Chapter 65: Ten Thousand Contribution Points

In his previous life, to secure a spot in the Pure Body Spirit Pool on Glazed Island, Li Fan spent most of the treasures he had plundered, laundering them through salvage operations. What was left in the end only amounted to 235 contribution points.

The total value of 863 contribution points in this life also made Li Fan understand why cultivators would secretly help mortals smuggle themselves into the cultivation world. He, Li Fan, had merely raided the homes of a few corrupt officials and powerful gentry, yet he had already earned over eight hundred contribution points. It was probably normal for those cultivators to get over a thousand points in one trip. Keep in mind, a Qi Refining cultivation technique only cost over a thousand points. If they did this once every decade or so, it would be a considerable income.

"Wealth truly tempts people..." Li Fan sighed with emotion, then took out the Glazed Pearl he had obtained from the giant Glazed Fish.

"Exquisite Glazed Pearl, convertible to 850 contribution points."

Thinking it over, this Exquisite Glazed Pearl was equivalent to a weaker version of a Glazed Pill. Although its effect was slightly inferior, its advantage was that it wouldn't be consumed. It would definitely be useful for future cultivation, so Li Fan chose not to exchange it, but put it away again.

Li Fan looked at his total of 2831 contribution points and shook his head. It was still not enough, too little! Knowledge about rare heavenly and earthly treasures alone cost over two thousand points.

When Li Fan was previously chased by the Myriad Immortals Alliance Protector, he realized that while he currently possessed the late-stage Qi Refining realm, his actual combat power was very low. The "Thousand Mechanisms Jade Ring Golden Tome," as his current primary cultivation technique, lacked effective offensive methods. Besides the Formless Killing Intent he had comprehended himself, there were no other ways to defend against enemies. Although the Formless Killing Intent was powerful, it had a fatal flaw: it often took some time to take effect. It was only suitable for ambushing people secretly, and not for direct combat. Once he was in a fight or surrounded, Li Fan could only choose to flee. However, he currently only knew the most rudimentary Wind Control Art, and would likely not outrun others. Unable to win in a fight, and unable to escape. Tragedy was inevitable.

Therefore, the dazzling array of offensive techniques, escape arts, defensive techniques, as well as various magical artifacts, formation diagrams, and elixirs in the Myriad Mystery Mirror... Li Fan wanted them all! This small amount of contribution points was simply not enough.

After a moment of contemplation, he began to check the bounty missions posted by other cultivators in the Myriad Mystery Mirror. When he assimilated with the Sea Consciousness in his previous life, he had seen many hidden secret treasures in the Cloud Sea. Some of these were obtainable with his current strength, such as the Exquisite Glazed Pearl. Many others were extremely dangerous, so much so that even Foundation Establishment cultivators could not easily covet them. Rather than letting these secrets rot in the sea, it was better to choose some and sell them early, to quickly convert them into his own combat power.

His gaze quickly swept across. Upon seeing one particular mission, Li Fan immediately stopped. With a flicker of his spiritual sense, he checked the mission details. Elder Chen of the Medicine Hall, needing an auxiliary ingredient for alchemy, was short of one: Blue Blood Coral. He was now offering a bounty to all in the Myriad Immortals Alliance: Those who provided relevant information, once verified, would be rewarded with 1000 contribution points. Those who directly provided Blue Blood Coral would be rewarded with 3000 contribution points.

Li Fan looked through the other missions again; this was the only one he knew of that offered the most generous reward. So, Li Fan accepted this mission.

"In the northwestern sea area of the Cloud Sea, about two hundred li west of Misty Crow Island. I once saw this type of coral on the seabed. Unfortunately, there's a sea serpent guarding the coral. I don't know the sea serpent's exact strength, but I felt a deadly danger just by looking at it from afar."

Li Fan fabricated a story and submitted the mission. He believed that with the efficiency of Myriad Immortals Island, the authenticity of the information he provided would soon be verified. As expected, after only half a day, Li Fan received the mission reward.

However, what was intriguing was that the bounty mission for the Blue Blood Coral was not canceled but remained posted. "It seems Elder Chen needs quite a lot of this Blue Blood Coral," he thought. "I wonder what kind of elixir he's refining." Just for one auxiliary ingredient, he was willing to spend 3000 contribution points; clearly, the elixir he was refining was extraordinary.

But Li Fan was merely curious. Elder Chen was said to be the chief elder of the Medicine Hall on Myriad Immortals Island, a mighty cultivator of the Nascent Soul realm. That level was currently too far for Li Fan to reach.

Suppressing his momentary curiosity, Li Fan focused his attention on the most eye-catching of the many bounty missions. This was also why Li Fan was so eager to improve his strength.

Mission: Bounty for the "Cloudwater Scroll."Reward: One hundred thousand contribution points.

Two simple lines of text, with no further explanation. But the figure of one hundred thousand contribution points made the hearts of all cultivators who saw it tremble uncontrollably. That was one hundred thousand contribution points! Many cultivators in the Myriad Immortals Alliance might not accumulate that much in their entire lives. With these one hundred thousand contribution points, becoming a Nascent Soul cultivator was uncertain, but cultivating to the Golden Core realm would certainly not be difficult!

Countless cultivators, envious, had read these two lines countless times, imagining the glorious scenarios after completing the mission. Unfortunately, the bounty mission had been posted for over a decade; no one had even figured out what the "Cloudwater Scroll" actually was, let alone completed it. The mission's publisher was also extremely mysterious, never showing up or providing any explanations. It was as if this was their way of telling everyone: "Those who understand will naturally understand; there's no point explaining to those who don't."

In the Cloud Sea, currently no one knew where the "Cloudwater Scroll" was. Except for Li Fan.

"'Cloudwater Scroll,' Cloudwater Heavenly Palace." Li Fan repeated these words in his mind. This "Cloudwater Scroll," valued at one hundred thousand contribution points, was in the Cloudwater Heavenly Palace. The Cloudwater Heavenly Palace, or rather, the Cloudwater Heavenly Palace ruins, was the place Xiao Heng mentioned in his letter in the previous life, where he went to search for rare heavenly and earthly treasures. The reason no one knew this secret yet was simply because the Cloudwater Heavenly Palace had not yet appeared in the world.

In his previous life, Li Fan's interest in the Cloudwater Heavenly Palace was also sparked by Xiao Heng's message, which led him to remember this momentous event that would soon shake the Cloud Sea.

The Cloudwater Heavenly Palace, isolated overseas, was said to be the most powerful sect within the Cloud Sea region in ancient times. When the Great Tribulation descended upon the world, the disciples of the Cloudwater Heavenly Palace, after infighting among themselves, were reduced to a mere fraction of their original number. The survivors decided to activate the sect-protecting grand formation and thus secluded themselves from the world. The Cloudwater Heavenly Palace was thus always obscured by the formation, hidden in the central sea area of the Cloud Sea. It wasn't until Anchor Year 11, when the formation shattered, that the Cloudwater Heavenly Palace, hidden for ten thousand years, reappeared in the world.

However, the Cloudwater Heavenly Palace, which chose seclusion, could not escape its fate of destruction. When the cultivators of the Cloud Sea entered it, they discovered that the Cloudwater Heavenly Palace had long become an eerie ruin filled with strangeness.