Li Fan felt a flicker of surprise. He had just arrived at Myriad Immortals Island; who could already be sending him a message?
He selected it, and a somewhat familiar figure materialized before him.
It was Xiao Heng.
He looked like a completely different person compared to four or five years ago. Dressed in pristine white robes, his long hair flowed freely about him, and he exuded an air of transcendent grace.
“Brother Li, you’ve finally arrived,” Xiao Heng said with a warm smile.
“The care you showed me on Liuli Island has always weighed on my mind. All this time, I've carried the shame of leaving the moment I reached the Qi Refinement realm, never finding a way to truly repay you.
“Since coming to Myriad Immortals Island, I’ve come to understand how difficult it is to obtain cultivation techniques in today’s world. This is especially so for newcomers who’ve just joined the Myriad Immortals Alliance. It often takes a year or two to accumulate enough contribution points to redeem a Qi Refinement realm technique. I was no exception.
“Fortunately, as your strength grows, so does the number of ways to earn contribution points. The situation gradually improves.
“Since I began cultivating, I’ve encountered several rare opportunities. I broke through to the late-stage Qi Refinement realm just a year ago, but now I’ve hit another bottleneck.
“I plan to journey to the center of the Congyun Sea, to the ruins of Cloudwater Palace, to seek a Curio of heaven and earth and establish my Dao Foundation. Curios are exceedingly rare, and this journey may keep me away for several years.
“Before departing, I’ve left a water attribute technique for you. Myriad Immortals Island is situated in the Congyun Sea, where water energy is most abundant. Water attribute techniques are not only easier to cultivate here but also remarkably powerful.
“Brother Li, remember to cultivate diligently. It’s best not to leave the island until you break through to the mid-stage Qi Refinement realm.
“When I return, we must share a drink together!”
Xiao Heng’s image gradually faded, leaving behind a jade slip.
“Lesser Water Manipulation Art, Qi Refinement technique. Current practitioners: 0.”
As Li Fan studied the technique, he realized it only covered cultivation up to the mid-stage Qi Refinement realm, making it incomplete. Even so, redeeming it through the Tianxuan Mirror would have cost a full 800 contribution points.
This kid... A warmth spread through Li Fan’s heart.
Truth be told, Li Fan hadn’t done any great favor for Xiao Heng. He’d merely helped bury Su Changyu and secured him slightly better lodging on Liuli Island.
Besides, Xiao Heng had provided Li Fan with accurate information about the Starsea Driftsand in return.
Yet Xiao Heng had held onto that small kindness all this time. Even though his cultivation level now far surpassed Li Fan’s, he hadn’t forgotten about it.
It seemed Xiao Heng’s character was truly commendable.
Of course, part of it might have been because Xiao Heng believed they were both from the Li World.
Regardless, Li Fan would remember this. He was not the kind to repay kindness with ingratitude.
Along with the Lesser Water Manipulation Art, another small jade slip appeared.
It was the Taishang Primordial True Scripture, which Li Fan had heard Kou Hong mention long ago.
Cultivating this scripture allowed one to disperse their cultivation at will with minimal loss. It was a technique every cultivator in the current era considered essential.
With both the Lesser Water Manipulation Art and the Thousand Mechanisms Jade Cosmos Scripture in hand, supplemented by the Taishang Primordial True Scripture, Li Fan quickly made a decision.
On the surface, he would cultivate the Lesser Water Manipulation Art as a red herring, while secretly practicing the Thousand Mechanisms Jade Cosmos Scripture.
Of course, it would be best to find a pretext to leave Myriad Immortals Island first, then cultivate the Thousand Mechanisms Jade Cosmos Scripture only after leaving.
Though the Tianxuan Mirror might not pay attention to an insignificant Qi Refinement cultivator like Li Fan, it was never wrong to be cautious.
Li Fan was new to the cultivation world and still ignorant of many things. He needed to absorb a massive amount of information, and fast.
Fortunately, the Tianxuan Mirror offered free access to basic informational texts.
For several days, Li Fan stayed within the mirror, devouring the available material with ravenous intensity.
The Congyun Sea Atlas provided detailed descriptions of island geography, local specialties, and history.
Preliminary Discourse on Cultivation explained crucial considerations for those who entered the Qi Refinement realm but had yet to formally practice a technique. This included the basic applications of divine sense and the manipulation of spiritual qi.
Method, Wealth, Companions, Land introduced the four essential elements of cultivation: techniques, resources, Dao companions, and cave dwellings. It emphasized the scarcity and critical importance of techniques in the current cultivation world, specifically warning young cultivators against carelessly revealing which technique they practiced, lest they invite unimaginable calamity.
The Secret History of Ancient Cultivation , written from a first-person perspective, chronicled the life of an outer disciple of the ancient Great Dao Sect as she underwent various trials, advancing step by step to become an inner disciple, a hereditary disciple, a Dao Heir, and finally, the sect leader.
The Tianxuan Mirror Shopping Guide listed the items a cultivator should prioritize for redemption within the mirror, such as storage rings and protective robes.
Li Fan spent seven or eight days reading all these free books.
The texts that caught his eye next— Introduction to Arrays , Primer on Alchemy , Fundamentals of Artifact Forging
Newly arrived and short on funds, Li Fan could only plan to acquire them later.
With still some time left in the Tianxuan Mirror, Li Fan began practicing the Lesser Water Manipulation Art.
He was already aware that the Tianxuan Mirror offered a major benefit: one could use contribution points to activate its Assisted Cultivation Mode.
In this mode, the concentration of spiritual qi inside the mirror multiplied several times over, nearly rivaling that of a top-tier grotto-heaven.
Not only that, the spiritual qi could be converted into whatever attribute the cultivator required, ensuring a constant, reliable supply that eliminated any worry of running out during intense training.
Furthermore, all cultivators in this mode were given an epiphanic state boost. In this state, one’s comprehension was significantly enhanced, making it considerably easier to grasp cultivation techniques.
Spending 10 contribution points, Li Fan redeemed one day in the Assisted Cultivation Mode.
As vast amounts of spiritual qi surged into him, Li Fan began cultivating the Lesser Water Manipulation Art.
He immediately felt the boost provided by the Tianxuan Mirror as spiritual qi spontaneously converged toward his body, compressed and accelerated.
The abstruse and profound passages of the Lesser Water Manipulation Art became instantly understandable, with each concept clicking into place as soon as he read it.
His first circulation of spiritual qi along the technique’s pathways didn’t feel like a first attempt, but as smooth and familiar as if he had performed it a thousand times.
This boosted cultivation state almost fooled Li Fan into believing he was a peerless genius.
Cultivation itself became a form of bliss, and Li Fan immersed himself in it, growing utterly captivated.
The day passed swiftly.
The moment the boost expired, Li Fan was abruptly ejected from that seamless, fluid state of cultivation.
When he attempted to operate the technique again, the difference was immediately and painfully apparent.
In the Assisted Cultivation Mode, his progress was over thirty times faster.
The sheer disparity created such a profound sense of loss that Li Fan nearly succumbed to the urge to redeem another day immediately.
But after glancing at his ten remaining contribution points, he forcefully restrained himself.
A treasure like this should be mine. He thought, a sudden, fierce wave of greed rising within him.