The moment he laid eyes on that crimson silhouette, countless streams of information abruptly flooded Li Fan's mind.
An anima of Heaven and Earth was the tangible embodiment of a certain law governing Heaven and Earth.
Once specific conditions were met, an anima of Heaven and Earth would arise as dictated by destiny, manifesting within a given region.
If Heaven giving rein to its killing intent had set into motion a purge of immortal cultivators, then the animas of Heaven and Earth were the specific executors of that plan.
They possessed no thoughts of their own, acting solely on predetermined instinct.
They were the laws themselves; slaughtering cultivators was to them like slaughtering chickens and sheep.
Their mission was to exterminate those immortal cultivators who defied Heaven and Earth.
To cultivators, an anima of Heaven and Earth was exceptionally perilous.
Once targeted by one, it virtually meant certain death.
Yet at the same time...
As the incarnation of the Great Dao's laws, an anima of Heaven and Earth also represented a tremendous opportunity for cultivators.
As the saying went: *Sacrifice an anima of Heaven and Earth to unite with the Dao in flesh.*
If a cultivator could refine an anima of Heaven and Earth, then regardless of their prior cultivation realm, they could instantly achieve the Dao Integration stage.
It was the natural enemy of cultivators, yet it also held an incomparable allure for them.
At this very moment, upon laying eyes on the anima of Heaven and Earth, Chi Yan, a boundless greed welled up from the depths of Li Fan's heart.
*Devour it! Devour it and you can prove the Great Dao! Devour it and you can ascend in broad daylight!*
Like a starving man encountering a sumptuous feast, or a traveler trekking through the desert for days and nights coming upon a crystal-clear lake, this greed whispered incessantly in Li Fan's ears like the murmurs of a demon, driving and tempting him to rush toward that crimson figure in the sky.
Even as Li Fan soothed the scorching sensation radiating from the Vast Sea Pearl, he frantically ran the Xuanhuang Heart-Refining Incantation to dissolve the surging greed within his heart.
He knew full well that he was only able to observe the anima of Heaven and Earth, Chi Yan, by borrowing the perspective of the Vast Sea Pearl.
In Chi Yan's eyes, Li Fan was merely an unformed consciousness of the vast sea. Thus, even when it noticed Li Fan's gaze, it had merely cast a glance his way before ignoring him.
But if Li Fan lost his reason, attacked Chi Yan, and exposed his identity as a cultivator, he would undeniably be ruthlessly struck down.
Reason and desire tore at Li Fan's soul.
Two diametrically opposed impulses threatened to rip his consciousness clean in two.
Li Fan could only grimly sustain the circulation of the Xuanhuang Heart-Refining Incantation, preserving his Dao heart.
He did not know how much time had passed before the storm stirred by greed finally subsided.
Li Fan felt a lingering dread, daring not peek any further.
To have peered into Heaven's secrets and still kept his consciousness intact was already a tremendous stroke of fortune.
Having gained some faint insights, Li Fan's consciousness prepared to leave the Vast Sea Pearl and return to his physical body, only to discover an extremely awkward predicament.
As it turned out, neutralizing the greed induced by the anima of Heaven and Earth had taken him nearly the better part of a year!
Having merged with the Vast Sea Pearl's consciousness for so long, he had already exceeded the limits of what a Qi Condensation cultivator could endure.
While his consciousness remained linked to the Vast Sea Pearl, he was relatively fine, but if he returned to his physical body, he would likely die of old age before long.
A mere distant glance had wrought such terrible repercussions.
His cultivation in this life would probably have to end here.
Though Li Fan found it somewhat regrettable, he felt no remorse.
He had learned the truth behind the dramatic upheaval of the Congyun Sea, witnessed the anima of Heaven and Earth, Chi Yan, and personally comprehended the subtle workings of Heaven and Earth.
Li Fan's gains could hardly be considered small.
Even if this life ended now, he could accept it.
What was more, he had no intention of activating True Reversion to end this life just yet.
What's done is done. Since his consciousness was already trapped within the Vast Sea Pearl, he might as well seize the opportunity to comprehend the qi mechanism of Heaven and Earth once more.
As long as he didn't court death by peeking at the anima of Heaven and Earth again, merely perceiving the qi mechanism shouldn't pose any danger.
His physical body's lifespan was now exhausted. Deprived of a body's nourishment, his consciousness was like water without a source or a tree without roots; it would gradually be worn away within the Vast Sea Pearl.
By Li Fan's estimates, he could hold out for a little over a decade at most.
If he made good use of this time, he might well achieve further gains.
Li Fan drew forth a wisp of pure power from the Vast Sea Pearl to protect his physical body from decay.
Then, his consciousness once more submerged itself into the perspective of the Vast Sea Pearl.
He watched the circulation of the qi mechanism of Heaven and Earth; he watched the rising and setting of the sun, moon, and stars.
He watched the lingering life in the Congyun Sea perish one after another.
He felt the aloof, indifferent, and unchanging killing intent pervading Heaven and Earth.
Just like that, five years slipped by in the blink of an eye.
In Anchor Year 40, the Congyun Sea had long since dried up completely, becoming a deathly wasteland in every sense of the name.
Only Tai'an Island, sheltered under Li Fan's protection, still held a modest number of surviving mortals.
On this day, Li Fan suddenly had a premonition and looked up toward the sky.
That crimson silhouette, which had stood suspended in the air for over a decade, was finally gone.
Its task accomplished, it had naturally dissipated.
None could say where in the cultivation world it might reappear one day.
Li Fan gazed in the direction where Chi Yan had vanished, and his mind sank back into silence within the Vast Sea Pearl.
As time progressed, Li Fan's consciousness grew increasingly faint.
His thoughts also became ever more sluggish.
As though having lost the capacity for independent thought, he could only silently observe this realm through the perspective of the Vast Sea Pearl.
In the second year after Chi Yan vanished, several cultivators clad in green Daoist robes arrived at the Congyun Sea.
With incantation after incantation cast, the long-awaited rain finally poured from the sky.
More cultivators soon followed.
Azure-green light bloomed across the dried seabed.
Vegetation embodying the breath of life sprang forth upon the earth.
A refreshing breeze swept past, and trees rose from the ground one by one.
In just a year's time, those scorched wastes were once again brimming with vibrant life.
The scene of Chi Yan boiling the sea not long before seemed like a nightmare gently scattered by the wind.
The Congyun Sea had completed its transformation into the Congyun Mountain Range.
A city suspended in midair began to be constructed above the Congyun Mountain Range.
Once completed, it drew more and more cultivators from across the world.
The Congyun Mountain Range grew increasingly bustling.
Occasionally, cultivators drawn by rumors came to visit the only island that had survived the flame disaster, hoping to stumble upon some opportunity.
But veiled by Li Fan's instinctual concealment, they found nothing.
In Anchor Year 48, a Foundation Establishment cultivator returned to the Congyun Sea.
He arrived at the former Liuli Island—now the Liuli Mountain Range—with a sorrowful expression.
Sweeping over him from not far away, Li Fan's divine sense took in the sight, sighing in poignant emotion.
Li Fan knew this man.
It was none other than Zhang Haobo, who had resolved to migrate away from the Congyun Sea years ago due to the unease in his heart.
Over twenty years had passed, and by some stroke of fortune, he had actually become a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Scene after scene from this lifetime flashed rapidly through Li Fan's mind; his consciousness was on the verge of fading away.
Before it dispersed entirely, Li Fan's consciousness returned to his physical body.
Over a decade spent comprehending the qi mechanism of Heaven and Earth caused the bottleneck impeding Li Fan's advancement to abruptly dissolve.
Worldly spiritual energy surged into him, and Li Fan's cultivation instantly broke through to the late Qi Condensation stage.
The faint trace of a smile appeared on Li Fan's face, then froze.
His body aged rapidly. When a gust of wind blew past, it dissolved into dust and scattered into Heaven and Earth.
Only a skeleton of white bone remained, lying there in silence.
"True Reversion!"
Before he completely faded, Li Fan called out in his heart.
Chapter 59