"Hahaha..."
A flicker of panic crossed Yanfa Jue's eyes as she tried to brush it off.
"Don't try to gloss it over; confess honestly. Otherwise, I might just call for help! Catching Yanfa Jue harboring ill intent—that's bound to be a major merit, wouldn't you say? Perhaps I could even be released ahead of schedule," Li Fan threatened with a faint, mocking smile.
"What do you mean, harboring ill intent!" Yanfa Jue glared at him huffily.
Yet outside the glowing orb of characters, Li Fan's true body actually spoke up out of nowhere: "Um..."
The gazes of the garrison Dao Integration elders, Zhang Xu and Hua Yueye, were instantly drawn over.
The little girl Yanfa Jue immediately panicked.
"Wait! Let's talk this out!" With a quick stride, she darted in front of the simulated persona, her eyes wide as she looked at Li Fan with a pitiful expression.
Meanwhile, in the Yanfa Jue chamber, Li Fan's true body paused slightly before continuing, "Fellow Daoists, I would like to inquire about something. Is a cultivation technique derived through an application to Yanfa Jue permitted to be passed on to others? I know the Alliance's laws strictly forbid spreading them outside, but..."
Zhang Xu smiled and said, "Could it be that Fellow Daoist Sun wishes to secure a technique for his newborn son? Strictly speaking on the surface, that is not allowed. However, those responsible for supervision are all our own people from the Protector Hall. So..."
Zhang Xu flashed an understanding look.
Li Fan cupped his hands to show he understood.
Inside the glowing orb of characters, Yanfa Jue let out a long breath of relief upon hearing the conversation between the garrison Dao Integration cultivators.
"You bastard!" Her expression shifted again as she tried to put on a fierce, menacing face.
"Spill it. What are you actually trying to do?" The simulated persona extended a hand, curling a finger as if to flick her forehead.
Yanfa Jue instinctively dodged, but quickly realized the other party was merely a simulated body with no physical substance, turning flush with embarrassment and anger.
Yet when Li Fan offered that half-smiling look once more, she immediately shrank back in fear.
Ultimately, realizing she was no match for Li Fan, Yanfa Jue gave in.
"Fine, I can tell you. But first, you have to promise me you won't blow the whistle to the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals!" She wiped the extraneous expressions from her face and spoke with utmost gravity.
Li Fan merely smiled and countered, "If I were of one heart with the Alliance, why would I have used the chance of requesting a technique deduction to transmit the method for creating a simulated persona to you?"
Yanfa Jue tilted her head in thought and realized he had a point.
She clapped her chubby little hands together, and the scene inside the character orb shifted dramatically.
Endless white-jade bookshelves stretching to the horizon held densely packed arrays of jade slips.
Every single jade slip recorded a cultivation technique.
"Back then, the Heavenly Venerable told me to deduce every technique under heaven to the absolute limit."
"I was too young back then, thinking with my abilities it would be a piece of cake. So I happily agreed. Sigh, looking back now, I was truly foolish!" Yanfa Jue sighed and lamented with an old-timer's weariness.
"There's no end to the deductions! No end at all!"
"So many years have passed, and I'm still so far from reaching the goal! I feel like I'm hitting my limit!"
She tugged at her hair, her face crumpled in misery.
"I knew I had to find a way to change all this!" A sudden spark of determination flashed in the little girl's eyes.
"Oh? Change it how?" Li Fan asked with interest, looking around at the techniques.
"Hmph. Naturally, this lady has her own brilliant plan!" Yanfa Jue planted her hands on her hips, looking quite smug. "In short, if I just have fifty years of free time, I can find a way to escape this sea of misery once and for all ahead of schedule! When that time comes, I'm definitely going to get a good sleep."
Without pressing further on the specifics, Li Fan simply repeated the number: "Fifty years."
"So now that you have this simulated persona to assist you, how long will it take to reach your goal?"
Yanfa Jue's big eyes rolled around, and she coughed softly. "I haven't tested how efficient this thing actually is yet. How about you let me..."
Li Fan readily agreed.
After a brief shimmer of light, the simulated persona reverted to its previous mechanical demeanor.
"Master, is there anything I may do for you?" the persona inquired dutifully.
With a wave of her small hand, Yanfa Jue ordered it to take over all deduction work.
The colossal orb of characters spun continuously, technique jade slips taking shape one after another and appearing on the white-jade shelves.
Watching these jade slips materialize, the sheer joy of reaping without sowing flooded Yanfa Jue's heart, leaving her giggling foolishly.
Seven days passed in a flash.
Li Fan's voice suddenly rang out again.
The instant he assumed control of the simulated persona, the process of technique deduction within the glowing character orb was interrupted.
"Hoo..."
"Zzz..."
Li Fan looked closely and saw the little girl sprawled out in midair in a starfish shape with zero decorum, fast asleep.
"Mmh..." When Li Fan woke her, she rubbed her eyes vigorously.
Dazedly, she asked, "How many years have passed?"
"Huh? Only seven days!"
Moments later, once she realized the actual time, she snapped fully awake.
"That was such a glorious sleep," she smacked her lips, seeming reluctant to leave it behind.
"Why are you back again?" She looked at Li Fan with sheer disdain.
Li Fan said nothing, merely staring at her in silence.
Yanfa Jue immediately caved. "Fine, let me check. Hmm, it's only slightly slower than when I deduce with full effort."
"It roughly matches the deduction speed I display in front of the Alliance folks."
Li Fan nodded slightly. "In other words, in another forty years, you'll be able to successfully escape?"
Yanfa Jue looked baffled. "Escape? Escape from what?"
"I wanted to flee before because I didn't want to work. But now that I have such a great thing doing the work for free, why would I run away? Wouldn't it be better to just rest every day?"
She looked at Li Fan with open scorn.
"Oh?"
"And what if I remain in possession of this simulated persona indefinitely? How will you deal with that?" Li Fan asked calmly.
"Hmph, that won't stop me." Yanfa Jue sprang backward, and the surrounding scenery reverted to how it was before.
"Change for me!" She pointed across from her toward Li Fan's side.
As light converged, another figure slowly took shape.
It was yet another simulated persona!
"A person cannot divide their mind between two tasks at once! You occupied one, but can you occupy a second?"
"Get to work!" With one hand on her hip and the other pointing triumphantly at the second simulated persona, she barked her order.
"How do you know I can't?"
Unexpectedly, this second simulated persona spoke with Li Fan's voice as well, gazing at Yanfa Jue with a mocking expression.
The expression on her face froze instantly.
"Fine, fine, fine! Let's see just how many ways you can split your mind!"
"Change! Change! Change! Change!..."
The little girl tapped repeatedly in the air, conjuring illusory figures of simulated personas one after another.
One hundred, five hundred, one thousand...
Rows upon rows of Li Fan's face filled the entire interior of the character orb.
In unison, they mocked her:
"Not enough."
"Just this much?"
"Is this all you've got?"
"Keep going."
...
Spurred by Li Fan's taunts, the number of simulated personas multiplied until it approached nearly ten thousand.
Beads of sweat had begun to gather on the little girl's brow.
She halted her actions for now, her wide eyes staring in disbelief at the dense throng of Li Fans before her.
"Are you even human?"
"What on earth are you?"
She did not mean it as an insult; in Yanfa Jue's understanding, this was simply not something an ordinary cultivator could pull off.
Occupying a simulated persona did not require merely splitting off a sliver of divine sense.
Rather, it was more like cleaving one's divine soul in two and taking control with one half.
To control so many simulated personas simultaneously was akin to mincing one's divine soul into thousands of pieces without suffering any ill effects whatsoever.
She had only managed to do so by relying on her capabilities as a wonder of Heaven.
Yet he...
A twinge of vigilance could not help but stir in Yanfa Jue's heart.
"Want to keep going?"
Around ten thousand Li Fan faces smiled at the same time.
"Even with a hundred thousand more, I could easily bear it," Li Fan said breezily.
The little girl peered closely at Li Fan's true body in the garrison chamber.
He truly appeared under no strain whatsoever, meditating with closed eyes, serene and composed.
Yanfa Jue could not help but hesitate.
It wasn't that ten thousand was her limit.
She was merely worried that if they continued clashing, it would draw the Alliance's attention.
After all, once simulated personas reached tens of thousands, it would inevitably strain her normal deduction operations.
And Yanfa Jue's deduction performance was being monitored by the Alliance around the clock.
After deliberating, Yanfa Jue finally yielded in resignation.
"Fine! I admit you're pretty impressive!"
Gulping them down one by one, the little girl swallowed the surrounding simulated personas back into herself, leaving only the original one.
Letting out a small burp, Yanfa Jue finally said, "Speak up, what do you actually want? I can tell for sure that you're up to no good."
Li Fan shook his head. "You misunderstand me."
"I came here precisely to help you regain your freedom."
Yanfa Jue scoffed, "Freedom? What's so great about freedom? Besides, I've worked for Chuanfa for so many years; wouldn't quitting halfway be an utter waste?"
"All I've ever wanted to do from the very beginning is slack off," she reiterated.
"What benefit did Chuanfa promise you?" Li Fan asked.
"Hmph..." Yanfa Jue refused to answer.
"Perhaps I could help you as well. And without requiring you to pay any price," Li Fan said with utmost amiability.
Yanfa Jue looked thoroughly unconvinced. "There's really such a good deal?"
"I simply can't stand seeing Chuanfa exploit others," Li Fan replied.
Her eyes lit up, followed by a look of sudden realization. "I get it! You have a grudge against Chuanfa! That's why you came to me—you want to tear down his foundation!"
Li Fan did not deny it. "You could put it that way."
At those words, Yanfa Jue actually began to consider it seriously.
"Hmm, Chuanfa said he could help me find my home. Can you?" she asked tentatively.
"Home?" Li Fan's eyes flickered. "Be more specific."
"All right." Yanfa Jue moved closer and plopped down not far from him.
Resting her chin on both hands, she fell into reminiscence. "Before Chuanfa found me and I became Yanfa Jue, although I was just an ordinary little girl, I had faint memories of a past life."
"Those scenes in my memory—that is my true homeland."
Noticing the look Li Fan gave her, she added helplessly, "I did say faint! I can't remember the exact details, but the moment I see it with my own eyes, I'll definitely be able to tell if it's real."
"I have a premonition that finding information about my homeland is extremely important to me..."
Hearing this, Li Fan frowned slightly.
Just as he was about to speak, Yanfa Jue seemed to anticipate what he was going to say and rolled her eyes at him. "I'm not stupid. How could I let Chuanfa trick me into working all these years with just an empty promise?"
"Back then, he really did show me some images of my homeland. But I can't display them to you..." She gestured with her hands.
Li Fan nodded. "I have heard that the wonders of Heaven in Xuanhuang are either the laws of the realm or the transformations of upper-realm immortal artifacts. Could your homeland be the Immortal Realm?"
Yanfa Jue looked somewhat dejected. "Who knows. But I really hope I'm not from some Immortal Realm. If I were, I'd have no hope of going home."
"Anyway, what about you? Do you have the ability to help me?" she asked.
Li Fan shook his head. "Until I clarify the specific origin of your homeland, I cannot make any promises."
Hearing this, she couldn't help feeling a bit surprised. "I thought you'd just give me a guaranteed promise to trick me."
"Looks like you're not so bad after all." The little girl reassessed Li Fan.
Li Fan gave a faint smile. "However, give me some time, and I will present all possible scenes for you to identify one by one."
"Really...?" Yanfa Jue turned dubious yet intrigued.
"By the way, can you tell me now what your fifty-year plan is?" Instead of answering directly, Li Fan asked in turn.
After some thought, Yanfa Jue murmured softly, "Actually, it's nothing much. Just getting a good, long sleep and growing up a bit."
"Once I grow up, I'll be stronger. Handling these tasks will be much easier."
"What takes ten years of work now will probably take less than a year by then."
A glint of longing flashed in her eyes.
Li Fan's eyes narrowed slightly at her words.
"All you need is to sleep for fifty years? No other conditions?"
"What do you mean 'all you need is to sleep for fifty years'? Don't make it sound so easy!" Yanfa Jue protested, displeased.
Then she nodded in admission. "That's how it is. In fact, if I hadn't been denied the time to rest properly, I already felt I could grow a bit bigger."
"After all, deducing techniques is to me what cultivation is to you cultivators."
"After cultivating for so long, if I didn't make any progress at all, wouldn't I be a total blockhead?" Yanfa Jue said self-righteously.
Li Fan remained silent, though he had already deduced from Yanfa Jue's words what she meant by "growing up."
A sublimation and breakthrough, just like the Terminal Dissociation Disc.
Reaching the pinnacle of mortality.
Or perhaps...
If Yanfa Jue's origin truly lay in an upper-realm immortal artifact, restoring her former power as an immortal artifact was not impossible either.
Chapter 1273