"I am sorry. I truly cannot help with this matter. I sense that a breakthrough is imminent and will need to travel in search of opportunities within the next two years, so I cannot guard Liuli Island for long."
The Cloud Water Heavenly Palace would open in a little over a year, and Li Fan certainly was not about to miss the opportunity to enter ahead of others just for the few meager contribution points earned from guarding an island.
Thus, he bluntly turned down He Zhenghao.
"I see. Then I will just have to find someone else. May you achieve Foundation Establishment soon, Fellow Daoist!" He Zhenghao replied regretfully.
No further messages came through the communication talisman.
Li Fan paid it no mind. Spending some contribution points, he activated the auxiliary cultivation mode and began practicing the Shadow Following Art.
As it was merely an auxiliary cultivation method, the Shadow Following Art was far simpler to practice than his other two methods. With the dual enhancement of Spirit Enlightenment and the exquisite liuli pearl, it took Li Fan less than ten days to master it to the late Qi Condensation stage.
At that moment, Li Fan was testing the effects of the Shadow Following Art.
Expending one hundred contribution points, he set up a simulated pursuit against a late Qi Condensation cultivator inside the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
The surrounding space transformed into rolling mountain ranges.
Amid the forested hills, a figure fled rapidly into the distance—the quarry designated for pursuit.
Watching the target recede, Li Fan willed a thought, and his form abruptly darkened. As if draped in a veil of night, he blended seamlessly into the omnipresent shadows, becoming exceedingly difficult to detect.
Just as the target was on the verge of vanishing from sight, Li Fan accelerated sharply and soared after it.
Compared to merely riding the wind as he had done in the past, his speed had improved dramatically. Moreover, a faint resonance seemed to form between him and the locked quarry. To a degree, whenever the target accelerated, Li Fan's speed rose alongside it.
It truly felt as though Li Fan had become the other's shadow, clinging tightly and impossible to shake off. Better yet, he could continuously leap and weave between the shadows cast across the ground.
In this manner, it took hardly any time for Li Fan to overtake the figure ahead.
The surrounding landscape blurred, and the illusions of the mountains and the cultivator dissipated at once, reverting back into a pitch-black void.
With the simulated chase concluded, Li Fan was quite satisfied with the Shadow Following Art. Its innate capability for concealing his aura was already remarkable, and when paired with a Form-Concealing Talisman, it would render him even harder to notice.
Though Sikong Yi was somewhat enigmatic, his cultivation was undoubtedly at the late Qi Condensation stage. Having prepared so thoroughly in advance and catching him unawares, scheming to obtain the Cloud Water Talismans shouldn't pose too much of a problem.
Now, everything was in order; all that remained was to await intelligence from Jiao Xiuyuan and the formal opening of the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace.
Inside the Heavenly Profound Mirror, Li Fan's gaze grew deep and pensive as he stared into the distance.
***
Two months later, Wanxian Island, Thousand Li Hall.
Having received a transmission from Jiao Xiuyuan, Li Fan activated a Form-Concealing Talisman and hurried over.
The moment he met Jiao Xiuyuan, he feigned irritation. "How does your Thousand Li Hall do business? It's just a petty Qi Condensation cultivator, yet gathering information took you this long! I thought you had forgotten about the matter and was about to find someone else!"
Jiao Xiuyuan looked somewhat sheepish, but he quickly ushered Li Fan inside while activating the shop's formation to cut off outside eavesdropping.
Only then did he explain in a hushed tone, "Keep your voice down, please! Taking this long really had a reason."
"Oh?" Li Fan's expression shifted slightly as he waited for him to continue.
"Heh heh, to be frank with you, the difficulty of this task was truly beyond my expectations. The fifty contribution points we agreed upon last time were far too meager! You must understand, for this matter, I had to ask a late Foundation Establishment senior for help before finally pulling it off..." Jiao Xiuyuan looked at Li Fan with pleading eyes, his intention as clear as day.
"What, are you going back on your word?" Li Fan narrowed his eyes slightly, glaring at Jiao Xiuyuan with cold hostility.
Jiao Xiuyuan scratched his head. "Could you at least add a little..."
Li Fan turned as if to walk out.
Jiao Xiuyuan grew so frantic he nearly jumped out of his skin. "Aiyo, my dear ancestor! Luck has truly been against me this year! Two deals in a row have ended up as money-losing transactions!
"Fine, fine, fine! We'll stick to what we agreed on—fifty it is!" he ground out through gritted teeth.
"Here. Adding the previous deposit, this makes exactly fifty contribution points," Li Fan said coldly, tossing four medium-grade spirit stones across.
"Do you think it's easy for me to earn this bit of coin from you?" With a bitter grimace, Jiao Xiuyuan caught the spirit stones and finally handed over a jade slip to Li Fan.
Li Fan took the jade slip and scanned it with his divine sense, a strange glint entering his eyes. He then stowed it away and took his leave.
Watching Li Fan's receding back, the fawning look on Jiao Xiuyuan's face vanished instantly.
Caressing the spirit stones in his grip, he let out a low, cold laugh.
"One is secretive with an unknown origin; the other hides in shadows with shady motives.
"I'd like to see what the two of you are really plotting."
***
Inside the Heavenly Profound Mirror, Li Fan carefully reviewed the contents of the jade slip once more before destroying it.
"Two people?"
Li Fan's brow furrowed, finding the situation somewhat tricky.
As it turned out, according to the intelligence Jiao Xiuyuan had gathered, Sikong Yi lived a quiet, solitary life and seldom showed himself. He also had a close friend named Baili Chen, who was likewise a male cultivator.
This Baili Chen was slightly weaker, possessing a cultivation at the middle Qi Condensation stage.
Sikong Yi and Baili Chen appeared to share an extraordinarily close bond; whenever they went out, the two always moved together, practically inseparable. Furthermore, the pair seemed to know a joint combat technique. When fighting enemies, their coordination was seamless and their minds in perfect harmony, moving as though they were a single person.
The two generally remained on Wanxian Island, rarely venturing out except to take on tasks to amass contribution points. However, during Jiao Xiuyuan's investigation, the pair had mysteriously vanished once. After leaving Wanxian Island, they had disappeared without a trace, and no one knew where they had gone.
*Who is this Baili Chen? Why do I have no recollection of him whatsoever?* Li Fan racked his brain, but found no record of Baili Chen in his memories.
*It seems this person must have fallen within the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace ruins.*
*Still, I didn't expect there would be another cultivator to deal with. My current preparations appear insufficient.*
*Fortunately, there is still plenty of time.*
With thoughts churning in his mind, Li Fan began scheming anew.
***
One year later.
Anchor Year 11, the central sea of the Congyun Sea.
A thunderstorm that had been brewing in the sky for months rumbled relentlessly. The thick, swirling cloud layer had turned ink-black, rotating sluggishly as it amassed power. The clouds stood like towering ramparts, guarding the center of the vortex.
There, flashes of blue light flickered without pause. With each pulsation, an indefinable shift seemed to ripple through this central expanse of sea.
Such an extraordinary anomaly naturally drew no small number of cultivators. Rumors were even spreading that the ruins of an ancient sect were about to emerge into the world here. Over the past few months, the cultivators gathering in the area had steadily multiplied.
Li Fan was naturally among them.
Sweeping his eyes over the crowd, his gaze paused imperceptibly upon Sikong Yi and Baili Chen.
Soon after, he spotted Jiao Xiuyuan as well.
Jiao Xiuyuan was staring at the swirling cloud vortex in the sky, his face flushed with excitement.
*That fellow probably thinks he has chanced upon an opportunity to grab some easy pickings.*
*Little does he know, he is merely walking to his own death.*
A chill flashed through Li Fan's eyes.
Chapter 78