Hearing this, Liu San frowned slightly. "Why is Young Master in such a panic? We cultivators should keep our composure even if the mountains collapse and the seas churn before us..."
"Our plan to escape the Xuanhuang Realm failed," Li Fan interrupted.
"What?" Liu San's expression changed abruptly.
"Adoptive Father... sacrificed himself to save us," Li Fan continued.
"What?!"
Liu San froze as if struck by lightning.
"The master... he..."
"How is that possible?"
His body trembled slightly, his eyes filled with disbelief.
Li Fan continued to batter his nerves: "While we were slumbering, several thousand years passed in the outside world."
"Ah?!"
"How could this be?"
Liu San stared at Li Fan blankly.
Grief, shock, confusion...
For a moment, Liu San's mind was in total disarray.
He felt that all the shocks he had experienced since beginning his cultivation did not add up to what had hit him on this single day.
Yet Liu San did not realize that even though these words sounded utterly absurd on their face, coming from the mouth of Li Fan, his "Young Master," he felt not the slightest doubt.
Forget a Dao Integration cultivator—not even a mortal youth in his teens would trust someone so gullibly.
Yet this was precisely what had happened to Liu San.
*The principle of Longevity is truly terrifying,* Li Fan could not help but marvel inwardly.
To better control this Dao Integration cultivator, Li Fan had not only infused the Truth Enticement Fruit with the information that he was Liu Yihang of the Medicine King Sect, but also embedded the premise that "Liu San trusts Liu Yihang implicitly."
This was to ensure absolute certainty.
After all, even an ancient-method Dao Integration cultivator was far beyond what Li Fan, at merely the Nascent Soul realm, could contend with.
If he wanted to take over the Medicine King Sect smoothly, he had to keep Liu San firmly under his thumb.
A total of six Dao Integration cultivators were currently slumbering inside the Medicine King Cauldron. The reason Li Fan had chosen Liu San was precisely because he valued his loyalty.
His status was evident from the way he addressed "Liu Yihang" as "Young Master."
Liu San had been an orphan whom Liu Ruchen had casually saved long ago.
He had grown up following Liu Ruchen from childhood, and his cultivation and techniques had all been personally imparted by him.
One could say that between Liu Ruchen and him, they were both master and servant as well as teacher and disciple.
Liu San was also a man who valued bonds and repaid kindness. Even after he achieved success in his cultivation and stepped into the Dao Integration realm, and despite Liu Ruchen advising him many times otherwise, he always referred to himself as an "old servant" and remained utterly devoted to Liu Ruchen.
Liu Ruchen came to value him more and more in turn. Whenever Liu Ruchen traveled abroad, the ordinary affairs of the Medicine King Sect, large and small, were all entrusted to Liu San.
Even though such a man's strength ranked only in the middle among the six Dao Integration elders, he was the primary target Li Fan wanted to bring under control.
These thoughts flashed through Li Fan's mind in an instant. Facing Liu San's dazed look, Li Fan's eyes also took on a look of deep sorrow. "Alas, come with me, Elder Liu. You will understand once you see it..."
Li Fan then brought Liu San into the central chamber of the Medicine King Cauldron, playing for him the recorded images of what happened after the cauldron flew out of the Xuanhuang Realm, and how Liu Ruchen had chosen to sacrifice himself to save the entire sect.
"Sect Master!"
A venerable man of Liu San's years broke down in tears on the spot, weeping and wailing uncontrollably.
Li Fan stood quietly by his side the entire time without uttering a single word.
Only when Liu San gradually gathered his grief did Li Fan play Liu Ruchen's last words.
Listening to Liu Ruchen's final voice, Liu San's eyes grew wet once more.
However, he did not cry aloud this time. He listened intently to every single word, as if striving to etch them into his heart forever.
After the recording vanished, it took a long time for Liu San to force himself to pull together his spirits.
"The Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao..." he ground out through clenched teeth.
Seeing this, Li Fan sighed softly. "The Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao are truly hateful, but even if we wished to seek revenge now, I am afraid we would be powerless to do so."
Liu San froze. "What do you mean, Young Master? Wait... you said earlier that thousands of years have passed in the outside world?"
Li Fan nodded. "Indeed. After I awoke, I went out to scout for information, only to discover that while we merely made a circuit outside the Immortal Ruins, thousands of years had already slipped by within the Xuanhuang Realm."
"The Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao of the past have long since turned to dust, vanished into the long river of history. Those who dominate the cultivation world today are two behemoths: the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals and the Five Elders Association."
Li Fan briefed Liu San on the news he had "inquired" about concerning the present world.
Worthy of a Dao Integration cultivator, Liu San soon accepted the reality after his initial shock.
"Young Master was still too reckless. To go out alone to gather information while the situation was unclear... You now bear the heavy responsibility of revitalizing the Medicine King Sect. If you had encountered any danger..."
Li Fan waved his hand dismissively. "Desperate times call for desperate measures. What I thought at the time was that the return of the Medicine King Cauldron would inevitably draw the greed of ambitious people. The first priority was naturally to understand our own circumstances before anything else."
"Besides, it wasn't that I didn't want to wake you all. It was truly that..."
Li Fan's expression suddenly turned grave. "Elder Liu, try circulating the Scripture of Saving the World and Cultivating Longevity and see for yourself."
Though somewhat puzzled by the instruction, Liu San complied.
A moment later, his face drained of color. He closed his eyes, straining with all his might to rein in the killing intent rising within his heart.
"What is this?"
His voice trembled slightly, betraying his inner turmoil.
"The Great Cataclysm: dharmas cannot be cultivated concurrently."
"Adoptive Father's premonition was correct, and the calamity is even more terrifying than imagined."
Li Fan let out a long sigh. "Even the Ten Sects of the Immortal Dao were wiped out in the catastrophe, and only our Medicine King Sect survived."
"That is also the reason I did not awaken the sect's disciples. If they were all to wake at the same time, I fear a tragedy of mutual slaughter would break out on the spot."
"In truth, it was only after a long time, and after I switched my cultivation method, that I dared to wake you, Elder Liu."
Suppressing the shock in his heart, Liu San nodded. "Put that way, Young Master has indeed thought of everything."
"The place we are currently located is called the Congyun Sea. I had the good fortune to become acquainted with the cultivator in charge of local administrative affairs, Zhou Qing'ang."
"With his help, I managed to blend into the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals. For now, I have barely gained a foothold."
Li Fan steadily explained the current situation to Liu San.
"If it were only the two of us, living reasonably well in this world wouldn't be too difficult."
"However, if we wish to revitalize the Medicine King Sect..."
Li Fan sighed softly and shook his head. "It is difficult beyond measure!"
"The first issue to resolve is that dharmas cannot be cultivated concurrently. Otherwise, even if we awaken the disciples, it will merely lead to needless slaughter."
"Although there are countless cultivation methods within the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, an enormous sum of contribution points is required to exchange for them."
"Though I have strived for a period of time, it was barely enough to exchange for a technique for my own cultivation."
"Therefore..."
Liu San listened, deep in thought.
"The Longevity Pill?" he asked.
Chapter 613