Before his departure, Gao Yuan entrusted He Zhenghao with the task of “clearing the identities of the ancient secret realm cultivators.”
As a gesture of sincerity, “Zhou Qingang” once again provided a considerable benefit.
Being old colleagues, He Zhenghao readily agreed. Along the way, he also inquired whether Zhou Qingang had any plans to leave Congyun Sea.
Zhou Qingang laughed heartily and assured him that he had no such intentions.
Hearing this, He Zhenghao was immediately relieved. Even someone as trusted as Zhou Qingang, a close confidant of the secret envoy, had no plans to flee, which meant that although the descent of the Spirit of Heaven and Earth carried some risks, it was unlikely to be catastrophic.
Feeling even more certain about his choice, he dismissed his worries and focused on handling the matter of “integrating secret realm cultivators into the alliance.”
To him, this was no different from his time guarding Liuli Island, where he helped mortals from outside the realm smuggle across borders.
It was simply a matter of charging per head, something he was quite adept at.
Moreover, he was far bolder than Gao Yuan and had no fear of being discovered by the Immortal Alliance.
One after another, cultivators were awakened through bloodline rituals and joined the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance, with their contributions being discreetly transferred to Li Fan.
Yet even so, compared to the hundreds of millions of contribution points Li Fan needed to transfer, it was merely a drop in the ocean.
To complete the transfer before the Crimson Flame descended, Li Fan secretly exchanged and purchased standardized spirit stones from other cultivators.
At the same time, he once again reached out to the Five Elders Association.
As before, contact was made through Zhou Qingang. However, this time, the other party acted much faster than before.
Before long, Zhou Qingang once again met with the representative of the Five Elders Association.
The familiar black-robed figure concealed their appearance, yet they clearly remembered the contents of the last transaction.
Without preamble, they asked, “Do you have the results from our previous matter?”
Zhou Qingang smiled faintly. “It seems this matter is truly important to you. Even after so long, you still can’t let it go.”
The previous matter, of course, referred to the Five Elders Association’s request for Zhou Qingang to investigate the identity of an ancient cultivator excavated from the ruins of the Purple Heaven Sect.
Li Fan had already extracted the information from Jiao Xiuyuan and intended to use it as leverage in this deal.
The Five Elders Association cultivator replied frankly, “Although we are currently in a ceasefire, everyone knows that peace is destined to be temporary. No one can predict when war will break out again. Moreover, this is only a broad-scale truce—there are still regions where the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance and our forces remain in direct confrontation.”
“As for the [Xuantian Nether-Locking Formation] of the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance, we have only found ways to counterbalance it, but to completely dismantle its effects, we need more intelligence.”
Zhou Qingang’s gaze flickered slightly, but he did not reveal any emotion. Instead, he nodded.
“I have confirmed the identity of the ancient cultivator in question. Now, what price is the Five Elders Association willing to pay for this information?” he said with a subtle smile.
“Is that true?” The Five Elders Association cultivator seemed genuinely shocked, abruptly standing up and staring intently at Zhou Qingang.
Zhou Qingang nodded proudly.
“Good, good!” The other party repeated several times, visibly excited. “Your Heaven-Suppressing Society’s methods are truly extraordinary!”
“Wait here a moment—I must report this immediately!”
The black-robed cultivator turned away, falling into silence.
Zhou Qingang observed carefully, but he couldn’t discern how the other party was contacting the higher-ups of the Five Elders Association. As expected from the intelligence division of the association, they were not to be underestimated.
Before long, the Five Elders Association cultivator turned back around.
This time, with an air of confidence, Zhou Qingang began negotiating terms.
“The last batch of [True Temptation Fruits] and [Human Dao Stardust] were extremely effective. I’ll need more of them…”
After a round of bargaining, both parties settled on a mutually agreeable price and finalized the transaction.
“The matter is urgent—the sooner we complete the trade, the better,” Zhou Qingang said with implicit meaning.
The cultivator from the Five Elders Association gave Zhou Qingang a long look before nodding in understanding.
“Oh, there’s one more thing.”
Just as the contract was about to be fully signed, Zhou Qingang suddenly asked, “I have some contribution points with a rather complicated origin. I need them converted into standardized spirit stones with a clean and untraceable source. Can you help me with that as well?”
The Five Elders Association cultivator was momentarily stunned, initially thinking Zhou Qingang was backing out. But after hearing the request, he chuckled nonchalantly and said, “A trivial matter. No problem.”
“How much do you need?” he asked.
“Not much, just two to three billion,” Zhou Qingang replied casually.
The Five Elders Association cultivator instantly turned to stone.
“H-How much?” For a moment, he wondered if he had misheard.
Zhou Qingang repeated himself.
“This… Fellow Daoist, please wait a moment. I’ll need to seek approval,” the cultivator wiped the cold sweat off his forehead, his voice trembling slightly.
Zhou Qingang waved his hand dismissively, signaling him to hurry up.
This round of approval took much longer than before. By the time the black-clad cultivator returned, he looked utterly drained.
“Uh… the higher-ups have agreed to your request. However…”
He hesitated before continuing, “The resource list we discussed earlier may need some adjustments.”
“Hm?” Zhou Qingang’s expression darkened with dissatisfaction as he turned to leave.
“Wait! Wait!” The black-clad cultivator hurriedly stepped forward to stop him.
“Everything is negotiable! But, Fellow Daoist, the sheer amount of standardized spirit stones you need is simply too vast. And making it completely undetectable by the Ten Thousand Immortal Alliance is even more difficult!” he explained anxiously.
“If it weren’t difficult, why would I come to you? I could have handled it myself,” Zhou Qingang scoffed coldly.
The Five Elders Association cultivator nodded repeatedly, not daring to argue.
After further negotiations, they eventually reached an agreement.
As a golden light shot into Zhou Qingang’s body, the black-clad spy slowly dissolved within the radiance, disappearing completely.
Yet, there wasn’t a single trace of fear or panic on his face.
Before vanishing, he only reminded Zhou Qingang of the time and place for their next transaction.
Once the spy had completely disappeared, Zhou Qingang carefully examined the area, then shook his head slightly.
“Binding one’s life to a contract, without fear of death… Truly an eerie method.”
With that, he erased all traces of the exchange and quietly departed.
Ten days later, Zhou Qingang met another black-clad spy with an eerily similar aura—yet it was clearly not the same person.
Just like before, the new spy handed him a [Voidbright Stone Mother], containing all the requested materials.[1]
After a brief inspection, Li Fan revealed the identity of an ancient cultivator who had been unearthed.
“The Xuantian Sect’s Dharma King?”
Upon hearing this, the spy was visibly shocked.
However, he seemed to have expected such a possibility, as he quickly regained his composure.
1. Previously it was called [Primordial Void Stone Mother] but decided to change it to [Voidbright Stone Mother].