However, Li Fan’s face was filled with skepticism. “Would others hand over their contribution points so easily? I don’t think that’s likely.”

If they’re unwilling, even better! That would be a reason to send a bunch of these people away, saving me from being constantly pestered!

This was what He Zhenghao thought to himself, but what he said aloud was, “Senior, rest assured. I’ve had cultivators pestering me nonstop about this lately. Even if only a tiny fraction of them are willing to entrust their contribution points to you for management, it would still amount to a significant sum.

“Moreover, once you display your divine ability and return the contribution points with both principal and interest, facts will speak louder than any argument. In the future, those willing to rely on you will surely grow.”

He Zhenghao brimmed with confidence as he spoke.

Li Fan remained silent for a moment, appearing to ponder the matter.

After a short while, he slowly nodded. “As it happens, I’ve recently come across many novel techniques within the Tianxuan Mirror that have piqued my interest. Moreover, contribution points are indeed indispensable in this era of cultivation.

“If you can truly raise a substantial amount of contribution points, it wouldn’t be impossible for me to step in and multiply them several times over.”

Hearing Li Fan speak of such a weighty matter with such ease, He Zhenghao’s eyes lit up.

After a moment’s thought, he hurriedly advised, “There’s no need for that much!

“Senior, you must understand, if the principal grows by just fifty percent within a year, those willing to entrust their contribution points to you would absolutely flock to you like ducks to water!

“As for the remainder... Senior, you could very well keep them for yourself as compensation.

“Of course, if you could share a little with this junior as a token of appreciation for the effort, that would be even better!”

He Zhenghao said delightedly.

“Satisfied with just fifty percent a year?” Li Fan first seemed somewhat surprised, then nodded. “That’s fine as well.

“Then this matter is tentatively settled. Go and contact your friends.

“Remember, you must choose only those you know thoroughly well. Do not accept contribution points from any cultivator of unclear origins.”

After giving a few more instructions, He Zhenghao finally retrieved the sealed communication spirit talisman with great excitement and began replying to each message one by one.

“Fellow Daoist Zhang, a wealth-building opportunity now lies before you. I wonder if you’d be willing to give it a try...”

Watching the busy He Zhenghao beside him, Li Fan thought to himself: The first batch of contribution points raised probably won’t be very large, but that’s fine. If they don’t believe it the first time, they’ll hesitate the second.

By the third and fourth time, when they see others filling their pockets to the brim while they themselves have missed the golden opportunity... the fifth time, they’ll be crying and begging to deliver their contribution points right to our doorstep.

Make no mistake. Although Li Fan’s actions in this life might superficially resemble a certain kind of scam, the truth was quite the opposite. He, Li Fan, genuinely possessed the ability to lead others to enormous profits.

Setting aside extraordinary windfalls like speculating on Spirit Mist Grass, which could easily yield returns of a hundredfold or more, just leveraging the information he had accumulated across countless simulation cycles was already more than enough to achieve a fifty percent annual return.

If even certain uniquely gifted individuals could accomplish such feats, yet Li Fan, who could return to the beginning endlessly, could not... then he might as well abandon his pursuit of eternal life altogether and obediently return to Great Xuan to serve as its mortal Grand Preceptor, life after life.

To put it bluntly, asset appreciation was never the difficult part for Li Fan. With his vast reserves of information about the future, it was practically trivial. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Of course, there were conditions.

For example, the total scale of the assets under his control could not grow too large. Also, his actions must not draw direct sanctions from powers on the level of the Tianxuan Mirror.

But in truth, Li Fan had no intention of making a grand spectacle.

His objective was just to accumulate a usable force while steadily improving his own cultivation by “sitting on immortals”.

And when that force inevitably expanded beyond his ability to control... Crimson Flame would burn the seas, and Ink Death would extinguish the world.

With that, the slate would be wiped clean.

If all creditors were dead, then naturally, no debts would remain. All contribution points would rightfully become his.

That was the preliminary outline of the plan.

As for the details, those could be improvised as the situation unfolded.

After leveraging his network of connections, He Zhenghao went to Myriad Immortals Island to meet with the various fellow Daoists. It wasn’t until late in the day that he finally returned, his face glowing with satisfaction.

He had brought back over two hundred thousand contribution points.

Just as Li Fan had anticipated, once He Zhenghao made his request, the vast majority of cultivators chose to withdraw. After all, contribution points didn’t fall from the sky. Receiving guidance from a so-called ancient cultivator from the Heavenly Mechanisms Sect was one thing, but actually handing over hard-earned contribution points was another matter entirely.

Of the more than two hundred thousand points raised this time, a cultivator named Zhou Peng alone contributed fifty thousand in one go, accounting for the lion’s share.[1] Excluding him, the average investment from the others did not even exceed five thousand points.

Even so, He Zhenghao was beside himself with excitement.

With a solemn expression, he transferred the full 230,000 contribution points to Li Fan through the Mini Tianxuan Mirror. Not stopping there, he also added another hundred thousand from his own private stash.

“Senior...” He Zhenghao opened his mouth as if to say something more, but in the end, he swallowed his words. He simply stared at Li Fan, his eyes burning with expectation.

“Five hundred thousand contribution points in a year?” Li Fan said calmly. “A trivial matter. You may rest assured.”

He tossed a spirit talisman to He Zhenghao. “If there’s anything urgent, I’ll contact you. Otherwise, do not disturb me.”

He Zhenghao nodded repeatedly, accepting the talisman as though it were a priceless treasure.

With a casual wave of his hand, Li Fan departed and returned to Myriad Immortals Island.

“This shouldn’t go wrong... right?” Now alone, He Zhenghao muttered to himself.

As the initial excitement faded and his thoughts cooled, a trace of unease crept into his heart. But the rice had already been cooked. All he could do now was pray that this senior from the Heavenly Mechanisms Sect wouldn’t make a mess of things.

Inside the Tianxuan Mirror, Li Fan released several volumes of Lan Xiao’s posthumous works.

This was part of his arrangements for the procurement of materials required by the Empire.

Then, he waited patiently.

Sure enough, three days later, Shen Yuzi contacted him to express his gratitude.

“I still have a few rare volumes on hand,” Li Fan said with a faint smile. “But I’ll need you to help me with a small, insignificant favor, Senior.”

“Oh?” Shen Yuzi was momentarily surprised, but after hearing Li Fan’s request in full, his expression turned thoughtful.

“Interesting.” It seemed this fellow enthusiast was involved in something... best kept out of sight.

But Shen Yuzi didn’t care.

In this world, who didn’t have a few secrets?

With a light flick of his horsetail whisk, Shen Yuzi concealed his aura and quietly arrived at Myriad Immortals Island. After meeting up with Li Fan, the two immediately set off, flying straight toward the island where the Empire’s delegation was stationed.

Inside a sealed chamber, Holy Master Qing of the Empire—who had been deeply focused on drawing something—suddenly stood up. She looked in the direction from which Li Fan was approaching, her expression darkening.

By the time Li Fan and Shen Yuzi descended upon the island, her face had already gone noticeably pale.

The Myriad Worlds Coalition truly does have some depth to it.

1. Fun fact: this is the guy that got inside news about how the Dracowhale was killed by other beasts and not solely by Li Fan ☜