Xuan Suchang took a deep breath, looked straight at Li Fan, and said slowly, "I am willing to help Senior resolve this crisis. However..."
Li Fan waved his hand, cutting her off. "No matter. You need only provide me with information regarding the second avatar. I will resolve it myself."
"Hmph. In the strife between us, you human juniors have no place interfering."
She was a venerable Dao Integration Immortal Venerable after all, yet Li Fan called her a junior at every turn. But Xuan Suchang took no offense; compared to the ancient Heavenly Profound Mirror, she and her generation were indeed junior by countless eras. The address was entirely fitting.
Instead, the fact that Li Fan only demanded intelligence without requiring her to actually take action made Xuan Suchang breathe a sigh of relief.
After a brief contemplation, she immediately transmitted the relevant information to Li Fan via divine sense.
Moments later.
*Father, please forgive me,* Xuan Suchang murmured silently in her heart after completing the transmission.
Having learned the location of the Heavenly Profound Mirror's human avatar, Li Fan was in no rush to act.
Instead, he turned his gaze toward Lu Xichan, who had been standing beside them with her head bowed in silence, his expression grim.
Sensing Li Fan's gaze, Lu Xichan grew increasingly apprehensive.
"Master..." Seeing that Li Fan had remained silent for so long, she finally plucked up the courage to tentatively speak.
"Xichan, you have truly disappointed this master." Li Fan's voice struck her ears, making her body tremble slightly.
"It has been two hundred and eighty-six years since I formally passed the position of Chief of the Formation Planning Hall to you. After all these years, your mastery of array dao remains at this level..."
"Master, I..." Hearing this, Lu Xichan immediately felt wronged.
Back when she succeeded to the position of Chief of the Formation Planning Hall, only a handful of elders had supported her. The vast majority had opted to wait and see, and quite a few had even sought to replace her. It had been fraught with hidden perils and danger at every turn. Fortunately, through years of maneuvering and maintaining balances of power, she had finally secured her footing completely.
As the Chief of the Alliance's Formation Planning Hall, her duties were exceptionally burdensome. Not only did she have to handle the consolidated miscellaneous reports from the branch halls of every province, but she also had to attend monthly regular meetings to discuss Alliance administrative operations with other departments.
For two hundred years, aside from the previous leak regarding the grand defensive array, the Formation Planning Hall had essentially avoided any blunders. In fact, it had achieved many merits.
This was unquestionably inseparable from her painstaking devotion.
To have achieved what she had today, she had already done her utmost. How could she possibly make further progress in array dao on top of that?
Besides, it was not as if her array cultivation hadn't advanced at all; there simply hadn't been any major breakthroughs.
...
Her heart torn with conflict, Lu Xichan was about to speak up in her own defense.
Yet she was bluntly cut off by Li Fan: "I know what you are thinking, but only the weak seek excuses for themselves."
"A true powerhouse, even when teetering perpetually on the brink of life and death, will never abandon their pursuit of the Dao!"
Li Fan asked in a deep voice, "Ask yourself: have you truly given it your all?!"
"I..." Lu Xichan was struck dumb.
Li Fan's tone grew even heavier. "Instead of striving for progress, you indulge in women..."
At this, Li Fan glanced at Xuan Suchang beside them.
Xuan Suchang flushed, burying her already lowered head even deeper.
Li Fan looked back at Lu Xichan. "You deserve punishment!"
A long whip condensed from divine soul power suddenly manifested in his hand. Li Fan barked, "Kneel!"
Lu Xichan was, after all, a Dao Integration cultivator now—the Chief of the Alliance's Formation Planning Hall, holding great status and authority.
Possessing pride of her own, she raised her head, about to voice defiance.
Yet she collided head-on with Li Fan's cold, emotionless gaze.
In that instant, countless childhood memories surged into her mind.
As though she had returned to that childhood where she spent every day walking on eggshells, terrified of being rebuked by her master, Lu Xichan's knees buckled. Following her body's sheer instinct, she actually bent her knees and knelt!
Kneeling on the icy floor, her momentary fear vanished, replaced immediately by an inexplicable flame of defiance rising in her heart.
Yet...
Before that flame could grow, Lu Xichan saw the golden shadow of a whip hurtling toward her with a whistle.
"Do not dodge!"
Her subconscious defense was halted by Li Fan's somber, sharp command.
And so Lu Xichan could only watch helplessly as the golden divine soul whip struck against her divine soul.
The point of impact was chosen precisely where the defensive ward had previously been eroded away by his divine soul wash. An indescribable agony instantly surged through her entire body.
It was as though countless steel needles were being forcefully drilled and driven into her flesh and brain; in an instant, Lu Xichan's consciousness was completely engulfed by pain.
Her body first stiffened violently, then collapsed to the floor, twitching uncontrollably.
She could not even manage a wail, producing only broken whimpers from her throat.
Her body twisted and curled up. It took less than half the time to drink a cup of tea for the agony welling from the depths of her divine soul to slowly recede.
Having regained a sliver of awareness, Lu Xichan was just about to beg for mercy.
Li Fan showed no tender pity whatsoever. Another lash struck her divine soul dead-center!
Lu Xichan, having barely escaped, was instantly dragged right back into hell!
This time, Lu Xichan's reaction was even more violent. Tears and snot streamed down her face, stripping away every shred of her former noble poise.
Hearing Lu Xichan's faint, agonizing cries, Xuan Suchang, who had kept her head down in silence, secretly glanced over.
A strange light flickered in her eyes.
One had to realize that previously, Lu Xichan had never displayed such behavior. Her threshold for endurance was normally quite high.
Xuan Suchang's subtle reaction had long been within Li Fan's expectations.
Paying her no mind for the moment, as soon as Lu Xichan eased slightly once more, another golden lash swept down.
This time, Lu Xichan didn't even wail.
Only instinctual sobs and pleas for mercy remained.
"Master, Chan'er knows her mistake..."
"Master, spare me..."
Lu Xichan's mournful cries echoed through the wooden cabin.
Li Fan maintained his ageless, glacial expression, while Xuan Suchang's face flushed inexplicably crimson, her eyes growing glazed and distant.
He did not deliver a fourth lash.
Having finished, Li Fan held the whip in his right hand and placed it behind his back.
He waited for Lu Xichan to regain her senses.
The scene of punishment left Xuan Suchang trembling in fear as well. She too dared not move, waiting where she stood.
After who knew how long, Lu Xichan finally awoke from the blank void in her mind.
Lying on the floor, looking up at Li Fan's towering, steadfast silhouette, Lu Xichan felt an instinctual shudder run through her heart.
After this, she struggled to get up, first tidying her appearance, and then, with great difficulty and in broken breaths, prostrated herself: "Chan'er thanks Master for the chastisement."
"Rise," Li Fan replied impassively.
Lu Xichan tried to stand, but almost collapsed back to the ground.
Seeing this, Xuan Suchang hurriedly stepped forward to support her.
"The Great Dao is boundless, and one's pursuit of it must never cease until death. These three lashes are this master's punishment for your slackening!"
"The Dao of Arrays is like sailing against the current; to not advance is to fall behind. For the coming period, remain here in this bamboo sea to devote yourself to studying array dao. Do not run about unless strictly necessary!"
Chapter 998