Following Li Fan's question, the inn fell into dead silence again.
The Tianxuan Mirror clone stared at Li Fan, as if trying to see through this uninvited guest.
But the more he observed, the more surprised and uncertain his expression became.
It seemed the shocking words of destruction coming from the other's mouth were not empty threats!
At this moment, the Tianxuan Mirror clone suddenly realized what Li Fan had meant when he said, "In fact, we are all the same kind of people."
They shared a top-down disregard for the creatures of the Xuanhuang Realm.
What puzzled the clone, however, was that he himself was an immortal weapon and naturally had that right—but the cultivator in front of him was only a mere Nascent Soul. So why did he?
What stunned the Tianxuan Mirror clone even more was that the cultivator actually spoke so casually of dragging the Xuanhuang Realm down with him.
If the realm fell into the Immortal Ruins above their heads, even his immortal weapon might not be able to escape.
The other party would definitely die—but showed no fear at all…
"To achieve the goal, any means will be used. Even if we die together…"
"Could it be that I misjudged him? Not selfish, but insane?"
In an instant, countless thoughts flashed through the clone's mind.
Finally, he took a long breath and broke the silence:"I didn't expect that I had truly underestimated him."
"A dangerous person like you, with no taboos, should have been suppressed in the [Hell] of the Immortal Alliance forever."
Li Fan smiled lightly, not taking it seriously."The underworld… there's no place in this world that can trap me."
"Even the darkest starry sky is no different."
As soon as he said this, the clone's face paled slightly.
"We are not only very similar," Li Fan continued."We even share the same aspirations. I want to escape this prison, and you want to break free from your shackles…"
"By the way, just to separate the so-called human clones—is this your true Dao? Is this true freedom?"
"Without your true body, what's the difference between your avatar and those fragile mortals? They're all just ants that die if you pinch them. Freedom…" Li Fan sneered.
The Tianxuan Mirror clone did not refute him.
In this battle of wits, he had truly lost.
He realized he could not discern the true identity of the cultivator before him.
He even speculated whether this cultivator might be a surviving immortal from the Immortal Realm.
"If what you say is true, it doesn't mean we cannot cooperate," the Tianxuan Mirror clone finally said after long consideration.
"But I still can't trust you fully."
He then quickly changed the subject.
Li Fan waved a hand with a friendly smile:"I understand your concerns. But our cooperation can gradually deepen mutual trust.
Even if regret comes midway, you would have already received sufficient benefit."
The Tianxuan Mirror clone thought for a moment. The logic seemed sound, so he nodded slowly.
"The restrictions placed on me by the Immortal Ancestor Chuanfa back then, combined with the accumulations of those controlling the cameras, have now reached a terrifying level. With your current cultivation, even adding the three Dao Integration enforcers outside, I think it is absolutely impossible to rescue me…"
Li Fan interrupted bluntly:"You don't have to worry about my strength.
Since I can lock onto your position, you should know I have penetrated the influence of the cameraman Cang.
Among those transmitting the Dao, there are also people allied with us. How could the Immortal Alliance have remained monolithic for thousands of years?"
Hearing this, the clone hesitated:"Even so, if you want to help me break free from control, it won't be easy."
Li Fan didn't answer directly. Instead, he suddenly asked:"Do you know why I originally planned to kill you?"
After a moment, the Tianxuan Mirror clone replied,"To cut off your retreat?"
"Yes. But now that your path has been fulfilled, preventing your escape in clone form is impossible. The plan has changed accordingly. King Xuantian, Xuanyuan Hong—do you still remember these names?"
"Xuanyuan Hong?" The clone squinted, thinking hard.
Some memories seemed lost due to clone differentiation, or the human body simply couldn't process so much information.
After a long while, he remembered and asked in surprise:"Are you from the Xuantian Sect?"
"Impossible. The Xuantian Sect shouldn't have people like you…"
Li Fan snorted coldly:"We want to know the current whereabouts of the former Xuantian King. If anyone in the Xuanhuang Realm can know, it's probably you. The original plan was to kill your clone, cut off your escape, and then use an enhanced Xuantian Sealing Spirit to force your cooperation…"
The clone was stunned:"I was also the Xuantian Sect's weapon to suppress the religion back then. Now that I'm trapped in the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, it would be fine if you didn't rescue me. Yet… you still devised such a plan?"
Li Fan sneered:"Back then, our Xuantian Sect was defeated, and King Xuantian disappeared mysteriously. Everything happened too fast, too strangely. Moreover, you surrendered to the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, which proves you were not a traitor back then."
"Am I a traitor?" The clone's voice rose slightly, clearly offended.
He began to speak about the past, then suddenly stopped.
"Back then…"
The clone racked his mind, recalling the year the Xuantian Sect was destroyed, but found nothing.
"This is sensitive information; only the main body has authority to view it," he said solemnly.
Li Fan laughed:"Since your request is to locate the missing King Xuantian, there is indeed a basis for cooperation between us.
I still have some trust in the people of the Xuantian Sect back then. But you…"
The clone looked at Li Fan suspiciously.
"Haven't you seen examples of temperament changing drastically over thousands of years?" Li Fan didn't bother explaining further.
"The preliminary plan after the change is as follows: Within the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, we will build a large formation on the grounds of the [Xuantian Sealing Spirit] and fully master the Tianxuan Mirror.
In fact, the core of the formation will shift from control to release.
Use your authority within the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance to create opportunities for escape. Among this, I can even coordinate the Five Elders Association and multiple minor forces to lay siege to the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, creating chaos."
Li Fan spoke eloquently, subtly revealing latent power in his words.
The Tianxuan Mirror clone listened carefully, analyzing every point.
In the end, he was genuinely excited.
Theoretically, this ultimate "jailbreak plan" was indeed feasible.
After all, the Chuanfa Tianzun he feared most had temporarily left the Xuanhuang Realm.
Although the cultivators below relied on the techniques left behind from the time of Dharma transmission, they had been able to dominate him.
But on his own, he could create human clones and achieve a degree of freedom.
If there were strong outside help…
Just as he was daydreaming, Li Fan made another shocking statement.
"That was the first plan.
Actually, I have a second plan, which may also help you achieve true freedom."
"Oh?" The Tianxuan Mirror clone looked at Li Fan in surprise.
"The Xuantian Treasure Mirror measures the heavens and the earth. Now, you are inextricably linked to the Xuanhuang Realm. Although you claim to be an immortal weapon, your strength is ultimately limited by the current world. True or not?"
"The Xuanhuang Realm has expanded a hundredfold in recent years. You must have benefited greatly from it, right?"
The clone remained silent, not denying it.
The man before him clearly knew far more than he expected.
"Maybe cooperating with him isn't such a bad idea after all," the thought suddenly crossed the Tianxuan Mirror clone's mind.
"Now, almost all the worlds in the surrounding starfield have been plundered. The expansion of the Xuanhuang Realm has reached a bottleneck, and you are at your limit.
However, what you currently control should only be the Xuanhuang Main Realm. If you include all the small worlds plundered over the years within your measurement range…"
"Will you go further?" Li Fan asked, curiosity in his eyes.
The clone thought for a moment and spoke frankly:"Actually, I have had this plan for many years. But the scale of the project is too immense. Moreover, the Mirror Master lineage of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance has always insisted on limiting my body's strength. So this plan never succeeded…"
"If I were to carry it out, it would surely succeed and help you upgrade," Li Fan said confidently.
"At that time, with the power you control, even if Xuanhuang disintegrates, I believe you would escape unscathed," Li Fan added.
The clone's eyes flickered with doubt."Could it be that he possesses a treasure capable of extraordinary deduction?"
In his memory, there was such a world-deduction treasure in the Xuanhuang Realm, only slightly inferior to him.
Even if the Tianxuan Mirror was once an immortal weapon, he had never seen—or even heard of—a treasure like [Huan Zhen] that could turn illusion into reality and reverse everything.
He had never thought that Li Fan's seeming inscrutability was simply due to experience.
After a moment, the Tianxuan Mirror clone chose the first of the two plans proposed by Li Fan.
"The second plan takes too long and has too many variables.
The first plan… even if it fails in the end, as long as it buys me some slack…" A trace of confidence flickered in the clone's eyes."Give me a little more time, and I can get myself out of trouble."
Seeing this, Li Fan clapped lightly:"Well, now that we've reached a consensus, we can begin cooperation.
You can't trust us, and I can't trust you either. Cooperation depends entirely on shared interests. But in my experience, this kind of cooperation is often the most stable. Oaths and agreements can be broken, but people rarely betray their own interests. At the very least…"
"That's how it will be between you and me," Li Fan said with a smile.
"Next, I'll implement the first step: deduction and creation of a formation to loosen and trap your restrictions."
"So, what exactly are the restrictions of the Heavenly Master?"
Faced with the question, the clone did not falter in recalling vast data this time. Instead, as if engraved into the depths of his soul, he blurted:"The roots are entangled, deep into the bone marrow. They take root in the Xuanhuang heaven and earth, merging into one body."
Li Fan narrowed his eyes.
The clone sighed slightly:"During the Xuantian Sect era, I measured the Xuanhuang Heaven and Earth and could observe and understand most things in time, because I was suspended above and transcended.
But after the restrictions imposed by Chuanfa Tianzun, I merged into the heaven and earth of the Xuanhuang Realm. On the contrary, I lost this magical power. I took root and merged, but did not control the true authority of the heavens and earth.
Unless I can replace the sky, otherwise…" The clone shook his head, slightly depressed.
"So, it's not easy to get you out of trouble," Li Fan agreed.
"Yes. This was only the initial restriction imposed by Chuanfa Tianzun. Over the years, the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance has continuously tried to strengthen their control over me. Their means are inferior to Chuanfa's, but the accumulated restrictions…"
"Even if weak, they've piled up like a mountain." Perhaps due to deep resentment, the clone even cursed."If I get out one day, I will definitely settle accounts before I leave!" he said angrily.
Seeing him lose his usual nonchalant demeanor, Li Fan smiled silently.
"I've studied a lot about battle tactics. Tell me the details of the transmission ban. Give me some time, and I should find a way to crack it."
Now that both sides had reached a preliminary cooperation agreement, there was nothing to hide.
The Tianxuan Mirror clone immediately transmitted the relevant information.
The method was unusual: he broke off one of his fingers.
The finger became transparent and shiny like glass, light flickering and seemingly carrying countless streams of information.
The broken finger quickly regenerated.
"As expected of the incarnation of the Tianxuan Mirror, it is unlike a normal human body," Li Fan thought, taking the transparent finger.
He absorbed the massive data, his thoughts briefly pausing before starting to process it again.
Even though it was a restriction left by a law transmitted thousands of years ago, Li Fan had to admit it was exquisitely intricate.
The data flowed continuously, being absorbed and transformed by Li Fan.
The fossilized stone and the beginning of the final disintegration disk worked together to crack it.
"These are just the parts I can perceive. There may be other special restrictions I cannot see," the clone warned kindly.
"Don't worry, it shouldn't be a big problem. But…"
"As part of the deal, now that I've started, are you going to provide some benefits?" Li Fan asked suddenly.
"What do you want?" the clone asked.
"Hmm…" Li Fan pretended to think."Let me deduce the formation, I need the formation as a reference.
How about the Floating Starry Sky Formation?"