Unlike Li Fan, the divine ability Wang Wan was comprehending did not appear to be nearly as complex.
At the very least, Wang Wan absorbed the data with utter serenity.
The black lines forming his lower body did not show the slightest sign of fluttering,
let alone detaching from his form.
"Did I somehow get lucky and hit the jackpot?" A shadow of doubt crossed Li Fan's eyes.
"This Wang Wan doesn't seem to be using the Heavenly Profound Mirror to deduce divine abilities for the first time. Perhaps I can ask him about it."
Having already completed the deduction of his divine ability, the black lines connecting Li Fan to the platform below had severed.
However, the countdown before him was still running, so he had not yet been expelled from this space.
Li Fan was in no hurry to leave. He observed the two people beside him while waiting patiently.
Time passed slowly, and soon less than a shichen remained.
Deng Mingqian, who had yet to make her choice, was visibly growing anxious.
Looking somewhat resigned, she finally appeared to make a decision she was far from satisfied with.
By this time, Wang Wan had also finished comprehending his divine ability, just like Li Fan.
The lines connecting his feet detached, and he opened his eyes.
Noticing Li Fan watching him, Wang Wan seemed slightly surprised.
Communication was impossible here, so after acknowledging him with a glance, he turned his gaze toward Deng Mingqian.
After observing her for a moment, he shook his head slightly.
The countdown reached zero.
A beam of prismatic light shone down from overhead.
The black and white lines gradually faded, and the surrounding space regained its vibrant colors.
In a daze, their vision blurred.
A moment later, before they even realized it, the three of them were back atop the Lotus Stone Mountain outside Tianquan.
Deng Mingqian unleashed a burst of qi, violently striking the nearby mountainside.
She seemed to be venting the anger bottled up inside her.
Yet this mountain was unlike ordinary stone peaks; it was extraordinarily tough.
Deng Mingqian failed to leave even a hairline fracture upon it.
Tears of grievance welled in her eyes.
"Little girl, greed leads only to loss!" Wang Wan sighed at the sight.
Through Li Fan's probing inquiries, he gradually learned from Wang Wan the reason why this Limitless Void Method was so unusual.
As it turned out, the divine ability tree generated in a cultivator's mind by the Heavenly Profound Mirror was not something every cultivator could take in at a single glance.
Because it contained far too many branches, an ordinary cultivator simply could not perceive them all.
They could only try their luck and pick from what they could see.
Someone like Deng Mingqian had been overwhelmed by the sheer number of options, dazzling her eyes until she ran out of time to actually comprehend one.
"It is fine; don't be too disheartened. You are still young. Just come back in another hundred years. The first time I came here, I was just like you—always trying to pick the most suitable and powerful divine ability from that tree. In the end, I squandered a precious opportunity for nothing," Wang Wan continued to console her, seeing that Deng Mingqian was still unable to let it go.
Deng Mingqian said vexedly, "It's all because Brother Qingyu secretly told me before we came that the Heavenly Profound Mirror evaluates a cultivator's potential based on how much of the tree they survey.
"The more you survey, the greater your potential, and the higher the upper limit of the divine ability's power will be when it is imparted.
"I just wanted to see as much as I could..."
The more Deng Mingqian spoke, the more aggrieved she felt, sounding on the verge of tears.
*That brother of yours might not have had good intentions,* Li Fan mused inwardly.
"What did you say?!" Deng Mingqian froze, wheeling around to glare at Li Fan.
"Hm?" Li Fan's expression shifted.
"What did you mean by what you just thought?" Deng Mingqian stared intensely at Li Fan, her tone aggressive.
Li Fan reined in his thoughts completely and narrowed his eyes. "Fellow Daoist Deng, I do not understand what you mean."
"Stop playing dumb! I can sense the thoughts in other people's minds, especially when they are about me!" Seeing Li Fan feigning ignorance, Deng Mingqian's anger flared even higher.
"Just now, you clearly thought that my brother harbored bad intentions. What did you mean by that?
"I sensed it clearly back then—when Brother Qingyu told me that secret, he truly had my best interests at heart!" Deng Mingqian declared self-righteously.
*This little girl truly knows nothing of the world,* Li Fan deliberately thought to himself.
Sure enough, Deng Mingqian picked up his thought, and her face flushed even redder.
*She really can sense the thoughts in people's minds,* Li Fan thought, inwardly astonished.
He reined in his thoughts once more and stopped teasing the young woman, speaking up to explain:
"From the way you speak of this Brother Qingyu, you two must be very close. That means he must be quite familiar with your cultivation. How could he not know whether your spiritual sense was capable of taking in the entire divine ability tree?
"If he truly had your best interests at heart, he never would have told you this. He would have told you to pick a suitable divine ability in peace.
"Yet he went out of his way to casually reveal it to you under the guise of helping you."
Li Fan sneered. "He did it deliberately to stir up your greed, ensuring you would return empty-handed!
"As for the thoughts you sensed in his mind...
"If he hadn't known about your ability beforehand and was unprepared, what you sensed might have been genuine.
"However, he clearly knows about your mind-reading ability. In that case, whatever you sensed proves nothing at all."
Hearing this, Deng Mingqian opened her mouth to argue.
Yet she suddenly froze, because from Li Fan's mind, she abruptly sensed a deep, overflowing warmth and tender affection.
It was so passionate and direct—something she had never encountered in her entire life.
Deng Mingqian's face turned beet red in an instant.
"You..."
She stamped her foot in utter embarrassment. Not daring to look at Li Fan any longer, she turned and flew away.
"Hmph," Li Fan chuckled softly.
"If possible, Fellow Daoist, you should temporarily leave Tianquan to lie low," Wang Wan warned, having witnessed the entire exchange.
"Though it was only an unintentional slip that let that young girl hear your thoughts, you did end up exposing Deng Qingyu's scheme.
"That man is narrow-minded and never forgets a grudge..." Wang Wan offered kindly via voice transmission.
Li Fan cupped his hands. "Oh? How does this Deng Clan compare to the Xuan Clan?"
"The Xuan..." Wang Wan started, then his expression changed drastically. "You are..."
"I am a mid-level guest elder of the Xuan Clan," Li Fan said calmly.
"In that case, I spoke out of turn. A mere junior of the Deng Clan..." Wang Wan was momentarily at a loss for words.
He quickly offered his apologies to Li Fan.
"No harm done. You only meant well, Fellow Daoist." Li Fan did not mind. After exchanging contact information with him, he took flight.
As he flew, Li Fan felt a sense of relief.
*To think that after so long, I would encounter another cultivator capable of reading minds, just like the Heavenly Physician.*
*Fortunately, she was just an innocent child without any guile. Otherwise, I might have suffered a setback once again.*
Chapter 766