"Those who work hard can govern people. When I was the chief of the Formation Hall, I never had such a hard time as you. You must learn to delegate power," Li Fan warned earnestly.
Lu Xichan, now daring enough to speak, could only nod in agreement.
A brief silence fell over the bamboo house.
Li Fan pondered for a moment, then seemed to make a decision. He raised his finger, pointing at Lu Xichan's forehead.
This move was originally extremely threatening; any cultivator would instinctively resist. But after Li Fan's distorted understanding of the three whips and the real lure, Lu Xichan did not react at all. She had endured Li Fan's guidance her entire life.
Then…
Thousands of new formations, far beyond her current comprehension, suddenly appeared in Lu Xichan's mind.
After a moment of stunned silence, she raised her head.
"Immortal Ancestor, this is…" Her weak voice trembled with surprise.
Li Fan snorted coldly.
"You incompetent fool. If you had been allowed to work behind closed doors all your life, I'm afraid you'd never have become a great person. These formations are my latest achievements over the years. Compared to the fake death back then, I had to put in far more effort. I've studied them for quite a while."
Lu Xichan immediately recognized their value. Joy and gratitude surged through her. She kowtowed quickly.
"Thank you, Immortal Ancestor, for this reward."
Li Fan ignored her and turned to Xuan Sushang.
"Junior?" Xuan Sushang responded quickly.
"The matter between you two…" Li Fan began slowly.
Hearing this, both Xuan Sushang and Lu Xichan felt their breathing catch.
"Now that the deal is done, if you two are in love, I cannot stop it. Xichan is lazy by nature. Without someone to encourage and supervise her, she may repeat the same mistakes in the future…"
Li Fan's long golden whip of divine soul power flew through the air.
"I reward you with this whip. Whenever you see Xichan slacking in the future, punish her on my behalf! Do you understand?"
Lu Xichan's body trembled slightly.
"Disciple understands," she whispered.
Secretly glancing at Lu Xichan, Xuan Sushang blushed lightly.
After being reminded, she kowtowed to Li Fan to show thanks.
"As for the rest here, I will leave it to you," Li Fan said.
"Regarding the mess in the bamboo sea…"
Before he could finish, Lu Xichan interjected:
"Immortal Ancestor, don't worry, I will handle it myself."
After a pause, she hesitated, then whispered:
"Immortal Ancestor, take care…"
Li Fan smiled. In the next moment, he appeared in the sky.
"How could a trivial disaster harm me? But my disciple knows my thoughts well. Hahaha…"
With that, his breath vanished into the bamboo sea cave.
Xuan Sushang and Lu Xichan looked up at the sky in blank amazement.
It felt like a dream. Less than a day had passed, yet it seemed like half a lifetime had unfolded between them.
After a long moment, Xuan Sushang said:
"Since the decision has been made, regretting it is pointless. But… the battle involving Tianxuan Mirror itself may not affect us in the end."
Lu Xichan nodded:
"Better not spread word of what happened here."
Her eyes glanced at the long whip in Xuan Sushang's hand; her breath became slightly uneven.
…
Beyond the Bamboo Sea.
After releasing all the suppressed servant girls and Shuo Feng, Li Fan and his companions rushed toward the location of the Tianxuan Mirror clone.
Baihua Daoist and Lin Ling looked at Li Fan strangely. Only the younger junior brother Tianyang seemed unchanged.
The events in the bamboo house were visible to them, of course. Such a large-scale movement could not be ignored.
"If such methods were used on me…" Lin Ling's fear of Li Fan intensified.
"You are worthy of being an envoy. Playing with hearts and controlling subordinates, he has reached the pinnacle of skill. No wonder the real Immortal favored him. Among the survivors of all realms, no one is like him," Baihua Daoist sighed quietly.
Li Fan paid no attention.
What he had done was a backup plan. Xuan Sushang and Lu Xichan were high-ranking cultivators in the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance. Even if not as powerful as the Dharma King, they were formidable rulers.
Li Fan, however, was not the real Dharma King of Xuantian Sect and had many unique secrets. Some matters were better handled separately.
The three whips had ensured that, even if there were loopholes in the lies spun by the real lure, he could temporarily cover them with this shocking event.
Whenever people thought of Li Fan, the first image that came to mind was the three whips…
With Lu Xichan's character, she could not remain calm.
The thousands of formations he taught her increased the credibility of the fabricated memory and served as both a slap and a comfort.
The golden whip given to Xuan Sushang had dual purposes: monitoring the two women's movements, and delaying the exposure of the lie.
Li Fan anticipated the interactions between Xuan Sushang and Lu Xichan after receiving the whip. He also granted legitimate "supervision and punishment" powers.
Thus, the two female cultivators would remain in the bamboo sea for an extended period.
"The fewer people at the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance headquarters, the lower the risk of exposure," Li Fan calculated.
Everything else was as it seemed.
Once his thoughts concluded, Li Fan focused on Xuan Sushang's messages regarding Tianxuan Mirror's clone.
"Become mortal and travel through Xuanhuang. I never tire of changing my appearance and identity. I suspect I am enlightening…"
"Interesting," Li Fan's eyes flashed. He sped toward the location of the clone.
Liuguang State, a mortal city named Weidu.
Not long after, the four had arrived.
"The immortal miasma is indeed legendary. I had only heard of it before, never seen it with my own eyes."
"Now that I am here, I feel a sense of unease even from a distance," Daoist Baihua sighed.