In his previous life, when his lifespan was nearing its end, Li Fan broke through the barrier of the Immortal Severing Formation by a stroke of fortune and arrived in the cultivation world for the first time.
The scene he witnessed back then was a rolling mountain range and a magnificent city standing suspended in midair.
Yet in this life, after reaching the cultivation world, Li Fan found himself over a vast, boundless ocean.
Before this, Li Fan had never thought too deeply about it, assuming only that some mishap had occurred during teleportation.
Only today, upon seeing the dried-up Congyun Sea and witnessing the birth of the wonder Vast Sea, did he finally understand.
There had been no mishap. The place he arrived at after passing through the Immortal Severing Formation was indeed the exact same location.
It was merely that the timing of his two arrivals in the cultivation world had differed.
In his previous life, when Li Fan arrived in the cultivation world, he was already eighty-five years old—which corresponded to Anchor Year 65.
In this life, however, Li Fan entered the cultivation world at forty, once his reversion charging progress reached 100%.
That was Anchor Year 20.
A gap of forty-five years: one encounter with a boundless sea, one encounter with mountain ranges.
It was no wonder Li Fan had not considered this possibility before.
Without experiencing it firsthand, even if someone had told him beforehand that such a cataclysmic upheaval of heaven and earth would take place, he surely would have taken it with a grain of salt.
And so Li Fan smiled.
First, he laughed at himself for still being unable to shed a mortal mindset.
If he had connected the various anomalies Zhang Haobo had warned him about with the differences between what he had witnessed across his two lives, perhaps he could have noticed this grand cataclysm in advance.
Second, he smiled because he finally saw hope that this disaster would recede.
In Anchor Year 50, Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi barged into Great Xuan. Back then, they claimed they hailed from Lingtian City in the Congyun Mountain Range.
Presumably, by that time, this drought would have already passed.
The dried-up sea would transform into vibrant, flourishing mountains.
It was now Anchor Year 34—it would not be long.
Waiting without hope was the greatest torment, but knowing the eventual outcome made this seemingly endless scorching calamity no longer appear so terrifying.
Calming his mind, Li Fan returned to Tai'an Island.
Looking at the mortals who lived in constant dread and had grown somewhat numb, able only to pray and kowtow day and night, Li Fan transmitted his voice across the entire island, telling them that this catastrophe would eventually pass.
Having received the immortal master's word, the island's residents were wild with joy, hope for survival rekindling within them.
Li Fan, meanwhile, entered seclusion and brought out the Vast Sea Pearl once more.
"Does that sliver of life lie here?"
Li Fan observed this azure wonder of heaven and earth.
His divine sense poured into it, but like a clay ox entering the sea, it vanished in an instant.
"It seems that utilizing it will take some effort," Li Fan thought upon seeing this.
Wonders of heaven and earth were the key to establishing a Dao Foundation; how to find and use them was exceedingly precious knowledge.
The exchange price in the Heaven Xuan Mirror was also exorbitantly high, requiring nearly two thousand contribution points.
For now, Li Fan could only grope his way forward on his own.
Next, Li Fan made numerous attempts.
He poured in spiritual energy, nurtured it with his divine sense, struck it with external force, and in the end even tried refining it with drops of blood.
Yet the Vast Sea Pearl remained completely unmoved, and the surging moisture contained within could not be stirred at all.
In the end, Li Fan had a flash of inspiration, recalling that the *Golden Chapter of Thousand Mechanisms and the Jade Cosmos* contained methods for sensing and refining the aura of various natural treasures.
He immediately channeled the divine ability Discern Mechanism and looked toward the Vast Sea Pearl.
A deep blue radiance surrounded the Vast Sea Pearl.
Ancient, profound, vibrant with life...
Though the Vast Sea Pearl was small, the complexity and power of its aura surpassed that of all living beings on Tai'an Island.
It was merely that it was still dormant and incubating, so without close observation, one could not easily distinguish it.
Li Fan cautiously sensed the aura of the Vast Sea Pearl.
The moment contact was made, Li Fan felt as if his physical body had vanished.
It was as though he had suddenly ascended beyond the highest heavens, looking down upon the ocean below from a bird's-eye perspective.
The Congyun Sea had existed since antiquity, nurturing countless living beings.
Yet one day, a certain will between heaven and earth abruptly descended.
And so, the ocean began to march toward death.
Heaven gives birth and Heaven slays; such is the principle of the Dao.
Heaven wished to burn the sea, and the sea lacked the power to resist.
Yet, It refused to submit!
Thus, though one vast sea perished, another vast sea was born!
...
Boom!
Li Fan broke out of that wondrous realm.
Before he even had time to savor the scenes he had just witnessed, he suddenly felt a wave of weakness wash over him, nearly unable to keep his footing.
Upon checking himself, Li Fan was horrified to discover that, unbeknownst to him, strands of white hair had appeared on his head, and faint wrinkles had surfaced on his face.
This had occurred during mere moments of communing with the Vast Sea Pearl's aura!
When Li Fan opened the True Reversion panel once more, he drew in a sharp breath.
Name: Li Fan
Realm: Middle Qi Condensation Stage
Physiological Age: 89/199
Psychological Age: 517/2280↑
In just that instant, Li Fan's physiological age had jumped from 54 to 89.
In a single breath, it was as if thirty-five years had passed.
"No wonder even in the ancient Heavenly Mechanism Sect, so few practiced this technique. It was merely the consciousness of a single sea, yet coming into contact with it burned through lifespan at terrifying speed.
"If lifespan hadn't drained so fast that my body sounded an instinctive alarm, I might have been inexplicably assimilated by the consciousness of the vast sea. When that time came, whether I could still activate True Reversion would truly have been hard to say."
Having grasped what had just transpired, Li Fan felt a lingering terror.
"No, this definitely isn't the way to control a wonder of heaven and earth."
Li Fan knew he had certainly gotten the method wrong.
A human's perception of temporal scale, compared to that of heaven and earth, mountains, rivers, and the vast sea, was simply on entirely different orders of magnitude.
Even those mighty cultivators who could live for thousands of years were far from comparable.
Rashly using human consciousness to make contact would lead to only one outcome: assimilation.
Then how in the world could one control a wonder of heaven and earth?
Holding the Vast Sea Pearl, Li Fan's expression fluctuated.
...
Days passed one by one, yet Li Fan still could not figure out how to use the Vast Sea Pearl.
Meanwhile, the weather grew ever hotter, as if intent on carrying out a final, total purge of the Congyun Sea.
Gradually, the mortals on the island lacked even the strength to pray.
Li Fan knew clearly that if this continued, these mortals might die before this scorching calamity even passed.
Dying right before the dawn broke was truly despairing.
Li Fan could not help but grow restless, stray thoughts multiplying in his mind.
To settle his mind, he began circulating the long-dormant *Xuanhuang Heart-Refining Incantation*.
Ever since becoming a Qi Condensation cultivator, the vast majority of his energy had been devoted to cultivating techniques like the *Water Derivation Technique* and the *Golden Chapter of Thousand Mechanisms and the Jade Cosmos*.
He had not consciously cultivated the *Xuanhuang Heart-Refining Incantation* in a long time.
Because it offered no substantial boost to his cultivation base, and even without actively cultivating it, the incantation would run slowly on its own.
Thus, Li Fan had set it aside.
Now, as the Heart-Refining Incantation circulated, negative emotions like unease, fear, and impatience all gradually faded, becoming nourishment to strengthen his Dao heart.
With calm restored to his heart, Li Fan suddenly had a premonition.
The turning point for his breakthrough also lay with this Vast Sea Pearl.
Chapter 57