Xiao Heng opened his mouth, wanting to say something.
Yet his lips merely twitched, and after glancing at Li Fan's stern, frigid face, he kept his silence in the end.
Zhao Wen, being honest and simple by nature, did not overthink things. Once his shock passed, his gaze held nothing but pure envy.
And so, the cultivation paths for the children were settled for the time being—with the sole exception of Su Xiaomei, who was still an infant swaddled in cloth.
Though she was exceptionally gifted, she was far too young. Since she was still at the babbling stage, attempting to cultivate was out of the question.
However, with the many spiritual items Li Fan had bought protecting her body, along with the care of Xiao Heng and Su Changyu, there was no need to worry about her health. In fact, she was growing even faster than in his previous lives.
Seven days later, when the little ones' cultivation journeys had gradually gotten on track, Li Fan gathered them once more.
"Do you know where you are right now?" Li Fan asked.
After several days of getting acquainted with their surroundings, the children were no longer as timid as before.
"The cultivation world!" they competed to answer.
"Correct." Li Fan nodded. "But do you know that your ancestors were originally people of this cultivation world?"
"Immortal Master, our ancestors were once immortals too?" The children opened their mouths wide, piping up with questions all at once.
Li Fan then recounted to them how, in ancient times, their ancestors had been forced to leave their homeland because they harbored the immortal-mortal miasma.
"They were merely humans who happened to be somewhat stronger, yet relying on their own power, they acted completely without restraint, treating their former compatriots with such cruelty."
"On what grounds should they monopolize this vast and wondrous realm brimming with spiritual energy, while you and your ancestors were relegated for generations to tiny pocket worlds—places devoid of spiritual energy, where even the peril of apocalypse looms?"
"All because you were not strong enough!"
Li Fan's gaze swept over the crowd. Channeling the power of the Seven-Apertures Exquisite Heart, he spoke with gentle, insidious allure.
"Only when you are powerful enough will this world respect and heed your voice!"
"All humanity across the pocket worlds ought to unite!"
"Everything that was once lost must be reclaimed with your own hands!"
...
As one inflammatory slogan after another rang out, the children present were united in bitter hatred, itching to launch a counteroffensive against the cultivation world that very instant.
"Naturally, we must also face the gap between us and the cultivation world. Not only is our overall strength far too weak, but the number of our cultivators falls vastly short."
"Therefore..."
"Endure and bide our time!"
"Seek fresh blood and expand our organization!"
Without them even realizing it, Li Fan's dialogue with the children had shifted from "you" to "we."
"It has been a few days since you left home. I know some of you miss your parents dearly."
"It is fine; I am not an unfeeling man."
Li Fan pointed at Tianyang, who stood quietly to the side, and said, "As long as your cultivation bears fruit and you manage to defeat him, I will grant you permission to return home."
"At the same time, you will be granted the authority to recruit people in your homeland to join our Myriad Realms Association!"
At these words, the children grew excited.
Who wouldn't want to master immortal arts and return home in glorious triumph to show off?
Besides, this strange adult looked rather vacant and silly, not seeming particularly difficult to deal with.
Seeing hope, their spirits were enlivened, and the children threw themselves into cultivation with even greater diligence.
Watching these future core members of the Myriad Realms Association, Li Fan nodded inwardly.
Of course, he never truly expected them to counterattack the cultivation world and overthrow the rule of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals.
However, the highly lucrative trade with the Empire had inspired him.
In the name of the Myriad Realms Association, he could continue reaching out to pocket worlds that possessed unique power systems to reap exorbitant profits.
Equivalent levels of power held vastly unequal value between pocket worlds and the Xuanhuang Realm.
Take those thousand Beast Soul Beads, for instance: five hundred Foundation Establishment, four hundred and ninety Golden Core, and even nine Nascent Soul.
To build a force of such combat strength in the Xuanhuang Realm would cost well over ten million contribution points.
Yet precisely because the Empire aspired to break free from the Xuanhuang Realm and desperately needed immense amounts of contribution points, Li Fan had effortlessly reaped an enormous harvest.
As it was for the Empire, so it would be for other pocket worlds.
However, because these grotto-heavens and pocket worlds were concealed in secrecy and never revealed to the world, establishing contact with them required a great deal of manpower.
Therefore, raising these children was very necessary.
Furthermore, bound to the Mountain-Sitting Art, the stronger they grew, the greater the benefits Li Fan would reap.
After quietly instructing Tianyang not to hit them too hard and to go easy and let them win once the little ones achieved combat power equivalent to Golden Core cultivators, Li Fan left behind a wisp of Formless Killing Intent for surveillance and quietly returned to Wanxian Island.
During his time away, the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals appeared tranquil on the surface, but dark undercurrents were already surging beneath.
After mobilizing a large number of cultivators, it had issued a Talent Recruitment Order.
Any cultivator with notable achievements in the path of formations could answer the summons.
Without having to pass the induction examination, they could enjoy the various privileges of formation masters of the Formation Planning Hall.
Outstanding performers could even receive rewards up to a Dao Integration cultivation manual.
For a time, the formation elites across the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals rubbed their palms and grew eager to try.
With formation masters throughout the realm virtually gathering at the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals headquarters, such a massive stir naturally could not be hidden from the Five Elders Association.
Along the borders, the Five Elders Association launched continuous provocations and probing attacks.
From time to time, news even surfaced of Five Elders Association spies being exposed and executed.
Regarding open war, both sides remained fairly prudent for the moment. Beneath the eerie calm, an enormous storm seemed to be slowly brewing.
Li Fan also sensed something unusual.
If the goal were merely to construct the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation ahead of schedule, so many formation masters would hardly be necessary.
Extrapolating the blueprints for the Spirit-Locking Formation was simply not something Nascent Soul formation masters could participate in.
"Chief Lu, what are you scheming this time?" With a flicker in his eyes, Li Fan swiftly browsed recent events through the Heavenly Profound Mirror, trying to find some clues.
After a long time, his gaze suddenly locked onto a seemingly ordinary message.
Guo Yezhong, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, had unfortunately failed his breakthrough to Golden Core and died suddenly.
"Guo Yezhong? Why did he die ahead of time?"
Li Fan remembered this cultivator vividly—in his previous life, Guo had taken first place in the Spirit-Locking Formation construction competition purely through taking a commission on points.
For him to die inexplicably in this life, there had to be something strange behind it.
Li Fan began thoroughly investigating what Guo Yezhong had experienced before his death to see if he could uncover any anomalies.
After several days of effort, pouring out massive amounts of contribution points as if they were dirt, Li Fan finally learned the likely cause of the unexpected incident from the mouth of one of Guo Yezhong's close friends.
Chapter 471