Chapter 997: The Secret of the Two Beauties
Chapter 997: The Secret of the Two Beauties
In the first half of Lu Xichan's life, her memories were almost entirely filled with the figure of her master, Lu Xia.
The rest was an endless ocean of knowledge about formations.
Therefore, when Li Fan, embodying the persona of Lu Xichan's master, sent his divine soul crashing into hers, he met with surprisingly little resistance.
Instead, all Li Fan sensed from Lu Xichan was an overwhelming wave of fear.
Countless images flickered through her soul, a chaotic blend of truth and illusion.
The faces of Lu Xia and Li Fan shifted and transformed, the pace accelerating until only one remained.
In the end, it was Li Fan's face that was etched firmly into the deepest recesses of Lu Xichan's soul.
As the silvery power of the Truth Inducing Fruit fully dissolved, Lu Xichan's body, after a violent convulsion, slowly fell still.
Even with the endlessly regenerating properties of the [Limitless Fullness and Emptiness] technique, he felt the strain.
Fortunately, the deed was done.
During that fusion of souls, Li Fan had glimpsed many of Lu Xichan's secrets.
For instance, her master, Lu Xia, had never been truly satisfied with her.
Until the very end, he held no hope that Lu Xichan would ever be able to inherit his profound knowledge of formations.
His decision to take her as a disciple, and even to pass on the position of Chief of the Array Strategy Hall, had been driven by certain special factors.
Though Lu Xia had taken this secret to his grave, Lu Xichan herself had a suspicion: she might have been his daughter.
But she never found the courage to verify this guess.
And with Lu Xia's ashes scattered to the winds, there was no way to know if her suspicion was true.
Lu Xichan had many other secrets as well.
For example, having spent her childhood under her master's strict and high-pressure tutelage, she had lived with immense psychological stress.
In her search for a way to relieve this pressure, she had discovered a rather effective method.
And that was precisely why she so often sought out Xuan Sushang.
...
Thinking of this, a peculiar expression flickered across Li Fan's face. "So Lu Xuejing's masochistic tendencies were inherited from her mother."
"Truly..."
Li Fan shook his head slightly.
And speaking of Lu Xichan's daughter, Lu Xuejing, her existence was also connected to Xuan Sushang.
During one of her stress-relieving sessions, Lu Xichan had discovered that Xuan Sushang was, at some point, pregnant.
Overwhelmed with shock, Lu Xichan naturally couldn't accept it.
Under duress, Xuan Sushang had no choice but to confess the truth.
"The [Method of Life Creation] taught by the Tianxuan Mirror?"
Li Fan's eyes narrowed as he glanced at Xuan Sushang.
Pestering Xuan Sushang, Lu Xichan had also used the [Method of Life Creation] to conceive and give birth to a daughter of her own.
"It seems the Tianxuan Mirror's human incarnation is indeed related to Mirror Holder Cang."
Li Fan closed his eyes, slowly digesting the vast amount of information he had just acquired.
At the same time, he worked to restore his depleted divine soul.
Once he had recovered sufficiently, Li Fan followed the same procedure, invading Xuan Sushang's divine soul.
As expected of a direct descendant of Mirror Holder Cang, Xuan Sushang was considerably stronger than Lu Xichan, both in the power of her divine soul and its protective restrictions.
Unfortunately for her, it was merely a quantitative difference, not a qualitative one.
Li Fan's relentless, grinding efforts, now laced with the aura of Lu Xichan's soul and amplified by the Truth Inducing Fruit, tore through her defenses.
Once her defenses were breached in an instant, her perception was warped even more easily.
And so, in addition to being Lu Xichan's master, Li Fan acquired another identity.
He was another incarnation of the Tianxuan Mirror.
Long ago, when the Dharma Transmitter Heavenly Venerate re-established the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, the Tianxuan Mirror, as a precautionary measure, created a human incarnation for itself.
Unfortunately, the Dharma Transmitter Heavenly Venerate was wary of the Tianxuan Mirror and discovered this incarnation.
He sealed the incarnation away.
From that point on, the Tianxuan Mirror lost all contact with its other self.
Left with no choice, the Tianxuan Mirror had to restart its incarnation project.
Eventually, it reached an agreement with Mirror Holder Cang.
What they didn't know, however, was that Lu Xichan's master, the former chief of the Alliance's Array Strategy Hall, Lu Xia, had happened upon the Dharma Transmitter Heavenly Venerate's seal.
By a stroke of luck, he rescued the long-imprisoned incarnation.
Having been sealed for so long, the Tianxuan Mirror's incarnation was on the brink of collapse. Lu Xia chose to sacrifice his own life to save it.
Although the incarnation survived, it had been suppressed for too long and had changed bodies. It had lost all its authority over the Tianxuan Mirror.
It was now no different from a true human.
Originally, it had intended to live on as the human Lu Xia, but its presence at the Alliance headquarters, coupled with its intricate and unbreakable connection to the Tianxuan Mirror, meant its unique nature was eventually detected by certain individuals.
To save its life, it had no choice but to fake its death and flee.
It thought it could finally live a life of freedom, but then, through a strange twist of fate, a new incarnation of the Tianxuan Mirror was born.
Worse yet, immortal treasures have spirits, and only one can exist in the world at a time.
There could not be a second Tianxuan Mirror, nor could there be two human incarnations of it at once.
Although a series of errors had allowed for its accidental birth, that mistake was now being corrected.
He could feel himself growing weaker and weaker.
Before long, he would likely dissipate completely from the world.
His only chance of survival was to find and kill the second incarnation of the Tianxuan Mirror!
...
This was the colossal lie Li Fan had fabricated, a tale that ensnared both Dao Integration cultivators and the Tianxuan Mirror's incarnation.
Admittedly, it was riddled with loopholes upon closer inspection.
But as long as he could pry the information about the Tianxuan Mirror's human incarnation from Xuan Sushang's lips, it wouldn't matter if the entire story was exposed.
"It's a shame. All information regarding the Tianxuan Mirror seems to be encrypted."
"My divine soul can't browse it. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had to go to the trouble of fabricating such a lie."
Li Fan mused to himself.
Shortly after the cognitive remodeling was complete, Xuan Sushang and Lu Xichan slowly regained consciousness.
Seeing Li Fan, their reactions were starkly different.
Lu Xichan's body trembled, and she subconsciously lowered her head, muttering, "Master..."
Xuan Sushang, however, remained silent, her expression complex.
Because when this former chief array master—this human incarnation of the Tianxuan Mirror—had come looking for them, he had happened to walk in on her and Lu Xichan during an intimate moment.
Though Li Fan had said nothing at the time, the two women were overcome with shame.
...
In the deathly silence, Li Fan was the first to speak. "I've given you a chance."
"Me, or the second incarnation—whose side will you choose?"
A flash of killing intent glinted in his eyes as he continued slowly, "If it weren't for Xichan's sake, I would have soul-searched you both already. Did you really think those petty tricks in your souls could stop me?"
Lu Xichan didn't dare to object, didn't even dare to breathe too loudly.
But Xuan Sushang, upon realizing her predicament, saw her expression shift through a myriad of emotions before she finally made her decision.
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