Hearing this, Zhang Qianmo chuckled softly. "Merely a nightmare, Junior Brother. You need not take it to heart."
Yet, meeting Li Fan's burning gaze, Zhang Qianmo pondered for a moment before speaking. "As for my lifelong wishes..."
"I will not hide it from you. Ever since I entered the Purple Cloud Sect and set foot on the path of cultivation, I have held three great goals in my heart."
"It is just that they have been buried deep within, never mentioned to anyone."
"Now that Junior Brother insists on asking, there is no harm in sharing them with you."
"Just take it as a joke—no need to take it seriously!"
Zhang Qianmo's expression turned solemn as he spoke slowly: "I have three wishes."
"First: evil fiends bring disaster and plunge all living beings into misery. I wish to slay every demon and monster under heaven, returning clarity and righteousness to the world."
"Second: the Ten Great Immortal Sects are old and decaying. They wield might without virtue, no longer able to win people's hearts. I wish to make the Purple Cloud Sect replace them."
"Third: every sect under heaven jealously hoards what little they have. Innumerable cultivation methods exist in this world, yet each is hoarded in secret. An ordinary cultivator could spend their entire life and still fail to master even the treasured techniques of a single sect, let alone the countless other methods across the world."
"Life is bounded, yet the Dao of methods is boundless. What a regret! Techniques could be cultivated together, yet not a single sect is willing to share its arts with the people of the world."
"Narrow-minded! Shallow! If I were to rule the realm, I would gather every technique under heaven and make them public."
"Everyone could choose the method best suited to them for cultivation. Before many years passed, we would surely restore the golden age of ancient cultivation!"
Never satisfied unless his words astounded, Zhang Qianmo voiced his three lifelong wishes in a single breath.
Each was more terrifying than the last.
Hearing this, Li Fan could not help but sink into deep silence.
After a long time, he let out a slow breath and said, "Senior Brother has lofty ambitions. Your junior brother is in awe!"
Zhang Qianmo burst into hearty laughter upon hearing this. "It is merely wild rambling born of all the injustices I've seen since beginning my cultivation! Just treat it as a bit of fun, Junior Brother—don't take it to heart!"
"Let's go!"
With that, he accelerated toward Ningyuan City.
Li Fan followed closely behind, thinking secretly, "I can only pray this place isn't sustained by Senior Brother Zhang's obsession. This senior brother of mine is truly no ordinary man. His wishes are absurdly grand."
"I wonder what his true end was in history."
The two traveled without further words, quickly arriving at Ningyuan City amid the silence.
Concealing their auras, they transformed their appearances to look like mortals.
The two martial brothers strode openly into the city through the gates.
"Junior Brother, let us split up. First, see if there is anything amiss in this city," Zhang Qianmo transmitted with divine sense.
"Senior Brother, you aren't going to look for your old flame, Chi Xia, are you?" Li Fan exposed his intention with a single remark.
Hearing that, Zhang Qianmo looked somewhat embarrassed.
Just as he was about to explain, Li Fan suddenly said, "If my spiritual premonition is correct, the danger in this city is aimed at the two of us."
"In that case, an ambush has likely already been laid around Lady Chi Xia."
"If Senior Brother meets with her rashly, you might walk straight into their trap."
"With Senior Brother's formidable cultivation, you naturally have nothing to fear from them. But I fear Lady Chi Xia might be caught in the crossfire and perish."
Hearing this, Zhang Qianmo felt it made complete sense.
After pondering briefly, he transmitted, "Junior Brother's considerations are indeed more prudent. In that case, let us both secretly figure out all the enemy scouts in the city first, then reconvene before deciding on our next move."
Li Fan nodded in agreement.
Zhang Qianmo's figure gradually vanished into the crowd.
Having already learned the positions and disposition of the ambushers in Ningyuan City inside and out, Li Fan naturally had no need to go to the trouble of scouting.
The reason he had guided Zhang Qianmo to act this way this time was precisely to delay the outbreak of the battle.
Before that, he wanted to examine Ningyuan City once more.
To search for the true protagonist.
By now, Li Fan had reincarnated over a dozen times in this Ningyuan City within the Fallen Immortal Realm.
After Zhang Qianmo's recent words, even though he was somewhat reluctant to believe it, Li Fan knew very well that he had likely been mistaken all along.
The protagonist of this stage play was someone else, not Zhang Qianmo.
Because Senior Brother Zhang's obsession was too immense.
While the stage of Ningyuan City was too small.
The mere incident of "being ambushed while retrieving the Longevity Fruit" could not match Senior Brother Zhang's grand aspirations.
"Then who on earth is the master of this temporal residual thought?"
Li Fan's gaze swept over the busy mortals in Ningyuan City.
"Could it be among these people?"
With this question in mind, Li Fan began strolling through Ningyuan City.
This was quite a bustling, vibrant city.
Mortals lived and worked here in peace and contentment, entirely unaware of the catastrophe about to descend upon them.
Following the bustling flow of people, Li Fan came to a street called Yongqing Street.
The roadside was lined with all kinds of stalls, and many excited mortals were browsing and enjoying themselves.
Strolling among them, Li Fan felt as if he had returned to Great Xuan.
That long-lost mortal realm.
Suddenly, Li Fan paused slightly in his tracks.
Sensing his surroundings with his divine sense, an imperceptible smile curved the corners of his lips.
Then, he intentionally walked toward a dead-end alley not far away.
Behind him, several skinny, small figures hurriedly followed.
Only when they reached deep into the alley and realized the person they were tailing had vanished did they start in surprise.
Just as they wanted to retreat, they found a figure blocking the exit.
It was Li Fan.
Looking at the five who had tailed him, Li Fan tilted his head.
Five mortals.
And emaciated children at that.
Even the oldest looked only six or seven years old, nothing but skin and bones, frail enough to be knocked down by a gust of wind.
"Why are you little ones following me?" Li Fan asked, finding it somewhat amusing.
Caught red-handed, the five children looked somewhat tense.
Yet faced with Li Fan's question, not one replied, only staring at him fixedly.
Just as Li Fan was about to speak again, one of them suddenly cried out, "Gouzi!"
At the same time, the ferocious roar of a dog suddenly erupted behind Li Fan.
The vicious dog arrived in an instant, about to pounce on Li Fan.
Li Fan had intended to crush it to death directly, but upon seeing the "vicious dog's" face, he could not help but stay his hand.
Applying a bit of force, he snatched it up in one grab.
Ignoring its furious snarling, he held it up before his eyes and inspected it closely.
Indeed, they were a dog's limbs...
Yet the torso and head were human.
"What is this?"
"A demon beast?"
An inscrutable light flashed through Li Fan's eyes.
Spiritual energy surged from his body, circulating once through its frame.
Its snarls gradually weakened, and it fell into a deep sleep.
"Gouzi!"
Behind him, the five children thought Gouzi was dead and let out grief-stricken cries.
Disregarding the absolute disparity in strength, they all lunged at Li Fan together.
With a gentle flick of Li Fan's sleeve, they all fell to the ground.
"It isn't dead," Li Fan said calmly.
"If you want to save its life, answer a few of my questions."
The children exchanged glances and could only nod in agreement.
"This dog..." Li Fan paused, then changed his words. "What is the story behind this child?"
That was right. After the inspection just now, Li Fan had discovered that this monster before him with a human body and dog's paws was no demon beast.
It was human.
Only, it had been "grafted" with a dog's limbs.
Chapter 273