"As for the rest of the disciples with ordinary talent..."
A flicker of reluctance showed in Liu Ruchen's eyes, but he ultimately spoke in a heavy voice: "Then have their cultivation abolished and have them switch to cultivating the Common People Lingyuan Technique!"
Hearing this, Li Fan clapped his hands in satisfaction.
"Sect Master Liu's awareness is indeed commendable. This saves me quite a dilemma."
Liu Ruchen could only manage an awkward, bitter smile.
After turning over the roster of every cultivator inside the cauldron, Li Fan looked it through and decided to awaken the Dao Integration elders first.
After all, below the Dao Integration realm—especially for ancient method cultivators—their utility was rather limited.
Inside the Medicine King Cauldron, a total of six Dao Integration and twenty-three Soul Formation cultivators lay asleep.
Among them, Li Fan was already very familiar with three: Liu San, Fang Zaiji, and Jiang Yushan.
In this lifetime, he naturally chose to awaken them first.
"To resist that intangible murderous intent, we might be able to rely on the power of medicinal pills," Liu Ruchen suddenly spoke up before undoing the Spring and Autumn Great Dream Formation.
"However, I have never experienced it personally, so I have no absolute certainty." Liu Ruchen spoke with great caution.
"No matter. If it works, all the better."
Liu Ruchen fetched several pills emitting an icy-blue light from the Medicine King Cauldron and fed one to Liu San first.
Moments later, Liu San slowly opened his eyes.
The first thing he saw was the unfamiliar Li Fan.
"Who are you?" Liu San's alertness was quite sharp, his figure flickering backward to put distance between them.
Yet the moment he saw Liu Ruchen, the vigilance in his heart vanished entirely.
"Master..."
"Have we arrived at the Xiaoyao Realm?" A trace of joy surfaced on Liu San's face as he asked instinctively.
Liu Ruchen sighed and shook his head, briefly explaining the sequence of events from beginning to end.
Liu San was naturally shaken to the core, but with Liu Ruchen acting as his anchor, he quickly composed himself.
Next, Jiang Yushan was awakened.
Jiang Yushan's reaction was far calmer by comparison.
She quickly adapted to the new circumstances a thousand years later.
"Whatever Sect Master Liu decides is fine," Jiang Yushan said faintly in her voice like scraping metal.
"The two of you, circulate the Scripture of Saving the World and Cultivating Longevity," Liu Ruchen instructed, looking at the two cultivators before him.
Liu San and Jiang Yushan complied at once.
A moment later, both of them frowned in unison.
"How does it feel?"
"An irritable murderous intent does indeed surface from time to time. But it can still be restrained. Perhaps it is the effect of the Wushi Pill," Liu San answered after taking a moment to examine his condition.
Jiang Yushan, however, said, "Wasting a Wushi Pill on me was unnecessary. Compared to what I endured in the Indeterminate Prison, this is not even worth mentioning."
Only then did Liu Ruchen turn to Li Fan. "It seems it indeed serves to suppress the murderous intent. However, the ingredients required to refine the Wushi Pill are quite precious. The reserves inside the Medicine King Cauldron are probably only enough to brew a few batches..."
Li Fan waved his hand dismissively. "No need to worry about raw materials. On that front, our Myriad Realms Association is relatively wealthy."
"Continue. Let us see how many we can sustain at most."
Liu Ruchen nodded.
Next, he successively awakened two more Dao Integration cultivators, Zeng Qianran and Ou Kui.
By this point, suppressing the murderous intent in their hearts was already a severe struggle.
"It seems the limit lies here. Let us stop here for now. As for the remaining Fan Zhuo..."
"There is also Elder Fang. His situation is rather unique—he does not cultivate the Scripture of Saving the World and Cultivating Longevity, so there is no harm in awakening him," Jiang Yushan spoke up to remind them before Li Fan could finish.
Liu San cast a brief glance at Jiang Yushan.
Li Fan smiled and ultimately released Fang Zaiji from the Spring and Autumn Great Dream Formation.
With this, the top combat power of the Medicine King Sect had essentially assembled.
Counting Liu Ruchen himself, there were six Dao Integration cultivators. Even if they practiced the ancient method, they still constituted a substantial fighting force for the current Myriad Realms Association.
Moreover, since they were all specialists in alchemy, their usefulness might prove even greater than that of ordinary Dao Integration experts.
Under Liu Ruchen's lead, the members of the Medicine King Sect briefly familiarized themselves with the basic situation of the Spirit Wood Realm.
All of them were weighed down with heavy hearts—except for Fang Zaiji.
When Fang Zaiji heard that a cultivator from the Tianji Realm actually resided in the Spirit Wood Realm, and that Liu Ruchen's current body was a puppet crafted by that very person, he was immediately thrilled. He clamored insistently to meet Layman Qiaogong.
Layman Qiaogong, who was engrossed in his research on Tianyang, had initially been somewhat reluctant to receive this uninvited guest.
Yet after a brief exchange, the two hit it off splendidly.
Although Fang Zaiji's artifact-crafting skills were far inferior to Qiaogong's, he had traveled widely across the Xuanhuang Realm in his youth and possessed extraordinary breadth of experience.
He was even able to offer helpful insights regarding Tianyang's Path of Bodily Transformation.
The two happily shut the front doors, barring any outsiders from disturbing them.
Li Fan simply let them be.
After deliberating among the several Dao Integration experts of the Medicine King Sect, they ultimately presented Li Fan with a list containing thirty names.
"These disciples are all absolute talents of great promise. If they switch to the Common People Lingyuan Technique, it would be truly lamentable. We can keep them in slumber for now, until we find a way to suppress the murderous intent in the future."
"As for the remaining disciples..." Liu Ruchen said resolutely, "we leave them to the envoy's discretion."
Though heartless and cold, it would at least preserve their lives.
As for pooling the strength of several Dao Integration experts to turn against their captors...
After witnessing the many spectacles within the Spirit Wood Realm, they had decisively suppressed that notion deep within their minds, not daring to let even a shred of it show.
"Actually, I have another way. There is no need to turn all these disciples into worthless technique-running machines," Li Fan suddenly spoke up, looking at the assembled elders of the Medicine King Sect.
"Aren't they currently slumbering within the Spring and Autumn Great Dream Formation? If I modify the formation so that the circumstances within the dream align with reality,
they would not necessarily need to wake up, yet they could still carry out the required work in reality."
Hearing this, Liu Ruchen asked somewhat uncertainly, "Does the envoy mean..."
"Sleepwalking?"
Li Fan nodded.
"Wait a moment."
Inside his sea of consciousness, the Terminal Dissociation Disc whirred into motion, and a modified version of the Spring and Autumn Great Dream Formation emerged in an instant.
After imparting the formation to Liu Ruchen, the man's eyes filled with utter astonishment.
Had this formation really been deduced in the mere span of a brief conversation?
"It should be feasible," Liu Ruchen said slowly, taking a deep breath.
Shortly after, as the new Spring and Autumn Great Dream Formation took over operations, Li Fan and his party appeared within the dreamscape of the Medicine King Sect disciples.
The original scenery within the dream had completely vanished, replaced by a vista identical to the real Spirit Wood Realm.
Liu Ruchen did not inform the disciples that they were still within a dream.
He merely recounted the failure of their escape from the Xuanhuang Realm and how they had now joined the Myriad Realms Association.
Although anxiety rippled through the disciples, their lives were at least spared.
After a period of commotion, calm returned as before.
Following Liu Ruchen's instructions, they settled down within the Spirit Wood Realm.
At the same time, in reality, their physical bodies exhibited synchronized movements.
Chapter 1021