If Fan Xiwen had not appeared, Zhou Xin’s future would have been predetermined.
A woman who has nurtured the Yinkui Pill cannot stray too far from it. In other words, even if the Violet Gold Bell were removed later, Zhou Xin still could not leave Huo Yuanlin.
Confronted with someone so vile that he made people want to commit evil, Zhou Xin would rather die.
Therefore, after breaking free from his control, Zhou Xin harbored an extremely deep resentment toward Huo Yuanlin.
“I will not interfere with what you want to do to him, but you had better not delay my affairs.”
Fan Xiwen glanced indifferently at Zhou Xin before saying to Huo Yuanlin, “What is your status in the Yinkui Sect?”
“I am the Young Sect Master of the Yinkui Sect.”
When Huo Yuanlin spoke of his identity, he showed none of the arrogance one would expect from a villain. However, that was unavoidable, because the Yinkui Sect had eight Young Sect Masters. Before the Sect Master position was settled, “Young Sect Master” was nothing more than a laughable title. Now that Zhou Xin had broken free of his control, even if the Yinkui Pill finished maturing, it could no longer belong to Huo Yuanlin. Consequently, in the Yinkui Sect, where strength was revered above all else, it was utterly impossible for Huo Yuanlin to ascend to the position of Sect Master. He might not even be able to protect himself. Over the years, Huo Yuanlin’s father, the Sect Master, had grown increasingly frail, and the open and covert struggles among the several Young Sect Masters had already become common knowledge.
“I did not want to use this method either, but when I was sixteen, my half-brothers poisoned and framed me. Although I survived, I became this neither-human-nor-ghost figure.”
A flash of resentment passed through Huo Yuanlin’s eyes. He scratched forcefully at his already hideous face, gouging out streaks of blood, yet he acted as though he saw nothing.
“Heh.”
Fan Xiwen chuckled softly and looked at Zhou Xin with amusement.
Sometimes, having an attractive appearance was truly important. Take Huo Yuanlin, for example. If he had not been disfigured, then with the status of Young Sect Master of the Yinkui Sect and the strength of a Bright Force martial artist, he might have had a chance if he pursued Zhou Xin passionately. He would not have needed to resort to something like the Violet Gold Bell.
However, someone like Huo Yuanlin was not worthy of sympathy, and Fan Xiwen would not sympathize with him.
His palm suddenly pressed against Huo Yuanlin’s forehead, and Huo Yuanlin instantly closed his eyes in despair.
“Is it over?”
“This is fine too. At least it is better than dying at the hands of those bastards.”
After losing all hope, Huo Yuanlin had long since gained the attitude of someone who had seen through life and death.
However, the expected pain did not come. Instead, a wave of memories that did not belong to him surged into his mind.
“A... They are all cultivation techniques?”
“These are countless times more profound than the Yinkui Sect’s cultivation techniques...”
Huo Yuanlin opened his eyes in astonishment and stared at the young man standing before him, completely baffled.
“Have you heard of using a person’s own methods against them?”
Fan Xiwen turned to look at Zhou Xin, who was equally confused.
“What do you mean?”
Zhou Xin was instantly bewildered.
Fan Xiwen withdrew his palm and said indifferently to Huo Yuanlin, “From today onward, cultivate in Dragon City. Once you break through to Internal Force, go to the Yinkui Sect. I want you to become the Sect Master of the Yinkui Sect and then collect magical artifacts for me—the more, the better.”
“Yes.”
Huo Yuanlin knelt on the ground and replied calmly. Fan Xiwen waved his hand. “Get lost.”
Huo Yuanlin left the room without saying a word, while a trace of shock flashed through Zhou Xin’s eyes.
The current Huo Yuanlin was so similar to her former self.
Back then, Huo Yuanlin had relied on that small bell to control her, yet this young man had accomplished the same thing merely by placing his palm against Huo Yuanlin’s forehead.
Just who was he? Was he human or a ghost?
There was nothing Zhou Xin could do about it. Her contact with the martial arts world was limited. In three years, she had only learned about the Yinkui Sect, so she naturally could not understand what Fan Xiwen had just done.
In reality, when Fan Xiwen placed his palm against Huo Yuanlin’s forehead, he was not controlling him. Instead, he had forcibly infused him with several quick-training Martial Arts cultivation techniques from his own memories, techniques he had seen back when he was cultivating in the Haotian Sect. These techniques had one characteristic: progress was astonishingly rapid at the beginning, but became extremely slow after reaching the middle stage. However, Fan Xiwen only needed Huo Yuanlin to cultivate through the early stage. Although Martial Arts cultivation on the Xinghe Continent, when taken to its extreme, was not necessarily as powerful as that of a cultivator, it was still considerably stronger than the martial arts of this world known as Unnamed Star.
Fan Xiwen had made the comparison. Once Huo Yuanlin reached the early stage and touched the threshold of the middle stage, he would already be no weaker than a Grandmaster realm martial artist in Unnamed Star’s martial arts world.
For a tiny Yinkui Sect, a Grandmaster martial artist was enough to sweep through everything.
Thus, after Huo Yuanlin took control of the Yinkui Sect, he would be able to collect magical artifacts on a large scale for Fan Xiwen.
The true control, however, had been established while the cultivation techniques were being transmitted. Using a secret technique, Fan Xiwen had carved a slave seal into Huo Yuanlin’s sea of consciousness.
Just as it had been with Liu Junxian, with a slave seal in his sea of consciousness, if Fan Xiwen wanted him dead at the third watch, even Yama Lord could not keep him alive until the fifth watch.
Although, because of the spiritual energy in this world, Fan Xiwen had not even reached Qi Refining First Layer, to put it bluntly, even without any cultivation, Chu Emperor Fan Xiwen could still crush a group of martial arts world ants without issue. Three thousand years of age, knowledge, and experience stood behind him.
With his divine soul reborn, his divine sense was fragmented and could cover less than one ten-thousandth of its former area. Nevertheless, it was still the divine sense of someone in the Pseudo Divine Emperor realm, and it could not be compared with a group of mortals who did not even qualify as cultivators. Moreover, after three thousand years of cultivation and two thousand years of warfare, Fan Xiwen had mastered countless cultivation techniques. Beneath the starry sky, not every world cultivated in the same way. Among them were countless bizarre and unusual techniques that Fan Xiwen could use whenever he wished. Anyone who tried to assess Fan Xiwen based solely on his apparent strength was destined to suffer.
“That pill will soon reach full maturity. By then, you will be carrying a supreme treasure. As for what your future fate will be, you had better take care of yourself.”
Once he had obtained the spiritual energy inside the bell, Fan Xiwen’s business was finished. As for whether Zhou Xin had merely escaped the wolf’s jaws only to fall into the tiger’s den, Fan Xiwen had never considered interfering. He still had many things to do and did not like meddling in other people’s affairs.
With his hands clasped behind his back, he left slowly and calmly, just as he had arrived.
Zhou Xin watched Fan Xiwen’s departing figure, a trace of resentment showing in her eyes.
She wanted to chase after him, but she understood that it would all be futile.
The two of them had been complete strangers. If not for Fan Xiwen, Zhou Xin’s future would have been even more miserable than her present.
Since her beauty could not move him, Zhou Xin was now unable to offer any sincere condition in exchange for a solution.
“Forget it. If I can live one more day, then I will live one more day.”
Only long after he had left did Zhou Xin finally come back to herself. She said with some amusement, “”
Although the three-year nightmare had ended, she had not worked in the entertainment industry for three years, and the small amount of savings she had accumulated was now almost gone.
Her most urgent task was to contact her old friends. Living was the most important thing.
Zhou Xin did not know that downstairs from the hotel, Fan Xiwen, who had already left, suddenly curved his lips into a faint smile.
“She is a clever woman.”
That smile was somewhat meaningful.
..
“She has arrived home safely. How are things on your end?”
On the way back to the Sunshine Hotel, Fan Xiwen received a text message from Xie Min. He smiled warmly and replied, “Done and dusted.”
The lights of the shops along the street had already gone out, and beneath the streetlights, Fan Xiwen’s shadow stretched longer and longer.
Looking up at the starry sky, Fan Xiwen murmured, “Just wait. I will make my comeback soon. I hope you will not disappoint me too much.”
At that moment, what Chu Emperor was thinking of were the old brothers who had fought alongside him for thousands of years in his previous life—and the Haotian Sect.
“Rest assured. In this life, I will never let regrets happen again.”
Above the night sky, the stars glittered, yet familiar faces surfaced in Fan Xiwen’s eyes.
Even when he closed his eyes, he could still see each of them saying those words to him before their deaths and the destruction of their paths: “Your Majesty, being able to follow you in this life, we would have no regrets even in death.”
His fists suddenly clenched...
After returning to the hotel, Fan Xiwen also received a call from Mo Younian.
“Master Haotian, all three bottles of Marrow-Cleansing Pills have been auctioned off. The fifteen pills brought in a total profit of seventeen million. As for the Beauty Pills, I want to sell them tomorrow instead.”
Fan Xiwen did not quibble over how Mo Younian addressed him, nor did he care about the money.
“Master, how do you plan to handle this money?”
“Leave it with you for now. Also, purchase another batch of medicinal materials. Buy them according to the previous list.”
“Yes. I will take care of it right away.”
Mo Younian chuckled. “Master, refine a little more. I can sell them in the provincial capital, guaranteeing that we earn even more than this time.”
Fan Xiwen said nothing and simply hung up the phone.
..
Early the next morning, Fan Xiwen left the hotel, causing Zhou Hu, who hurried over, to miss him completely.
Zhou Hu was terribly anxious, but he had no choice. He could only wait at the hotel.
Fan Xiwen, meanwhile, returned home. After taking the Yuan Sheng Wood out of the orchard, he had kept it in the pigpen ever since.
This time, Fan Xiwen had returned home to make some arrangements.
Fan Yue and Su Qing were not very welcoming when their son returned again. He was not studying properly at school, taking leave to come home every few days. What kind of behavior was that?
Fan Xiwen could only feel helpless about it.
Was the dignified Chu Emperor supposed to stay at school every day and cram dull books just to achieve good grades?
“Dad, Mom, I came back this time to tell you something. Whatever fruit our family’s orchard produces this year, do not rush to sell it.”
“Why not?”
Fan Yue asked, somewhat puzzled.
As for Su Qing, she said with a worried expression, “Son, do you not know the condition of our family’s orchard? We cannot even sell the fruit when we are desperate to.”
“That will not happen this year.”
Fan Xiwen shook his head. “This year’s fruit will either not be sold at all, or it will be sold at an astronomical price.”