Chapter 520: The Clever Use of Spies

Even a pseudo-Longevity cultivator, though trapped in a corner of the Xuanhuang Realm, possesses power that ordinary cultivators cannot fathom. Just like the realistic illusion, akin to a "dating simulation," that Senior Sister Zhao created during the initiation process. What was its true purpose for her? Li Fan believed that with her strength, she could easily annex and merge with other cultivators, even without the illusion's deceptive allure. Yet, she deliberately chose not to, insisting instead on playing a game with Li Fan that spanned several centuries.

Could she truly be that bored? While he didn't rule out that possibility, Li Fan preferred to believe there was some hidden secret involved. "Ants" spying on Longevity Heavenly Venerates might believe they are well hidden and undetectable. In reality, perhaps nothing can escape their notice. They might have been aware the moment someone's gaze fell upon them, just like Senior Sister Zhao's final reminder, or perhaps, a warning. If this applied to Li Fan, then Venerable Yin, who was attempting to uncover the secrets of the Immortal-Mortal Miasma, was likely in the same situation.

With a thought, Li Fan activated his Formless Killing Intent, and his gaze instantly landed on Yinyin Island. After observing carefully for some time, he saw that Venerable Yin was still, as usual, experimenting with mortals. "So many years have passed, yet the lethality of the Immortal-Mortal Miasma doesn't seem to have weakened at all," Li Fan thought to himself. "Only its infectivity is much weaker compared to the initial version..." As he watched the mortal test subjects constantly wailing in pain, he recalled the scenes he had witnessed in Senior Sister Zhao's illusion, comparing the two silently.

Venerable Yin was deeply engrossed, his expression focused. The mortals' agonizing wails didn't affect him in the slightest; it was as if what was perishing before him were not lives, but mere consumables. Li Fan watched for a while and found it uninteresting. "It seems it will take a while longer for him to truly discover something," he thought, then withdrew his gaze.

His thoughts then returned to the construction of Congyun Immortal City. Now, more than half of the six-month period had passed. The basic structure of the Immortal City had mostly been completed, and next came the construction of many crucial facilities, such as the "Statue of the Heavenly Venerate of Dharma Transmission" and the "Ultra-long Distance Teleportation Array." In this regard, with the help of cultivators dispatched by the Myriad Immortals Alliance headquarters, there wasn't much need for excessive worry.

However, due to the extended construction period, a shortage of materials inevitably began to appear. After all, the materials Li Fan had received were only enough to construct a floating city without a single error. It was only thanks to the coordination of He Zhenghao and Gao Yuan that the problem wasn't immediately exposed. Meanwhile, Zhou Kebao, who was secretly causing trouble, displayed surprisingly good patience. For such a long time, he had surprisingly never actively contacted Li Fan to sound him out.

"It seems I can't rely solely on the other party to come to me," Li Fan mused. "I still need to find a way to resolve this myself. Ordinary materials can be obtained through Jiao Xiuyuan's channels and purchased with contribution points. However, strategic materials can't be acquired through ordinary means. But..."

Li Fan smiled slightly and began to manipulate Zhou Qing'ang, who was currently the "Commander-in-Chief of Congyun Immortal City Reconstruction." During the reconstruction, each cultivator had their assigned duties. Although Zhou Qing'ang was called Commander-in-Chief, he wasn't actually that busy. When no one was around, "Zhou Qing'ang" quietly left Congyun City. To prevent being followed, he even hid in the deep sea for three days and three nights. Only when he was certain it was completely safe did he finally make contact with the Five Elders Society.

The luminous broken stone flickered, and after a moment, a blurry human figure appeared. "Hmm? Why did you suddenly contact us proactively? Has something happened?" The "human face's" attitude was much better than before, perhaps due to Zhou Qing'ang's repeated meritorious service. Even though "Zhou Qing'ang" had broken the rules by initiating contact again, the face didn't show any anger. Instead, it inquired with great concern.

"Haha, don't worry, Chief," Zhou Qing'ang said excitedly. "Not only is it not trouble, it's a huge opportunity!"

"Oh?" the human face responded, becoming much calmer.

"Chief, you should know that I benefited from Fellow Daoist He Zhenghao and became the Commander-in-Chief for the reconstruction of Congyun City," Zhou Qing'ang said, lowering his voice. "And recently, we've encountered some trouble..." Zhou Qing'ang then briefly explained how someone within the Myriad Immortals Alliance was scheming against Li Fan, withholding materials and applying pressure.

The human face on the broken stone frowned repeatedly as it listened. "This is intolerable," the face declared. "How could someone of Master Li's caliber endure such humiliation? He privately told us he would rather defect to the Five Elders Society than ever surrender to those people."

Before Zhou Qing'ang could finish, the human face on the broken stone interrupted, inexplicably pleased: "Oh? So Li Fan plans to defect?" But soon, it became hesitant and suspicious: "Could it be a trap set by him in cooperation with the Myriad Immortals Alliance to lure us in?"

Zhou Qing'ang immediately felt awkward: "Ahem, Chief, those were clearly just words spoken in anger..."

"Uh..." The human face immediately fell silent.

Zhou Qing'ang quickly spoke up again, explaining, "Although there's little hope of him defecting, our opportunity is real. He signed a military pledge before the First Sutra, and if he can't complete the construction on time, he'll lose his head. Li Fan has been going crazy lately over the lack of those materials."

"You mean..." The human face immediately understood. "A transaction?"

Zhou Qing'ang nodded repeatedly. He extended both palms and pressed them against the broken stone, transmitting a list of materials. "Exactly! Chief, take a look at these," he asked. "Can we get our hands on them?"

Silence fell for a moment. Soon after, the human face slowly spoke: "No major problem."

"Then it'll be easy!" Zhou Qing'ang vowed confidently. "Haven't our superiors always wanted us to inquire about confidential information regarding the Immortal City's defensive array? If we have these materials as bargaining chips, we can get our hands on not just the defensive array, but even the construction blueprints for the entire Immortal City!"

The human face on the broken stone remained silent, but was clearly tempted. "The importance of array diagrams has now been downgraded by two levels," the human face instructed after a moment. "Using them for this transaction isn't very cost-effective... If possible, it would be best to inquire from Li Fan about what happened on the day of the Myriad Immortals Island anomaly. If he could record the situation at that time using a recording stone, that would be even better."

"Zhou Qing'ang's" expression subtly changed, and he asked curiously, "Chief, it was our doing, wasn't it, to uproot and remove the entire Myriad Immortals Island? That was truly terrifying! I only regret not being on the island at the time, otherwise, I could have used that opportunity to go straight home! Oh, right, with such a grand display, what exactly were you looking for?"

The human face coldly snorted: "Don't ask about things you shouldn't be inquiring about. Just do what's within your duties."