Liu San frowned slightly upon hearing this and said, “Young master, why are you so flustered? As cultivators, even if mountains and seas collapse before us, we should remain unfazed…”
“We failed in our plan to escape the Xuanhuang Realm,” Li Fan interrupted.
“What?” Liu San’s expression changed abruptly.
“Foster father… he sacrificed himself to save us,” Li Fan continued.
“What?”
It was as if Liu San had been struck by a thunderbolt. He stood frozen in place.
“The master… this is impossible!”
Liu San’s body trembled slightly, his eyes filled with disbelief.
Li Fan pressed further, shattering Liu San’s composure: “While we were asleep, thousands of years passed in the outside world.”
“How could this happen?”
Liu San looked at Li Fan blankly, overwhelmed by grief, shock, and confusion.
In an instant, Liu San felt his mind thrown into chaos. Never in all his years of cultivation had he experienced as much shock as he did in this single day.
Yet Liu San failed to notice that, despite the outrageous and absurd nature of Li Fan’s words, he didn’t doubt them at all.
Even a mortal youth wouldn’t trust someone so easily, let alone a cultivator at the Dao Integration stage.
But such irrational belief occurred with Liu San.
“The principles of longevity Immortality are truly terrifying,” Li Fan couldn’t help but marvel inwardly.
To better control Liu San, a Dao Integration cultivator, Li Fan had imbued the Fruit of True Temptation with not only information about himself as Liu Yihang of the Medicine King Sect but also a setting of “Liu San’s absolute trust in Liu Yihang.”
This was to ensure that nothing could go wrong.
After all, even ancient Dao Integration techniques were far beyond what Li Fan, a mere Nascent Soul cultivator, could contend with.
If Li Fan wanted to take control of the Medicine King Sect, he had to ensure that Liu San was firmly under his command.
Of the six Dao Integration cultivators currently in slumber within the Medicine King Cauldron, Li Fan chose Liu San because of his loyalty.
Addressing “Liu Yihang” as “young master” revealed Liu San’s identity.
Liu San was an orphan whom Liu Ruchen had accidentally rescued years ago.
Growing up under Liu Ruchen’s care, Liu San’s cultivation and techniques were all personally taught by him.
The relationship between Liu Ruchen and Liu San was both master-servant and teacher-student.
Liu San was a man of gratitude and loyalty. Even after achieving success in cultivation and reaching the Dao Integration stage, he always referred to himself as an “old servant” despite Liu Ruchen’s repeated encouragement to change his mindset. His unwavering devotion to Liu Ruchen only grew stronger over time. 𝐑ÀốВЁŜ
When Liu Ruchen traveled, he entrusted the day-to-day affairs of the Medicine King Sect to Liu San.
Given Liu San’s loyalty, even though his strength was only average among the six Dao Integration cultivators, Li Fan chose him as the first target to control.
These thoughts flashed through Li Fan’s mind as he faced Liu San’s bewildered questions. With a sorrowful expression, he said, “Sigh, follow me, Elder Liu. You’ll understand once you see for yourself…”
Li Fan led Liu San to the central chamber of the Medicine King Cauldron, where he played recordings of the cauldron’s escape from the Xuanhuang Realm and Liu Ruchen’s self-sacrifice to save the sect.
“Sect Master!”
Despite his age, Liu San broke into tears, sobbing and wailing uncontrollably.
Li Fan stood silently by his side.
When Liu San gradually calmed his grief, Li Fan played Liu Ruchen’s final words.
Listening to Liu Ruchen’s last voice recordings, Liu San’s eyes welled with tears again.
This time, however, he did not cry out loud. Instead, he listened intently to every word, as if engraving them in his heart forever.
The will’s image disappeared. After a long time, Liu San reluctantly regained his composure.
“The Ten Great Immortal Sects…” he gritted his teeth and said.
Seeing this, Li Fan sighed lightly and said, “The Ten Great Immortal Sects are indeed hateful, but even if we want to seek revenge now, we are probably powerless to do so.”
Liu San was stunned. “Young Master, what do you mean by this? Wait, did you just say that thousands of years have passed in the outside world?”
Li Fan nodded. “That’s right. After I woke up, I went out to investigate and discovered that, although we had only wandered briefly outside the Immortal Ruins, several thousand years had already passed within the Xuanhuang Realm.”
“The Ten Great Immortal Sects of the past have long turned to dust, vanishing in the river of history. Now, the ones dominating the cultivation world are two colossal powers: the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance and the Five Elders Association.”
Li Fan then began explaining the “information” he had gathered about the current situation to Liu San.
As expected of a Dao Integration cultivator, after the initial shock, Liu San quickly accepted reality.
“Young Master, you were too reckless. To venture out alone and gather intelligence in such uncertain circumstances… Now that you bear the heavy responsibility of reviving the Medicine King Sect, what if something had happened to you…”
Li Fan waved his hand dismissively. “Desperate times call for desperate measures. At that time, I thought that the return of the Medicine King’s Cauldron would inevitably attract the covetous eyes of certain individuals. My first priority was, of course, to understand our situation.”
“Moreover, it’s not that I didn’t want to awaken everyone else. It’s just that…”
Li Fan’s expression suddenly grew grave. “Elder Liu, try circulating the Longevity and Lifespan Sutra and see for yourself.”
Hearing this, Liu San was puzzled but complied.
Moments later, his face turned pale, and he closed his eyes, struggling to suppress the killing intent surging within him.
“What is this?”
His voice trembled slightly, betraying his inner turmoil.
“The great calamity of heaven and earth—inability to practice multiple techniques together.”
“Foster father’s premonition was correct, and the catastrophe is even more terrifying than imagined.”
Li Fan let out a long sigh. “Even the Ten Great Immortal Sects were wiped out during the great calamity, leaving only our Medicine King Sect barely surviving.”
“This is also why I haven’t awakened the other members of the sect. If they were all to awaken at once, it would surely lead to a tragedy of mutual slaughter.”
“In fact, it took me a long time and a change in cultivation techniques before I dared to awaken you, Elder Liu.”
Liu San suppressed the lingering fear in his heart and nodded. “It seems that the Young Master has thought this through carefully.”
“The place we are currently in is called the Congyun Sea. I was fortunate enough to make the acquaintance of a cultivator overseeing governance here, Zhou Qingang.”
“With his help, I infiltrated the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance. For now, I have barely managed to establish a foothold.”
Li Fan slowly explained the current situation to Liu San.
“If it were just the two of us, living a decent life in this world shouldn’t be too difficult.”
“But as for reviving the Medicine King Sect…”
Li Fan sighed softly and shook his head. “It’s exceedingly difficult!”
“The first issue we need to resolve is the inability to practice multiple techniques together. Otherwise, even if we awaken the sect members, it would only lead to more bloodshed.”
“The Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance does have countless techniques, but they require significant contributions to exchange for them.”
“Although I have been working hard for some time, I have only just managed to exchange for the techniques I need for my own cultivation.”
“So…”
Hearing this, Liu San fell into deep thought.
“The Longevity Pill?”
He asked.