At that moment, Shen Fan felt as though he had taken a stroll before the gates of hell, only to be forcibly dragged back.
Outside the door, the Law Enforcement Hall disciples' unrestrained chatter pierced straight into his eardrums like blade after blade.
Shen Fan stood there like a wooden chicken, his head buzzing.
It was over!
This time, he was truly screwed beyond salvation!
The Law Enforcement Hall actually had the Soul Searching Technique!
Just hearing its name told him it was no good—it had to be an exceedingly sinister method!
If they truly used the Soul Searching Technique on him, would the Treasure Gathering Universe Bowl hidden deep in his heart not be exposed beyond all doubt?
But fortunately, Mu Xingtian's self-righteous deduction had made everyone cast aside their suspicions of him.
"No! I have to run for it immediately!"
Shen Fan's heart skipped a beat. He did not dare harbor the slightest hope that these Law Enforcement Hall disciples had truly stopped suspecting him.
With that thought, he immediately began frantically packing his things, preparing to flee this place of trouble.
But right now, the Law Enforcement Hall disciples were searching everywhere for Old Man Duan's whereabouts. If he rashly left now, he would simply be walking into death.
He could neither leave nor stay. Shen Fan felt like a wild beast trapped in a cage, utterly at a loss.
Just as he was anxiously spinning in circles like an ant on a hot pan, unable to think of any solution, the door to the Waste Elixir Chamber creaked open once more.
The night wind carried a trace of chill as it swept away the suffocating heat inside the room.
Outside, moonlight flowed like water, spilling silver-white radiance everywhere.
A figure's shadow stretched long beneath the moon. His dark ink-colored robe snapped in the night wind like a black banner.
Mu Xingtian's cold eyes flashed like lightning as he swept his gaze over Shen Fan.
The next moment, his figure flickered, and he appeared before Shen Fan like a ghost.
"Elder..." Shen Fan opened his mouth, just about to speak.
But Mu Xingtian gave him no chance at all. He stretched out a large hand and viciously seized Shen Fan by the head.
Immediately afterward, an irresistible force surged through his entire body from his Spirit Abode like a raging tide.
Mu Xingtian gave a low shout. "Soul Searching Technique!"
Shen Fan's eyes flew wide open, his entire body trembling like a sieve. A terrifying chill, like an icy snake, spread from his forehead throughout his body in an instant.
That old bastard had actually come back and directly used the Soul Searching Technique on him!
Now this was more like it!
This fit the Law Enforcement Hall's usual methods.
Just like life as an undercover agent, whenever there was even the slightest suspicion, they would rather kill a thousand by mistake than let a single one slip through the net.
He was nothing more than a Miscellaneous Disciple. Why would the Law Enforcement Hall have so many reservations about him?
If he had been an Inner Sect Disciple, perhaps they would have shown some restraint.
But now, he did not even have a chance to resist and could only be butchered at another's whim.
However, just as Shen Fan thought he was doomed and that all his secrets would be laid bare—
Inside his mind, that powerful divine sense combined with the power of his soul like a savage beast, casually rifling through his memories as though flipping through a book.
At that moment, a golden light suddenly exploded in his mind like a blazing sun.
Immediately afterward, a bowl-shaped golden radiance tightly shielded the thing Shen Fan feared and worried about most within his mind.
Shen Fan focused his eyes on it. Was that not the Treasure Gathering Universe Bowl sitting on his table?
At that moment, Mu Xingtian's soul swept through Shen Fan's mind like a gust of wind.
After a careful search, he found nothing at all.
"Hm? He really doesn't know?"
Mu Xingtian gave a soft cry of surprise and slowly released Shen Fan.
"Just as I guessed, this kid truly knows nothing!"
Shen Fan was on the verge of tears, and he could not help cursing inwardly, You fucking old bastard are really slippery! You say one thing and do another—you're nothing but an old fox!
The next moment!
Shen Fan collapsed limply to the floor. He stared at Mu Xingtian in terror and asked in a trembling voice, "Elder, why did you suddenly come back? What did you do to me?"
Even now, Shen Fan was still shaken with lingering fear. He had no idea whether Mu Xingtian had discovered anything, or whether the Treasure Gathering Universe Bowl in his mind had truly helped him hide his secret.
"Nothing. I merely saw that you, child, were quite pitiful and helped clear the fire poison from your body while passing by!"
Mu Xingtian spoke without the slightest hesitation, his face neither red nor his heart racing.
Shen Fan mentally greeted every member of the man's Household. Listen to the crap you're saying! Isn't that lie a little too outrageous?
Mu Xingtian looked at Shen Fan with a little more guilt in his eyes and said,
"Rest assured. From now on, that Li Qingshan will not bully you again. If you are willing, would you become my Nominal Disciple? However, you must not tell anyone about this. This is a secret between the two of us!"
"R-Really?" Shen Fan was completely dumbfounded, feeling as if his brain was no longer enough to process all this.
What kind of trick was this now?
A slap followed by a sweet date?
But this sweet date was far too sweet!
He was being made a Nominal Disciple and given a cultivation art—could Mu Xingtian truly be feeling guilty?
"What? You aren't willing?"
Seeing Shen Fan standing there blankly, Mu Xingtian frowned and asked.
"I would not dare. It is my fortune through three lifetimes to have encountered Elder. Elder, rest assured, I will certainly not disappoint your expectations!"
Shen Fan hurriedly replied, but inwardly he muttered, What medicine is this old bastard selling from his gourd?
Mu Xingtian nodded in satisfaction. With a touch to the Universe Pouch at his waist, a black lacquered cultivation manual appeared in his hand.
"Your talent is poor. Only body cultivation is the proper path for you. This is the Blood Spirit Unification Art. It specializes in the power of blood and qi and is enough to make your blood and qi boil, allowing you to surpass ordinary people on the path of body cultivation!"
Shen Fan was completely stunned, feeling as though everything before him was a dream.
What was this supposed to be?
A slap followed by a sweet date?
But this sweet date was far too sweet—so sweet that he hardly dared believe it.
"This disciple understands. Please rest assured, Master!"
Shen Fan accepted the cultivation manual with both hands and heavily kowtowed, though his heart was filled with doubt and wariness.
"Child, work hard. You only have one final year left. I hope that next year, we may meet in the Outer Sect!"
After saying this, Mu Xingtian flicked his sleeve and departed, leaving Shen Fan standing there alone in a daze.
After a long while.
Only then did Shen Fan recover from everything that had just happened.
"What... happened?" he muttered, feeling as though his head was still spinning.
When he turned around to look, Shen Fan's pupils contracted.
The Treasure Gathering Universe Bowl on the table had actually disappeared.
At that moment, golden light flashed through Shen Fan's mind, and the Treasure Gathering Universe Bowl appeared within his Spirit Abode.
"The Soul Searching Technique... that old bastard..." Shen Fan gritted his teeth, his wariness toward Mu Xingtian growing even stronger.
Before you continue