106: Chapter 65 Please, Senior Sister

"I have something I would like to ask Senior Sister about." Chen Xuan cupped his hands.

Wen Yao stepped aside.

"Come in and talk."

The furnishings inside the Immortal Cave were so simple they didn't look like a woman's residence.

A table, a chair, a meditation cushion; a sword hung on the wall, and an open Dao scripture lay on the desk.

On the windowsill, a pot of ink orchids was in full bloom, their faint fragrance lingering.

"Sit." Wen Yao pointed to the meditation cushion and went to pour two cups of Spiritual Tea.

She pushed one cup in front of Chen Xuan and sat down opposite him with her own.

"What is it?"

Chen Xuan did not beat around the bush.

"I would like to ask Senior Sister to help me investigate something."

"What is it?"

"Who knows the identities of the three presidents of the Qingyuan Chamber of Commerce?"

Wen Yao's hand holding the teacup paused slightly.

She didn't ask Chen Xuan why he wanted to investigate this, but nodded.

"I will help you keep an eye out for it."

"Many thanks, Senior Sister."

Chen Xuan picked up the Spiritual Tea and took a sip.

Wen Yao also lowered her head to drink tea; there was only the faint sound of water in the quiet room.

After a moment, Wen Yao put down her teacup.

"Junior Brother, I have heard about Zhang Fan's matter."

Her tone was flat, as if she were talking about an insignificant matter.

"The case of the interception and killing of a Golden Core Disciple in Qingling Immortal City pointed to an abandoned mine outside the North City."

"That is an industry belonging to the Southern Sky Zhang Clan."

Chen Xuan did not reply.

Wen Yao looked at him, her gaze calm.

"I did not ask how you obtained that evidence."

"I just want to tell you that Zhang Fan's actions in recent years are less and less like his former self."

Chen Xuan frowned slightly.

"Senior Sister, why do you say that?"

Wen Yao pondered for a moment.

"Although Zhang Fan was arrogant before, he still had a sense of proportion in his actions."

"He would not do something like intercepting and killing a fellow Disciple."

"And do you know what he has been doing recently?"

Chen Xuan shook his head.

"He has opened seven Zhang Family Charity Halls in Bihai Immortal City."

"He takes in Loose Cultivators who have awakened after being bewitched by the White Lotus Sect."

"He doesn't charge Spirit Stones, providing food, lodging, and healing Medicinal Pills for free."

"This matter has spread widely in Bihai Immortal City, and even the Fourth Uncle has praised him."

Chen Xuan was stunned.

This is Zhang Fan?

The Zhang Fan who slandered a fellow Disciple in public for Liu Lili?

The Zhang Fan who spent five thousand Spirit Stones to buy his life?

He would actually do good deeds?

When Chen Xuan returned to his Immortal Cave, it was almost dawn.

He lay on the cloud bed, staring at the curtains, a thought revolving in his mind.

Zhang Fan is not right.

A person who runs a charity hall and an employer who buys a killer are not the same person.

Yet he is indeed the same person.

Unless he is being controlled by something.

Chen Xuan rolled over and sat up, taking out the wordless heavenly book.

Golden tadpole characters emerged, forming a line of text.

[Today's Fortune: Mediocre.]

[Today's Heavenly Secret: Tuoluo.]

[Today's Destiny: Sword Cultivator.]

[Mediocre: Zhang Fan, the direct eldest grandson of the Southern Sky Zhang Clan. Three years ago, he accidentally obtained an ancient buddha fragment and worshipped it day and night, after which his temperament changed drastically. Perhaps due to the Maitreya mark in the ancient buddha fragment, good and evil thoughts fight day and night, splitting into two people. The good Zhang Fan opens Zhang Family Charity Halls to build good karma, while the evil Zhang Fan buys killers to frame fellow Disciples.]

[Minor Auspicious: Investigate the source of the ancient buddha fragment, perhaps you can find Maitreya's hiding place in the Southern Region.]

[Minor Auspicious: Listen to a Golden Core Cultivator preach, perhaps you can have an Epiphany in the Dao of the Sword.]

Chen Xuan put down the wordless heavenly book, remaining silent for a long time.

Maitreya.

It's Maitreya again.

It was Maitreya at Wanjian Immortal City.

It was also Maitreya at Bihai Lake.

Now even Zhang Fan might be a believer of Maitreya.

Didn't that True Monarch of Buddhism, the great power of the Central Plains, say he had been driven away?

How are there traces of him everywhere?

Chen Xuan got up and walked to the window.

Outside the window, the morning light was faint, and the mountain scenery of Qingming Peak was looming in the thin mist.

It was beautiful.

But he had no heart to appreciate it.

He remembered the conversation between Grandmaster Cang Jian and Maitreya in the Bihai Lake Secret Realm.

"You entered the Southern Region privately, could it be that you want to provoke the nerves of every Sect?"

"The Southern Region is not the Ten Thousand Demon Mountain Range."

"I certainly don't count as crossing the boundary."

Not crossing the boundary.

So Maitreya didn't leave; he just hid deeper.

He hid in an ancient buddha fragment, waiting for a Cultivator like Zhang Fan to discover it, worship it, and then be slowly eroded.

Killing doesn't necessarily require doing it yourself.

Letting people walk toward their own destruction is the most brilliant method.

Chen Xuan took a deep breath.

He must find out the origin of that ancient buddha fragment.

And this requires Zhang Fan's cooperation.

But how should he make Zhang Fan speak?

Is a person who has already been eroded by Maitreya still a person?

Chen Xuan didn't know.

But he knew that if he let Zhang Fan continue to split like this, one day the evil Zhang Fan would completely devour the good Zhang Fan.

At that time, the direct eldest grandson of a Golden Core Family would become a pawn for Maitreya in the Southern Region.

A chess piece that can be played at any time.

Chen Xuan would not let this happen.

Not for Zhang Fan.

It is for Liu Lili, and also for himself.

He would not forget the moment the statue came alive in the White Lotus Sect Secret Realm.

The look in Maitreya's eyes when he looked at him.

That was not the look of looking at a person.

It was like looking at a piece of walking flesh and blood.

Waiting for him to grow up, mature, and then harvest.

Chen Xuan clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking.

In this life, he will not let anyone treat him as prey.

Not even Maitreya.

He turned and returned to the desk, spreading out a message talisman.

He carved a line of text into it with his Divine Sense.

"Investigate Zhang Fan's whereabouts three years ago, especially paying attention to all the temples, grottoes, and buddha statues he has visited."

The message talisman turned into Spiritual light and disappeared at the window.

Recipient: Qingyuan Chamber of Commerce, Intelligence Division.

Chen Xuan sat down and picked up the replica jade talisman of that message talisman again.

He thought of one thing.

If Zhang Fan was really eroded by the Maitreya mark, then the changes in him could not be without traces.

A person who has split into two people must have flaws in the eyes of others.

Senior Sister Wen Yao could see that he had changed.

What about the elders of the Zhang Clan?

Zhang Fan is the direct eldest grandson of the Southern Sky Zhang Clan, and the Family has poured countless resources into cultivating him.

His every move should be under the watch of the elders in the clan.

But the Zhang Clan had no reaction.

Either they couldn't tell either.

Or.

They saw it, but chose to remain silent.

Chen Xuan's pupils shrank slightly.

The latter possibility is even more terrifying.

If the elders of the Zhang Clan knew that Zhang Fan was eroded by Maitreya but did not stop it, then it is not a matter of one person.

It is a choice of a Family.

The Southern Sky Zhang Clan, one of the three great families of the Liuyang Sword Sect.

What do they want?

Chen Xuan didn't dare to think further.

Some things, if you think too deeply, will involve you.

He is only at the Qi refining stage now.

Even if he has evidence, he cannot topple a Golden Core Family.

He can only wait.

Wait for the news from the Qingyuan Chamber of Commerce, wait for Zhang Fan to reveal more flaws.

At the same time, he must polish his Dao foundation as soon as possible.

Qi refining Perfection is just the starting point; Heavenly Dao Foundation Establishment is the real threshold.

Only by reaching Foundation Establishment is one qualified to make a move on the chessboard.

Only by reaching Golden Core is one qualified to be a chess player.

Now he doesn't even count as a chess piece.

Just a piece of prey targeted by Maitreya.

The sky was bright.

Chen Xuan put away his thoughts and pushed the door out.

The morning breeze brushed his face, carrying the clear Spiritual Qi unique to Qingming Peak.

He glanced in the direction of the Conquest Hall.

Senior Sister Wen Yao's Immortal Cave had already hung up a seclusion token.

She should have gone to practice.

Chen Xuan withdrew his gaze and walked towards the Yanfa Hall.

Golden Core preaching.

Cultivator Epiphany.

Not bad, it's time to improve himself.