In his previous life, Li Fan spent most of his amassed treasures to secure a spot in the Purification Spirit Pool on Glass Island by laundering them through salvaging. In the end, he was left with only 235 contribution points.
In this life, the total value of 863 contribution points made Li Fan understand why some cultivators secretly helped mortals smuggle into the Immortal Cultivation World. Li Fan had merely confiscated the homes of a few corrupt officials and powerful figures, yet he had earned over 800 contribution points.
It seemed quite normal for those cultivators to earn over a thousand points in one trip. After all, a single Qi refining technique was worth over a thousand points. Over a decade, even one trip would amount to a considerable income.
"Money truly moves the heart..." Li Fan sighed, taking out the Glass Pearl he had obtained from the giant Glass Fish. "Exquisite Glass Pearl, equivalent to 850 contribution points." He pondered for a moment. This Exquisite Glass Pearl was akin to a weakened version of the Glass Pill. Its effects were slightly inferior, but it had the advantage of not being consumed. It would certainly be useful for future cultivation, so Li Fan decided not to exchange it and put it away instead.
Looking at his total of 2831 contribution points, Li Fan shook his head. Still not enough, too little! The knowledge related to the wonders of heaven and earth alone required over two thousand points.
When Li Fan was previously pursued by the protectors of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, he realized that although he had reached the late stage of Qi refining, his actual combat power was quite low. The Thousand Mysteries Jade Golden Seal, his current main cultivation technique, lacked effective offensive means.
Apart from his self-realized formless killing intent, he had no other methods to defend against enemies. Although the formless killing intent was formidable, it had a fatal flaw: it often took some time to take effect. It was only suitable for covert actions, not for direct combat.
Once engaged in a fight or surrounded, Li Fan could only choose to flee. Currently, he only knew the most basic Wind Riding Technique and was likely to be outrun by others. Unable to fight, unable to escape.
A tragedy was inevitable.
Therefore, the myriad of offensive techniques, escape arts, defensive techniques, and various magical artifacts, formation diagrams, and pills in the Profound Mirror... Li Fan wanted them all! This little contribution was far from enough.
After pondering for a while, he began to browse the bounty tasks posted by other cultivators in the Profound Mirror. In his previous life, when he was assimilated with the consciousness of the Vast Sea, he had seen many hidden treasures in the Congyun Sea.
Among them were some he could currently obtain with his strength, like the Exquisite Glass Pearl. There were also many that were extremely dangerous, even beyond the reach of Foundation Establishment cultivators. Rather than letting these secrets rot in the sea, it was better to sell some early and quickly convert them into his combat power.
His gaze quickly swept across. Upon seeing one of the tasks, Li Fan immediately stopped. With a thought, he checked the task details.
Elder Chen of the Medicine Hall needed a supplementary ingredient for alchemy: blue-blood coral. He was offering a bounty to the members of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals: those providing relevant information would be rewarded with 1000 contribution points upon verification. Those directly providing blue-blood coral would be rewarded with 3000 contribution points.
Li Fan reviewed the other tasks again and found that this task offered the most generous reward among those he knew. So, Li Fan accepted the task.
"Northwest sea region of the Congyun Sea, two hundred miles west of Mist Crow Island. I once saw this coral at the seabed." "Unfortunately, there's a sea snake guarding the coral." "The exact strength of the sea snake is unknown, but just a distant glance gave me a sense of mortal danger." ...
Li Fan crafted a story and submitted the task. He believed that with the efficiency of the Ten Thousand Immortals Island, the authenticity of the information he provided would soon be verified. Sure enough, in just half a day, Li Fan received the task reward.
However, intriguingly, the bounty task for the blue-blood coral was not canceled and remained posted.
"It seems Elder Chen needs a considerable amount of blue-blood coral. I wonder what kind of pill he's refining."
Spending 3000 contribution points on just one auxiliary ingredient indicated that the pill he intended to refine was extraordinary. But Li Fan was merely curious. Elder Chen was said to be the chief elder of the Medicine Hall on Ten Thousand Immortals Island, a Nascent Soul stage grand cultivator.
That level was still far beyond Li Fan's reach.
Suppressing his momentary curiosity, Li Fan focused his attention on the most eye-catching task among the many bounties. This was also the reason Li Fan was eager to improve his strength. Task: Bounty for the Cloud Water Scroll.
Reward: One hundred thousand contribution points. Just two simple lines, without any further explanation. But the figure of one hundred thousand contribution points made every cultivator who saw it feel their heart sway uncontrollably.
That was one hundred thousand contribution points! Many cultivators in the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals might not accumulate that much in a lifetime. With those one hundred thousand contribution points, reaching the Nascent Soul stage might be uncertain, but advancing to the Golden Core stage would definitely not be difficult!
Countless cultivators, envious, had read those two lines countless times, imagining the glorious scenes after completing the task. Unfortunately, the bounty task had been posted for over a decade, and not only was it uncompleted, but no one even knew what the Cloud Water Scroll was. The task issuer remained extremely mysterious, never showing up or providing any explanation. It was as if they were telling everyone that those who understood would naturally understand, and those who didn't would not benefit even if told.
In the Congyun Sea, no one knew where the Cloud Water Scroll was. Except for Li Fan.
"Cloud Water Scroll, Cloud Water Heavenly Palace."
Li Fan repeated in his heart. This Cloud Water Scroll, valued at one hundred thousand contribution points, was located in the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace.
The Cloud Water Heavenly Palace, or rather the ruins of the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace, was the place mentioned in Xiao Heng's letter in his previous life, where he went to seek the wonders of heaven and earth.
The reason no one knew this secret yet was simply because the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace had not yet appeared in the world. In his previous life, Li Fan became interested in the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace due to Xiao Heng's message, which led him to remember this upcoming major event in the Congyun Sea.
The Cloud Water Heavenly Palace, isolated overseas. It was said to be the most powerful sect within the Congyun Sea region during ancient times. When the heaven and earth catastrophe descended, the disciples of the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace slaughtered each other, with only one in a thousand surviving.
The survivors decided to activate the sect protection array, thus secluding themselves from the world. As a result, the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace had always been shrouded by the formation, hidden in the central sea region of the Congyun Sea.
It wasn't until the eleventh year of anchoring that the formation was destroyed, and the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace, hidden for ten thousand years, reappeared in the world. However, the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace, which chose seclusion, could not escape its fate of destruction.
When the cultivators of the Congyun Sea entered, they discovered that the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace had long become a bizarre ruin filled with remnants.
Thank you to the book friends Big Knife Hungry, Silent Meow, and 20200312190025173 for their rewards. PS: Chapter 57 has been updated with two pictures in the chapter comments. If you're interested, you can check them out.
(End of Chapter)