Chapter 38: Returning, Laden with Rewards

Seeing that Lin Fan remained silent, Ji Qingwan smiled and asked, "What? Do you not wish to take me as your master?"

Lin Fan quickly replied, "This junior is naturally willing!" In his heart, however, he cursed: *You old hag, you’re asking when you already know the answer!*

Ji Qingwan’s gaze fell upon Lin Fan with a hint of scrutiny: "You don't need to worry. As long as you are obedient, I guarantee that your life will be very comfortable."

*Comfortable?* Lin Fan sneered inwardly. *I’m sure you mean locking me up to serve as your breakthrough tool!*

On the surface, he still feigned a look of immense gratitude: "Thank you, Senior, for your kindness. This junior is truly grateful."

Ji Qingwan nodded: "Rest assured. Now that I have reached the Core Formation stage, I can choose a large area in the Joyous Union Sect to serve as my cave dwelling. I won't confine you to a small courtyard where you cannot move freely."

She changed the subject: "Very well, let us return now."

Ji Qingwan tapped her waist, and a flash of spiritual light appeared. A cyan flying boat materialized out of thin air and landed before them. With a leap, she stood inside the vessel.

Lin Fan did not have a deep understanding of the cultivation world, but he knew this flying boat must be a flight artifact, much faster than traversing the sky on one's own.

The group boarded the boat and headed toward the Su family residence. The sound of the wind roared in his ears, and the buildings below flashed by rapidly. The rows of houses and the bustling crowds all blurred into streaks of light. Lin Fan could even feel the wind rushing against his face, carrying a faint scent of earth.

He turned to look at Su Xingyue: "Big Sister, when I ran away... when I went to pursue the Liu family, no one saw me leave. How did you manage to track me down?"

Su Xingyue did not intend to hide anything: "After we wiped out the Liu family, I couldn't find you, and I was very worried. Even Master, in her guise as Su Qian, couldn't track you."

"We were terrified that you might be in danger, so Master stopped hiding her true identity."

Lin Fan muttered to himself: *You weren't worried about me being in danger; you were clearly just afraid I’d run away.*

"Master and I discussed it, and we decided there was no point in hiding your ability to help others breakthrough anymore."

"Master felt that your ability was too startling. If discovered by those with malicious intent, you would be in great danger."

"That is why she decided to take you as her disciple and have me accompany you back to the Joyous Union Sect to cultivate."

Lin Fan rolled his eyes internally. This old hag was clearly driven by greed, wanting to keep him for herself. She only included Su Xingyue because of their relationship.

"As for how we found you, the Earth-Escaping Talisman you used was crafted by Master herself. Her divine sense is powerful enough to track the traces left by the talisman's movement."

Su Xingyue glared at Bai Xiyue: "Furthermore, I sensed that this girl, Xiyue, had been acting strange lately, so I secretly planted a tracking restriction on her."

Bai Xiyue kept her head lowered, not daring to meet Lin Fan's gaze, her eyes filled with guilt and self-reproach. Her lips trembled slightly, and her hands gripped the corners of her robes tightly.

Lin Fan knew the girl was suffering inside. He realized that after he had broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage, she had discovered him, and he had convinced her not to report it to Su Xingyue. She had agreed, but her willpower was limited, and she had eventually let it slip in front of Su Xingyue.

"So that's how it is." Lin Fan coughed dryly, a bitter smile in his heart. His little tricks were like child's play in front of these old foxes—full of holes and utterly fragile.

Since Bai Xiyue had been swayed to his side, he feared that Su Xingyue would not treat her lightly once they returned.

"I am quite fond of this girl, Xiyue. She has been taking care of me during this time, and I am very satisfied. I want her to stay by my side to serve me in the future."

Su Xingyue nodded: "Since my husband likes her, then she shall stay by your side."

She looked at Bai Xiyue: "From now on, you will serve your master well!"

Bai Xiyue naturally understood what Lin Fan was thinking. She gave him a look of gratitude: "Yes, Mistress. In the future, Xiyue will do her utmost to serve the young master."

They returned to the Su residence. The house was quite lively; clearly, the destruction of the Liu family was cause for celebration.

Lin Fan had no heart for celebration and returned to his own small courtyard. He felt a sense of helplessness, thinking that when he had left, he wouldn't be returning.

He locked the doors and windows and took two storage bags from his robe. These were not the pathetic ones he usually used; they were clearly high-quality items.

One belonged to Liu Yansong; it was deep purple, embroidered with a ferocious tiger in gold thread. Two yellow-bean-sized red gems were embedded in the tiger's eyes, gleaming with an eerie light in the dim room.

The other belonged to the Great Elder of the Liu family. It was a low-key, luxurious ink-black. It appeared plain, but it exuded an ancient aura. Upon closer inspection, it was densely covered in tiny, silver-threaded runes that moved like tadpoles, emitting faint pulses of spiritual energy.

Though he had been dragged back, the two storage bags provided some small comfort to Lin Fan’s heart.

*Clatter...*

Lin Fan turned the bags upside down and gave them a gentle shake. A pile of items spilled out, forming a small hill on the floor.

The first thing to catch his eye was a mountain of shimmering spirit stones. Roughly counting, there were four or five thousand of them! Lin Fan’s eyes widened; he had never seen so many spirit stones before—this was a massive fortune!

Beyond the spirit stones were various medicinal pills in colorful jade bottles. Lin Fan opened the containers one by one to inspect them.

"My goodness, the Liu family must have emptied their entire treasury!"

Lin Fan was stunned; it was his first time seeing so many high-grade pills.

"Nearly a hundred bottles of Qi-Condensing Pills. With ten in each bottle, that’s nearly a thousand pills!"

"There are also thirty-plus bottles of Essence-Consolidating Pills. These are excellent items, far more precious than Qi-Condensing Pills!"

"And these other types..."

Lin Fan picked up a white jade porcelain bottle and pulled the stopper; a refreshing medicinal fragrance wafted out.

"I don't recognize these pills, but the spiritual fluctuations are much stronger than the Essence-Consolidating Pills. They must be of an even higher grade!"

Lin Fan carefully tucked these pills away.

Aside from the pills, five artifacts lay quietly on the ground. Though their grade was not as high as his Frost-Condensing Sword, they were far superior to the low-grade artifacts Bai Xiyue and the others used.

Lin Fan picked up a fiery-red long saber and gave it a light swing; a searing blade-aura whistled through the air.

"Not bad, not bad. This saber has quite a bit of power."

Lin Fan nodded in satisfaction.

He set the artifacts aside, leaving only a single emerald-green jade slip. It radiated a faint spiritual light, clearly no ordinary object.

Lin Fan held the jade slip and probed it with his divine sense.

"The *Void-Refining Spirit Manual*?"

Lin Fan raised an eyebrow. The jade slip contained a fragmented technique called the *Void-Refining Spirit Manual*.

This technique was mysterious and profound, primarily serving to strengthen one's divine sense. Once cultivated, one’s divine sense would far exceed that of cultivators at the same level. Unfortunately, it was only a fragment and incomplete.

Even so, after cultivating it, Lin Fan’s divine sense should be much stronger than other Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Furthermore, it contained a small supernatural ability called the "Spirit Spike." Simply put, it condensed one’s divine sense into a sharp needle to pierce an opponent’s sea of consciousness. At the very least, it would cause splitting headaches; at the worst, it could shatter the victim's consciousness and turn them into an idiot.

This ability was incredibly vicious and impossible to guard against—a true weapon for backstabbing.

Lin Fan felt a surge of joy. With this ability, he had gained another hidden card.