Chapter 137

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Chapter 137: Li Gaodan

Wang Xiangchi, who once radiated an incredible sword intent, now appeared as an ordinary man, devoid of any aura.

In the courtyard, Wang Xiangchi wielded the Wind Thunder Sword, executing a series of aimless sword moves, reminiscent of a child at play.

A challenge puppet at the early Golden Core stage emerged, the same one Xu Fan had given them before their departure, adhering to the usual rules.

Normally, Wang Xiangchi couldn’t even graze the puppet’s edges, but today, he shattered its core area with a single strike.

It was a simple straight thrust; the puppet seemed to dodge, yet it did not.

Li Xingci watched with a smile. Though he could immerse Wang Xiangchi in a world of swordsmanship, such an approach might backfire.

Wang Xiangchi effortlessly defeated a mid-Golden Core stage puppet with another sword strike.

As for the final puppet, Wang Xiangchi hadn’t brought it along when he emerged.

“In fifty years, I’ll reach the Nascent Soul stage in swordsmanship.”

“Once my father recovers, our family will return to the Hidden Spirit Sect,” Wang Xiangchi declared.

“Good, it seems senior brother’s issue is resolved.”

“Then I can leave with peace of mind.”

After bidding farewell to Wang Xiangchi, Li Xingci headed towards a location where refugees from Xiangzhou had gathered. These were powerful beings above the Core Formation stage, who couldn’t bear to leave them behind.

These individuals required soul investigations to prevent any beast race members from infiltrating their ranks.

Over the years, Li Xingci traversed the cultivation world, experiencing myriad lives while aiding the Hidden Spirit Sect in recruiting qualified disciples.

Having roamed the cultivation world for so long, he encountered heavenly spirit roots, exotic spirit roots, and various spirit bodies. While other sects viewed such candidates as treasures, Li Xingci saw them merely as untested children.

Of course, to avoid wasting such spirit roots and bodies, he sold the information to various major sects, earning a considerable income.

In a city filled with small houses, countless people stood in line; this was a refugee camp. Those who passed the examination with the Demonic Mirror would gain the identity of ordinary citizens from Moliang State and be relocated by the local government to pre-designated areas to establish villages and offices.

Before arriving, Li Xingci had gathered information. The talents of the children had already been evaluated by various major cultivation sects. What remained were mostly those with four spirit roots and five spirit roots; they were his targets.

A month later, Li Xingci embarked on the journey back to the sect with a family of three.

……………….

Above the Ten Thousand-Mile Giant Lake, Xu Fan held a strange treasure, his eyes closed but his mouth active.

“Yuexian, I never realized your knack for trouble was so profound.”

In a secret realm, the puppet controlled by Xu Fan was restraining a Transformation Stage red flame giant tiger beast, while Xu Yuexian was positioned at a distance, ready to snipe.

“I’m controlling the puppet that Master manages. If I provoke a small beast at the Golden Core or Nascent Soul stage again, it wouldn’t reflect well on Master,” Xu Yuexian teased from the side.

Since acquiring this remotely controlled puppet from Xu Fan, her treasure hunting adventures had gained much color; at least during battles, she had a trustworthy partner.

“This specialized puppet can match the fighting strength of ten ordinary puppets at the peak Nascent Soul stage.”

“If you mess it up, there won’t be a second one.”

Xu Fan maneuvered the puppet in mid-air, dodging a red flame fireball.

“Damn it, if the internet speed weren’t so slow, I could use my ultimate move, and you’d be finished by now,” Xu Fan joked, controlling the puppet with flashy movements as it charged toward the Transformation Stage red flame giant tiger.

“Yuexian, pay attention to the wounds on this tiger. It can only hold on for a couple of breaths. If you miss your chance, we’ll withdraw,” Xu Fan instructed, as he guided the puppet to strike deep into the giant tiger’s side with a short sword.

But in an instant, the alert red flame giant tiger hid its wound and swiped a paw at Xu Fan’s puppet.

The puppet blocked with its short sword and bounced back, propelled by a surge of force.

“Yuexian, you had at least two chances just now, but you missed them,” Xu Fan’s voice reached Xu Yuexian’s ears.

Xu Yuexian looked helpless. Bringing out her master’s puppet made it easy for her to get hit in battle.

At that moment, the 20-meter-long red flame giant tiger roared to the sky, and red clouds filled the air. Countless massive fireballs fell from the sky, nearly covering half of the secret realm, as if the apocalypse had arrived.

“End it quickly, Yuexian, and pay attention. Today, I’m going to teach you about close combat.”

The puppet executed a simplified version of the Illusory Three Realms Body, creating three identical puppets mid-air that dodged the falling fireballs and charged at the Transformation Stage red flame giant tiger.

Seeing one little insect multiply into three, the red flame giant tiger felt annoyed. It had been minding its own business; why were these bugs bothering it?

Did I steal your mother tiger or something?

The three puppets pressed against the giant tiger’s face boldly, using their clever movements to avoid attacks and instead inflicting several fresh wounds on the giant tiger.

Xu Yuexian stared in shock from a distance, realizing that she could use her Illusory Three Realms Body like this—it was meant to confuse enemies during escape!

At that moment, the giant tiger let out a mournful howl, snapping Xu Yuexian back to her senses. She remembered her task and started aiming again, but it was too late; the tiger’s wounds had already begun to heal.

Just then, the main puppet withdrew from the fight, coming to rest beside Xu Yuexian while pulling out a giant spear larger than herself from its back.

“You’ve got some potential to be a pig teammate,” Xu Fan remarked.

The puppet retrieved an armor-breaking bullet of the fourth-tier precious artifact and loaded it into the spear.

As the next wound appeared on the giant tiger, it fired.

‘Boom~’

The bullet entered the giant tiger’s waist wound and exploded inside.

The red flame giant tiger fell.

“When you’ve got the gun out, don’t think about anything else,” Xu Fan’s voice echoed.

“I’m just amazed by Master’s combat techniques. If it were me, I’d only run for my life,” Xu Yuexian said, hoping to flatter.

The puppet walked deeper into the secret realm.

“Stop chatting and go see what treasures are in there,” Xu Fan said with interest.

“Understood~~”

After a thorough search of the secret realm, Xu Fan happily severed the link.

“The gaming experience was good; it’s just a pity the internet speed was a bit slow,” Xu Fan lamented. If it weren’t for the slow transmission speed, he could have tried out some ultimate moves and secret techniques.

“It seems that the first-generation controlled puppets still have flaws; they need further optimization,” Xu Fan remarked as he looked up at the noon sunlight.

In the distance, a ten-year-old young girl in a Daoist robe happily fed a little turtle; this had become her daily routine.

Xu Fan watched Lei Ren, who was honing his mental strength beside him, secretly admiring the talents of the siblings.

In Xu Fan’s view, their potential was far greater than that of Xu Gang’s siblings back in the day, but they lacked a bit of resilience in their personalities; under his guidance, this would not be an issue.

Now, after a few months of training at the sect, both the brother and sister had reached the first stage of Qi Refinement. This was a result of Xu Fan’s deliberate efforts to compress their training. In one year, they would begin formal training in alchemy and artifact crafting.

Xu Fan planned to cultivate them as his successors in alchemy and artifact crafting.

As Xu Fan was considering whether to create a simulated illusion for alchemy and artifact crafting, a screen suddenly appeared in front of him.

The screen showed Li Xingci flying towards Hidden Spirit Island with a boy who looked to be about ten years old.

“Oh, what kind of disciple has Xingci brought back this time?” Xu Fan said with a chuckle.

Over the years, Li Xingci had occasionally brought back a few disciples, and now Xu Fan had no intention of recruiting more on a large scale. Sending a few disciples every now and then was sufficient.

Li Xingci put away his flying treasure and landed gently on Xu Fan’s Turtle Shell, accompanied by the curious little boy.

“Master, this boy is a genius I found in Moliang State, and he has passed your most challenging test,” Li Xingci said respectfully.

“Passed the most challenging test? Which one did he pass?” Xu Fan asked, surprised.

“All of them,” Li Xingci replied, his tone tinged with amazement.

Xu Fan then took a closer look at the boy standing next to Li Xingci. The boy had an average appearance, but his eyes, which seemed to hold the brilliance of countless stars, were particularly striking.

Xu Fan gently touched the boy’s forehead with his finger.

In an instant, both Xu Fan and the boy found themselves in a pure white world.

“Could you be the reincarnation of a predecessor?” Xu Fan asked.

A flicker of surprise crossed the little boy’s mind.

“Immortal, what does it mean to be the reincarnation of a predecessor?” the little boy asked curiously.

Xu Fan waved his hand lightly, and the illusionary world filled with countless images, showing the boy’s life from infancy to the present.

Every experience of his life was displayed in the visuals.

With another wave of his hand, they returned to the real world.

“Do you want to become an immortal?” Xu Fan asked.

“I do.”

“Why?”

“To destroy the beast race and rebuild my hometown.” A hint of hatred flashed in the boy’s eyes. He had just awakened his memories, thinking this reincarnation would be easier, only to find it was a hellish start.

“Good, do you wish to become my sixth disciple?” Xu Fan asked.

Without hesitation, the little boy bowed respectfully to Xu Fan in the manner of a master and disciple.

“I am willing.”

“Good.”

“What is your name?” Xu Fan asked again.

“Li Goudan.”

“…………….”

“From now on, your name shall be Li Xuandao.”

From a distance, a disciple from the Hidden Spirit Sect approached; it was Xu Fan’s assistant, Qiu Ziyuan.

“Ziyuan, take the new disciple into the Hidden Spirit Sect and start with a set of introductory lessons,” Xu Fan instructed.

“Understood.”

A cloud of auspicious energy appeared, lifting the two of them towards the Hidden Spirit Sect.

At that moment, only Xu Fan remained on the Turtle Shell, as the Lei siblings had been sent home to study.

“How has your third senior brother been lately?” Xu Fan asked.

“He’s been hunting beasts with Uncle Wang, and the family is doing well, though Uncle Wang has sustained a minor injury,” Li Xingci replied honestly.

“Oh, that’s good.”

“Why does that little rascal refuse to return to the sect?” Xu Fan asked, knowing this boy was stubborn, and he dreaded him getting fixated on issues.

“He hasn’t made any progress in swordsmanship for three years and is afraid you might criticize him for it.”

“If he doesn’t come back soon, I might have to spank him.”