When the pain subsided, what followed was the rapid expansion of the divine soul.
The will of the world, even if only the remnants of a single prefecture, was absolutely a great tonic for cultivators.
In the past, when Holy Emperor Li Ping supervised and monitored various affairs within Great Qi, he still received and handled countless trivial matters from a "human" perspective. But from now on, Li Ping, who had absorbed the consciousness of Congyun Sea, might also be able to take in every detail of the Holy Dynasty from the overlooking perspective of "the world itself."
After the consciousness of Congyun Sea perished, there was no wind for seven days.
Li Ping stood motionless between sea and sky, waiting for the fusion to complete fully.
Even without deliberate effort, Li Ping, who had devoured the consciousness of Congyun Sea, could still effortlessly perceive every event occurring within Congyun Sea.
He saw those cultivators affected by the demonic faces. After he withdrew his divine ability, the vast majority still had not recovered from their madness. After this calamity, not one in a hundred cultivators remained normal.
He saw the Spirit of Heaven and Earth, Crimson Flame, brewing in the sky. Because of the demise of Congyun Sea's consciousness, there was no longer any need for it to descend and burn the sea. The condensed power of laws quietly dissipated.
He saw Cloudwater Heavenly Palace in the center of Congyun Sea, whose restrictions had loosened and was about to reemerge from its seal. After flashing with a mysterious blue glow, it fell into silence once more.
He also saw that the anomaly in Congyun Sea had drawn the attention of certain existences in the Xuanhuang Realm. Several massive divine senses descended instantly and swept over this ocean. But at this moment, Li Ping had replaced Congyun Sea's consciousness and perfectly blended into the heavens and earth. Combined with his own formations and the concealment of the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao, Li Ping was not discovered.
...
Although he had temporarily concealed it, the vague sense of crisis in Li Ping's heart did not disappear.
"It seems this is not a place to linger for long." Li Ping thought inwardly after completely absorbing and digesting the consciousness of Congyun Sea.
However, before returning to the Holy Dynasty of Great Qi, he still had one thing to do.
His figure flickered, and in an instant Li Ping arrived at the seabed near Liuyun Island in Congyun Sea.
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In the deep crevice of the seabed here, there existed a peculiar vortex.
At the center of the vortex, a pale blue bead emitted a faint glow.
"The Canghai Pearl."
As part of Congyun Sea's consciousness hedging its bets, the Canghai Pearl was the final path of survival that Congyun Sea had prepared for itself.
Li Ping reached out, and the pale blue bead flew out from the seabed vortex into his palm.
"Since it has already become part of the Xuanhuang Heavenly Dao, it should be completely severed from the past."
Golden energy enveloped the Canghai Pearl, then poured in fiercely.
After the light dissipated, the bead in Li Ping's hand had changed from pale blue to a deep azure.
Yet it no longer possessed its previous liveliness.
It was because Li Ping had completely erased the last faint remnant of Congyun Sea's will within the Canghai Pearl.
"From now on, the Canghai Pearl is simply the Canghai Pearl and has no connection to Congyun Sea."
Li Ping did not store the pearl away. Instead, he flicked his finger and shot it randomly toward a corner of Congyun Sea, to await one with destiny.
Having done all this, Li Ping finally left this ocean.
All cultivators of an entire prefecture had turned into idiots.
When the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance finally noticed the anomaly in Congyun Sea, they were furious.
While sending people to investigate, how to handle these dangerous mad cultivators also became a difficult problem.
In the end, it took five Dao Integration cultivators working together to barely resolve the chaos in Congyun Sea.
Among these five was none other than Sun Luyuan, the head of the Sun family.
Previously, he had exhausted various methods and finally contacted the Fairy Kongyou.
Sun Luyuan had thoroughly investigated Fairy Kongyou's background beforehand. He knew her temperament was simple, with emotions clearly shown on her face, and she was particularly curious about novel things. Therefore, Sun Luyuan fabricated a half-true, half-false lie.
"I heard before that Fairy, you once turned an ungrateful male cultivator into a dog and tormented him day and night?"
"That scene was truly unbearable to witness. As it happens, when I was traveling in a certain small world before, I encountered a similar scene. It also involved transforming criminals into the form of exotic beasts as a means of punishment..."
Sun Luyuan selectively recounted some of what he had seen and heard within the Holy Dynasty of Great Qi.
"The emperor of this small world actually had the same idea as me? Interesting."
"And from your description, the level of development in this small world is quite extraordinary..."
After mentioning it a few times casually, Fairy Kongyou was indeed intrigued.
She agreed that if the opportunity arose, she would go sightseeing together with a few other familiar people from the alliance.
Seeing that the matter was settled, Sun Luyuan was overjoyed.
He even thought about using Fairy Kongyou's name this time to lure more outstanding talents from the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance over.
Who could have expected that before the plan could be implemented, a major tragedy struck the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance. The deception plan had to be temporarily suspended.
Originally, the messy situation in Congyun Sea had nothing to do with him.
However, the chief of the Guardian Hall, Xu Yuanxian, had privately given him a task.
Only then did Sun Luyuan have no choice but to make the long and arduous trip.
"Clear Wind Hall. This is the place."
After subduing and gathering all the mad cultivators who attacked anyone they saw, Sun Luyuan arrived at this building on Ten Thousand Immortal Island.
He did not sense the aura of any living beings inside.
But when Sun Luyuan truly walked in and saw the internal conditions clearly, his pupils suddenly shrank.
An old man lying on a wooden chair had tree roots growing from all over his body, tightly entwining and fixing him to the ground.
Although the old man had not completely died and still had a trace of breath left, in Sun Luyuan's eyes, he was no different from a dead man.
It was as if his divine soul had been completely devoured by these strange roots, leaving only an empty shell.
"This is the guard of Clear Wind Hall that Elder Xu mentioned. He had at least Nascent Soul cultivation, yet he died so unclearly."
Sun Luyuan shook his head slightly.
His gaze left the old man and swept through the interior of Clear Wind Hall.
Moments later, he discovered a hidden entrance.
Raising his vigilance, Sun Luyuan strode through the faintly visible green gap.
A somewhat spacious area.
"Thump! Thump! Thump..."
The sound of the ground trembling continued to come.
Following the source of the sound, Sun Luyuan looked over and saw a large tree that had grown human-like feet.
It was running across the ground.
In the center of the tree trunk, there was clearly an extremely aged face.
At this moment, that tree face was filled with endless terror.
This large tree was running frantically at high speed. Even its two feet were not enough to support its body, causing it to fall and get up repeatedly. Yet it never stopped its running.
It muttered to itself: "Once again, a calamity has come. This terrifying scene was never even seen in my father's most vicious curses!"
"But it has never happened at all!"
"It is not fake, not fake!"
...
The tree man rambled incoherently, its words contradictory and completely impossible to understand.
Yet it remained deeply trapped in its own delusions. Even when Sun Luyuan tried to communicate with it, it was of no use.
"Ah Liu has gone mad."
At this moment, a crisp female voice suddenly sounded beside Sun Luyuan's ear.
"Hmm?" Sun Luyuan was startled.
Because he had already searched thoroughly earlier, and besides the tree person, there seemed to be no one else here.
But immediately, Sun Luyuan thought of the task entrusted by Elder Xu this time.
He promptly asked: "Is it Fellow Daoist Qingfeng?"
The female voice did not respond.
"I was entrusted by Elder Xu to bring you back."
"According to him, this spirit wood has gone mad, so the passage within its body cannot be used, and Fellow Daoist Qingfeng is trapped here."
As Sun Luyuan spoke, he carefully observed the surroundings.
He wanted to confirm the location of this Qingfeng.
But even with his Dao Integration realm observation, he still gained no clues at all.
"Ah Liu has gone mad." The female voice still did not respond directly, only repeating this several times.
Sun Luyuan could not help but frown slightly. Could it be that this female cultivator had also been affected by the demonic faces and gone mad?
"Ah Liu and I had the best relationship. Now that it has gone mad, who will play with me in the future?"
The faint voice echoed in this not-too-large space.
Overlapping with the tree person Ah Liu's occasional wails, it sent chills down one's spine.
For some reason, Sun Luyuan felt the same eerie sensation in his heart as when he had wandered in the Holy Dynasty of Great Qi before.
"Fellow Daoist Qingfeng..." Sun Luyuan forced himself to cough lightly.
Although he did not know the relationship between this female cultivator named Qingfeng and Elder Xu.
But for the usually rigid and merciless Xu Yuanxian to make an exception and privately seek him out was enough to show that their relationship must be extraordinary.
Fortunately, things did not develop as Sun Luyuan had anticipated.
Qingfeng seemed to sob softly for a while, then finally emerged from her grief.
"So you were sent by little Xu. So he has not forgotten me."
Qingfeng's simple words instantly made Sun Luyuan's hair stand on end.
"Little Xu? Xu Yuanxian?"
Sun Luyuan almost suspected he had misheard.
Elder Xu had served as chief of the Guardian Hall for over three thousand years; he was a genuine old monster.
Yet this girl, whose voice sounded very young, called him little Xu...
If she had not gone mad, then how old could she possibly be?
What exactly was the identity of this one called Qingfeng?
Countless thoughts flashed through Sun Luyuan's mind, but he did not dare think deeply. His expression became restrained.
He no longer dared to address her as "Fellow Daoist Qingfeng" and cautiously changed his tone to ask: "Senior, why do you not show yourself? Is there any place where this junior has done something wrong?"
After a moment of silence in the space.
Qingfeng's somewhat strange voice sounded behind Sun Luyuan.
"Have I not always been here?"
"Oh, right. I forgot. Ordinary people cannot see me."
Qingfeng's words made Sun Luyuan break out in even more cold sweat.
"Elder Xu said that he will send someone later to handle this mad spiritwood. Please, Senior, come with me for now." Sun Luyuan said hastily.
"Ah! That is wonderful. I knew Ah Liu could still be saved." Qingfeng, like a simple little girl, suddenly became cheerful.
"It is all because that cataclysmic wailing scene was too terrifying and scared it silly for the time being. If you had not come, it would have been a long time before anyone spoke to me again."
Qingfeng's voice drew closer and closer to Sun Luyuan.
Finally, it seemed to stop on his back.
"Fine then. I will listen to little Xu and leave here for the time being."
"The aura here has changed; it does not feel very comfortable anymore."
Feeling the seemingly real weight on his back, Sun Luyuan's heart pounded wildly as he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
"Can this junior just leave directly?" he asked tentatively.
"Yes, I am already lying on your back."
Qingfeng's words confirmed Sun Luyuan's guess.
Sun Luyuan did not dare linger and strode out of this eerie space.
The sound of the mad spiritwood continued to echo here without stopping.
"Shall we return to the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance headquarters?" In Congyun Sea, Sun Luyuan, transformed into a streak of light and flying rapidly, asked again.
"Not there. That place does not feel comfortable. We are going to Luoyan Prefecture."
Qingfeng's mood seemed to have improved; she spoke in a somewhat cheerful tone.
"Luoyan Prefecture?" Sun Luyuan nodded.
Elder Xu's task was merely to bring Qingfeng out and settle her in the Clear Wind Hall of another prefecture.
Sun Luyuan did not dwell on it and headed toward Luoyan Prefecture.
Along the way, he also pondered the true identity of the one on his back.
With the Immortal Artifact Boundless Mirror in his family, Sun Luyuan considered himself quite experienced and knowledgeable.
Yet he had never heard of any similar existence to this bizarre Qingfeng.
He could not even gauge Qingfeng's strength.
Had Elder Xu made him travel thousands of miles just because he was worried she was trapped?
From this perspective, Qingfeng's strength could not be very high.
But Qingfeng's strange wording and various eerie behaviors made Sun Luyuan's heart numb with unease.
Clearly, this formless and shapeless existence called Qingfeng was by no means simple.
Sun Luyuan complained bitterly to himself and quickened his speed.
He only wanted to complete the task quickly and get rid of her.
Qingfeng remained silent the whole way.
And he drew closer and closer to Luoyan Prefecture.
Just as relief seemed in sight, the next words from Qingfeng suddenly made Sun Luyuan feel as if he had fallen into an ice cave.
"You seem a bit impatient."
"Indeed, there are not many in the world who are good to me."
Sun Luyuan felt a chill rise from his heart.
Although Qingfeng said nothing more afterward, his sense of unease grew stronger and stronger.
"Something feels off."
Sun Luyuan knew some change was happening to his body.
But he could not detect the specific details of the change.
It was not until Sun Luyuan entered Luoyan Prefecture and casually glanced downward that he suddenly realized with alarm.
At this moment, he was very close to the ground.
A blazing sun shone fiercely overhead.
Yet strangely, there was no shadow of his on the ground.
Sun Luyuan knew very clearly that he had not cast any spell to conceal his figure.
But his shadow had disappeared.
Somewhat dazed, he extended both arms.
He seemed to be becoming illusory.
His existence was fading away.
He was about to become like Qingfeng: formless and shapeless.
The change came too suddenly for Sun Luyuan to even feel fear in his heart.
His mind was simply blank.
Just as Sun Luyuan felt his connection to this world growing fainter and fainter...
A blazing golden light suddenly surged out from within his body.