Chapter 643: Heaven and Earth Adapt

Those waves carrying black flames were truly horrifying beyond measure.

It wasn't just the mortal islands that were easily shattered. Even the large islands protected by island protection arrays and defended by cultivators were like paper before such destructive power, turning to ash in an instant.

The island guardians could not muster a thread of resistance before vanishing completely from the sky.

The phenomena marking their deaths lasted only a moment before being swallowed by the dense black aura filling the heavens.

The giant waves rolled on without pause, while the massive black fireball burst into tens of thousands of black light streaks.

From the point of impact, they screamed outward in every direction across the Congyun Sea.

This apocalyptic scene first plunged the cultivators of Congyun City into a brief stupor. Then, one after another, they cried out in fear.

"By the Heavenly Venerable Dao Teacher! Is this the end of the world?"

"A great calamity! A terrible calamity has come upon us!"

"A meteorite this size, and the Myriad Immortals Alliance gave no warning at all? What are they even doing?"

Some cultivators were terrified, some went mad, some burned with rage. And there were still those who held faith in the Myriad Immortals Alliance, believing this was simply a small meteor disaster, and that even if the terrifying tsunamis destroyed every island in the Congyun Sea, Congyun City, suspended high above in the clouds, would surely remain unharmed.

But in the end, for most cultivators, survival came first.

"Run!"

That was the first thought flashing through their minds.

Yet when they swarmed to the Dao Transmission Plaza, what they found there filled them with horror.

"Damn it, why aren't any of the teleportation arrays working?"

"It's over! There's nowhere to run. We're doomed!"

"A conspiracy! This has to be a conspiracy by the Myriad Immortals Alliance!"

The cultivators in the plaza fell into chaos, and their shouting quickly spread panic through the rest of Congyun City.

Within moments, every cultivator in the city knew that the teleportation arrays had failed.

Staring at the oncoming tsunami, the cultivators inevitably fell into turmoil.

But at that moment, He Zhenghao was unusually calm. Whatever fear stirred in his heart, he forced it down through sheer will.

With power this horrifying, this should undoubtedly be a Soul Arbiter of heaven and earth. I wonder when it will reveal its form. They say Soul Arbiters take the form of humans.

A flicker of unease passed through He Zhenghao.

It should be fine. Since the Secretary-Envoy was able to deduce the arrival of the Soul Arbiter in advance, he must have made preparations.

He comforted himself with the thought.

Sure enough, before long, Li Fan's steady voice suddenly rang out across all of Congyun City.

"Cultivators, do not panic! With Immortal Eminence Hong Xi here, nothing will go wrong!

"Remain within the city and wait patiently!

"Strategy Array Hall personnel, activate the defensive arrays at full power to meet the disaster! Martial Hall members, form ranks and maintain order!"

As if they had found a pillar to lean on, the cultivators calmed at once, at least for the moment.

Soon a curtain of light enveloped Congyun Immortal City, and cultivators rushed to the array nodes to reinforce them.

Order briefly returned to Congyun Immortal City.

Li Fan, meanwhile, gazed at the black streaks of light filling the sky and the relentless tsunamis, then glanced sidelong at the white-robed Immortal Eminence Hong Xi standing not far away.

His face was set in deep solemnity.

Black flames? Is Crimson Flame being enhanced, or is it another Soul Arbiter?

Black Flame?

The unforeseen changes in this world surprised Li Fan, but on the whole, this outcome still fell within his expectations.

In his previous lives, Crimson Flame had descended to carry out its duty of scorching the sea. Once cultivators refined Crimson Flame, it would trigger a fierce counterstrike from the will of heaven and earth: the all-obliterating Ink Death, which would reduce the Congyun Sea to utter nothingness.

But in this life, the battle between the Heavenly Physician, Fuzi, and Old Man Fisher had greatly hastened the predetermined hour of apocalypse.

I still have some room to maneuver.

If the will of heaven and earth had intended total annihilation from the very start, it would never have sent that weakling boilerman, Crimson Flame. It would have sent a stronger Soul Arbiter instead.

Heavenly duty. Change. Fixed fate...

Li Fan's thoughts churned, and a vague understanding began to take shape.

The will of heaven and earth is not fixed. It shifts dynamically according to the actual situation.

But its core purpose remains unchanged: the Congyun Sea must die.

The reason for that might have to do not only with cultivators being a blight upon the world plundering heaven and earth, but also with that group tied to the Heavenly Physician.

Li Fan's eyes flickered.

Just as he was lost in thought, a single wave was already bearing down on the base of Congyun City. The city soared among the clouds; a wave only a few hundred meters tall should have posed it no threat. And yet, for reasons no one could explain, every cultivator in the city was suddenly gripped by a premonition of doom.

Their premonitions proved accurate.

The enormous wave reached the foot of Congyun City, black flames leaping and writhing across its surface. Then, as if it had come alive, it abruptly changed course, snapping upward and surging toward the sky.

Cries of alarm broke out one after another.

At that moment, Immortal Eminence Hong Xi, who had been watching in silence, finally moved.

Beneath Congyun City, a vast, undulating mountain range materialized out of nothing. It rose like a great wall, forcibly intercepting the wave.

Its momentum shattered, the wave crashed back down onto the sea. But Li Fan, who had witnessed Immortal Eminence Hong Xi unleash his full power on several prior occasions, could tell that this seemingly effortless strike had already drawn on nearly half of Hong Xi's total strength.

Is it really that strong?

A faint tremor passed beneath his feet, and he narrowed his eyes.

Though he was only an avatar at this moment, he was able to deploy three divine abilities at full strength. These were transmitted through his true self, potent enough to create a flawless illusion at a critical moment and deceive everyone present.

The reason was straightforward: to thoroughly cement the fact that “Li Fan of the Heavenly Mechanisms Sect” had died.

Even amid the apocalyptic spectacle of the Congyun Sea being scorched, the Myriad Immortals Alliance would certainly find a way to reconstruct the scene afterward. He needed to be convincing and give nothing away in his performance.

It's not yet time to act.

As for Crimson Flame, no, Black Flame's true body... where is it now?

Li Fan stared intently at the surface of the Congyun Sea, searching for some clue.

The wave that Immortal Eminence Hong Xi had temporarily halted seemed to pull back. After falling into the sea, it settled into a deceptive calm.

Then came the assault of countless streaks of flowing black fire. They too seemed to move with a will of their own. The moment they saw the wave's attack blocked, they changed course instantly, converging from every direction and hurling themselves at Congyun City.

The sheer spectacle of it struck the gathered cultivators mute.

Boom!

When the first meteor crashed into the protective array, the entire city of Congyun shuddered.

What filled the cultivators with even greater dread was that from that single strike alone, hairline cracks had already begun spreading across the barrier of light.