Alongside the Daoist robe uniform and identity jade token, there was also a specially crafted communication spirit talisman.
The spirit talisman was circular and carved with intricate patterns, with the word “Myriad” engraved in the center.
As Li Fan sent his divine sense into it, he suddenly felt as though he had appeared amidst a sea of countless dim stars. These were all members of the Myriad Immortals Alliance’s system.
The figure of He Zhenghao flashed through Li Fan's mind.
In an instant, he found the star representing He Zhenghao among the countless others.
Li Fan sent a friend request.
After a while, that dim star brightened and stood out conspicuously among the dark expanse of stars.
"Fellow Daoist, you've already gotten your official appointment? That’s fast, congratulations!" He Zhenghao's message immediately came through.
"Many thanks to you, Fellow Daoist He!" Li Fan replied.
There was no further response from the other side; clearly, He Zhenghao had immersed himself once again in his research on the Mountain River Grand Array.
Li Fan also sent friend requests to Chen Ying, Zhang Zhiliang, Gong Boyu, and others.
Then, he withdrew his divine sense from the communication spirit talisman.
Li Fan proceeded to browse through the merit tasks within the Tianxuan Mirror.
Unlike tasks that awarded contribution points, merit tasks were essentially directly issued by the Myriad Immortals Alliance’s authorities.
The task categories ranged from gathering resources to participating in the maintenance of the Myriad Immortals Alliance's daily operations, covering everything imaginable.
Among them was a rather special category: reporting and exposing spies from the Five Elders Council or other cultivation organizations that had infiltrated the Myriad Immortals Alliance.
The merit awarded for such tasks varied depending on the spy's rank and position.
Currently, Li Fan's permission level was Yan 1. Essentially, completing any merit task would elevate him to Yan 2.
However, there were restrictions on accepting and completing merit tasks. A maximum of three could be completed per year.
Li Fan was in no hurry to take on any.
Aside from undertaking tasks, there were other ways to obtain merit.
For example, one could refer cultivators to join the Myriad Immortals Alliance, as He Zhenghao had done before, or provide valuable intelligence.
There were no limitations imposed on such methods—the more one contributed, the better, and all were welcomed.
One aspect that interested Li Fan in particular was that the merit required to raise permission levels was not measured with a fixed value. Instead, it was displayed as a progress bar.
This was because the Tianxuan Mirror adjusted the value of merit in real time based on its current worth.
For example, a merit task like submitting Redcloud Ice existed permanently. Completing it would consistently award one Grade C- merit.
However, the intrinsic value of Redcloud Ice itself fluctuated continuously.
Under normal circumstances, the value of such collected resources wouldn't fluctuate too drastically.
Yet, in the history of the Myriad Immortals Alliance, there had been instances where certain resources experienced significant depreciation.
Hence, the Tianxuan Mirror adjusted the merit awarded in real time based on its value, exercising precise control.
Li Fan focused his attention on a merit task that offered a Grade C merit as a reward.
A small progress bar instantly appeared beside the task description.
Above the progress bar, there was a small numerical notation: 1-43.
This indicated that the Grade C merit Li Fan would obtain from completing this task was sufficient to raise his permission level by one and push the progress bar to 43%.
There were a total of forty-nine permission levels in the Myriad Immortals Alliance, embodying the concept of “The Great Dao is fifty, but the heavens only derive forty-nine.”[1]
Advancing was simple at the beginning, but it got progressively more difficult the higher one climbed.
After understanding how merit and permission levels worked, Li Fan began searching for techniques.
Immediately, he noticed differences compared to before: some search results were prominently marked with golden text.
This indicated that these techniques were only visible to members within the Myriad Immortals Alliance system.
Moreover, such techniques could only be redeemed for personal cultivation and could not be transmitted to others.
If they were "lost" and obtained by others, the Enforcer Hall would be tasked with retrieving them. The original redeemer would also be penalized, having a certain amount of merit deducted.
Li Fan carefully examined these restricted techniques.
Among these techniques in golden text, some were bright gold, indicating they could be redeemed with Li Fan's current permission level.
Others were dark gold in color, which meant that Li Fan's current permission level was insufficient. He could only see their descriptions but not redeem them.
Generally, search results up to three permission levels above one's own were visible, serving as motivation.
Li Fan casually browsed a dark gold Golden Core technique, the Geng Metal Sword-Nurturing Art.
It cost 65,000 contribution points, with a required permission level of Yan 3.
Absorb Geng Metal qi to nurture sword intent within the body. Can be used for sword flight or as an artifact to slay enemies.
The power it holds is indeed far greater than anything I've seen before, and the price is much higher too.
Li Fan checked several other techniques in dark gold, and all were the same.
That Derivation Jade tirelessly derives techniques day and night, surely producing many astonishing divine arts.
Even compared to the secret techniques that form the foundations of ancient sects and great clans, they wouldn't be much weaker. Even a single glance would greatly broaden my horizons.
It's just a pity my permission level isn’t sufficient.
Permissions, permissions...
Li Fan recalled the ways one could earn merit.
A figure suddenly flashed through his mind: Zhou Qing'ang, the guardian of Tai’an Island.
In the two lifetimes before this, this person had withdrawn and left before Crimson Flame's descent.
In Li Fan's view, there was something rather peculiar about this.
There were only two possibilities.
First, Zhou Qing'ang had backing, and very powerful backing at that.
In the tenth lifetime, even the two Spirit Transformation Immortal Eminences of Myriad Immortals Island hadn't detected Crimson Flame's arrival in advance. Yet Zhou Qing'ang had managed to do so.
This meant Zhou Qing'ang's backing was even more formidable than a Spirit Transformation powerhouse.
Was it some Dao Unity Immortal Venerable? In Li Fan's opinion, this possibility was very small.
If Zhou Qing'ang truly had a Dao Unity Immortal Venerable backing him, he could have simply left early. Why bother using the excuse of seeking opportunities elsewhere and finding a stand-in to be an acting guardian of Tai’an Island?
Thus, the likelihood of the second possibility was far higher: Zhou Qing'ang was a spy planted within the Myriad Immortals Alliance by another organization.
Li Fan believed that the world's top-tier powerhouses must have detected Crimson Flame’s descent in advance.
Though the Myriad Immortals Alliance headquarters hadn't warned Myriad Immortals Island in the Congyun Sea for unknown reasons, other organizations should have been able to detect some hints.
For example, the Wanhua Trade Association had issued an order for complete evacuation from the Congyun Sea before the calamity struck.
This Zhou Qing'ang must have received an internal notification from his organization, hence employing a “golden cicada shedding its shell” method to escape from Congyun.
Of course, this was still only Li Fan's speculation for now. To confirm it, he would need to test his theory.
If he turned out to be wrong, so be it.
But if Zhou Qing'ang truly was a spy, then Li Fan stood to gain immensely.
Not only would he reap substantial merit and contribution points, more importantly, Li Fan also intended to pry the method to deceive the Heart-Questioning Platform from him.
1. The full phrase explains that the perfect, complete Dao has 50 aspects. However, the phenomenal world we live in, governed by the workings of heaven (天衍), is only manifested through 49 of them.
The one missing aspect is the "escaping one" (遁去的一), which represents the variable of chance, unpredictability, and hope. It is the loophole in fate, the reason why nothing is ever truly predetermined or hopeless. ☜