The Azure Flame Illusionary Spirit left a trace of power in Su Xiaomei's body to help suppress the anger within her.
Then it returned to Li Fan's consciousness.
In just this short amount of time, Li Fan was already feeling weary.
The "Netherworld Spirit Illusion Technique" hadn't been cultivated to the later stage of Qi Condensation, and the newly born illusion spirit was still a bit weak.
Moreover, he had to concentrate and carefully control the intensity of the illusion spirit's output, so as not to cause harm to Su Xiaomei's young body.
For Li Fan, it wasn't an easy task.
Fortunately, all was well.
This time, he managed to keep her safe for the next ten years.
If Li Fan could leave the Cloud Water Celestial Palace unharmed in this world and obtain the "Cloud Water Map," he would come to find her in advance.
If anything happened to Li Fan, she could still go to the cultivation world with Su Changyu and the others after ten years.
After recovering his strength, Li Fan walked out of the underground chamber.
The officials of Dali were still waiting outside.
After informing them that Su Xiaomei had been cured, Li Fan let them disperse.
He only left Su Xiaomei's father, Su Xueshi, and inquired about Su Xiaomei's condition.
Su Xueshi's face turned red, and after hesitating for a while, he stuttered and explained the whole story.
As it turned out, Su Xiaomei was not Su Xueshi's daughter but instead the daughter of his younger sister, Su Yujing.
Su Yujing was much younger than Su Xueshi. She was only sixteen when she became pregnant with Su Xiaomei.
At that time, her inexplicable pregnancy caused a huge stir in the Su family.
Because she was not married at that time!
Pregnancy before marriage was an undeniable scandal. What made Lord Su even more angry was that Su Yujing refused to disclose who the child's father was.
She insisted that she had absolutely done nothing improper and claimed that she had suddenly felt tired while playing in the garden one day and took a short nap.
Upon waking up, she soon noticed something strange in her body.
But how could a young girl waiting to be married bring up such a matter to others?
It was only until her belly grew day by day that she finally couldn't hide it anymore.
The Su family naturally didn't believe this absurd explanation.
An enraged Lord Su wanted to abort the child.
However, feeling the heartbeat of the fetus in her abdomen, Su Yujing showed her strength as a mother.
She refused to agree to abort the fetus, even resorting to threatening suicide.
Although Lord Su was furious, he couldn't bring himself to kill his own daughter.
He could only lock Su Yujing in her room, preventing her from leaving to avoid leaking the news.
In this way, they finally waited until the day of her delivery.
It took a lot of effort to give birth to Su Xiaomei.
Su Yujing's body was already weak, and she hadn't received good care during her pregnancy.
After such turmoil, her body couldn't take it.
Thus, shortly after giving birth to Su Xiaomei, she passed away.
Before her death, she earnestly begged the Su family to take good care of Su Xiaomei.
The Su family were not heartless people.
After Su Yujing's death, everyone in the family doted on this little child who had lost her parents at a young age, hoping she would grow up safe, happy, and healthy.
However, no one expected that shortly after Su Xiaomei was born, she fell ill with a strange disease.
Her whole body was burning, to the point where she had to apply ice constantly to alleviate it.
The Su family consulted renowned doctors in the capital, but they couldn't cure her.
Until Li Fan arrived.
...
Li Fan listened to Su Xueshi's narration, then looked up at the sky of this world, lost in thought.
"Is she born with heavenly fortune? Perhaps this can explain why Su Xiaomei has such exceptional talent."
"However, according to the original historical trajectory, even with her extraordinary talent, in the face of calamities, she would still find it hard to escape death."
"In the entire cultivation world, how many people have talents as exceptional as Su Xiaomei's, yet they die without any recognition, just like ordinary people?"
"From this perspective, the heavens indeed treat everyone equally."
With this matter concluded, Li Fan let out a long sigh and summoned the Tai Yan Boat, swiftly leaving.
It didn't take long before he safely returned to Liuli Island.
Indeed, what He Zhenghao said earlier was true. It had taken about twenty-five days in total.
And up until now, the Concealing Form Talisman he had activated earlier was still effective.
"As long as one does not fight with others, a Concealing Form Talisman can last this long. It's truly cost-effective. Once I return to the island, I should buy some as backups," Li Fan thought.
Inside the Mountain Star Formation, Li Fan handed over the storage ring to He Zhenghao.
He Zhenghao seemed a bit absent-minded, just glancing at it casually before storing the storage ring away.
His attention was focused on an ancient mirror in front of him.
Judging by its appearance, it seemed somewhat similar to the Tianxuan Mirror.
Following He Zhenghao's gaze, Li Fan looked at the mirror and saw a line of small characters.
"Spirit Mist Grass: current price is fifteen contribution points per plant."
The number fifteen kept changing, sometimes becoming sixteen and then quickly shifting to fourteen.
"It's going up! Go up!" He Zhenghao stared at the mirror as if enchanted, repeatedly uttering these words.
"Fellow Daoist, what are you doing?" Li Fan asked curiously.
"Ah, my friend, you don't know," He Zhenghao didn't take his gaze off, sighed, and said dejectedly, "A few days ago, shortly after you left, I received reliable information. Due to an attack by sea creatures, the island where Spirit Mist Grass is cultivated was mostly destroyed."
"As I mentioned before, Spirit Mist Grass is the main raw material for making Concealing Form Talismans and is already extremely scarce. Now that a significant portion has been destroyed, the price is bound to skyrocket."
"At the time this news came, I thought I'd seize this opportunity to make a fortune. So, I spent a lot in the Tianxuan Mirror and hoarded a large amount of Spirit Mist Grass."
This operation sounded somewhat familiar to Li Fan, who observed He Zhenghao and asked with some confusion, "But isn't that a good thing? Why does fellow Daoist seem so dispirited?"
"Ah, it is a good thing, but I was happy too early," He Zhenghao didn't look away from the mirror, sighing and saying, "At first, the price of Spirit Mist Grass went up a bit, from twenty points per plant to twenty-five points per plant. But who would have thought that before I could sell the Spirit Mist Grass I had, its price suddenly plummeted."
"It went all the way from twenty-five points to thirteen points, almost halving!" He Zhenghao was in great pain.
"Fortunately, the price has rebounded somewhat recently, back to around fifteen points."
...
Listening to He Zhenghao's words, Li Fan couldn't help but say, "Then why doesn't fellow Daoist take this opportunity to sell the Spirit Mist Grass you have on hand? At the very least, you can recoup some of your investment."
He Zhenghao hurriedly shook his head, "That won't do. I've invested almost a hundred years' worth of savings into it. At the very least, I need to wait for the price to rise again before I can sell..."
He was halfway through his words when he suddenly exclaimed, "Why is it falling again? Thirteen? Twelve? Ten? Eight?..."
"It's still falling?!"
In the blink of an eye, the price of Spirit Mist Grass collapsed from fifteen points per plant to six points per plant before finally stabilizing with great difficulty.
"It should... go back up, right?"
After remaining silent for a long time and seeing He Zhenghao disoriented and bewildered, Li Fan could only console him in this way.