A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Immortal Realm

Chapter 1270: Return

"You rattle off the same spiel to me at this time every single year! I'm about to develop calluses in my ears!" Tiger complained in a disgruntled manner.

"Don't take that tone with me! Have I told you about that time..."

"You have! There was that time when our Dark Veil Island was almost razed to the ground by outside enemies, but our Ancestral God appeared just in the nick of time to eradicate the enemies," Tiger hurriedly interjected before his grandfather had a chance to tell the same story the ninety-eighth time.

"Now that I think about it, it's already been many, many years since I last saw our Ancestral God," the elderly man sighed.

Tiger was just about to offer him some words of consolation when his expression suddenly changed drastically as he yelled, "Grandpa, look!"

Immediately thereafter, a chorus of excited voices rang out from within the crowd as everyone stopped in their tracks to look back at the enormous Ancestral God statue at the center of the island.

Tiger's grandfather hurriedly turned around as well, and he was greeted by the sight of the statue giving off a layer of dazzling, blue radiance under the light of the morning sun, giving it the appearance of a gargantuan sapphire.

Waves of tremendous water law power fluctuations were surging out of the statue before spreading over the entire island, basking everyone in a blissful sensation of comfort.

"It's the Ancestral God!"

"The Ancestral God has appeared!"

"Our Ancestral God has come to bless us!"

The plaza erupted into a frenzy as everyone fell to their knees again before kowtowing in prayer.

Right at this moment, a figure appeared atop the statue, then rose up into the air before flying away, quickly vanishing out of sight.

All of the residents of Dark Veil Island erupted into a panic upon seeing this, and they began yelling in alarm as they hurriedly rose to their feet.

The figure passed by all of the chiefs that had just flown onto the island, and they reflexively stopped in their tracks before exchanging a few bewildered glances.

It was only when a slightly rotund, azure-robed man flew up into the air from the island did they heave a collective sigh of relief before hurriedly converging around him.

"Chief Luo Feng, was that the Ancestral God of the island just now?" a gray-robed chief asked.

There was a rather solemn look on Luo Feng's face, and he nodded silently in response as he cast his gaze toward the direction that the Ancestral God had departed in.

"What's going on? Are we under attack?" a purple-robed woman asked in an anxious manner.

Luo Feng took a moment to compose himself, then said, "Please go and wait for me in the conference hall for now. I'll be with all of you shortly."

In reality, he was also unaware of why the Ancestral God had suddenly come out of seclusion to leave the island.

The chiefs of the islands naturally couldn't pry any further, and they descended onto the island.

After a brief hesitation, Luo Feng also descended onto the plaza below.

"Chief Luo Feng!"

Everyone on the plaza hurriedly gathered around him and began asking a barrage of questions.

"There's no need to panic. It is a rare opportunity to see our Ancestral God in the flesh, and as long as you are earnest in your prayers to him, you will be sure to receive his blessings," Luo Feng said.

All of the island residents were ecstatic to hear this, and they began praying in earnest once again.

Where have you suddenly gone, Ancestral God?

Luo Feng heaved an internal sigh before setting off for the conference hall.

The chiefs of the other islands weren't going to be as easy to fool as these island residents.

......

Several thousand kilometers away from the island, a blue figure was racing over the sea before descending upon a black coral island that was only around a thousand feet in size. The blue figure was identical to Han Li in appearance, and it was none other than his Earthly Deity Avatar.

At this moment, Han Li and Jin Tong were standing on the island with their back facing the Earthly Deity Avatar.

"You've finally come back," the Earthly Deity Avatar said.

Han Li turned around to face his avatar as a faint smile appeared on his face, but before he had a chance to say anything, Jin Tong exclaimed, "So this is your Earthly Deity Avatar? It really does look exactly like you!"

She strode over to the avatar as she spoke, then walked in a circle around it while inspecting it from all angles.

"You've reached the late-Golden Immortal Stage. That's a little better than I expected," Han Li remarked.

"After I lost contact with you, I no longer had access to any time law crystals to accelerate my manifestation of heavy water, but on the flip side, I no longer had to supply heavy water to you, either. On top of that, I've been receiving a constant influx of power of faith over the years, so I've been able to progress decently quickly in my cultivation, and right now, I'm already able to manifest heavy water of the third level," the Earthly Deity Avatar replied.

Han Li was silent for a moment upon hearing this, then swept a sleeve through the air to summon his Heavy Water True Axis as he said, "I no longer have any use for this thing, and it's far more compatible with you anyway, so I'll leave it to you."

The black axis shrank down into a palm-sized disk at his behest as he spoke before drifting toward the Earthly Deity Avatar, and the latter caught the disk with a nod.

They were one and the same, so there was no need for expressions of gratitude.

"Luo Feng has done quite well in managing Dark Veil Island over the years. You may not think it all that impressive, but I think you should still go back and take a look," the Earthly Deity Avatar suggested.

Han Li hesitated momentarily upon hearing this, then nodded in response, following which the three of them flew back to Dark Veil Island.

On the way there, Han Li instructed Jin Tong to return to the Flower Branch domain for now, while he channeled his Myriad Acupoint Tranquility Technique to conceal his own aura before entering the island in secret.

Upon arriving on the plaza in the island, he discovered that all of the island's residents were still praying in earnest.

The Earthly Deity Avatar performed another "divine miracle" atop the statue to assure the island's residents that their Ancestral God hadn't abandoned them, and only after that did it depart.

Inside the conference hall, Luo Feng was seated at the head of the table, calmly sipping on some tea, while the chiefs of the other islands were discussing the matter of the Dark Veil Island Ancestral God's excursion in hushed tones.

"Chief Luo, the Ancestral God has never made an appearance during any of our previous annual visits, why has he suddenly left the island this time?" one of the island chiefs asked in a careful manner.

It was very rare for an Ancestral God to leave their island, and this applied to all Ancestral Gods across the Black Wind Sea. After all, only by remaining on their own territory, where they're surrounded by their followers, could they constantly be showered with the power of faith.

On top of that, this entire region of the sea had been taken over by Dark Veil Island, so conflicts had become extremely rare, and there was really no need for the Ancestral God himself to ever address anything in person.

Hence, his sudden departure was rather alarming.

"There's no need to be alarmed, everyone. The Ancestral God has only gone out to check on something, and he's already returned to the island," Luo Feng said.

He had just received a voice transmission from the Earthly Deity Avatar, and that left him feeling far more assured.

Everyone was rather skeptical to hear this, but a burst of tremendous power suddenly swept over the entire conference hall to back up Luo Feng's claim, only to then fade away an instant later.

The meeting of island chiefs quickly concluded, and all of the chiefs paid their respects to the Ancestral God statue before returning to their own islands, while Luo Feng hurriedly made his way straight to the Ancestral God Hall, which was a restricted area on the island.

The Ancestral God Hall was situated right below the Ancestral God statue at the center of the island, and it was where the Earthly Deity Avatar normally stayed in seclusion.

By the time Luo Feng arrived at the hall, the door was already open, and he announced his own arrival before stepping aside.

The Earthly Deity Avatar was seated with its legs crossed on a cushion, and Luo Feng extended a respectful bow as he greeted, "Luo Feng pays his respects to the esteemed Ancestral God."

"How did the meeting go?" the Earthly Deity Avatar asked.

"Aside from the few islands that pledged their allegiance to us from the outset, the other islands are still not fully loyal to us, and in the wake of your sudden departure, they immediately began probing and asking questions," Luo Feng replied.

"That's fine. Your current True Immortal Stage cultivation base will be enough intimidation to keep them in check," the Earthly Deity Avatar said.

"It's all thanks to your protection that our Dark Veil Island has been able to become what it is today. At all times, you are the core of our island, and that is something that I've never forgotten," Luo Feng hurriedly said as he cupped his fist in a respectful salute.

Right at this moment, Han Li suddenly appeared in the room and remarked, "I took a stroll around the island just now, and I can see that you've done a very good job managing everything."

Luo Feng hurriedly turned to Han Li in an alarmed manner, and upon catching sight of him, an incredulous look appeared on his face as he exclaimed, "Is that you, Master Liu?"

Han Li faltered slightly upon hearing this, and only then did he recall that he had been using the alias of Liu Shi here.

"That's right," he replied.

Luo Feng hurriedly extended another deep bow upon hearing this.

"Luo Feng pays his respects to Master Liu Shi!"

"No need for formalities. I've actually come to you with a request," Han Li said as he swept a sleeve through the air, releasing a burst of gentle force to help Luo Feng back up into a standing position.

The Earthly Deity Avatar and Luo Feng both faltered slightly upon hearing this, following which the latter hurriedly replied, "Whatever you need, the entirety of Dark Veil Island is at your service."

"I'm going to go into seclusion in the Black Wind Sea for a while, and I need you to find me a secluded and unpopulated island," Han Li said.