Chapter 25 Personal Disciple?

Ye Fan's words completely broke Murong Wan's composure. Her icy, beautiful face flushed with a mixture of embarrassment and anger, clearly reminded of the agreement between them.

"Such a silver tongue. The Trial Assembly is not as simple as you imagine."

"If you haven't made any progress, I advise you not to participate, lest you lose your life."

"Thank you for your concern, Senior Sister. But for your sake, I would brave even a mountain of blades and a sea of fire, let alone a mere Trial Assembly."

Though it was just cheesy pickup lines from his past life, Murong Wan had never heard such things before and almost had her defenses breached once more.

She was about to say something when her nose twitched slightly, and she subconsciously frowned.

"Why do you smell fragrant?"

"On me?"

Ye Fan was momentarily stunned, seeming to remember something, and inwardly cursed.

"Could it be that I spent too much time with her and picked up some scent?"

Though somewhat flustered inside, Ye Fan's face remained perfectly calm.

"Nothing escapes you, Senior Sister. I just bought some rouge and powder from the market at the foot of the mountain."

"I wanted to give you a surprise, but you found out."

Ye Fan made as if to take something out from his robe. Murong Wan was taken aback, and a flush once again spread across her face.

"I don't need that sort of thing."

Murong Wan tossed out the sentence and turned to go back to her room. Only then did Ye Fan breathe a sigh of relief.

But she had only taken a few steps before stopping again, as if remembering something.

"Master just sent word. She has some matters that will delay her for a while. She should return shortly after the Trial Assembly."

"I've already reported your situation to Master. She promised that as long as you can break through to the third level of the Qi Refining Realm, she will make an exception and take you as her Personal Disciple. Cherish this opportunity."

Having said that, Murong Wan disappeared into her room without a backward glance. By the looks of it, she wouldn't be coming out again before the Trial Assembly began.

It took Ye Fan a long moment to digest this information, and the smile at the corner of his mouth could hardly be suppressed.

"Senior Sister really does have a sharp tongue but a soft heart."

The Master Murong Wan spoke of was naturally Su Ningxue, the Peak Master in charge of Profound Spirit Peak.

Ye Fan had never met this Peak Master. He had only heard that she and Murong Wan were known as the two great beauties of the Joyous Union Sect, their looks and appearances said to be peerless like Heavenly Immortals. The line of her suitors was supposedly long enough to stretch across the Wangyou Mountain Range, and she seemed to have some nickname like 'Fairy' or something.

Though there was some exaggeration involved, it also illustrated just how beautiful Su Ningxue's appearance was.

Murong Wan had clearly gone to plead with her Revered Master, wanting her to make an exception and accept Ye Fan as a Disciple for her sake.

Otherwise, thinking of becoming the Personal Disciple of a Peak Revered Master at just the third level of the Qi Refining Realm would likely make people laugh their heads off if word got out.

By doing this, Murong Wan was actually trying to make Ye Fan back down from the challenge.

To honestly Cultivate and break through to the third level of the Qi Refining Realm, instead of risking participation in some Trial Assembly.

That way, given time, he might still have a chance to successfully establish his Foundation, and the two of them might even... ahem...

Understanding all this put Ye Fan in an even better mood. Winning over Murong Wan seemed to be just around the corner.

With less than seven days until the Trial Assembly began, Ye Fan decided not to go down the mountain and silently began planning his next steps.

For this once-in-a-decade grand event, the entire Sect was gearing up with full spirit.

Especially those Disciples who met the participation criteria were all rubbing their hands in anticipation, hoping to achieve a good ranking at the Assembly.

After all, this was an opportunity related to the chance of successfully establishing one's Foundation. No one could refuse to participate.

Only Ye Fan showed no intention of Cultivating at all, staying behind closed doors tinkering with his new version of the carefree pill.

After personally experiencing the power of the carefree pill, Ye Fan finally understood just how potent its effects were.

If it wasn't improved, and it fell into the wrong hands, he would be committing a sin by association.

But despite several days of effort, the new version of the carefree pill hadn't shown much improvement.

The difficulty of refining it far exceeded Ye Fan's imagination. Although he succeeded in forming pills multiple times, and the efficacy was much reduced compared to before, it still fell far short of his expectations.

What he wanted was an effect similar to the little pills from his past life—just taking one beforehand, with effects lasting several hours.

Even if someone accidentally took multiple pills, there would be no worry of embarrassing incidents, nor the risk of misuse.

"Looks like the Pill Formula still needs more research."

With the new medicine hitting a Bottleneck, Ye Fan had no good solution for the moment. He could only switch moods by studying the new version of the spring palace pictures, hoping perhaps for a new spark of inspiration.

Ordinary spring palace pictures could no longer satisfy customers' purchasing desires. For this, Ye Fan thought of creating a dynamic version—spring palace pictures 2.0.

The set he gave to Tie Wuqing last time was like that. By infusing it with spiritual power, the beauties in the pictures could move on their own, lifelike and almost indistinguishable from real people.

But merely reaching this step obviously didn't satisfy Ye Fan.

Though the dynamic version was clever, it only cycled through a few movements and poses. After watching for a while, it would inevitably become somewhat tiresome.

This led Ye Fan to conceive of spring palace pictures 3.0. Once successful, the sales would absolutely exceed imagination, with great prospects even beyond the Joyous Union Sect.

"Combine shadow recording stones, illusion Formations, and spring palace pictures into one, creating something like a movie."

Though doing so might raise the cost a bit, Ye Fan understood men's thoughts all too well.

In this area, as long as the quality was good enough, no one would care about the price.

But one thing currently troubled Ye Fan: he knew nothing about illusion techniques and Formations, let alone combining the two.

Ye Fan originally wanted to try tricking Murong Wan, to see if he could get a reward related to this.

But she gave him no opportunity, showing no sign of coming out even now, so he had to abandon that idea.

After much thought, Ye Fan could only seek external help. He considered pulling in someone skilled in this area as a partner, offering them a share of the profits.

After all, what Disciples of the Joyous Union Sect studied was quite varied. There were no few who were proficient in illusion techniques and Formations. Finding a suitable candidate shouldn't be too difficult.

Unfortunately, the Trial Assembly was imminent, and all Disciples were preparing with all their might.

Finding a partner now was clearly not the right time, so he had to temporarily shelve the idea.

Thinking of this, Ye Fan suddenly felt inspired. His brush flew across the paper, and soon a captivating, beautiful figure that had haunted his dreams appeared.

With the final stroke, Ye Fan admired his masterpiece with satisfaction.

"Perfect."

The beauty in the painting was naturally Fairy Xuanji.

Though he said nothing about it, how could he possibly act as if nothing had happened after that kind of event?

Ye Fan planned that once he successfully reached the Core Formation Realm someday, he would search the ends of the earth to find her and rightfully make her his Dao Companion.

After admiring it, Ye Fan carefully stored the scroll. He would never, ever let a second person see this thing.

Time flew by, and the day of the Trial Assembly arrived. The entire Sect was abuzz, countless Disciples eager to try their hand.

Murong Wan also emerged from seclusion early to prepare for participation. But when she saw that Ye Fan's cultivation level still hadn't changed, a hint of disappointment flickered in her beautiful eyes.