, he found that using it was no different from doing so on Wanxian Island.
He even caught sight of a familiar figure in Yuandao City.
"It seems everything under the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals' governance follows this pattern. I wonder what things look like over on the Five Elders Association's side, though."
Mortals could not enter Yuandao Sky City. The largest mortal city in Yuandao Province was called Zhuoling City.
After teleporting to Zhuoling City, Li Fan traded fifty contribution points with the city's garrison cultivator for a courtyard to serve as his future foothold.
Afterward, Li Fan steered the Taiyan Boat, flying all the way from Yuandao Province back to the Congyun Sea.
This was done to scout the route for his future withdrawal.
By the time he returned to Wanxian Island, time had already moved into Year 14 of Anchoring.
During this period, Zhang Haobo had been relentlessly pursuing the traces of the wind calamities.
At first, he would misjudge the timing and locations of the calamities.
Gradually, however, his premonitions grew increasingly accurate.
Time and again, he managed to arrive promptly at the scene of every wind calamity.
And now, Zhang Haobo had halted his pursuit of the wind.
He floated in midair, gazing upward at something.
Like a stone statue, he remained motionless.
He had stayed like this for a very long time.
Yet slowly, an unusual aura began to emanate from his body.
Li Fan immediately shifted his full attention back to Zhang Haobo.
Zhang Haobo's robes suddenly billowed and snapped loudly without any wind.
As for the man himself, he began to slowly rise into the air as if pushed from below by an unseen force.
He gradually accelerated, shooting toward the heavens like a slender streak of shadow.
His speed climbed higher and higher, aiming straight for the vault of heaven.
Yet the moment he crossed a certain height boundary, his ascent halted abruptly.
He then lingered continuously in that patch of space, seemingly searching for something.
And yet...
He found no way in.
Zhang Haobo's expression remained tranquil as an ancient well. He simply dissolved into a gust of clear breeze, constantly sweeping across that area.
One day, two days, three days...
As the days drifted past, he appeared to make no headway.
Li Fan, however, noticed that Zhang Haobo's range of movement was steadily shrinking.
Once the final boundary was established, Zhang Haobo let out a long whistle and accelerated violently, transforming into an azure streak of light that crashed headlong into that empty expanse of nothingness.
A barely perceptible water-blue gleam lit up across his body at the exact right moment.
Zhang Haobo's figure vanished from heaven and earth in an instant.
And Li Fan's vision was pulled along with him, drawn into a wondrous and bizarre realm.
An azure, translucent figure stood with eyes closed.
In His hands, He held aloft a cage forged of azure radiance.
A black sword hilt overflowing with murderous baleful qi struck relentlessly against the bars, thrashing wildly to break free from the cage.
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
From time to time, wisps of azure light were jarred loose by the impacts, drifting downward and scattering across various corners of the Congyun Sea.
Transforming into wind calamities.
Chapter 116