“Four hundred thousand contribution points…”
“A Nascent Soul formation grandmaster’s lifelong savings really are staggering.”
Li Fan stared fixedly at that golden Posthumous Bequest, his eyes wide.
He could hardly wait to pick up the spirit testing orb and begin the formation assessment.
The first-tier trial was quite easy, covering merely foundational knowledge of the formation Dao.
Li Fan had immersed himself in formations for over a decade, so naturally he passed the first-tier trial without breaking a sweat.
Flecks of golden light drifted from the Posthumous Bequest and converged onto Li Fan.
The golden foil dimmed slightly, and when Li Fan opened the Heavenly Profound Mirror to check, sure enough, his contribution points had increased by forty thousand.
His total rose to 63,600 points.
Excited, he immediately began the second-tier trial.
After a while, Li Fan withdrew his divine sense from the spirit testing orb, his expression grim.
“A decade of bitter study, and I’m still just short of passing even the second-tier trial?”
“At this rate, how long will it take to drain all four hundred thousand points?”
A mountain of treasure sat right before his eyes, seemingly within reach. Yet because of his limited formation attainment, he could see it but not touch it.
It was like a tiny hand plucking at his heartstrings. Under such immense temptation, Li Fan wanted nothing more than to drop everything right now and immerse himself entirely in the study of formations.
“Zhang Zhiliang, what a brilliant move!”
“The incentive of a massive sum of contribution points yields immediate results. Even I can’t resist.”
“The second-tier trial doesn’t involve the Infinite Method yet, so my clone can still study formation lore. But once I reach the later tiers, my true body will have to read and study the Infinite Method inside the encrypted jade slip.”
“If that happens, my cultivation will inevitably be delayed.”
“I hope Mingyue Palace’s business can expand before then. With the feedback from the Mountain-Sitting Art, my realm’s advancement won’t slow down much even if I don’t cultivate at all.”
“With over sixty thousand contribution points, I should have some breathing room to keep things turning. But it’s still not enough!”
“I need to extract all the contribution points from this Posthumous Bequest as quickly as possible!”
A sharp gleam flashed in Li Fan’s eyes.
Driven by this powerful motivation, Li Fan’s true body and clone began studying the Dao of formations together.
Whenever they grew fatigued, they lit the silver incense.
Reinvigorated, they continued their studies.
With double the effort and focus, Li Fan’s formation skills progressed steadily.
***
Just like that, over a month went by.
The grand drama of Chu Xingyang crashing the wedding finally arrived.
Li Fan had no choice but to divert a portion of his attention to keep an eye on his first customer’s life-defining moment.
The result, however, left Li Fan unsure whether to laugh or cry.
At the wedding venue, Chu Xingyang descended from the sky, boldly declaring that the bride had to leave with him.
How could the groom tolerate this? With a savage snarl, he vowed to beat Chu Xingyang to death on the spot.
Yet Chu Xingyang’s natural talent was genuinely remarkable. In a mere three months, not only had he broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage,
his combat prowess surpassed that of the groom, who had established his foundation long ago.
After they traded blows for a long time, the groom showed faint signs of defeat without Li Fan even needing to step in.
Exchanging moves with the groom while maintaining total ease, Chu Xingyang shouted smugly, “A’yue, do you see! This Zhang fellow is so pathetic—how is he worthy of you? Come with me! I will surely make you happy!”
Hearing this, the groom was so enraged that he nearly spat blood, his face purpling with fury.
His glare alone looked sharp enough to kill Chu Xingyang ten thousand times. His subsequent moves were almost entirely mutually destructive strikes, willing to trade injury for injury.
Yet Chu Xingyang effortlessly evaded each attack, even toying with him slightly.
Growing increasingly carried away, Chu Xingyang was about to gloat further when the bride shouted furiously, “Enough, Chu Xingyang! Haven’t you caused enough trouble?!”
Immediately following her shout, a streak of cold, brilliant light shot toward him.
Chu Xingyang was terrified, barely dodging the bride’s attack. “A’yue, what are you doing?” he asked hurriedly.
Gritting her teeth, the bride retorted, “Don’t call me A’yue! I’ve told you more than once that Zhang Qi and I are in love and share mutual devotion. We voluntarily became Dao companions! There was never any coercion, nor does it have anything to do with who has a higher cultivation!”
“As my friend, even if you wouldn’t congratulate us on our marriage, you still came here to make a scene!”
“From this day forth, not a shred of friendship remains between us!”
With that, the bride joined forces with the groom, Zhang Qi, and launched an assault against Chu Xingyang.
The bride’s words struck Chu Xingyang like a catastrophic blow, draining all color from his face.
He could only dodge the couple’s coordinated attacks instinctively, continually asking why even as he retreated.
The bride, however, showed not the slightest mercy, unleashing ruthless, lethal strikes.
In the end, a beam of light pierced Chu Xingyang’s left shoulder.
Despair painted Chu Xingyang’s face, his heart turning to cold ash.
Yet survival instinct drove him to grit his teeth and flee into the distance, wounded.
Escaping to a secluded cave, Chu Xingyang treated his injuries.
Once his wounds gradually healed, his eyes unexpectedly burned with fighting spirit once more.
“It must be because my current strength still isn’t enough.”
“If Foundation Establishment isn’t enough, then Golden Core. If Golden Core isn’t enough, then Nascent Soul.”
“As long as I become strong enough, A’yue, you will change your mind one day.”
Chu Xingyang gazed into the distance, muttering to himself.
***
The farce finally came to an end.
Aside from the parties involved losing all face, the question of how the wedding crasher, Chu Xingyang, had achieved Foundation Establishment in such a short period also became a favorite topic of gossip among meddlesome onlookers.
Gradually, the name of Mingyue Palace began spreading among Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment cultivators.
It turned out that Mingyue Palace lending out wonders of heaven and earth and Foundation Establishment cultivation techniques was no scam—it was real!
With a living example right before their eyes, more and more cultivators sought help from Mingyue Palace.
Of course, because contribution points were still limited, Li Fan ordered the Yin sisters to screen applicants strictly.
Releasing only one slot per month on average was sufficient.
The rest were turned away on the pretext that their karmic affinity was insufficient.
Mingyue Palace’s cautious behavior, however, only deepened its credibility in cultivators’ minds.
If any cultivator could casually borrow wonders and cultivation techniques from Mingyue Palace, they would instead worry whether some terrifying conspiracy was lurking behind it.
And so, the fame of Mingyue Palace resonated louder and wider.
Across various regions of Daoyuan Province, Qi Condensation cultivators at peak completion who wanted to reach Foundation Establishment several years ahead of schedule traveled from afar to seek method loans.
As for the thirty-six percent annual interest, they selectively turned a blind eye to it.
Compared to a Qi Condensation cultivator, a Foundation Establishment cultivator earned contribution points at more than double the speed.
Even if they chose to repay over three years, the total contribution points returned would only be close to double the principal.
Worth it!
And thus, in Anchor Year 39, Mingyue Palace’s grand enterprise of method transference steadily unfolded.
When Anchor Year 40 arrived, Li Fan finally passed the spirit testing orb’s second-tier trial.
His contribution points increased by another forty thousand.
Every month brought incoming repayments from those who had previously borrowed methods.
The turnover of contribution points finally began to feel less tight.
Chapter 154