Chapter 631: A Hair's Breadth, And The World Changes

"If only one man defects, that would be one thing. What I fear is that they will offer up the Medicine King Sect as a sacrifice to curry favor."

Liu San's brows drew together slightly. "Thus, Young Master, you must prepare for every eventuality."

Li Fan feigned more hesitation, then let out a long sigh and reluctantly agreed.

"Within the Myriad Immortals Alliance, there is nothing that cannot be found. These days, as long as one has enough contribution points, acquiring a powerful restraint technique is no difficult matter.

"But I already owe so many contribution points..."

At that, Liu San immediately thumped his chest and told Li Fan to set his mind at ease.

"On my last trip, I took the opportunity to retrieve some mature, top-grade medicinal herbs from Longevity Valley. They should be more than enough to refine Longevity Pills of exceptional quality."

Li Fan nodded. "Then I'll have to trouble you again, Elder Liu."

Liu San dismissed the thought with a wave and promptly led a group of disciples off to begin the refining.

Li Fan, for his part, departed the Medicine King Cauldron and set off for Congyun Immortal City.

He needed to make preparations for the evacuation that would soon follow.

Once the Congyun Sea vanished, the Immortal Alliance would inevitably conduct inspections of surviving Congyun Sea cultivators. Every member of the Medicine King Sect was registered as a resident of the Congyun Sea, and if they alone came through the disaster without a scratch, suspicion would be unavoidable.

His plan was to muddy the waters. He would fabricate a pretext to send another group out of the Congyun Sea before the end came. Their numbers would need to be at least double those of the registered Medicine King Sect cultivators to make it look plausible.

Names ran through Li Fan's mind one after another. He was just about to take to the air and depart when the cry of an infant stopped him.

He paused. His divine sense swept outward, and his expression shifted strangely.

With so many young men and women in the prime of their youth living together on the island day and night, it was only natural that some sparks had caught.

What surprised Li Fan far more was the identity of the infant's mother. She was the same woman who had, in his previous life, given birth to Han Wuyou.

The father, however, was someone else entirely.

So in this life, Han Wuyou will never be born into this world?

Are there no fated events, after all? Or is what they call "heaven's will" itself in constant flux, shaped by the living beings upon the earth?

Li Fan narrowed his eyes and fell into thought.

The birth of a new life always brings hope. For these young people who had been cooped up on the island for so long, it brought even more than that. They crowded around the baby girl's wrinkled face with wide, foolish grins, every one of them beaming with unguarded joy.

Su Xiaomei was practically bouncing with excitement, clamoring relentlessly to hold the infant. It took Xiao Heng's firm intervention to stop her.

Watching this heartwarming scene, a similar picture from long ago suddenly flashed before Li Fan’s eyes.

A flicker of emotion stirred within his gaze. Then it vanished just as quickly.

Without achieving eternal life, all is but an empty illusion.

He had witnessed too many scenes of the gray-haired burying the young, and had lived through countless partings of life and death. He was beyond all of it now.

His heart cold, Li Fan lingered no longer. He rose into the clouds and flew toward Congyun Immortal City.

Upon returning to the city, he spotted a familiar figure.

So she has already sensed that her father is in danger? His gaze sharpened.

A young girl sat in one of the rooms of the Administration Hall, looking around with open curiosity.

It was He Zhenghao's daughter, He Xinxin.

He Zhenghao himself, who by all habit was a thoroughly lazy man and never busy with work, now appeared quite harried.

"Lord He, you simply must help our island with this matter!"

"My lord, the Tai'an Fruit harvest has been poor this year. Could you perhaps show some leniency?"

A crowd pressed close behind He Zhenghao as he entered the room, following at his heels.

He Xinxin looked her father over carefully first. Once she confirmed this was indeed him, delight broke across her face.

Then she took in the people swarming him from all sides, and bewilderment crept in. She was young enough that she couldn't quite conceal either reaction.

He Zhenghao caught every expression that crossed his daughter's face, and a flicker of smug satisfaction stirred in his chest.

"Ahem." He put on a stern expression and snapped, "I've told you all that I have urgent business to attend to. Come back tomorrow, and I'll see that everything is handled properly."

The cultivators exchanged glances, nodded their assent, then scattered and were gone in an instant.

Li Fan watched, quietly amused. It was obvious they had been hired by He Zhenghao to put on a show. All of it was purely to look impressive in front of his daughter.

Such petty schemes.

Li Fan continued to observe.

Meeting his daughter for the first time, He Zhenghao seemed a little nervous. He stared at He Xinxin for a long moment before murmuring to himself, "So alike. Truly alike..."

He Xinxin, for her part, looked at He Zhenghao timidly. Their eyes met briefly before she looked away.

A long silence stretched between them.

Finally, He Xinxin gathered her courage and called out softly, "Fa... ther..."

Tears blurred He Zhenghao's vision.

He forced them back quickly, stepped forward, and took He Xinxin's small hand in his.

"Yes. Let me have a good look at you..."

He felt as though he were moving through a dream.

"I never imagined... I would have a daughter..."

He Xinxin's eyes reddened as well. She began to sniffle.

The reunion of a father and daughter separated for so many years was, naturally, a scene that could move heaven and earth. It was a long while before their emotions began to settle.

"I actually wanted to come find you a few years ago," He Xinxin said, "but Mother suddenly appeared and stopped me. She absolutely refused to let me come. So it kept being delayed." She pouted, looking genuinely aggrieved.

He Zhenghao's expression fell.

"I am the one who wronged you both. Your mother was right not to let you come. You mustn't blame her."

Then he paused, a thread of hope entering his voice. "Then... why did she let you come now? Has she forgiven me? Have her feelings changed?"

His spirits lifted.

He Xinxin's face flushed slightly. She tugged at his robes and shook her head.

"No, Father. Mother doesn't know. I broke through to Foundation Establishment and snuck over here behind her back." She stuck out her tongue, looking sheepish.

He Zhenghao stiffened. His expression turned awkward.

He Xinxin quickly changed the subject.

"Father, you might not believe it, but I risked a scolding to come here because I had something extremely important to warn you about." Her face turned serious.

"What important matter could it be?" He Zhenghao was skeptical, but his daughter's expression gave him pause, and he leaned in to listen.

He Xinxin lowered her voice. "When I broke through, I sensed that you were in mortal danger. That's why I traveled all the way here.

"The danger originates from this Congyun Sea. Father, come back with me. As long as we leave this place and return to Tianyu Province, you'll be safe."

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