Chapter 182: Tai'an Undercover Spy

In addition to the Taoist robe uniform and identity jade slip, there was also a special communication talisman.

The talisman was round, with intricate patterns carved around its edge and the character "Wan" (万) engraved in the center. As his spiritual consciousness immersed itself, he immediately felt as if he had entered a sea of stars. Countless dim stars were faintly visible around him. These represented members within the Myriad Immortals Alliance system.

He Zheng-hao's image flashed through Li Fan's mind. In an instant, he located the star representing He Zheng-hao among the countless others. Li Fan sent a friend request. After a while, that dim star brightened. It stood out remarkably among the dark cluster of stars.

"Fellow Daoist, that was fast! You've successfully joined? Congratulations!" He Zheng-hao's message prompt immediately appeared.

"Many thanks to Fellow Daoist He!" Li Fan replied.

There was no further reply from him, clearly indicating he was once again engrossed in his research on the Mountain River Grand Formation. Li Fan then sent friend requests to Chen Ying, Zhang Zhiliang, Gong Boyu, and others. Afterward, his spiritual sense withdrew from the communication talisman.

Li Fan then used the Sky Profound Mirror to search for merit tasks. Unlike tasks that earn contribution points, merit tasks are almost exclusively issued directly by the Myriad Immortals Alliance official channels. Task types range from collecting resources to participating in the daily operations of the Myriad Immortals Alliance, covering a wide array of activities. There is also a special category of tasks: reporting and exposing spies from the Council of Five Elders or other cultivation organizations who have infiltrated the Myriad Immortals Alliance. These tasks award different amounts of merit based on the spy's rank.

Currently, Li Fan's authorization level is Derivation One. He could essentially upgrade to Derivation Two by completing any merit task. However, there is a limit to how many merit tasks can be undertaken and completed. A maximum of three can be completed per year. Li Fan was not in a hurry to accept any.

Besides tasks, there are other ways to obtain merit. For example, like He Zheng-hao did previously, one could recommend cultivators to join the Myriad Immortals Alliance, or provide valuable intelligence. These methods have no restrictions; all are welcome, and the more, the better.

What interested Li Fan was that the merit required to increase one's authorization level was not a fixed value. Instead, it was displayed as a progress bar. This is because the Sky Profound Mirror dynamically adjusts it based on the real-time value of the merit. For example, a merit task requiring the submission of Scarlet Cloud Ice is always available. Upon completing it, one consistently receives a Class C Lower Merit. However, the value of Scarlet Cloud Ice itself fluctuates constantly. While typically the value of these collected resources doesn't fluctuate too drastically, there have been instances in the history of the Myriad Immortals Alliance where certain resources depreciated significantly. Therefore, the Sky Profound Mirror makes real-time, precise adjustments based on their value.

Li Fan's attention focused on a merit task that offered a Class C Middle Merit as a reward. A small progress bar immediately appeared next to the task description. Above the progress bar, there was a small numerical indicator. One point forty-three. This indicated that the Class C Middle Merit Li Fan would receive upon completing this task would be enough to raise his authorization level by one full tier plus forty-three percent of the next tier's progress.

The Myriad Immortals Alliance has a total of forty-nine authorization levels, symbolizing "The Great Dao has fifty, but Heavenly Derivation has forty-nine." Levels are easier to ascend at first, becoming progressively harder higher up.

After understanding the mechanics of merit and authorization levels, Li Fan began searching for cultivation techniques. He immediately noticed a difference from before. Some search results were conspicuously marked with golden text. This indicated that these cultivation techniques were only visible to members within the Myriad Immortals Alliance system. Furthermore, these techniques could only be exchanged for one's own cultivation and could not be given to others. If "lost" and learned by others, personnel from the Guardian Hall would be responsible for retrieval, and the original exchanger would also be penalized by deducting a certain amount of merit.

Li Fan carefully examined these restricted cultivation techniques. Some of the golden text for these techniques was bright gold, indicating that Li Fan could exchange for them with his current authorization level. Another portion was dark gold. The authorization level required to exchange for these dark gold techniques exceeded Li Fan's current level. Li Fan could only view their descriptions but not exchange for them. Generally, one could see search results up to three authorization levels higher than their own, which was meant as an incentive.

Li Fan casually viewed a dark gold Golden Core stage cultivation technique: The Geng Metal Sword Nurturing Art. It required sixty-five thousand contribution points and Derivation Tier Three authorization to exchange for. "Absorb Geng Metal Qi to nurture sword intent within the body. Allows for sword flight and can be used as a magical treasure to kill enemies."

"Its power is indeed much stronger than anything I've seen before, and its price is also considerably higher." Li Fan checked several other dark gold techniques, finding them all to be similar.

"The Derivation Jade, constantly deducing cultivation methods day and night, must certainly produce many astonishing divine techniques," Li Fan thought. "They might even be comparable to the ultimate secret arts of ancient major sects. Even if I can't exchange for them, simply seeing them and broadening my knowledge is good. It's just a pity my authorization level isn't high enough."

"Authorization, authorization..." Li Fan recalled the various ways to obtain merit. A figure suddenly flashed through his mind: Zhou Qing'ang, the guardian of Tai'an Island. In his subsequent two lives, this person had always withdrawn before the Scarlet Flame Burning Sea arrived. To Li Fan, there was something rather suspicious about this.

There were only two possibilities. First, Zhou Qing'ang had powerful backing, very powerful backing. In the tenth life, even the two Nascent Soul Immortal Lords of Myriad Immortals Island had failed to detect the impending arrival of the Scarlet Flame. Yet Zhou Qing'ang did. This implied that Zhou Qing'ang's backing was even more formidable than Nascent Soul experts. Could it be a Dao Integration Immortal Venerable? In Li Fan's view, this possibility was very low. If Zhou Qing'ang truly had a Dao Integration Immortal Venerable backing him, he could have just left directly beforehand. Why bother with the excuse of going out to seek opportunities and finding someone to act as proxy guardian for Tai'an Island?

Therefore, the remaining possibility greatly increased: Zhou Qing'ang was a spy planted by another organization within the Myriad Immortals Alliance. Li Fan believed that when the Scarlet Flame descended, the top powerhouses of this world must have detected it in advance. Although for unknown reasons, the Myriad Immortals Alliance headquarters did not warn Myriad Immortals Island in the Cloud Sea, other organizations should have at least noticed some signs. For instance, the Myriad Splendor Merchant Association had issued an order for a complete evacuation from the Cloud Sea just before the calamity struck. Zhou Qing'ang must have received an internal notification from his organization, which is why he used the "cicada shedding its skin" method to escape from the Cloud Sea.

Of course, this was currently just Li Fan's speculation. To confirm this, further verification was needed. If he guessed wrong, then so be it. But if Zhou Qing'ang truly was a spy, then Li Fan would gain immensely. Not only would he acquire a large amount of merit and contribution points, more importantly, Li Fan also wanted to find a way to deceive the Heart-Questioning Platform from him.