Chapter 250: True Fear

He Xinxin clearly recognized its value. Gently, she said, "Thank you, Uncle," and smilingly accepted the formation flag.

Watching the two, He Zhenghao, who was immensely worried, couldn't help but speak up at this moment: "Heh heh, although the gift Fellow Daoist gave is valuable, I'm afraid it won't be of much use to my daughter. When it comes to predicting crises and preserving one's life, my daughter is far stronger than I, her old father."

Li Fan's eyes flickered upon hearing this. "Oh? What do you mean by that?"

A hint of pride appeared on He Zhenghao's face: "To be honest, Fellow Daoist, my daughter has shown astonishing talent in divination and calculation since childhood. In recent years, she has also been following Ruoshui... following her mother, learning related cultivation methods. She has already achieved minor success. Not only can she shield heavenly secrets, preventing others from divining and harming her, but she can also subtly predict future events, thus turning misfortune into good fortune."

Li Fan re-examined He Xinxin, who appeared very frail and quiet, and fell into thought. "'Shielding heavenly secrets'? Is it because of her that the monitoring function of the Formless Killing Intent failed? It seems He Zhenghao wasn't boasting; this method is truly extraordinary. I wonder what kind of cultivation method she practices."

However, the cultivation methods practiced by cultivators in this world are extremely private matters, and Li Fan would not ask rashly. Instead, he cooperated with He Zhenghao's words, expressing surprise and disbelief: "I've only heard that the will of heaven is always difficult to question, but I never imagined Xinxin could actually predict heavenly secrets? Is it truly that miraculous?"

"How could that be false? The accuracy rate is quite high..."

He Zhenghao paused, then said, "However, there are times when she predicts incorrectly." He looked back at He Xinxin, smiling as he said, "When this girl was cultivating earlier, she surprisingly had a premonition that I would perish soon. Consequently, she became extremely anxious and traveled thousands of miles to this Congyun Sea, wanting to warn me to be more careful. She also came to visit me. Heh heh, I spend all day in this Great Array of Mountains and Stars, concentrating on cultivation. How could there be any risk of perishing?" He Zhenghao smiled, dismissively.

He Xinxin, standing by, frowned and murmured, "It's strange to say, but my previous premonition couldn't have been wrong. But after I arrived, I divined for you again, Father. The fatal crisis had inexplicably disappeared." Her eyes were filled with confusion and regret: "I don't know why this happened. If Mother hadn't stopped me, and I had been able to come earlier, perhaps I could have figured out where the changes in heavenly secrets originated."

He Zhenghao, however, patted his daughter's head and comforted her: "Heavenly secrets are unpredictable; how can cultivators know everything? You must have made a mistake, Xinxin."

At this moment, Li Fan spoke up in praise: "Even if it occasionally makes mistakes, this method is still exceptionally remarkable. Predicting the future, having foresight — how many advantageous opportunities would that seize? Xinxin, I wonder if you could divine for me, to see what my future holds?" Li Fan asked with a smile.

Li Fan did this precisely because he wanted to see how profound the divination and calculation techniques of this world truly were. Could they determine that he came from a small world? Could they determine that he was actually a transmigrator? And could it even discern the true nature of reality?

If even this Foundation Establishment realm girl could sense some clues, then Li Fan would have to be even more careful in his future actions. Otherwise, if he fell into the eyes of powerful cultivators, his origins could very likely be directly divined. He might think he was hidden quickly, but he could be captured without even knowing what happened. That would be truly terrible.

He Zhenghao also intended to let his daughter showcase her skills before Li Fan, so he did not stop her. Instead, he looked at He Xinxin with encouraging eyes.

"Since that's the case, Xinxin will make a fool of herself." He Xinxin said softly, and then a gold and purple compass materialized out of thin air. One end of the compass needle pointed at Li Fan, and the other at He Xinxin.

She chanted incantations, and then the needle began to spin rapidly. A miniature figure of Li Fan appeared above the compass. Characters floated out from the compass, continuously revolving around the miniature image. The needle spun faster and faster, and the characters, while swirling, became distinctly defined. Some characters gradually dimmed and vanished, while others grew increasingly bright, emitting a purple-gold radiance. Unlike mere words, each character seemed to be a composite of many meanings. He Xinxin's divination of Li Fan's future seemed to be hidden within the arrangement and combination of these characters. Li Fan roughly estimated that there were at least tens of thousands of these purple-gold characters.

He Xinxin seemed to be struggling a bit, beads of sweat constantly dripping from her forehead. After a while, the purple-gold characters scattered with a rumble and returned to the compass. Li Fan's illusory figure became somewhat more solid. He Xinxin's breathing was a little ragged. After calming herself slightly, she continued to stare at Li Fan's illusory figure to perform the final calculation.

"Hmm?"

"Uncle, have you been to Yuandao Province?"

After waiting for a long time, she suddenly asked a puzzling question. Li Fan was slightly startled. Before he could answer, He Zhenghao quickly interjected, "Heh heh, Fellow Daoist Li Fan was previously a rogue cultivator from Yuandao Province. He only came to this Congyun Sea to seek opportunities for breakthrough."

"What's wrong, Xinxin? Is there a problem?" He Zhenghao noticed his daughter's expression was a little off and quickly asked.

The identity of a rogue cultivator from Yuandao Province was an origin Li Fan had casually fabricated when he first met He Zhenghao in this lifetime. But... He knew his own situation best. Li Fan, however, knew very well that in this lifetime, he had never once been to Yuandao Province. Why would this young girl ask about Yuandao Province? Li Fan's eyes flickered as he stared at He Xinxin, awaiting her explanation.

He Xinxin opened her mouth, then hesitated. "Heh heh, Xinxin, just say whatever you want." Li Fan smiled faintly.

He Xinxin's face showed a hint of apology: "Please forgive me, Uncle. It's not that I'm unwilling to speak. It's just that I truly don't know how to interpret this Daoist seal-engraved text..."

Li Fan raised his eyebrows: "What do you mean?"

He Xinxin hesitated for a moment, then used her hand as a brush to draw a picture in the air. The figure in the drawing was, naturally, Li Fan. On his back, something seemed to exist. As the image continuously changed, that invisible presence fiercely bit Li Fan. Li Fan seemed completely unaware, walking away with an unchanged expression. The thing on his back then disappeared. The drawing vanished.

He Xinxin frowned and said, "According to the interpretation of the Daoist text, it seems something merely attacked Uncle in Yuandao Province. Uncle was neither injured nor in mortal danger. Yet, inexplicably, the entire Daoist seal-engraved text shows an image of extreme peril. It contradicts itself. That's why I don't know how to interpret it."

He Zhenghao listened and let out a chuckle: "Daughter, could it be that you've calculated wrongly again? The image of extreme peril – you calculated extreme peril for me before, which meant a risk of perishing. Isn't Fellow Daoist Li Fan perfectly fine right now..."

Li Fan's heart sank. "Yuandao Province..."

The blue crystal in his mind flickered. All his experiences in Yuandao Province instantly began to replay. Once, no anomaly was found. Twice, still none. Under the secret technique of Dao Transformation God One, Li Fan repeatedly reviewed his past experiences again and again. Finally, he noticed the anomaly. A chill rose from his back, making him feel as if he had plunged into winter. Even when he narrowly escaped death from the Celestial Physician's grasp, he had never been so afraid. This was the true fear Li Fan had felt since his transmigration.

In his twelfth life, in anchor year 29, he founded the Dufa Bright Moon Palace. Afterwards, he entered secluded cultivation, diligently studying Zhang Zhiliang's Infinite Law legacy. Chu Xingyang's bride snatching, and then the Dufa Bright Moon Palace's grand undertaking proceeded methodically. These events should have occurred in the same year. The conclusion obtained by reliving past events through the blue crystal was also the same. But in reality... The events of Chu Xingyang's bride snatching and the initial success of the Dufa Bright Moon Palace's grand undertaking... actually happened in anchor year 39. The ten years in between. Where did they go?