Li Fan left Qihong Isle and took out Study of Ancient and Modern Mountains and Rivers.
With a sweep of his divine sense, he flipped through its pages. In just a few breaths, he had read the entire contents.
A ball of flame leaped from his hand, reducing the book to ashes.
Li Fan gazed toward the southeast.
“The Extreme South… has shifted to the southeast, huh? The changes between ancient and modern times are truly unfathomable.”
“What Ximen Yu said before was indeed true. Over millions of years, the Xuanhuang Realm has actually expanded as a whole. Some places have completely vanished, while others have emerged out of thin air…”
“The once-sacred Nanming Sacred Beast Mountain has now transformed into a deep-sea vortex that connects to the endless ocean.”
“According to Ximen Yu’s investigations, the Sacred Beast Mountain no longer exists. However…”
A sharp gleam flashed in Li Fan’s eyes.
“This must be the red snake I saw back in the Fallen Immortal Realm, the one that wrapped around Nanming Sacred Beast Mountain.”
“If even it has perished, then the demonic beast race’s journey when they left the Xuanhuang Realm might not have been as smooth as they had hoped.”
Li Fan flew toward Tiancheng of Yueyang Prefecture.
On the way, he reverted to his original appearance. As a guest official of the Xuan Clan, he held a Level 30 authority, granting him free access to the Long-Distance Teleportation Formation.
Originally, traveling through conventional teleportation formations would have taken at least half a month.
With the Long-Distance Teleportation Formation, he could arrive in just half a day.
Upon reaching Yueyang Tiancheng, he entered the inside of Immortal Ancestor’s Statue Hall. The attending reception staff verified Li Fan’s identity and were slightly startled.
They then respectfully led Li Fan to the teleportation formation chamber.
Moreover, he was given priority over the cultivators ahead of him in the queue—the formation was activated for him first.
The cultivators who had been bypassed showed little resentment. Realizing that Li Fan’s status was extraordinary, they only revealed curiosity and envy in their gazes.
A slight dizziness washed over him. In the next instant, Li Fan arrived at Lingxu Prefecture, where the deep-sea grand vortex resided.
“Hmm?”
As he stepped out of the teleportation formation and adjusted to the anomalies in his body, he sensed something unusual.
He had used Long-Distance Teleportation Formation before.
Since the process involved crossing multiple prefectures and passing through many layers of Devouring Essence White Mist barriers, it typically resulted in more than just dizziness and discomfort.
The loss of lifespan from the journey was also quite noticeable—like a part of himself being extracted, leaving behind a faint sense of emptiness.
But this time…
Li Fan checked his [Truth] Interface for his current age.
“It’s not an illusion. My lifespan hasn’t decreased significantly.”
“Has the Devouring Essence White Mist weakened, or has the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance improved the Long-Distance Teleportation Formation technology?”
Recalling his previous experience crossing the White Mist from Longevity Valley, Li Fan pondered.
“The Devouring Essence White Mist is still effective. Then what does this mean…?”
He also remembered that the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance had been secretly dispatching personnel into the White Mist, seemingly searching for something.
“It seems that, apart from the Samantabhadra True Boat, the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance may have found another way to counter the Devouring Essence White Mist.”
“What exactly is hidden within the White Mist?”
In an instant, Li Fan recalled the Chizha Abyss he had seen in his previous life and the many Lost Maze Zone rumored to be concealed within the White Mist.
“Wait a moment.”
Li Fan suddenly halted his steps.
Because he recalled the time when he had encountered the Inverted Monster and comprehended the “Chaos” Character on the Broken Stone within that mysterious zone.
“Could it be that my use of the ‘Chaos’ Character back then led the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance to delve deep into the White Mist?”
Li Fan’s thoughts raced.
“It’s not impossible. However, under normal circumstances, the initial investigation should have been focused within the Xuanhuang Realm. Yet, they directly set their sights on the depths of the White Mist.”
“Does that mean they’ve already searched the Xuanhuang Realm and found nothing? Or…”
“Has the ‘Chaos’ character appeared before, and its origin is actually within the White Mist?”
“If that’s truly the case, what does it imply?”
Li Fan couldn’t help but fall into deep contemplation.
The Dao Deviation Stone emitted a dazzling blue light as he continuously deduced various possibilities.
Yet, his body never stopped moving, flying swiftly toward the great vortex.
Before long, the increasingly dense and violent water-element spiritual energy in the air reminded Li Fan that he was approaching his destination.
“Hiss…”
A sharp pain snapped Li Fan out of his thoughts.
“The spiritual energy here is rather strange,” he frowned slightly.
With his current physique, merely absorbing a trace of this violent water-element energy caused unbearable pain—
as if countless sharp blades were cutting through his body from the inside.
Li Fan temporarily sealed his body’s pores to block the influx of external spiritual energy. He then captured a wisp of it in his palm, carefully analyzing it.
“Not only is its nature violent and difficult for cultivators to absorb, but it also naturally contains the attribute of ‘Rend’…”
“No wonder this region is sparsely populated. The closer one gets to the great vortex, the more desolate it becomes.”
Li Fan continued flying toward his destination, noticing that the surrounding spiritual energy was becoming even sharper.
“Whoosh!”
During his flight, the astral winds slashed against his face, causing stinging pain.
He had no choice but to form a protective layer of spiritual energy around himself.
“Luckily, I have the Five Elements Great Cave-Heaven, forming a self-sustaining cycle within my body. If it were an ordinary cultivator, they’d likely deplete their spiritual energy in no time.”
Sensing the rapid consumption of spiritual energy within him, Li Fan was secretly alarmed.
Thus, he continued to fly at full speed.
After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, he finally saw the grand, surging Deep Sea Vortex and the serpent-shaped island coiled beside it.
Rather than approaching immediately, he observed from a distance.
For a moment, it felt as if he had returned to thousands of years ago—when the beast clans had collectively retreated from this place.
“This vortex must be an anomaly caused by the collapse of the Sacred Beast Mountain and the Rifting of Realms.”
“Even after thousands of years, it has yet to subside. This alone shows how catastrophic the event must have been. Is this not also a form of damage inflicted upon the Xuanhuang Realm?”
At this thought, Li Fan suddenly had an epiphany.
“Every group that forcefully leaves this realm is like cutting an opening in the great balloon of the Xuanhuang Realm, which is already on the verge of being devoured by the Immortal Ruins.”
“Naturally, those within the realm wouldn’t allow it once they discovered the truth.”
“They would inevitably try to stop it. That Red Serpent—perhaps it perished in battle for this very reason.”
“Then what about the Heavenly Sword Sect? Was it because they were one of the Ten Great Immortal Sects that no one confronted them? Or…
“Was it that those who left with the World-Rifting Divine Weapon were not only members of the Heavenly Sword Sect?”
“Or perhaps, after the Heavenly Sword Sect departed, the other cultivators of the Ten Great Immortal Sects only realized it too late?”
Li Fan’s thoughts remained turbulent, making him even more eager for his next journey to the Fallen Immortal Realm.
“The greater the turmoil, the deeper my Dao enlightenment!”
“This place… shall be my proving ground for ascension!”
Suddenly, amidst the howling gales stirred by the great vortex, a series of wild, frenzied shouts faintly reached Li Fan’s ears.