"Is this for secrecy?"
Li Fan glanced at Huangfu Song, only to find the man long accustomed to it.
Beaming with satisfaction, Huangfu Song tapped the tabletop, picked up the spirit tea that had welled up, and drained it in a single gulp.
"Ten Thousand Immortals Spirit Tea—now this is good stuff. Word is, it's an ancient recipe passed down from antiquity. Drinking it has the effect of slightly strengthening the divine soul."
"Limited to one cup per person. Young friend, why don't you try some?"
With the spirit tea settling in his stomach, Huangfu Song rubbed his belly, let out a long sigh of contentment, and beckoned to Li Fan.
Following Huangfu Song's example, Li Fan drank the Ten Thousand Immortals Spirit Tea before him.
Compared to the effects of the Xuanhuang Heart-Refining Incantation, it fell short by more than a little.
"A fine treasure indeed!" Even so, he put on an expression of immense delight.
Just as he set down the teacup, Li Fan felt the Dust-Crossing Boat beneath him tremble slightly. To his surprise, it gradually slowed to a halt.
"Could some unexpected mishap have occurred?" Somewhat astonished, Li Fan looked toward Huangfu Song, who was slowly rising to his feet.
"Don't just sit there. We should be at the Five Elements Great Grotto-Heaven," Huangfu Song said.
"So fast?" Li Fan was taken aback, unable to conceal his shock.
After all, by his perception, less than the time to brew a cup of tea had passed since their departure.
Li Fan was well aware of the Dust-Crossing Boat's maximum speed.
By that calculation, was this Five Elements Great Grotto-Heaven situated not far from Zhupi City?
As if reading Li Fan's thoughts, Huangfu Song chuckled. "Don't bother calculating. This Dust-Crossing Boat doesn't just block our perception of external space—it can also warp our perception of time."
"You think only a fraction of a day has passed?"
"In truth, it could very well have been seven or eight full days."
"Of course, it's equally possible that only the amount of time you perceived really went by."
"The point is to keep you guessing."
"Ever since that earlier spy incident involving Immortal Venerable Ziqiong, the Alliance has become increasingly cautious and vigilant."
Shaking his head, Huangfu Song walked toward the outside of the cabin.
*Affecting the perception of time's passage...* Li Fan's heart sank. This was the first time he had witnessed technology within the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals that touched upon time.
*Then again, it might simply be a straightforward distortion of cognitive perception.*
Suppressing the thought, Li Fan followed Huangfu Song out onto the deck.
The moment he stepped out of the cabin, an unprecedented surge of water-attribute spiritual energy—so dense it was nearly tangible—assailed him.
Having spent many years in the Congyun Sea and having once built his foundation with the Vast Sea Pearl, Li Fan was exceptionally sensitive to water-attribute spiritual energy.
Consequently, he was all the more astounded.
*Could this be the water-attribute grotto-heaven among the Five Elements Grotto-Heavens? It is practically a magnified, concentrated Vast Sea Pearl.*
Li Fan instinctively inhaled the spiritual energy, refining and absorbing it, which gave him an even clearer appreciation of the sheer purity of the energy here.
Looking to his left and right, Li Fan discovered that the surrounding cultivators, including Huangfu Song, were all craning their necks, gazing up at the firmament.
Their faces were filled with an unspeakable shock.
Li Fan looked up as well.
At that moment, the Dust-Crossing Boat rested upon an impeccably flat demarcation line.
Below lay a boundless, azure world of water stretching beyond the horizon.
Above stood a towering, colossal tree inverted in the sky, its roots planted in the heavens while countless branches reached downward to interface with the water world.
Every single branch was as vast as a mortal plain.
Faintly visible atop them were dense swathes of vegetation.
On some of the trunks, continuous forests even stood in tiers.
"Originally, the water-attribute grotto-heaven was purely an azure expanse of water."
"Yet not long ago, outside the water world, the apparition of the wood-attribute grotto-heaven abruptly emerged."
"The two have begun to gradually merge into one. This is the phenomenon of the convergence of the five elements."
Qi Buyi suddenly appeared. She too looked up at the magnificent spectacle in the sky, explaining the situation to the crowd.
"The convergence of the five elements... In that case, beneath the water world, are there signs of the metal-attribute grotto-heaven invading?" a cultivator aboard the boat could not help asking upon hearing this.
Qi Buyi nodded. "Beneath the endless layers of water, an expanse of golden radiance can indeed be seen. However, it is not an invasion by the metal-attribute grotto-heaven."
"Rather, the water-attribute grotto-heaven is invading the metal-attribute grotto-heaven."
"Just like what the wood-attribute grotto-heaven overhead is doing."
"Metal generates water, and water generates wood. Yet at present, the order is completely reversed?" Huangfu Song chimed in.
"Then in the end..."
Mid-sentence, Huangfu Song was struck with sudden realization and shock, staring dumbfounded at Qi Buyi.
"It is not as simple as you imagine," Qi Buyi said, walking to the edge of the Dust-Crossing Boat. Wrapping a sphere of water in her spiritual energy, she held it out for all to see.
"Before the convergence of the five elements, the water in this water-attribute grotto-heaven was incomparably pure. But now..."
Qi Buyi flicked a spark of fire into the water sphere.
Something occurred that astonished everyone present.
The volume of water was clearly more than enough to extinguish the tiny spark Qi Buyi had flicked.
Yet upon touching the flame, the water burst into roaring flames instead.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, it burned ever more furiously.
In the end, it formed a lump of charred black earth.
Li Fan saw it with absolute clarity: this bizarre phenomenon had occurred not because the spark was particularly potent,
but because the fundamental nature of the "water" had changed.
It had become combustible by fire.
"Is this even still water?"
"Wait, there is so much water in this grotto-heaven—if it were suddenly ignited, wouldn't that mean catastrophe?"
The cultivators aboard the Dust-Crossing Boat exchanged uneasy glances, shuddering at the horrifying implications.
As if anticipating their concern, Qi Buyi said, "The change you just witnessed occurs only when the water is drawn out individually."
"So long as it exists as an integral part of the grotto-heaven as a whole, it will not ignite or turn to earth."
Hearing this, the crowd let out collective sighs of relief.
"As for why this phenomenon occurs, there is currently no definitive answer."
"That is precisely the purpose of our coming here."
"The anomaly taking place in this grotto-heaven differs from an ordinary convergence of the five elements."
"The Alliance is extremely interested in this. According to previous calculations, the convergence of the five elements will conclude within five years at most."
"And as the process continues to accelerate, that timeframe is very likely to shrink significantly as well."
"What we must do is complete the construction of the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation shrouding the Five Elements Great Grotto-Heaven before the five elements converge entirely."
"In addition to the vanguard who arrived earlier, reinforcements will continue to arrive one after another to handle the formation's construction."
"We are one part of that effort. Our primary responsibility is the coverage area of the water-attribute grotto-heaven."
Qi Buyi explained the mission's objective to everyone in a crisp, efficient manner.
"Even though it is merely a single grotto-heaven, it is exceptionally vast."
"It is even larger than an entire province of our Xuanhuang Realm."
"Most regions here do not yet have teleportation arrays installed. Relying solely on flying to travel would simply be too slow."
"To facilitate our future work, the Alliance has prepared some special tools for everyone."
With that, Qi Buyi produced a teardrop-shaped object of black and gold, displaying it before the crowd.
"This is the Sky-Evading Shuttle, a flight treasure specially forged by the Alliance."
"Its speed is..."
"Extremely fast."
Chapter 380