Over these two years, apart from Zhang Haobo commanding the wind and towering over the Ten Thousand Immortals, several other major events occurred.
In Year 21 of the Anchor Era, at the edge of the Congyun Sea near the Endless Ocean:
Two Soul Formation Immortal Lords fought a fierce battle for reasons unknown. The clash lasted for over a month without a victor emerging.
In the end, it was only when the canopy of heaven tore open and resplendent starlight enveloped them that this grueling battle—which had drawn countless cultivators to watch—finally came to an end.
Also in Year 21 of the Anchor Era, shortly after the battle between the two Soul Formation cultivators, in Yuandao Province adjacent to the Congyun Sea:
Phenomena of heaven and earth blanketed the entire province as the Dao Integration stage Immortal Venerable Blue Feather fell.
Immortal Venerable Blue Feather was said to be a mighty cultivator who had survived since the Great Calamity, having ruled Yuandao Province for nearly three thousand years.
Yet, in the end, he failed to reach the realm of longevity. With his allotted lifespan coming to its close, his body perished and his Dao dissolved.
Following Immortal Venerable Blue Feather's death, Yuandao Province also plunged into considerable turmoil.
In Year 22 of the Anchor Era, in the northwestern waters of the Congyun Sea, an immortal's cave abode rose up from the sea floor and flew straight toward Jiushan Province.
This prompted many curious cultivators to follow and investigate.
Yet none of them ever returned, their whereabouts unknown.
...
Li Fan noted down each of these anecdotes.
Then, he checked the logs of his communication talisman.
The collection of ancient objects bearing Dao charm seemed to be progressing rather smoothly. With the aid of a group of prodigies, the pace was significantly faster than anticipated.
However, the intervals between Zhao Erbao's reports were growing longer and longer; his last message had arrived half a year ago.
It seemed necessary to teach him another unforgettable lesson.
Xiao Heng had practically never disturbed Li Fan.
Su Xiaomei, on the other hand, sent Li Fan messages every few days.
There was nothing particularly important—just greetings calling him "Master" this and "Master" that.
Whenever she broke through to a new realm, she would send word to share the good news.
A Natural Immortal Physique truly allowed rapid cultivation; in just over two years, she had already reached the late Qi Condensation stage.
Xiao Heng progressed a bit slower and remained at the middle Qi Condensation stage, though word had it he was close to breaking through as well.
...
The rest were pleasantries sent by cultivators he had met while wandering the island, nothing of importance.
Only, when accessing the Heavenly Profound Mirror, Li Fan noticed that back in Year 21 of the Anchor Era, a Foundation Establishment cultivator named He Xinxin had submitted several visit requests.
These requests had trickled in intermittently, only ceasing half a year ago.
At that time, however, Li Fan had been immersed in the arduous study of arrays under Zhang Zhiliang, so he naturally had not received any notifications.
"He Xinxin..." Li Fan pondered, his expression suddenly turning strange.
Could this person have some connection to He Zhenghao?
He abruptly remembered that in his previous life on Liuli Island, during his first encounter with a wind calamity,
the person who had activated the Island-Protecting Grand Formation was indeed a female cultivator.
It was just that he had never crossed paths with her afterward, so he had gradually forgotten all about it.
"Did this He Xinxin only stay in the Congyun Sea for a while before leaving?" Li Fan could only guess as much.
After a moment's thought, he decided against taking the initiative to seek her out.
If fate permitted, there would surely be a day they met again.
With trivial matters settled, Li Fan delayed no longer.
Passing through a teleportation array, he arrived at Liuyun Island.
According to what Traveling Agent Wu of the Wanhua Merchant Guild had said back then, the Vast Sea Pearl was acquired from a fisherman on Liuyun Island.
Thus, the Vast Sea Pearl had likely newly formed in the sea, been swallowed by a fish,
and only then fallen into the fisherman's hands.
He simply did not know whether the Vast Sea Pearl was still in the sea or had already been fished up.
Following his usual routine, Li Fan activated a Form-Concealing Talisman, flew above Liuyun Island, and sensed attentively.
In his previous life, he had once transformed his body into the vast sea, so he was intimately familiar with the aura of the Vast Sea Pearl.
If it were on this island, he would certainly be able to detect it.
Unfortunately, after circling the island once, he found no trace of the Vast Sea Pearl.
Thus, Li Fan had no choice but to take Liuyun Island as the center and search the surrounding waters.
The ocean was vast, and because the Vast Sea Pearl was still gestating, its aura was exceptionally faint.
Doing this was truly no different from searching for a needle in the ocean.
Fortunately, it merely cost him some time.
Three months later, without any mishap, Li Fan managed to secure the Vast Sea Pearl in his grasp.
"Where a vast sea perishes, a vast sea is naturally born."
Li Fan closely inspected this curious object that had been so familiar in his previous life.
He keenly noticed that the Vast Sea Pearl seemed even frailer than when he had seen it in his past life.
The blue contained within appeared as if diluted.
It was not as deep as the ocean, but merely a wisp of pale azure like the open sky.
"I thought I wouldn't get to see you in this life, but who knew you also understood the principle of hedging your bets?"
A strange glint flashed in Li Fan's eyes, and he activated the Object-Devouring Method, swallowing the Vast Sea Pearl into his dantian.
His true Foundation Establishment would have to wait until it had fully matured.
Still, nothing stopped Li Fan from taking it into his belly first to comprehend it.
With the Vast Sea Pearl in hand, Li Fan's affairs in the Congyun Sea were largely settled.
Afterward, he made a trip to Yelan Island to check on the situation of the prodigies and incidentally intimidate Zhao Erbao once more.
To leave a deeper impression, Li Fan employed a multi-layered illusory dream this time.
Within the dream, Zhao Erbao suddenly fell into the nightmare of all the ancient objects being smashed to pieces once again.
However, having already experienced this for the third time, he had developed a slight resistance to it.
Thus, he struggled to wake up from the illusory dream.
Yet he feigned being lost in the illusion to deceive Li Fan.
Only when Li Fan appeared did he launch a sudden ambush.
With a single strike, he indeed struck Li Fan dead.
Looking at the corpse collapsed on the ground, the nightmare weighing on his chest for all these years was finally dispelled.
Zhao Erbao couldn't help but roar with laughter towards the sky in triumph.
However, to his astonishment, he found there were no celestial phenomena indicating the fall of a cultivator in the sky.
Looking back, he saw Li Fan tilt his head and give him an eerie smile.
The surrounding scenery shattered layer upon layer like glass, and he was back in his base.
Time seemed to return to the day he and Li Fan first met.
He was explaining the origin of the ancient objects bearing Dao charm to Li Fan.
Only things had changed; after listening, Li Fan did not care about reproducing Dao charm at all.
He smashed the ancient objects in the base right then and there, then slammed a palm down onto the crown of Zhao's head.
The vision went black, and Zhao Erbao jolted awake.
Drenched in cold sweat, he was dazed at first, then frantically scanned his surroundings.
He saw no sign of Li Fan, but he could no longer tell illusion apart from reality.
Only after the better part of a day did Zhao Erbao pull himself together.
Knowing this was Li Fan's warning, he hurriedly sent Li Fan a report message.
From the shadows, taking in Zhao Erbao's expression and behavior, Li Fan knew the intimidation had succeeded.
"Still, this is indeed no long-term solution. When the chance arises in the future, I must find a specialized art for controlling cultivators."
Afterward, Li Fan also went to check on Su Changyu.
Dispelling the miasma was still not complete, yet Su Changyu was neither arrogant nor impatient, persevering steadfastly.
Coupled with Su Xiaomei and Xiao Heng occasionally bringing him treasures said to aid in expelling internal miasma, he was not far from purging it completely.
Chapter 139