Chapter 75

Upon hearing that the target was only a mid-stage Qi Condensation cultivator, Jiao Xiuyuan immediately relaxed.

He immediately took on a big responsibility and said, "Rest assured, it's just a minor Qi Condensation cultivator. I guarantee to thoroughly investigate his background for you. It's just that the price..."

Li Fan smiled and said, "It's just a minor Qi Condensation cultivator. I'm sure it won't be too expensive."

Jiao Xiuyuan wished he could slap himself and said sheepishly, "In this line of work, there's always some risk. How about this number?"

He made a gesture with his hand, indicating eight.

"Forty contribution points, no more," Li Fan shook his head.

"Hey, you're really driving a hard bargain! Sixty points, at least? Otherwise, it'll be a loss for me!" Jiao Xiuyuan cried out in pain.

Li Fan turned to leave.

"Wait, wait!" Jiao Xiuyuan quickly stopped Li Fan.

"Fifty points, really can't go any lower," he said with a pained expression.

Li Fan finally stopped.

"Give me ten contribution points as a deposit first," Jiao Xiuyuan said, handing Li Fan a communication spirit talisman. "I'll notify you through this talisman once I have the results."

Li Fan took the talisman and then took out a medium-grade spirit stone to give to Jiao Xiuyuan.

Instead of leaving in a hurry, he started looking around at the other items for sale in the room.

Seeing that today he had a big customer, Jiao Xiuyuan became even more enthusiastic.

"Do you need anything else?"

"Do you have any cultivation techniques for sale? Preferably evasion techniques, or something similar to the Concealment Talisman," Li Fan asked.

Jiao Xiuyuan's expression immediately froze.

"Ha, are you joking with me? How about you look at something else? What about this set of Tracing Array Diagrams? It's absolutely top-notch. Once activated, it can trap a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator for a day."

"This set of Ice Sword Talismans is also good, suitable for ambushes..."

"Hey, don't go!"

...

After leaving Qianli Hall, Li Fan returned to the Heavenly Mystic Mirror.

He planned to cultivate the "Mingling Illusion Technique" to the late-stage Qi Condensation level first.

Once the Blue Flame Illusion Spirit was fully stabilized, he could release it to attack enemies.

With the auxiliary cultivation mode activated, Li Fan entered another seclusion.

...

One month later, in the sea east of Congyun Sea, near the Flame Crystal Island.

In the deep sea, Li Fan concealed his aura and followed a group of Crimson Flame Sharks.

There were about a dozen of these Crimson Flame Sharks, surrounding and hunting a lone Crimson Seat Whale.

The Crimson Seat Whale was massive, feeding on the Flame Crystals at the bottom of the sea, with skin as hard as rock.

The Crimson Flame Sharks, on the other hand, had sharp teeth and moved swiftly, coordinating seamlessly.

Although they couldn't inflict significant damage to the Crimson Seat Whale at first, they could gradually wear it down, like a dull knife slicing through flesh.

The Crimson Seat Whale tried several times to break through the encirclement of the Crimson Flame Sharks but failed each time.

Gradually, its resistance became weaker and weaker.

Li Fan watched the scene and knew it was time.

The Blue Flame Illusion Spirit appeared.

It then transformed into a thin blue light, swiftly passing through the dozen Crimson Flame Sharks and the Crimson Seat Whale one by one.

A moment later, it returned to Li Fan's mind.

The Crimson Flame Sharks and the Crimson Seat Whale suddenly stopped moving.

Then, a cold aura surged from within them, freezing them from the inside out.

In an instant, the seabed was filled with eerie ice sculptures.

Their expressions and movements were as if they were alive, but they had already lost their life force.

"The Blue Flame Illusion Spirit is indeed powerful."

"These sea beasts are mostly equivalent to Qi Condensation cultivators, with tough skin and thick flesh. Ordinary methods are hard to kill them. After using the Blue Flame Illusion Spirit to launch a mental attack, they became like lambs to the slaughter, with no resistance at all." Li Fan nodded, satisfied with the initial test of the Illusion Spirit's killing power.

Not long ago, after more than twenty days, he finally successfully broke through the "Mingling Illusion Technique" to the late-stage Qi Condensation level.

To test the power of the Illusion Spirit and earn some contribution points, he took on the task of "hunting Crimson Flame Sharks and obtaining their beast cores."

One beast core was worth 5 contribution points, so he could earn about sixty points. Adding the materials from the Crimson Seat Whale, he could earn about eighty contribution points in total.

It was better than nothing, he thought.

In the past, each time he earned contribution points, it was in the thousands. Such a small amount was hard to stir any excitement in Li Fan.

As he was about to harvest the beast cores from the Crimson Flame Sharks, he suddenly sensed a massive figure approaching from the depths of the sea.

Li Fan's expression changed, and he quickly retreated, ignoring the nearby beast cores.

A deep brown, fierce-looking sea monster with a deformed protrusion on its forehead, resembling a dragon but not quite, and a fish but not quite, suddenly emerged from the shadows of the seabed.

Its huge mouth opened, swallowing the dozen Crimson Flame Sharks and the Crimson Seat Whale in one bite!

Its body shook, and the monster swam around, then headed in a certain direction.

Li Fan, who had narrowly avoided the monster, could only watch helplessly as his prey was taken away.

Could he just let this go?

Li Fan's anger flared up.

But soon, the Yellow Emperor Heart Cultivation Spell calmed him down a bit.

Wait, this monster, could it be the one that destroyed the island where the Spirit Mist Grass was grown?

Seemingly recalling something, Li Fan was stunned.

When he accepted the task to hunt the Crimson Flame Whale, Li Fan had also glimpsed another bounty task.

Since this task was somewhat related to him, he had carefully examined it.

It turned out that those who had hyped up the Spirit Mist Grass had all suffered heavy losses, even going bankrupt.

With a grudge in their hearts, they were filled with resentment and couldn't focus on cultivation.

But they didn't dare to cause trouble with Greenwood Transformation True Immortal or the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, so they could only take out their anger on the strange beast that had destroyed the island where the Spirit Mist Grass was grown.

According to eyewitnesses, the attacker was a Dragon Whale, roughly at the Foundation Establishment level.

The island's guardian was also a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

However, the Dragon Whale's massive body made the guardian's attacks feel like mere scratches, with no effect.

The Dragon Whale ignored the guardian, broke through the island's protective array, and wreaked havoc, devouring most of the Spirit Mist Grass.

Afterward, the Golden Core cultivators of the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance arrived late.

The Dragon Whale, after being hit by a Golden Core cultivator, didn't die but was severely injured and fled back into the deep sea.

The vast Congyun Sea made it difficult for this group to find the Dragon Whale to vent their anger. They searched for over ten days without success.

In desperation, they each contributed a small amount of their remaining contribution points to jointly issue a bounty task.

Whoever killed the Dragon Whale would receive two thousand contribution points.

Since even Foundation Establishment cultivators couldn't handle the Dragon Whale, Li Fan, being just a minor Qi Condensation cultivator, naturally didn't accept the task.

But now...

The situation was different!