Chapter 91: Desire to Refine a Clone

Upon returning to Myriad Immortals Island via the teleportation array, Li Fan discovered that news of the Cloudwater Heavenly Palace's emergence had already spread.

Headlines like "Urgent! Strange Sect Hidden for Millennia Reappears," "Gentle Senior Brother Attempts Misconduct in the Middle of the Night…," and "Top Secret Intelligence, 10 Contribution Points Per Copy, Fair Deal for All" were circulating.

Initially, the information being sold was from Jiao Xiuyuan, covering only the first trial of the Qin Hall. However, because it was first-hand information, it still sold for a high price of 30 contribution points per copy. Jiao Xiuyuan profited significantly from this.

Later, as more survivors returned from the Cloudwater Heavenly Palace, information about this peculiar sect's ruins gradually became more abundant. Consequently, prices plummeted. Of course, since the first group of explorers was limited, the information currently circulating on the market was still confined to the Qin Hall stone statues and a few oddities in their vicinity. Information about deeper areas of the Cloudwater Heavenly Palace, such as the Monster Refining Pagoda and the Taiyi Hall, remained completely unknown.

Li Fan shook his head and returned to the Celestial Profound Mirror to tally his gains from the expedition. These included the "Cloudwater Illusionary Dream Art" taught by Qin Hall, the Worm Daoist's Insect Binding divine ability, and the "Cloudwater Diagram Record." Additionally, he acquired the "Sea-Stabilizing Divine Sword Art," the "Heaven-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art," and the Heaven-Stealing Sun-Shifting Token from Sikong Yi.

He was currently cultivating the "Thousand Mechanism Jade Sphere Golden Tome," the "Nether Spirit Illusion Art," and the "Shadow-Following Technique." As the saying goes, "He who grasps at too much loses everything." He needed to make choices about which of these new cultivation arts to practice. Among them, Insect Binding was an innate divine ability and required no cultivation. The "Cloudwater Illusionary Dream Art" possessed endless wondrous applications and would be invaluable for Li Fan's upcoming plans, making its cultivation essential.

The "Heaven-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art" could be cultivated, but... Li Fan's spiritual sense swept across the Heaven-Stealing Sun-Shifting Token in his storage ring. The method for refining a clone could be attempted. As for the cultivation art later created by Sikong Yue, which transformed one's life essence into the Heaven-Stealing Sun-Shifting Token, there was no need to practice it. In Li Fan's view, Sikong Yue's life-preserving technique was far from perfect. At the very least, if one were to trap both the main body and its clones, like Li Fan could, and then continuously eliminate them, the so-called resurrection would be nothing but a joke.

In this world, when it comes to life-preserving abilities, what could be stronger than his "Return to True"? There was no need to abandon the fundamental for the trivial. Moreover... As he looked at the token, which was slightly uncanny and seemed alive, a faint premonition flashed in Li Fan's mind. "Heaven-stealing Sun-shifting. It's hard to say who is truly replacing whom. There's no need to take this risk. I'll put it aside for now and verify it later when the opportunity arises."

"The 'Sea-Stabilizing Divine Sword Art' can be cultivated all the way to the Core Formation stage. Upon great mastery, one can condense one hundred and eight Sea-Stabilizing Swords within their dantian. For single opponents, a hundred swords can be unleashed simultaneously, and for groups, they can form the Sea-Stabilizing Sword Array. It is a top-tier offensive cultivation art. Its power is impressive, but there's no rush to cultivate it."

"It's Anchor Year 12. In my previous life, the Fiery Ocean Calamity occurred in Anchor Year 31. Previously, I was hesitant about whether to participate in this major event. Now, with these opportunities bestowed upon me, and by using a clone with the Cloudwater Illusionary Dream Art, even if my main body escapes to a distant continent, it might still be possible to stir up some trouble in this Clustered Cloud Sea."

In an instant, various schemes flashed through Li Fan's mind. After a long while, he put them aside for the time being.

He took out the small, colorful model from his storage ring and examined it closely. "If I hadn't personally obtained this from Taiyi, I probably wouldn't believe that this is the legendary 'Cloudwater Diagram Record,'" Li Fan murmured, sighing, after studying it for a while but still failing to discern any profound mysteries. "Perhaps there truly is a secret hidden within it. But if I can't decipher it, it's no different from trash in my hands. Exchanging it for 100,000 contribution points would be the most suitable option. However, if my main body hands it in, it would be too conspicuous. I'll need to refine a clone first."

Li Fan checked his current contribution points. He had spent almost all his contribution points dealing with Sikong Yi previously, with only a little over five hundred points remaining. Fortunately, most of the materials for refining a clone were not expensive: Supreme Bones, Heavenly Spirit Milk, Bone-Shattering Treasure Tendons... Li Fan purchased them one by one. Finally, when his contribution points were down to just 135, Li Fan had acquired all materials except for the last one: Sky Crystal Spirit Sand. As for the Sky Crystal Spirit Sand, according to Sikong Yi's memories, it could be harvested somewhere in the Clustered Cloud Sea.

Afterward, Li Fan activated the assisted cultivation mode and began cultivating the "Heaven-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art." The "Heaven-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art" bore some resemblance to the "Thousand Mechanism Jade Sphere Golden Tome," which Li Fan primarily cultivated. The "Thousand Mechanism Jade Sphere Golden Tome" cultivated vital energy, while the "Heaven-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art" pilfered destiny. Both vital energy and destiny were profound, difficult to perceive, yet genuinely existed. With the enlightenment bonus, Li Fan took three days to cultivate it to the mid-Qi Refinement stage. His contribution points, meanwhile, dwindled to a mere 35. Since the "Heaven-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art" allowed for clone refinement at the mid-Qi Refinement stage, he simply stopped cultivating it further.

Gathering the materials, Li Fan left Myriad Immortals Island via the teleportation array and arrived at Spirit Rhyme Island in the western sea area of the Clustered Cloud Sea. The location of the Sky Crystal Spirit Sand was not far from Spirit Rhyme Island. After greeting the guardian of Spirit Rhyme Island, Li Fan casually activated a Concealment Talisman and flew towards the location in his memory.

After several days, he stopped above a sea surface covered in countless vortices of varying sizes, then dove beneath the waves. The water here was relatively shallow, reaching the bottom after only three or four hundred meters. Collapsed architectural debris was everywhere, indicating a ruin. The ruins were quite large, and one could vaguely imagine their former prosperity. It was unclear why they had sunk to the seabed. Such ruins were common throughout the Clustered Cloud Sea, so Li Fan wasn't surprised. After all, when Li Fan first arrived in the Clustered Cloud Sea, he had heard about devastating wind disasters that caused hundreds of islands to sink.

He approached a tilted, square megalith and squeezed through a crevice between the stones. Inside, it was like a dark cave, with hundreds of luminous jellyfish drifting about, resembling moving stars. The cave floor was covered with a layer of fine, sparkling gravel. In the center of the cave, a large rock had been hollowed out, becoming a home for the jellyfish. The glowing gravel on the ground was, naturally, the Sky Crystal Spirit Sand.

Li Fan collected the Sky Crystal Spirit Sand from the ground and then glanced at the large rock, marveling at the wonders of creation. This was also a place Sikong Yi had stumbled upon by chance. The large rock in the center was nothing more than an ordinary Heavenly Spirit Ore. However, after being consumed and digested by these unknown jellyfish, it had astonishingly transformed into the rare material, Sky Crystal Spirit Sand. It was truly incredible. One had to know that even a Foundation Establishment artifact refiner would need considerable effort to refine Sky Crystal Spirit Sand.