Li Fan had encountered many wondrous treasures of heaven and earth.
Not to mention the Canghai Pearl, formed by the will of the Congyun Sea, Kou Hong's Horned Dragon Branch, and Dao Xuanzi's Rusted Sword Dao Xuan.
Looking at them now, it seemed highly likely that they were the remnants of fallen cultivators from the past.
The Horned Dragon Branch was used to achieve greatness from small beginnings, performing acts of devouring; the Rusted Sword Dao Xuan embodied an unyielding will, with the ability to slow down rusting.
One could vaguely see the shadows of cultivators within them.
Upon suddenly learning the secrets of these wondrous treasures, Li Fan was somewhat shocked.
However, having witnessed the grand spectacle of the red flame burning the sea, he quickly calmed down.
In Li Fan's view, the conflict between this world and the cultivators had clearly reached a critical point.
Under such intensified conflict, any bizarre occurrences were possible.
Li Fan continued to delve into Sikong Bo's memories.
That Nascent Soul cultivator had long transformed himself into a foundation-building treasure, attaching himself to a young child.
Generally, he remained in a deep slumber.
He only awoke to guide the child's cultivation or when the child faced life-threatening danger.
Thus, he had not discovered Sikong Bo's malicious intentions while observing in secret.
Until that night, when Sikong Bo attempted to extract the child's essence blood, he was startled awake.
The Nascent Soul cultivator was instantly furious; this child was crucial to his potential transformation into a deity, or even merging with the Dao. How could he allow others to covet him?
He immediately revealed his form, a green willow, intending to kill Sikong Bo on the spot.
One was a heavenly treasure transformed from a Nascent Soul cultivator, with greatly reduced strength.
The other, though only at the Foundation Establishment stage, possessed a millennium-old secret sect's inheritance, with endless methods.
For a time, the two were evenly matched.
Both used all their means, fighting fiercely, with neither willing to retreat.
After a prolonged struggle, both were severely injured and began to harbor thoughts of retreat.
At this moment, the young child suddenly appeared.
His expression was stern, coldly watching the two, completely different from the innocent five or six-year-old child he had been.
His cultivation had already reached the peak of Qi Refinement, and with a heavenly treasure, he could step into the Foundation Establishment stage at any time.
The green willow sensed something amiss.
He wanted to escape but was already too late.
During his slumber, the child had long placed various restrictions on him.
Now, they suddenly activated, and the green willow was instantly absorbed into the child's body.
In a moment, he was completely refined.
Witnessing this scene, Sikong Bo was terrified and fled.
The child, of course, would not let him go.
Although the child had just entered the Foundation Establishment stage, he displayed a faint aura of a grandmaster in every move, each strike hitting Sikong Bo's vital points.
Moreover, he seemed to know a lot about Sikong Bo's background.
Every time Sikong Bo attempted to separate and escape with his avatar, the avatar was destroyed immediately.
The two chased each other, and Sikong Bo's avatar was completely destroyed, leaving him severely injured and at his wit's end.
He had no choice but to release the remnants of his sect elders' souls from the Heaven-Stealing Sun-Swapping Token, hoping to hold off the child for a moment.
Those remnants did cause some interference to the child, allowing Sikong Bo to distance himself.
But then he saw a purple lightning bolt descend from the sky, turning all the remnants to ashes.
Sikong Bo was so frightened that his soul almost left his body, fleeing madly without looking back.
He fled to the remote Congyun Sea Region before finally stopping.
However, his injuries were too severe, and he soon reached his lifespan limit in the Congyun Sea.
Before his death, Sikong Bo found Sikong Yi and took him as his disciple.
He hastily passed on the Heaven-Stealing Sun-Swapping Technique and the token to him before perishing.
As for Sikong Yi's memories, compared to his master's thrilling experiences, they were much simpler.
Although he received the Heaven-Stealing Sun-Swapping Sect's inheritance, his opportunistic master left him almost nothing before dying.
Being a rogue cultivator was extremely difficult.
Even gathering materials to refine an avatar was challenging.
So, after reaching the Qi Refinement stage on his own, he decisively joined the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals.
After breaking through to the middle stage of Qi Refinement, he began collecting materials to refine his own avatar.
By chance, during an underwater exploration, he stumbled upon a corpse.
Sikong Yi vaguely sensed that this corpse was extraordinary, perhaps a powerful cultivator in life.
So, he used the corpse as material to create his avatar.
This avatar was Bai Li Chen.
When the avatar was successfully refined, a series of blurred images appeared in his mind.
It turned out that this corpse was a disciple of the ancient Cloud Water Heavenly Palace.
During a great catastrophe, he was severely injured and escaped from the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace.
Unfortunately, he couldn't hold on for long and perished in the sea.
It wasn't until thousands of years later that Sikong Yi refined him into an avatar.
Through this avatar, Sikong Yi not only obtained a technique called the Ocean-Calming Sword Technique but also learned some secrets of the former Cloud Water Heavenly Palace.
Unfortunately, they were just vague fragments, not fully comprehensible.
Moreover, the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace had long been concealed by a grand formation, hidden from the world. Sikong Yi had no means to explore it.
Later, he discovered the item worth one hundred thousand contribution points, the Cloud Water Scroll, existed in the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace, and he was thrilled.
Knowing his opportunity had come, he kept a close watch on any anomalies in the central sea region, secretly waiting for the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace to open.
In the eleventh year of anchoring, when the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace reappeared in the world, he entered it immediately.
He planned to obtain the Cloud Water Scroll, earn one hundred thousand contribution points, and pave a smooth path for his cultivation.
But he didn't expect to encounter Li Fan.
Sikong Yi never knew, even until his death, who killed him.
And how did the other party notice him?
Clearly, he had learned from his master's lesson, acting with utmost caution.
Feeling the intense unwillingness in Sikong Yi's remnant soul, Li Fan's expression remained unchanged.
He summoned the Blue Flame Phantom Spirit and completely annihilated the two remnant souls.
"If it weren't for me, Sikong Yi would have successfully obtained the Cloud Water Scroll, exchanged it for one hundred thousand contribution points, and then used a long-distance teleportation array to leave the Congyun Sea before anyone could react."
"No, that's not right." Recalling the events of his previous life, Li Fan shook his head.
"In my previous life, many people witnessed Sikong Yi leaving through the teleportation array alone. But no one noticed Bai Li Chen..."
"Perhaps, this was Sikong Yi's golden cicada shedding its shell strategy. He probably never left the Congyun Sea."
"His true self left the Congyun Sea under everyone's watchful eyes, creating the illusion that he had left. In reality, he secretly returned to a place within the Congyun Sea using the Heaven-Stealing Sun-Swapping Technique."
"No need to deceive the Profound Mirror, just disappearing from the sight of those coveting the one hundred thousand contribution points would suffice..."
"A clever method, perhaps I could do the same in this life. After all, the temptation of one hundred thousand contribution points is too great."
Li Fan stored the Heaven-Stealing Sun-Swapping Token into his storage ring and flew towards a nearby island.
He needed to return to the Ten Thousand Immortals Island first.
The harvest from this Cloud Water Heavenly Palace expedition was too great, almost overwhelming.
He needed to spend some time properly digesting it.
(End of Chapter)