Chapter 38

Without explaining much to Xiao Heng and reassuring him, Li Fan immediately headed to the Tianbao Tower.

Yin Yuzhen was somewhat surprised by Li Fan's sudden arrival.

After hearing the reason for Li Fan's visit, Yin Yuzhen explained the entire situation with a look of anger.

It turned out that after several months of investigation, the various forces on Liuli Island finally discovered that the Star Sea Sand was actually celestial meteoric iron.

However, when they wanted to collect the meteoric iron, they found that all the Star Sea Sand within the Liuli Island sea area had already been completely scavenged by the Tianbao Tower.

The chaos in the Liuli Island market was also due to the Tianbao Tower's covert actions.

"The Tianbao Tower is treating everyone like monkeys!" In their anger, they went to the Liuli Island Lord to seek an explanation.

Naturally, Yin Yuzhen defended herself with righteous indignation, claiming that her actions were legitimate business competition.

The Liuli Island Lord also believed that although Yin Yuzhen's methods were a bit extreme, the competition for the Cleansing Spirit Pool slots was based on individual capabilities. As long as the required materials for the Immortal Master could be collected in the end, even if the means were slightly out of bounds, it was acceptable.

Therefore, the Island Lord did not punish the Tianbao Tower but instead scolded those who caused trouble.

How could these people be content?

A few days later, rumors began to spread on the island that the Tianbao Tower was secretly doing human smuggling business.

The rumors grew more and more exaggerated, suggesting that the Tianbao Tower would be punished by the Immortal Master and almost all of its members would be killed the next day.

"So, how serious is this matter? Will the Immortal Master really blame us?" After understanding the situation, Li Fan couldn't help but ask.

"This is the tricky part of the matter," Yin Yuzhen frowned. "The law is unpredictable, and its power is immeasurable. There has never been an explicit ban on helping humans smuggle. However, it is ultimately a taboo and cannot be done openly."

"Moreover, about ten years ago, an Immortal Master happened to witness a smuggling incident and, in a fit of anger, killed all the humans present."

"Since then, everyone has tacitly agreed to secretly engage in this smuggling business."

After hearing this, Li Fan also frowned. "So, this matter can be big or small, depending entirely on the Immortal Master's mood?"

"Exactly. If the Immortal Master doesn't care, then there's nothing to worry about. But if the Immortal Master is in a bad mood, then..." Yin Yuzhen didn't finish her sentence, but her face turned pale.

Li Fan fell silent.

He remembered the scene when he first met Kou Hong and Daoxuanzi.

In the eyes of these cultivators, humans were like ants, to be killed at will.

"Even at the risk of being beheaded, they still engage in this smuggling business. It must be extremely profitable," Li Fan sighed.

"Of course. The cost of one smuggling operation often requires a small world to be plundered for nearly ten years. You can imagine how much profit it brings," Yin Yuzhen nodded. "That's why some Immortal Masters can't resist and secretly join in, taking a share of the profits."

"These Immortal Masters will never admit their involvement. When they interact with us, they use immortal techniques to conceal their appearances. Moreover, they take the majority of the profits," Yin Yuzhen said, somewhat helplessly. "So, we have to handle this matter ourselves."

Li Fan recalled the Immortal Master he met when he first entered the cultivation world and nodded.

"Then, what is the temperament of the Immortal Master stationed on Liuli Island? What is his attitude towards this matter?" Li Fan asked.

"Immortal Master He of Liuli Island usually keeps to himself, and I haven't seen him many times. So, I can't be sure of his attitude. However, from his past handling of mundane affairs, he is not a soft-hearted person," Yin Yuzhen said solemnly.

After analyzing the situation, Li Fan finally sighed.

Li Fan knew that no matter how many schemes he had, they were all futile in the face of the absolute power gap.

He had no idea how to deal with this unstable factor, which was like a time bomb.

Li Fan's mind stirred, and he thought of the large amount of Immortal Human Miasma stored in one of the cabins of the Taiyan Boat.

"If I were in Daxuan, with thousands of loyalists, perhaps we could have a chance. Unfortunately..."

But he quickly suppressed this dangerous thought.

"Let's set a time to meet. This matter should not be made too public," Li Fan said.

"Yes, I agree," Yin Yuzhen said.

"They just want us to hand over some Star Sea Sand. Since we have the advantage and have collected enough, we might as well throw out a part of it to make them fight among themselves. There are no unbreakable alliances in this world," Li Fan said coldly.

...

Three days later, the Tianbao Tower met with the various forces on Liuli Island and proposed the following terms:

The Tianbao Tower agreed to hand over part of the Star Sea Sand but required the other party to provide equivalent value in exchange.

At the same time, how the Star Sea Sand would be distributed among the various forces would be decided by them.

Finally, the Tianbao Tower must be guaranteed one slot in the Cleansing Spirit Pool.

The terms were not too harsh, so after some discussion, both sides quickly reached an agreement.

After all, there was no deep-seated enmity between them; they were just competing for the Cleansing Spirit Pool slots.

Thus, the Tianbao Tower, at the cost of several dozen pieces of meteoric iron, successfully extricated itself from the chaotic situation.

Almost immediately, the rumors about smuggling on the island disappeared.

The other forces, in their competition for the several dozen pieces of meteoric iron, began to openly and covertly fight, leaving the Tianbao Tower alone.

Time passed, and the day for the Cleansing Spirit Pool to open was approaching.

After the final tally of the materials submitted by the various forces, the slots for the Cleansing Spirit Pool were finally determined.

This time, there were thirteen slots, and the Tianbao Tower had one.

With the major issue resolved, Li Fan couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

He just had to wait for the Cleansing Spirit Pool to open, and then he could rid himself of the miasma and officially embark on the path of cultivation!

He had been waiting for this day for too long.

Even with Li Fan's composure, he became somewhat excited.

Name: Li Fan

Realm: Mortal

Physical Age: 42/99

Mental Age: 505/1299↑

Void Transformation Charging Progress: 121%

Anchor Charging Progress: 51%

Current Anchor Count: 1

Bound Items: "Thousand Mechanisms Jade Ring Golden Chapter," Taiyan Boat, Stopping Step Broken Stele (Damaged)

Li Fan looked at the [True Enlightenment] panel. After two years of transformation, his physical age had reached the limit of 99 years, with no signs of further growth.

However, due to his continuous cultivation of the "Xuanhuang Purifying Heart Spell," his mental age limit was still slowly increasing.

What changes would occur after the Cleansing Spirit Pool's purification?

Li Fan was somewhat looking forward to it.

The day for the Cleansing Spirit Pool to open finally arrived. On that day, Li Fan took the Dust-Dispelling Pill given by Yin Yuzhen and, under the guidance of a specialist, entered the central array of Liuli Island.