Sarilang

In the vast, snow-covered Northern Lands, a girl dressed in a felt coat and fur jacket, with her dark gold hair braided into pigtails, rode a golden eagle, flying over towering mountains and steep ridges.

The girl took out a sheepskin from her bosom, compared it with the terrain in the drawing, and estimated that she had arrived at the right place. Then she raised the Ghost Face Blood Jade pendant that was tied to her left wrist with a rubber band. Instantly, a red light shone, spreading across the mountains and guiding the golden eagle to circle and land on the top of a solitary peak.

Guided by the red light, the girl finally found her destination.

A blood-faced ghostly figure was illuminated by the red light onto the stone wall in the mountain peak. The ghostly face had empty eyes and bared its fangs and claws, as if it wanted to break through the ice and devour those who disturbed its peace.

So the girl cleared her throat, "Open it!"

The smooth, mirror-like ice layer melted instantly, the seal was lifted, and a cave hidden deep in the mountaintop was revealed.

Holding up the glowing blood jade as a light, the girl cautiously peered out to observe her surroundings. Fortunately, there were no traps set inside the cave, allowing her to venture deep into the grotto and find the treasure chest hidden there.

This is a literal, self-evident treasure chest.

The entire box was made of flawlessly smooth metal, clearly not a natural material; even an ordinary person could tell it was extraterrestrial gold, and it was adorned with numerous crystals and gemstones! As the girl approached, these gemstones slowly began to glow! These gemstones alone must be priceless!

Who would waste such precious materials? Instead of forging divine weapons, they're turning them into boxes? It's truly regrettable!

However, the girl knew very well that there were very few people in this world capable of smelting Starflow Divine Iron, and none of them were fools. The fact that so many Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures were used to make a treasure chest could only mean that the pearl hidden inside was even more valuable!

"Open!"

The girl said this, and then there was complete silence; the treasure chest did not react at all.

"... Open it!" The girl held up the blood-red jade in her hand, facing the treasure chest as if offering it to the chest. "I am the Saintess of the Divine Cult! I command you to open it!"

The box still ignored her.

In the awkward silence, suddenly, a soft chuckle came from behind the girl.

Like a startled cat, the girl flipped and leaped up, performing a somersault on the icy cave floor, landing in a corner. The crimson light of the blood jade in her left hand instantly extinguished, replaced by a crescent-shaped dagger, which she gripped horizontally in front of her. Her right hand gripped the rock wall to steady herself, and her eyes scanned back and forth, quickly searching the cave for the person who had been hiding behind her.

The other party made no attempt to hide, stepping directly into the light of the treasure chest. He was a young man from the Central Land who appeared to be about the same age as the girl. He wore a white Daoist robe, his skin was as smooth as jade, and his eyes were deep black, as if he had emerged from the cold wind, traversing the icy snow without leaving a trace. He had no trace of human presence, as if he were a ghost that had walked out of the void.

That's right, it's Li Fan came here using the Qiongqi clone!

Actually, it was a trivial matter like picking up Legion Potions, which didn't warrant Li Fan's personal presence at all. However, to be frank, Li Fan, in Qingyue's true form, simply couldn't stay there any longer.

Qin Nanxin had no idea what was going on. Just a moment ago she said, "I think we're moving too fast and should slow down," and the next moment she was acting like, "You've been keeping a vixen behind my back!" Where's her image? Where's her class?! Where did her refined and detached demeanor go?!

Of course, Qin Nanxin didn't explicitly say "I'm going to do this or that with you." After calming down, she stopped resorting to violence and even took the initiative to tutor Li Fan in arithmetic and the Five Arts, deducing Daoist techniques together and assisting in guiding the disciple's cultivation, as if she wanted to repair her image. However, she would occasionally lose her temper and have to argue and sarcastically retort with the fox sisters, making the atmosphere in Li Family Village quite tense.

The Yan sisters weren't going to let up either. After all, the vixen was an expert in palace intrigue, so of course they wouldn't give Li Fan and Qin Nanxin a chance to be alone, advance their personal storylines, and increase their favorability. The sisters formed an alliance to attack and defend, taking turns to strike.

The younger sister was more direct and manipulative, constantly serving Qin Nanxin tea, feeding her grapes, fanning her, massaging her legs and back—doing everything she could to annoy Qin Nanxin, never missing an opportunity to show off. The older sister was slightly more sophisticated; for example, when serving tea or water, she would pour Qin Nanxin a cup as well. But that was about it...

In short, the three of them were locked in a fierce battle, their words dripping with barbs, making Li Fan extremely uneasy and helpless.

Duan Ye was even more speechless. Li Fan didn't have time to pay attention to her for the time being. This guy actually won over Li Tangyuan and Lin Xiang, leading these two dim-witted idiots further and further astray!

Normally, girls shouldn't rely on men; they should rely on their own strength to navigate the world. So, she spent her days taking two little brats to practice swordsmanship, catch fish and shrimp, and chase chickens and dogs. At least they were practicing the Body Domination Technique. Qin Nanxin had been spending too much time on academic classes, so having a couple of extra physical education classes to get some exercise and promote all-round development in morality, intelligence, physical fitness, aesthetics, and labor wasn't a bad thing.

But this guy doesn't even pay attention in PE class! He's always ripping off his clothes to show off his big gemstones! He's always drenched in sweat and has a huge bust! Li Fan can't help but glance at him, and he feels like he's being stared at from all directions! It makes his hair stand on end, and he feels so much pressure!

So, during the day he had to do arithmetic, practice martial arts, instruct disciples, and assist them; at night he would cultivate, cultivate, cultivate—whatever he cultivated, he couldn't neglect either! Every now and then he also had to go to the secret realm to assist with the system and Xuan Tian's projects, Lei Marsh would take a stroll to check on the cultivation progress of the Outer Sect of Ink Bamboo Mountain. This left Li Fan truly exhausted, both physically and mentally; he was practically wilting...

To be honest, after a month of this, Li Fan was rapidly absorbing the accumulation of his years of experience and was also extensively practicing the Demon God's Primordial Transformation. Although he had not yet passed the tribulation, his strength was increasing rapidly.

But he had absolutely no freedom all day long! He was constantly surrounded by beautiful women, and Li Fan simply couldn't take it anymore!!

Sigh, it's not that I'm being dramatic, but men need at least an hour of solitude every day to maintain their physical and mental health! Who can stand being in a brothel all day long? Besides, this isn't even a brothel, it's a hellish battlefield!

After finally getting to the clone's location and finishing programming the Nascent Soul Stage robot, Li Fan immediately sneaked over and seized Qiongqi's clone's body.

Li Fan directly arranged for the robots to pilot the Immortal Palace, automatically finding their way back to Ink Bamboo Mountain from the stratosphere. He himself didn't bother to bring back a pot to suffer; instead, he manipulated his clone to wander around, stealing half a day of leisure.

"How many Saintess does your cult actually have? How can just anyone be chosen as Saintess?"

Li Fan was too lazy to pay attention to the various "Saintess" on either side. He leisurely walked to the camera, did a facial recognition, and after his identity was verified, the freezer left for him by the Octopus-headed Sergeant in the legion automatically unlocked. He took out the syringe stored inside and would bring it to the system along with the black pot later.

"... What is this?"

The Saintess of the cult was not afraid at all; she even jumped down from the wall and went closer to tap the syringe-like thing.

"You don't even know what this is and you still tried to steal it?" Li Fan glanced at her sideways.

"What do you mean by stealing! I am the Saintess of the Divine Cult! What belongs to the Divine Cult is mine!"

The braided Saintess, speaking with an air of entitlement, even took out the God Lord Jade from her left wrist, waved it in front of Li Fan, and then rattled off a string of words.

"You're not a protector of my cult? You're not here to kill me? You don't even seem human? Are you a demon or a monster? Could it be that my cult summoned you? Even I don't know who set up this cult altar. Is there a protector from elsewhere contacting you? You didn't even greet me! That's outrageous! Is this treasure in the box something they're using to recruit you? So, it seems you're also interested in joining the cult?"

"Then how about you become my protector! No matter what price others offer, I'll double it! I am the Saintess of the North, starting as my Saintess is much better than starting as a mere follower or a ten-heart disciple! Why don't you tell me what this is? I'll check my inventory; maybe I'll find some there!"

Li Fan chuckled, too lazy to bother with her nonsense, and turned to leave.

He came out to relax, not to do a mission. Besides, there are already a lot of Saintess in Ink Bamboo Mountain. Are they trying to summon a dragon or something by gathering them all together? Isn't that troublesome enough already...?

"Hey, hey, hey, don't be so cold! I'm Saintess, you know! Anyway, we'll all be fellow believers from now on, and who knows, you might need my help someday? The human world is complicated, having more friends means having more options!"

"By the way, my name is Sarilang, what's yours?"

"..." Li Fan couldn't help but stop, frowning as he looked at the girl following behind him. "Sarilang? Why did you choose such a silly... weird name?"

Sarilang looked puzzled. "What's wrong with Sarilang? The most beautiful flower on the grassland, isn't that a nice name? You can also call me by my Central Plains name, which my godfather gave me, Zhang Yanzhi."

Li Fan whirled around and glared at her, "Your surname is Zhang?"

Zhang Yanzhi then explained to him, "I was originally a slave captured from the Central Plains, so I don't have a surname. Whatever my adoptive father says I have, that's what I'll have. But Yanzhi sounds quite nice, doesn't it? Yanzhi flower? Mountain lily flower? Sarilang? Do you understand?"

Who is your godfather?

"Hmph!" Zhang Yanzhi, or Sarilang, said with his hands on his hips, "My godfather is the former Great Strength Dharma King of the Divine Sect! The Chanyu of the Royal Court! How about it! Are you scared now!"

"..." Li Fan looked at this fool, "You don't know your godfather is dead?"

To everyone's surprise, Zhang Yanzhi shook his head and exclaimed, "Alas! What joy is there in living, what sorrow in dying! As members of the Divine Sect, how could we not understand the meaning of life and death? The Divine Sect's Dharma King is such a high-risk profession, and even the Chanyu is living on the edge of a knife. I was prepared for this long ago."

"But it's alright, all the Great Strength Dharma King of the past have been the supreme guardians of our Northern Court Saintess lineage, and my godfather has already left all his money to me! The Northern Enforcement Venerable is also my backer! You won't lose out by being my protector!"

Li Fan asked curiously, "The Northern Court faction? How many Saintess do you actually have?"

Zhang Yanzhi nodded, "There are many. The kings of the larger tribes all send their daughters to the Dharma King as candidates for Saintess. Not only our Northern Court lineage, but also the Tianshan Faction, the Kunlun Faction, and I heard there used to be the Zhongzhou lineage as well, but most of them were wiped out by the Xuanmen. If you want to join my divine sect, you'd better choose your path carefully, otherwise there won't be enough rewards to go around among so many competitors, and you'll have no chance of getting ahead!"

"I'm different! I've already reached the Golden Core realm! Although my adoptive father is gone, the Northern Venerable supports me! I'm the genuine Northern Saintess! By the way, I've already given my name, aren't you going to introduce yourself?"

Li Fan thought for a moment, "If I join the cult, could you give me a position like altar master or something?"

"Altar Master?" Zhang Yanzhi shook his head repeatedly. "Protector is fine, it's just a matter of treatment. The altar master is responsible for the brothers in our sect, and can only be elected by the brothers of each branch altar. However, if you can make great contributions to our sect, I know many people who can help you garner votes."

"Could you get me a piece of this?" Li Fan pointed to the other party's God Lord Jade; he still had a large amount of Immortal Silk stored in the Divine Cult's treasury.

Zhang Yanzhi shook her head again, "This is the God Lord Jade, which can only be bestowed upon those who have completed the mission of the Ten Ultimate Venerables. I am only a candidate Saintess, so I don't count yet."

However, I can introduce you to the Enforcement Venerable! Our Northern Court is currently in need of manpower. As long as you are willing to serve us and become a guardian Divine Beast of our divine sect, the Venerable will certainly not treat you unfairly!

Who the hell wants to be your guardian Divine Beast... And are all the Saintess of this cult so unreliable...?

Li Fan glanced at her sideways, suddenly sensed something, turned his head to look outside, and did some calculations.

"I see, I understand now. With the death of the Chanyu, the power of your Northern Court faction has greatly diminished. Some missions involve the secrets of the sect, and ordinary people are hesitant to take them on. It seems that you, Saintess, have to personally handle them."

Logically speaking, Saintess should have Saintess protector by her side, but you came here alone and even tried to recruit me. It's clear you have no one else by your side, right?

You say that so-called Northern Enforcement Venerable supports you? Hah, your backer is dead, you're all alone now. Why would he arrange for you to come here alone?

I imagine there are quite a few people envious of this title of Northern Saintess, aren't there? After all this talk about the Enforcement Venerable, what is the current Great Strength Dharma King's attitude towards you? By the way, you're a slave captured from the Central Plains. If you were to become the Saintess, the other Khans and their princesses probably wouldn't be too satisfied, would they?

Judging from this, those people outside are probably here for you too.

I understand now, you—no, we were both set up.

Zhang Yanzhi was stunned. Before he could even react to how this demon could predict the future, he was suddenly awakened by what Li Fan said. His expression changed drastically. He didn't have time to chat with Li Fan anymore. He rushed out of the cave, took out a whistle, and blew it to summon the golden eagle.

However, only one dead eagle fell from the sky, crashing into the snow and turning into a pool of blood and gore.

On the solitary peak, three vultures circled. Three assassins dressed as rogue cultivators, though all merely blood puppets at the Golden Core realm, were also present. The Saintess was only at the Golden Core realm herself. Normally, a three-on-one fight would be difficult to turn the tables on.

"Hey, Sergeant, wasn't this a free gift? What's the meaning of this charade?"

Li Fan also came out to watch the show, carrying a syringe in his hand.

The blood puppet atop the vulture said, "Your Excellency, you misunderstand. We offered you the Saintess of the North with a cooperative mindset. What, you won't eat her? I've heard that the Saintess's reincarnation is very nourishing for Your Excellency."

Indeed, Li Fan's mouth watered at the smell. If Qiongqi had come on its own, it probably wouldn't have cared whether it was poisonous or not and would have eaten the snack that was delivered to its door.

Li Fan laughed, "If I eat her, won't your cult come after me and fight me to the death?"

Blood Puppet shook his head and said, "The Saintess is raised for this purpose. When I teach the summoning of demon gods, we always sacrifice one; it's the norm. There are quite a few candidates for Saintess, so please don't be shy."

It seemed to be the usual practice. Zhang Yanzhi remained silent, biting her lip, trembling all over, gripping her curved knife, her knuckles turning white. She probably understood that her falling into this trap meant that the Northern Enforcement Venerable no longer protected her, and with her adoptive father Zhang Dali dead, she was just a discarded pawn.

Li Fan smiled, walked over to Zhang Yanzhi, picked up her braid and smelled it. "I'm not hungry right now, can she eat it slowly?"

Zhang Yanzhi shuddered.

The blood puppet laughed, "What's given away can't be taken back. The Demon Lord can do with her as he pleases. Even if you release her, I won't care."

Li Fan narrowed his eyes. "Sergeant, just say what you want me to do."

Blood Puppet nodded and said, "Demon Lord, you are wise. As you said, many meteorites have recently fallen from the sky and landed within our territory. Cultivators from all directions have entered to collect them, and we are quite short-handed. If you could help us collect one or two pieces, that would be best."

Li Fan laughed heartily, "This is simple, it's agreed then."

The blood puppet chuckled, "Then let the Saintess of the North guide you and help my cult gather its treasures."

So the three vultures simply turned around and flew away without stopping at all.

Li Fan glanced at the girl, "Isn't it true that life is neither joyful nor bitter?"

Zhang Yanzhi wiped away her tears and remained silent.

Li Fan shrugged, his figure shifted, and he transformed into a giant tiger with wings on his back. "Let's go, I'll give you a ride and take you to the Central Plains, where you can find a peaceful place to live."

Zhang Yanzhi glanced at Li Fan, then flipped himself onto the tiger's back. "You might as well just eat me now and be done with it. There's no safe place left in this world."