"No, this technique is practically tailor-made for me—I cannot let it slip by!"
Han Yi paced back and forth, muttering to himself.
"Losing a third to the penalty fee, when my principal is nine hundred and ten thousand."
"If I can retrieve it smoothly, that leaves about six hundred thousand..."
Han Yi felt a sharp pang of distress.
Then a conflicted expression crossed his face. "I'm still short by over five hundred thousand!"
"Within one year, if I risk suffering backlash again, it's not impossible to earn that much."
"It's just that doing so repeatedly might damage my foundation."
After agonizing over it for a long while, Han Yi finally made up his mind.
"In the past, I thought that as long as I could control fortune, I would surely achieve success in cultivation."
"Yet from my experiences over these past few years, fortune isn't omnipotent. To achieve Dao Integration, or even Longevity, relying purely on fortune is far from enough."
"Resources, connections—these are just as vital!"
"This appearance of the cultivation technique in the world is a once-in-a-millennium opportunity. What Heaven bestows and one refuses to take will bring calamity instead!"
With this thought, Han Yi headed straight for the Administration Hall in Congyun City.
On the way, he had already heard that a large crowd of cultivators had gathered there, all wanting to redeem their contribution points early just like him.
Originally, he had felt somewhat fortunate, thinking there would be strength in numbers to get things done.
Yet when he actually arrived, a chill gripped his heart.
Only a few scattered figures remained, looking utterly dejected like frost-bitten eggplants.
"Could something else have gone wrong?" His heart uneasy, Han Yi hurried to inquire.
The outcome caught him by surprise and showed his worries had been unfounded.
"As long as one is willing to pay a thirty percent penalty, one can retrieve the contribution points?"
"No other attached conditions?"
Having clarified the matter, Han Yi could not help breathing a long sigh of relief.
Seeing this, the cultivator across from him felt somewhat indignant. "That's a third of the total, yet you look as if you don't care in the slightest, Fellow Daoist."
Han Yi shook his head. "Accept the wager and bear the loss. It was written clearly in the contract back then. Since I signed it, I won't complain even if I regret it."
"I originally thought the Secret Emissary would take advantage of everyone's urgent need for funds to raise the stakes."
"From the looks of it now, their credit is actually quite good."
The speaker had no ill intent, but the listeners took offense.
Han Yi's words instantly infuriated several cultivators nearby.
"You bastard, you wouldn't happen to be a shill hired by Li Fan, would you? Look at that tone of yours—making it sound as though after being fleeced this badly, you still ought to thank him!"
"Exactly! This fellow looks unfamiliar. No matter how you look at it, he seems like someone Li Fan brought in to stir up trouble! Don't let his bewitching words fool you, everyone!"
"His intentions are truly vile!"
...
In an instant, Han Yi inexplicably became the target for the crowd's venting.
For a moment, he could not even react, completely dumbfounded.
Fortunately, He Zhenghao saw what was happening and stepped in to defuse the situation just in time.
"What is all this unreasonable fuss! I think what this fellow daoist said makes complete sense—accept the wager and bear the loss! Back then, my lord never forced you to sign that agreement. Some of you even begged me to join the fundraising! Why is it that now, every single one of you turns around and refuses to acknowledge it?"
He Zhenghao delivered a harsh scolding with an imposing aura.
Seeing this, those cultivators dared not argue with him to his face and could only slink away sullenly.
"How may I address Fellow Daoist?" Once the crowd dispersed, He Zhenghao looked at the only cultivator who had spoken up for Li Fan and asked cordially.
"I am Han Yi!" Han Yi knew this man was He Zhenghao, the one overseeing the fundraising scheme and the key person for retrieving his contribution points, so he felt rather nervous.
"Haha, relax, Fellow Daoist Han." He Zhenghao had dealt with far more than ten thousand cultivators by now, so he naturally saw through Han Yi's mindset at a glance.
Recalling the sudden instructions Li Fan had sent earlier, an idea struck him.
"In this day and age, sensible cultivators like Fellow Daoist Han are rare indeed," He Zhenghao sighed with a shake of his head. "Don't be deceived by the rumors floating outside. The Secret Emissary is by no means a swindler. On the contrary, he is benevolent and kindhearted. Learning that many cultivators urgently require contribution points right now, he specifically gave word: if anyone truly faces a temporary hardship, the penalty fee may be waived."
Hearing this, Han Yi was overwhelmed with pleasant surprise. "Truly?"
He Zhenghao's expression turned solemn. "The Secret Emissary has always been a man of his word. How could it be false? Come, Fellow Daoist Han, I will process the formalities for you right away."
Overjoyed, Han Yi hurried inside after him.
Less than half a day later, Han Yi looked at his nine hundred and ten thousand contribution points, returned to him intact, and a flood of emotions welled within him.
"Could my luck truly have turned?"
On second thought, Han Yi faintly sensed that his tribulation was not yet over.
"No, rather, it proves Li Fan truly lives up to his reputation. His magnanimity is genuinely extraordinary."
"With so many contribution points forfeited in penalties, he simply waved his hand and waived it just like that."
"Those cultivators earlier were clearly measuring the mind of a gentleman with the petty yardstick of a scoundrel!"
While harboring secret gratitude toward Li Fan, Han Yi could not help thinking this way.
Little did he know, this reaction was precisely what Li Fan had aimed for.
Through Zhou Qing'ang, Li Fan had conveyed the order: when defaulting cultivators came knocking, He Zhenghao could, at his discretion, randomly waive the penalty fee for roughly half of them.
That way, he would only earn slightly less while effectively muddying the waters.
When the cultivators whose penalties were waived heard others slandering Li Fan, having received such benevolence, they would naturally speak a few words in his defense.
Yet the losses suffered by the others were real as well, so they could never be easily persuaded.
Thus, arguments became inevitable.
When each side claimed to be in the right, transforming a one-sided wave of blame and criticism into a dispute between two factions, uninvolved onlookers would not easily believe either narrative.
In this manner, the negative fallout could be dissolved into nothingness as much as possible.
If anyone inquired, one could simply brush it aside: "Ah, the matter is rather complicated; both sides keep arguing back and forth, and no one can get to the bottom of it."
Li Fan's move was essentially a stalling tactic to placate those cultivators who were still adopting a wait-and-see attitude and had not yet withdrawn their points.
If he pushed things too far, those people would inevitably grow suspicious and think he truly intended to run off with the funds.
Once their doubts were temporarily suppressed, he only needed to wait until the Crimson Flame Burning Sea arrived to draw the final curtain on his arrangements in the Congyun Sea for this lifetime.
Things played out much as Li Fan had anticipated.
Though it caused quite a stir, the matter was gradually forgotten over time.
As the deadline for the technique discount drew closer by the day, the cultivators devoted nearly all their energy to earning contribution points, eager to redeem the techniques before the opportunity slipped away.
Han Yi was no exception.
Perhaps because everyone was short on contribution points, he searched for a long time without finding a suitable opportunity.
Out of options, he activated the Heavenly Fortune Scripture to seek a turning point.
Following the resonance, he departed the Congyun Sea and headed inland into the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals.
Chapter 592