Chapter 16: Playing with Immortal Stocks at Fingertips

Li Fan's eyes narrowed slightly, looking ahead, as if filled with infinite nostalgia.

"Although my ancestor joined the Taiyan Sect, he was not keen on cultivation. Instead, he was obsessed with the art of prophecy and deduction. Originally, there was no harm in it, until a massive change occurred in the world, forcing all mortals to migrate.

With my ancestor's cultivation at the initial stage of energy refining, there would be no compulsion if he was unwilling. However, he was still tied to the mortal world, and seeing the fear and hesitation in his family members, he volunteered to lead the mortal migration. After that, he remained here with the family."

Li Fan spoke with deep emotion.

Both Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi nodded slowly as they listened, finding that what Li Fan was saying matched with the various ancient rumours they had heard before.

Kou Hong even wondered, "Did the Taiyan Sect still survive during the Great Migration Era? I have heard that all ancient sects perished in the previous Great Calamity."

Li Fan paused, and then shook his head, "That's just an exaggeration. Although the Great Calamity made it impossible to cultivate the immortal law, the techniques in the Taiyan Sect were as abundant as the star sea. Wouldn't it be easy for each person to receive one? While the sect did suffer considerable losses, it was far from being wiped out."

Li Fan's remarks were bold, especially when he mentioned "techniques as vast as the star sea, each person receiving one" impressed Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi profoundly.

Then, Li Fan suddenly asked, "From your conversation, it seems that the Taiyan Sect has not appeared in the outside world for a long time?"

Dao Xuanzi shook his head, "Not only the Taiyan Sect, but also the Supreme Sect, Great Taoist Sect, and Sky Sword Sect, all these ancient sects have vanished."

Hearing this, Li Fan murmured, "The way of immortality is indeed difficult. As my ancestor had said, the sect chose to recede from the world to avoid disasters…"

Dao Xuanzi and Kou Hong exchanged glances and communicated privately, "I've always had doubts about the sudden fall of ancient sects, considering their profound background, it's impossible for them to disappear overnight."

"It's no wonder they have chosen to hide. If the news of these sects' existence had leaked out, I'm afraid people would be knocking at their door now and then even if they were powerful."

...

The two briefly exchanged a few words before Dao Xuanzi finally asked, "I wonder why you stopped us?"

Li Fan sighed, "For thousands of years, no cultivator has set foot in this place. Today upon seeing both of you, I knew that you are the ones prophesied by my ancestor before his death, the key that would free my clan from this predicament. I rushed over to stop you when I saw you were ready to fight over a Golden Core technique."

Dao Xuanzi admitted frankly, "I'm sorry for you to see that. However, you may not know that techniques are so rare in the outside world that it's normal for people to turn against each other for one."

Li Fan shook his head repeatedly, "Why does it have to come to this!"

Dao Xuanzi tentatively asked, "Judging from your tone, it seems..."

"That's right. Before my ancestor's death, he passed on a technique that directly points to the Golden Core Realm." Li Fan bragged.

Dao Xuanzi took a deep breath, "What do you ask for in return?"

Kou Hong was even more overjoyedly: "Great. If Dao Xuanzi, you can get this technique, we no longer need to fight."

"The lifelong wish of my ancestor was to return to the Taiyan Sect in the Immortal Cultivation World. Before his death, apart from this technique, he also passed down a magic tool, the Tai Yan Boat. Although it is broken, my ancestor once used the technique of Taiyan to divine that many years later, two cultivators would arrive here. One who specializes in swordsmanship, and one who loved artifact refining. And could help descendants to repair the Tai Yan Boat, to escape this desolate place." After taking a drink of his wine, Li Fan spoke leisurely.

Both Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi turned pale.

"My brother Kou Hong is obsessed with the refining of artifacts, and my strong suit is indeed swordsmanship. How can the Technique of Taiyan be so unimaginable?" Dao Xuanzi was so shocked that it took him quite a while to recover.

"Unbelievable, just at the Energy Refining Stage and already so powerful..." Kou Hong was also stupefied with shock.

Li Fan chuckled, and after a while, he added, "Having words with no evidence mean nothing, why don't you both follow me and see this technique for yourselves?"

The look of joy appeared on Dao Xuanzi's face as he got up and started to follow. Seeing that Kou Hong was also wanting to join, he immediately became alert, "What, your elder brother has already obtained a Golden Core technique, and you are still not satisfied?"

At these words, Kou Hong replied sheepishly, "Alright, I won't go."

Dao Xuanzi scoffed coldly, catching up with Li Fan's steps.

Seeing Kou Hong not following as expected, Li Fan breathed a sigh of relief, confident that half of his plan had been successful.

He led Dao Xuanzi to activate the mechanism and enter the underground secret chamber of the Grand Master Mansion.

Just as Dao Xuanzi was about to enter the secret chamber, he felt a creepy sensation and stopped.

After scanning the surrounding area carefully with his divine sense, he exclaimed in shock, "Immortal-Ordinary Miasma!"

It turned out that the mechanisms above and around the secret chamber were all hiding Immortal-Ordinary Miasma. Its intense presence caused Dao Xuanzi to tremble with fear.

Li Fan chuckled, "One must always be cautious of others. For us mortals, this is the only way we can safeguard our family treasure."

Dao Xuanzi smiled awkwardly, not daring to advance another step, but instead retreated slightly.

Li Fan didn't say anything else, but walked into the secret chamber and took out a jade scroll from a box.

He didn't leave the secret chamber, merely held the scroll in a way that Dao Xuanzi could see it.

This jade scroll was the "The Golden Seal of the Jade Realm of a Thousand Mechanisms" he got from Kou Hong in his previous life!

Yes, Li Fan was betting.

According to Kou Hong's description from his previous life, Dao Xuanzi had not seen the real face of the technique when he ran away with it.

He uses it as a bait to get Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi to repair the Tai Yan Boat!

As for if Li Fan has guessed wrong...

The death warriors in the Grand Master Mansion were already in position. If they really have no chance of winning...

He could always try a different method in the next life!

Li Fan was not panicked at all because he found that Dao Xuanzi was completely captivated by the golden jade scroll in his hand.

"The Golden Seal of the Jade Realm of a Thousand Mechanisms, a Nascent Soul magic technique... it's a Nascent Soul technique…" Dao Xuanzi's breath became a bit heavy, and even a hint of danger flickered in his eyes.

However, seeing Li Fan's ambiguous smile, and the faint sense of danger emanating from the Immortal-Ordinary Miasma in the secret chamber, Dao Xuanzi immediately sobered up.

"What do you think? Is what I told you true?" asked Li Fan with a smile. "I only told your elder brother Kou Hong that the technique handed down by my ancestor was the Golden Core Technique, for fear that he might harbor evil intentions."

"You are very careful, and I admire you for that." Dao Xuanzi appeared genuinely impressed.

Then he exclaimed a little excitedly, "Rest assured, my brother Kou Hong is highly skilled at artifact refining. I will persuade him to put all his efforts into helping you with the repairing of Tai Yan Boat."

Li Fan roared with laughter, "I'll have to rely on you for this. Once it's done, I will most definitely hand over this technique."

Seeing a chance at longevity, Dao Xuanzi at this moment couldn't wait to get Kou Hong started right away.

Reluctantly watching Li Fan put away the technique and close the secret chamber, Dao Xuanzi couldn't wait to find Kou Hong.