Chapter 90: Everything Has a Cause
Li Fan had seen quite a few Heavenly Treasures in the past.
Besides the Cong Yun Sea's Canghai Pearl, there was Kou Hong's Gnarled Dragon Branch and Dao Xuanzi's Rust Sword Dao Xuan. Now, it seemed that these were mostly formed by the deceased cultivators of the past.
The Gnarled Dragon Branch focused on absorbing and devouring; Rust Sword Dao Xuan had a will that was unbending and could decelerate rusting.
From them, one could vaguely see the shadow of the cultivators.
Suddenly learning the secrets of Heavenly Treasures, Li Fan was somewhat shocked. But considering the grand scenes he had witnessed during the incineration of the sea, he quickly calmed down.
In Li Fan's eyes, the conflict between the heavens and the cultivators had clearly escalated to an extreme.
In the intensifying conflict, any bizarre occurrences were possible.
Li Fan then continued to examine the memories of Sikong Bo.
The Nascent Soul expert had already turned himself into a Foundation Treasure and possessed the child as his host.
He mostly remained in slumber and only awakened when guiding the child in cultivation or when the child faced life-threatening situations.
Thus, he didn't detect Sikong Bo's secret observation or malicious intentions.
Only until that night when Sikong Bo tried to steal the child's essence blood did he wake up.
The Nascent Soul expert immediately flew into a rage. The child was his hope to reach Soul Transformation or even Dao Integration, and he would not tolerate anyone coveting the child.
He revealed his true form on the spot, turning into a green willow tree, intending to kill Sikong Bo.
One was a Nascent Soul cultivator transformed into a Heavenly Treasure, suffering a significant decrease in strength. The other, while only at the Foundation Establishment stage, possessed various methods due to a millennia-old esoteric sect inheritance.
For a time, the two fought neck and neck.
They used all their means, engaged in a true battle, and neither was willing to retreat.
After a prolonged fight, both of them suffered heavy injuries and began to consider withdrawal.
He received the Sun Stealing Sect's inheritance, but his benevolent master left almost nothing to him before his death.
Cultivating as an unaffiliated cultivator was indeed tough. Even gathering the materials to create a clone was difficult. So, he explored on his own until he reached the Qi Condensation stage, and he made the decisive choice to join the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance.
After breaking through to the middle stage of Qi Condensation, he began to collect materials and crafted his own clone.
In a fortunate coincidence, he found a corpse while exploring the seabed. Sikong Yi had a vague sense that this corpse was extraordinary, possibly belonging to a powerful cultivator in their previous life. Thus, he used this corpse as material to create his own clone, who was known as Baili Chen.
When the clone was successfully crafted, fuzzy images appeared in his mind. It turned out that this corpse had once been a disciple of the ancient Cloud Water Heavenly Palace. When the Great Calamity arrived, he was seriously injured and fled from the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace but couldn't last long and eventually lost his life at sea. Thousands of years later, Sikong Yi turned him into a clone.
Through this clone, Sikong Yi not only obtained a cultivation technique called the "Sea Fixing Sword Technique" but also learned some secrets about the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace from the past. Unfortunately, they were just fragments, and he couldn't gain a complete understanding. Besides, the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace had long been hidden by a grand formation and was not visible to the world. Sikong Yi wanted to explore it, but it was impossible.
Later, he found that the highly rewarded "Cloud Water Map" was located within the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace. He was overjoyed, knowing that his opportunity had come. He kept a close eye on the changes in the central area of the Cong Yun Sea, waiting for the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace to open.
However, he didn't expect to encounter Li Fan.
Sikong Yi didn't even know until his death that he had been killed. How had his killer noticed him? He had learned from his master's lesson and acted very cautiously.
Feeling the strong unwillingness in Sikong Yi's remaining soul, Li Fan maintained his calm expression. He summoned the Azure Flame Illusionary Spirit and completely obliterated the two remaining souls.
"If it weren't for me, Sikong Yi would probably have successfully obtained the 'Cloud Water Map,' exchanged it for one hundred thousand contribution points, and then used the long-distance teleportation array to leave the Cong Yun Sea before anyone else could react."
"No, something is wrong." Thinking back to what had happened in his previous life, Li Fan shook his head inwardly.
"In my previous life, many people saw Sikong Yi leaving alone through the teleportation array. However, no one noticed Baili Chen..."
"Perhaps, this should be Sikong Yi's mirroring of a golden cicada shedding its shell. In the end, he probably never left the Cong Yun Sea."
"There's no need to deceive the Tianxuan Mirror. Just disappearing from the sight of those who covet the one hundred thousand contribution points will be enough..."
"A good method. Perhaps I can do it this time. After all, the temptation of one hundred thousand contribution points is simply too great."
Li Fan put away the Sun Stealing Token and flew towards a nearby island.
He wanted to pay a visit to the Ten Thousand Immortals Island. This trip to the Cloud Water Heavenly Palace had yielded an immense harvest, even a bit overwhelming. He needed to spend some time digesting it.
