"That's the one! Give it to me, quick!" Overjoyed at the sight, Ye Feipeng moved forward to snatch it.
Yet Xiao Heng dodged him with ease.
"I picked it up, so why should I give it to you?" With a sly look, Xiao Heng firmly clutched the storage ring in his palm.
Ye Feipeng narrowed his eyes, a dangerous thought surfacing unbidden in his mind.
However, after weighing the gap between their strengths, he suppressed his inner urge after all.
"Xiao Heng, we're both from the Li Realm. Now stranded in the cultivation world with our futures uncertain, we ought to stick together all the more."
"We can't fall into infighting over a single storage ring, can we?"
Xiao Heng nodded. "You have a point."
"And it wouldn't be right for you to swallow everything in the ring for yourself, either, would it?" Ye Feipeng pressed.
Xiao Heng huffed. "Am I that kind of person?"
Ye Feipeng was overjoyed. "Then hurry up and take out the things inside. The two of us can split them."
"How could it just be the two of us? There are Changyu's and Little Sister's shares too. Don't worry, I'll divide it. I guarantee it'll be fair and square. People from the Li Realm don't trick people from the Li Realm." Xiao Heng patted his chest in assurance.
Ye Feipeng choked on his words, but facing Xiao Heng—who was temporarily much stronger than him—he could only endure it for now.
*I'll make you pay later,* Ye Feipeng thought darkly.
Xiao Heng seemed completely oblivious.
He merely pulled back some distance from Ye Feipeng out of instinct, then took out the items from the storage ring one by one.
A pile of communication talismans.
A pile of spirit stones, and a tattered umbrella.
A slightly yellowed array diagram, plus a jade-like skeletal hand.
And then...
That was it?
Xiao Heng was somewhat dazed. To make sure he hadn't missed anything, he checked again.
"Is this really all there is? How is this immortal master so poor!" Xiao Heng found it hard to believe.
"That's impossible!" Ye Feipeng didn't believe it for a second.
Snatching the storage ring, he examined it himself.
Yet Xiao Heng truly had not lied.
This Foundation Establishment cultivator really had nothing left to his name but this meager stash!
There were no technique jade slips, nor were there any decent magical artifacts.
This little bit of junk wouldn't fetch many contribution points at all!
It was worlds apart from the sudden windfall he had envisioned!
Crushed by the massive disappointment, Ye Feipeng's composure fractured, and in his frustration, he flung the storage ring onto the ground.
Seeing this, Xiao Heng hurriedly picked it up.
After a while, Ye Feipeng gradually calmed the disappointment in his heart.
*Perhaps the earlier battle was so fierce that he exhausted all his reserves?*
*Or maybe he handed over everything valuable just to save his own life?*
*He was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, after all. Could he truly be this broke?*
*In my past life, I was only at Qi Condensation, and even I...*
At this thought, Ye Feipeng paused.
Thinking carefully about his past life, except for piles of communication talismans, his storage ring had barely contained anything either.
After all, technique jade slips and contribution points weren't things one could carry around on one's person.
*Looking at it that way, did this cultivator really have it this rough?*
Ye Feipeng couldn't help feeling hesitant.
"What's this pile of things?" Just as he was sinking into self-doubt, he saw Xiao Heng squatting curiously next to the pile of communication talismans, picking one up and about to test how it worked.
Ye Feipeng's face changed instantly.
In a flash, he closed the distance and snatched the talisman from Xiao Heng's hand.
Tossing it to the ground, he grabbed a stone and smashed it repeatedly with all his might until it shattered to pieces.
"What are you doing!" Xiao Heng shouted in reproach.
"What do you know! These are communication talismans. If you accidentally trigger one, you could easily give away our location! When enemies come hunting us down, we won't even be able to run!" Ye Feipeng snorted coldly.
Without pausing, he destroyed every single communication talisman left behind by Fan Li.
Xiao Heng knew Ye Feipeng had done the right thing, but he was still a bit defiant. "How do you know they're communication talismans?"
Ye Feipeng was about to speak, but caught himself.
"I just know," he retorted irritably.
Xiao Heng looked completely skeptical.
Anger flared in Ye Feipeng.
Yet on second thought, he took a deep breath and suppressed his temper. *Forget it, forget it. He's just a brat. You're someone who lived a whole past life; why bicker with him?*
Too exasperated to bother with Xiao Heng, Ye Feipeng searched Fan Li's corpse once more under the cover of night, hoping to find something else.
Unfortunately, he came up empty-handed.
Sighing, he said to Xiao Heng, "Come, give me a hand. Help me throw him into the sea."
Xiao Heng stared blankly. "Why?"
With an aching head, Ye Feipeng still forced himself to explain patiently, "Do you want everyone else to find out we got this Foundation Establishment immortal master's inheritance? There's barely anything valuable to begin with. If more people split it, we won't get squat!"
Xiao Heng nodded earnestly.
Seeing Ye Feipeng struggling to drag the corpse, Xiao Heng stepped forward and easily hoisted the body up.
"How are you so strong?" Ye Feipeng blurted out in astonishment.
Xiao Heng was puzzled as well. "I don't know either. I wasn't this strong before."
Ye Feipeng narrowed his eyes, closely observing Xiao Heng.
To his perception, strands of spiritual energy were spontaneously surging into Xiao Heng's body.
Without Xiao Heng even realizing it, it was strengthening his physique and elevating his cultivation realm.
*Damn it, what kind of cultivation talent is this?* Ye Feipeng felt a pang of jealousy.
*It's fine, it's fine. What does it matter how high his talent is? I'm a reincarnator.*
*My goal is to become a Dao Integration Immortal Venerable...*
Comforting himself repeatedly in his mind, Ye Feipeng looked away, no longer watching Xiao Heng.
He picked up a bunch of stones and stuffed them into the corpse's clothes.
Then the two joined forces and tossed the body into the sea.
Watching the corpse slowly sink into the ocean depths, Ye Feipeng breathed a sigh of relief.
Now Xiao Heng started chattering again. "Fatty, what did you mean by Foundation Establishment earlier? And looking at me with that gaze just now—did you notice something?"
"How do you suddenly know so much? Are you keeping secrets from us?"
...
Ye Feipeng turned a deaf ear, pretending not to hear a thing.
Walking over to the pile of spoils, he said, "Dawn is coming. Let's split these things."
Xiao Heng glanced at the miscellaneous items on the ground, then looked Ye Feipeng up and down.
His eyes darted about, and he said, "First tell me what all these are!"
Ye Feipeng rolled his eyes at Xiao Heng, but still went through them one by one. "Five hundred sixty-eight low-grade spirit stones. Better than nothing."
"This seems to be a defensive artifact, but it's practically ruined. Barely usable, won't fetch much."
"This array diagram is in pretty good shape. Too bad it's defensive."
"We can set it up around the flying boat to keep wild beasts on the island from bothering us."
Ye Feipeng reeled off explanations as if taking inventory of his own treasures.
Xiao Heng watched transfixed. Pointing at the remaining jade-like skeletal hand, he asked, "What about this?"
"This is..."
Ye Feipeng picked up the bone hand and examined it closely for a while, but couldn't make any sense of it.
"I'm not sure about this one. But that cultivator named Fan Li was swindled by our Great Li Emperor."
"This isn't some ancient heirloom treasure passed down through generations at all. It just fell from the sky not long ago."
"Ghost knows what it's used for."
Ye Feipeng sneered as he explained.
"Fell from the sky?" Xiao Heng cried out in surprise.
Then, looking at Ye Feipeng with a touch of admiration, he said, "Fatty, how do you know everything? I've never heard of any of this."
Puffed up by Xiao Heng's admiring gaze, Ye Feipeng couldn't help feeling smug. "There's a lot more I know."
Seeing this, Xiao Heng immediately said, "Then I'll choose this bone hand! If even someone as capable as you doesn't know what it does, it must have an extraordinary background."
Ye Feipeng quickly said, "Then I'll take the spirit stones."
"Deal, deal!" Xiao Heng clapped his hands.
"This umbrella goes to Little Sister, and this array diagram thing goes to Changyu."
Having divided the loot in moments, Xiao Heng nodded in satisfaction.
Seeing this, Ye Feipeng secretly gloated.
*So what if you have great talent? You don't have the foresight of a reincarnator like me. What's the point of picking extraneous trinkets?*
*Spirit stones equal contribution points, which can be exchanged for cultivation methods.*
*With this pile of spirit stones, after joining the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, I can save lots of time running errands and doing missions, exchanging for a Qi Condensation cultivation method a day earlier.*
*In this cultivation world, cultivation methods are the foundation of everything!*
Still, he at least understood the virtue of keeping quiet while making a fortune, indulging his smugness in his heart without letting it show on his face.
"All right, that's settled. No backing out." Ye Feipeng reached out a hand, about to hook pinkies with Xiao Heng.
Then he realized he was a reincarnator now and shouldn't act so childish.
So he drew his hand back.
"Keep the things with you for now. Once we're safe and officially begin cultivating in a while, you can hand them over."
Xiao Heng nodded and gathered the items from the ground back into the storage ring.
"Let's go back to sleep first. Be quiet so no one notices," Ye Feipeng whispered, and the two returned inside the flying boat.
They fell fast asleep.
Under the moonlight, Li Fan, who had kept his form concealed and watched their performance from beginning to end, shook his head in secret.
"Not a true reincarnator, after all."
"Merely a nine-year-old child forcefully stuffed with a set of 'past-life memories' that are far from flawless."
"In every gesture and movement, Ye Feipeng still retains the habits of a child."
"His mindset is just as naive as a child's."
"They say experiences can influence and shape personality to a degree, but my Cloud Water Illusory Dream Technique is still far from realistic enough to reshape someone's personality."
"Still, I did my best to weave realistic dream memories. During those few days in the Li Realm, the toll on my mind and spirit was quite heavy."
"Alas, a person experiences far too much across a lifetime."
"Fabricating a realistic life in every single detail is simply too difficult."
Li Fan suddenly thought back to the third option of True Reversion, which he had never used:
Retain the memories of one person closely connected to himself, allowing that person to inherit those memories upon reversion.
*The drawback of this option in True Reversion lies in being uncontrollable and impossible to fabricate.*
*Perhaps combining True Reversion with the Cloud Water Illusory Dream Technique could achieve an utterly authentic rebirth that follows the plot I desire.*
Pondering this, Li Fan flew into the flying boat.
He sent everyone into a deep, unconscious slumber.
From the storage ring in Xiao Heng's robes, he retrieved the jade-like skeletal hand.
He detached a segment of the bone hand to serve as a medium.
Then, he arranged the ritual around Xiao Heng.
After that, he lightly tapped Xiao Heng's forehead with a finger, activating the Cloud Water Illusory Dream.
Right after, Xiao Heng climbed up from the ground as though sleepwalking.
He muttered softly under his breath:
"Blessings born of the Xuanhuang Heavenly Venerable!"
An inexplicable force descended.
In a flash, Xiao Heng's consciousness appeared within the skeletal hand Vanguard Realm that Li Fan had rented.
Chapter 207