Ten Years of Hard Study

In the blink of an eye, ten years have passed.

After the chip was upgraded, Li Fan's computing power was significantly improved.

After witnessing the power of the company's culture during a business trip, Li Fan has spent the last ten years in seclusion, diligently studying and practicing. Under the guidance of the two masters, the Abbot and Xuan Tian, his cultivation and studies have progressed rapidly.

It is no exaggeration to say that Li Fan has already achieved considerable success in mathematics, no, in the Five Arts. With the assistance of the intelligent system, after ten years of hard study, he has passed the Xuanmen Unified Examination and the Xuanmen Comprehensive Five Arts Unified Examination, and obtained the advanced level in the three subjects of alchemy, formation and weapon crafting, and the master level in the two subjects of arithmetic and talisman. He can now call himself a mathematician and a talisman master.

The Grandmaster level exam shouldn't be too difficult for Li Fan, but advancing from Master to Grandmaster requires considerable academic research and verification. It involves publishing books and papers, and engaging in serious discussions and lectures—not the kind of formal, informal discussions. In short, one needs to gain widespread recognition and recommendation from fellow Grandmasters in the Xuanmen (Daoist sect) before receiving an invitation from Yuntai Peak to take the exam. It can't be rushed.

So while he's leveling up and honing his skills, Li Fan doesn't have time to go to Yuntai Peak to pursue academics and get a Grandmaster title. However, based on his research on Tai Su Dao over the years, he should be able to pass the test smoothly by publishing a few original papers and Cultivation Method within fifty years.

Therefore, with the assistance of the system's computing power, as long as Li Fan casts a divination, it's as if he has futuristic vision, clearly seeing all kinds of causes and effects, as well as the development and changes of hundreds of timelines in the future. To some extent, his mathematical level has already surpassed that of a considerable number of grandmasters.

So when the cadre sent by the company, Zhang Ling, had just entered the Taiji Realm and hadn't even had a chance to step into the biochemical capsule, Li Fan calculated and predicted the time of his landing and birth.

Then, timing it perfectly, he secretly performed rituals, setting up formations and casting spells. The moment the company executive's consciousness was completely downloaded into the subnet prosthetic body and he opened his eyes, Li Fan didn't even use his main body. He simply refracted a Radiant Star clone onto the mothership and added a Lou Guanliu head pat to finish him off.

Using the divine method of the Primordial Spirit, Zhang Ling, the cadre sent by the company, was trapped in a Primordial Spirit dream and brainwashed into a cycle of reincarnation. Outside, the Tai Su Qiankun was used to add a layer of micro-dust seal to the biological chamber, which was modeled after non-Newtonian fluids, to prevent anyone from disturbing his peaceful sleep. Therefore, there should be no major problems in the short term.

But you know what, just looking at the physical aspects, the combat prosthetics specially modified by the company are really quite powerful. It seems that they have been lurking in the Ziwei Yuan for many years in order to collect the genes of the incomparably powerful and perfect Dao Body of the Immortal Venerable. Moreover, they have successfully created a Dao Body at the level of Immortal Emperor through genetic bioengineering!

In terms of physical strength alone, that specially made combat clone body of the company is completely at the level of an Immortal Emperor—of course, the pre-adult version of an Immortal Emperor, possessing superhuman strength like the ability to overturn rivers and seas, move mountains and unleash chasms, and shatter the void. Moreover, it has been insanely modified with artificial body technology, adding bio-alloys and combat weapon connection slots beneath the bones and skin, and further adding various secondary hearts, blood pumps, enhanced gallbladders, intracranial armor, repair nanobots, and hypersensory Divine Transformation... Immortal technology all in one! Invincible!

According to Li Fan's estimation, even if he used his main body, plus the help of the 'False Moon Soul', and attacked with all his might, it would probably take him seventy or eighty sword strikes to break through that powerful defense.

And of course, the company's executives wouldn't go out and fight empty-handed, wearing only a tight-fitting undershirt and a cloak. The mothership also houses all sorts of damn mechs, drones, guns and ammunition, and all sorts of bizarre and inexplicable electromagnetic, biological, and thermal catapult weapons. In other parts of the Solar System, there are probably hidden factories that can produce drone armies or cruisers to clean up the ground and burn glass. This combined combat power and destructive force far surpasses that of a proper Feather Transformation Immortal.

Fortunately, the humans on the other side of the 'door' are severely unbalanced; their primordial spirits are incredibly weak. Zhang Ling, after all, just a mid-level manager, and his AI system is, frankly, an older version. It's completely blocked and suppressed by Li Fan's system. So, the solution to this seemingly most terrifying and invincible hidden danger in the company is actually quite simple.

The system was hacked into the local server, and then a simple tap on the head was all it took...

As I said before, those who cultivate the body but not the spirit are complete idiots.

Of course, to be on the safe side, we could just throw this Immortal Emperor-level superhuman into the sun. However, this guy is, after all, the CEO's illegitimate son. Killing him would only expose his true nature and alert the company. Let's just seal him away and deal with it quietly for now. If we delay for a hundred or so years, Li Fan will have already attained enlightenment. At that point, he'll be gone in a flash.

Li Fan waved his hand to collect the ritual talismans from the altar on the ground, and after calculating with his fingers, he found that the time was almost right.

Before half an incense stick had burned out the company's management, the new recruits who enrolled in Ink Bamboo Mountain this year had almost all swum across the Li River and arrived at the foot of the Bamboo Mountain. That would be a perfect opportunity to show off, put on a show, and take on a disciple.

Yes, after all the times he'd taken on disciples on behalf of others, Li Fan now planned to take on a proper personal disciple. After all, he'd been cultivating in this other world for twenty years and had even reached the Tribulation Stage; he couldn't be considered a newcomer anymore, and it was time for him to take on two personal disciples.

Moreover, the reincarnation of the Blood Infant is about to enroll in Ink Bamboo Mountain.

Over the years, while studying his coursework, Li Fan also kept an eye on whether the blood infant's psychology was healthy, and whether it would suddenly go out of control and cause natural disasters or man-made calamities. Then he discovered... that it didn't seem to be anything abnormal...

After this guy was born, there were no extraordinary phenomena in the world. Moreover, he had both parents, was healthy and free from illness or disaster, and had mediocre talent. He would go fishing in the river and catching shrimp whenever he had nothing to do. He was dark-skinned and strong, slightly ugly and a little fat, and developed in the direction of a standard fisherman and boatman. There was no sign of him being a chosen one of heaven or a demon star from another world.

So for a while, in order to prepare for the Five Arts Unified Examination, Li Fan completely forgot about the Blood Infant.

Later, when Li Fan reached the Master level in arithmetic and felt that he had mastered arithmetic, Li Fan began to deduce the identities of his enemies, one by one, and planned to kill them with curses and assassinations, setting up killings to settle their karmic debts.

The first one to be targeted was naturally Chen Jinu of the Sword Sect. Unfortunately, although he had made great progress in mathematics, he was still a notch below that old sword immortal Chen Jinu. The other party was also a successor of the Xuan Tian School and had unique skills in concealing heavenly secrets and interfering with calculations. Over the years, he had been hiding in the dark and harming the world without being caught by the Three Elders and Four Ancestors, which shows that his skills were at least those of a Grandmaster.

Thus, although the two had never met in the past ten years, they had already fought several rounds of magic battles on an unseen battlefield. Unfortunately, Li Fan was also less experienced and was always one move behind, unable to find where Chen the Sword Immortal was hiding or find an opportunity to put his opponent in a deadly predicament.

It was also because Li Fan had no choice but to continue practicing the other four arts to improve his overall strength, since the main quest of Chen Jinu had not made any progress. Later, he casually helped Xue Ying with a divination.

And guess what?! It couldn't calculate anything at all!

This is not to say that Li Fan's arithmetic is unreliable, nor that this kid has no future. Rather, it means that this kid will definitely achieve something in the future. At the very least, his arithmetic or cultivation level will be a whole realm higher than Li Fan's current level, so that he can shield the heavenly secrets from Li Fan's prying eyes!

Even when battling Chen Jinu, with the system's help, he could still see some clues about his opponent. Even if the person he was predicting died in the future, at least they'd have a grave!

This caused Li Fan to seriously doubt his own computing skills, wondering if his ten years of intensive training had actually made him too incompetent. So he tried pushing the company executives to see when they descended to the mortal realm...

As a result, those company executives at the Immortal Emperor level were all killed one by one by him! What's up with that Blood Infant kid! He's actually stronger than Immortal Emperors and Chen Jinu, doesn't that mean...

This is terrifying to think about! In any case, we can't let them roam freely anymore! Let's bring them under our wing!

Therefore, Li Fan arranged for the reincarnated blood infant to participate in this year's Bamboo Mountain New Disciple Marathon.

The decision not to immediately follow the Ink Bamboo Mountain tradition of binding the child for special treatment wasn't so much to demonstrate fairness. It was mainly because the boy's reincarnated name was truly unlucky...

"Ranked 48th in the mountain entry! Qin Jiu!"

"Hey, hey? Isn't it just about getting to the destination? Why is there a ranking? There's a prize for first place?"

"Are you stupid? This is a competition for immortal destiny, of course we have to compete for rankings! The sect has prizes, first come, first served! Look, the top three get magic treasures, and the first place winner is even the Ink Mountain Sword!"

"Ugh! What a rip-off! I should have taken the Li River cruise faster! If I had known I could navigate this route, I would have left you guys far behind! What a rip-off!"

So when Li Fan made a hand seal and created a Microdust Avatar that appeared silently on the treetops of the bamboo forest, he saw a chubby, dark-skinned boy jumping around among a group of elementary school students.

Tsk, back then, the Blood Infant was so domineering, casually manipulating Nascent Soul Stage Demon Gods. How come it's reincarnated as so rustic...

"Qin wine? So your family sells wine?"

"No, I'm the ninth child. My family originally fled from the Xun Kingdom. The first eight of us all perished. We only managed to get enough to eat in the Li Country, and I was the only one who survived. I'm pretty tough, aren't I?"

"Tch, judging by your muscular build, I'd think you were some military family member who'd trained in martial arts since childhood. Turns out you're just a fisherman."

"What's wrong with fishing! Do you know how ferocious the fish in the Li River are right now? They're all like they have three heads and six arms!"

"You're bragging! Fish don't have three heads and six arms!"

"I'm serious! You young masters have never left Lou Guan City since you were little, of course you'll never see them! You'll know when you get to East River Prefecture, the whole world is full of monsters!"

Qin Jiu had a rather cheerful personality and was quite popular. He chatted away with a group of young men from local aristocratic families in Lou Guan City.

Li Fan didn't show himself immediately. He felt he could observe and test Qin Jiu's character and demonic nature further, to see if he was more human or more demonic.

To be honest, over the past ten years, with the abbot overseeing everything, Xuan Tian and the system's twin fish working on research and development, and Li Fan doing various daily gathering tasks to build the sect, Ink Bamboo Mountain has truly changed rapidly, visibly growing stronger and more prosperous, with more and more disciples. However, Li Fan has never found a disciple who is particularly compatible with him.

In fact, Li Fan had already made the methods of the Moshan Sword Sect public, allowing the disciples of Ink Bamboo Mountain to cultivate on their own. There was no need for him to specifically take on any personal disciples. However, he had vaguely sensed this during his years of fighting Chen Jinu from afar.

After their first duel on swordsmanship, the timing of events became increasingly favorable, and with the assistance of the system, Li Fan's cultivation level has greatly improved. In novel terms, he has reached the mid-stage of the Tribulation Transcending Realm.

On the contrary, the other party had been biding his time for ten years, guarding against Li Fan's ambush. He did not seem to be as powerful as he was when they first met.

So now is the perfect time to take advantage of his illness and eliminate Chen Jinu. However, the presence of 'Qingyue of Ink Bamboo Mountain' is too strong, especially after her misdeeds in Kunlun last time, which made her famous throughout the world. Once she comes out of the mountain, she will stir up the destiny of heaven and earth, so it will not be easy for her to wander around and set up schemes.

Therefore, Li Fan had a plan: to select a true disciple as 'bait' to lure out Chen Jinu and those demonic disciples, and then set up a massacre to wipe out their enemies in one fell swoop.

Although Qin Jiu, the reincarnation of the Blood Infant, is one of the candidates, he has only just begun to cultivate Qi and does not seem to be a genius with rapid cultivation speed. It is unknown how long it will take for him to grow up, and further observation is needed.

As for the remaining group of junior brothers, sisters, servants, and Outer Sect Disciple of Ink Bamboo Mountain, although they had all made progress in their cultivation and skills by fighting demons and monsters in the Ten-thousand-mountains, unfortunately, after several years, none of them had been able to reach the Nascent Soul Realm, so no one could be accepted into the Mozhu Mountain sect first.

Among these people, Chen Asha is the most diligent and hardworking. Under Xuan Tian's crazy private tutoring, she has reached the Golden Core Perfection realm. She is also very diligent in cultivating the Five Arts and has special skills in medicine and poison. She is not much worse than the disciples of Xuanmen. She is the most promising among the younger generation to be the first to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm.

However, she is considered the junior sister of the Sword Sect and a legitimate descendant of the Huangfu family. Chen Jinu, who is pretending to be 'Huangfu Jing,' might not necessarily take the bait, and it would be troublesome if the other party found out about Xuan Tian's existence.

But the others really weren't up to par. Some had genuinely tried their best, but ultimately their aptitude was limited, and without a 'grandfather' with whom they had a personal connection to guide them, the Golden Core realm was already their upper limit.

Some are simply mediocre people who lack the natural affinity for immortality and are content with mediocrity. They are satisfied with being a Golden Core of Ink Bamboo Mountain and learning some immortal techniques.

Some are musclemen who only like fighting and lifting weights, but dislike math and problem-solving; some are lazy bums who love to use their cunning and find loopholes to slack off; and some only know how to eat.

Alas, why isn't there a talent like Qingyue, the Daoist of yesteryear, destined by fate, whose cultivation progressed rapidly, and who was flawless? Truly, if Heaven hadn't given birth to Qingyue, the path of immortality would have remained shrouded in eternal darkness!

While I was lost in thought, I overheard Qin Jiu nearby tattling to Ink Bamboo Mountain, the senior brother who was selecting new recruits.

"Report, senior brother! There's a ghost standing on the bamboo!"

"Ghosts? This is Ink Bamboo Mountain, where would ghosts come from!"

"Can't you see?! You're just standing there staring!"

There's nothing there...

"The fisherman is lying again!"

"I'm not lying! Can't you see that huge white guy?!"

"Maybe it's Thunder Monkeys?"

"Didn't they say that the monkey population on Ink Bamboo Mountain went extinct because the railway construction encroached on the Thunder Monkeys' habitat?"

"Who knows? He said it was a white ghost, maybe it's the ghost of Thunder Monkeys!"

"Oh, so that's the spirit of Thunder Monkeys... It does look quite like it..."

"..."

Li Fan glared at Qin Jiu, making a mental note of it, and then dispersed his Microdust Avatar.

Qingyue, who was presiding over the Zhenyang Temple, opened her eyes again, performed some calculations, and spoke.

"Moon Soul."

Lava erupted, sparks flew, a flash of purple light appeared, sword light swirled, and a figure landed gracefully in the Zhenyang Temple.

She was a short-haired girl with purple eyes and a stern and aloof expression, with a tomboyish air about her. She was wearing a set of chainmail that cinched her waist and arms, over which she wore a blue and white robe, which seemed to be the old-style training clothes of the Beichen Sword Sect. There were large red marks on her shoulders, back and arms, which looked like tattoos, as if they were additional sword marks added to her by the late Xuan Tian stage.

This is none other than the Divine Transformation Soul Sword Master, whose sword spirit False Moon Soul.

"What are your orders, Senior Brother?"

Li Fan glanced at her appearance and said, "... Your cultivation level has stabilized by now, so could you please stop using Han the Divine Lord's face?"

Yuepo remained expressionless. "Senior brother, it's been ten years and you're still worrying about this. Back then, the Sword Ancestor specifically forged me for Han the Divine Lord. My spirit nature was set from the Oldest One. This is the fastest way to cultivate. What can I do? But why do you always care about such trivial matters, senior brother?"

Li Fan was embarrassed. "How can I not care! I always have a sword spirit that looks exactly like Han the Divine Lord by my side. What if people misunderstand and think I have some improper thoughts about Shenjun?"

Yuepo squinted at him and said, "If Senior Brother doesn't have anything important to do, I'll go back to the earth's veins to temper my sword and refine my body."

"Ahem, something's come up. I'm planning a trip to the Central Plains. You'll come with me; maybe we'll have a chance to practice our swordsmanship by killing a few sect Sect Leader."

Yuepo was also startled upon hearing this, "Senior brother has been in seclusion for ten years. Could it be that he has finally mastered his divine skills and is about to pacify the world?"

Li Fan shook his head, "No, no, although my divine skill has reached its peak again, the current strategy of Ink Bamboo Mountain is to play dumb and wait it out. This time I'm just going out to join in the fun. Also, I'll tell you a secret, but don't reveal it, okay?"

I just realized that the Grand Tutor might be dying.