The Vanished Liuli Pearls

The Vanished Liuli Pearls

Unfortunately, Li Fan could only think about it for now.

The Heavenly Xuan Mirror was the supreme treasure and foundation of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance.

It was not something a mere Qi Refining Stage cultivator like Li Fan could possibly covet.

It was more practical to take on missions and earn Merit Points.

Suppressing the greed in his heart, Li Fan opened the Merit Point mission list.

He filtered for missions suitable for Early Qi Refining cultivators that carried little danger.

At a glance, they were all odd jobs and errand-running tasks, with most rewards amounting to only one or two Merit Points.

Moreover, they often vanished after only a moment, clearly because Li Fan was not the only one watching them.

After removing the low-danger condition, quite a few new missions appeared.

These missions generally required traveling to various islands in the Congyun Sea to handle some matter. However, since the people involved were all mortals, no fighting was necessary, and the danger was not particularly high.

The rewards for these missions were generally around five or ten Merit Points.

Yet using the Teleportation Formation on Ten Thousand Immortals Island also required Merit Points—one point per trip.

After deducting the two points needed for a round trip, there was not much reward left from a single mission.

Earning enough Merit Points to remain within the Heavenly Xuan Mirror and cultivate from time to time was truly no easy matter.

Although earning Merit Points would become easier as his strength increased, the Merit Points required to activate assisted cultivation mode would likewise rise with his cultivation.

That meant he would still have to run about for Merit Points.

And exchanging for cultivation techniques would also require vast amounts of Merit Points...

Li Fan suddenly understood why the Heavenly Xuan Mirror offered this assisted cultivation function.

Any cultivator who had experienced that kind of super cultivation mode would find it difficult to refuse trying it again.

Moreover, given the same amount of time, saving up Merit Points and activating assisted cultivation still resulted in faster overall cultivation progress than burying one's head in bitter cultivation alone.

Cultivation techniques, resources, assisted cultivation...

The Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance truly had cultivators wrapped around its finger.

As Li Fan pondered this, he searched for a suitable mission.

Earning Merit Points was secondary. Li Fan's main objective was to find an opportunity to leave and retrieve the Taiyan Boat hidden within Return to Truth.

The Taiyan Boat contained quite a bit of gold, silver, and jewelry, along with a Heavenly Earth Marvel: the Halting Remnant Stele.

It would surely exchange for quite a few Merit Points.

As for why he did not simply release it on Ten Thousand Immortals Island...

He was not stupid. Would that not be directly telling others that he possessed an extraordinary treasure?

Li Fan believed that every inch of Ten Thousand Immortals Island lay within the Heavenly Profound Realm's surveillance.

If it drew their attention, things would become troublesome.

Although Return to Truth could use Turning Reality into Illusion, that still required conscious control.

What if some mighty expert acted and directly immobilized Li Fan's Divine Sense, leaving him unable to think?

Would he not be powerless to turn the tide, left to be slaughtered at another's whim? Even if there was only the slightest possibility, Li Fan would not take such a risk.

What was more, judging from the power displayed by the Heavenly Xuan Mirror, the present Cultivation World certainly possessed experts of that level.

No matter what, caution was Li Fan's foremost principle in all matters.

Just then, Li Fan suddenly spotted several familiar words amid the pile of missions.

"Liuli Island."

Delighted, he hurriedly accepted the mission first.

Only then did he carefully examine its details.

It turned out that the Liuli Pearls produced on Liuli Island had already run out within the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance.

According to the rules, the next shipment would not be submitted until half a year later.

They were urgently needed for alchemy, so the alchemy chamber had issued a commission seeking someone to travel to Liuli Island and obtain at least twenty Liuli Pearls.

The reward would be determined according to the quality and quantity of the Liuli Pearls.

Li Fan had heard of these Liuli Pearls ever since he arrived on Liuli Island. They would occasionally form within the bodies of Liuli Fish.

He simply did not know what kind of pill they were used to refine.

Still, this mission could not have suited him better.

After spending five Merit Points to buy the smallest Storage Ring as a cover, Li Fan did not delay. He left the Heavenly Xuan Mirror and headed straight for Dharma Transmission Plaza.

Following the same route back, Li Fan arrived before the stone statue from earlier.

Li Fan now knew that each of the countless statues in Dharma Transmission Plaza corresponded to an island in the Congyun Sea.

The Teleportation Formation was connected to the Island Protection Arrays of the various islands.

The stone statue before him, symbolizing Liuli Island, was a leaping Liuli Fish.

After one Merit Point was deducted, Li Fan activated the Teleportation Formation.

This time, the dizziness was indeed much weaker. Li Fan quickly recovered.

"I wonder which fellow Daoist..." He Zheng Hao's voice drifted faintly over.

"Huh? Why is it you?" Seeing who had arrived, He Zheng Hao looked somewhat puzzled.

Li Fan immediately explained that he had accepted a mission to collect Liuli Pearls.

"Liuli Pearls? I'll have someone take you to collect them." He Zheng Hao did not think much of it and nodded. "Still, young friend, you adapted quickly. You were already so eager to come out and take missions."

"Ah, driven by the necessities of life," Li Fan said, feigning helplessness.

He Zheng Hao immediately wore an expression of complete understanding.

Following a servant to Liuli Prefecture, Li Fan met Steward Qian, who was in charge of finances.

Steward Qian respectfully prostrated himself on the ground. It was unknown whether he had recognized Li Fan.

After all, Li Fan had once been responsible for a fleet from Liuli Island and had met Steward Qian several times.

But even if he had recognized him, Steward Qian would probably pretend otherwise.

No matter what, in their eyes, immortal masters stood high above them, beings who absolutely could not be offended.

Having received the order, Steward Qian swiftly brought out every Liuli Pearl remaining in the island's stores.

"Reporting to Immortal Master, only twenty-three Liuli Pearls remain on the island at present. This is all that our Liuli Island has been able to gather recently. If Immortal Master requires more, I fear you will have to wait about a year and a half." Steward Qian spoke somewhat fearfully.

"Oh? What unexpected change occurred?" Li Fan asked.

"I would not dare deceive Immortal Master. According to reports from the island's fishing fleets, it seems that due to excessive harvesting, the schools of Liuli Fish they encounter have grown fewer and fewer. I fear they must be allowed a period of natural recovery before they can be harvested again." Steward Qian replied.

Hearing this, Li Fan nodded.

Yet Zhang Haobo's words suddenly surfaced in his mind.

"I understand." Li Fan stored the Liuli Pearls in his Storage Ring. Rather than immediately returning, he first went to the Listening to Seclusion Pavilion.

After entering the house, Li Fan waited for a moment. He released his Divine Sense, and after ensuring that He Zheng Hao was not secretly watching him, released the Taiyan Boat.

He then swiftly transferred the gold, silver, and the Halting Remnant Stele from within the Taiyan Boat.

After finishing all this, Li Fan returned to the Dharma Protector Array.

Just as he was about to return directly to Ten Thousand Immortals Island, Li Fan heard a voice from behind him.

"Young friend, please wait!"

Every hair on Li Fan's body stood on end. He immediately turned around and stared at He Zheng Hao with wary eyes.