Chapter 614: Lies For Liu San

Liu San frowned slightly. "Young Master, is there truly need for alarm? We cultivators should remain unmoved even if mountains crumble and seas boil before us..."

"Our plan to escape the Xuanhuang World has failed," Li Fan said, cutting him off.

"Hmm?" Liu San's expression changed at once.

"Father... sacrificed himself to save us."

"What?"

The words struck Liu San like a thunderbolt. He stood frozen.

"Master... How is this possible?"

His body trembled faintly, his eyes wide with disbelief.

Li Fan pressed on. "While we slept, several thousand years passed in the world outside."

"Ah? How could that be?" Liu San stared at him, dazed.

Grief, shock, confusion... For a moment, Liu San's mind was nothing but chaos. Every shock he had received since he first started cultivating, added together, did not compare to what he had experienced this single day.

And yet he failed to notice the strangest thing of all: not one word of his "Young Master's" absurd claims had triggered a shred of doubt.

A mortal teenager would have been more skeptical, to say nothing of a Dao Unity cultivator. Yet Liu San believed every word without question.

The Axioms of Eternal Life entities are truly terrifying.

To better control a Dao Unity cultivator like Liu San, Li Fan had not only filled the Truth-Binding Fruit with the information that he was Liu Yihang of the Medicine King Sect, but had also added settings such as “Liu San holds absolute trust in Liu Yihang.” Nothing could be left to chance.

A Dao Unity cultivator was not someone Li Fan, with only Nascent Soul cultivation, could contend with directly. To take over the Medicine King Sect as planned, he needed Liu San firmly in hand.

Six Dao Unity cultivators still slumbered within the true Medicine King Cauldron. Li Fan had chosen Liu San because he prized the man's loyalty. And one only needed to hear how Liu San addressed Liu Yihang as "Young Master" to understand why.

Liu San had been an orphan Liu Ruchen saved by chance in his youth. He had grown up at Liu Ruchen's side, and every technique he knew had been taught by Liu Ruchen's own hand. One could say the relationship between Liu Ruchen and him was both master-servant and master-disciple.

Liu San was a man of deep sentiment. Even after reaching the Dao Unity realm, he had refused all of Liu Ruchen's attempts to dissuade him and continued to call himself "this old servant," his loyalty never wavering.

And Liu Ruchen, in turn, valued him more and more. When Liu Ruchen traveled abroad, he would entrust all ordinary affairs of the Medicine King Sect, whether big and small, to Liu San.

Liu San's strength ranked only average among the six Dao Unity cultivators in the cauldron. But for Li Fan's purposes, he had still been the obvious first choice.

These thoughts passed through Li Fan's mind in an instant. Facing Liu San's bewildered questions, Li Fan let a look of deep sorrow settle over his face and sighed. "Come with me, Elder Liu. See for yourself, and you will understand."

He led Liu San to the control chamber of the Medicine King Cauldron and played him the recordings: the cauldron's departure from the Xuanhuang World, and Liu Ruchen's final choice to sacrifice himself to save the entire sect.

"Sect Leader!"

Liu San, a grown man, broke down completely. He wept aloud, his grief raw and unrestrained.

Li Fan stood to the side and said nothing.

Only after Liu San had slowly gathered himself did Li Fan play Liu Ruchen's final words.

Hearing Liu Ruchen's voice again, Liu San's eyes grew wet. This time, though, he did not weep. He listened to every word in silence, still and intent, as if to etch them permanently into his mind.

When the recording ended, a long silence followed before Liu San finally rallied his spirits.

"The Ten Immortal Dao Sects..." he growled through his teeth.

Li Fan gave a quiet sigh. "The Ten Immortal Dao Sects are indeed despicable. But even if we wished to seek vengeance against them now, I fear it’s no longer possible.”

Liu San started. "Young Master, what do you mean? Wait... you said several thousand years have passed outside?"

"Yes. After I woke, I went out to investigate. We only approached the Immortal Ruins, yet several millennia had passed within the Xuanhuang World.

"The Ten Immortal Dao Sects of old have long since crumbled into dust. Two colossal powers now dominate the cultivation world: the Myriad Immortals Alliance and the Five Elders Council."

Li Fan laid out the state of the present era for Liu San, everything he had supposedly learned during his "inquiries" outside.

True to his Dao Unity cultivation, Liu San recovered from the initial shock with remarkable speed and accepted the new reality.

"Young Master, that was far too reckless. To go out alone and gather information when the situation was still unclear... You now carry the heavy responsibility of reviving the Medicine King Sect. If anything had happened to you..."

Li Fan raised a hand. "Exigent circumstances demanded it. My thinking at the time was that the cauldron's departure and return would inevitably attract attention. Understanding our situation had to come first.

"And it isn't that I didn't wish to awaken the rest of you. It's simply that..."

His expression shifted, turning grave. "Elder Liu, try circulating the Salvation Longevity Scripture."

Puzzled, Liu San did as instructed.

A moment later, his face went pale. He closed his eyes, visibly fighting to hold back the killing intent surging through him.

"What is this?" His voice trembled faintly, betraying the turmoil within.

"A great calamity upon the world: the Exclusivity of Techniques.

"My sworn father's premonition was correct, and the calamity is even more terrible than he imagined."

Li Fan let out a long breath. "Even the Ten Immortal Dao Sects were destroyed by it. Only our Medicine King Sect has survived, and barely at that.

"This is also why I have not yet awakened the other sect members. If they all came to at once, I fear the sect would immediately descend into mutual slaughter.

"In truth, it was only after considerable time had passed, and after I had changed my own cultivation technique, that I dared to wake you, Elder Liu."

Liu San suppressed the shock in his chest and nodded. "Then your caution is well-considered, Young Master."

"Our current location is called the Congyun Sea. I was fortunate to befriend a cultivator who oversees local administration here, Zhou Qing'ang. With his help, I infiltrated the Myriad Immortals Alliance. For now, we have a tenuous foothold."

Li Fan slowly laid out their present circumstances.

"If it were just the two of us, living comfortably in this world wouldn't be too difficult. But to revive the Medicine King Sect..."

Li Fan sighed softly and shook his head. "That is a far greater challenge!

"The first problem is the Exclusivity of Techniques. Without solving it, awakening the other disciples would only lead to pointless slaughter.

"The Myriad Immortals Alliance has countless techniques, but they can only be redeemed with a great number of contribution points. After struggling for some time, I only just managed to earn enough to redeem a single technique for my own cultivation.

"So..."

Liu San fell into thoughtful silence.

"The Longevity Pill?" he asked.

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