"Hmm?" Li Fan turned his head and looked at Manager Zhao.
Facing a legendary immortal master, Manager Zhao could not help feeling nervous.
Weighing his words, he asked gingerly, "Immortal Master, you seemed to be on quite good terms with Immortal Master He?"
Li Fan was about to answer when something suddenly crossed his mind. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "Fellow Daoist He and I were acquainted for roughly forty-odd years, and he looked out for me quite a lot. I was away on business previously and had no idea he had passed away. Coming across his spirit tablet so abruptly today was truly a tremendous shock."
"All I could do was offer him a stick of incense..."
At this point, Li Fan shook his head and sighed.
Manager Zhao also lamented, "Ever since I learned of Immortal Master He's death and set up this memorial hall for him, twenty-six days have passed. You are the first, and also the only one, who has come to pay respects to him.
"Dozens of immortal masters have visited the island, but they came either to search for his relics or to vie for the position of Liuli Island's guarding immortal master.
"Now that the new guarding immortal master has assumed office, I doubt I can keep my position as manager.
"Yet I have been unable to fulfill Immortal Master He's dying entrustment, which leaves me deeply ashamed.
"Fortunately, I met you today."
Manager Zhao looked as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders.
"Fellow Daoist He's entrustment?" Li Fan was taken aback.
"Indeed. In life, Immortal Master He once entrusted an item to me, instructing that if any misfortune befell him in the future, I should give it to the first fellow daoist who came to pay respects after his death," Manager Zhao answered truthfully.
"Why would he leave something with a mortal like you?" Li Fan was somewhat surprised by his answer.
"To be honest with you, Immortal Master, through a stroke of luck in my early years, I once saved Immortal Master He's life. He originally intended to guide me onto the path of cultivation, but I dreaded its hardships and merely asked for an ordinary post.
"Over the years, I have always served by his side, so I earned quite a bit of his trust." As Manager Zhao spoke, his face showed a mix of pride and sorrow.
It seemed there indeed was such a matter.
In his previous life, Li Fan had heard Manager Zhao mention it.
Li Fan thus nodded.
"Besides, leaving it with me was exceptionally safe. After all, who would ever think an immortal master would leave his relics to a mortal? The immortal masters who came and went these past days never once looked me in the eye..." Halfway through, Manager Zhao realized his impropriety and hurriedly stopped himself.
He quickly turned around and retrieved a small square box from beneath He Zhenghao's spirit tablet.
The small square box seemed to isolate divine sense; even when Li Fan had stood right before it earlier, he had not noticed anything.
"The item inside this box is Immortal Master He's relic. As for its exact purpose, that is beyond my knowledge." Manager Zhao handed over the box, speaking uneasily.
Li Fan opened the box. Inside lay a talisman shaped like the character "Wan."
It looked somewhat familiar.
Wasn't this...
Li Fan took out an identical one from his storage ring, differing only in the aura lingering on the talisman.
It was none other than the transit talisman required for outside cultivators entering and leaving Wanxian Island for the first time.
Li Fan still remembered He Zhenghao explaining it to him back then—this talisman was worth a full hundred contribution points.
But what use was this?
For a moment, Li Fan was puzzled.
Nevertheless, he stowed the wooden box away.
Looking at the anxious and uneasy Manager Zhao, Li Fan thought for a moment and said, "I will speak on your behalf to the new guarding master. As for whether your position can be kept, I cannot guarantee it."
Hearing this, Manager Zhao was overjoyed and hurriedly knelt down, kowtowing repeatedly.
Li Fan waved his hand and flew off.
Manager Zhao remained prostrated on the ground, not daring to stir.
Only after waiting a long while did he slowly rise.
Gazing at He Zhenghao's spirit tablet, he whispered softly:
"I've finally passed off this hot potato. These past days, watching immortal masters flying back and forth overhead, I couldn't even sleep peacefully.
"That man just now wasn't lying, and he was indeed the first to pay respects to you. Giving your relic to him fulfills your entrustment.
"My conscience can finally rest easy."
After a long silence, Manager Zhao murmured again in a low voice, "Cultivating immortality... in the end, they die even earlier than me, with no one to collect their bones.
"What's the point?"
***
With the wooden box in hand, Li Fan entered the Island-Protecting Grand Formation and met the unfamiliar cultivator once again.
The unfamiliar cultivator was named Ning Wenxing, the newly appointed guardian of Liuli Island following a bout of maneuvering.
Li Fan did not mention Manager Zhao's connection to He Zhenghao, only saying that Manager Zhao was an old acquaintance of his, and asked whether his position as Liuli Island's financial manager could be preserved.
It was merely a mortal post; after thinking it over, Ning Wenxing nodded in agreement.
Li Fan expressed his thanks.
After exchanging communication talismans, Li Fan hurried back into the Heavenly Profound Mirror.
Only after searching for a while did Li Fan figure out the function of that transit talisman.
Beyond serving as an entry token for Wanxian Island, the talisman could also function as a storage and retrieval voucher.
The items were stored not within the Heavenly Profound Mirror, but in a place called the "Pavilion of Ten Thousand Repositories."
Usually, what was kept there was nothing particularly precious.
More often than not, cultivators deposited inheritances there just in case, intended for their mortal relatives.
Only after a cultivator's death could mortal relatives present the talisman to retrieve the inheritance.
For this reason, the Pavilion of Ten Thousand Repositories was located not on Wanxian Island, but on Youlan Island in the northern reaches of the Congyun Sea.
Having understood the talisman's purpose, Li Fan did not delay. He made a trip to Youlan Island and finally retrieved He Zhenghao's relic.
A jade slip.
At first, Li Fan thought it was some kind of cultivation technique.
Only after reading through the contents of the jade slip did he understand.
Inside the jade slip was an unfinished work by He Zhenghao:
*Detailed Explanation of the Hundred Meridians Formation Diagram*.
The book recorded in detail He Zhenghao's various unique insights into formations accumulated over the years, as well as some innovative concepts.
Accompanying the book was a recorded message left by He Zhenghao.
He stated that throughout his entire life, his only passion had been the Dao of Formations.
After decades of pouring his heart and soul into it, stumbling along the way, he had barely managed to complete the greater part of *Detailed Explanation of the Hundred Meridians Formation Diagram*.
Logically speaking, the risks of venturing into the cave abode this time should have been minimal.
Yet one could never be too careful.
If disaster struck, losing his life was a minor matter. What he truly feared was that his life's work, *Detailed Explanation of the Hundred Meridians Formation Diagram*, would have its luster covered in dust and remain buried forever.
Thus, he had made this contingency arrangement, hoping that whichever acquainted cultivator obtained the talisman would deliver the *Detailed Explanation of the Hundred Meridians Formation Diagram* to any formation master on Wanxian Island, in the hope that it might be brought to completion.
Finally, He Zhenghao could not help but grumble a bit.
He spoke of the various merits of the *Mountain-Sitting Art* he cultivated.
Alas, practicing it was simply too arduous.
Were it not for that, he would never have taken the risk of venturing into the ancient cave abode just to switch techniques.
***
"The *Mountain-Sitting Art*? Fellow Daoist He, you've truly handed me quite a dilemma."
Stowing the jade slip away, an inexplicable gleam flashed through Li Fan's eyes.
Chapter 96