Li Gang himself wasn't any pushover.
He didn't let anyone monitor Lin Fan, since that would expose himself. Lin Fan's perception was far stronger than his.
Instead, he collected information.
He asked Chen Tao to visit multiple disciples and ask around whom Lin Fan had contacted in recent days.
After entering the Outer Sect Disciple exam, Li Gang secretly contacted Li Meiying.
Of course, Li Gang himself didn't know whether they were in a cooperative relationship or a friendly one. However, since Lin Fan visited Li Meiying more often than other disciples, he knew she should be the main key.
But Li Gang himself was dumbfounded when he realized that Li Meiying didn't know him at all! This meant one thing—Lin Fan didn't trust her.
After learning that Lin Fan had met several disciples these days, Li Gang gained a basic understanding of him. Lin Fan was taking subordinates and secretly forming his own force. Lin Fan was from a higher-dimensional world, and any being who had tasted power and knowledge would always look down on those below them in status. It was human nature. Lin Fan would surely have taken those disciples as his subordinates, using threats, blackmail, force, or any means possible. It was completely within his capabilities. Of course, this was just speculation. He wouldn't jump to conclusions without verification.
Following this line of thought, Li Gang also assumed that Lin Fan only wanted to take him as a random subordinate like the others. But now it appeared Lin Fan had noticed that he was smarter than the rest. Otherwise, why would he not tell Li Meiying about him? It was because even though Lin Fan wanted to take Li Gang as a subordinate, his status was supposedly higher than Li Meiying's in Lin Fan's eyes.
His conversation with Li Meiying was merely to confirm this speculation, while also taking advantage of her.
Li Meiying herself wasn't as important as he had thought before, but this also presented him with an opportunity.
He smiled and asked warmly, "Do you know about Lin Fan?"
Li Meiying was very good at concealing her emotional state. She showed no emotion and asked in return, "Who?"
Li Gang smiled. "So Lin Fan never told you about me?"
Li Meiying narrowed her eyes. "I think you've got the wrong person!"
Li Gang smiled as he moved closer. At that very moment, another woman appeared nearby.
Li Meiying noticed her as well, but she didn't care.
This was Li Gang's plan. He made sure that when he met Li Meiying, someone else would be nearby. It was meant to put psychological pressure on her.
Li Gang didn't know whether Lin Fan and Li Meiying were in a cooperative relationship or merely friendly terms. He wanted to test whether there was a chance to create a rift. The reason he wanted someone nearby was to see if there was something unspeakable in their relationship.
He said in a low voice, "Lin Fan told me something."
At this moment, Li Meiying's composure wavered briefly. She subconsciously tried to change the topic as she glanced sideways. "Senior Sister, you're here?"
Li Gang immediately sensed it. 'They are not in a cooperative relationship or friendly terms. Lin Fan has something against her!'
Li Meiying's reaction only indicated her tension.
If they were in a cooperative relationship, she would have asked him to discuss it privately instead of abruptly changing the topic.
Li Meiying was trying to shut Li Gang up, which showed her inner fear, appearing as subconscious defense. This meant Lin Fan had something against her.
After figuring out her weakness, everything became easy.
He visited Li Meiying once again and then gave her the opportunity to kill Lin Fan.
Li Meiying didn't agree at first, but he then led her to meet more than fifty disciples who had already agreed to hunt down Lin Fan.
One of the disciples was Xi Chen!
Seeing them, Li Meiying immediately agreed.
No one wanted to be controlled by someone forever. How could she give up the opportunity to escape Lin Fan's clutches?
What she didn't know was that Li Gang himself was treating them as cannon fodder. He was using them as sacrificial pawns to injure Lin Fan as much as possible.
In the battlefield prepared by Lin Fan, with Li Gang's and Li Meiying's interference, Xi Chen silently entered the game.
After one of Lin Fan's blows, Xi Chen pretended to faint.
Lin Fan came close to Xi Chen's body and started searching his spatial rings. He soon found several, but as he went to take them off, a small knife stabbed into his abdomen, catching him off guard. Without giving him another chance, Xi Chen immediately used his Spiritual Imprint to attack further.
Xi Chen's Spiritual Imprint granted him an enhanced physique. It increased his strength, defense, and speed.
Lin Fan was seriously injured. He shouted, "You left me no choice!"
Lin Fan immediately utilized his soul power and launched a powerful soul attack, killing Xi Chen instantly.
Just as he was reminding himself not to let his guard down, he moved slightly to the left, and another knife passed through his chest, just a hair's breadth away from his heart!
It was Li Meiying!
Lin Fan was enraged once more and instantly grabbed her by the neck and crushed it, killing her on the spot.
This was the beauty of deception! No matter how smart you are, if the deceiver executes it flawlessly, you are bound to be deceived. The deceiving side always holds an absolute advantage over the one being deceived. There is no true counter to deception. You can only minimize your losses by being overly cautious—and if luck is on your side, you might even succeed in countering it.
He gritted his teeth. "Li Gang! Or Yan Fei? Very good. Let's see how long you can run wild!"
He already had Li Meiying under his control. It was impossible for her to betray him without the provocation of a third party.
He didn't immediately suspect Li Gang, since Li Gang wouldn't want to kill him. Lin Fan himself had indirectly planted the thought of enslaving him into Li Gang's mind. However, that didn't mean the possibility of Li Gang's involvement never crossed his mind. He believed Yan Fei was responsible, though Li Gang's involvement remained within his consideration. In his view, Li Gang was the smartest person in this Inheritance after himself.
Unbeknownst to Lin Fan, his misfortune had only just begun.
After this incident, he faced continuous assaults from different disciples gathered by Li Gang!
The next series of events unfolded exactly as Li Gang expected.
Lin Fan was severely injured and hid himself somewhere to recover.
Li Gang suddenly looked at the map and realized something. He laughed. "Interesting."
He discovered that near this place, there was a danger area marked on the map. If one passed through it, they could enter a location surrounded by three other danger areas.
'The safest place is the most dangerous place! This saying perfectly applied to the situation.'
He immediately moved, running at his fastest speed while taking multiple detours, and finally reached a certain location. He searched the surroundings and soon found a cave. Without wasting a moment, he entered it—but as soon as he did, he felt a formation activate.
Lin Fan's laughter echoed in his ears. "You think it's that easy to catch me?"
Li Gang's face twisted into a pitiful expression as he looked at Lin Fan and shouted, "Brother Lin, it's me!"
Lin Fan heard the voice and immediately realized who it was. "It's you! Are you also here to attack me?"
Li Gang replied at once, "No! If I were with Yan Fei, why would I have warned you earlier? I told you he might target you, but you didn't listen!"
Lin Fan remained suspicious. He asked, "How did you know I was here?"
Li Gang became excited and replied enthusiastically, "Of course because I'm smart! When I learned that you escaped into this danger area, I immediately realized you must have bypassed it and come here—the most dangerous place on the entire map. This is where four danger areas intersect, and even Rank 5 beasts might appear!"
Lin Fan looked at him deeply and thought, 'This idiot is quite smart. He could make a good subordinate.'
Lin Fan nodded, removed the formation, and let Li Gang in. Soon, they entered the cave, where Li Gang saw an alchemy pot burning.
He asked, "What are you making?"
Lin Fan replied, "I found a Silk Tulip by chance when I arrived here—a Rank 6 spiritual plant. It can be used to refine Grade 6 Harmony Fusion Pills. My soul was injured in the previous battles. With this, I can heal it."
Li Gang's expression changed. 'I can't let him have it, or all my plans will be ruined. Good that I arrived in time. How can he be so lucky?'
Li Gang looked at him and said, "Brother Lin, you truly are special. Not only is your battle strength high, you're even a Grade 6 alchemist! But how did you reach the Rank 3 peak stage so quickly?"
Lin Fan replied bluntly, "Don't ask what you shouldn't."
Li Gang immediately changed the topic to avoid embarrassment. "Should I help?"
But Lin Fan rejected him outright. "I can handle it. You don't need to interfere."
One hour later
The pill refinement process entered a crucial step. At this stage, the refiner had to use soul power to carefully condense the medicinal essence into a pill. This required immense mental strength, which was nothing other than soul power itself.
Li Gang looked at him and laughed inwardly. 'About time.'
Lin Fan remained wary of Li Gang and used his soul perception to observe him. Seeing that Li Gang was focused on the pill furnace rather than on him, he finally lowered his guard.
All this time, Lin Fan had been pretending. If he had never lowered his guard, Li Gang would have grown suspicious and might have avoided using the Heavenly Slave Mark.
Unfortunately, Lin Fan had severely underestimated Li Gang—and at the same time, he lacked one crucial piece of information.
Li Gang possessed a Soul Search method given to him by Wang Xueyao. If it had been an ordinary Soul Search technique, Lin Fan wouldn't have cared. But how could Lin Fan ever imagine that the person before him had connections to the Acting Supreme Goddess, Wang Xueyao?
Lin Fan began forming the pills. But just as his soul concentration reached its peak, Li Gang placed his hand above Lin Fan's head and spoke softly.
"Caught you!"
Lin Fan's expression changed. At the same time, due to the sudden disruption of his concentration, the entire pill refinement process backfired on his soul, injuring him further.
What shocked him wasn't Li Gang's sudden attack—but the fact that he hadn't used the Heavenly Slave Mark!
Without giving him any chance, Li Gang activated the Soul Search method without hesitation.
Soon, memories spanning hundreds of millions of years flooded into his mind. Li Gang's expression changed drastically.
The pain was far beyond what he could endure. It was an indescribable agony that brought utter despair.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
His eyes turned blood-red as bloody tears streamed down his face. His brain nerves became visible from the outside, and internal bleeding began. He didn't even have the strength to recite the Arcane Soul Fusion Method. His consciousness went blank, and he immediately fainted.
At the same time, atop a certain mountain in Sword Gate, an old man's eyes suddenly opened.