My Longevity Simulation Chapter 1165: The Madman Sharpens His Blade at Night
Previously on My Longevity Simulation...
Upon close examination, Li Ping realized that these glowing orbs provided no significant value to him.
With a grave look on his face, he handed the light orbs back to the chosen fishermen. They had endured various stages of rigorous selection.
The initial effort brought no major rewards.
Li Ping remained completely unconcerned about this outcome.
This angling event had been arranged in a rush, giving the folks of Great Qi scant time to prepare. The victors were seasoned experts who had devoted years to the craft of fishing. Their success stemmed mainly from long-honed skills rather than any special genius or flair.
"Having these folks as shining examples to spark massive passion among the masses, the upcoming second and third fishing contests ought to deliver some delightful shocks for me."
Li Ping observed the triumphant anglers in front of him as they kept flipping the light orbs in their palms and scrutinizing them intently. He nodded faintly, and then his form fragmented and disappeared.
In truth, he wasn't battling on familiar turf in the Xuanhuang Realm. Lacking the boundless backing of the Holy Dynasty's fortune, Li Ping worried he might not even stand against a typical Dao Integration expert.
Returning swiftly was the wisest choice.
If the supreme treasure known as the Fishing Pond weren't immovable, he would never have ventured here himself and risked such danger."We still lack enough hands."
"Reliable followers with real strength are way too scarce."
Li Ping let out a quiet sigh, then mulled over possible fixes in secret.
...
Tianquan Prefecture.
Sun family hidden room.
Over a month had gone by since Sun Luyuan's previous exit.
Following his usual routine, Sun Luyuan ought to have come back by now to nourish the Boundless Mirror with his blood.
But for reasons unknown, Sun Luyuan hadn't shown up this time around.
On that particular day, Li Fan's clone, deeply absorbed in analyzing the leftover arrays of the Boundless Mirror, abruptly detected signs of the hidden room's barrier array being tampered with.
When he checked, he couldn't suppress a chuckle of delight.
It appeared that Wu Ninglu had genuinely stumbled upon the access to the subterranean hidden chamber.
She was presently trying to break inside.
Even though she employed a covert method to mask and transform her energy signature, she couldn't fool Li Fan's sharp perception.
The clone slipped silently from the Boundless Mirror and tapped lightly with a single finger.
In a flash, the hidden chamber's barrier array transformed.
Hit by the abruptly bolstered array, Wu Ninglu's face paled. She realized her cover was blown.
Without wasting a second, she morphed into a beam of dark radiance and escaped.
Li Fan watched closely. After looping around once, Wu Ninglu shed her camouflage in a remote area.
She then boldly strolled right back to her quarters.
She clung to a sliver of hope and didn't bolt from the Sun family right away.
"Heh, is she really that dim, or does she count on her Sun family blood ties to behave so boldly?"
"Anyway, it doesn't concern me at all. When Sun Luyuan gets back this round, I'll finally seize command of the Boundless Mirror and face off against that Mirror Holder [Fu]."
Li Fan's foresight proved spot on.
Just seven days afterward, Sun Luyuan entered the underground hidden chamber, his demeanor heavy and troubled.
He too spotted the marks of an intruder breaching the barrier array, and his features twisted.
His face flickered with dark indecision, yet ultimately Sun Luyuan stayed silent on the matter.
Rather, he first set a lump of vital blood in front of the dark mirror.
From the mirror spirit Sun Luyao's thoughts, Li Fan caught a fierce, unstoppable hunger.
He snorted coldly and harshly quashed that urge.
The Boundless Mirror was now under his refinement. Any bloodline tribute from the Sun family would merely undermine his grip on the Boundless Mirror.
How could he allow them to succeed?
That said, to dodge any slip-ups, he directed Sun Luyao to stage the act.
After "consuming" the vital blood, Sun Luyao gradually materialized.
"Brother, I feel way better now." He uttered the words reluctantly.
Fooling his own older sibling stirred deep remorse in Sun Luyao's core. Yet as an artifact spirit, he lacked any say in his actions. He couldn't even alert Sun Luyuan.
He was forced to witness powerlessly as his brother plunged further into the snare laid by this horrifying being.
"That ancient fiend's requests grow ever more outrageous. We barely handed over key intel, and he's already whining for more." Sun Luyuan gazed at Sun Luyao's dim silhouette, a flicker of warmth in his eyes, before he vented with fury.
"This latest ask is downright ridiculous. He insists we snoop on intel about the Tianxuan Mirror's human clone? All on some wild hunch, he wants us risking our blood to keep at it..."
"You old scoundrel!"
Sun Luyuan pounded his fist fiercely into the floor.
To the outside world, he was the esteemed head of the Sun clan, wielding great power in the Guardian Hall.
But facing the real overlords of the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance, he was little better than a mutt!
For the Sun family's very existence, he had to bow low and choke down his pride.
"Why do the Dharma-Transmitters and Mirror Holders always loom so far above us? No matter our efforts, we're stuck as their hounds!"
"Is there truly no chance to flip the script?!"
A choked bitterness swelled in his chest without release. Fury boiled in Sun Luyuan, and a forbidden notion he'd never entertained before bubbled up unbidden in his thoughts.
But he snapped back to reality swiftly.
His own daring idea shocked even him. He swiftly shoved it into the depths of his mind and dared not show the slightest sign to his brother, who was now an artifact spirit and once his nearest kin.
For he knew full well that, given the Immortal Alliance's overlords' ruthless ways, if they caught wind of his musings, by the following day no trace of the Sun family would linger anywhere in the Immortal Alliance. They would be utterly erased from existence!
However, he had misjudged the pull of brotherly ties.
"Brother, during my last peek at the Tianxuan Mirror, I actually uncovered some intriguing details." Sun Luyao remarked abruptly.
"Oh?" Sun Luyuan paused in surprise and turned to his brother, whose face bore a deeply earnest look.
"The Tianxuan Mirror, piecing together assorted hints, has picked up on signs of a secretive power in the Xuanhuang Realm that's still concealed but might rise up later." Sun Luyao whispered.
"Rise up?" Sun Luyuan shook his head dismissively. He couldn't imagine any force in the immense Xuanhuang Realm toppling the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance's dominion.
But his brother Sun Luyao's following statement sent his heart racing: "Based on the Tianxuan Mirror's forecast, this group stands a strong chance of inflicting massive harm on the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance."
"Is that for real?"
Sun Luyuan's mood lifted sharply. His immediate impulse was to rush this bombshell info to Mirror Holder Fu for rewards.
Yet right after he pored over every bit of data his brother transmitted and felt a hidden jolt of alarm, Sun Luyao's subdued tone echoed in his ears.
"Brother, I'm in real agony here."
"If things keep going like this, it won't be long before I can't endure and fade away entirely, body and soul."
"Serving as a mutt your whole life means you're still just a mutt."
"Even lowly commoners have the guts to declare, 'The emperor's seat spins around—this year, it's our turn!'…"
His brother's gentle whispers acted like enchanting devilish tunes, swirling around Sun Luyuan's ears.
The idea he'd earlier forced down, swayed by these utterances, now broke free and surged back to the forefront.
"The Holy Dynasty Great Qi..."
Sun Luyuan squinted his eyes and scrutinized the details in his grasp once more.