Chapter 54 – Heaven and Earth Set the Kill

“What is going on?”

Shocked to his core, Li Fan’s Water Mirror Technique shattered with a thunderous crash.

His mind buzzed and roared, plunging into momentary chaos.

After a while, Li Fan slowly regained his composure.

“Could it be that there’s something wrong with this《 The Jade Realm Thousand-Arts Golden Canon 》?”

His first instinct was that the cultivation method itself was flawed.

The so-called “divining opportunities” might no longer be applicable in the cultivation world after the great cataclysm of heaven and earth.

After all, Li Fan was currently inside the island protection formation of Tai’an Island.

And Tai’an Island was situated in the central region of the Layered Cloud Sea, well within the Myriad Immortals Alliance’s sphere of influence.

Everything had been safe and uneventful before. How could a mere session of closed-door cultivation suddenly bring catastrophe upon him?

However, sensing the dense aura of death permeating his surroundings, Li Fan found himself unable to simply dismiss his concerns.

The unease in his heart grew increasingly intense.

Li Fan made a decisive call—regardless of whether it was real or not, he would head to Ten Thousand Immortals Island to seek refuge first.

He immediately prepared to activate the teleportation array and travel to Ten Thousand Immortals Island.

But what made his heart sink was that the teleportation array showed no response whatsoever!

Li Fan’s expression darkened.

He then took out the communication spirit talisman that He Zhenghao had given him and attempted to contact He Zhenghao.

He channeled spiritual energy into it—still no response!

The situation was clear. Something strange and ominous had indeed occurred.

Staying on Tai’an Island was a dead end. He couldn’t just sit and wait for death!

Li Fan summoned the Taiyan Vessel, took out the 《 Layered Cloud Sea Atlas 》, and prepared to pilot the flying vessel there himself.

The spirit stones originally powering the Taiyan Vessel were nearly depleted. Fortunately, during his earlier shopping spree, the “Solo Cultivator Essential Kit” he had purchased came with a good number of spirit stones.

Li Fan estimated that flying from Tai’an Island to Ten Thousand Immortals Island would take roughly two to three months.

He definitely had enough spirit stones for the journey.

Without further concern for his duty of guarding the island, Li Fan piloted the flying vessel and prepared to depart.

Just as the Taiyan Vessel was about to fly beyond the island protection formation, Li Fan suddenly detected an endless, boundless killing intent from the outside world.

It was as if ten thousand blades were arrayed between heaven and earth.

Li Fan’s heart skipped a beat, and he immediately brought the Taiyan Vessel to a halt.

His instinct told him that the moment he left the island protection formation, he would die without question!

Li Fan narrowed his eyes and gazed at the calm, tranquil sea, unable to discern where the danger came from.

In the end, Li Fan chose not to take the risk.

He stowed the Taiyan Vessel and decided to first ask the mortals on the island what had happened recently.

But when his spiritual sense swept across the entire island, he received yet another shock.

The island’s population had decreased by a full third.

And those who remained had all become gaunt and sallow for some unknown reason, as if they hadn’t eaten in ages.

Knowing that something catastrophic must have occurred during his closed-door cultivation, Li Fan’s expression turned grim. He flew to the island lord’s residence on Tai’an Island.

Since becoming the acting warden, Li Fan had done nothing but cultivate in seclusion, paying no attention to the mundane affairs of the island.

He had only met this island lord a handful of times.

Now, upon seeing Li Fan, the island lord immediately fell to his knees and kowtowed repeatedly, wailing in despair.

“Have mercy, Immortal Master! Have mercy, Immortal Master! Please save us!”

The island lord wept bitterly, nearly smashing his forehead bloody against the ground.

“What exactly has happened? Speak quickly!” Li Fan’s expression was extremely dark.

“Reporting to the Immortal Master, life has become utterly unbearable! The heavens haven’t sent a single drop of rain for over half a year now. The fresh water and food on the island have nearly been exhausted. If this continues, everyone will starve to death!” The island lord spoke between kowtows and sobs.

“Half a year without rain?” Li Fan recalled the words Zhang Haobo had spoken to him years ago.

“So the drought has come after all. But why did I receive an answer from the Celestial Mystery Mirror saying that no major upheaval would occur? Could it be that a drought of this magnitude doesn’t even register in the Celestial Mystery Mirror’s eyes?”

The island lord continued crying out: “All the fish in the nearby waters have been caught. The weather is unbearably hot—not a single fishing fleet that ventured into the open sea has returned alive. Everyone is truly on the verge of starvation! Have mercy, Immortal Master! Save us!”

Irritated by the man’s incessant wailing, Li Fan glanced at the island lord’s body—thinner than before, yes, but still padded with ample fat—and erupted in fury: “Half the mortals on this island have starved to death, and yet you still haven’t lost any weight?”

The island lord’s face went white as he tried to explain himself.

But Li Fan had already swept his spiritual sense through the kitchen of the lord’s residence, and what he found drove his rage to its peak.

Without waiting for the island lord to speak, Li Fan smashed him into a pulp with a single slap.

“A parasite feasting while others starve—death is too good for you!”

Li Fan snorted coldly, then channeled the formation’s power to project his voice across the entire island.

“The island lord has been executed by my hand. All remaining officials, come to the lord’s residence at once!”

Moments later, several mortals arrived before Li Fan, trembling with fear.

Seeing that they too bore the look of people who hadn’t had a proper meal, Li Fan finally suppressed his killing intent.

Through their tearful accounts, Li Fan at last pieced together what had transpired during the year he spent in seclusion.

The drought had begun half a year ago.

At first, when it hadn’t rained for many days, no one thought much of it.

It wasn’t until two full months passed without a single drop of rain that everyone on the island began to panic.

The island did have freshwater sources, but with no rainfall for so long, they had gradually dried up.

Initially, they could sustain themselves by fishing in the nearby waters. But as the weather grew ever hotter and fish could no longer be found around the island, and every fleet that set out to deeper waters never returned, Tai’an Island descended into famine.

In just one month, a third of the island’s population had perished. Untold horrors had unfolded.

Those who survived were merely clinging to life.

Had Li Fan emerged from seclusion any later, he might not have found more than a handful of people still alive.

Things being as they were, Li Fan couldn’t simply stand by and watch people die.

When he had left Great Xuan years ago, aside from a few cargo holds filled with gold and silver, the rest of the Taiyan Vessel had been loaded entirely with grain.

It had originally been a precautionary measure born of his cautious habit when exploring the unknown cultivation world.

He never expected that nearly ten years would pass before it finally proved useful.

The Taiyan Vessel contained a Dust Purification Formation, so naturally the grain had not spoiled.

Li Fan immediately expanded the Taiyan Vessel to its full size and ordered the island’s mortals to unload a portion of the grain for emergency distribution.

When the islanders saw that the Immortal Master had brought life-saving grain, they all fell to their knees in gratitude, kowtowing ceaselessly.

Li Fan paid them no mind and let them celebrate.

If rationed carefully, the grain in the Taiyan Vessel should be enough to sustain the remaining islanders for several months.

The most critical issue, however, was solving the freshwater problem.

With water, they could survive.

Li Fan made his way to the island’s primary freshwater source—a mid-sized lake at the center of the island.

Guards had long been stationed around the lake’s perimeter, keeping ordinary citizens from approaching.

Due to the prolonged absence of rain, the lake had shrunk drastically, reduced to barely a tenth of its original size. It was on the verge of drying up completely.

“When they built the island protection formation, no one ever anticipated a water shortage…”

Holding the Warden’s Token of Tai’an Island, Li Fan shook his head helplessly.

“It seems I’ll need to construct a seawater purification formation.”