The once-murmuring brook turned in an instant into a surging torrent.
Alongside it, the grotto-heaven's land once more expanded rapidly.
Nourished by the abundant river water, the vegetation within the grotto-heaven grew even more luxuriant. Trees sprang up from the earth, lush and verdant.
"Tianyu's river of impending birth..."
Li Fan watched as Sacred Embryo Xu Bai nodded with a touch of gratification.
Xu Bai then exited the grotto-heaven and resumed his travels through the Xuanhuang Realm.
Like a mortal traveler, he measured this land on foot.
Whenever he encountered an about-to-be-born change suited to himself, he gathered it into his grotto-heaven as though plucking medicinal herbs.
After his initial astonishment, seeing it so many times left Li Fan somewhat numb, accustomed to the sight.
Li Fan had once read numerous insights from Nascent Soul cultivators on breaking through to Soul Formation.
All said that the world's about-to-be-born changes were like meridians inside a mortal's body—extraordinarily difficult to find without specialized methods.
Furthermore, extracting one would inevitably shake heaven and earth, causing tremendous upheaval.
Yet all such conventional wisdom completely failed when it came to Sacred Embryo Xu Bai.
A mere squint and a moment's observation were all he needed to determine whether an about-to-be-born change of heaven and earth was present.
Then, with a gentle wave of his hand, like summoning a light breeze through the world, he quietly made it his own without a sound.
As more and more forces of change and renewal were incorporated into the grotto-heaven, Sacred Embryo Xu Bai's personal world renewed itself day by day.
Mountains and rivers, rift valleys, plains, rivers, jungles...
Vibrant with life, myriad forms sprang forth. It looked unmistakably like a growing pocket world.
Yet Sacred Embryo Xu Bai furrowed his brows in a rare show of concern.
"Something is still missing.
"This vitality is merely an illusion and cannot sustain a perfect self-cycle.
"Without external infusions, this hastily nurtured grotto-heaven will soon slowly return to desolate dormancy."
Li Fan sensed what he was thinking.
Sacred Embryo Xu Bai hovered in midair, gazing far into the distance in all directions.
He looked on like this for an entire day.
Then, a faint smile spread across his face.
Unhurriedly, he took a step forward and set off toward his destination.
From Li Fan's perspective, Sacred Embryo Xu Bai's speed wasn't actually fast.
He didn't even use spiritual energy, advancing solely through physical movement.
Yet in the eyes of an outsider, he traversed a thousand li in a single stride, vanishing in an instant without a trace.
*It's not that he's moving faster; the world itself actively cooperates, shortening the distance.*
*Shrinking ground to an inch to ease the journey.*
Feeling intently the subtle shifts in the surrounding heaven and earth with every step, Li Fan experienced a sudden flash of enlightenment.
*Although my body has been borrowed by Mr. Bai for his rebirth this time, it is truly a tremendous fortune.*
*Every undiscovered about-to-be-born change represents supreme wealth capable of forging a Soul Formation powerhouse.*
*Moreover, Sacred Embryo Xu Bai's every move aligns with heaven and earth; each can be regarded as a divine ability.*
*Such as the lush vitality that quickens the grotto-heaven, or the effortless grace with which he casually plucks the marrow of Heaven. And now, this shrinking ground to an inch.*
*With my aptitude, comprehending even one of these in a single lifetime of reincarnation would already be an immense blessing. Yet right now, they come one after another.*
*What is even rarer is that all these divine abilities are performed using my body and perception—no different from executing them myself. With a bit of contemplation in the future, it might not be impossible to replicate them perfectly.*
*Provided that there is a next life.*
The myriad thoughts coursing through Li Fan's mind came to an abrupt halt as Sacred Embryo Xu Bai finally reached his destination.
"This is... the Congyun Sea?"
Snapping back to his senses, Li Fan felt a jolt of shock.
Nearly ten years had passed since Mo Sha had destroyed the world.
Though the area remained a post-apocalyptic scene, the once-violent magma had ceased spewing. It had gradually cooled, solidifying into hard black rock.
The spatial voids that had eaten away at the area like wood-boring worms had also completely healed at some unknown point.
At first glance, the former Congyun Sea was still filled with utter dead silence.
Yet upon careful sensing, a distinct power seemed to be quietly brewing.
Naturally, Li Fan was only able to detect this by relying on Sacred Embryo Xu Bai's uniquely blessed, peerless talent.
Had any other cultivator come here, they would likely only feel wave upon wave of lethal danger, wanting nothing more than to flee.
Sacred Embryo Xu Bai gazed at the ruins for a long time. Before entering the Congyun Sea, however, he cast a glance in the direction of Yuandao Province.
A wave of resentment and dread instantly surged within his heart.
For the first time, a negative emotion showed on Sacred Embryo Xu Bai's face.
With a cold snort, he turned back and stepped slowly into the Congyun Sea.
Unlike the feeling that arose when glancing toward Yuandao Province, the emotions stirring within Sacred Embryo Xu Bai as he walked through these ruins were extraordinarily complex.
It was an experience born from the mingling and fusion of multiple emotions.
For a moment, Li Fan couldn't even distinguish what kind of feeling it truly was.
Soon, however, Li Fan's attention shifted to Sacred Embryo Xu Bai's movements.
Evidently, the goal of his journey was an about-to-be-born change that could perfect the vitality of his grotto-heaven.
This time, he didn't casually pluck it as before.
Instead, he showed a rare gravity.
Using his hand as a brush, his figure darted through the air, tracing a line between the ethereal and the corporeal across heaven and earth.
The line continued unbroken, starting from the coastal border of Yuandao and Shilin Provinces in the west and reaching the edge of the Endless Ocean in the east.
In barely half a day, he had enclosed the rough expanse of what had once been the Congyun Sea.
However, its outline was bizarrely shaped, and it was far smaller than the original territory of the Congyun Sea.
Once the ethereal-corporeal line closed upon itself, it flashed suddenly and faded into heaven and earth.
Sacred Embryo Xu Bai then drew a deep breath.
He reached out to grasp the invisible loop and slowly applied force.
As the loop was continuously gathered into his hands, something within the world of the Congyun Sea seemed to be slowly dragged out with it.
Li Fan focused his spirit completely, unwilling to miss a single detail.
Inside his mind, the Dao Transformation Stone crystal radiated brilliant blue light, recording every insight originating from Sacred Embryo Xu Bai down to the finest detail.
At first, Sacred Embryo Xu Bai reeled in the line with relative ease. But the further along he went, the stronger the counterforce from the void seemed to grow.
Every pull demanded nearly all his strength. The slender thread gathered in his palm transitioned from ethereal to corporeal, feeling like a balmy spring breeze, yet also like thread of ice.
Sacred Embryo Xu Bai's eyes were resolute as he pulled with unwavering determination.
And as more and more of the loop was extracted, a sudden upheaval rocked the once-peaceful ruins of the Congyun Sea!
*Boom!*
The black-red magma that had previously quieted down violently erupted once more!
Black, squirming cavities appeared one after another in dense clusters, like countless tiny insects!
The terrifying aura of an impending apocalypse abruptly descended.
"This is..." Li Fan's pupils constricted sharply.
"The Congyun Sea, on the verge of revival, is turning back into a dead land!
"What he's pulling out is the power driving the world's resurgence!"
Around them, the surroundings returned to a living purgatory on earth, yet Sacred Embryo Xu Bai's movements still showed not the slightest hesitation.
His expression was devoid of sorrow and joy.
Chapter 779