Chapter 90: All Things Have Their Causes

Li Fan had seen many Heaven and Earth wonders before.

Not to mention the Sea Pearl, formed from the will of the Cloudy Ocean, there were also Kou Hong's Coiled Dragon Branch and Dao Xuan Zi's rusted sword, Dao Xuan. It now seemed highly probable that these were all transformations of cultivators who had perished in the past. The Coiled Dragon Branch allowed for the swallowing of the strong by the weak, while the rusted sword, Dao Xuan, embodied an unyielding will and possessed the ability to slow down rusting. One could clearly discern the faint shadow of cultivators within them.

Li Fan was somewhat startled to suddenly learn this secret about Heaven and Earth wonders. However, having personally witnessed grand spectacles like the Crimson Flame Burning the Sea, Li Fan quickly calmed down. In Li Fan's view, the conflict between this world and cultivators had evidently reached an extreme point. With the intensification of this conflict, anything unusual was possible.

Li Fan continued to examine Sikong Bo's memories.

The Nascent Soul grand cultivator had long ago transformed himself into a Foundation Establishment wonder, possessing the small child. He was usually in a deep slumber, only awakening when guiding the child's cultivation or when the child encountered life-threatening danger. Therefore, he had never noticed Sikong Bo, who was secretly observing with malicious intent. It wasn't until that night, when Sikong Bo attempted to extract the child's vital blood, that he was startled awake.

The Nascent Soul grand cultivator immediately became enraged. This child was crucial for his potential advancement to Soul Transformation, or even Dao Integration; how could he allow others to covet him? He immediately revealed his true form, an azure willow, intending to kill Sikong Bo on the spot.

One was a Heaven and Earth wonder transformed from a Nascent Soul cultivator, whose strength was greatly reduced. The other, though only at the Foundation Establishment stage, possessed a thousand-year-old hidden sect inheritance with an endless array of techniques. For a time, the two were evenly matched in their fight. Both sides employed all their techniques, fighting fiercely, neither willing to retreat. After a long and entangled battle, both were severely wounded before they subtly considered retreating.

Just then, the small child suddenly appeared. With a cold and indifferent expression, he watched the two, completely different from the innocent five or six-year-old he had been before. His cultivation had already reached the limit of the Qi Refining stage, and he could enter the Foundation Establishment stage at any moment, provided he had a Heaven and Earth wonder.

The azure willow had a bad feeling. He wanted to escape, but it was already too late. During these days, while he was in slumber, the child had already placed various restrictions on him. Now, they suddenly activated, and the azure willow was immediately absorbed into the child's body. In moments, it was completely refined.

Sikong Bo, terrified by this scene, immediately fled. The child, of course, would not let him go. Although the child had just entered the Foundation Establishment stage, his every move exuded the bearing of a grandmaster. Each strike consistently hit Sikong Bo's vital points. Moreover, he seemed to know quite a bit about Sikong Bo's background. Every time Sikong Bo attempted to separate and escape with his clone, the clone was instantly destroyed.

The two pursued each other, until all of Sikong Bo's clones were destroyed, and he himself was gravely wounded, at his wit's end. He could only choose to release all the remnant souls of his former sect elders from the Stealing Heaven and Swapping Sun Token, hoping to resist for a moment. Those remnant souls did indeed cause some interference for the child, allowing Sikong Bo to get away.

However, he then saw a purple lightning bolt descend from afar, incinerating all the remnant souls into dust. Sikong Bo was instantly terrified out of his wits and, disregarding everything, simply fled madly. He kept running until he reached this remote Cloudy Ocean region, where he finally stopped. But his injuries were too severe, and he did not stay in the Cloudy Ocean for long before his life neared its end.

Before dying, Sikong Bo found Sikong Yi and took him as his disciple. After hurriedly handing him the "Stealing Heaven and Swapping Sun Art" and the token, he passed away.

As for Sikong Yi's memories, they were much simpler compared to his master's thrilling experiences. Although he inherited the Stealing Heaven and Swapping Sun Sect's lineage, this opportunistic master left him almost nothing before his death. How difficult it was for rogue cultivators! It was hard even to gather the materials for refining a clone. So, after fumbling his way to the Qi Refining stage, he decisively chose to join the Wanxian Alliance.

After breaking through to the mid-Qi Refining stage, he began collecting materials to refine his own clone. By chance, while exploring the seabed, he stumbled upon a corpse. Sikong Yi subtly sensed that this corpse was extraordinary, perhaps belonging to a powerful cultivator in life. So he used this corpse as material to create his clone. This clone was Baili Chen.

As soon as the clone was successfully refined, blurred images appeared in his mind. It turned out that this corpse belonged to a disciple of the ancient Cloud Water Heavenly Palace. When the great catastrophe arrived, he was gravely wounded and escaped from the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace. Unfortunately, he didn't last long before he perished in the sea. It wasn't until several millennia later that he was refined into a clone by Sikong Yi.

Through this clone, Sikong Yi not only obtained a cultivation method called "Sea-Stabilizing Divine Sword" but also learned some secrets about the former Cloud Water Heavenly Palace. Unfortunately, these were only blurry fragments, not complete knowledge. Furthermore, the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace had long been concealed by a great formation, not visible to the world. Sikong Yi had no way to explore it.

Later, when he discovered that the highly valuable "Cloud Water Scroll," which offered a reward of 100,000 contribution points, was located within the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace, he became incredibly excited. Knowing his opportunity had arrived, he always kept an eye on anomalies in the central sea region, secretly waiting for the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace to open. In Anchor Year 11, after the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace reappeared, he entered it immediately.

He had originally planned to obtain the "Cloud Water Scroll," gain 100,000 contribution points, and thus ensure a smooth path for his cultivation. However, he unexpectedly encountered Li Fan. Sikong Yi didn't even know, until his death, who had killed him. And how had his killer noticed him? He had clearly learned from his master's lesson and acted with extreme caution, hadn't he?

Feeling the strong unwillingness in Sikong Yi's remnant soul, Li Fan's expression remained normal. He summoned the Azure Flame Phantoms and completely extinguished both remnant souls.

"If it weren't for me, Sikong Yi would have successfully obtained the 'Cloud Water Scroll,' exchanged it for 100,000 contribution points, and then left the Cloudy Ocean via a long-distance teleportation array before anyone could react."

"No, that's not right." Recalling events from his previous life, Li Fan secretly shook his head. "In my previous life, many people witnessed Sikong Yi leaving alone through the teleportation array. No one noticed Baili Chen at all..."

"Perhaps this was Sikong Yi's golden cicada shedding its shell strategy. In the end, he probably didn't leave the Cloudy Ocean at all."

"His main body would leave the Cloudy Ocean in plain sight, creating the illusion that he had departed. In reality, he would use the Stealing Heaven and Swapping Sun Art to secretly return to a certain location within the Cloudy Ocean."

"There's no need to deceive the Heavenly Mystery Mirror; he just needed to disappear from the sight of those who coveted the 100,000 contribution points..."

"A good method. Perhaps I can do this in this life. After all, the temptation of 100,000 contribution points is truly immense."

Li Fan put the Stealing Heaven and Swapping Sun Token into his storage ring and flew towards a nearby island. He needed to return to Wanxian Island first. This trip to the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace had yielded too much, almost to the point of being overwhelming. He needed to spend some time properly digesting it.