The waves churning with black flames were terrifying beyond measure.
Not only were the mortal islands effortlessly obliterated, but even the massive islands fortified by Island-Protecting Grand Formations and guarded by cultivators proved to be made of mere paper. Before that horrific destructive might, they disintegrated into ash in an instant.
The garrison cultivators stationed on those islands vanished into the firmament without offering even the slightest resistance.
Even the death omens triggered by their falls persisted for only a fleeting moment before being swallowed by the dense black aura pervading the sky.
The colossal waves continued their sweeping onslaught, while the massive black fireball, amidst a world-shattering collision, shattered into tens of thousands of black streaks of light.
From the point of impact, they shrieked outward in every direction across the Congyun Sea.
This apocalyptic spectacle first plunged the cultivators within Congyun City into a stunned stupor. Then, utterly unable to restrain themselves, they erupted into wave after wave of terrified shrieks.
"Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable above! Has the apocalypse arrived?!"
"A catastrophe! A terrifying catastrophe has come!"
"With a meteorite this massive, why didn't the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals give any warning at all?! What do they think they're doing?!"
Some cultivators were paralyzed with terror, some went mad with panic, and some seethed in rage. Still others clung stubbornly to their faith in the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals.
They believed this was nothing more than an ordinary natural disaster of a meteorite strike. Even if the monstrous tsunami could wipe out every island in the Congyun Sea, Congyun City hung suspended high in the nine heavens and ought to remain completely unscathed.
Yet there were always cultivators whose foremost priority was saving their own skins.
"Run!"
At this moment, that was the first thought that flashed through their minds.
However, when they swarmed into Dharma Transmission Plaza, they were confronted by a sight that chilled them to the bone.
"Dammit, why have all the teleportation formations stopped working?!"
"We're finished! There's nowhere left to run—we're dead for sure!"
"A conspiracy! This has to be a conspiracy by the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals!"
The cultivators on the plaza descended into chaos, and their frantic shouts quickly spread panic throughout the entirety of Congyun City.
In merely a matter of breaths, every cultivator in the city learned that the teleportation arrays had failed.
Watching the tsunami surge closer and closer, they could not help but fall into complete disarray.
Yet at this juncture, He Zhenghao appeared remarkably calm. Even if a flicker of dread stirred in his heart, he managed to suppress it through sheer self-persuasion.
*Such terrifying might... this must surely be an anima of Heaven and Earth. I wonder when it will manifest its true form? They say the true form of an anima of Heaven and Earth always resembles a human.*
Unease gnawed faintly at He Zhenghao's heart.
*There shouldn't be any major problems. Since the Lord Secret Emissary could divine the arrival of the anima of Heaven and Earth in advance, he must have prepared for this long ago,* he reassured himself.
Sure enough, not long after this thought crossed his mind, Li Fan's voice suddenly resonated across all of Congyun City.
"Cultivators, there is no need for panic! With Immortal Lord Hongxi here, nothing will go awry!"
"You need only remain inside the city!"
"All members of the Formation Planning Hall, activate the defensive formations at full power to counter this disaster! Martial Practice Hall ranks, assemble and maintain order!"
The steady, resonant voice echoed ceaselessly. Like people who had found their pillar of support, the cultivators instantly regained a measure of composure.
Before long, a radiant light curtain enveloped Congyun Immortal City, and cultivators began rushing toward the various formation nodes to reinforce them.
Order briefly returned to Congyun Immortal City.
Li Fan, meanwhile, gazed into the distance at the sky full of black streaks of light and the endlessly churning tsunami, then cast a side glance at the white-robed Immortal Lord Hongxi standing not far away.
Li Fan saw that Hongxi's face was etched with unprecedented solemnity.
*Black flames? Has Crimson Flame been empowered, or is this another anima of Heaven and Earth altogether?*
*Mo Yan?*
Though Li Fan was somewhat surprised by this unexpected deviation in this lifetime, the outcome, taken as a whole, still fell within his expectations.
In his previous lives, Crimson Flame had descended bearing a heavenly mandate to burn the sea and purge the world.
And after Crimson Flame was refined by cultivators, it provoked a ferocious counterattack from the will of Heaven and Earth.
The all-annihilating Mo Sha descended, reducing the Congyun Sea to utter nothingness.
Yet in this lifetime, the clash among the Heavenly Physician, the Master, and Yufu had caused the predetermined hour of destruction to advance by a considerable margin.
*Crimson Flame's burning of the sea still left some leeway.*
*If the will of Heaven and Earth had intended utter annihilation right from the start, then the entity descending wouldn't have been that puny stoker, Crimson Flame.*
*Instead, it would be replaced by a far more powerful anima of Heaven and Earth.*
*Heavenly mandates, flux, fixed fate...*
Li Fan's thoughts churned, and a faint realization dawned on him.
*The will of Heaven and Earth is not set in stone; it adapts dynamically according to the actual circumstances.*
*Yet the core objective remains the same...*
*The Congyun Sea must perish!*
*As for the reason behind it, besides cultivators pillaging Heaven and plundering the Earth and acting as a scourge to the world, it is likely inextricably tied to the Heavenly Physician and his cohort!*
A sharp light flashed through Li Fan's eyes.
While Li Fan was lost in thought, a massive wave had already surged directly beneath Congyun City.
Even though Congyun Immortal City towered high into the clouds and waves only a few hundred meters tall appeared completely incapable of affecting it, an ominous premonition welled up in the hearts of every cultivator in the city for reasons none could name.
As it turned out, their instincts were entirely correct.
Upon reaching the space beneath Congyun City, that colossal wave flickering with black flames seemed to come alive, abruptly altering its trajectory.
It surged violently upward toward the heavens, crashing toward the city.
Gasps of horror rose one after another.
At this moment, Immortal Lord Hongxi, who had been silently watching the spectacle, finally made his move.
Beneath Congyun Immortal City, an undulating chain of mountains manifested out of thin air.
Like a great wall, it stood firm and forcefully blocked the surging wave.
Its momentum halted, the wave crashed back down into the ocean.
Yet Li Fan, having witnessed Immortal Lord Hongxi strike with full power several times before, could discern that this seemingly effortless blow had in fact drawn nearly half of Hongxi's strength.
*It's that formidable?*
Feeling the faint tremors beneath his feet, Li Fan narrowed his eyes.
Though he was currently merely an avatar, his body housed three all-out divine abilities bestowed by his true self.
They were more than sufficient to pass off a fake as real at a critical moment and deceive the onlookers.
He had arranged this, of course, to completely cement the news of the Heavenly Mechanism Sect cultivator Li Fan's demise.
Li Fan was certain that even in the apocalyptic disaster of sea-burning, the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals would find a way to discern what had transpired before the Congyun Sea was destroyed.
Naturally, the act had to be convincing without leaving a single flaw.
*Now is not yet the time to act.*
*Where is the true form of Crimson Flame... no, Mo Yan right now?*
Li Fan stared intently at the surface of the Congyun Sea, trying to catch any trace of its presence.
Meanwhile, the wave momentarily repelled by Immortal Lord Hongxi seemed to cease its assault, falling back into the sea and subsiding into calm.
What struck next were the tens of thousands of black streaks of flying fire.
As if endowed with sentience, upon seeing that the wave's advance had been thwarted, they instantly altered their flight paths.
En masse, they hurtled directly toward Congyun City.
This magnificent yet terrifying sight left the cultivators completely struck dumb.
*Boom!*
When the first streak of fire slammed violently against the grand defensive formation, the entirety of Congyun City shook violently.
What terrified the cultivators even more was that from a single strike, fine cracks had already spread across the protective light barrier.
Chapter 642