Chapter 211: Gold Level Investment!
“Xiao Fan?”
High above in the sky, a Divine Palace Realm expert gazed at the two figures flying toward him—one big, one small. The older youth didn’t attract much attention at first. But when his eyes landed on Xiao Fan, his pupils involuntarily shrank violently.
“He’s really still alive!”
A tidal wave of shock surged through the Divine Palace expert’s heart. He stared deeply at Xiao Fan for a moment, then quietly withdrew without saying a word.
Just now, when Xiao Fan appeared, he had called out to Li Xun as “Big Brother.”
Though he didn’t know why Li Xun had become Xiao Fan’s big brother, there was one thing he was certain of:
With just his own strength, there was no way he could kill Xiao Fan under Li Xun’s protection.
More than likely, acting rashly would only alert the enemy and ruin everything.
Given the situation, his best course of action was to report this news back to the Young Master.
Only by having the Young Master and the powerful experts behind him make a move together would there be any hope of killing Xiao Fan.
“It’s you two?”
Hearing the voice, Li Xun turned to look and a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes, but it quickly faded into understanding.
Whenever a great opportunity appeared, the main characters were bound to show up—and both Jiang Taixuan and Xiao Fan clearly had protagonist templates. Their appearance here was completely within expectations.
Moreover, it had only been a short time since they last met, but Xiao Fan had already cultivated to the Profound Elixir Realm.
Such a cultivation speed was downright terrifying.
After all, Xiao Fan was still just a child.
If anyone else had such progress, even Li Xun himself might be a little shaken.
But for Xiao Fan? It was normal.
After all, he carried the Immortal Body.
If he didn’t progress at this speed, he’d be wasting that template.
As for Jiang Taixuan, who arrived with Xiao Fan—Li Xun gave him a quick glance, a strange look flickering in his eyes.
The last time they met, Jiang Taixuan was also at the Profound Elixir Realm, but now, he had already stepped into the early Life and Death Realm!
Thinking about Jiang Taixuan’s personality—someone who likes to pretend to be weak while hiding his true strength—Li Xun didn’t believe what he was seeing was the full picture.
Jiang Taixuan’s real strength was likely at the mid or even late stages of the Life and Death Realm.
Sure, Li Xun had a system that let him level up fast, but those with protagonist templates had their own cheat-like abilities as well.
He had already figured out Ye Han’s golden finger—an old grandpa in his soul.
Qin Xueyi’s cheat was her past life’s cultivation experience and memories.
And Xiao Fan’s was his Immortal Body, which made him almost unbeatable among those of the same realm.
Only Jiang Taixuan remained a mystery.
To this day, Li Xun still couldn’t determine exactly what Jiang Taixuan’s golden finger was.
Besides his fast cultivation, he hadn’t shown anything particularly unusual.
Even in battles across realms, he had a much harder time than Ye Han.
Li Xun could only guess that Jiang Taixuan’s golden finger had something to do with time—especially since he had once taken out a pile of artificially matured spiritual herbs.
Of course, another possibility was that Jiang Taixuan had some method or treasure that could rapidly mature spirit herbs.
If it was the first case, he might have a divine artifact—something like “a day outside equals a year inside”, which would not only ripen herbs faster but also drastically speed up his own cultivation.
If it was the second case, he might have a treasure like the one Han Li from the A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality possessed—something that accelerated herb growth, allowing him to constantly refine pills and consume them to increase his strength.
“Big Brother, I’ve been looking for you for so long. I finally found you!”
Xiao Fan flew down from the sky and landed in front of Li Xun.
Li Xun raised a hand and gently ruffled his hair, smiling as he said, “It’s only been a little while, but you’ve already grown taller—and a lot stronger too.”
“It was all thanks to Second Brother and the Clan Leader Uncle,” Xiao Fan explained earnestly, “They gave me a lot of resources—that’s why I was able to cultivate so quickly.”
“Good. Keep cultivating diligently,” Li Xun advised, then turned to look behind Xiao Fan.
The moment Jiang Taixuan saw Li Xun’s back, his body trembled, and he hurriedly stepped forward.
Along the way here, Jiang Taixuan had gone over many possibilities in his mind.
But never—not even once—had he imagined that the “Big Brother” Xiao Fan spoke of was actually his own savior!
Standing in front of Li Xun, Jiang Taixuan bowed deeply with utmost respect.
“I am Jiang Taixuan. Greetings, Immortal!”
“No need for formalities.”
Li Xun helped him up and spoke with a tone of deep meaning,
“A fierce battle may break out soon. When that happens, I’ll be counting on you to protect Xiao Fan.”
Although both Xiao Fan and Jiang Taixuan had protagonist templates, there was still a clear gap in their growth.
Jiang Taixuan had already reached the Life and Death Realm, while Xiao Fan was still at the Profound Elixir Realm.
Li Xun wouldn’t easily entrust Xiao Fan to just anyone—but Jiang Taixuan was a different case.
As a stealthy, survival-type protagonist, Jiang Taixuan might not be great at direct confrontations, but when it came to escaping or pulling tricks, he had plenty of trump cards.
Someone like him might not win battles against much stronger enemies, but your average Divine Palace Realm expert? They’d never be able to kill Jiang Taixuan.
“Rest assured, Immortal. As long as I’m here today, no one will so much as harm a hair on Brother Xiao Fan’s head!” Jiang Taixuan vowed with conviction.
“With that, I’m at ease.”
Li Xun smiled and patted Jiang Taixuan on the shoulder.
But the very instant his palm touched Jiang Taixuan, his eyes suddenly turned cold.
He snapped his head to the side and barked, “Courting death!”
At that moment, not far away, hovering in mid-air beside the Black Tortoise essence blood and Black Tortoise Egg, a black hand had silently emerged from the void, reaching toward the two treasures.
Originally, all the experts, including the Northern Yu Divine Emperor, were fully focused on the enemies in the sky.
No one expected someone would dare steal the treasures in the midst of this tension.
But they had all underestimated Li Xun.
Unlike the others, he didn’t care much about the enemies in the sky.
What mattered to him most were the Black Tortoise essence blood and Egg—because once invested, they were guaranteed at least purple level returns, possibly even gold level.
So, the instant that black hand appeared, Li Xun detected it immediately.
Before his shout had even finished, Li Xun’s fingers formed a blade and slashed through the air.
Countless divine lights erupted, forming a brilliant sword-light, coiled with apocalyptic thunder, roaring down upon the black hand.
This was a Mid-Saint Grade technique from the Thunder Prison Blade Manual—its power was brutally fierce.
Blade and thunder intertwined, tearing through the void and instantly crushing the black hand with a loud crack.
“AARGHH—!!”
A shriek of agony rang out from the distance.
It came from an early-stage Divine Palace Realm cultivator, who had tried to fish in troubled waters, but ended up losing more than he bargained for—his entire hand had been obliterated.
“You dare lay a finger on my treasures?” Li Xun said coldly.
With a wave of his hand, he drew the Black Tortoise essence blood and Black Tortoise Egg to himself.
The moment they landed in his palm, a mechanical chime echoed in his mind.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host. A golden-level investable person has been detected. Investing in 1 drop of Black Tortoise essence blood to receive 1 drop of Emperor’s Blood.]
[Ding! Congratulations, Host. A golden-level investable person has been detected. 1 Black Tortoise Egg to receive 1 Adult True Phoenix (Upon acquisition, it will automatically recognize you as master).]