"What is going on?"
Under the shock to his mind, Li Fan's Water Mirror Technique shattered with a crash.
His thoughts roared, thrown into momentary chaos.
After a brief while, Li Fan gradually regained his composure.
"Could there be something wrong with this *Golden Chapter of Thousand Mechanisms and the Jade Cosmos*?"
His immediate thought was that something was amiss with the technique.
Perhaps the so-called "Discern Mechanism" was simply no longer applicable in the cultivation world after the Great Cataclysm.
After all, Li Fan was currently within Tai'an Island's Island-Protecting Grand Formation.
Tai'an Island lay in the central region of the Congyun Sea, squarely under the dominion of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals.
Everything had been peaceful and safe all along. How could impending doom suddenly fall upon him just because he had gone into seclusion?
Yet, sensing the dense aura of death clinging to him, Li Fan could not convince himself so easily.
The unease in his heart grew increasingly intense.
Making a swift decision, Li Fan resolved that whether the threat was real or an illusion, he would first head to Wanxian Island to take refuge.
He moved at once to activate the teleportation array to Wanxian Island.
To his dismay, his heart sank—the teleportation array showed no reaction whatsoever!
Li Fan's expression darkened.
He pulled out the communication talisman He Zhenghao had given him and tried to reach him.
Spiritual energy poured in, but there was still no response!
The situation was glaringly clear: a bizarre upheaval had indeed taken place.
Remaining on Tai'an Island was a dead end; he could not simply sit and wait for death!
Li Fan summoned the Taiyan Boat and took out the *Atlas of the Congyun Sea*, preparing to pilot the flying boat there himself.
The spirit stones that powered the Taiyan Boat were nearly exhausted, but fortunately, during his previous lavish shopping spree, the Cultivator Solo Travel Essential Kit had included a substantial supply.
Li Fan estimated that flying from Tai'an Island to Wanxian Island would take about two to three months.
The spirit stones would certainly suffice.
At this moment, Li Fan cast aside his duties as island guardian and immediately piloted the flying boat, preparing to leave.
Just as the Taiyan Boat was about to cross beyond the Island-Protecting Grand Formation, Li Fan suddenly sensed an endless killing intent outside.
Like ten thousand sharp blades, it filled heaven and earth.
Li Fan's heart stopped for a beat, and he halted the Taiyan Boat at once.
A foreboding instinct warned him that the instant he stepped beyond the grand formation, he would surely die!
Li Fan narrowed his eyes, gazing out across the calm, placid sea, unable to tell where the crisis originated.
In the end, he chose not to take the gamble.
Stowing the Taiyan Boat, he decided to first inquire among the island's mortals about what had happened recently.
Yet when his divine sense swept across the entire island, he was taken aback once again.
A full third of the island's population had vanished.
Those who remained had somehow grown sallow and emaciated, as though they had gone without food for a very long time.
Realizing that something catastrophic must have occurred during his seclusion, Li Fan flew with a grim expression toward the Tai'an Island Master's mansion.
Ever since becoming acting guardian, Li Fan had remained in constant seclusion, paying little attention to the island's mundane affairs.
He had only met this Island Master a handful of times.
At this moment, the Island Master dropped straight to his knees upon seeing Li Fan, kowtowing repeatedly while weeping and wailing.
"Mercy, Immortal Master! Have mercy, Immortal Master, please save us!"
The Island Master wept bitterly, banging his head so hard it was nearly bleeding.
"What on earth has happened? Speak at once!" Li Fan demanded, his face dark as thunder.
"Reporting to Immortal Master, life simply cannot go on! Heaven hasn't granted a drop of rain for more than half a year. The fresh water and food on the island are almost completely gone. If this continues, everyone will starve to death!" the Island Master cried out between kowtows.
"No rain for half a year?" Li Fan recalled what Zhang Haobo had told him years ago.
*Has the drought arrived after all? But when I inquired with the Heavenly Profound Mirror before, the answer was that no major upheaval would occur. Could a drought of this scale not even be worth the Heavenly Profound Mirror's notice?*
The Island Master continued to wail, "All the fish in the near shores have been fished clean, and the weather is far too hot—not a single fleet that ventured into the open sea has returned alive. Everyone is on the verge of starving to death! Mercy, Immortal Master, please save us!"
Irritated by the man's shouting, Li Fan glanced at him and noticed that although he had lost some weight, his body was still laden with rolls of fat. In a burst of fury, Li Fan snapped, "Half the island's mortals have starved to death, yet how is it that you haven't slimmed down?"
The Island Master turned pale and opened his mouth to make an excuse.
However, when Li Fan swept his divine sense through the kitchen of the manor, his fury peaked.
Without waiting for the Island Master to speak, he swatted him into a paste of flesh and bone with a single palm.
"Holding a post while gorging yourself on the people's blood—death is too good for you!"
Li Fan scoffed coldly and, channeling the power of the grand formation, transmitted his voice across the entire island:
"The Island Master has been executed by my hand. Let all other administrators report to the Island Master's manor immediately to see me!"
A moment later, several mortals arrived before Li Fan, trembling in fear.
Seeing that they too appeared starved, Li Fan suppressed his murderous urge.
Through their tearful accounts, Li Fan finally pieced together what had happened during the year he spent in seclusion.
The drought had started half a year ago.
At first, when days passed without rain, no one took it seriously.
Only when two straight months went by without a single drop did everyone on the island fall into a panic.
The island possessed sources of fresh water, but with the prolonged dry spell, they gradually dried up.
At first, food could still be sustained by fishing along the coast. But as the heat became increasingly unbearable, no fish could be found around the island, and the fleets that ventured out into the open sea never returned. Tai'an Island was plunged into famine.
In just one month, a third of the island's population died amidst countless tragedies.
Those who remained were merely clinging to life.
Had Li Fan emerged from seclusion any later, he might not have found a single living soul left.
With matters as they were, Li Fan could not simply stand by and watch them die.
When he left Great Xuan years ago, aside from a few cabins filled with gold, silver, and treasures, the rest of the Taiyan Boat had been packed to the brim with grain.
He had originally prepared it merely out of his cautious habit when setting out to explore an unknown cultivation world.
He had never expected that nearly ten years later, it would finally come in handy.
The Taiyan Boat was equipped with a Dust-Cleansing Formation, so the grain naturally had not spoiled.
Li Fan immediately expanded the Taiyan Boat to its maximum size and ordered the mortals to haul out a portion of the grain for emergency relief.
Seeing that the Immortal Master had brought lifesaving grain, the islanders fell to their knees in overwhelming excitement, kowtowing ceaselessly.
Li Fan paid them no mind, letting them rejoice.
If rationed carefully, the grain within the Taiyan Boat should sustain them for a few months.
The most pressing matter was resolving the water crisis.
With water, they could live.
Li Fan walked over to the island's primary fresh water source: a medium-sized lake in the island's center.
Guards had long been posted around the lake to bar ordinary commoners from approaching.
Due to the prolonged absence of rain, the lake had shrunk drastically, leaving only a tenth of its original size. It was on the verge of drying up completely.
"Whoever built the Island-Protecting Grand Formation certainly never anticipated running out of water..."
Holding the Tai'an Island Guardian Token, Li Fan shook his head helplessly.
"It seems I will have to construct a formation to purify seawater after all."
Chapter 54