To secure a spot in Liuli Island’s Body Purification Spirit Pool in a past life, Li Fan had spent most of his plundered treasures on his laundering operations.
The remainder was converted to just 235 contribution points.
Seeing that the total was originally valued at 863 contribution points, Li Fan understood why some cultivators would secretly help mortals sneak into the cultivation world.
Just by raiding the homes of a few corrupt officials and wealthy landlords, he had earned over eight hundred contribution points.
For those cultivators, making over a thousand points per trip was probably normal.
Considering a Qi Refinement technique only cost a little over a thousand points, making one trip every ten years or so would still count as a significant income.
Wealth truly tempts the hearts of men... Li Fan sighed, then took out the Liuli Pearl he had obtained from the giant Liuli Fish.
“Exquisite Liuli Pearl, convertible to 850 contribution points.”
After some thought, he realized the Exquisite Liuli Pearl was like a weaker version of the Liuli Pill. Though its effects were somewhat inferior, it had the advantage of being reusable.
Since it would definitely be useful for his future cultivation, Li Fan decided not to convert it and instead stored it away.
Looking at his total of 2831 contribution points, Li Fan shook his head.
It was still not enough!
Knowledge related to Curios of heaven and earth alone would cost over two thousand points.
When he was being hunted by an enforcer of the Myriad Immortals Alliance, Li Fan realized that although he had reached the late-stage Qi Refinement realm, his actual combat strength was pitifully weak.
The Thousand Mechanisms Jade Cosmos Scripture, his current primary cultivation technique, lacked effective killing methods.
Apart from Formless Killing Mechanism that he had comprehended, he had no other means to defend himself against enemies.
Though Formless Killing Mechanism was powerful, it had a fatal flaw—it often took some time to take effect.
It was only suitable for ambushing opponents stealthily, not for direct confrontations.
Once engaged in combat or surrounded by multiple enemies, Li Fan’s only option was to flee. And with only the most basic Wind Riding Art at his disposal, he would most likely fail to outrun his opponents.
Unable to fight and unable to escape, tragedy was inevitable.
Therefore, whether it was the myriad of killing techniques, evasion arts, defensive techniques, or various artifacts, array diagrams, and pills available in the Tianxuan Mirror, Li Fan wanted them all!
This meager amount of contribution points was far from sufficient.
After pondering for a moment, he began browsing the mission tasks posted by other cultivators in the Tianxuan Mirror.
When he had merged with the consciousness of the Congyun Sea during his previous life, he had glimpsed many hidden treasures and secrets within the sea.
Some of these were within his current ability to retrieve, like the Exquisite Liuli Pearl.
However, many others were extremely dangerous; even Foundation Establishment cultivators couldn’t easily claim them.
Rather than letting these secrets rot at the bottom of the sea, it was better to sell some of them early and convert them into combat strength as soon as possible.
His gaze swept quickly across the listings. When he saw one particular task, Li Fan abruptly stopped.
With a thought, he focused his divine sense to examine the task details:
Elder Chen of the Medicine Hall requires a supplementary ingredient for pill refining purposes, Blueblood Coral.
A bounty is hereby offered to all members of the Myriad Immortals Alliance: those who provide relevant information will be rewarded with 1000 contribution points upon verification.
Those who can directly provide a stalk of Blueblood Coral will be rewarded with 3000 contribution points.
Li Fan scanned the other tasks, but this one offered the highest reward. Thus, Li Fan accepted it.
Northwest sector of the Congyun Sea, roughly two hundred li west of Mistcrow Island. I’ve seen this type of coral on the seafloor there.
Unfortunately, there’s a sea serpent guarding it.
I couldn’t gauge the serpent’s exact strength back then, but glimpsing it from a distance filled me with a sense of lethal danger.
Li Fan fabricated a story and submitted his report.
Trusting in the Myriad Immortals Island’s efficiency, he knew the verification of his information would be swift.
Sure enough, in just half a day, Li Fan received his reward.
Yet, intriguingly, the bounty for the Blueblood Coral remained posted. It wasn’t removed.
It seems Elder Chen requires a significant quantity of this Blueblood Coral. I wonder what kind of pill he’s refining.
The fact that he was willing to spend three thousand contribution points for a single supplementary ingredient suggested the pill he was concocting was truly extraordinary.
But Li Fan’s curiosity was just a passing one.
Elder Chen was rumored to be the chief elder of the Myriad Immortals Island’s Medicine Hall, a mighty cultivator at the Nascent Soul realm. That level was still far beyond Li Fan’s current reach.
Suppressing his fleeting curiosity, Li Fan focused his attention on the most eye-catching bounty among the many posted.
It was also the reason he was so desperate to grow his strength.
“Mission: Bounty for the Cloudwater Model”
“Reward: 100,000 contribution points”
There were just two simple lines, with no additional explanation.
But that number—one hundred thousand contribution points—made every cultivator who saw it tremble with desire, unable to stay calm.
One hundred thousand contribution points! Many cultivators in the Myriad Immortals Alliance might never accumulate that much in their entire lives.
With one hundred thousand points, reaching the Nascent Soul realm was uncertain, but attaining the Golden Core realm would be virtually guaranteed!
Countless cultivators had greedily read those two lines over and over, fantasizing about the glory and prestige that would follow upon completing such a task.
Unfortunately, the bounty had been posted for over a decade. During this time, not only had no one completed it, but no one had even managed to figure out what the Cloudwater Model actually was.
The task issuer was also shrouded in mystery, having never appeared or provided any clarification.
It was as if they were saying: those who understand, naturally understand; for those who don’t, explanation is pointless.
Currently, no one in the entire Congyun Sea knew where the Cloudwater Model was located... except for Li Fan.
Cloudwater Model... Cloudwater Palace. Li Fan repeated the names in his mind.
This treasure, worth one hundred thousand contribution points, was located within the Cloudwater Palace.
The Cloudwater Palace, or rather its ruins, was the place mentioned in Xiao Heng’s letter from a past life, the place he had gone to search for a Curio of heaven and earth.
The reason no one else knew this secret was simply because the Cloudwater Palace had yet to be revealed to the world.
In his previous life, Li Fan had only become interested in the Cloudwater Palace because of Xiao Heng’s message.
He had committed this upcoming event, which was destined to shake the Congyun Sea, to memory.
The Cloudwater Palace stood isolated far out at sea.
It was said to have been the most powerful sect within the Congyun Sea in ancient times.
When the Great Reformation descended upon the world, the disciples of Cloudwater Palace turned on each other. Fewer than one in a thousand survived.
The survivors decided to activate the sect protection array, sealing themselves off from the world from that day forward.
Thus, Cloudwater Palace remained perpetually veiled by the grand array, hidden in the central region of the Congyun Sea.
It was not until Anchor Year 11 that the array finally shattered, allowing Cloudwater Palace to reappear in the world ten thousand years later.
Yet, even choosing seclusion had not spared Cloudwater Palace from its ultimate fate.
When the cultivators of the Congyun Sea finally ventured inside, they discovered the sect had long since collapsed, turning into a ruin rife with Oddities.