Chapter 368: Chapter 51: The Contribution System and the Book of All Living Beings

He was, after all, still young. The shock of the moment was too much, and his composure wavered.

Without much hesitation, he held out his hands as if cradling a book and silently chanted in his heart, ’Infinite Hongmeng...’

...

In the Celestial Spirit Sect, Xu Weihai stared dumbfoundedly at everything. He snapped back to his senses, still dumbfounded, and after realizing what had just happened, he became even more dumbfounded.

Fortunately, though dumbfounded, he wasn’t an idiot.

After roughly sorting through his thoughts, he too held out his hands and chanted silently...

...

Feng Mingyou and Qin Shizhong weren’t faring much better. They stood frozen in the courtyard of their Cave Mansion for a long while.

Then, hesitatingly, they held out their hands...

...

Deep within the middle layer of the Hengduan Mountain Range, Li Shifan, who was hiding in a cave, was in a daze for a moment before being the first to come to his senses.

At some unknown point, Li Cheng’s figure had appeared. He was now looking at Li Shifan with an inscrutable expression.

Li Shifan looked at him and said hesitantly, "Ancestor, this..."

"Sigh," Li Cheng lamented softly. "You truly have great Qi Fortune. As for the methods of this Alliance, I can’t make heads or tails of them.

However, with your meager Cultivation, you don’t need to worry about them plotting against you.

Because even if there were a plot, there’s absolutely nothing you could do about it.

So, as for what to do... you know the answer even without asking me."

Hearing this, Li Shifan paused. He hesitantly held out his hands and chanted, ’Infinite Hongmeng...’

As he chanted, an illusory book appeared in his hands. Unlike with the others, he could see this book, and so could Li Cheng, who was bound to his soul.

The book’s cover was mottled and its pages were thick, as if it had been weathered by the endless river of time.

On the cover were the words: Book of All Living Beings (Li Shifan’s Exclusive)

Li Shifan stared at the book, stunned for a moment. With a thought, the book automatically flipped open.

On the title page was a three-dimensional portrait of Li Shifan. Though it was clearly a flat illustration, it gave the impression of being three-dimensional.

Li Shifan paused briefly, then turned to the first page.

Member: Li Shifan

Codename: Painted Sword

Affiliation: Xuanhua Tower

Contribution Points: 0

Level: Yellow-Level One-Star (0/100)

Note: Level can be upgraded by spending Contribution Points.

Looking at the concise information, Li Shifan paused for a moment. ’Seems like I can keep turning pages?’

As the thought to turn the page emerged, the book flipped again. Unlike the first page, this one was a leaderboard.

Contribution Leaderboard (Celestial Spirit New District)

Zhang Wu (Hundred Changes): 1300

Anonymous (Rumors): 5

Zhang Deming (Summoning Spirit): 5

The entire leaderboard had only these three solitary entries.

Before he could examine it carefully, he froze.

He watched as on the third entry of the leaderboard, Zhang Deming’s Contribution Points suddenly changed from five to one. At the same time, the book automatically turned to a new page.

Mission: Information Gathering

Category: Information

Mission Introduction: Ha, so you can post missions with this thing?

Details: Uh, sorry, I just figured this out and I’m not very good at it yet. Please bear with me, everyone. The actual mission content is below.

Seeking information on Infant Spirit Hollow Jade (2 Contribution Points), Hundred Spirits Heart-Binding Grass (1 Contribution Point), and Heart-Connected Lotus Root (1 Contribution Point).

Note: The information must be accurate. If anyone has the actual items to sell, you can contact me directly through the mission channel to negotiate.

Posted by: Summoning Spirit

Li Shifan’s expression changed in alarm as he read the page. He said hesitantly, "Is Senior Brother Zhang already collecting materials for his promotion? Isn’t it too early?"

Li Cheng, who had also seen all the information, murmured, "Heh, I don’t think it’s early at all.

Do you really still believe what your Senior Brother Zhang told you? That his ’Zhang’ has no relation to Zhang Wu’s ’Zhang’?"

Li Shifan’s expression shifted. "Ancestor, are you saying that Senior Brother Zhang has someone backing him...?"

Li Cheng said, "Isn’t it obvious he has backing? For all you know, your senior brother might even be a member of one of the Alliance’s generational Noble Families!

But that doesn’t seem to have much to do with us. Hmm, it might even be a little beneficial. After all, you’ve been through several life-or-death situations with him, so you could be considered sworn brothers of a sort."

Li Shifan’s expression faltered, and he corrected him, "What do you mean, ’of a sort’? Senior Brother and I are sworn brothers, period!"

Li Cheng paused, glanced at Li Shifan, and didn’t argue the point. He continued, "This mission, however, is worth keeping an eye on.

Judging by the leaderboard, these Contribution Points must be incredibly valuable and extremely difficult to obtain."

Li Shifan nodded. "Yes, I’ll keep an eye out."

With that, he turned to what was currently the last page of the book. It was another list, though not a leaderboard.

Deep Blue Business Alliance (Spirit Nurturing Bead Quotas)

Rumors Branch: 2 stores, 150 quota

Water Dragon Branch: 1 store, 100 quota

Clear Tea Branch: 1 store, 100 quota

Dragon and Snake Branch: 1 store, 100 quota

Li Shifan and Li Cheng stared at the standalone page, both pausing for a moment. ’This is... the Business Alliance they mentioned before?’

After a moment, Li Cheng spoke. "It seems you’ve turned down a very good opportunity?"

Li Shifan shook his head. "Ancestor, do you think I’m suited to run a store?"

Li Cheng looked at Li Shifan and said, "You don’t understand the significance of the Spirit Nurturing Bead. I should have taught you more common knowledge about these things.

With Spirit Nurturing Beads, even if you don’t know how to manage a business, you could have found someone to run it for you, and it still would have been an excellent deal.

As long as you didn’t hire a complete idiot, you wouldn’t lose money, and the business would do well."

Li Shifan paused. "Well, what’s done is done. We can talk about it next time there’s an opportunity."

...

After disconnecting, Zhang Deming returned to his original appearance and observed everyone’s reactions through the points of light.