Li Fansi breaks the deadlock

Li Fan's eyes narrowed involuntarily.

Seeing the stark difference between the list Zhou Kebao, that fatty, had submitted and the actual details, Li Fan abandoned his pretense of anger and calmed down for the moment.

A slight adjustment resulted in a fifty percent discrepancy in quantity.

This could only mean that the actual list quantity was far greater than the one in his hand.

Although the Myriad Immortals Alliance currently had some instances of corruption and embezzlement, everyone at least knew to put up a front and cover things up on the surface.

No one would be so blatant, almost insane!

With something as major as rebuilding a provincial immortal city, someone like Zhou Kebao, without any pretense, openly took kickbacks in front of Li Fan, the acting island master, and embezzled such a massive amount of Materials…

There was only one explanation: the group secretly causing trouble was targeting Li Fan himself.

That's right, the process of him becoming acting island master might indeed be legal and compliant.

But that didn't prevent interested parties from taking advantage of this news to make a move and hatch a conspiracy.

Perhaps it was for Li Fan, or perhaps for the enormous Contribution Points he carried.

So far in this world, Li Fan had not deliberately concealed his actions, such as hyping up the pu xian true leaf and collecting other Cultivators' Contribution Points for reinvestment.

Except for transactions with the Empire, every other deal was documented.

Without needing to be precise, a rough calculation would reveal the astonishing amount of Contribution Points Li Fan currently possessed.

Profit stirs people's hearts; it was only natural that he had been targeted.

Besides profit, there was also hatred.

Tantai Can, who had suffered losses during the hype of the pu xian true leaf, might also fan the flames in this process.

Always planning before acting, Li Fan's mind raced with thoughts as his eyes swept back and forth over the list.

Soon after, he nodded slightly and carefully put away the list.

At the same time, he asked casually, "Fellow Daoist Zhou, besides this list, is there anything else you need to hand over to me?"

"No, nothing else." Zhou Kebao smiled broadly and shook his head repeatedly.

Seeing this, Li Fan gave a cold snort inwardly.

But he didn't bother with him for now. He simply cupped his hands and said, "Rebuilding the immortal city is a major undertaking, involving many aspects and countless details. I need to sort out how to proceed."

Li Fan pondered for a moment, pretending to think.

Then he said, "Alright, I'll make some preparations first. When the official work begins, I'll contact you again, Fellow Daoist Zhou!"

Zhou Kebao patted his chest and readily agreed: "Easy! Island Master Li, just make your requests, and I'll fully cooperate. We must properly complete the task assigned by Young Master First Canon."

Li Fan didn't respond; he just stared at Zhou Kebao with a cold gaze for a while.

Then he flicked his sleeve and left, flying away from the Dust-Crossing Boat in the sky.

Watching Li Fan's disappearing figure, Zhou Kebao slowly withdrew his smile, his eyes full of disdain and mockery.

"Let's see how you handle this in half a year…" He snorted coldly, took out a communication talisman, and contacted someone, transmitting all that had happened.

Zhou Kebao, thinking he had Li Fan completely under control and was sure of victory, never imagined that his every move was locked onto by the Formless Killing Intent's omniscient perspective, under Li Fan's surveillance.

"There really is something fishy…"

"It seems I can't rely on help from the First Canon's side. To rebuild the immortal city, I must mainly use personnel under my control…"

Returning to Body Transformation Island, Li Fan looked at Tianyang, who stood dumbly by, staring at the children from the Li Realm, and felt somewhat relieved.

"With Tianyang, who has Soul Transformation strength, guarding the place, it should be no problem to intimidate a bunch of petty villains."

"But that's still not enough…"

Li Fan took out a shiny jade token engraved with the character "Ten Thousand" and carefully sensed it.

This was the island master token given to him along with the appointment letter for acting island master.

Apart from being a symbol of the island master's identity, its greatest use was to view and contact all Cultivators under his jurisdiction through it.

A vast web of interpersonal relationships instantly appeared in Li Fan's mind.

At the top was naturally Li Fan himself.

Below, divided by departments, were the Strategy Formation Hall, Martial Arts Hall, Celestial Mystery Hall, as well as various island Guardians, external personnel, and so on.

Each node represented a Cultivator.

By focusing his mind on a single node, he could view the brief information of the corresponding Cultivator and directly contact them.

"So there are this many Cultivators under the Congyun Sea's jurisdiction…"

Li Fan couldn't help but marvel.

Besides common positions, there were some unheard-of, odd jobs.

For example, [Myriad Immortals Alliance Congyun Sea Cultivator Opinion Feedback Collector], [Shi Lin Province Liaison to Congyun Sea], [Geomantic Pulse Supervisor], and so on.

Faces appeared one after another.

Many of these people Li Fan had seen before. He had thought they were ordinary Loose Cultivators, but it turned out they also held positions within the system.

Most of the Cultivators' nodes had dimmed, indicating they had either fallen or were out of contact.

But the number of remaining Cultivators still alive was still considerable.

"It seems that the main force for rebuilding the immortal city must be chosen from among these."

"But with such mixed quality and only a nodding acquaintance with them, how can I select the right people?"

Li Fan frowned deeply, eliminating those Cultivators already captured by the Five Elders Association.

He carefully browsed through the remaining Cultivators.

Suddenly, his gaze stopped on one Cultivator.

"Eh, he is…"

An idea struck Li Fan.

——

In a hidden Immortal Cave in the Congyun Sea.

Gao Yuan, who was in seclusion, suddenly woke from a nightmare.

That day, the Five Elders Association raided the Congyun Sea, forcibly taking the Ten Thousand Immortals Island, causing hundreds of Cultivators to fall.

And Gao Yuan happened to be away on official business, luckily avoiding the disaster.

But the terrifying scene of those Cultivators he had witnessed from afar had since lingered in his mind, becoming his Heart Demon.

"I never expected the Myriad Immortals Alliance to be so incompetent. Even after a provincial immortal city was taken, they did nothing."

"Instead, they first sealed off the Congyun Sea and took it out on their own people."

"And here I was, diligently guarding the gate of the Government Affairs Hall for decades…"

"Might as well defect to the Five Elders Association…"

Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, Gao Yuan couldn't help but think.

Just then, the communication talisman within the system, which he thought would never be used again, suddenly lit up.

Gao Yuan's heart raced, thinking that his intention to betray had been discovered by his superiors so quickly.

But when he nervously picked up the talisman and examined it carefully, a strange expression appeared on his face.

"Acting island master, Li Fan?"