Returning to Wanxian Island through the teleportation array, Li Fan discovered that news of the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace's emergence had already spread.
"Must-Read! A Bizarre Sect Sealed for a Millennium Reappears in the World!"
"Gentle Senior Brother Attempts Indecent Acts in the Dead of Night..."
"Top-Secret Intel, 10 Contribution Points Each, Honest and Fair to Young and Old!"
...
In the beginning, it was Jiao Xiuyuan peddling information, which only covered the first trial of Qin Tang's test.
Yet because it was firsthand intel, it still fetched the steep price of thirty contribution points apiece.
Jiao Xiuyuan had made quite a fortune off it.
Later, as survivors continued returning from the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace, details concerning this uncanny sect's ruins grew increasingly abundant.
Naturally, the price plummeted alongside it.
Even so, because the first batch of explorers had been limited in number, the intelligence circulating on the market was still confined to Qin Tang's stone statue and a few anomalies around the perimeter.
The deeper reaches of the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace—such as the Demon Refining Tower and Taiyi Hall—remained complete blanks.
Li Fan shook his head and returned to the Heavenly Profound Mirror, where he began taking stock of his gains from this venture.
The Cloud Water Illusory Dream Technique passed down by Qin Tang, Daoist Chong's Insect Binding divine ability, and the Cloud Water Chart and Talismans.
As well as the Sea-Calming Divine Sword, the Stealing Heaven Changing Sun Art, and the Stealing Heaven Changing Sun Token obtained from Sikong Yi.
At present, he had already cultivated the Golden Chapter of Thousand Mechanisms and the Jade Cosmos, the Nether Spirit Illusion Art, and the Shadow Following Art.
Biting off more than one could chew would only lead to ruin; among these new techniques, he naturally had to choose what to practice and what to set aside.
Insect Binding was an innate divine ability that required no cultivation.
The Cloud Water Illusory Dream Technique held endless marvelous uses and was of paramount importance to his upcoming plans, so he had no choice but to cultivate it.
The Stealing Heaven Changing Sun Art could also be cultivated, except...
Li Fan's divine sense swept across the Stealing Heaven Changing Sun Token in his storage ring.
The method of refining an avatar was worth attempting.
As for the technique Sikong Yue had developed later—converting one's life essence into the Stealing Heaven Changing Sun Token—there was no need to cultivate that at all.
In Li Fan's eyes, Sikong Yue's life-preserving method was far from perfect.
As long as an opponent acted as Li Fan had, trapping both the true body and the avatar together and slaughtering them repeatedly, so-called resurrection became nothing more than a joke.
In this world, when it came to preserving one's life, what could surpass his True Reversion?
Why discard the root to chase the branches?
What was more...
Looking at the faintly eerie token that seemed almost alive, a faint premonition flickered in Li Fan's heart.
"Stealing heaven and changing the sun... When it comes to who is replacing whom, it really is hard to say.
"There is no need to take such a risk. I will set it aside for now and verify it later when an opportunity arises.
"The Sea-Calming Divine Sword can be cultivated all the way to the Golden Core realm. Once mastered to great completion, one can condense one hundred and eight Sea-Calming Swords within the dantian.
"Against a single target, a hundred swords can be unleashed at once; against a crowd, they can form the Sea-Calming Sword Formation. It is truly a top-tier slaughter technique.
"Its might is formidable, but there is no rush to cultivate it.
"It is already Year 12 of Anchor. In my previous life, the Red Flame burned the sea in Year 31 of Anchor. Previously, I still hesitated about whether to take part in that momentous event. Now that I am endowed with all these opportunities, if I use an avatar alongside the Cloud Water Illusory Dream Technique, then even if my true body flees to a distant continent, I may still be able to stir up storms in this Congyun Sea."
...
In an instant, all sorts of schemes flashed through Li Fan's mind. Only after a long while did he set them aside for the moment.
Taking out the small seven-colored miniature model from his storage ring, he examined it closely.
"If I hadn't obtained this with my own hands from Taiyi, I probably wouldn't believe that this is the legendary Cloud Water Chart and Talismans either," Li Fan sighed after studying it for a while without discerning any mystery.
"Perhaps a secret really is hidden inside. But if I cannot decipher it, keeping it in hand is no different from holding trash. Exchanging it for one hundred thousand contribution points remains the most sensible choice.
"However, turning it in with my true body would draw far too much attention. I still need to refine an avatar first."
Li Fan checked his current contribution points.
Earlier, in order to deal with Sikong Yi, he had nearly spent all the contribution points on his person.
Only a little over five hundred remained.
Fortunately, most of the materials for refining an avatar were not particularly expensive.
Supreme Bone, Heavenly Spirit Milk, Bone-Crushing Treasure Sinew...
Li Fan purchased them one by one.
Finally, when only 135 contribution points remained, Li Fan had acquired all the materials except the last one: Heavenly Crystal Spirit Sand.
As for this Heavenly Crystal Spirit Sand, according to Sikong Yi's memories, it could be gathered somewhere in the Congyun Sea.
Afterward, Li Fan engaged the auxiliary cultivation mode and began cultivating the Stealing Heaven Changing Sun Art.
This Stealing Heaven Changing Sun Art was somewhat similar to Li Fan's primary cultivation method, the Golden Chapter of Thousand Mechanisms and the Jade Cosmos.
The Golden Chapter of Thousand Mechanisms and the Jade Cosmos cultivated Qi dynamics, whereas the Stealing Heaven Changing Sun Art stole destiny.
Whether Qi dynamics or destiny, both were abstruse, profound, and difficult to perceive, yet both truly existed.
Under the enhancement of Spirit Enlightenment, it took Li Fan three days to cultivate it to the middle Qi Condensation stage.
His contribution points, however, were reduced to a pitiful thirty-five.
At any rate, reaching the middle Qi Condensation stage in the Stealing Heaven Changing Sun Art was sufficient to refine an avatar, so he simply halted his cultivation.
Carrying the materials, Li Fan left Wanxian Island through the teleportation array and arrived at Lingyun Island in the western waters of the Congyun Sea.
The place where the Heavenly Crystal Spirit Sand lay was not far from Lingyun Island.
After greeting the garrison of Lingyun Island, Li Fan casually activated a Form-Concealing Talisman and flew toward the location in his memories.
After traveling for several days, he stopped above a stretch of sea covered in whirlpools of various sizes, then dove beneath the surface.
The water here was relatively shallow; after descending only three or four hundred meters, he reached the seabed.
Everywhere lay the collapsed remnants of buildings, clearly marking the site of ruins.
The scale of the ruins was quite grand, offering a faint glimpse of what must have been past prosperity.
Yet for unknown reasons, it had sunk to the ocean floor.
Such ruins were scattered everywhere across the Congyun Sea, so Li Fan found nothing strange about it.
After all, when Li Fan first arrived in the Congyun Sea, he had heard about how the wind calamity ravaged the region and sank hundreds of islands.
Coming alongside a massive, tilted square stone block, Li Fan squeezed through the gap between the rocks and slipped inside.
The interior resembled a pitch-black cavern, save for over a hundred glowing jellyfish drifting within it.
They looked like moving stars.
The cavern floor was blanketed in a layer of fine, sparkling sand and gravel.
In the center of the cavern, a massive boulder had been hollowed out to serve as the jellyfish's home.
The glowing sand on the ground was, naturally, the Heavenly Crystal Spirit Sand.
Li Fan gathered the Heavenly Crystal Spirit Sand from the ground and glanced at the massive boulder, marveling at the wonders of creation.
This was also a place Sikong Yi had discovered by chance.
The boulder in the center was nothing more than an ordinary piece of Heavenly Spirit Ore.
Yet after being consumed and digested by these nameless jellyfish, it had actually transformed into the precious material known as Heavenly Crystal Spirit Sand.
It was truly incredible.
One had to know that even for a Foundation Establishment artifact refiner, producing this Heavenly Crystal Spirit Sand would require a considerable amount of effort.
Chapter 91