Chapter 161
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Chapter 161: Seclusion
Beneath the main peak of the Hidden Spirit Sect, in a secluded garden pavilion.
"Uncle Wang, why did you call me here?" Li Xingci asked Wang Yulun, a peculiar glint in his eyes.
"Xingci, the truth is, I am your father."
Xu Fan, who was sipping tea while watching the live broadcast in the time chamber, immediately spat it out.
"Are you serious with that opening line?" Xu Fan muttered.
"I know. I figured it out after I grew up."
"After all, the loving gaze of a father towards his child can’t be faked," Li Xingci sighed.
"Don’t you resent me?" Wang Yulun’s voice carried a tinge of guilt. Though there was no right or wrong in this matter, he had failed a woman who cared for him, and now they had a child together; it was a complicated situation.
"I used to, but not anymore. You don’t owe me anything. You only failed my mother," Li Xingci’s voice softened, and Wang Yulun suddenly felt overwhelmingly drowsy, eventually resting his head on the pavilion table.
"Just give my mother a complete life, and that will clear my inner demons. After that, we owe each other nothing."
In the Cycle of Rebirth, this time, Wang Yulun joined the Qianyun Sect, where there was also a low-profile disciple named Xu Fan and a female disciple named Li Wanxin, who blushed while secretly watching Wang Yulun.
Watching the live stream, Xu Fan nodded and said, "Hmm, this aligns with what I was thinking. This matter can be considered resolved, but dealing with the aftermath is a bit troublesome; I need to prepare in advance."
Li Xingci looked at Wang Yulun, who was trapped in the Cycle of Rebirth, and raised his head to the sky, saying, "Master, please send Uncle Wang home."
After speaking, he vanished.
Not long after, two guardian puppets safely returned the entrapped Wang Yulun home.
Xu Fan also walked out of the time chamber and received a storage bag of spiritual herbs from a puppet guarding the treasury.
"Ah, it looks like I have to deal with this mess myself," Xu Fan said as he stepped into the alchemy room.
The next day, Wang Yulun slowly opened his eyes. After pondering for a moment, he looked around and said softly, "Why did I wake up?"
At that moment, a Nascent Soul Stage guardian puppet walked to Wang Yulun’s side and handed him a bottle of pills.
"Master said taking the Forgetful Pill will help you feel better," the puppet said in a melodic voice.
Before Wang Yulun could respond, the puppet directly poured out a spirit pill and fed it to him, making Wang Yulun faint again.
Inside the time chamber, Xu Fan clapped his hands.
"The problem is solved."
Another night passed, and Wang Yulun woke up, rubbing his head and looking around in confusion.
"I always feel like I forgot something very important."
Half a month later, Wang Xiangchi returned with Murong Qianer.
Seeing that everything in the sect was normal, Xu Fan officially began his seclusion, vowing to stay until he reached the Golden Core Stage.
For his last meal before secluding himself, Xu Fan called all the disciples and elders of the sect.
"Chief Pang, you can directly collect the puppets for the orders from the treasury in the future; everything else stays the same."
"Yulun, I hope when I come out again, you will have advanced to the Nascent Soul Stage."
"Elder Sha, feel free to take in as many disciples as you want; don’t worry about anything. I’m more afraid that you won’t be able to seize a position."
“Xu Gang, while you’re cultivating, make sure to spend some time with the kids and Little Xi.”
“Yuexian, feel free to go out these next few years, but after 14 years, you’ll need to stay put in the sect and wait for news from the beast race.”
“Wang Xiangchi and Xingci, if you’re still at the Golden Core Stage by the time I finish my seclusion, you know what’s coming.”
“Kailing and Xuandao, just keep focusing on your training.”
After Xu Fan gave his instructions, he stepped into the time chamber.
As the door to the time chamber closed tightly, everyone felt a sense of emptiness, but life had to go on as usual.
In the fifth year of Xu Fan’s seclusion, Xiong Li broke through to the Foundation Establishment Stage, becoming the first disciple of the Hidden Spirit Sect to do so.
Over the next few years, the earliest batch of disciples began to steadily advance to the Foundation Establishment Stage.
In the eighth year of Xu Fan’s seclusion, Wang Xiangchi and Li Xingci both reached the Nascent Soul Stage. That same year, the Elder Council officially announced that the Human Realm and the demon race would begin to merge in five years. They urged all major sects to prepare defenses in their regions to protect the mortal world from the beast race.
A massive entrance appeared halfway up a mountain in the Hidden Spirit Sect, and spiritual boats loaded with Foundation Establishment Stage and Golden Core Stage puppets began flying toward the land.
These spiritual boats, made of spirit iron, were the most basic models, each a hundred meters long and carrying thousands of puppets.
From that mountain entrance, tens of thousands of boats flew out, each seemingly programmed to head straight to its destination.
Xu Lingtai, now grown up, looked at the sky filled with spiritual boats and puppets and asked Xu Gang in amazement, “Dad, did Master Ancestor make all these puppets?”
“Sort of. Master Ancestor created a puppet that can make other puppets, so that’s why there are so many,” Xu Gang explained. He had been to the underground space and knew roughly how it worked.
Meanwhile, Xiong Li, who was cultivating at the top of a mountain, watched the sky filled with spiritual boats and puppets. He clenched his fists, silently frustrated that his own strength was still too weak. Otherwise, why would he have no mission while these puppets were being sent out?
Inside the time chamber, Xu Fan watched as the puppets boarded the spiritual boats and left the mountain. He smiled and said, “These spirit iron-made spiritual boats and puppets are finally being put to good use.”
“The other half of the stock will be kept as cannon fodder.”
Compared to the production line in the underground space, there was an even larger spirit iron ore processing base beneath the Ten Thousand-Mile Giant Lake.
Xu Fan had left Grape in charge of that operation, only requiring the puppets and matching spiritual boats. At least half of the spiritual liquid in the lake under the waterfall of spiritual liquid had been used up by Grape.
Due to their nature, the puppets made from spirit iron could only reach the fighting strength of an early Golden Core Stage, but that was enough for their purpose.
At night, within the Hidden Spirit Sect’s territory, spiritual boats slowly landed at pre-designated spots, sinking into the ground and waiting to emerge when the beast race attacked.
In the tenth year of Xu Fan’s seclusion, Wang Yulun advanced to the Nascent Soul Stage, while Little Xi, with the help of the money-making path, reached the Golden Core Stage.
Lei Ren, who had become a disciple of Elder Sha, successfully crafted his first precious artifact, making him the third artifact master in the Hidden Spirit Sect. Meanwhile, his sister Lei Wenxi delved deeper into raising mutated spirit beasts.
In the twelfth year of Xu Fan’s seclusion, Xu Yuexian returned to the sect, covered in blood and cradling a severed arm.
With only a breath left, Xu Yuexian was saved by a drop of wood essence. A guardian puppet brought her the highest-grade healing pill, and Xu Fan’s shadowy avatar emerged from the time chamber to ask about the cause of her injuries.
Not long after, ten teams of top-tier Nascent Soul Stage puppets, led by a special Nascent Soul puppet controlled by Xu Fan, flew out of the Hidden Spirit Sect aboard top-tier spiritual boats, heading straight for Lin Sen Fairy City.
