Chapter 253: True Fear

He Xinxin clearly understood the value of the gift.

Smiling gently, she accepted the array banner with a soft “Thank you, Uncle.”

Watching the two of them, the deeply worried He Zhenghao couldn’t help but interject, “Haha, although your gift is precious, Fellow Daoist, I’m afraid it won’t be of much use to my daughter.

“When it comes to sensing danger and preserving her life, her abilities far surpass mine.”

Li Fan’s eyes narrowed with interest.

“Oh? And what do you mean by that?”

A hint of pride surfaced on He Zhenghao’s face. “To tell you the truth, Fellow Daoist, my daughter has possessed exceptional talent in divination since childhood.

“For years now, she has been studying such techniques under Ruoshui, her mother, and has already mastered them to a small degree.

“She can obscure heavenly mechanisms to thwart the schemes of others, and she can catch glimpses of future events, enabling her to evade misfortune and pursue good fortune.”

Li Fan glanced once more at the delicate, quiet He Xinxin, his thoughts deepening.

Obscuring heavenly mechanisms... Could she be the reason Formless Killing Mechanism’s surveillance failed?

It seems He Zhenghao wasn’t exaggerating. Such methods are indeed formidable.

What kind of technique is she cultivating?

Still, in this world, cultivation techniques were deeply private. Li Fan had no intention of asking rashly.

Instead, he went along with He Zhenghao’s words, wearing an expression of surprise and disbelief. “I’ve always heard that the will of heaven is unfathomable. I never expected Xinxin to be able to peer into heavenly mechanisms. Are her divinations truly so miraculous?”

“How could it be false? Their accuracy is quite high...” He Zhenghao paused before adding, “Though, of course, there are times when she is mistaken.”

He smiled as he looked at He Xinxin. “This girl once foresaw that I would die in the near future.

“She became so anxious that she traveled thousands of li to the Congyun Sea to warn me to stay cautious, and to visit me as well.

“Haha, I spend all my time within this Mountain River Constellation Array, focused entirely on cultivation. How could I possibly be in any danger of dying?”

He Zhenghao laughed, dismissing the matter.

He Xinxin, standing beside him, frowned. “This matter is very strange. My prediction was definitely not wrong.

“But after I arrived, I made another divination for you, Father. That fatal crisis simply vanished for some reason.”

Her eyes held confusion and regret. “I don’t understand why. If Mother hadn’t stopped me, and I’d been able to reach you sooner, perhaps I could have discovered where the change in heavenly mechanisms occurred.”

He Zhenghao gently patted her head. “Heavenly mechanisms are ever-changing and impossible to grasp fully. You must have miscalculated, Xinxin.”

At this moment, Li Fan spoke up in praise, “Even with occasional errors, this technique is still astonishing.

“To foresee the future and anticipate danger... the advantages one could gain are immeasurable.

“Xinxin, I wonder if you could perform a divination for me and see what lies ahead in my fate?” Li Fan asked with a smile.

Li Fan wanted to understand the true capabilities of this world’s divination arts.

Could they discover that he hailed from a minor world?

Could they sense that he was a transmigrator?

Or even detect the existence of Return to Truth?

If a Foundation Establishment cultivator could perceive any trace of such things, then he needed to be much more careful.

Otherwise, if a true powerhouse became aware of him, they might unravel his origins with ease.

If he believed his secrets to be well-hidden, only to be captured without understanding why, that would be far too tragic a fate.

He Zhenghao clearly wanted his daughter to demonstrate her abilities to Li Fan, so he made no move to stop her. Instead, he gave He Xinxin an encouraging look.

“In that case, I’ll display my humble skills,” He Xinxin said softly.

As she spoke, a gold-and-violet compass appeared out of thin air. One end of the needle pointed at Li Fan, the other at He Xinxin.

She began murmuring incantations, and the needle instantly started spinning.

A miniature figure of Li Fan materialized above the compass.

𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Strange characters drifted out from the compass, circling the tiny figure in a ceaseless dance.

The compass needle spun faster and faster. As the characters revolved, they gradually separated into distinct groups.

Some characters dimmed and faded away. Others grew brighter and brighter, glowing with a radiant violet-gold light.

These were not ordinary characters. Each character seemed layered, containing several meanings woven together.

He Xinxin’s divination of Li Fan’s future lay hidden within the shifting permutations and combinations of these characters.

Li Fan estimated that there were at least ten thousand of them.

He Xinxin strained under the effort, sweat beading on her forehead.

After a long while, the violet-gold characters abruptly scattered and flew back into the compass.

Li Fan’s ethereal silhouette grew a shade more defined.

He Xinxin’s breathing came unevenly. After taking a moment to steady herself, she focused on the silhouette and proceeded with the final step of the divination.

“Hmm? Uncle... have you ever been to Yuandao Province?”

After a long silence, she suddenly asked a bewildering question.

Li Fan froze, but before he could answer, He Zhenghao spoke cheerfully, “Haha, Fellow Daoist Li Fan was originally a rogue cultivator from Yuandao Province. He came to the Congyun Sea seeking a breakthrough opportunity.

Seeing his daughter’s unusual expression, He Zhenghao immediately grew serious, “Why do you ask, Xinxin? Did you discover something?”

The identity of “a rogue cultivator from Yuandao Province” was a backstory Li Fan had casually fabricated when he first met He Zhenghao.

But Li Fan knew his own reality better than anyone.

He had never set foot in Yuandao Province.

So why was she asking about it?

Li Fan’s gaze sharpened as he waited for He Xinxin’s explanation.

He Xinxin opened her mouth, hesitating as if she wanted to speak but struggled to find the words.

“Haha, just speak freely, Xinxin,” Li Fan said with a smile.

She bowed her head slightly, looking apologetic. “Please forgive me, Uncle. It’s not that I refuse to say it.

“It’s that... I truly don’t know how to interpret these Eroded Sigils of the Dao.”

Li Fan raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

He Xinxin hesitated, then used her finger as a brush to draw a picture in the air.

The image depicted Li Fan.

On his back, something was clinging to him.

As the scene shifted, that unseen entity suddenly took a vicious bite out of Li Fan.

Yet in the image, Li Fan appeared completely unaware, walking away with an unchanged expression.

The thing on his back vanished together with him.

Then the image dispersed.

He Xinxin frowned, her voice tinged with concern. “Based on my interpretation of the Dao patterns... it seems that something attacked you in Yuandao Province, Uncle.

“You were injured, but your life was not in danger. Yet the entire set of Eroded Sigils of the Dao shows an Omen of Extreme Peril.

“It’s contradictory.

“That’s why I am not sure how to interpret it.”

He Zhenghao chuckled lightly. “Xinxin, did you miscalculate again? An Omen of Extreme Peril? Last time you divined my fate, it was also an Omen of Extreme Peril, saying I faced death. Yet Fellow Daoist Li Fan is perfectly fine now...”

Li Fan’s heart sank.

Yuandao Province?

The blue crystal in his mind flickered.

He instantly began reviewing every memory tied to Yuandao Province.

Once—nothing.

Twice—still nothing.

Relying on the Unity of Dao Transformation and Mind, Li Fan combed through his past experiences again and again.

At last, he found it.

A cold chill crawled up his spine, plunging him into an icy abyss.

He had never felt terror like this, not even when he escaped the Heavenly Physician by the narrowest margin.

This was true fear. The first genuine fear since his transmigration.

In his twelfth life, in Anchor Year 29, he founded Brightmoon Palace.

Then he entered seclusion to study Sun Zhiliang’s inheritance, the Unlimited Art.

Chu Xingyang’s wedding incident and the early success of Brightmoon Palace’s technique transmission business were events that should have taken place in the same year.

The blue crystal confirmed that timeline.

But in reality, Chu Xingyang’s wedding incident and Brightmoon Palace’s initial rise... happened in Anchor Year 39.

Ten years later.

Those ten years... Where had they gone?