Chapter 16 – Playing Immortals Like Puppets

Li Fan’s eyes narrowed slightly as he gazed into the distance, an air of infinite nostalgia about him.

“Back in the day, although my ancestor was admitted into the Taiyan Sect, he had no fondness for cultivation. Instead, he was obsessed with the arts of divination and calculation. That would have been perfectly fine on its own, but then the heavens and earth underwent a great upheaval, and all mortals had to be relocated.

“With my ancestor’s early-stage Qi Refining cultivation, no one would have forced him to leave if he hadn’t wanted to. But he still had ties to the mortal world. Seeing his family members lost and panicked, he volunteered to take charge of the mortal relocation effort. After that, he stayed here with the family.”

Li Fan spoke eloquently, brimming with emotion.

Kou Hong and Daoxuanzi listened as his words subtly aligned with the various ancient legends they had heard before, and both nodded slowly.

Kou Hong remarked with surprise, “The Taiyan Sect still existed during the Great Migration era? I had heard that all the ancient sects were destroyed in the Great Heavenly Calamity before that.”

Li Fan was momentarily stunned, then shook his head. “That’s nothing but a game of telephone. True, the Great Heavenly Calamity meant that immortal techniques could no longer be shared among practitioners, but the Taiyan Sect’s library of cultivation methods was vast as a sea of stars. Assigning one technique per person — how could that possibly be difficult? The sect did suffer considerable losses back then, but total destruction was out of the question.”

Li Fan’s words were bold and domineering. The phrase “a library vast as a sea of stars, one technique per person” in particular left Kou Hong and Daoxuanzi dazzled and entranced.

Then Li Fan suddenly asked, “From the way you two speak, it seems the Taiyan Sect hasn’t appeared in the outside world for quite some time?”

Daoxuanzi shook his head. “It’s not just the Taiyan Sect. The Taishang Sect, the Great Dao Sect, the Heavenly Sword School — all these ancient sects have vanished without a trace.”

Hearing this, Li Fan murmured to himself, “The path of immortality is arduous indeed. Just as my ancestor predicted, even the sects have chosen to withdraw from the world and avoid calamity…”

Daoxuanzi and Kou Hong exchanged a glance and communicated privately through spiritual transmission.

“I’ve always had my doubts about the supposed destruction of all the ancient sects. Now that I think about it, something does seem off. The ancient sects had such deep foundations — how could they simply vanish overnight?”

“No wonder they chose to remain hidden. If word got out that these sects still existed, no matter how powerful they were, people would probably come knocking on their doors every other day.”

…

The two exchanged several messages in the span of a moment, then Daoxuanzi cupped his hands respectfully. “Might I ask what business our friend has in stopping the two of us?”

Li Fan let out a sigh. “For hundreds of years, no cultivator has set foot in this place. The moment I saw you two today, I knew you were the ones my ancestor prophesied on his deathbed — the key to my clan’s deliverance. And when I saw you about to fight to the death over a Core Formation technique, I had to speak up immediately.”

Daoxuanzi said candidly, “We’ve made fools of ourselves before our friend. But you may not realize — cultivation techniques are exceedingly rare in the outside world. Turning on each other and fighting to the death over a single manual is quite normal.”

Li Fan shook his head repeatedly. “How could it have come to that!”

Daoxuanzi probed cautiously, “From the way you speak, it seems as though…”

“That’s right. Before my ancestor passed, he left behind a cultivation manual that leads directly to the Golden Core realm,” Li Fan declared proudly.

Daoxuanzi took a deep breath. “What is it that our friend seeks?”

Kou Hong was even more overjoyed. “Wonderful! If you can obtain this technique, Daoxuanzi, then we brothers won’t need to fight after all.”

“My ancestor’s lifelong wish was to return to the Taiyan Sect in the cultivation world. On his deathbed, in addition to this manual, he also passed down a magical artifact called the Taiyan Vessel. Although it’s been damaged, my ancestor used the Taiyan arts of divination to calculate that after a certain number of years, two cultivators would come to this place — one skilled in swordsmanship, the other with a passion for artifact refining. They could help his descendants repair the Taiyan Vessel and escape this forsaken land.” Li Fan took a sip of wine and spoke slowly.

Both Kou Hong and Daoxuanzi’s expressions changed dramatically.

“My brother Kou Hong is devoted to the Dao of artifact refining, and my own specialty is precisely swordsmanship. These Taiyan divination arts — are they truly this incredible?” Daoxuanzi was shocked beyond words, and it took him a long while to recover.

“To possess such unfathomable power at merely the Qi Refining stage… it’s truly unimaginable…” Kou Hong too was left slack-jawed with astonishment.

Li Fan smiled. After a moment, he spoke again. “Words alone prove nothing. Please, let me take you both to see this cultivation manual first.”

Delight showed on Daoxuanzi’s face as he rose to follow. But when he saw that Kou Hong also meant to come along, he immediately grew wary. “What’s this — Elder Brother has already obtained a Core Formation technique and still isn’t satisfied?”

Hearing this, Kou Hong said sheepishly, “Fine, fine. I won’t go.”

Daoxuanzi gave a cold snort and hurried after Li Fan.

Seeing that Kou Hong had stayed behind just as he’d anticipated, Li Fan finally let out a breath of relief, knowing that half of this lifetime’s scheme had already succeeded.

He led Daoxuanzi through a series of mechanisms and down into the underground chamber beneath the Grand Preceptor’s Manor.

Just as Daoxuanzi was about to step inside the chamber, a chill ran down his spine and he stopped dead in his tracks.

He carefully swept the surroundings with his spiritual sense and cried out in alarm, “Mortal Taint!”

As it turned out, the mechanisms on all sides of the chamber — above, below, and all around — were concealing Mortal Taint. The sheer density of it made Daoxuanzi’s blood run cold.

Li Fan smiled. “One can never be too cautious. We are mere mortals, after all. To protect our family’s greatest treasure, we had no choice but to take such measures.”

Daoxuanzi managed an awkward smile but refused to advance even half a step further. If anything, he retreated a little more.

Li Fan said nothing about it. He walked into the chamber himself and retrieved a jade slip from a chest.

He didn’t step back out. He simply held it up where Daoxuanzi could see.

This jade slip was none other than the 《 The Jade Realm Thousand-arts Golden Canon 》 — the very one he had obtained from Kou Hong in his previous life!

That’s right — Li Fan was gambling.

Based on Kou Hong’s account from his previous life, Kou Hong had snatched the technique and fled. Daoxuanzi clearly had never seen the manual’s true form.

It was the perfect bait to lure both Kou Hong and Daoxuanzi into helping him repair the Taiyan Vessel!

As for what would happen if Li Fan’s guess turned out to be wrong…

The Grand Preceptor’s Manor was already staffed with elite death warriors in position. And if they truly couldn’t overcome the cultivators…

At worst, he’d try a different approach in the next life!

Li Fan felt no panic whatsoever, because he could see that Daoxuanzi’s attention was completely captivated by the golden jade slip in his hand.

“The 《 The Jade Realm Thousand-arts Golden Canon 》… a Nascent Soul technique. It’s actually a Nascent Soul technique…” Daoxuanzi’s breathing grew heavy, and a dangerous glint even flashed through his eyes.

But the sight of Li Fan’s enigmatic half-smile, combined with the faint sense of danger emanating from the Mortal Taint within the chamber, snapped Daoxuanzi back to his senses instantly.

“Well? Was this old man telling the truth?” Li Fan asked with a smile. “Earlier, in front of your brother Kou Hong, I only claimed my ancestor’s legacy was a Core Formation technique — precisely because I feared he might harbor ill intentions again.”

“Our friend’s meticulous thinking commands my deepest admiration,” Daoxuanzi said with an expression of wholehearted agreement.

Then his spirits surged with excitement. “Rest assured, friend. My brother Kou Hong is a master of artifact refining. I will absolutely convince him to devote his full efforts to helping you repair the Taiyan Vessel.”

Li Fan laughed heartily. “Then I leave it in your hands. Once the task is complete, I will present this technique to you with both hands.”

With the prospect of eternal life before him, Daoxuanzi wished he could drag Kou Hong over and get to work immediately.

Gazing longingly as Li Fan put the manual away and sealed the chamber, Daoxuanzi rushed off impatiently to find Kou Hong.