"My little sister is still young, I beg the immortal master to spare her life!" Su Changyu reacted quickly, hurriedly kowtowing and begging Li Fan for mercy.
Xiao Heng also snapped to his senses at once. "Please spare her life, Immortal Master!"
Li Fan did not answer, merely looking with interest at Su Xiaomei, who was trapped by the Insect Binding divine ability.
Subdued by an enemy and unable to move, Su Xiaomei's small face turned completely red with frustration.
Then, a surge of power erupted from within her body. Li Fan sensed that in that split second, Su Xiaomei's strength more than doubled.
*An innate divine ability?* Li Fan's eyes flashed, but he did not loosen the restriction.
He wanted to see where Su Xiaomei's limit lay.
Feeling his gaze wander over her while she remained powerless to resist, Su Xiaomei, who had never suffered such humiliation in her entire life, felt an endless fire of rage ignite in her heart.
A streak of crimson welled up in her eyes, leaping and blazing like roaring flames.
Her body turned scalding hot, and the air around her heated up as well.
Su Xiaomei's strength doubled yet again.
And yet, it was useless!
Fury continued to coil in her heart.
The crimson in her eyes gradually spread across her whole body, tinting her black hair an eerie shade of red.
Wisps of white smoke faintly rose from all over her body.
Su Xiaomei's strength doubled once more!
Seeing this, Xiao Heng grew so anxious that tears nearly welled in his eyes, and he kowtowed ceaselessly.
Su Changyu's expression remained calm, yet the blood on his forehead revealed his true feelings at this moment.
*Eight times her original strength? Innate divine abilities truly are unreasonably powerful,* Li Fan mused with an inward nod.
Although Li Fan felt that Su Xiaomei's power could still continue to swell, doing so would inflict hidden injuries on her body.
Li Fan was merely testing her; there was no need to push things that far.
Thus, the Blue Flame phantom spirit manifested in his sea of consciousness. Li Fan extended his right hand and pressed it gently against the crown of Su Xiaomei's head.
A chilling force surged into her.
Su Xiaomei's body temperature gradually fell, and the crimson color in her pupils slowly faded.
Her ferocious expression gradually relaxed into calm.
As the Insect Binding technique dissolved, Su Xiaomei dropped from the air.
In an instant, she regained her footing and dashed toward Li Fan.
Grabbing hold of Li Fan's leg, she clung tightly and refused to let go. "Master! You're finally here!"
"Master..." Li Fan chuckled softly. In today's cultivation world, such an address was exceedingly rare.
Almost extinct.
Without answering her, he simply pulled Su Xiaomei off his leg, set her aside, and scrutinized her closely.
Likely due to her special constitution, even though Su Xiaomei was supposed to be over ten years old by now, her height and build were only like that of an ordinary six- or seven-year-old child.
Right now, she stared at Li Fan with wide eyes, looking thoroughly adorable.
Li Fan smiled faintly, then shifted his gaze to Su Changyu and Xiao Heng.
Seeing that Su Xiaomei was out of danger, they immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Even so, they still did not dare to rise, remaining bent over and prostrated on the ground.
Ten years ago, before departing, Li Fan had passed the Xuanhuang Mind-Clearing Incantation to Xiao Heng, along with instructions on how to use the accompanying medicines.
He had not explicitly forbidden him from passing it on.
Judging by how Su Changyu beside him was still riddled with immortal-mortal miasma, Xiao Heng clearly understood that the Dharma was not to be imparted lightly.
He had not shared it with anyone else.
And yet...
What was going on with this kid?
Sensing the condition inside Xiao Heng's body, Li Fan's face darkened.
There were indeed signs that the immortal-mortal miasma had been cleansed, but only a tiny fraction.
It was practically nonexistent.
*In your previous life, it took you only a single month to purge all the miasma from your body, didn't it?*
*Nearly ten years have passed now!*
*Far too indolent!*
Li Fan said coldly to Xiao Heng, "From Great Li to the cultivation world, the journey takes over a dozen days. If you haven't successfully expelled your miasma by the time we arrive, I will toss you into the sea to feed the fish. Understood?"
Hearing this, Xiao Heng instantly turned pale, trembling all over.
Su Changyu glanced helplessly at him, shaking his head in secret.
Su Xiaomei wore a gloating expression, grinning cheekily at Xiao Heng.
Li Fan had originally intended to simply take the three of them and leave quietly.
On second thought, however, ten years had passed, and the supplies collected by the Great Li realm were bound to be ready again.
With He Zhenghao's untimely death, no one had taken over this smuggling route yet.
Since he was already here, he might as well make the trip worthwhile.
After all, two thousand contribution points was no small sum.
Every little bit counted—meat was meat, even from a mosquito's leg.
Having made up his mind, he channeled the spiritual energy within him and struck the bells beneath the four watchtowers.
Instantly, the tolling of bells echoed throughout the Great Li imperial capital, causing quite a commotion.
Taking Su Xiaomei and the other two with him, Li Fan went to that previous square, waiting for the Emperor of Great Li to arrive.
Nearly half a day later, the Great Li emperor and his ministers all arrived before Li Fan.
Looking at Su Xiaomei and the other two behind Li Fan, their expressions varied.
Yet none dared show any disrespect; they all dropped to their knees across the square.
"We respectfully welcome the Immortal Master!"
Li Fan said straightforwardly, "For this transaction, I will personally transport the people you have selected out into the world. Have your goods been prepared?"
Though the Emperor of Great Li harbored doubts, the immortal master's identity before him was beyond question.
So he nodded incessantly.
Li Fan took a trip to the imperial treasury to collect the supplies, then turned and instructed, "Tomorrow morning, I will wait for you in the square. I will not wait past the hour."
The Emperor of Great Li submissively complied and hurried off to have his subjects make preparations.
Early the next morning, a large crowd gathered in the square.
Most were youthful faces, and a few of them even looked somewhat familiar to Li Fan.
They were the very people Li Fan had encountered when he first entered the cultivation world in his previous life.
Releasing the Taiyan Boat and setting it onto the square, Li Fan addressed the crowd: "The cultivation world may not be as wonderful as you imagine. It is fraught with peril."
"Going there, you may well face certain death."
"I will give you one last chance. If you are unwilling to go, you may choose to back out. I will speak to your elders on your behalf so that no one makes things difficult for you."
Having spoken, Li Fan watched coldly to see how they would choose.
These youths had never expected such a twist. Exchanging glances, they were at a loss for what to do.
Right at that moment, a rather shrill voice rang out across the square: "Please rest assured, Immortal Master! Though the immortal path is perilous and fraught with hardships, my, Ye Feipeng's, desire to seek immortality will remain unyielding across a hundred lifetimes, with no regrets across a hundred lifetimes!"
Hearing these words, Li Fan's expression turned strange. Following the voice with his eyes, he was suddenly torn between laughter and tears.
As it turned out, the speaker was actually that fat youth who had blackmailed and threatened Li Fan in his previous life, only to be casually slain by him afterward.
Inspired by this voice, quite a few hesitated and wrestled with themselves for a while before ultimately deciding to venture into the cultivation world.
Yet there were still some who chose to give up.
*Good advice cannot save those bound for doom. This is the choice you made yourselves; when you meet a violent end in the future, do not blame anyone else.*
Watching these youths board the Taiyan Boat one after another, their faces filled with excitement and trepidation, Li Fan thought quietly to himself.
Chapter 133