"A lawless land?"
Yue Qingqian repeated these four words blankly. Her brain was completely unable to comprehend the terrifying meaning behind her senior brother's world-shaking words.
"Escape the surveillance of the Heavenly Dao? Senior Brother... what... what does that mean? Isn't the Heavenly Dao... the supreme law that maintains the operation of the world? Don't we cultivators cultivate in accordance with the Heavenly Dao?" In her understanding, the Heavenly Dao was the supreme, omnipresent, and irresistible ultimate existence.
Seeing the confusion in his junior sister's eyes, Lin Fan realized that in his shock, he had said something that subverted her worldview.
He was silent for a moment, took a deep breath, and then slowly exhaled, forcing his mind, which had been violently fluctuating due to this shocking discovery, to return to its usual composure and calmness.
He knew that ever since he had decided to pull his junior sister onto his "pirate ship," there were some things he had to let her know. She was the core executor of the "Shearing the Sheep Plan" and the only partner he could trust in his future "Ultimate Stay-at-Home Plan."
"Junior Sister," Lin Fan's expression became unprecedentedly serious, "what I am about to say may subvert all your past cognitions. After you hear it, once you leave this room, you must keep it to yourself and never mention it to a third person, including Master. Do you understand?"
Yue Qingqian had never seen her senior brother so solemn. She nodded firmly, her expression also becoming extremely serious.
Lin Fan paced a few steps in the room, as if organizing his thoughts.
"You are right. For the vast majority of living beings in this world, the Heavenly Dao is indeed the supreme law," he began, his voice low and strangely magnetic. "It is like the most skilled chess player, and all living beings are the pieces on its board. It has planned a 'destiny' for every important piece."
"It will bestow upon certain people heaven-defying talent and fortune, making them the 'protagonists' of their era. Then, it will arrange a series of scripts for these 'protagonists'—for example, being scorned after a broken engagement, then falling off a cliff and finding a secret manual; or, bearing a deep blood feud, enduring hardship, and finally succeeding in revenge; or, advancing triumphantly all the way, challenging the world, and finally, after eighty-one tribulations, transcending the heavenly tribulation and ascending to immortality."
Yue Qingqian listened, somewhat engrossed. Weren't these the most common plots in those storybooks?
"But..." Lin Fan's tone shifted, his gaze becoming incredibly profound, "Junior Sister, have you ever thought about it? On this seemingly glamorous 'protagonist's path,' how many killings, betrayals, conspiracies, and near-death dangers are there? And how many so-called 'protagonists' have died halfway through, becoming stepping stones in someone else's story before even reaching the grand finale?"
"The Heavenly Dao, it is not benevolent. It is like a cold programmer. All it needs is for the 'plot' of the entire world to develop wonderfully. As for the life and death of the chess pieces, it doesn't care at all."
He stopped, looked at Yue Qingqian, and said word by word, "And I am a 'protagonist' that it has chosen, who was supposed to walk that path. Or rather, an unstable 'BUG'."
"The Heavenly Dao wants me to go through hardships and ascend through tribulations, but I don't want to." A mocking curve appeared on the corner of Lin Fan's mouth. "I just want to be a passerby who can live peacefully until the end of the universe and see the grand finale with my own eyes."
These world-shaking words completely shattered Yue Qingqian's worldview.
So... so her unfathomable senior brother had not been fighting against some potential enemy, but against the most fundamental, supreme will of this world—the Heavenly Dao!
She finally understood! She understood why her senior brother was so cautious, why he was so afraid of karma, why he avoided all "opportunities"! Because those so-called opportunities were nothing but sugar-coated poison thrown down by the Heavenly Dao! They were bait to lure him back into that dangerous "protagonist script"!
Lin Fan ignored his junior sister's shock and brought the topic back to the initial discovery.
"And the reason why the intelligence you brought back made me lose my composure so much is because it provides me, us, with a possibility to truly jump off the chessboard!"
He picked up the replicas of the two pieces of intelligence again, his eyes burning with the flame of wisdom.
"The 'crimson earth that absorbs spiritual energy' mentioned in that travelogue, if I'm not mistaken, is not ordinary soil at all! It is a legendary substance called—'Nirvanic Immortal Earth' in another, more ancient, long-lost classic!"
"This immortal earth, according to legend, was a piece of land polluted by chaotic qi at the beginning of the world's creation. It is naturally at odds with the laws of the Heavenly Dao of this world! Its characteristic is to isolate all laws and devour all spiritual energy! It is a natural, perfect 'law-shielding device'!"
"And that so-called 'pulse of the great earth' is by no means some great evil!" Lin Fan's tone became more and more excited. "It is very likely a fragment of the world that fell from a higher-dimensional 'Immortal Realm' in primeval times! It itself does not belong to this world, so it is not under the jurisdiction of this world's Heavenly Dao!"
"A world fragment that is not under the jurisdiction of the Heavenly Dao, and is covered by a layer of Nirvanic Immortal Earth that can perfectly shield the laws of the Heavenly Dao..."
Lin Fan looked at Yue Qingqian and delivered the final conclusion that made her soul tremble.
"Junior Sister, the combination of these two constitutes a... truly perfect—'lawless land' that is absolutely independent of the laws of this world!"
Yue Qingqian was completely stunned. A storm more violent than any before raged in her heart. She looked at her senior brother, her eyes filled with nothing but the utmost admiration, almost as if she were looking up to a god.
So, her senior brother's vision, his battle, had long surpassed the mortal level. He was not avoiding enemies; he was... fighting against the entire world, to win a piece of truly free land for himself!
Lin Fan took a deep breath, and a light called "ambition," which had never been seen before, burst forth in his eyes.
His Dao heart, which had always only thought about how to survive, at this moment, because of the appearance of this ultimate refuge, for the first time, gave birth to a grand, ultimate goal that surpassed "staying alive" itself!
"Lesser Peak is just our temporary base, our disguise under the nose of the Heavenly Dao," he declared, each word powerful and resonant. "Our ultimate goal is to establish a true—'absolute safe house' that belongs entirely to us, is not bound by any laws, and where we can live comfortably as shut-ins until the end of time, in that strange valley in the Northern Domain!"
"We are going to move our home to a place where the Heavenly Dao can never see it!"
These words, like a clap of thunder, exploded in Yue Qingqian's mind.
However, this grand momentum only lasted for less than ten breaths.
The excitement and passion on Lin Fan's face quickly faded, replaced by the familiar expression of worry and caution.
"Of course," he immediately added, the paranoia back, "that place is in the Northern Domain, billions of miles away, and the journey is bound to be full of unknown dangers. And we know nothing about the valley itself. So, this plan is a long-term strategic goal that will take hundreds, or even thousands, of years to prepare for. We are far from qualified to set out now."
He looked at Yue Qingqian, his expression becoming serious again.
"Therefore, our current top priority remains unchanged, and that is—to continue executing the 'Shearing the Sheep Plan'!"
"We need to accumulate a massive, unimaginable amount of resources! We need more powerful teleportation arrays, more perfect defensive magical treasures, and enough pills and supplies to last us for a thousand years! Only when we are prepared to the point of being foolproof can we consider taking the first step towards the 'promised land'!"
He spread out the "procurement list" again, and on it, he added dozens more materials that were even rarer and more difficult to obtain, which he had just seen in the jade slips.
He handed the list to Yue Qingqian, his eyes full of expectation.
"Junior Sister, our mission from now on is even heavier. Your every move at Hundred Herbs Peak is no longer just for us to live peacefully on Lesser Peak, but to strive for our great, ultimate 'moving' plan!"
Yue Qingqian nodded firmly and took the heavy list.
There was no longer any trace of confusion in her heart. Instead, it was replaced by an unprecedented, sacred sense of mission.
She knew that what she was participating in was a great cause that was enough to subvert the entire world order!