"With Fellow Daoist Baili here, these cultivators are surely destined to have made the trip in vain," Han Wuyou remarked with a smile, scanning their surroundings as he sent a voice transmission.
"One cannot say that for certain. Aside from the Cloud Water Chart and Talismans, there are bound to be other opportunities within the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace." Sikong Yi remained quite calm, his gaze fixed straight ahead on the increasingly magnificent phenomena unfolding in the sky.
"No matter how great the other opportunities are, I doubt they can compare to the Cloud Water Chart and Talismans," Han Wuyou said, shaking his head.
Sikong Yi was somewhat surprised. "Why do you say that?"
"Heh, the world only cares about those hundred thousand contribution points, blinded by greed. In truth, they overlook where the real opportunity lies." Han Wuyou smiled faintly.
"What is most important in cultivation? Background! Connections!" he reiterated.
"In my view, the true value of the Cloud Water Chart and Talismans is that through this deed, one can forge a connection with the senior who posted the mission."
"To casually offer a bounty of a hundred thousand contribution points, this person must possess at least Soul Formation cultivation. If one can cultivate a friendship with him—even just exchange a few words—for an ordinary cultivator, that makes a world of difference," Han Wuyou explained softly.
"And if you can secure a stable way to contact him, that would completely alter your destiny."
Hearing this, Sikong Yi fell into thought.
After a moment, he slowly nodded.
While the three chatted, a beam of blue light swept across the Congyun Sea, and the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace officially opened.
Sikong Yi, Baili Chen, and Han Wuyou flew inside alongside a swarm of cultivators.
After some twists and turns, they safely passed Qin Tang's test.
However, as they ventured deeper, the three somehow attracted the attention of another band of cultivators.
For reasons unclear, a battle broke out between them.
The other party had superior numbers, and their collective cultivation was a cut above.
In the end, Han Wuyou fell under the siege, dying with his eyes wide open.
Meanwhile, Sikong Yi barely survived by relying on the formidable life-saving capabilities of the Stealing Heaven Changing Sun Art.
Battered and disheveled, Sikong Yi pressed on toward the location of Taiyi Hall from his memory, his heart chillingly cold.
"The world is truly fickle and impermanent. A man like Fellow Daoist Han should have had a boundless future. To think he would die here so senselessly and obscurely."
Recalling his confident demeanor as he spoke passionately not long ago, Sikong Yi felt a profound sense of loss.
Although they had known each other only briefly, Sikong Yi had already considered him a confidant.
Alas, heaven was jealous of talent!
Sikong Yi unconsciously stroked a storage ring in his hand.
It was the very ring he had swiftly snatched from Han Wuyou's corpse the moment he saw him decapitated.
Han Wuyou was indeed extraordinarily wealthy; the ring was packed with all manner of formation diagrams and magical artifacts.
There were also spirit stones worth roughly ten thousand contribution points, and most importantly, dozens of communication talismans.
"Connections, background..."
Sikong Yi repeated the words in his heart, the sorrow in his eyes gradually fading away.
"Fellow Daoist Han, rest in peace. I will live on well in your stead!"
With Fellow Daoist Han's life seemingly offered up as a sacrifice, the rest of the venture indeed went far more smoothly.
Passing Daoist Chong's trial, Sikong Yi endured the excruciating agony of ten thousand swords piercing his body and arrived at the square before Taiyi Hall.
The surroundings were completely quiet; he was the only soul present.
Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Sikong Yi controlled his clone and circulated the Sea-Calming Divine Sword.
"Baili Chen, one hundred and sixty-fifth generation legacy disciple of the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace, requests an audience with Patriarch Taiyi!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.
The ground trembled, and in the end, he successfully tricked the muddle-headed turtle-snake monster into handing over the Cloud Water Chart and Talismans.
Requesting a teleportation out of the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace, Sikong Yi feigned composure and made a beeline for Wanxian Island.
The journey was uneventful, and he successfully returned inside the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
The clone Baili Chen selected to submit the item and complete the mission.
"Unable to verify the authenticity of the Cloud Water Chart and Talismans. Please wait."
The Heavenly Profound Mirror's response made Sikong Yi's heart skip a beat.
"Even the Heavenly Profound Mirror cannot determine its authenticity? What use does this Cloud Water Chart and Talismans have aside from being a miniature landscape?" Before Sikong Yi could ponder further, the next prompt from the Heavenly Profound Mirror shook him to his core.
"The mission poster... requests to visit your space. Do you accept?"
"It's here! It's happening!" Sikong Yi froze momentarily, and then his heart began pounding furiously.
Blood surged through his veins, and Han Wuyou's words from before his death unbiddenly surfaced in his mind once more.
"The true opportunity—connections!"
In an instant, countless thoughts flashed through his mind.
Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Sikong Yi said in a deep voice, "Accept."
A moment later, an elderly man with greying hair and a benevolent, kindly face appeared before him.
Sikong Yi bowed respectfully and stiffly, then trembling slightly, presented the rainbow-colored miniature model with both hands.
The old man took the Cloud Water Chart and Talismans, examining it closely with a myriad of emotions.
His cloudy eyes moved back and forth, as if reminiscing about the past.
"Inside the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace, what does it look like now?" he asked.
Sikong Yi swallowed hard and began answering in a stammer.
The old man did not seem to mind Sikong Yi's nervousness at all.
He merely listened to Sikong Yi's account, nodding slightly from time to time.
When Sikong Yi finished speaking, the space within the Heavenly Profound Mirror fell into another prolonged silence.
Looking at the kindly elder standing motionless before him, seemingly lost in the past, Han Wuyou's words echoed in his mind once again:
"In today's cultivation world, relying solely on fighting and ruthless bravado is useless. You must have background, you must have connections!"
His heart beat faster and faster until, finally, he could restrain himself no longer.
Summoning his courage, he asked, "Senior, is there anything else I might do for your service?"
The Heavenly Physician looked up and glanced slightly at Sikong Yi.
Sikong Yi instantly felt as though his heart had been violently clenched, halting its beats.
His whole body seemed frozen, his mind grinding to a halt.
After an unknown stretch of time, he heard the other party give a light chuckle. "Very well. It so happens there is indeed a task I need done."
"Make another trip to the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace on my behalf and place this item there."
As he spoke, the elder produced a small white jade statuette and handed it to Sikong Yi.
Hearing this, Sikong Yi was wild with joy inside.
Yet he dared not show the slightest hint of it on his face, carefully accepting the statuette.
Upon closer inspection, the white jade statuette seemed unremarkable, except that its likeness was identical to the elder standing before him.
"I will definitely not fail Senior's entrustment!" Sikong Yi put away the statuette and said in a resolute voice.
"As for the reward..." The elder stared at Sikong Yi for a moment and said slowly, "Let it be another hundred thousand contribution points, then!"
With that, Sikong Yi received a notification from the Heavenly Profound Mirror that two hundred thousand contribution points had been credited to his account.
Sikong Yi's mind went completely blank.
Only long after the elder's silhouette vanished from the Heavenly Profound Mirror did his ability to think return.
"Just running a simple errand earned another hundred thousand contribution points!"
"This senior's cultivation must be far beyond Soul Formation!"
"Opportunity! A true opportunity!"
"Relying on myself alone, ghost knows how long it would take to save up a hundred thousand contribution points! Yet with just a few words from a major figure, it falls effortlessly into my hands."
"Fellow Daoist Han truly did not deceive me!"
Swept by a torrent of excitement, Sikong Yi seemed to see his glorious future before him and could not resist letting out a long, resounding cry.
Once he calmed down, not daring to neglect the white-haired elder's instructions, he headed straight for the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace once again.
Inside the storage ring, the statuette emitted a burst of white light and shot directly into the sky.
It dissolved and vanished from sight.
Having completed his task, Sikong Yi breathed a long sigh of relief, saw that there was no one around, and quietly departed.
Not long after, outside the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace, a concealed figure quietly materialized.
It was none other than Li Fan.
"Heavenly Physician..."
"Hmph!"
Watching Sikong Yi's departing silhouette, he sneered in his heart.
Chapter 483