The giant stone golem extended its right hand, and Li Fan flew into its palm.
Cradling him there, the golem raised Li Fan before the assembled crowd.
Li Fan's gaze swept over the dense mass of cultivators. With a grave expression, he spoke: "Not long ago, favored by a senior's regard, I was entrusted with the post of Acting Island Master and ordered to rebuild Congyun Immortal City.
"By nature, I am someone who prefers ease and leisure, yet suddenly saddled with this heavy responsibility, I felt immense pressure.
"Still, I could not bear to fail the trust placed in me by the Alliance and my senior. Thus, before Young Master Jinglun, I pledged a solemn military oath to reconstruct the immortal city within six months.
"Time is short, and the task is daunting. Yet I believe that through the concerted efforts of our Congyun Sea's cultivators, we will surely accomplish this objective in full.
"A provincial immortal city snatched away by enemies—such a thing is utterly unprecedented!"
Li Fan pointed down toward the colossal cavity below. "As long as this ruin remains for a single day, it is an indelible stain of shame upon the faces of every cultivator in our Congyun Sea!
"I hope all of you will join me in wiping clean this humiliation!"
With that, Li Fan bowed deeply to the gathered crowd.
The cultivators were visibly moved. Whether out of genuine sincerity or feeling compelled, they all returned the courtesy with salutes of their own.
"On the day the immortal city's reconstruction is complete, I will stand here once more to reward merit, punish wrongdoing, and celebrate together with everyone!" Li Fan declared in a resounding voice after straightening up.
His words carried far across the surrounding waters, echoing endlessly without fading.
The onlookers stared at Li Fan, their expressions a mix of varied emotions.
"Gao Yuan!" After a moment of silence, Li Fan called out.
"This humble servant is here!" Gao Yuan flew forward, his face flushed with excitement.
"Read aloud my personnel appointments for the reconstruction of the immortal city!" Li Fan instructed.
"Yes, sir!"
Gao Yuan cast a smug glance around him, cleared his throat, and retrieved a scroll from his storage ring. Channeling spiritual energy into his voice, he proclaimed at the top of his lungs:
"Drafting He Zhenghao, garrison of Liuli Island, as Chief Inspector, to oversee and supervise all requisition and expenditure of materials during the immortal city's reconstruction!
"Drafting Pei Tuo, garrison of Haitong Island, as Grand Commander, to take overall charge of security affairs during the immortal city's reconstruction!
"Drafting Zhou Qing'ang, garrison of Tai'an Island, as Chief Director, to coordinate communication among all divisions during the immortal city's reconstruction!"
...
As appointment after appointment was read aloud, the expressions of the cultivators present turned rather delicate.
For they noticed that every cultivator called by name was precisely among the group that had just risen to welcome Li Fan.
Understanding suddenly dawned on the crowd.
'So you all knew from the very beginning that Li Fan had taken the role of Acting Island Master, and went and pledged your allegiance in advance?
'And this Li Fan is too blatant—he doesn't even try to conceal his blatant nepotism!
'Look at He Zhenghao, Pei Tuo, Zhou Qing'ang, and the rest—at most, they're only Peak Golden Core cultivators.
'Placing their status above even those Nascent Soul cultivators—is that appropriate?'
Though they grumbled internally, a pang of regret also surfaced: 'Why wasn't I sharper? Why didn't I make a move sooner?'
Once the list finished, Gao Yuan returned to the crowd, and Li Fan offered a warm smile. "Rebuilding the immortal city is a massive endeavor. My own considerations are bound to have shortcomings.
"Moreover, the Congyun Sea is brimming with talent, and omissions are inevitable. Therefore, I appoint Gao Yuan as Grand Attendant. Anyone who volunteers and is willing to dedicate their efforts to the reconstruction may approach him."
The moment these words were spoken, the cultivators who had felt disgruntled over missing out on an early opportunity suddenly perked up.
"Everyone!" Li Fan concluded at last.
"With the Five Elders Association's surprise attack, our Congyun Sea suffered disastrous losses.
"The Administration Hall, Formation Planning Hall, Martial Practice Hall on the island...
"Virtually all were wiped out! This has left countless vacancies, leaving our Congyun Sea unable to even handle routine operations."
At this point, Li Fan paused slightly.
Letting out a sigh, his gaze swept across the crowd, filled with earnest expectation. "I hope that through everyone's efforts, we can restore the glory of the Congyun Sea as swiftly as possible!"
Whether the Congyun Sea had any glory to speak of was unclear to the cultivators, but the underlying meaning in Li Fan's words was crystal clear:
'Because of the Five Elders Association's surprise attack, there are tons of vacant positions on the island! The hundred or so people under me right now can't begin to fill them all! If any of you have talent, step up quickly! This is a rare chance—once the immortal city is built six months from now, it'll be too late!'
Realization dawned upon them all.
Indeed, all the current positions were merely titular roles created specifically for rebuilding the immortal city.
Titles like Grand Commander and Chief Inspector sounded impressive, but their authority derived solely from the Acting Island Master's authorization.
On the day the immortal city was completed, those posts would lose their value and purpose.
In contrast, the rewarding of merits and punishing of wrongdoing that Li Fan mentioned was the real prize.
If one could earn merits during the reconstruction and secure an official post within the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals' establishment...
At this thought, the hearts of the gathered cultivators began to race.
The induction examination was extraordinarily difficult, and once officially inducted into the Alliance, climbing the ladder was harder still.
Island Master Li was right! This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
By now, many glances were already stealing toward Gao Yuan as cultivators secretly pondered how to curry favor with this favored aide of Island Master Li.
After offering a few more encouraging words, Li Fan finally announced the conclusion of the ceremony, stating that reconstruction of the immortal city would officially begin the following day.
Seeing this, Tantai Can on the flying boat did not even wait for the crowd to disperse or say goodbye to Li Fan; he steered the vessel away and departed immediately.
Judging by his expression, his face was exceedingly dark.
However, most of the cultivators were lost in fantasies of winning glory and advancing their careers, so this scene drew little attention.
Watching Tantai Can's departing silhouette, Li Fan chuckled inwardly.
Just as the cultivators present had surmised, Shenyuzi, Jingxuan, Guangwu, and Huangfu Song had all been persuaded to make an appearance by Li Fan paving the way with contribution points.
As for this rising star of the Tantai clan, he had no ties of kinship or friendship with Li Fan, and they even harbored implicit enmity. What was more, he could never have been bought off with contribution points.
The reason he had come to congratulate Li Fan was naturally the contract Tantai Can had been forced to sign with Jiao Xiuyuan during the earlier Puxian True Leaf turmoil.
Under that contract, he had agreed to fulfill three requests within his capabilities.
Thus, even though Tantai Can had secretly tried to sabotage things this time, he still had no choice but to come and congratulate Li Fan.
A prodigy of his caliber held himself in high esteem, yet once again he had been manipulated by Li Fan.
Such a humiliating matter was naturally something he would never explain to outsiders.
Consequently, in the eyes of certain onlookers, Tantai Can's contradictory behavior appeared thoroughly bizarre.
As for his relationship with Tantai Can souring even further, Li Fan gave it no thought at all.
In any case, this identity as a Heavenly Mechanism Sect cultivator would eventually be cast aside. When the debt is too heavy, one stops worrying about it.
The top priority was to construct Congyun Immortal City properly.
Although borrowing influence had won people over and solved the problem of having no hands available, another trouble remained, and it was still fatal.
Li Fan recalled Jiao Xiuyuan's words once more:
"The quantities of materials on the requisition list are fine, sufficient to successfully build a floating immortal city.
"However...
"That is assuming not a single mistake is made.
"In actual construction, material losses caused by blunders are virtually inevitable.
"Some items are easy enough to deal with—I can sell them to you at a discount through certain channels.
"Yet certain special materials are strictly controlled by the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals. Even if you have contribution points, you cannot buy them."
Chapter 499