"Brother, would you like to come with us?" Kou Hong asked.
After some thought, Li Fan decisively chose to refuse.
Their journey should hold no danger, but it was also destined to yield no rewards. Otherwise, they wouldn't have turned against each other nine years later over a Nascent Soul technique.
The technique transmission enterprise of Brightmoon Palace was growing like a raging fire; how could Li Fan possibly go to Cangwu Abyss at this moment to search for some meteor?
Seeing Li Fan decline, Kou Hong couldn't help but feel it was a pity, yet he said with great enthusiasm, "Don't worry, Brother Li Fan. If we encounter any great opportunities or gains this time, I'll definitely save a share for you!"
Li Fan chuckled, acknowledging his goodwill.
This matter was an insignificant interlude, soon forgotten by Li Fan as he devoted a fraction of his attention to Brightmoon Palace's operations.
The vast majority of his energy was once again poured into the endless study of arrays. The 320,000 contribution points in the Posthumous Bequest were beckoning to Li Fan—he couldn't afford not to work hard.
By the middle of Anchor Year 42, Brightmoon Palace recovered its first batch of debts, marking the enterprise's entry into an entirely new phase.
In three years, Brightmoon Palace's assets had more than doubled. The initial 100,000 contribution points had grown to over 200,000, which was loaned out once again to cultivators. It had become a mountain of gold that grew with every passing moment.
Excluding those who had already settled their debts, the number of cultivators indebted to Brightmoon Palace had reached twenty-five. Every month, nearly thirty thousand contribution points were recovered.
Brightmoon Palace's reputation continued to grow, with cultivators from other provinces even making long journeys to try their luck.
Li Fan ordered the restrictions lifted—as long as someone had enough contribution points, they were immediately granted loans.
With money breeding money, Brightmoon Palace's operational scale rapidly expanded.
With the gradual increase in debtors each month, Xiao Heng and Su Xiaomei were reaching the limit that they could handle.
Fortunately, over these years, Li Fan encountered two individuals of extraordinary talent.
One was named Zhuge Yu, the other Sima Cang. Both had completed their Qi Refinement process in just a few years. In terms of cultivation talent, they were only slightly inferior to Xiao Heng.
Therefore, Li Fan didn't charge them contribution points, instead freely gifting them Curios of heaven and earth and Foundation Establishment techniques.
After completing their Foundation Establishment, these two felt deeply grateful for Li Fan selflessly “ferrying them to salvation.” Thus, they volunteered to join Brightmoon Palace, wishing to contribute their efforts to the great enterprise.
After observing them for some time, Li Fan agreed to their request. However, he didn't allow them access to Brightmoon Palace's core secrets, only assigning them debt collection duties.
Still, Li Fan didn't treat them poorly. Besides an annual fixed compensation of five thousand contribution points, they received a three percent commission on every debt recovered. Though this percentage was small, it filled them with motivation.
The addition of Zhuge Yu and Sima Cang alleviated some pressure on the debt collection operations.
But as the scale grew larger, it would inevitably become insufficient again. So Li Fan kept a watchful eye, ready to recruit any promising talent he encountered during the technique transmission operations into his ranks.
Brightmoon Palace's blatant wealth accumulation inevitably drew attention.
First came a late-stage Golden Core realm cultivator attempting to probe Brightmoon Palace's true strength.
At that moment, Li Fan emerged from seclusion without revealing himself. He simply merged with Brightmoon Lake and unleashed One Congyun Sword Strike.
The sword phantom gleamed with chilling light.
Before the eyes of numerous Qi Refinement cultivators, this Golden Core Reverend was beheaded in a single strike, unable to put up any resistance.
Witnessing this, the observing cultivators felt their spirits tremble, and they grew increasingly awed by the mysterious Brightmoon Palace.
Yet Li Fan felt no satisfaction. He knew he'd attract the attention of high-level cultivators eventually.
Though he anticipated this, he hadn't expected the day to come so quickly.
Weakness is the original sin. Li Fan sighed inwardly, not daring to delay even a moment longer as he began preparing for his escape.
He spent a fortune purchasing a single-use random teleportation array from the Tianxuan Mirror, and placed it near the treasure vault.
The teleportation array would self-destruct upon activation, and the resulting explosion would destroy the tens of thousands of Dao resonance artifacts along with Brightmoon Palace.
He then upgraded the Torrent Phantasm Grand Array. The enhanced array could withstand all attacks from Nascent Soul cultivators. It could even hold against a Spirit Transformation Immortal Eminence for a brief moment.
This would give Li Fan enough time to escape calmly through the teleportation array.
Despite the looming crisis, Li Fan didn't scale back his technique transmission operations. Instead, driven by the desire for one final windfall, he pushed for expansion even more aggressively.
The probing from higher-level cultivators came later than expected.
In Anchor Year 43, a mid-stage Nascent Soul realm cultivator arrived at Brightmoon Lake, requesting an audience with the Brightmoon Palace Master.
Li Fan simply activated the Torrent Phantasm Grand Array and refused to receive guests.
This Nascent Soul Eminence seemed rather knowledgeable. After casually launching one attack to test the defensive array's strength, he didn't persist in humiliating himself.
He simply cupped his hands and departed.
After Golden Core came Nascent Soul. Would Spirit Transformation follow?
Li Fan watched the retreating figure of the Nascent Soul cultivator with a dark expression.
Though this Nascent Soul cultivator failed to meet the Brightmoon Palace Master, he'd achieved his objective.
Brightmoon Palace clearly housed no cultivators beyond the mid-stage Nascent Soul realm. Otherwise, they wouldn't have chosen to remain behind closed doors.
With their weakness exposed and mysterious nature gone, debt collection became increasingly difficult.
First, Xiao Heng and Su Xiaomei were ambushed, nearly losing their lives. Only the protective treasures Li Fan had given them allowed them to escape.
Zhuge Yu and Sima Cang weren't so fortunate.
Sima Cang was captured, his fate unknown. Zhuge Yu returned severely wounded, and remained unconscious.
The situation deteriorated rapidly, with numerous outstanding debts becoming unrecoverable.
In desperation, Li Fan activated the Formless Killing Mechanism, executing two or three cultivators who maliciously defaulted.
This move temporarily checked the spread of debt payment refusal.
Starting your own business is truly difficult. Li Fan sighed, looking at the dispirited members of Brightmoon Palace.
We'll just have to take it one day at a time. Fortunately, I feel I'm not far from breaking through to the mid-stage Foundation Establishment realm.
If all else fails, we'll change our name, move to another province, and start over.
Facing adversity, Brightmoon Palace suspended its technique transmission operations, focusing entirely on recalling contribution points and preparing to evacuate at a moment's notice.
Yet for once, it seemed heaven had chosen to favor Li Fan.
A sudden, earth-shaking event plunged Yuandao Province back into a storm of blood and violence.
The majority of Nascent Soul and Spirit Transformation cultivators found themselves swept into endless, brutal conflict.
They no longer had time to concern themselves with an insignificant Brightmoon Palace.
Dugu Xi and Dugu Shi, the two peerless talents of the Lan Yu lineage in Yuandao Province, had simultaneously vanished.