"Confident you can advance to the Nascent Soul realm within ten years?" Looking at the smug He Zhenghao, a flicker of astonishment crossed Zhou Qing'ang's face.
This reaction was not feigned.
After scrutinizing him closely for a moment, he could tell that He Zhenghao might not be boasting empty words. Hidden within him was an exceedingly arcane aura. It was exceptionally discreet; had He Zhenghao not revealed it himself, and had the "Zhou Qing'ang" standing here not actually been transformed from Li Fan's true body, it truly would not have been easy to detect.
Replaying the records within the Dao Transformation Stone in his mind, Li Fan instantly deduced the origin of this change. It was none other than the plain piece of white jade He Xinxin had given He Zhenghao before reluctantly parting, instructing him to keep it inside his dantian for nourishment.
"He hasn't cultivated diligently in the least, yet solely relying on this piece of white jade, he's confident he can step from Golden Core into Nascent Soul in such a short time..."
"This white jade is indeed an extraordinary treasure! I'm afraid it would be considered exceedingly rare even for the Heng family of Tianyu Province. He Xinxin truly went all out to preserve her old father's life."
"What a pity..."
"Zhou Qing'ang" cast a barely perceptible, icy glance over He Zhenghao, sneering inwardly.
He then put on a show of immense shock. "Fellow Daoist's progress is actually so swift? How completely unexpected. It seems your cultivation talent far surpasses mine and Gao Yuan's."
A flash of awkwardness crossed He Zhenghao's face, though he quickly masked it and shamelessly declared, "Heh heh, there is no need to be discouraged, Fellow Daoist. Aside from innate talent, the cultivation realms of us cultivators are inextricably linked to diligence, opportunities, and fortune. Since your talent is already somewhat lacking, Fellow Daoist, now that fortune lies right before you, you certainly cannot afford to miss it!"
Hearing He Zhenghao's persuasion, Zhou Qing'ang seemed to bow his head in deep thought.
Just as He Zhenghao secretly rejoiced, thinking he had won the man over, Zhou Qing'ang let out a long sigh and declined his suggestion.
"As Fellow Daoist said, personal strength is crucial if one wishes to serve the Secret Emissary better. Yet opportunity often walks hand in hand with danger. A person like me..." Zhou Qing'ang shook his head with an expression full of regret. "...has never had much luck! Even if there really is an opportunity within the Chaoyuan Sect, it surely wouldn't fall to me. I had better stay obediently in the Congyun Sea and fulfill my duties.
"Once the Secret Emissary..."
Zhou Qing'ang paused deliberately before changing tack: "His Excellency never mistreats his subordinates. He sees our hard work, and if he happens to be pleased, even a casual reward could help us raise our realms!
"Regardless, I thank Fellow Daoist He for your kindness!" Zhou Qing'ang cupped his hands, then turned and left the Administration Hall.
Watching Zhou Qing'ang's retreating figure, He Zhenghao's expression shifted between doubt and conviction. *This kid is truly His Excellency's confidant—he definitely knows something! It seems my choice was right. If even he refuses to leave the Congyun Sea, it proves not only that there is no danger here, but that there are immense benefits to be had...*
With the last trace of hesitation cleared from his mind, He Zhenghao made up his mind completely.
And watching He Zhenghao's gloomy gaze brimming with boundless greed, Li Fan knew exactly what he was thinking.
"The greedier he gets, the more foolish he becomes; the more foolish he becomes, the greedier he gets."
"A vicious cycle. The He Zhenghao of this lifetime is no longer the Daoist He I knew!"
"The difference in experience shapes and impacts character so profoundly."
Li Fan pondered for a moment, an intuition dawning faintly in his heart.
"Perhaps it also has something to do with the foundation of the new method, which greedily plunders Heaven and Earth."
Dwelling on this no further, Li Fan acted just as Zhou Qing'ang usually did over the days that followed, methodically handling countless miscellaneous affairs.
Meanwhile, "Secret Script Emissary Li Fan"—his disguised avatar—remained deep within the secret chamber of the Administration Hall, ostensibly in closed-door cultivation.
While quietly swapping his true body and avatar, Li Fan also began secretly crafting a puppet in the likeness of Zhou Qing'ang.
Deep within the Congyun Sea, manipulating the Earth Fire Origin-Returning Formation and consuming a few ordinary materials, he constructed a skeletal puppet. Next, using the avatar-refining techniques of the Wondrous Profound True Spirit Transformation, he coated the skeletal puppet with a layer of flesh and skin.
He then attached a strand of his divine sense to it.
Ultimately, he succeeded in creating a puppet body that looked identical to Zhou Qing'ang.
After transferring all of his clothing, storage ring, and other possessions over, Li Fan's true body took a final look at the azure Congyun Sea and shook his head.
*It is time to leave,* he thought.
Returning to his original appearance, he sped off toward the location of the Valley of Longevity realm without looking back.
Meanwhile, under the control of that retained strand of Li Fan's divine sense, the puppet Zhou Qing'ang returned alone to Congyun Immortal City.
Because Zhou Qing'ang rarely smiled or joked in ordinary times, even though his expression appeared somewhat wooden, it did not arouse the suspicion of other cultivators for the time being.
Furthermore, Li Fan intentionally reduced the number of meetings with outsiders; on the rare occasions they had contact, the puppet was always bent over the desk diligently handling administrative affairs, utterly swamped with work.
Thus, in the vast Congyun City, even with an endless stream of cultivators coming and going, not a single person discovered that Zhou Qing'ang had already pulled off a covert substitution under everyone's noses.
Although considerable flaws remained and others were bound to notice given enough time, the entire Congyun Sea, including all the myriad living beings within it, was already approaching its final hour.
While Li Fan's true body was still en route, on this day, both his true self and the puppet bearing his divine sense suddenly felt a tremor of dread.
"What is that?!"
The rising tide of alarmed cries across Congyun City stirred Li Fan's attention, and he looked up toward the sky.
A colossal black fireball had suddenly appeared in the vault of heaven without any warning.
Trailing a pitch-black tail, it hurtled diagonally toward the Congyun Sea with ferocious momentum.
"This is...!" Li Fan's pupils constricted abruptly.
"Crimson Flame?" Sensing the specious, elusive aura emanating from the black fireball, Li Fan was somewhat uncertain.
The black fireball moved at extreme speed. Before the cultivators of the Congyun Sea could even react, it had already plunged from the sky into the ocean.
Any seawater it touched was instantly vaporized by the blistering heat.
In the sea, an immense void opened first. Then, the black fireball slammed violently into the seabed.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Amid deafening roars, the entire Congyun Sea shook violently. Even Congyun City, towering into the clouds, was soon swept by the shockwave, swaying relentlessly like duckweed in a gale.
Under the violent impact, a monstrous tsunami surged outward in all directions, centering on the crash site of the black fireball.
Cultivators watched in horror as the hundreds-of-meters-high colossal waves were actually half-entwined with black flames.
Wherever the colossal waves swept, water and fire raged together, reducing countless islands to ash in an instant!
Chapter 641