The wonderful use of spies

Chapter 529: The Ingenious Use of a Spy

When strength reaches the Longevity Realm, even if it is merely a pseudo-longevity trapped in a corner of the Xuanhuang World, it is not something ordinary Cultivators can fathom.

Just like the realistic illusion, akin to a "dating simulation," that Senior Sister Zhao created during the guidance process.

What significance did it truly hold for her?

Li Fan believed that with her strength, even without relying on the illusion's beguilement, she could easily devour and fuse with other Cultivators.

Yet she chose not to do so.

Insisting instead on playing a game with Li Fan that spanned several centuries.

Could it be that she was truly bored out of her mind?

Although that possibility couldn't be ruled out, Li Fan preferred to believe there was a deeper secret hidden within.

"Ants" spying on a Celestial Venerable of Longevity, believing themselves well-hidden and undetected.

In truth, perhaps nothing escapes their eyes. From the very moment a gaze lands upon them, they become aware of it.

Just like Senior Sister Zhao's final reminder—or rather, warning.

This was true for Li Fan, and surely the same applied to Master Yin, who was attempting to uncover the secrets of the Immortal-Mortal Miasma.

With a thought, activating Formless Killing Intent, Li Fan's gaze instantly fell upon Yinyin Island.

After observing carefully for a while, Master Yin was still conducting experiments on Mortals as usual.

"After all these years, the lethality of the Immortal-Mortal Miasma doesn't seem to have diminished at all. It's only its contagiousness that has weakened compared to the original version…" Watching the Mortal test subjects wailing in agony, Li Fan recalled the sights he had seen in Senior Sister Zhao's illusion, comparing the two and pondering internally.

Master Yin was completely absorbed, his expression focused. The horrific cries of the Mortals failed to affect him in the slightest. It was as though the lives perishing before him were nothing more than pure consumables.

Li Fan watched for a bit, then found it boring.

"It seems it will still take some time before he actually researches anything of value." Thinking this, he withdrew his gaze.

His thoughts returned to the construction work of Congyun Immortal City.

By now, most of the half-year timeframe had already passed.

The overall basic structure of the Immortal City was essentially complete. Next up was the construction of key facilities, such as the "Statue of the Dharma-Transmitting Heavenly Venerable" and the "Super-Distance Teleportation Array."

In this regard, with Cultivators sent from the Myriad Immortals Alliance Headquarters to assist, there was no need to be overly concerned.

However, due to the extended construction schedule, a shortage of materials inevitably began to emerge.

After all, the materials Li Fan received at the time were only enough to build a floating city under the condition that not a single mistake was made.

It was only thanks to the coordination of He Zhenghao and Gao Yuan that the issue wasn't immediately exposed.

Meanwhile, Zhou Kebao, who was secretly sabotaging things, possessed surprisingly good patience.

For so long, he had surprisingly never reached out on his own initiative to feel him out.

"It seems I cannot place my hopes entirely on him coming to my door; I need to find a way to solve this myself."

"Ordinary materials can be purchased with Contribution Points through Jiao Xiuyuan's channels."

"However, strategic materials cannot be obtained through ordinary means. Then again…"

Li Fan smiled faintly and took control of Zhou Qingang, who was currently serving as the "Commander-in-Chief of Congyun Immortal City's Reconstruction."

For the reconstruction work, each Cultivator carried out their respective duties. Although called the Commander-in-Chief, he wasn't actually that busy.

When no one was around, "Zhou Qingang" quietly left Congyun City.

To prevent anyone from tailing him, he even lurked in the deep sea for three days and three nights.

Only after ensuring complete safety did he contact the Five Elders Association side.

The light on the Severed Stone flickered, and after a moment, a blurry figure appeared.

"Hmm? Why contact me so suddenly on your own initiative? Has something happened?" Perhaps because he had repeatedly rendered extraordinary service, the face's attitude was much better than before.

Even though "Zhou Qingang" broke the rules by initiating contact again, it did not fly into a rage.

Instead, it inquired with great concern.

"Haha, Boss, rest assured. Far from being trouble, this is a massive opportunity!" Zhou Qingang said with great excitement.

"Oh?" The face became much calmer.

"Boss, you probably know that thanks to Fellow Daoist He Zhenghao, I was made Commander-in-Chief for the reconstruction of Congyun City," Zhou Qingang lowered his voice and said.

"Lately, however, we've run into some troublesome matters…"

Thereupon, Zhou Qingang briefly explained how someone within the Myriad Immortals Alliance was plotting against Li Fan by withholding materials to pressure him.

The face on the Severed Stone frowned repeatedly as it listened.

"This is completely intolerable! What kind of figure is Great Master Li? How could he swallow such an insult?"

"He privately told us that he would rather defect to the Five Elders Association than yield to those people."

Before Zhou Qingang could even finish, the face on the Severed Stone said with unexplainable delight, "Oh? So that Li Fan plans to surrender to us?"

But soon after, it became suspicious again. "Could this be another trap set up by him in collusion with the Myriad Immortals Alliance to lure us in?"

Zhou Qingang was suddenly a bit embarrassed. "Cough, cough… Boss, that was obviously just spoken in anger…"

"Uh…" The face immediately went silent.

Zhou Qingang quickly added an explanation, "Although the chances of defection are slim, our opportunity is genuine."

"He gave a military pledge before the First Canon that if construction isn't completed on schedule, his head will roll. To get those missing materials, Li Fan has been driven nearly mad with anxiety lately."

"You mean…" The face instantly understood.

"A trade?"

Zhou Qingang nodded repeatedly, pressed both palms onto the Severed Stone, and transmitted a list of materials over.

"Exactly! Boss, take a look at these. Can we get our hands on them?" he asked.

Silence fell for a moment.

Shortly after, the face slowly spoke, "Not a big problem."

"Then that makes things easy! Haven't the higher-ups been pressing us to dig up confidential information regarding the Immortal City's protective grand array? If we use these materials as bargaining chips, forget just the protective grand array—we could get our hands on the construction blueprints for the entire Immortal City!" Zhou Qingang guaranteed confidently.

The face on the Severed Stone remained silent, but it was clearly tempted.

"The importance of the array diagrams has recently been downgraded by two Ranks. Using it for a trade this time isn't very cost-effective…" After a while, the face instructed:

"If possible, it would be best if you could pry information out of Li Fan regarding what happened on the day of the [Ten Thousand Immortals Island Anomaly]."

"It would be even better if you could get him to record the scene from that time into a Shadow-Recording Stone."

"Zhou Qingang's" expression flickered slightly, and he inquired curiously, "Boss, uprooting the entire Ten Thousand Immortals Island… that was our doing, wasn't it?"

"That was truly terrifying! My only regret is that I wasn't on the island at the time; otherwise, I could have taken the opportunity to head straight home!"

"By the way, going to such great lengths, what exactly were they looking for?"

The face snorted coldly, "Don't ask about things that are none of your concern."

"Just do what falls within your duties."