Chapter 38 – Finally Entering the Spirit Pool

Chapter 38 – Finally Entering the Spirit Pool

Without explaining too much to Xiao Heng, Li Fan simply told him to rest easy, then hurried straight to the Heavenly Treasure House without delay.

Yin Yuzhen was somewhat surprised by Li Fan’s sudden visit.

But after hearing why Li Fan had come, her face filled with anger as she explained the whole story from beginning to end.

As it turned out, after months of investigation, the various factions on Glazed Glass Island had finally discovered that Star Sea Flowing Sand was in fact meteoric iron that had fallen from the sky.

But when they tried to collect the meteoric iron for themselves, they discovered that all the Star Sea Flowing Sand within Glazed Glass Island’s waters had already been swept clean by the Heavenly Treasure House.

And the chaos that had previously erupted in Glazed Glass Island’s markets? That too had been the Heavenly Treasure House pulling strings from the shadows.

“The Heavenly Treasure House has been playing us all for fools!” Burning with humiliation and rage, they brought their grievances before the Island Lord of Glazed Glass, demanding an explanation.

Yin Yuzhen naturally defended herself with righteous conviction, arguing that her actions constituted legitimate business competition.

The Island Lord of Glazed Glass also felt that while Yin Yuzhen’s methods were perhaps a bit aggressive, the competition for Body-Purifying Spirit Pool slots had always been a contest of ability. As long as the resources required by the immortal masters were ultimately gathered, slightly unconventional methods were not unacceptable.

So the Island Lord did not punish the Heavenly Treasure House, and instead reprimanded the troublemakers.

How could these people accept that?

And so, a few days later, rumors began circulating on the island that the Heavenly Treasure House was secretly running a mortal smuggling operation.

The rumors grew more and more outrageous, as if the Heavenly Treasure House would be called to account by the immortal masters any day now and slaughtered to the last.

“So how serious is this matter, really? Will the immortal masters actually hold it against you?” Having understood the sequence of events, Li Fan couldn’t help but ask.

“That’s precisely what makes this so troublesome.” Yin Yuzhen’s brow furrowed. “As the saying goes, ‘When the law is unknowable, its authority is immeasurable.’ Helping mortals cross over has never been explicitly forbidden by written decree. But the matter has always been somewhat taboo—something that can’t see the light of day.”

“On top of that, over a decade ago, a certain immortal master happened to stumble upon a smuggling operation. In his fury, he slaughtered every mortal present down to the last one.”

“Since then, everyone has tacitly agreed to conduct this smuggling business quietly, behind closed doors.”

Li Fan frowned slightly after hearing this. “So you’re saying this could go either way. Whether it’s treated as serious or trivial depends entirely on the immortal master’s mood?”

“Exactly. If the immortal master doesn’t make a fuss, then it’s nothing. But if the immortal master happens to be in a bad mood, then…” Yin Yuzhen trailed off, her face turning somewhat pale.

Li Fan fell silent.

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

In the eyes of cultivators like them, mortals truly were like ants—to be killed at will.

“To risk execution just to run this smuggling business—the profits must be enormous,” Li Fan sighed.

“Naturally. The cost of a single smuggling run often requires nearly ten years of resource extraction from an entire minor world. You can imagine the profits involved.” Yin Yuzhen nodded. “And precisely because of this, even some immortal masters can’t resist secretly joining in to claim their share.”

“These immortal masters would never admit to their involvement. Whenever they dealt with us, they used immortal arts to conceal their appearances, making their faces impossible to discern. And in the end, they still took the lion’s share of the profits.” At this point, Yin Yuzhen looked rather helpless. “So this is something the Heavenly Treasure House has to handle on our own.”

Li Fan thought of the immortal master he had encountered when first entering the cultivation world—the one who had received the group from the separated realm. He nodded.

“Then what about the immortal master stationed on Glazed Glass Island? What kind of temperament does he have? And what’s his stance on this matter?” Li Fan asked next.

“Immortal Master He of Glazed Glass Island rarely shows himself. I’ve only seen him a handful of times. So I truly can’t gauge his attitude. But judging from how he’s handled mortal affairs in the past, he’s not exactly the merciful type either.” Yin Yuzhen said in a grave tone.

After turning everything over in his mind, Li Fan ultimately let out a sigh.

Li Fan knew that no matter how many schemes he devised, before an absolute disparity in power, everything was futile.

Against this kind of ticking time bomb, Li Fan had no real solution.

A thought stirred in Li Fan’s mind as he recalled the massive quantity of Mortal Taint stored in one of the Taiyan Vessel’s cabins.

“If this were Great Xuan, with thousands upon thousands of death warriors at my disposal, perhaps there would be a fighting chance. But alas…”

But he quickly suppressed this dangerous thought.

“Let’s arrange a meeting with them. This matter shouldn’t be allowed to escalate further,” Li Fan said.

“Mm, my thoughts exactly,” Yin Yuzhen agreed.

“All they really want is for us to hand over some Star Sea Flowing Sand. We seized the initiative and collected plenty. We might as well toss out a portion and let them fight over it like dogs. They’ll inevitably turn on each other soon enough.” Li Fan gave a cold snort. “There’s no such thing as an unbreakable alliance in this world.”

…

Three days later, the Heavenly Treasure House arranged a meeting with the various factions on Glazed Glass Island and put forward the following terms:

The Heavenly Treasure House agreed to hand over a portion of Star Sea Flowing Sand, but required the other parties to provide resources of equal value in exchange.

Additionally, the specific distribution of the Star Sea Flowing Sand among the various houses would be determined by the houses themselves.

Finally, the Heavenly Treasure House must be guaranteed one slot in the Body-Purifying Spirit Pool.

The terms were not particularly harsh, and after some deliberation, both sides quickly reached a settlement.

After all, there was no deep enmity between them—they had merely been competing for Body-Purifying Spirit Pool slots.

And so, after sacrificing several dozen pieces of meteoric iron, the Heavenly Treasure House successfully extricated itself from the turbulent vortex.

Almost that very same day, the smuggling rumors on the island vanished without a trace.

Meanwhile, the other factions began scheming and fighting amongst themselves over those few dozen pieces of meteoric iron, with no time left to bother with the Heavenly Treasure House.

Time flew by, and the day of the Body-Purifying Spirit Pool’s opening soon approached.

After the inspection of resources submitted by each faction was completed, the slots for this session of the Body-Purifying Spirit Pool were finally confirmed.

There were thirteen slots in total, and the Heavenly Treasure House held one of them.

With the matter finally settled, Li Fan couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Once the spirit pool opened, Li Fan would be able to purge the taint from his body and officially set foot on the path of cultivation!

He had waited far too long for this day.

And so, even someone with Li Fan’s composure found himself growing somewhat excited.

Name: Li Fan

Realm: Mortal

Physiological Age: 42/99

Psychological Age: 505/1299↑

Unreality Charging Progress: 121%

Anchor Charging Progress: 51%

Current Number of Anchors: 1

Bound Items: 《 The Jade Realm Thousand-Arts Golden Canon 》, Taiyan Vessel, Halt Stele Fragment (damaged)

Li Fan looked at the Return to Truth panel. After two years of transformation, his physiological age had reached the limit of 99, with no sign of further increase.

Meanwhile, his psychological age cap was still slowly rising, thanks to his day-and-night practice of the 《Xuanhuang Purification Mantra》.

He wondered what changes the spirit pool’s baptism would bring.

Li Fan felt a sense of anticipation.

The day of the spirit pool’s opening finally arrived. On this day, Li Fan took the Dust-Parting Pill that Yin Yuzhen had given him, and under the guidance of a designated attendant, entered the formation array at the center of Glazed Glass Island.