Jiao Xiuyuan's face lit up with pleasure. "Fellow Daoist, your way of doing things suits me perfectly! As the saying goes, even brothers must settle accounts. Although your scheme earned me hundreds of millions, rules cannot be broken."
After a moment's thought, he said, "I'll give you a steep discount. Just transfer two hundred contribution points to me."
Li Fan chuckled. "Fellow Daoist Jiao, you are too courteous!"
What Jiao Xiuyuan cared about was not the contribution points themselves, but the proper completion of the transaction's formalities.
Li Fan transferred the two hundred contribution points without delay.
Once the transaction was complete, Li Fan faintly sensed an indescribable, subtle change in the puppet before him, something that had never happened before.
A thought stirred in his mind, and a conjecture surfaced. "Fellow Daoist Jiao, are you perhaps on the verge of a breakthrough?"
Jiao Xiuyuan looked surprised, seemingly not expecting a cultivator at the Golden Core realm to have noticed. "You have a keen eye, Fellow Daoist! The ancient Heavenly Mechanisms Sect truly lives up to its reputation."
He sighed in admiration, then nodded. "Indeed. However, the technique I cultivate is unique. What I call a breakthrough is entirely different from the usual advancement in cultivation realms.
"Hmm... The specifics are not convenient to share. I must ask for your understanding, Fellow Daoist." For once, Jiao Xiuyuan's voice carried a hint of apology.
Li Fan nodded to show he understood.
"But I, Jiao Xiuyuan, am not one who forgets kindness. Thanks to you, Fellow Daoist, I have profited greatly.
"If there is anything you need, just say the word. I will certainly see it done!" Jiao Xiuyuan declared, thumping his chest with vigor.
Li Fan seized the opportunity. "As it happens, there is one matter I must trouble you with. Are you familiar with the ancient Medicine King Sect?" He explained his need for help in excavating the Mini Medicine King Cauldrons.
"I have a premonition that these mini cauldrons will become entangled in numerous karmic threads. The matter is of great importance. However, the old site of the Medicine King Sect may pose a mortal risk to me, so I cannot go personally. I can only trouble you, Fellow Daoist."
Jiao Xiuyuan agreed without hesitation.
"Also, ever since Chief Lu came to Myriad Immortals Island that day, her traces have vanished. You are well-informed, Fellow Daoist. Could you help me inquire about her whereabouts as well? As someone who personally witnessed the event, I am quite curious about its impact on the Myriad Immortals Alliance." Bound by the confidentiality agreement, Li Fan could only phrase the request indirectly.
Jiao Xiuyuan readily agreed to this as well.
After thanking him, the two chatted for a while longer.
Only when the cultivators who had been crowding outside gradually dispersed did Li Fan quietly leave the Thousand Li Hall.
Lu Xichan's blockade of Myriad Immortals Island had been lifted; cultivators could move freely once more.
No one knew exactly what she had discovered, but it was said that even Spirit Transformation Immortal Eminences like Zi Yun and Hong Xi had been recalled to the Myriad Immortals Alliance headquarters.
Around the same time, cultivators with keen senses noticed a series of highly unusual transfer orders being issued in quick succession. Cultivators from the Heavenly Mechanism Hall and the Strategy Array Hall at the Nascent Soul realm and above were being summoned to headquarters one after another.
Such a large-scale mobilization... are they planning to research and construct the Tianxuan Soul-Locking Array ahead of schedule? I hope the Five Elders Council puts in more effort. I really don't want to see that sickly green sky again in this lifetime.
While waiting for Jiao Xiuyuan to report back, Li Fan quietly slipped away from Myriad Immortals Island alone.
Assuming the guise of the envoy from the Myriad Worlds Coalition, he headed straight for the island where the Empire's delegation was staying.
He hadn't forgotten that the ten million contribution points from the Five Elders Council were still in their hands.
Those ten million contribution points were in the form of standard spirit stones, convertible personal contribution points in the Tianxuan Mirror at any time.
But this situation was special. The sum was enormous, and its origins were dubious. If Li Fan tried to convert them on his own, it might alert the relevant cultivators, especially since he had already converted five million contribution points once before.
Since he needed to obtain the technique for controlling exotic beasts from the Empire anyway, it was better to hand this hot potato directly to them. The number of technique thieves who had smuggled themselves over from the Empire was considerable; surely they could launder this massive sum of contribution points from the Five Elders Council without difficulty.
He traveled swiftly and soon arrived above the island.
Sensing his approach, Qing flew out to greet him. Compared to her previously icy manner, she was now far more courteous. It seemed that no matter the era, the power of money never failed.
"So, Fellow Daoist, are you satisfied with our Myriad Worlds Coalition's gift?" Li Fan asked with a smile.
"Satisfied? More than satisfied. It was nearly a shock," Qing said, leading him into a private chamber. "Ten million contribution points is truly a monumental amount. But why send someone to deliver it so suddenly? Didn't we agree to complete the transaction at our next meeting?
"If the messenger hadn't identified himself, I might have attacked." Her tone carried amusement, but also genuine confusion.
Li Fan shook his head. "There has been a change. For some time to come, the Myriad Immortals Alliance may tighten surveillance within its territory. We need to complete our transaction as soon as possible.
"My arrival was delayed precisely because I was arranging a place for your people to settle..." He paused deliberately, leaving the sentence unfinished.
"I believe we have demonstrated sufficient sincerity. What comes next depends on what your Empire thinks." Li Fan took a sip of the tea Qing had prepared and spoke slowly.
"Hmm? This tea is excellent." As the sky-blue liquid reached his stomach, he remarked with mild surprise.
Unlike the spirit teas he had drunk before, this one offered no benefit to cultivation, spiritual power, or divine sense. Instead, streams of warmth radiated from his limbs and coursed through his meridians, refining and strengthening his body.
As a practitioner of the Creation Forge Technique, Li Fan recognized the sensation immediately. It felt remarkably similar to the power drawn from the human body's hidden reserves.
"This is Supreme Spirit Dragon Whisker Tea. If you like it, I can give you some, Fellow Daoist," Qing said with a smile.
She handed Li Fan a storage ring, then her expression turned serious. "That was a personal matter. What we discuss next concerns the transaction between the Empire and the Myriad Worlds Coalition.
"We believe the Coalition does indeed intend to aid the Empire. Therefore, the Empire wishes to reciprocate and deepen our cooperation.
"This is the first item of the transaction." As she spoke, Qing handed over another storage ring of unique design. Carved upon it was an Azure Luan Bird, rendered so vividly that its eyes seemed to shift and move.
Li Fan studied the Azure Luan Bird and found it strangely familiar. But most birds looked rather similar; he could not be certain just yet.
He accepted the ring and turned his divine sense inward to inspect its contents.
To his surprise, his divine sense met resistance. The inspection failed.
Only when the Azure Luan Bird cast a lazy glance at him and gave a faint flutter of its wings did the contents finally become clear.