Chapter 579: An Early Apocalypse

The silver starlight and the insight-inducing Great Dao resonance that had accompanied Li Fan's entrance were, in truth, the combined effect of the Man's Dao Stardust and the Dao Comprehension Pills.

To achieve this, Li Fan had swallowed the Man’s Dao Stardust that could make someone love one back, along with over a hundred Dao Comprehension Pills in one gulp. He wasn't trying to digest them; he only needed the overflow of their emanations.

Judging by the results, they had done a good job of intimidating the crowd.

With contribution points flowing steadily into his pocket, he believed that, barring any unforeseen complications, the final fundraising plan should proceed without serious difficulty.

There was no further reason to linger, so Li Fan slipped away quietly. He did not return to Congyun City. Instead, he retreated to the hidden chamber he had previously excavated deep within the underwater trench and went back into hiding.

The Qiankun Heavenly Mechanisms Die. Li Fan's eyes sharpened as the crystalline die materialized in his hand. He turned it idly between his fingers, his mind working.

His earlier words had not been entirely fabricated. During his previous contact with this ancient esoteric treasure of the Heavenly Mechanisms Sect, vague images had indeed occasionally surfaced in his mind—scenes of scorched, barren earth and a deathly silent Congyun Sea, a vision of absolute ruin.

An ordinary cultivator receiving such an inexplicable premonition would surely be terrified and at a loss. Li Fan felt nothing in particular. He had personally witnessed the far more terrifying sight of Ink Death extinguishing everything, and set against that memory, the Crimson Flame Sea Scorching event was, in truth, a minor spectacle.

What did pique his interest was this: the future vision glimpsed through the Qiankun Heavenly Mechanisms Die would not occur in Anchor Year 28 as he had experienced in previous cycles, but earlier. And it kept being brought further forward with each action he took in this lifetime.

After he successfully manipulated Sikong Yi into completing the Heavenly Physician's task through a simple scheme, the date shifted. After he conceived the plan to have Han Yi instigate a three-way battle between Old Man Fisher, the Heavenly Physician, and Fuzi, it shifted again. Each time, the projected onset of the Crimson Flame Sea Scorching event advanced significantly.

Li Fan knew there was no such thing as a single inevitable future. Yet the Crimson Flame Sea Scorching event was a cataclysm of the highest order; it should not be so easily disturbed by his actions. Evidently, he had underestimated the reach of his own influence over this event.

Why would a Soul Arbiter of heaven and earth slaughter the living beings of the Congyun Sea?

Why, even after the Crimson Flame perished, did the will of heaven and earth remain unsatisfied, dispatching the formidable Ink Death to reduce the Congyun Sea utterly to a no man's land?

Ink Death's intervention would leave only nothingness. For heaven and earth, this was undoubtedly a mutually destructive act. And yet heaven and earth had insisted upon it.

The Congyun Sea must die. Li Fan had understood this since his earliest simulation cycles. But the precise reason had always eluded him.

This cycle, however, as he actively pushed for the Heavenly Physician and Fuzi to meet Old Man Fisher within the Congyun Sea, things began to change.

According to the Qiankun Heavenly Mechanisms Die's future visions, if a battle among the three truly came to pass, the Crimson Flame Sea Scorching event, originally set for Anchor Year 28, would arrive by Anchor Year 20 at the latest.

A full eight years early!

The clash between the Heavenly Physician and Old Man Fisher had been part of Li Fan's long-standing plan. He could not abandon it simply because an ostensibly inevitable event might now arrive ahead of schedule. That reasoning was also why he had placed his final fundraising plan at precisely this moment.

Of course, these were all fragmentary images shown by the Qiankun Heavenly Mechanisms Die, nothing more. A definitive conclusion would only be possible a few years from now, when events actually unfolded.

If the Crimson Flame Sea Scorching event truly arrives early because of the frequent activities of the Heavenly Physician and the others... then this will become rather intriguing. A faint, contemplative light settled in Li Fan's eyes.

His thoughts drifted to the fragments of the Heaven-Scorning Sword, suppressed in various locations by the Soul Arbiters of heaven and earth.

Having lived through several simulation cycles since stepping into the Xuanhuang cultivation world and having read through countless texts, Li Fan had a decent command of the world's general state of affairs. He wouldn't claim omniscience, but he understood perhaps seventy to eighty percent of it.

As far as he knew, although the conflict between cultivators and the world had grown irreconcilable since the establishment of the new methodology, the world's countermeasures against cultivators had typically been indirect. It mostly chose methods like the Exclusivity of Techniques, where the world's inherent rules were altered to quietly cull the cultivator population.

For the world to display such open, active murderous intent, as seen in the great calamity of the Congyun Sea, was another matter entirely. Li Fan had rarely encountered comparable cases. Perhaps relevant information had been suppressed or concealed, but for now, the Congyun Sea incident was the only one he was aware of.

What exactly does this signify? A contemplative expression settled on Li Fan's face. I hope the Heavenly Physician and the others can enlighten me in this lifetime.

***

Less than a day after the gathering on Liuli Island, word had spread to every cultivator across the Congyun Sea. The previous rumors were not false; the Secretary-Envoy, long in seclusion, had personally come forward to confirm them.

And so, a grand mayhem ensued.

That legendary, high-return investment plan, previously said to be accessible only to those with a personal connection to Li Fan, was now open to all.

The goal of tripling the investment in five years seemed incredible. But if it was orchestrated by that legendary cultivator of the Heavenly Mechanisms Sect, perhaps it was not so unbelievable after all.

Cultivators rushed to spread the word, eagerly debating how many contribution points to stake. Even the most clear-headed among them felt their composure waver beneath the current atmosphere of universal participation.

I currently hold four hundred and fifty thousand contribution points. If it triples, that exceeds one million. Sikong Yi's chest swelled with emotion. Fellow Daoist Han was right. The path of cultivation depends on connections. If he hadn't left me a way to contact He Zhenghao, when would I ever have seen a million contribution points?

Fellow Daoist Han, you died well!

With that thought, Sikong Yi did not hesitate for a moment. He resolved to gamble everything once more, pouring his entire accumulated savings into the fundraising plan.

Opportunities like this are rare. Miss it, and it's gone forever. My complete turnaround depends on this. A flash of resolve crossed his eyes.

***

Han Yi, now in possession of a million contribution points after winning the fish betting game, was currently in Yuandao Province.

Li Fan of the Congyun Sea. Triple in five years?

His heart stirred.

Perhaps it was backlash from forcibly altering his providence. Since setting foot in Yuandao Province, nothing had gone smoothly. His cultivation had barely advanced, and he had already spent a portion of his million contribution points.

Perhaps...

A flicker of hesitation passed through Han Yi's eyes.

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