200: Ascension plan, the final tenderness

The wind at the peak of the Main Mountain stopped.

Lin Fan's figure vanished from his spot, and in the next instant, he was back in the Alchemy Room, filled with the fragrant scent of herbs.

The small mountain of treasures he had previously taken out still lay there quietly, shimmering with colorful light, illuminating the simple Alchemy Room as if it were a divine Realm or immortal palace.

Fatty Zhang was sprawled beside the treasure mountain, extending his plump hand, wanting to touch it but not daring to, his saliva almost dripping to the ground.

When he saw Lin Fan return, he straightened up with a jolt, his face instantly covered in a fawning smile.

“Gou Ge…”

Lin Fan ignored his antics.

His gaze swept over the treasure mountain, and with a casual wave.

An ancient Jade Slip, entirely black yet seemingly containing the flow of countless stars, flew into his hand.

“Fatty Zhang.”

Lin Fan's voice was calm.

“Here! I'm here!”

Fatty Zhang quickly responded, his body stiff and straight.

Lin Fan tossed the Jade Slip in his hand over.

“This item is called the 'Myriad Phenomena Business Scripture'.”

Fatty Zhang clumsily caught the Jade Slip. It felt warm and smooth to the touch, yet incredibly heavy, as if he were holding the weight of a world.

“It will teach you how to use one Spirit Stone to leverage a mountain of gold. It will also teach you how to use a single sentence to win over a person's heart.”

“Those 'little trinkets' I gave you are your capital, but this is your foundation.”

Fatty Zhang cautiously extended his Divine Thought into the Jade Slip.

Boom—

His mind was instantly overwhelmed by an endless torrent of information.

“Capital Operation,” “Monopolistic Management,” “Information Arbitrage,” “Brand Value Creation”... countless concepts he had never heard of, yet which made every one of his fat cells tremble with excitement, surged madly into his Sea of Consciousness.

His plump body began to tremble violently, uncontrollably.

It wasn't fear, but an extreme exhilaration and tremor, like a Mortal catching a glimpse of divine authority.

“Gou Ge... I...”

Fatty Zhang's voice changed pitch; he felt as if his life, at this moment, had been completely illuminated.

“Go.”

Lin Fan waved his hand.

“I want you to become the underground king of this world after I leave.”

“Yes! I guarantee the completion of the mission!”

Fatty Zhang kowtowed heavily to Lin Fan, then scrambled out, his back filled with an unprecedented sense of mission and drive.

Inside the Alchemy Room, silence fell once more.

Lin Fan's gaze turned to Zhao Linger.

From the treasure mountain, he took out another Jade Slip.

This Jade Slip was entirely emerald green, exuding a rich aura of life, with countless illusory Medicinal Pill images floating and appearing on its surface.

“Linger.”

“This is the 'Immortal Elucidation of Alchemy Dao'.”

Lin Fan handed the Jade Slip to her.

“Inside, there isn't a single Pill Formula. What there is, is merely the essence of the Alchemy Dao.”

“If you comprehend it thoroughly, all things can be medicine, and heaven and earth can be your furnace.”

Zhao Linger reached out with a slightly trembling hand and took the Jade Slip.

The moment her fingertips touched the Jade Slip, an abstruse and ineffable truth of the Alchemy Dao surged through her Divine Soul, directly to her Spiritual Consciousness.

Her Bottleneck as an Alchemy Grandmaster crumbled at this instant.

A brand new, supreme path leading to a higher Alchemy Dao Realm slowly unfolded before her.

She was mesmerized.

Her entire being was immersed in that vast and boundless world of Alchemy Dao, her former fragility and worry replaced by a scholarly focus and confidence that seemed to encompass all knowledge.

“The rear, I'll leave to you.”

Lin Fan said softly.

Zhao Linger didn't reply, only nodded heavily, already eager to begin her comprehension.

Finally, Lin Fan looked at Li Hanyue.

He didn't take out another Jade Slip.

He merely extended his hand and pointed to the center of the treasure mountain, where a fist-sized, hazy gray light sphere was slowly pulsating.

The space around the light sphere was distorting, as if it couldn't bear its existence.

“Chaos Sword Embryo.”

“It has no rank, because its upper limit is determined by you.”

“Nourish it with your Sword Intent, water it with your Dao.”

“One day, it will become a sword that can cut through everything.”

Li Hanyue quietly gazed at the Chaos light sphere.

She didn't immediately take it.

She merely reached out and gripped the hilt of the sword at her waist.

“Buzz—”

The longsword in her hand let out a low, mournful cry of submission, as if it had met its sovereign.

Li Hanyue's eyes lit up.

It was the light of a worthy opponent, the joy of a hunter finding prey.

She released the sword hilt, walked step by step to the treasure mountain, extended her fair jade hand, and grasped the Chaos Sword Embryo.

The light sphere offered no resistance, docilely merging into her palm.

Li Hanyue could feel a sharp Qi, like that of creation itself, resonating with her Sword Heart.

Her Dao, at this moment, found its ultimate direction.

“Good.”

She only said one word.

Yet, it was more resolute than any promise.

After distributing all the core resources, Lin Fan waved his hand, putting all the remaining Heaven And Earth Treasure into a Storage Ring and giving it to Zhao Linger.

“These are your startup funds for development.”

With all this done, the treasure light in the Alchemy Room dissipated, and it returned to tranquility.

Only, the air was now tinged with a heavy scent of farewell.

Zhao Linger forcibly pulled herself out of her comprehension of the Immortal Elucidation of Alchemy Dao. She looked at Lin Fan, her eyes reddening again.

“Are you... really going to leave?”

Li Hanyue also looked at him. Although she didn't speak, a hint of reluctance was hidden deep within her cold eyes.

“The chessboard is too small. Here, we will always be pawns.”

Lin Fan's voice was soft, yet firm.

“I'll go up and pave the way for you.”

“Once I'm settled, I'll bring you up.”

He looked at the two peerlessly beautiful women, a gentle smile appearing on his face.

“Believe me, this day won't be too far off.”

This was a promise.

The most solemn promise, enough to quell all feelings of parting sorrow.

Zhao Linger bit her lip and nodded vigorously, holding back her tears.

Li Hanyue, on the other hand, averted her gaze to the window, her hand gripping her sword hilt even tighter.

“I'm leaving.”

Lin Fan finished speaking, turned, and stepped out of the Alchemy Room.

The moment he stepped out of the Alchemy Room, all Cultivators in the entire Qingyun Sect who had reached the Nascent Soul Stage felt something and abruptly looked up.

The Qingyun Sect Leader and the Soul Transformation Late Stage Grand Elder appeared before Lin Fan in a flash.

Their faces showed extreme reverence, and also a hint of unconcealed panic.

“Old Ancestor...”

The Grand Elder bowed, his voice dry.

“Are you... are you really going to Ascend now?”

“Sect records state that Ascension requires the use of the 'Ascension Platform' in the Forbidden Ground behind the mountain, to draw the light of the Celestial Realm for guidance, which is the safest strategy.”

The Sect Head also hastily chimed in.

“Yes, Old Ancestor, that Ascension Platform was left by the Founding Ancestral Master and has never failed in ten thousand years. If you forcefully break through the boundary, it would be... too perilous!”

Their words were filled with genuine concern.

In their limited understanding, privately tearing open the firmament would only attract spatial storms and the backlash of Realm Laws, a near-certain death.

Lin Fan stopped and quietly listened to them finish.

He didn't explain.

He knew that the “Ascension Platform” itself was part of the chessboard, a controllable exit set by the “player”.

Leaving from there would never allow one to escape the chessboard.

He merely smiled.

“Who said I was going to break through the boundary?”

The Sect Head and Grand Elder were stunned.

Not breaking the boundary? Then what are you... Before they could figure it out.

Lin Fan's body had slowly risen into the air.

He didn't release any pressure, yet an invisible Dao charm enveloped the entire Qingyun Sect.

All the Disciples and Elders emerged from their Immortal Caves, looking up at the sky in astonishment.

They saw.

Lin Fan's figure hovering directly above the Qingyun Sect, his white robes fluttering, like a deity.

“Watch closely.”

Lin Fan's voice clearly reached everyone's ears.

“True Ascension is like this.”

As his words fell.

He extended his right hand.

Then, towards that clear blue, cloudless sky.

He gently tore it.

There was no earth-shattering roar.

No world-destroying fluctuations.

It was as if he had torn open a painting.

Rip—

Under everyone's terrified gaze.

The sky above the Qingyun Sect was forcibly torn open with an enormous gash.

The edge of the gash was not the Void Realm, nor darkness.

Instead, it was a bizarre, higher-dimensional storm filled with countless fragments of Law and Chaos energy.

The Laws of the entire world wailed and retreated before that rift.

The Sect Head and Grand Elder were completely dumbfounded.

They looked at the rift, feeling that their worldview, their cultivation philosophy, and even their Dao Heart, had been shattered by this tear.

Is this... the Old Ancestor's Realm?

Viewing heaven and earth as nothing, and rules as dust.

Lin Fan turned around, his gaze piercing through mountains and rivers, landing on the two figures at the Alchemy Room entrance who were also looking up at him.

He smiled faintly at them.

Then, without any hesitation, he stepped into that terrifying rift, which was capable of annihilating any Soul Transformation Cultivator.