Chapter 671: Xuan Family Appoints Guest Minister

"It was merely a trick," Li Fan explained to Shuofeng, without any arrogance on his face despite winning the match. "Brother Shuo, your Foundation-building artifact sword isn't skilled at initial attacks; its defense and counter-attack are truly exceptional. However, this 'Thread-Extraction' technique mimics the changes of life, aging, illness, and death; it's less about attacking and more about applying a status effect. That's why it didn't trigger your sword's counter-attack."

Back when he was in the Root of Heaven and Earth, where the Five Elements Grotto-Heaven was being nurtured, Li Fan had experienced his own body being continuously extracted, as if woven from fine threads.

He had a faint realization at that time.

However, it was still a far cry from directly manifesting such a divine ability in the real world. Not until this time, after gaining control of the fate of the Beast Seed Realm and during his breakthrough to the mid-Nascent Soul stage, did Li Fan nearly become an existence akin to the Heavenly Dao of a minor world.

The life and death of all things in the world were now merely a thought away.

Li Fan gained a new and unique understanding of the composition and disintegration of things.

Thus, this "Thread-Extraction" divine ability came into being.

Just as he told Shuofeng, strictly speaking, Thread-Extraction is not an offensive divine ability. Instead, it attaches a trend of accelerated disintegration to the target, which constitutes a change within the target itself.

Just as mortals experience birth, aging, sickness, and death, all things in the world eventually come to an end and dissipate into the cosmos. Thread-Extraction simply accelerates this process.

In the battle against Shuofeng, Thread-Extraction's display was the result of Li Fan's full power. While its might was indeed formidable, it actually had a fatal weakness: the process of casting Thread-Extraction required continuous channeling. Once interrupted or interfered with by external factors, its effectiveness would be greatly reduced.

It was only against an anomaly like Shuofeng, who specialized in defense and counter-attacks, that it proved exceptionally effective.

Therefore, the optimal use of Thread-Extraction was not the swift, explosive display seen in his fight with Shuofeng. Instead, it was to subtly and silently extract the target's "threads" from the shadows, slowly, without their awareness.

By extending the timeframe, the target would not show obvious wounds like Shuofeng did.

Instead, they would experience a mysterious weakening of their body and general discomfort. Yet, they would be unable to find the cause, eventually watching their vitality and spirit continuously decay, leading to a painful death.

This is precisely what is meant by "life fading like threads being drawn."

It was truly an unparalleled method for harming someone covertly, even surpassing the Formless Killing Intent in some aspects. Li Fan always had a habit of keeping a trick up his sleeve, which was why, during his exchange with Shuofeng this time, he concealed the true lethal form of Thread-Extraction.

"Brother Li, you once praised me as a genius, but I see your comprehension surpasses mine by far. This Thread-Extraction technique is simply marvelous!" Defeated by Li Fan, Shuofeng not only showed no anger but his demeanor subtly grew more enthusiastic.

The fleeting cold killing intent that had appeared earlier seemed as if it had never existed.

"Brother Shuo, you flatter me. I merely stumbled upon it during my travels," Li Fan replied with a slight smile.

"No need to be modest, Brother Li! There are countless self-proclaimed prodigies in the Myriad Immortal Alliance, but very few can independently comprehend a divine ability like yours!" Shuofeng patted himself, and a flash of white light instantly changed his clothes.

Leading the way, Shuofeng guided Li Fan to a small building at the mountain peak and gestured for him to take a seat.

The female cultivator in the yellow skirt left for a moment, then returned to brew a bowl of spirit tea for each of them.

The tea's aroma filled the air, invigorating their spirits.

Shuofeng said, "Brother Li, I haven't yet figured out a way to counter this divine ability of yours. When I get an inspiration in the future, I must seek your guidance again!"

Li Fan nodded slightly, "Then I'll be waiting."

Shuofeng laughed heartily, "Excellent! Brother Li, your temperament truly suits me! You're far better than those sycophantic yes-men who have no real ability but always try to curry favor!"

Li Fan didn't respond directly but changed the subject: "Speaking of currying favor, I actually have another matter I need to trouble Brother Shuo with."

"Oh? What is it? Feel free to speak."

Li Fan then expressed his desire to raise his merit rank.

"Having insufficient authority is truly annoying. Being restricted everywhere is quite inconvenient!" Li Fan sighed.

Shuofeng listened and dismissed it casually, "Hmph, it's just a threshold deliberately set by the Immortal Alliance to solidify their own rule. For the true power holders, there's no need to climb step by step to raise their authority levels..."

"However, since Brother Li has this need, it's easily arranged. Zhijin..."

The female cultivator in the yellow skirt immediately responded.

"Are there any vacant guest elder positions recently?" Shuofeng asked.

"There are still three openings this year. However..." Zhijin glanced at Li Fan, hesitating to speak further.

"His cultivation doesn't meet the requirements, does it?" Shuofeng chuckled dismissively. "It's fine. We'll handle this as a special case. Just say I designated him. Go make the arrangements."

Zhijin nodded slightly, her form blurring as she instantly vanished from the scene.

It was then that Shuofeng explained, "Serving as a guest elder in my family grants a base authority level of Thirty. There will also be a fixed allocation of merit points annually."

Upon hearing this, Li Fan didn't show delight. Instead, he frowned and said, "Thank you, Brother Shuo. However, I'm accustomed to being unconstrained, so if..."

Shuofeng waved his hand, "It's fine. You don't need to do anything; it's merely an honorary position. We are kindred spirits, and neither of us is the type to be willingly constrained, are we?"

"However..."

Shuofeng looked at Li Fan, a glint of combativeness in his eyes. "If I ever feel like a match, you mustn't deliberately refuse!"

Li Fan, relieved, immediately cupped his hands and said, "Then I thank Brother Shuo in advance!"

Shuofeng was indeed worthy of being a top-tier "immortal second-generation" in the Immortal Alliance. His efficiency was remarkably high.

Before they had even finished their spirit tea on the table, Zhijin had already returned.

She handed Li Fan a snowflake-shaped ice crystal jade token, indicating that Li Fan's appointment as a guest elder had been officially registered.

"Brother Li, you can check the effect," Shuofeng said, lightly tapping the table with his index finger. A small Sky Profound Mirror appeared before Li Fan.

When Li Fan checked his information in the Sky Profound Mirror, he indeed found that he had acquired the title of "Xuan Family Guest Elder."

His authority level had, as Shuofeng stated, directly risen to thirty.

However, it also clarified that this authority level was tied to the "guest elder" position. Should he lose the "guest elder" title, the authority level would also disappear.

Meanwhile, his personal merit points would accumulate independently, starting from zero.

The two did not affect each other.

This was within Li Fan's expectations, but he was more interested in the four characters: "Xuan Family Guest Elder."

"The Xuan Family?" Li Fan looked at Shuofeng with some confusion.

Shuofeng didn't try to hide it and said openly, "My mother's surname is Xuan. As for my own name..."

He shrugged, looking as if he wasn't quite sure himself.

Li Fan nodded and did not press the matter.