A massive golden wall enveloped everyone within. Countless cries of shock filled the air, but in an instant, all the clamor suddenly vanished, leaving only the sharp, piercing sound of hurricane winds swirling endlessly.
Ri Yan’s gaze shifted from astonished delight to bewilderment. He scanned the surroundings, his tone turning peculiar, “What celestial technique is this?”
Li Fei’s voice sounded from behind him, somewhat weak: “The Great Forest Law.”
“What kind of Great Forest Law is this?!”
Ri Yan was still exclaiming. It wasn’t as if he had never seen the Great Forest Law before. People enclosed by the golden wall would typically regress or rapidly age due to time reversal or acceleration, their bodies returning to childhood or even surpassing their lifespan’s limit, ultimately fading into complete nothingness.
Time was said to be the domain of deities. No matter how advanced a cultivator’s practice, they couldn’t easily tread into this realm. That’s why the Great Forest Law was considered the ultimate celestial technique closest to perfection. Even knowing the correct Yuan Power combination, successfully releasing it was incredibly difficult, almost impossible to achieve.
At this moment, the bustling immortals were still present, not one missing. Yet no one moved, not a single person. Many immortals had even been caught mid-technique, the light of the Five Elements’ Yuan Power still flickering, but they were forcibly frozen in place. The hurricane winds were so strong they could almost sweep the sea into the sky, yet the immobilized immortals stood like clay statues, not even a single hair quivering.
This was neither regression nor progression. She had made time stop for these immortals. No one could accomplish such a feat, not even the creator of the Great Forest Law, Immortal Qingcheng.
Ri Yan clicked his tongue in wonder, his large pointed nose instinctively drawing closer to Immortal Cuixuan. The old man’s current appearance was quite comical – his hair standing on end, eyes wide open, his facial muscles contorted into a strange expression that made one want to laugh. Ri Yan was about to touch him when Li Fei spoke again: “Don’t touch him, or his time will be altered.”
Even the slightest change, like moving a single hair, could lead to unpredictable consequences. Here, a hair’s breadth difference could lead to a thousand miles of error.
Ri Yan turned to glare at her: “I’d say the one doing the altering is you! The Great Forest Law can’t do this!”
Li Fei’s face was exceptionally pale, but her expression remained calm: “This is just a slight modification to the incomplete parts of this celestial technique. Master was indeed remarkable to create such a technique.”
Ri Yan’s shock intensified: “What modifications did you make?! How… how did you know how?”
Even if she had shed her shell, she was still the same Jiang Li Fei. The shell might have changed, but the person remained the same. How could someone who didn’t even know the Yuan Power combination for the Great Forest Law notice its incompleteness? How could he possibly discover any imperfections?
“I don’t know, but I instinctively modified it as I cast the technique,” Li Fei mounted the Si Zhi Jiao, slowly rising into the air, quietly gazing at the tens of thousands of Central Plains immortals frozen in mid-air. “Perhaps it’s the instinct of the Jianmu Fruit body.”
Ri Yan suddenly noticed snow-like particles continuously falling from beneath her feet. He immediately sensed something was wrong and rushed to her front, only to see the skin on her face and hands constantly peeling off, revealing the unsettling flesh beneath. The white skin kept regenerating and breaking apart, creating a horrifying sight.
Li Fei turned her face away from his gaze: “Ri Yan, why did you come?”
She had thought this fox had finally gained freedom and had left her to live carefree, but when the sea calamity struck, he still appeared. He always spoke harshly, but in his heart, he still cared for her.
Ri Yan abruptly closed his mouth, his gaze turning solemn: “Even if you used your toes to think, you should know I’d certainly come. No need for such pointless words, let’s leave immediately!”
Li Fei calmly said: “If I go with you, the Great Forest Law will disappear within three miles, and they’ll catch up. I can’t hold on much longer. Take Xiu Yuan and leave first, wait for me overseas.”
Wait for her overseas?! Ri Yan was so angry he almost laughed. Was she seeking death, expecting him to be grateful for her kindness?! This is why he hated humans the most – they could neither be completely good nor completely evil. When they should be selfish, they suddenly became noble; when they should be generous, their behavior often fell short of expectations.
He feared he would never understand what these humans were thinking.
Before Ri Yan could explode in rage, Li Fei raised her hand, pointing towards the overseas direction: “Go.”
Ri Yan felt his entire body, from head to toe, unable to resist the command of this single word. His four paws involuntarily started paddling in the air, and in the blink of an eye, he flew far away. Only then did his anger reach its peak – how could he forget that he was still a demon after all, and as a demon, he could be controlled by her? This fool ambushed him at such a moment!
As he involuntarily flew forward, he roared in anger: “You’d better die! I won’t wait for you! Just wait to be sliced into mincemeat by them! I’d be a pig if I ever worried about you again!”
But he was truly flying far away, too far to see this kid again. She had always liked to rely on others, unable to solve problems on her own, always asking questions when faced with difficulties, constantly avoiding her abnormalities, and vainly attempting to live the peaceful life she imagined. Why wasn’t she relying on others now? He was about to watch another person he cared about die, just like with Qingcheng back then. He couldn’t understand, he just couldn’t understand!
Li Fei looked down at her hands, the skin breaking apart faster and faster, barely able to see any intact moments. Her body harbored the might of celestial thunder and a sea of fire; she felt like she was about to explode. The Yuan Power she had absorbed earlier and the Great Forest Law were her absolute limits. She could no longer absorb even a tiny bit of Yuan Power, nor release even the simplest low-level celestial technique.
Things suddenly turning out this way was something they couldn’t have imagined no matter how hard they tried. Everything has its cause and effect; the celestial thunder and sea of fire following her alone must be due to some cause she was unaware of. The Jianmu Fruit naturally possessed various special abilities; perhaps this was also a price for obtaining such immense power.
Li Fei raised her head again, looking over the thousands of frozen immortals one by one.
She was fortunate. Although so many people were after her, none of them were ones she cared about. Master Chongyi, Immortal Dongyang, Immortal Qingle, Immortal Guangwei, Mr. Zuoqiu… none of the immortals who had cared for her and given her and Lei Xiu Yuan various kindnesses had appeared.
This was enough. Her existence, at least to them, wasn’t just that of a foreign anomaly. They acknowledged her feelings, acknowledged her seventeen years in the Central Plains. Whether as Xiao Bang Chui or as Jiang Li Fei, she had fulfilled her purpose.
Ri Yan and the others had left long ago, no one could catch up anymore, they had truly escaped. So, there were no regrets left.
The Si Zhi Jiao disappeared into the air with a mournful cry; she no longer had the power to control it. Her body fell straight towards the surging seawater, engulfed by the all-encompassing deep and light blues. Li Fei felt dizzy and confused, vaguely sensing something calling her, pulling at her – was it the Yellow Springs? Is this what death feels like?
Amidst the various shades of blue, she seemed to see a flash of white light – this was her last memory before losing consciousness.
The Yuan Power of the Great Forest Law dissipated in an instant. The frozen immortals, following their previous motions, instinctively lurched forward before stopping in confusion.
Immortal Cuixuan had the strongest reaction. He frantically searched around with his Yuan Power, shouting hoarsely, “Where’s Jiang Li Fei?! Where did she go?!”
The other immortals were also bewildered. After pondering for a moment, Jun Sanghua exclaimed in shock, “Was that the Great Forest Law she just used? Everyone… do you feel any discomfort in your bodies?”
His words caused even more panic. If their physical bodies had been regressed or advanced by hundreds of years, that would indeed be terrible!
However, as time slowly passed, the panicked cries gradually quieted down. Everyone realized they felt no different; their cultivation levels remained unchanged. So what was that Great Forest Law just now? They only saw the golden wall rise, and the next moment, the nine-tailed fox and Jiang Li Fei had disappeared.
Immortal Cuixuan searched back and forth dozens of times. He didn’t look well, which was understandable. He had finally managed to successfully cast the Great Forest Law, but the Yuan Power was absorbed by Jiang Li Fei instead. She even used the incredibly complex Great Forest Law so effortlessly. For Immortal Cuixuan, this was the most fatal blow.
The immortals searched for three days and nights in the surrounding area but found no trace of Jiang Li Fei. Some bold individuals, seeing that the celestial thunder and sea of fire had been absorbed by Jiang Li Fei, guessed that the various heavenly barriers overseas should have disappeared. They flew forward for a long time, until they encountered the reformed celestial thunder and sea of fire, nearly losing their lives before sheepishly returning.
Three days later, the East Sea waters had completely returned to their original state. Various celestial phenomena no longer appeared. The East Sea regained its usual peaceful beauty. This sea calamity came and went very quickly. Although some immortals died, compared to the consequences such a natural disaster could have caused, it wasn’t considered a heavy casualty.
The celestial thunder and sea of fire had been absorbed by Jiang Li Fei, and those more formidable and troublesome foreign cultivators hadn’t even come ashore. This should have been an unexpected joy, but the inexplicable disappearance of Jiang Li Fei, who was almost within their grasp, left the immortals feeling somewhat dispirited.
The Spirit Stele standing in the small city of the Myriad Immortals Assembly hadn’t disappeared. Some had tried to move it to a more secluded location but lacked the power to shake this stele formed from solidified Yuan Power. As the sea calamity ended, more and more immortals guarding various sects heard about the Spirit Stele and rushed to the East Sea to see it. Eventually, even many disciples came to view this curiosity. To avoid any disturbances, after a heated debate among the immortals of the mountain and sea sects, Mr. Shen had no choice but to decide not to let the various overseas matters leak out and cover the stele with a black cloth.
Unwilling to give up, the immortals lingered in the East Sea for over a month. Among them, Immortal Cuixuan was the most reluctant to let go. He searched the East Sea almost daily, exhausting himself each day. Even immortals have a lifespan limit. By the next sea calamity in five hundred years, neither these sect leaders nor the elder immortals would be alive to see it. Having failed to eliminate this great concern this time, what would the Central Plains immortal community face in five hundred years? He dared not imagine.
However, immortals who worried as much as he did were few. Most returned to their sects, resuming their usual quiet cultivation lives.
Among them, the busiest was probably the Wuyue Palace. Jiang Li Fei and Lei Xiu Yuan’s residence in Wuyue Palace was completely sealed off. Everything in the house was moved out and thoroughly examined, but nothing was found. In the end, everything was sealed up again. How to punish Chongyi, Guangwei, Qingle, Zhaomin, Su Wan, Deng Xiguang, Le Cailing, and other immortals and disciples involved in this incident was a subject of endless debate among the sect leaders and elder immortals.
However, the people had already left, and no amount of punishment could change that. In the end, each person only faced the wall in the Hall of Reflection for three days.
From then on, the names of Jiang Li Fei and Lei Xiu Yuan were never to be mentioned in Wuyue Palace. That devastatingly beautiful woman, that brilliantly talented genius – everything about them was buried in dust as if they had never existed.