Zhou Qing'ang shrank his neck, indicating he knew he was in the wrong.
Seeing this, the face's expression softened slightly. "This matter is of great consequence. Even I do not know all the insider details.
"What is certain, however, is that our harvest this time was quite substantial."
His tone inevitably carried a hint of excitement. "Along with that, even the higher-ups' attitude toward us has improved quite a bit recently.
"Our operational funds have even been generously increased by more than double—a rare treat."
"Then what about my share?" Zhou Qing'ang hurriedly cried out.
"Hmph, what's the rush? When have I ever shortchanged you?" the face reprimanded. "During this transaction, it will be handed over to you along with the materials Li Fan needs."
"Thank you, Boss!" Zhou Qing'ang said cheerfully. "Though I'm doing pretty well for myself now and often receive various gifts from cultivators, nobody ever complains about having too much money, right..."
"All right, don't get carried away. I didn't expect you to become the commander-in-chief this time either. It seems that playing the He Zhenghao piece back then was truly the right move."
The face pondered for a moment before instructing further, "He Zhenghao and Li Fan—both of them have deep backgrounds. You must maintain good relations with them.
"Once Congyun City is rebuilt, even if Li Fan doesn't become the true Congyun Island Master, his status certainly won't be low. Following behind him will advance your career far faster than struggling on your own. Your future will be boundless. When that time comes, you will have truly infiltrated the enemy's inner circle.
"This time we step in to help them weather this crisis. The next time we need something from them, I doubt they'll be in any position to refuse."
The face suddenly let out a low laugh.
"Boss is brilliant!" Zhou Qing'ang praised.
The two discussed further details of the exchange before the face cut off the communication.
Zhou Qing'ang acted as if nothing had happened, making his way back to the bustling construction site of Congyun Immortal City.
He began patrolling the area with an air of swaggering authority.
***
"The recorded imagery from the day Wanxian Island underwent that anomaly..." Li Fan pondered for a moment and retrieved an image-recording stone.
Inside his mind, the Dao Transformation Stone glowed with swirling light, inscribing everything that had transpired that day into the stone down to the finest detail.
In an instant, it was complete.
Out of habit, Li Fan checked it once more.
With this look, however, he discovered an anomaly.
In the projection, that smear of "green" that had destroyed the Martial Practice Hall simply could not be recorded.
Reviewing the image-recording stone, all that could be seen was the entire building and more than a dozen cultivators vanishing into thin air without rhyme or reason, while the onlookers were seized by sheer terror, scrambling over one another to flee.
And when Chief Lu later arrived in person, his actions to prevent the situation from spiraling out of control looked rather absurd in the recording.
"It cannot be recorded..."
Li Fan tapped his fingers lightly, sinking into thought.
Having spent centuries in the Dadao Sect illusion, Li Fan had learned many secrets unknown to ordinary cultivators today.
Some had slowly faded upon returning to reality, but others remained etched in his mind.
"Just like 'It' lingering in the sky above Yuandao Province, there truly are all manner of terrifying existences in this world that cannot be recorded.
"Whether by paper and brush, jade slips, or other methods, none can capture them.
"If the restrictive power were slightly stronger, they would even vanish from people's memories.
"Yet, the prerequisite for all of this is that these things must truly exist..."
A gleam flashed through Li Fan's eyes.
"It seems that a year ago, this phenomenon of being unrecordable did not occur yet.
"Does this mean the Profound Net has now come into the world?"
Li Fan felt a slight shock in his heart.
"Without large-scale construction of the Heavenly Profound Spirit-Locking Formation, it is very likely just an embryonic form.
"All these years, the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals has been continually mobilizing elite forces—they truly haven't been sitting idle. And the Five Elders Association's unprecedented major move seems undeniably linked to this as well."
...
After pondering for a long time, Li Fan looked at the image-recording stone in his hand and made no superfluous modifications.
So much time had passed since the Profound Net anomaly on Wanxian Island. Now that the Five Elders Association was suddenly bringing up past events again, Li Fan guessed that their target was very likely still the missing Elder Gongsun.
Not only the Five Elders Association, but even the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals had been constantly searching for him.
To remain unseen under the combined searches of the two greatest powers in the Xuanhuang Realm...
This Gongsun Qixuan truly had some skill.
"Perhaps he isn't even hiding deliberately. More likely, his injuries were too severe, and he might have lost consciousness."
Shaking his head, Li Fan put the thought aside.
Finding an opportunity, Li Fan handed the image-recording stone and the reconstruction blueprints of Congyun Immortal City to his avatar, "Zhou Qing'ang."
Ten days later, Zhou Qing'ang handed these two top secrets over to the broken-stone face.
Upon verification, the face was overjoyed.
Without reneging on the deal, it handed over a storage ring filled with strategic materials.
With this, the crisis was effortlessly resolved by Li Fan.
With ample material support, the construction progress of Congyun Immortal City accelerated once more.
Li Fan showed his face frequently, demonstrating the importance he placed on this project.
The cultivators working under him were also brimming with vigor.
There was only one group of people who completely could no longer sit still.
Aboard the Dust-Crossing Boat, inside a dim little room.
"Zhou Kebao, what a rotten idea of yours!"
"Exactly! At a time like this, what airs are you still putting on?! Can't you see Congyun City is almost finished?!"
"Weren't you full of confidence back then, saying Li Fan was definitely faking his composure? What do you have to say now?"
...
Listening to his companions' relentless reproaches, Zhou Kebao's face flushed blue and white.
He defended himself, "There's something fishy! There's definitely something fishy going on!
"A while ago, the news I gathered clearly showed that materials were indeed running short.
"How could materials become abundant again so quickly?
"These are all strictly controlled strategic materials! Even if you wanted to buy them, you couldn't!"
Zhou Kebao's face was full of bewilderment.
His eyes darted rapidly, as if trying to decipher the immense secret behind it.
However, his words clearly failed to convince everyone present.
"Leaving everything else aside, what on earth are we supposed to do now?"
"Once Li Fan completely finishes building the immortal city, won't all our materials rot on our hands?"
"Never mind losing our shirts—what if Li Fan turns around and reports us? What then?"
"Zhou Kebao, you caused this trouble, so you solve it yourself. Hurry up and go find Li Fan to make peace!"
"..."
Everyone chimed in at once, leaving Zhou Kebao thoroughly flustered and irritated.
The sudden flash of insight that had flickered in his mind vanished in an instant, slipping beyond his grasp.
Faced with such circumstances, Zhou Kebao could only heave a long sigh and yield.
Thus, a day later, Zhou Kebao sought out Li Fan.
Playing no tricks, he sincerely laid out the entire sequence of events.
"Fellow Daoist Li's move was superior. We have no excuses for our defeat.
"However, from the very beginning, this was all Tantai Can's idea. We were merely blinded by greed for a moment..." Zhou Kebao said in shame.
Li Fan smiled faintly, offering no reply.
"Then what do you mean by coming to see me now?"
Chapter 528