A few days after the wind calamity passed, all the residents of Liuli Island received instructions requiring every household to inspect whether there was any damage to the Island-Protecting Grand Formation.
The method of inspection was simple: Liuli Mansion distributed a spirit talisman to each family. They needed only to hang the talisman in their home for several days and nights and watch whether it emitted any red light.
As for the island's various remote corners, designated personnel were assigned to check them one by one.
"The Island-Protecting Grand Formation possesses 367,800 nodes. We must ensure every single node is functioning normally." Under the will of the immortal master, and for the sake of everyone's survival, all other matters on Liuli Island were suspended to give utmost priority to maintaining the Island-Protecting Grand Formation.
In the past, the immortal master had personally overseen the formation's maintenance. This time, however, the spirit stones sustaining its operation were reportedly on the verge of exhaustion, so the immortal master had returned to Wanxian Island to retrieve more.
Li Fan received a spirit talisman as well.
Hanging it up inside his home and focusing his senses, he could faintly detect an invisible fluctuation spreading outward from it.
After expanding outward for a short distance, it seemed to encounter an obstruction and rebounded.
As the ripple returned, the spirit talisman lit up with a flash of blue light.
A few breaths later, the blue light died down.
The fluctuation resumed once more.
And so the cycle repeated.
"The grand formation's self-inspection counts 360 flashes of the spirit talisman as a minor cycle, and 360 minor cycles make up a major cycle. As long as no red light appears throughout an entire major cycle, the formation is sound," Li Fan recalled the instructions given when the talisman had been handed to him.
"This Island-Protecting Grand Formation is so vast, yet so exquisitely delicate. It really is hard to imagine how it was built.
"Wanxian Island is said to be where most of the cultivators in this Congyun Sea gather. It is exceptionally mysterious; even Manager Zhao doesn't know much about it.
"All that's known is that if a mortal on this island can purge all miasma from their body and guide qi within, an immortal master will descend to take them to Wanxian Island.
"It seems my goal for this lifetime lies there."
Still, matters had to be taken step by step. First, he had to secure a berth in the seafaring fleet to earn an opportunity to enter that Purifying Spirit Pool.
Li Fan had already waited hundreds of years; naturally, he was in no rush for a brief moment.
Time slipped quietly by amid the anxious prayers of the islanders.
Five days later, the result that brought relief to everyone on the island emerged.
The Island-Protecting Grand Formation was completely undamaged.
And with the immortal master's return, bearing a sufficient supply of spirit stones, the residents' hearts finally settled completely.
Life on Liuli Island gradually returned to normal.
Over the next few months, disaster victims from other islands occasionally arrived to seek refuge on Liuli Island.
Those who managed to survive were only a tiny minority; the vast majority of people on their home islands had perished in the recent wind calamity.
Upon learning that Liuli Island was guarded by an immortal master, thick envy showed on the faces of these refugees.
The Congyun Sea was vast and boundless, home to islands beyond count.
Only those islands yielding special resources were blessed with an immortal master stationed on them.
Li Fan was not idle during these months either.
Persisting every day in cultivating the Xuanhuang Mind-Clearing Incantation, he finally reaped his reward.
Name: Li Fan
Realm: Mortal
Physical Age: 41/88↑
Psychological Age: 504/1119↑
The caps for both his physical and psychological age had increased once more. Though the rise was modest, it still filled Li Fan with excitement.
From then on, Li Fan cultivated even more diligently, devoting every moment outside of meals to practicing the Mind-Clearing Incantation.
Another month passed like this, and Li Fan finally received word sent by Manager Zhao.
The Congyun Sea's wind calamity had completely dissipated, and the fleet's next voyage was imminent!
Three days later, at the Liuli Island docks.
The sea vessels of Liuli Island were slightly larger than the second form of the Taiyan Boat, measuring fully two to three hundred meters long.
A dozen or so massive ships were lined up in sequence, anchored across the water's surface, creating quite a magnificent sight.
Because of the wind calamity, the fleet had been grounded for a long time, and Liuli Island had fallen far behind on the tribute materials it owed.
Consequently, the Island Master ordered the entire fleet to deploy.
This was a rare, grand spectacle; usually, for safety's sake, only one or two fleets put to sea at the same time.
The docks were packed with islanders who had come to watch the commotion.
Whenever they spotted someone they knew aboard the sea vessels, they would wave enthusiastically.
Following Manager Zhao's man, Li Fan boarded a ship named the Cangyuan.
Many among the crew, like Li Fan, were going to sea for the first time. Their faces brimmed with excitement, their eyes sparkling with hopes of striking it rich overnight.
The veteran sailors, however, presented the exact opposite picture.
Far from feeling any excitement, they wore expressions of deep gloom and complained endlessly: "I don't know what kind of madness seized the Island Master to come up with this evaluation. Whichever crew brings back the least this voyage will be judged a failure and have its seafaring privileges revoked! What in the world are we supposed to do?"
"Ah, don't even mention it. It's all because of that blasted wind calamity. I heard on the sly that down south on Coral Island, their Island-Protecting Grand Formation shattered, and the whole island was razed flat. The tribute supplies Coral Island owed have been dumped onto us here on Liuli Island."
"What sort of nonsense is this! How are we supposed to get by from now on!"
"Supposedly it's only temporary; we just need to make up for what's owed."
The crowd sighed in dismay.
"Look at what a pathetic bunch of cowards you are! Why can't you look on the bright side? Doesn't the first-place ship get a reward too? The share of the haul goes up from thirty percent to fifty percent!"
"Fifty percent! Do you understand what that means! If we haul in a fortune, we won't have to go to sea for the rest of our lives!"
Just then, a bronze-skinned fellow strode over and began shouting curses at the crew.
"Boss, stop dreaming. First place? You know our fishing skills as well as anyone—when haven't we barely scraped by the quota?"
"Yeah, the way I see it, this is gonna be our last voyage!"
"Why don't we just not come back? How great would it be to become carefree pirates!"
Clearly, the crew had a great rapport with the man. Far from being frightened by his scolding, they jeered and joked in return.
Hearing their wild talk, the bronze-skinned man was unperturbed.
Instead, he planted his hands on his hips, wearing an expression of supreme confidence.
"What, Boss, you got an idea?" Knowing him inside and out, the crew immediately chimed in to ask.
The man declared smugly, "Rest easy. We've got a capable man aboard this time. I guarantee we'll return loaded to the brim."
With that, he pointed at Li Fan, who was standing behind him.
"Him?"
"Fair skin and clean clothes—has he ever even been to sea?"
The crew looked closely and were immediately disappointed, shaking their heads in disbelief.
"You blind fools, failing to recognize an esteemed guest! This here is a great talent personally invited by Manager Zhao, and he'll be taking over our ship before long! You'd best show him some respect!" the fellow roared, appearing thoroughly outraged.
At his words, a furor instantly erupted aboard the Cangyuan.
Meanwhile, the bronze-skinned man glanced back at Li Fan, a sly grin flitting across his face as if his scheme had just succeeded.
Chapter 29