Chapter 1006: The Fate of a Mirror Slave
Upon hearing his words, both women stared at Li Fan, their eyes filled with a mixture of astonishment and delight.
After all, following their mental reconditioning, Li Fan now occupied an incredibly significant place in their consciousness.
After a moment of thought, Xuan Sushang immediately agreed. Right there in front of Li Fan, she began to contact her father, the Mirror Holder known as Cang.
She didn't use a communication talisman, but rather a small, personal Heavenly Profound Mirror, whispering a series of arcane words.
A moment later, a dark silhouette with an obscured face was projected into the air from the small mirror.
“Nian’er, is something the matter?”
Cang’s voice sounded like that of a kind, middle-aged uncle, his tone exceptionally gentle. As for "Nian’er," it was Xuan Sushang’s childhood nickname.
The fact that Cang always addressed her this way was a clear testament to his deep affection for his daughter.
It was only then that Cang’s attention shifted to Li Fan, who had been standing silently beside his daughter.
Their gazes met, colliding and intertwining in the space between them.
Possessing the origin of the Heavenly Profound Mirror, Li Fan now truly understood what the artifact had meant by the term "Mirror Slave."
To verify the suspicion forming in his mind, Li Fan simply pictured himself clenching a hand around the Mirror Holder, Cang.
Instantly, Cang’s blurry silhouette convulsed violently.
Yet, under Li Fan’s deliberate control, Cang was unable to utter even the faintest cry of pain.
“Father, what’s wrong?” Xuan Sushang quickly noticed Cang’s strange behavior, her expression one of confusion.
Sensing the desperate pleas for mercy emanating from Cang, Li Fan released the formless hand of his imagination.
Only then was Cang released from the abyss of agony.
His performance was flawless. His voice remained perfectly steady as he said, “It’s nothing. Merely some protective measures to ward off prying eyes. You and Lu Xichan may leave for now. I have important matters to discuss with...”
“...this esteemed lord,” Cang added, his tone suddenly grave.
Xuan Sushang and Lu Xichan glanced instinctively at Li Fan. After receiving his nod of approval, Xuan Sushang helped Lu Xichan to her feet, and they slowly departed from the bamboo house.
Li Fan casually set up a formation, sealing the room from the outside world.
“This old slave greets his master,” Cang said, his true form now visible as he slowly knelt in reverence.
His face was a mask of terror, a stark contrast to the image of a man who stood at the apex of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance.
Cang and Xuan Sushang bore a slight resemblance to one another.
They both shared a youthful quality that defied their voices.
Cang’s voice suggested a man in his middle years, yet his appearance was that of a handsome youth in his early twenties.
Li Fan remained silent, observing Cang.
Cang, in turn, dared not lift his head, maintaining his posture of complete subservience.
“Mirror Slave...” Sensing the torrent of emotions flowing from Cang, Li Fan gained a far deeper understanding of those two words.
Through the mirror’s origin, Li Fan perceived that Cang’s very existence was utterly dependent on the Heavenly Profound Mirror, a complete vassal.
His soul, his body, his thoughts—everything that constituted his being was founded upon the Heavenly Profound Mirror as its cornerstone.
Even though Li Fan possessed but a sliver of the mirror’s origin, not the artifact itself, Cang was his to mold and shape as he pleased, with no possibility of resistance.
In fact, with a single thought, Li Fan could utterly erase Cang from existence.
...
“What a vicious, despair-inducing method. Compared to this, all the subjugation techniques circulating in the Xuanhuang Realm are mere child’s play.”
“Truly worthy of a genuine immortal artifact.”
Watching the once lofty Mirror Holder now trembling and groveling before him, Li Fan felt a profound sense of shock.
At the same time, a deep sense of yearning bloomed within him.
“Rise.”
After a brief moment of being lost in thought, Li Fan’s expression quickly returned to one of cool indifference.
He succinctly outlined the plan to free the Heavenly Profound Mirror’s main body.
“Rest assured, Master. I will do everything in my power to accelerate the formation’s progress,” Cang hastily pledged his loyalty.
“Dharma Transmitter Feng is now an ally of mine. You may contact him at your discretion. I believe that with the two of you working together, many obstacles should be easily overcome,” Li Fan stated calmly.
Cang nodded repeatedly in agreement.
After that, their exchange was brief. Li Fan summoned Xuan Sushang and Lu Xichan back into the room.
Cang sternly instructed Xuan Sushang one last time to obey Li Fan’s commands without question before his form vanished from the mirror’s surface.
Already holding a healthy fear of Li Fan, and now with her father’s explicit orders, Xuan Sushang hardly dared to breathe in his presence.
“Though becoming a Mirror Slave means being bound to the Heavenly Profound Mirror for life, it also comes with considerable benefits,” Li Fan mused, his gaze fixed on the mirror where Cang had disappeared.
By becoming a functional part of the Heavenly Profound Mirror, Cang could now travel freely between its various sub-mirrors. He was also granted a certain measure of the mirror's own abilities.
For instance, divination, observation, and access to vast knowledge, among others.
All under the mirror’s permission, of course.
And as long as the Heavenly Profound Mirror’s main body existed, he was essentially immortal. No outsider could destroy him.
Even methods like sealing or suppression were largely ineffective.
Because the Heavenly Profound Mirror could simply erase a captured Mirror Slave at any time and then generate a new one.
“I fear only an immortal artifact could possess such means.”
“It isn't an entirely humiliating fate. To be a slave to an immortal artifact...”
“If word of this got out, the line of volunteers from the Xuanhuang Realm would probably stretch from Tianquan Province all the way to the Cong Yun Sea.”
Li Fan shook his head slightly. With a flick of his wrist, he summoned the small Heavenly Profound Mirror from the floor into his hand.
If even the Mirror Slaves possessed such incredible abilities, then Li Fan, who held a piece of the mirror's very origin, had naturally gained privileges beyond anything he could have imagined before.
For instance, right now...
When his consciousness entered the Heavenly Profound Mirror, he no longer connected as an ordinary cultivator.
Instead, he was granted the identity of a [Heavenly Profound Sub-Mirror] with nearly all permissions unlocked.
While he couldn't engage in free trade or post missions like a normal user, his access for general browsing and observation was completely unrestricted.
He could view the detailed information of almost every cultivator within the mirror’s network, including the techniques they practiced, their possessions, and their contribution point totals.
Their entire chat history across every section of the Heavenly Profound Mirror...
...and so on, was all laid bare before him.
In Li Fan’s eyes, there were no more secrets.
With the exception of a few entities whose statuses were so special that their information was withheld, this applied to everyone else.
The only real drawback was that Li Fan could only view this information, not modify it.
He also couldn't draw upon the computational power of the mirror's main body.
But this was understandable. After all, Li Fan wasn't the actual Heavenly Profound Mirror.
He had merely been gifted a sliver of its origin.
“But even so, this is utterly incredible.”
Despite his usual composure, Li Fan felt a surge of excitement that he could barely suppress.
(End of this chapter)
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