Bound for Nanming

"You truly understand me, Fellow Daoist Zhou!" Shedding his earlier severe demeanor, Li Fan became the very picture of affability. "You modern cultivators really know how to play the game. I suppose I'm still a bit of an old relic." He patted Zhou Kebao on the shoulder, his praise overflowing. "If you can actually pull this off, all our past grievances will be wiped clean! "In fact, deeper cooperation between us in the future isn't out of the question either. "You have deep backing, but I, Li Fan, am not lacking either." Adopting an arrogant air, Li Fan began painting grand promises for Zhou Kebao. Yet Zhou Kebao could not help but take it as truth. After all, procuring such an enormous amount of strategic materials in such a short time was something no ordinary cultivator could achieve. As someone who benefited from entrenched power and privilege, Zhou Kebao knew all too well that in the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, background and connections were sometimes far more important than one's cultivation level. "Come, come, tell me more of the details." Li Fan pulled Zhou Kebao closer, clearly fascinated by this mobile immortal city abode. Seeing the negotiations proceed so smoothly, Zhou Kebao was overjoyed. Not daring to be negligent, he pointed at the projection in the air, enlarging each section one by one to explain them in detail. After a long while, Zhou Kebao's mouth had gone parched from talking. Li Fan finally nodded in satisfaction. "If this is discovered, will the higher-ups come down on us?" After a brief silence, Li Fan asked. "Haha, rest assured, Fellow Daoist Li—what is not forbidden by law is permitted. Among the myriad regulations and statutes of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, not a single one states that cultivators are forbidden from modeling an abode after the structure of an immortal city," Zhou Kebao assured him repeatedly. "As long as you keep a low profile and don't flaunt it to the whole world, who would go out of their way to look for trouble with you? "Of course, if someone really reports it and causes an uproar beyond control, the worst we'd have to do is destroy it on the spot. Once the heat dies down later, we'll rebuild another one for you." Zhou Kebao's face was brimming with smug, brazen confidence. "Excellent! I'm starting to feel more and more that you and I are birds of a feather, Fellow Daoist Zhou!" Li Fan smiled faintly. Taking out a blank jade slip, Li Fan grasped it in his hand. A moment later, he handed it to Zhou Kebao. "These are my additional requirements for the immortal city abode. Take it back, run the numbers, and get a cost proposal to me as soon as possible. "If there are no major issues, we will finalize the matter right then. "Of course, if you still think I, Li Fan, am someone to be pushed around, then it really will be a fight to the bitter end." A flash of ferocity flickered in Li Fan's eyes. "Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Li, we understand!" Zhou Kebao said, delighted. He took the jade slip, glanced over it hurriedly, and then could not wait to take his leave. "A bunch of parasites indeed..." Watching Zhou Kebao's receding figure, Li Fan gave a cold snort and murmured softly. "Still, what does that have to do with me? "If anything, I ought to thank them. Without parasites like these, how could I ever extract benefits from this strictly regulated Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals?" After a cold chuckle, Li Fan pointed lightly forward. The miniature projection of the immortal city abode reappeared in an instant. It was none other than a flawless replica Li Fan had constructed from what he had just seen and heard, combined with the layout of the real Congyun Immortal City. "A floating city of my own... "Now that is a fine treasure. And it fell right into my lap without any effort at all." Li Fan's eyes narrowed slightly as he began marking annotations across the floating city's miniature projection according to his own ideas. Time slipped by. Three days later, Zhou Kebao returned in haste with the prepared cost proposal. "18.63 million contribution points..." Li Fan mused. Seeming terrified that Li Fan would find it too expensive, Zhou Kebao hurriedly explained, "This only accounts for the expenses of your additional requirements and some labor costs. "All the materials needed to build the immortal city are coming straight out of our own pockets. "To make peace with you, Fellow Daoist, we're really taking a massive loss this time." Li Fan said dismissively, "Save those words for someone else. In the entire Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals today, who else besides me, Li Fan, would dare use an immortal city as an abode? "Without my involvement, those materials of yours would just be inventory rotting in a warehouse. "Yet now, they can be directly converted into contribution points..." Zhou Kebao did not dare argue and could only murmur agreement with an embarrassed smile. "18.63 million is a bit steep. "How about this: 15 million," Li Fan said, making an aggressive counteroffer. "Take it or leave it. If you refuse, act as though I never brought this up, and we'll drop it completely!" Hearing this, Zhou Kebao's expression shifted drastically. After his face went through several changes of color, he finally gritted his teeth and agreed. He then took out a shimmering golden Commercial Contract, made several adjustments, and handed it over. Li Fan took it and looked. In addition to Zhou Kebao's name, the document bore the names of Gou Zihao, Qu Dailong, and seven other cultivators, making nine in total. After reviewing it carefully and verifying that nothing was amiss, Li Fan signed his own name onto it. As two beams of golden light shot into their respective bodies, Zhou Kebao finally breathed a sigh of relief. According to the agreement, Li Fan transferred an initial five million contribution points. "When will the immortal city abode be finished?" Looking at Zhou Kebao, whose delight was plain to see, Li Fan asked. "The day Congyun Immortal City is finished is the day the immortal city abode will be completed," Zhou Kebao pledged. "So fast?" Now it was Li Fan's turn to be slightly surprised. One had to realize that Li Fan had mobilized every available cultivator in the Congyun Sea to work overtime day and night just to barely keep pace with the deadline set by Diyi Jinglun. And now, less than two months remained before Congyun Immortal City's completion. To finish building the abode within such a short window, and yet Zhou Kebao sounded as if they still had capacity to spare... Their efficiency was probably more than twice that of the makeshift crew Li Fan had cobbled together. Seeing Li Fan show a rare look of astonishment, Zhou Kebao felt rather pleased with himself and smiled without speaking. "Very well. In that case, I will look forward to the day of double joy. "Off you go!" Li Fan once again dismissed his guest. Zhou Kebao cupped his hands and lingered no longer. ----- Time flew like a shuttle as the days passed one by one. The official completion date of Congyun Immortal City drew steadily nearer. Eager anticipation began to surface on the faces of all the busy cultivators. After working themselves to the bone, was this not what they were longing for—the rebuilding of Congyun City, Island Master Li Fan rewarding them according to their merits, and appointing them to various posts? Nor did Li Fan forget Diyi Jinglun's commission. He integrated the formation diagram of the Xuantian Nether-Locking Array entirely into the foundation of the immortal city, without drawing anyone's notice. With the grand foundation-laying ceremony of the immortal city approaching, Li Fan sat alone in his secret chamber one day when a sudden premonition struck him. It turned out that the Fallen Immortal Realm, which he had not entered for a long time, was finally accessible once more. "Heavenly Venerable of Fortune and Xuanhuang!" Li Fan set up the ritual and descended once more into the Fallen Immortal Realm. The events picked up right where they had left off: tasked by Lu Ya, he and Xu Ke were heading toward Nanming Demon Mountain. "Xiao Hei, tell me, why would Senior Brother Lu Ya entrust such an important task to me? "This Nanming Demon Mountain is no good place. According to the other senior brothers, countless terrifying demon beasts gather there... "If he had sent one of the stronger senior brothers instead, wouldn't there be a better chance of success?" Xu Ke tilted his head, his wide eyes full of puzzlement. Li Fan unceremoniously gave him a swipe with his paw. "Can you be quiet? That's the tenth time you've asked that on the road. "I really don't understand why you didn't just ask your Senior Brother Lu Ya. Why keep pestering me?" Xu Ke looked a little aggrieved. "Nonsense, how was that ten times? It was clearly only the ninth..." While the two were bantering, a resonant dragon roar suddenly sounded from the distant horizon, cutting them off.