Chapter 1016: The Reproductive Fate

Lu Chengxue, as expected of a core disciple of the Lu family, had exceptionally good connections. In the half-day Li Fan secretly observed him, thirty-seven people met with Lu Chengxue. Every one of them was courteous and greeted him with a smile. Li Fan also noticed that the smiles on their faces were not feigned; they were genuinely happy.

After being busy for half a day, Lu Chengxue leisurely returned to his cave abode. Li Fan stealthily followed him inside. The protective array of the cave abode was naturally like nothing in front of the current Li Fan. He moved silently, undetected by anyone in the abode.

"My husband is back!" As soon as Lu Chengxue returned, eleven female cultivators, all beautiful and of varying builds, immediately came out to greet him. Three of them were even pregnant. Faced with such a welcome from so many beautiful women, Lu Chengxue merely nodded slightly, his expression cold.

He walked directly to the deepest and largest room in the abode. The eleven female cultivators followed, giggling. The room's large door closed with a bang, and soon after, faint, vigorous sounds of intimacy could be heard from within. Li Fan observed the scene in the room, his brows slightly furrowed. But it wasn't out of envy for Lu Chengxue's treatment; instead, throughout the entire process, Lu Chengxue remained expressionless. It didn't seem like he was enjoying himself; it was more like he was completing a task. From his conversation with the eleven female cultivators, Li Fan learned the full story.

It turned out that having as many descendants as possible was the most crucial method for the Lu family to maintain its prosperity. One must understand that being a great philanthropist in the Xuanyang Realm was not an easy feat. Sometimes, helping others could even cost them their lives. The reason the Lu family could long maintain its benevolent image was simply because there were too many Lu family members. There were so many that the Lu family would not hesitate to sacrifice the lives of their disciples for the growth of the family's reputation.

In addition to the tasks assigned by the family, which required giving birth to a certain number of descendants each year, every Lu family member was also very aware of their fate. Knowing they might have to sacrifice themselves any day, living for pleasure became a consistent style of behavior for the Lu family. Almost all Lu family members had more than ten spouses. Any free time they had was primarily used for procreation.

Perhaps some might remain constantly indulged and tireless in this. However, it was clear that not everyone could maintain enthusiasm for their daily procreative tasks. Li Fan sensed weariness and fatigue from Lu Chengxue at that moment.

"Though he's called a core disciple of the family, he can't escape the fate of a breeding hog. At best, he just gets more pleasing spouses to choose from." Li Fan thought, "If that's the case, then helping you find release isn't a bad thing." Li Fan, who was peeking from outside the room, remained expressionless.

He waited until the "battle" was over, and Lu Chengxue and all eleven beauties were drowsily resting with closed eyes. Only then did Li Fan flash into the room. Lu Chengxue was at the Transformation God cultivation level, while the other women were at most at the Nascent Soul realm. Li Fan pressed down on Lu Chengxue's head, effortlessly pulling the unsuspecting man into his own portable cave realm. He didn't even alarm the other female cultivators before swiftly withdrawing like a ghost. When they awoke, even if they didn't see Lu Chengxue, they would only assume he had left early due to fatigue. And by the time they eventually realized Lu Chengxue was missing, it would already be several days later.

In the secret chamber of the Spirit Wood Realm, Li Fan didn't wake Lu Chengxue, instead giving him a quick end. He let him die peacefully in his sleep. The phenomena accompanying the cultivator's demise were also concealed by Li Fan using an array formation. No one in the Spirit Wood Realm could detect it. Soon, a high-grade Dao Transformation Stone, emitting a crystal-clear white light, appeared before Li Fan.

Currently, within the Myriad Immortal Alliance, there was one fragment of the Stone Mother, three supreme-grade Dao Transformation Stones, and sixteen high-grade ones. Li Fan didn't expect any of the three targets he had located this time to possess a supreme-grade stone or a Stone Mother fragment. A high-grade Dao Transformation Stone was already sufficient for him. By continuously merging and strengthening it in each life, he would certainly reach the realm of the Dao Transformation Stone Mother. This high-grade Dao Transformation Stone still contained Lu Chengxue's memories from before his death. Instead of directly clearing them, Li Fan browsed through the scenes within.

"He actually obtained this Dao Transformation Stone when he was just a child. And it was effortlessly acquired from his father's inheritance," Li Fan mused. Lu Chengxue's father had sacrificed his life to save someone, and the person saved, grateful for the kindness, sent this Dao Transformation Stone as a token of thanks. At that time, Lu Chengxue was still young. The person was concerned the Dao Transformation Stone might be seized by the Lu family, so they secretly delivered it to him. Thus, no one in the Lu family knew that Lu Chengxue possessed the Dao Transformation Stone. With the Dao Transformation Stone, Lu Chengxue consequently displayed astonishing "talent." He was gradually groomed as a core disciple, until he unfortunately met his end today at Li Fan's hands.

Overall, Lu Chengxue's life was unremarkable. Apart from having a total of sixteen descendants, there was nothing else particularly noteworthy. After carefully watching all the scenes, Li Fan shook his head slightly. "A mundane and tragic life. It wasn't even as exciting as my days in Great Xuan. What a waste of such a treasure." With Li Fan's current perspective, he naturally looked down on such a life. However, he didn't delete Lu Chengxue's memories; he merely stored them away.

Then, he began the process of merging it with his own Dao Transformation Stone. Rather than a complete fusion, it was more akin to absorption and enhancement, as the primary one was still the Dao Transformation Stone that had already merged with his spiritual consciousness in Li Fan's sea of consciousness. As the Dao Transformation Stone, which contained Lu Chengxue's entire life, transformed into a shimmering river of light, it continuously surged into Li Fan's sea of consciousness. A transformation also occurred on the Dao Transformation Stone within his sea of consciousness.

It was as if, in an instant, the sky seemed vaster, the earth more distant, and everything in the world became brighter. Every detail of his past experiences, both noticed and overlooked, no matter how small, was now replayed in Li Fan's mind. This included information, cultivation techniques, and other data he had merely glanced at by chance, all of which were meticulously reorganized from his long-sealed memories.

"High-grade and medium-grade, a single word difference, yet a world apart. I truly wonder what realm the supreme-grade, or even the Dao Transformation Stone Mother, represents," Li Fan softly sighed, images of worlds constantly forming and perishing flickering in his eyes.

He tried using the Terminal Disintegration Disc to deduce an Immortal-grade array formation. Aided by the Dao Transformation Stone, Li Fan's ability to handle data redundancy significantly improved. He no longer felt overwhelmed by countless threads and didn't know where to start, as he had during previous studies. Now, he no longer felt confused; simply a brief glance would immediately bring a general direction for research to his mind.

Li Fan then tested the Sky-Measuring Ruler. "The number of scenes that can be monitored simultaneously has increased tenfold..." With this quantifiable result, Li Fan was very pleased with his gains.