Chapter 157: Meteor Falls To Cangwu

“Each cultivator borrowing a technique from us pays ten thousand contribution points on average.

"So far, Brightmoon Palace has transmitted techniques to seven cultivators.

"Most choose the three-year repayment plan, with a 36% annual interest rate. So, they repay over 570 points each month.

"With seven cultivators, that's over four thousand contribution points flowing in.

"Every three months, we can transmit techniques to another cultivator.

"As our operations expand, this pace will only accelerate..."

Within Brightmoon Palace, Yin Yuzhen calculated the profits the business had made so far, her eyes sparkling like stars.

"We can't count it that way," Yin Yueting interjected. "As more cultivators borrow our techniques, we're bound to encounter one or two who refuse to repay. Each default would cause significant losses.

"Even so, the speed of Brightmoon Palace's expansion remains astonishingly fast," Yin Yueting marveled.

Yin Yuzhen waved dismissively. "The Su family's Xiaomei and Xiao Heng aren't pushovers. Haven't you noticed how eagerly the young mistress goes out for debt collection, and how satisfied she looks whenever she returns?"

"The Brightmoon Talisman and Deterrence Talisman work wonders too. Without these divine tools, debt collection would be far more difficult," Yin Yueting nodded in agreement.

"Of course! When Senior acts, the results are naturally extraordinary. Those eight words he personally inscribed, 'Compassionate Ferry to Salvation, Relieving Suffering and Hardship', have become deeply rooted in the hearts of Qi Refinement cultivators," Yin Yuzhen exclaimed with animated excitement.

***

In the underground meditation chamber of Brightmoon Palace, Li Fan, whom the sisters so deeply admired, currently bore no resemblance to an exalted master.

He had just emerged from a session of array studies. Examining the advancement of his cultivation level, unrestrained joy spread across his face.

On average, each technique transmission that helps a cultivator reach Foundation Establishment instantly grants me feedback equivalent to seven months of cultivation. I haven't practiced for a single moment these past days, yet I've gained forty-nine months of cultivation progress. Nearly four years of relentless hard training!

Moreover, as these borrowers continue advancing their cultivation, I keep receiving feedback.

Each one may be just a trickle, but together they can swell into a vast ocean!

It is foreseeable that when Brightmoon Palace scales up its technique transmission enterprise, my cultivation speed will increase even more dramatically.

Reward-reaping! Pure reward-reaping! Excellent!

For a moment, Li Fan could scarcely contain his delight.

But then his brows furrowed.

At the Qi Refinement realm, Formless Killing Mechanism could lock onto a maximum of five targets. After reaching Foundation Establishment, Li Fan found that the limit had increased to fifteen people. Though tripled, this remained far from sufficient.

I wonder if there's any method to increase this number.

The target limit of Formless Killing Mechanism was likely related to the strength of his divine sense.

Methods to enhance divine sense certainly existed, but they would undoubtedly come at great cost.

Li Fan began searching through the Tianxuan Mirror.

After eliminating methods clearly beyond his current means, he soon found the approach most suitable for his present situation.

Spirit-Startling Array, Mind Ape Bone...

Li Fan gazed thoughtfully at the silver incense emitting tendrils of fragrant smoke.

So this incense that eliminates mental fatigue is actually made by grinding Mind Ape Bones into powder and mixing them with other materials.

The so-called Mind Ape didn’t refer to some type of exotic beast, but rather to cultivators who had lost their minds.

Legend had it that in certain provinces, incidents where large numbers of cultivators became inexplicably bewitched occasionally occurred. These bewitched cultivators often lost their self-awareness, becoming nothing more than killing machines. After these cultivators were killed by others, their corpses transformed into the appearance of white apes, hence the name Mind Apes.

Every part of a Mind Ape was valuable, the most precious being the bones throughout their bodies, which had the effect of enhancing and replenishing expended mental energy.

The Spirit-Startling Array, meanwhile, was a type of array that produced different effects depending on the materials used to construct it.

For example, if the array materials included spirit jade with spirit-gathering properties, then the Spirit-Startling Array would amplify this spirit-gathering characteristic, producing a stronger spirit-gathering effect. Similarly, using Mind Ape Bones that could enhance the mind to construct an array would create the Mind Ape Spirit-Startling Array, enhancing divine sense by several times its normal effect.

The Spirit-Startling Array was powerful, but its drawback was that the array's effectiveness gradually diminished as the array materials were consumed. Constant replenishment of array materials was needed to maintain the array's operation.

Rough calculations show that constructing a Mind Ape Spirit-Startling Array requires about twenty thousand contribution points. And that’s not including the continuous replenishment of Mind Ape Bones.

I'll just have to test its effects first before deciding.

Li Fan could now be considered wealthy beyond measure. Twenty thousand contribution points were nothing to him, so he immediately purchased sufficient Mind Ape Bones and began constructing the Spirit-Startling Array.

The Spirit-Startling Array was essentially just an amplification array, not particularly complex in nature. Still, it took Li Fan the better part of a month to complete its construction.

Indeed, there's quite a gap between pure theory and practical application. Although my current theoretical knowledge of the array path has moved beyond the beginner level, my actual array construction skills remain at the novice level.

With this understanding, Li Fan activated the Mind Ape Spirit-Startling Array. Carefully sensing the array's amplification effects, Li Fan detected that his divine sense had strengthened approximately fivefold.

This means the locking capacity of the Formless Killing Mechanism has increased to about seventy-five targets.

While this still falls somewhat short of my intended goal, it should suffice for now.

After breaking through to the mid-stage Foundation Establishment realm, my divine sense will strengthen further. If necessary, I could also expand the scale of the Mind Ape Spirit-Startling Array, though the benefits might not justify the costs.

Having temporarily resolved his concerns about technique transmission, Li Fan threw himself back into studying the array path. To his surprise, Li Fan discovered that perhaps due to his enhanced divine sense, both his true self and avatar's learning efficiency had improved to some degree. It was an unexpected benefit.

Time flowed steadily onward, and Anchor Year 41 arrived. On this day, Li Fan's intense concentration was broken by the ringing of a communication spirit talisman.

This is?

After a moment of puzzlement, Li Fan realized who had given him this communication spirit talisman—Kou Hong and Dao Xuanzi.

As he answered the spirit talisman, Kou Hong's voice came through.

"Brother Li Fan, how have you been lately?"

"I’ve just been in secluded cultivation, can't say whether it’s good or bad," Li Fan chuckled in response.

"Hahaha, these past few years, Dao Xuanzi and I have actually..." Kou Hong’s words were cut off as if he were interrupted by someone.

He changed the subject with a cough. "Ahem, let's get to business. Brother Li Fan, Dao Xuanzi and I are planning to head to Cangwu Province to seek opportunities. Would you like to come with us?"

"Cangwu Province?" Li Fan vaguely recalled that it was located far in the southwestern corner of the continent, extremely distant from Yuandao Province.

What were these two going there for? Li Fan voiced this question immediately.

Kou Hong's astonished reply came at once. "What, brother, you haven't heard yet? This matter has been spreading like wildfire. Do you remember that fiery meteor that lit up the sky twenty-six years ago?"

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Li Fan narrowed his eyes, instantly recalling it.

While gathering intelligence previously, he had heard about the event. In Anchor Year 15, a fiery meteor had streaked across the night sky, vanishing to an unknown location. Every cultivator who witnessed it had felt an inexplicable surge of dread and sorrow in their hearts.

"From that day on, cultivators have been trying to locate where that meteor fell. But all efforts came up empty.

"Fortunately, everyone persisted. Twenty-six years later, we've finally found its trail. And guess what? That meteor landed in the Cangwu Abyss! That damned place is bottomless; no wonder nobody found it for so long.

“According to the rumors, a powerhouse calculated that this meteor is tied to a heaven-shaking opportunity. So now, cultivators from all over are heading to the Cangwu Abyss to try their luck. Who knows? Maybe someone might just stumble upon that meteor.

"That's what we're thinking too. Heh, Dao Xuanzi and I have had some decent fortune lately, so we figured we'd take the risk and venture in."