Chapter 73: On Leek Behavior

The Azure Flame Illusion Spirit left a trace of its power within Su Xiaomei's body to help her suppress the rage within.

Then it returned to Li Fan's Sea of Consciousness.

In just that short time, Li Fan already felt a wave of fatigue.

The Netherworld Illusion Art had not yet been cultivated to the Late Stage of Qi Refining, and the newly born Illusion Spirit was still somewhat weak.

Moreover, he had to concentrate and carefully control the intensity of the Illusion Spirit's output to avoid damaging Su Xiaomei's young body.

This was not an easy task for Li Fan either.

Fortunately, it was a close call without incident.

This time, he could ensure her safety for ten years.

If Li Fan could safely withdraw from the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace in this life and obtain the Cloud Water Diagram, he would come to find her ahead of time.

If Li Fan met with misfortune, she could go to the Cultivation World with Su Changyu and the others after ten years.

After recovering his spirits, Li Fan walked out of the basement.

The Da Li nobles were still all waiting outside.

After telling them that Su Xiaomei had been healed, Li Fan let them disperse.

He only kept Scholar Su behind to inquire about Su Xiaomei's situation.

Scholar Su's face reddened, and after hesitating for a long time, he stammered out the whole story.

It turned out that Su Xiaomei was not Scholar Su's daughter, but the daughter of Scholar Su's younger sister, Su Yuqing.

Su Yuqing was much younger than Scholar Su, and she was only sixteen when she became pregnant with Su Xiaomei last year.

At that time, her mysterious pregnancy caused an uproar in the Su residence.

Because she was not yet married at the time!

Pregnancy before marriage was an outright scandal. What made Su Xiaomei's grandfather even angrier was that Su Yuqing stubbornly refused to reveal who the child's father was.

She insisted that she had done nothing improper, claiming that one day while playing in the garden, she suddenly felt tired and took a short nap.

Soon after waking up, she noticed something unusual about her body.

But as a maiden still living at home, how could she bring herself to mention such a thing to others?

It was only when her belly grew bigger day by day that she could no longer hide it.

The Su family naturally did not believe such an absurd explanation.

Furious, Su Xiaomei's grandfather wanted to abort the child.

But feeling the heartbeat of the fetus in her womb, Su Yuqing showed the strength of a mother.

She absolutely refused to abort the fetus, even threatening to take her own life.

Although Su Xiaomei's grandfather was furious, he was not about to kill his own daughter.

He could only lock Su Yuqing in her room and forbid her from going out to prevent the news from leaking.

And so, they finally waited until the day of childbirth.

It took great effort to deliver Su Xiaomei.

Su Yuqing's body was already frail, and she had not received good care during her pregnancy.

After such an ordeal, her body could not withstand it.

Thus, a few days after giving birth to Su Xiaomei, she passed away with regret.

On her deathbed, she begged the Su family to take good care of Su Xiaomei.

The Su family were not heartless people.

After Su Yuqing's death, the whole family doted on this little one who had lost her parents since childhood, hoping she would grow up safe and happy.

Who would have thought that shortly after Su Xiaomei was born, she would fall ill with a strange disease.

Her whole body would burn, to the point where she needed constant ice packs to alleviate it.

The Su family summoned all the famous doctors in the capital, but none could cure her.

Until Li Fan arrived.

…

After listening to Scholar Su's account, Li Fan looked up at the sky of this world, lost in thought.

"Born from a sense of Heavenly mandate? Perhaps this explains why Su Xiaomei is so talented."

"However, according to the original course of history, even with her extraordinary talent, she would still be hard-pressed to escape death in the face of calamity."

"In the entire Cultivation World, how many people, like Su Xiaomei, are gifted with exceptional talent yet die in obscurity like ordinary people?"

"In this regard, the Heavenly Dao truly treats everyone equally."

With this matter settled, Li Fan let out a long sigh, summoned the Taiyan Boat, and swiftly departed.

It didn't take long for him to return safely to Liuli Island.

Indeed, as He Zhenghao had said earlier, the whole trip took about twenty-five days.

And even now, the Hiding Talisman he had activated earlier was still in effect.

"As long as one doesn't engage in battle, a single Hiding Talisman can last this long. Truly good value for money. When I get back to the island, maybe I should buy some for backup," Li Fan thought to himself.

Inside the Mountain and River Star Formation, Li Fan handed the Storage Ring to He Zhenghao.

He Zhenghao seemed distracted, merely glancing at the Storage Ring before putting it away.

His attention was focused on an ancient mirror in front of him.

It looked somewhat similar to the Tianxuan Realm.

Following He Zhenghao's gaze, Li Fan saw a line of small characters displayed on the mirror.

"Spirit Mist Grass: Current price fifteen Contribution Points per plant."

The number fifteen was constantly changing, sometimes turning into sixteen, then quickly into fourteen.

"Rise, why won't you rise!" He Zhenghao stared at the mirror as if bewitched, repeating the words over and over.

"Fellow Daoist He, what are you doing?" Li Fan asked curiously.

"Ah, Fellow Daoist, you don't know," He Zhenghao said without shifting his gaze, sighing gloomily.

"A few days ago, shortly after you left, I received reliable news. The island where Spirit Mist Grass was grown was attacked by strange sea beasts, destroying most of the grass there."

"As I told you before, Spirit Mist Grass is the main raw material for making Hiding Talismans, and it was already extremely rare. With so much destroyed, the price was bound to skyrocket."

"At that time, the news hadn't spread yet, so I wanted to take the opportunity to make a killing. I invested heavily in the Tianxuan Realm and hoarded a large batch of Spirit Mist Grass…"

This operation sounded familiar. Li Fan looked at He Zhenghao, puzzled: "Isn't that a good thing? Then why do you seem so dispirited?"

"Ah, it was a good thing, but I was too happy too soon," He Zhenghao said, sighing without taking his eyes off the mirror.

"At first, the price of Spirit Mist Grass did rise a bit, from twenty points per plant to twenty-five points per plant. But who would have thought that before I could sell the grass in my hands, the price suddenly plummeted."

"It dropped all the way from twenty-five points to thirteen points, nearly halved!" He Zhenghao said with great pain.

"Fortunately, the price has rebounded recently, back to around fifteen points."

…

Listening to He Zhenghao's words, Li Fan couldn't help but say: "Then why don't you take the opportunity to sell all the Spirit Mist Grass in your hands? At least you can recover some of your capital."

He Zhenghao quickly shook his head: "That won't do. I've invested nearly a hundred years of savings into this. At the very least, I need to wait until it rises back before I sell…"

He was mid-sentence when he suddenly exclaimed: "Why is it dropping again? Thirteen? Twelve? Ten? Eight?…"

"Still dropping?!"

In the blink of an eye, the price of Spirit Mist Grass collapsed like an avalanche, from fifteen points per plant down to six points per plant, before stabilizing with difficulty.

"It should… rise back, right?"

After a long silence, looking at the dejected and bewildered He Zhenghao, Li Fan could only offer such consolation.