Hongxi returns to Congyun

"Has he finally returned…?" Li Fan narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Just him alone? Where is Immortal Lord Ziyun?"

In an instant, Li Fan had already rehearsed in his mind the maneuvering and contest between the two after they met.

Including but not limited to: Immortal Lord Hongxi, facing the current situation of being marginalized and stripped of power, striking back fiercely, relying on the appeal of his Soul Transformation Realm cultivation, instantly recapturing the support of the vast majority of Cultivators.

Or, Immortal Lord Hongxi putting on a calm and perfunctory facade to pacify him temporarily, waiting until Li Fan lowered his guard to strike like thunder with a sudden attack, instantly reversing the situation, and finally dismissing Li Fan on trumped-up charges.

And so on.

However, Li Fan never expected that when Immortal Lord Hongxi truly met him, not only was there no swords drawn at all, but he instead laughed heartily and immediately gave Li Fan a big hug.

Li Fan's body stiffened slightly, and a trace of puzzlement flashed in his eyes.

"Are we that close?" he thought to himself.

Immortal Lord Hongxi, seemingly completely unaware of the anomaly in Li Fan's eyes, patted him on the shoulder with great satisfaction.

"Good! You've done well! After hearing that Ten Thousand Immortals Island was almost completely uprooted by the Five Elders Association, Ziyun and I originally worried that Congyun Sea would turn into a complete mess. Unexpectedly, you emerged out of nowhere. Over the past few years, the rankings for various assessment indicators not only didn't drop, but instead rose by several places!"

"Why didn't you wake up sooner? Otherwise, how could I have been driven to my wits' end by all sorts of matters over these years?"

"Keep up the good work! Moving forward, the political affairs of Congyun Sea will still be left to you to manage!"

Immortal Lord Hongxi appeared extremely happy.

Li Fan couldn't help falling silent.

Clad in white, Hongxi looked as if he was completely unburdened, humming an unknown little tune as he returned to the long table in the room.

Elegantly pouring himself a cup of clear tea, he drank it with utter satisfaction.

"Just lying around without moving every day and still watching Contribution Points soar—now that is life," he said lazily.

Turning back and seeing Li Fan still standing in place, he immediately greeted him: "Hey, don't be so reserved. Come have a cup of tea too!"

"Then many thanks to Lord City Lord!" Li Fan did not refuse, stepping forward and sitting down as well.

After drinking another cup of tea, Immortal Lord Hongxi spoke again: "Ziyun and I both heard of your deeds at the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance Headquarters. Tsk tsk, as expected of a Disciple of an ancient Sect, you are indeed much more capable than us modern Cultivators."

"By the way, what Realm has your cultivation recovered to now? Nascent Soul, Soul Transformation?" Immortal Lord Hongxi glanced at Li Fan, then shook his head again.

"I can't see through it, I can't see through it at all!"

Li Fan said calmly: "No matter what cultivation it is, nowadays I am merely a subordinate of the City Lord."

Immortal Lord Hongxi smiled: "Then I am merely a subordinate of the First Canon, and the First Canon is merely a subordinate of the Dharma Transmitter lords."

"We are all serving the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance, what difference does it make?"

Li Fan's expression immediately turned solemn: "My Lord's mental Realm is truly extraordinary. Your subordinate admires you!"

Seeing that Li Fan was still so rigid and by-the-book, Immortal Lord Hongxi's face instantly fell. Shaking his head, he sighed: "Truly an old antique! Boring, truly boring."

"Very well, as long as you continue to help me handle political affairs as usual moving forward, and keep everything as it is."

Looking at Immortal Lord Hongxi's attitude, which didn't seem like an act, Li Fan couldn't help asking: "My Lord, do you really want to avoid resuming governance that much?"

Immortal Lord Hongxi laughed heartily once more: "That's where you don't understand. But it doesn't matter, you will understand in the future. It wouldn't hurt to tell you first."

"I have been in charge of Congyun Sea for nearly two hundred years, always conscientious and diligent. I haven't made any great contributions, but I haven't made any major mistakes either."

"Days like this have come to an end. Want to advance further?"

Immortal Lord Hongxi sighed softly: "Difficult!"

"How many Soul Transformation Cultivators are there in the Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance? Without entering Dao Integration, wanting to compete with those people…"

"Heh, it's far better to be carefree here in my Congyun Sea."

"These political affairs, one after another, you can handle cautiously for one year, two years, or even ten or thirty years."

"But what about a hundred years, two hundred years?"

"I've been sick of it for a long time. But I can't bear to resign and quit. If I hand it over to subordinates, they're all good-for-nothing gluttons, and I wouldn't feel at ease."

"How many years has it been, and finally someone like you has appeared!"

"Look, Ziyun stayed in the interior to attend some [Friendly Exchange Meeting] to broaden her horizons. I was too lazy to even attend that rare grand event that happens once in several centuries, and rushed back impatiently to see you."

"You truly didn't disappoint me!"

Immortal Lord Hongxi sighed with emotion.

"I heard you might have been somewhat worried beforehand that I would strip you of your power upon my return? There's no need! I'm more than eager to hand all this messy business over to you!"

"Rest assured, tomorrow I will gather everyone and make this matter clear. From now on, you will still be in charge of governance!"

Li Fan's face couldn't help twitching.

But he still cupped his hands: "In that case, many thanks to Lord City Lord for your immense favor."

Immortal Lord Hongxi patted Li Fan's shoulder once more: "Keep up the good work! Although the Contribution Points you receive annually as a Secret Envoy are slightly fewer than mine, compared to those Cultivators who toil bitterly every year doing Contribution Point tasks, you are already in a completely different tier."

"Furthermore, I heard that during your tenure as acting island master and supervising the construction of Congyun City, your position was also of the same Rank as the City Lord."

"Calculated this way, your Contribution Points Rank should have risen very quickly over these years."

Now it was Li Fan's turn to be stunned.

"Are Contribution Points distributed every year? Why haven't I received any?"

Immortal Lord Hongxi, who was drinking tea, spat out the tea in his mouth in one gulp, looking at Li Fan in complete shock.

"That's impossible, right? You didn't receive Contribution Points? Then what were you working so hard for all these years?"

"I…" Li Fan stopped mid-sentence.

Suddenly realizing that there was a deep generation gap between them, he could only remain silent.

"You couldn't have failed to go to the Tianxuan Mirror to participate in the annual settlement all this time, right?" After a long while, Immortal Lord Hongxi looked at Li Fan with a very peculiar gaze.

Li Fan shrugged: "No one ever mentioned this matter to me."

Immortal Lord Hongxi patted his head.

"Uh…"

He said weakly: "Then you should hurry and go take a look. There might be some surprises."

Li Fan nodded, executed a bow, and hurried away.

Watching Li Fan's gradually disappearing figure, Immortal Lord Hongxi shook his head: "Ah, truly typical of the Myriad Immortals Alliance. Shrugging off anything that doesn't concern oneself…"

When Li Fan returned to the Tianxuan Mirror, after some inquiries, he finally learned what the so-called annual settlement was all about.

As it turned out, besides the annual Contribution Points "salary", the primary administrative personnel of each prefecture…

Also received "performance" remuneration distributed based on each prefecture's overall ranking across the entire Ten Thousand Immortals Alliance.

Settled once a year, besides Contribution Points, there were also massive amounts of merits.