"Senior Sister..." Li Fan looked at Senior Sister Zhao, who wore an inscrutable expression as she was about to be summoned alone by Sect Master Ji. He hesitated, words faltering on his lips.
"Hm? What is it, Junior Brother?" She glanced at Li Fan and asked softly, "We have shared life and death for over a hundred years. Is there anything we cannot speak plainly to each other about?"
"It's nothing." Li Fan smiled easygoingly. "Go ahead, Senior Sister. Remember, whatever you do, I will support you."
Senior Sister Zhao smiled warmly and stepped into the sect's main hall.
*Boom!*
The heavy doors slammed shut with a rumble. Watching Senior Sister Zhao's disappearing back, Li Fan's eyes flickered with a complex look that went unnoticed by anyone else.
Rather than obediently waiting outside the hall, he returned to Penglai Peak, where he and Senior Sister Zhao lived, and scavenged everything of value from the immortal cave.
Then, pretending to be on patrol, he made his way near the exit of the sect-protecting grand array.
Though appearing no different from any ordinary disciple on the surface, Li Fan had in fact already prepared himself to flee at a moment's notice.
It was not because Li Fan wanted to betray the Dadao Sect, but because...
During their century down the mountain, Li Fan had discovered by chance that Senior Sister Zhao was secretly collecting blood from cultivators—and even mortals—infected with the Immortal Plague.
Although she took only a single drop each time and acted with utmost secrecy,
how could it escape the eyes of Li Fan, who was with her day and night?
At the very beginning, every time she took a blood sample, Senior Sister Zhao would fall gravely ill.
Relying on Li Fan's attentive care and an ample supply of pills to protect her body, she managed to pull through safely each time.
When Li Fan asked her the reason, she merely joked that she wanted to try reversing the principle behind the Immortal Plague to attain Longevity directly.
Li Fan naturally did not believe it.
Yet knowing Senior Sister Zhao's temperament, once she set her mind on something, not even he, her Dao companion of a century, could dissuade her.
So he ceased trying to dissuade her, simply telling her to take care of her health above all else.
Later, she seemed to have truly taken Li Fan's advice to heart, gradually stopping her collection of blood samples.
The intervals between her illnesses grew shorter, and the symptoms of each infection grew lighter and lighter.
Yet Li Fan knew it was all an illusion.
Senior Sister Zhao had not abandoned her mad pursuit at all.
The reason she appeared normal was simply that she seemed to have grasped some method to isolate the effects of the Immortal Plague...
Over these years, even though they had stayed together,
Senior Sister Zhao's cultivation had grown increasingly profound, reaching a level that Li Fan could no longer fathom.
The various auras inadvertently leaking from her from time to time made Li Fan secretly tremble in apprehension.
Even though he could be certain Senior Sister Zhao bore him no ill will, an inexplicable sense of crisis still welled up within Li Fan's heart.
Though Senior Sister Zhao never spoke of it, Li Fan could guess. Gathering so much blood laden with the power of the Immortal Plague was almost certainly meant to deal with the Sect Master of the Dadao Sect, Ji Changxi.
A century of deliberate suppression had pushed Senior Sister Zhao's resentment toward this Sect Master to the limit.
As the saying went: "Those who block my Dao path shall face death without end."
Li Fan believed that, in her madness, it was not impossible for Senior Sister Zhao to commit such an outrageous, treasonous act.
The glint of killing intent that had flashed through her eyes just before stepping into the sect's main hall was definitely not his imagination.
*Even though Ji Changxi has been at Dao Integration for over six hundred years and possesses unfathomable divine abilities and wondrous arts, he is still not in the Longevity realm.*
*Judging by the talent and actual combat power Senior Sister Zhao has displayed, coupled with the aid of the Immortal Plague, she might not be without a chance of winning.*
*Yet even if she achieves a narrow victory, what then? Kill one Ji Changxi, and there are still over a dozen Dao Integration elders. There are even those two reclusive Longevity Heavenly Venerables holding the fort.*
*Could she possibly slaughter every single one of them?*
Li Fan could not fathom why Senior Sister Zhao would make such a choice.
Regardless of success or failure, everyone throughout the Dadao Sect would know.
When the time came, not only would she face a siege by the entire sect, but Li Fan, as her Dao companion, would surely not be spared either.
Thus, taking precautions for a rainy day, Li Fan had prepared to flee early on.
As for why he had not left yet, it was purely out of hope—to see if a miracle might happen.
Time trickled by.
Because Ji Changxi had previously issued an order that he and the Dao Child had important matters to discuss and no one was to disturb them,
the sect's main hall remained sealed shut.
Gazing at the mountain peak from afar, Li Fan grew increasingly anxious.
Seven days later.
The hall's doors slowly swung wide open, and Li Fan's breath caught in his throat.
However, something far beyond his expectations occurred.
Ji Changxi walked in front, followed by Senior Sister Zhao.
The two walked out together.
*They didn't fight to the death? Did I overthink things?* Surprised, Li Fan could not help but narrow his eyes slightly.
Not only had Senior Sister Zhao's desperate, fight-to-the-death strike failed to occur, but the relationship between the two actually seemed far more harmonious than before.
In fact, as she departed at the end, Ji Changxi even patted her shoulder in an encouraging gesture.
Senior Sister Zhao had accepted it naturally, without the slightest change in expression.
Seeing this, Li Fan felt a tremor in his heart, filled with confusion.
In the past, aside from him, Senior Sister Zhao had strongly repelled any physical contact with others.
And now...
Sensing something amiss, myriad thoughts flashed through Li Fan's mind.
Yet there was no time to dwell on them.
First, Li Fan realized there was still something he had left undone.
Hurrying back to Penglai Peak before Senior Sister Zhao returned, he put everything back in its original place.
When Senior Sister Zhao returned, she did not notice anything amiss in their cave abode.
After all, this "home" was a place neither of them had returned to in a hundred years.
"Senior Sister, during our century away, we've been constantly busy with trivial matters and haven't shared intimacy for a long time. Why don't we..." Li Fan probed, extending an invitation for dual cultivation.
A hint of nostalgia flickered in Senior Sister Zhao's eyes. Looking charming and tender, she readily agreed.
After an ecstatic union, the suspicion in Li Fan's heart began to fade.
"Why did the Sect Master summon you this time?" Li Fan asked casually, holding her jade-white, flawless body in his arms.
"He said that before long, he will pass the position of Sect Master of the Dadao Sect to me, and that I should prepare in advance," Senior Sister Zhao said in a flat tone, without the slightest ripple of emotion.
It was as though what she was to inherit was not the leader of the Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao, but some child's toy.
Yet such a light, nonchalant statement fell upon Li Fan's ears like a thunderclap, sending his mind reeling and momentarily stripping him of the ability to think.
"What about the Heaven-Slaying Dao Scripture?" With his mind blank, Li Fan asked instinctively.
"Tee-hee, it's the exclusive cultivation technique of the Sect Master, so of course it will be returned to me to cultivate," she said with a soft chuckle, resting her head against Li Fan's chest and tracing circle after circle over his heart with her finger, as if she had reclaimed a beloved toy.
Chapter 521