Li Fan made some discreet inquiries and confirmed that Yin Yuzhen had not lied about the Mundane-Leaving Pill.
Three days later, he met with her once more and agreed to her request.
They settled on an arrangement: before the Body Purification Spirit Pool opened, Li Fan would periodically help the Tianbao Pavilion acquire a certain quantity of treasures. When the spirit pool opened, Yin Yuzhen would then hand the Mundane-Leaving Pill to Li Fan.
As a further gesture of good faith, Yin Yuzhen once again produced the deed to the Quietude Manor. With their agreement settled, Li Fan saw no reason to refuse and pocketed the deed.
And so, Li Fan moved houses again.
The Quietude Manor was located in the bustling heart of Liuli Island. Yet, through unique architectural design and strategic landscaping, the noisy surroundings were completely shut out. Though situated in a lively market district, it felt as if one resided deep within secluded mountains.
This concept of finding tranquility within movement was the reason for its name: the Quietude Manor.
The Quietude Manor was several times larger than Li Fan’s previous compound. Its artificial hills, lake, flowers, and trees all required maintenance.
Once again, he declined the maidservants offered by the Tianbao Pavilion. Instead, Li Fan hired several laborers from the island himself, arranging for them to clean the place every three days.
Yin Yuzhen could only sigh at Li Fan’s caution.
Fortunately, Li Fan was serious about fulfilling their agreement.
During the year he lived at the Quietude Manor, Li Fan first completed three official voyages with the Liuli Island’s fleet. Each time, he returned with several chests of treasure, shocking the entire island and successfully securing a ship slot for the Tianbao Pavilion.
After that, Li Fan accompanied the Tianbao Pavilion’s ship on every voyage.
By the year’s end, the Tianbao Pavilion’s profits were overflowing, nearly equal to the sum of their earnings from the previous five years combined.
He had also built considerable prestige among the Tianbao Pavilion’s members. Everyone who saw him regarded him with a mixture of respect and fear.
In the eyes of the Tianbao Pavilion’s crew, Elder Li was not only immensely capable—able to lead them to treasure on every voyage—but also meticulous, decisive, and ruthless.
On one voyage, several crew members, tempted by the valuables they had salvaged, conceived a plan to murder the others and seize the treasure.
Unexpectedly, Elder Li detected their unusual behavior long before they could act. He struck first, beheading every one of them.
Their bodies were thrown into the sea, and their heads were strung together as a warning to the others.
There were whispers among the crew that those men might have just been making drunken boasts, lacking the actual guts to commit murder and robbery.
But even the slightest possibility was enough for Elder Li to execute them without mercy.
Furthermore, the Liuli Island’s authorities and the Shopkeeper not only did not reprimand him, but even praised Elder Li’s actions, declaring them a reasonable and effective measure to protect Liuli Island’s assets.
Even the island’s ordinary citizens, upon hearing the news, cursed the would-be robbers, saying they deserved their deaths and that Elder Li had done well.
From then on, no one on the Tianbao Pavilion’s ship dared to entertain disloyal thoughts. Everyone was exceedingly careful around Li Fan, terrified he might find some excuse to behead them.
***
Li Fan paid no mind to the opinions of others.
To quickly gain complete control of the fleet, some exemplary punishment was necessary. He simply didn’t have the energy to waste on such mundane matters.
Throughout the year, whenever he had a spare moment, he diligently practiced the Xuanhuang Heart Clarification Sutra.
This was not solely because it could dispel miasma, but because Li Fan had discovered something that delighted him beyond measure: the charging process of Return to Truth had accelerated!
Before this, Return to Truth’s charge could only increase naturally with the passage of time. Every twenty years, it would reach 100%, slowly climbing to 200% before no longer increasing.
Throughout his previous nine lives, Li Fan had tried every method imaginable to speed up the charging process, but none had succeeded.
More than a year had passed since Li Fan left Great Xuan and arrived in the world. According to past experience, the charging progress should have been between 6% and 7%. However, Li Fan was shocked to discover that the progress had actually reached 15%. The charging speed had nearly doubled!
Aside from the Heart Clarification Sutra, Li Fan had not come into contact with anything that could have caused this. Thus, the only explanation was that cultivating the Xuanhuang Heart Clarification Sutra somehow accelerated Return to Truth’s charging process.
Although he still didn’t understand the principles behind it, that didn’t stop Li Fan from practicing it with even greater diligence.
And with Return to Truth’s panel display, he could see every minuscule bit of progress clearly, preventing Li Fan from losing motivation during the long, tedious, and repetitive cultivation.
Beyond the charging progress, Li Fan’s age limit had also increased significantly.
Name: Li Fan
Realm: Mortal
Biological Age: 42/95↑
Psychological Age: 505/1210↑
Virtualization Charging Progress: 115％
Charging Progress of Next Anchor Point: 51％
Anchor Points In Use: 1
Bound Items: Thousand Mechanisms Jade Cosmos Scripture, Taiyan Boat, Halt Stele Fragment (Damaged)
***
Time flowed quietly by as Li Fan lost himself in cultivation.
Soon, only a single year remained until the opening of the Body Purification Spirit Pool.
Liuli Island had also published the list of materials required for all applicants.
Li Fan was currently studying this list with the others from the Tianbao Pavilion.
“Everything else on this list is manageable, but what is Starsea Driftsand?” Li Fan asked, frowning after reading it through.
Having worked at the Tianbao Pavilion for a year, Li Fan’s knowledge had expanded quite a bit. At the very least, he had a general understanding of the common ores and rare materials circulating within the Congyun Sea.
Not only did Sun Zhang give him a blank look, but even the Tianbao Pavilion’s Shopkeeper, Yin Yuzhen, fell silent.
“The rest of the materials are standard. It's only this Starsea Driftsand I don't recognize. Getting our hands on that is probably the key to securing a spot,” Sun Zhang said.
“In over a decade of business, I’ve never heard of this thing either,” Yin Yuzhen said, lightly tapping the table with her finger. “It seems we’ll have to ask the people from the Wanhua Trade Association.”
“Those people are like hungry ghosts reborn; their greed is unstoppable. I’m afraid it will cost us dearly,” Sun Zhang sighed.
“I am determined to secure a spot in the spirit pool,” Li Fan said firmly.
The Wanhua Trade Association was not a local business of the Congyun Sea, but one hailing from a continent countless li away.
Rumored to have the backing of an Immortal Master, the association could easily cross the endless seas to do business in the remote Congyun Sea.
Ever since Yin Yuzhen established a connection with the Wanhua Trade Association over a decade ago, the two parties had maintained trade relations over the years.
It was precisely by relying on the Wanhua Trade Association that the Tianbao Pavilion had been able to quickly digest the vast quantities of treasure Li Fan had “salvaged,” converting them into profit.
“We have one year to prepare. The Wanhua Trade Association’s agent should pass through the Congyun Sea in three months. I can contact him then,” Yin Yuzhen said.
“But we cannot rely solely on the Wanhua Trade Association,” Li Fan decided, his tone firm. “Over the past year, Liuli Island has taken in many refugees from other islands. These displaced people come from all corners of the Congyun Sea, some likely recognize Starsea Driftsand. We should inquire among them.
“Additionally, other factions on the island are also searching for Starsea Driftsand. We must monitor them closely. If they make any discoveries, we need to be ready to move immediately.”