Zhou Qingang hesitated as he explained, “Considering the trend of Spirit Mist Grass prices at that time, who could resist? It spread like wildfire, and almost every island guardian in the Cong Yun Sea was involved in speculation.”
“If I had acted differently, it would have exposed my intentions. Who knew the price would collapse so quickly…”
Then, as if realizing something, he glanced suspiciously at the face on the broken stone. “Head, you didn’t participate in the speculation too, did you?”
The face avoided answering and rebuked, “Enough nonsense, how much do you need?”
After a moment of hesitation, Zhou Qingang whispered, “One hundred thousand…”
“One hundred thousand?!” The face’s voice suddenly rose a few degrees.
“No! Funding is tight right now, and none of you have shown any concrete results despite lurking for so long. What can I use to request funds from above?” The face decisively refused.
Seeing this, Zhou Qingang quickly said, “There are results, there are results! I’ve almost deciphered the outer layer of the Heavenly Transformation Formation. In at most seven or eight years, I will completely crack the core of the formation.”
“This time, even He Zhenghao suffered heavy losses. I’m applying for these one hundred thousand contribution points to strengthen my relationship with him.”
“He is proficient in formations and has participated in the deployment of the island protection formation. With his assistance, we will surely master the formation sooner.”
The face’s expression eased slightly upon hearing this.
After pondering for a moment, it slowly said, “In that case, send me the deciphered formation data first.”
Zhou Qingang nodded, and once again pressed his palms on the broken stone with closed eyes.
A yellow light flickered continuously. After a while, he released his hands.
Seemingly exhausted, his face turned extremely pale.
The face remained expressionless, seemingly verifying the authenticity of the data.
“Hmm, well done.” After a while, the face nodded.
“However, one hundred thousand is indeed too much. Fifty thousand!” The face suddenly said, changing its tone.
Zhou Qingang’s face turned bitter. “Head, fifty thousand is too little! Seventy thousand, or sixty thousand would be acceptable!”
The face completely ignored him. “Fifty top-grade spirit stones. One month later, retrieve them from the usual place.”
“That’s final!”
As the words fell, the light and shadow on the broken stone disappeared, returning to an ordinary-looking stone.
With a darkened expression, Zhou Qingang smashed the broken stone with a slap.
Returning to his original appearance, he remained silent all the way back to Taian Island.
He stayed within the island protection formation, behaving like an ordinary island guardian, making it impossible to tell he was an undercover spy.
“It seems that, apart from Zhou Qingang, quite a few people are infiltrating under this supervisor.”
“However, these spies within the alliance should not hold high positions. The current task level is only focused on scheming on the island protection formation.”
“In addition, their method of communication seems to be reset with every contact. Although it’s troublesome, the one-way communication reduces the risk of being exposed.”
Seeing that Zhou Qingang had resumed his undercover activities without further actions, Li Fan withdrew his attention and considered how to maximize the benefits of this situation.
“In addition to finding a way to deceive the Inquiry Platform, Zhou Qingang’s method of changing appearance will be extremely useful for me.”
“It would be great to acquire both methods and then report them to earn merits.”
“Unfortunately, until now, I still haven’t found the rumored soul-searching technique.”
“It seems that the alliance has strict control over this method. Even with my current rank as permission level Eight, I haven’t found any relevant information.”
“I wonder if there is an opportunity in the Fallen Immortal Realm.”
Not long ago, Li Fan inexplicably felt a resonance, indicating that he could enter the Fallen Immortal Realm again.
However, at that time, he was busy with merit tasks, so he didn’t enter again.
Now that he was free, Li Fan once again had the idea of exploring the Fallen Immortal Realm.
At this point, he began to set up the ritual again.
“Blessings bestowed by the Celestial Sovereign of Xuanhuang!”
As the last line was silently recited, numerous miscellaneous sounds entered his ears.
Li Fan entered the Fallen Immortal Realm once again.
“Junior Brother? Junior Brother?”
When Li Fan saw the surroundings clearly, his heart sank slightly.
“Junior Brother, what are you thinking? Why are you in a daze for so long?”
A cultivator wearing a purple and white Daoist robe, with a purple lightning mark between his eyebrows, asked.
This person was not unfamiliar to Li Fan; it was the cultivator he had encountered during his last visit to the Fallen Immortal Realm, Zhang Qianmo.
“Why is it here again?” Numerous question marks flashed through Li Fan’s mind.
According to Chen Ying’s explanation, every time one enters the Fallen Immortal Realm, they should randomly appear in different locations. Why was his second login location exactly the same as the last time, down to the minute?
Could there be a special reason? Thinking about the peculiar aspect of having two lives in this Fallen Immortal Realm, a name suddenly surfaced in Li Fan’s mind.
“Could it be because of the Venerable Heart Refinement Mantra again?” Li Fan speculated.
“Last time, I revealed my spiritual consciousness avatar and was killed by Zhang Qianmo. If I defeat him this time, will the outcome be different?”
“However, Senior Brother Zhang is not that easy to deal with.”
“Or, if he doesn’t discover me, the true me beneath Li Chen’s body…”
Instantly, numerous thoughts surged in Li Fan’s mind. However, he didn’t forget to respond to the somewhat cynical Senior Brother before him.
Recalling what would happen next, Li Fan quickly pondered, “Eh, Senior Brother, I don’t know why, but I suddenly feel a bit uneasy. It seems that this trip to obtain the Longevity Fruit won’t be as smooth as expected.”
Zhang Qianmo was slightly stunned, and instead of laughing it off, he paid great attention to it.
He gently pinched his right hand, and it seemed like a purple cloud floated through his eyes.
“Huh?” After a while, Zhang Qianmo’s expression became serious.
“Junior Brother, your premonition is correct. There is indeed something unusual about this Ningyuan City!”
“Really?” Li Fan appeared extremely surprised. “Then, Senior Brother, what should we do next?”
Zhang Qianmo pondered for a moment and said, “The hexagram indicates that although there is some risk, there is no threat to life.”
“The Longevity Fruit must be obtained. If we don’t even set foot into Ningyuan City and instead return to the sect for reinforcements, wouldn’t we be ridiculed by our peers?”
“It might be better for both of us to sneak into the city secretly, investigate the situation, and then decide.”
Li Fan readily agreed, “Senior Brother is right!”
Zhang Qianmo activated some kind of technique, and the lightning mark on his forehead gradually receded, his aura completely concealed.
Observing this scene, as if by instinct, Li Fan also skillfully hid his own aura.
“So, this is the Breath Concealing Technique from the Purple Heaven Royal Thunder Technique…”
As if controlling a character in a game, Li Fan could now use various techniques and moves from Li Chen, but he didn’t have a deep understanding of the techniques themselves.