In truth, the word "perhaps" could be discarded.
If an overall tremor truly struck the Xuanhuang Realm next, it was almost certain to be the result of something Li Fan had done in this lifetime.
*The root cause of any tremor in the Xuanhuang Realm should originate from the suction of the Immortal Ruins.*
*That's the crux of the matter. What capability do I have to actually influence the Immortal Ruins?*
Scene after scene from this lifetime flashed rapidly before Li Fan's eyes.
Ruling out every impossible option, Li Fan was left with several suspects worth considering.
The mysterious figure in Chizha Abyss who had replanted the world fragments.
The invisible entity in the Lost Domain of Life and Death collecting the corpses of cultivators.
And...
The relocation and transport of the Five Elements Great Grotto-Heaven.
With Li Fan's personal strength, whether his true body or his avatars, he was currently incapable of altering the Immortal Ruins in the slightest.
Yet his actions could influence and alter the fate and trajectory of those mighty beings capable of shaking the Immortal Ruins, thereby causing a deviation.
"It's only a month or so anyway. I need only wait patiently."
Sacred Embryo Li Fan remained silent.
While the entire Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals entered a state of emergency war preparedness, the Sacred Dynasty of Great Qi did the same.
Not long ago, an imperial decree had been handed down announcing that the Holy Emperor would test divine abilities in the void outside Great Qi. It might cause slight tremors, which would be entirely normal and no cause for panic.
By now, the people of Great Qi worshipped the Holy Emperor to an almost fanatical degree.
Naturally, whatever he said was accepted without question.
Upon hearing the decree, the common folk not only felt no tension or fear, but grew filled with anticipation for the terrifying might of their Holy Emperor's divine techniques.
In the secret chamber beneath the Holy Emperor Throne.
Master Yin sat opposite Li Ping.
"Those little ones you sent me last time are indeed quite gifted. Some are even cleverer than I imagined. Two of them have already succeeded in establishing the foundation with oneself. The others shouldn't be far behind either.
"If one accepts from the very start that establishing the foundation with oneself is the sole and most correct method, it truly offers immense help toward smooth cultivation."
Master Yin first summarized his recent achievements, then abruptly shifted the topic: "Lately, I've felt a persistent sense of unease. I heard you're going to test some divine ability? Try to stay as far away as possible. Don't go destroying this pocket world.
"I quite like this place," Master Yin said casually.
Li Ping nodded in agreement, though thoughts churned in his mind: *Master Yin is a world specter, parasitic within the Xuanhuang Realm. If even he senses an inkling of premonition, it seems the Xuanhuang Realm is truly about to encounter some catastrophe.*
Time slowly slipped by amid the anticipation of the masses.
Unbeknownst to anyone, over a hundred stone puppets quietly flew up into the sky of the Xuanhuang Realm.
They hovered at the boundary of the world, where a single step further would plunge them deep into the void.
They remained within the bounds of the Xuanhuang Realm, immune to being dragged away by the suction of the Immortal Ruins.
From their vantage point high above, they could observe the macro-scale landscape of the Xuanhuang Realm in its entirety.
These puppets were naturally crafted by Li Ping.
They served no special purpose other than observing and recording this impending tremor of the Xuanhuang Realm.
The puppets floated silently in the air, awaiting the arrival of the targeted event.
The day predicted by Chuanfa drew nearer and nearer.
On this day, all at once, Li Fan's true body within the space of the Yanfa Jue, Sacred Embryo Li Fan outside Chizha Abyss, Li Fan's divine soul clone in the Boundless Mirror, and Holy Emperor Li Ping in the Sacred Dynasty of Great Qi—
All experienced a sudden premonition in the exact same instant.
Together, they looked toward the sky.
In the lifetime of the Heavenly Profound Spirit Lock, Ji Hongdao had once instantly slaughtered the cultivators of an entire province, using a mutual destruction technique to force Heavenly Venerable Yixin of the Longevity realm to retreat to the Five Elders Association.
Back then, because the realm had abruptly lost the anchoring presence of so many cultivators, the Xuanhuang Realm had suddenly lightened.
It had shuddered continuously, roaring and booming.
Every living creature within it had felt it, as if impending doom had descended and their lives and Dao would be snuffed out in the very next moment.
Li Fan had personally experienced that sensation back then.
And now, that feeling was over a hundred times more intense.
*Rumble! Boom!*
Without the slightest warning, the Xuanhuang Realm began to shake violently.
It was as if a titan were savagely tearing at the entire world with both hands.
Fissures surfaced across every corner of the earth, then spread rapidly in all directions. In an instant, the once-level lands became scarred beyond recognition.
Countless mountain ranges split down the middle, and some even collapsed entirely, plunging into the chasms that suddenly opened in the earth.
If the events unfolding across the earth's surface were not quite enough to terrify the cultivators living in the floating cities, then the transformation that struck the White Mist Barrier next made every cultivator in the Xuanhuang Realm shudder uncontrollably.
The White Mist Barrier, which stretched across heaven and earth and had seemed forever unchangeable, actually bent and fractured.
White mist spilled out from its originally fixed zones, spreading into the surrounding areas.
Everywhere it passed, it devoured the lifespans of all living beings.
The boundaries of provinces shifted as a result.
Through the eyes of the hundred-plus puppets high above, Li Fan saw it even more clearly.
The Essence-Devouring White Mist surged forth in rolling waves, as though drawn toward something outside the Xuanhuang Realm.
Yet, seemingly constrained by some powerful force, the white mist was unable to leave the Xuanhuang Realm.
It was precisely the tug-of-war between these two forces that caused the White Mist Barrier to snap and tear.
As heaven and earth underwent this upheaval, the spiritual energy turned tempestuous as well.
Li Fan could see clearly that in the Xuanhuang Realm below, storms, blazing fire, thunderbolts, floods...
All manner of disasters suddenly descended.
Driven and fueled by the rampaging spiritual energy, their ferocity was hundreds, even thousands of times greater than usual.
Yet the shaking of the Xuanhuang Realm did not cease.
This catastrophe seemed far more enduring than anticipated.
The cultivators of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals finally made their move.
They flew out from the various floating cities, attempting to soothe the rioting spiritual energy while simultaneously striving to mend the various anomalous phenomena caused by the violent rocking of the Xuanhuang Realm.
Amidst the trembling sky and quaking earth, every step they took was an uphill struggle.
Yet in truth, there was no mortal peril.
It was simply that the trembling of the world was bound to inflict an uncontrollable terror upon any living being caught within it.
The vast majority of cultivators could only let their minds go blank, praying in their hearts for the calamity to pass quickly.
Beyond that, there was nothing they could do.
Li Fan had witnessed true world-ending spectacles before.
Compared to an immortal of the Immortal Ruins destroying Xuanhuang with a single glance, a tremor like this was truly trivial by comparison.
Consequently, he was able to disregard the upheaval of heaven and earth and observe with absolute calm.
*Strange...*
*The source of the suction causing this tremor of heaven and earth...*
A sudden discord struck Li Fan's mind.
With a thought, the hundred stone puppets at the edge of the world drifted past the boundary one after another, entering the boundless void.
Without the protection of the Xuanhuang Realm, the puppets fell under the influence of the powerful suction, drifting uncontrollably in a certain direction.
Yet as they moved farther away from the Xuanhuang Realm at increasing speeds, Li Fan confirmed the anomaly he had sensed.
The suction causing this massive tremor in the Xuanhuang Realm had not come from the Immortal Ruins after all.
Instead, it came from deep within the Pitch-Black Star Sea!
Chapter 1175