Return to the Cloud Water Palace

As wave after wave of people entered, the sounds of recitation from within the hut grew louder and clearer. Li Fan listened intently, barely managing to make out a few lines. "The Heavenly Law is stern and majestic; honor regulations and abide by rules." ... "Having now attained the Law, I transmit it widely to all sentient beings." ... "The Heavenly Law cannot be defied." ... "Heavenly Law..." Li Fan searched his memories, but he had never come across any information related to it. "I wonder what connection this place has to the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace?" Li Fan chose not to enter, firstly because—as he had said before—this opportunity was of little use to him at peak late Qi Condensation. Secondly, he still had some misgivings in his heart. Could an existence resembling an anomaly truly be devoid of danger, simply bestowing benefits upon people for nothing? Li Fan did not believe it. He intended to let others test the waters first. If it truly was so, he could simply return in his next life. Li Fan practiced the method of a hundred lifetimes, not a single one. Things like bitterly regretting a missed opportunity did not exist for him. Amidst the resonant sound of reading, another day passed. The next morning, when the cultivators awoke from the ground, every single one of them had advanced by a minor realm without exception. They were ecstatic; a single night was worth who knew how much arduous cultivation! And so, just like the first six, they contacted their friends one after another to summon them here. Gradually, more and more people learned of the miraculous fortune here. A steady stream of visitors came and went, every face beaming with delight. Li Fan merely watched from the sidelines in silence. Before the green ox pulling the cart reached the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace, Li Fan made a rough tally. In total, roughly two Nascent Soul, six Golden Core, nineteen Foundation Establishment, and numerous Qi Condensation cultivators had entered the thatched hut. Yet even the liveliest gathering had to come to an end. A month later, the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace suspended high in the sky came into view in the distance. The cart drawn by the green ox had finally reached its destination. Li Fan and the crowd of cultivators all chose to move far away from the ox cart, watching from a distance. "Moo!" The green ox let out a low bellow. Treading on empty air with its four hooves, it soared into the sky. Dragging the two-wheeled cart behind it, it rose from the surface of the sea into midair. Then, it charged straight toward the azure, translucent Cloud Water Heavenly Palace. Green and blue light clashed and flashed. Without a single sound, the ox cart vanished quietly into the Congyun Sea. The cultivators present could not help letting out sighs of regret. Driven by curiosity, a dozen or so cultivators—perhaps out of sheer audacity, or perhaps because they had previously ventured into the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace—flew in after it. Li Fan once again used his Formless Killing Intent to lock onto one of them. Following him, Li Fan's perspective shifted, arriving at the long-unseen Cloud Water Heavenly Palace. Before the towering main gate, the green ox shrank to normal size. Pulling the two-wheeled cart, it moved forward slowly. As it passed the stone statue of Qin Tang, it suddenly came to a halt. The door of the thatched hut swung wide open with a crash, and a roll of wooden slips flew out from inside. The wooden slips flew before the stone statue of Qin Tang, and a nearly translucent figure emerged from them. He appeared somewhat elderly, his facial features indistinct. "Qin Tang..." He stared at the stone statue whose heart was pierced through, remaining silent for a long time before speaking slowly. The stone statue of Qin Tang seemed to twitch suddenly. Then, with creaking groans, it truly tilted its head at an unnatural angle. Staring at the elderly figure before it, a faint, barely audible sound suddenly emerged from within the stone statue. "Mas..." "...ter..." Though the voice was faint, it resounded like a clap of thunder, spreading across the entire Cloud Water Heavenly Palace in an instant. "Master..." "Master..." "Master..." Different voices—filled with pain, confusion, relief, and solace—echoed from every direction, reverberating endlessly. Overlapping one another, they resembled a symphony from the depths of hell, resounding throughout the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace. Li Fan even saw that deep within the palace, where Taiyi Hall stood, the tortoise-serpent monster Taiyi seemed about to awaken from its slumber, revealing its hideous form. Yet the phantom of a shattered sword blade suddenly manifested. This broken blade was plunged deeply into Taiyi's body, leaving only a short stub exposed outside. Pitch-black all over, its malevolent aura soared to the heavens! The broken sword trembled slightly, producing an ear-piercing screech like metal grinding against a whetstone. In the void, countless phantom blades rained down, piercing ruthlessly into the tortoise-serpent monster's body. "Pain...!" Taiyi wailed in madness, forced to shrink its body back into Taiyi Hall. Outside the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace, Li Fan felt a profound shock in his heart upon witnessing this scene. Because that broken blade plunged into Taiyi's body seemed to belong to the very same sword as the hilt he had previously encountered—the one contending against the green wind! Before the stone statue of Qin Tang, the translucent figure of the Master looked toward the direction of Taiyi Hall and sighed deeply. Then, the Master reached out and grasped the slips. Clasping his hands behind his back, he looked up toward the sky. Taking a deep breath, the Master's figure swelled in an instant. Within mere moments, he stood tall between heaven and earth like a giant who cleaved open the world. His beard and hair bristled as he glared forward with blazing fury, opening his mouth in a thunderous roar. "Heavenly!" "Physician!" The Master's enraged shout reverberated through the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace in the blink of an eye. Immediately following his roar, every corner of the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace first fell into a dead silence. Then, waves of resentful cries surged straight into the heavens in an instant. "Heavenly Physician!" "Heavenly Physician!" "Heavenly Physician!" ... The shrieks were endless and relentless. Filled with such despair and hatred, they sent a chill down the spine of even Li Fan, who was watching from outside the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace. The cries of despair echoed through every part of the palace, causing the entire massive structure to shudder and quake uncontrollably. The white mist that had blanketed every building began churning wildly like boiling water. It was as though the beings tortured within for thousands of years were all about to break free. High in the sky above the palace, right before the Master's colossal figure, a tiny white jade statue suddenly appeared. And with his emergence, the anomalies within the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace broke into complete frenzy. Furious, despairing shouts roared like a torrential river, endless and unrestrained. Fissure after fissure split across the ground, and the entire palace seemed on the verge of tearing apart under the violent upheaval. A faint gleam appeared over the white jade statue, and it instantly expanded to the size of a normal human. With a face full of benevolence and grizzled gray hair, he was none other than the mysterious old man Li Fan's avatar, Lin Fan, had once met. Ignoring the surging, roaring cries rising and falling below like stormy waves, the Heavenly Physician smiled faintly. "Everyone." "Long time no see." The Master's towering frame trembled violently. Hatred contorting his face, he gritted his teeth, wanting to speak. Yet in the end, only a single word burst from his lips. "Die!" The sky seemed to darken as if boundless killing intent were gathering. Fine cracks instantly appeared across the Heavenly Physician's body. Yet he merely patted himself lightly, and those hairline fractures vanished in an instant, as if they had never existed at all. The Heavenly Physician looked at the Master with a smile. "Just having a fight—is there really any need to get so angry?" His smile abruptly vanished, replaced by an expression of chilling detachment. "Anger is an illness." "And if it's an illness..." "It must be cured." Outside the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace, Li Fan's expression shifted drastically. In an instant, he activated every single protective talisman on his person. Then, pushing his speed to the absolute limit, he fled into the distance. A shockwave erupted from the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace. In a flash, it swept across the entire Congyun Sea. Its momentum undiminished, it continued to spread outward toward the neighboring provinces. For a time, the entire cultivation world sensed what was taking place in the Congyun Sea. Several immense consciousnesses seemed to exchange thoughts with one another. Then, one after another, they sank back into silence.