There are no ancestors at all; I made them all up.

Chapter 201 Handling Major Businesses Without Leaks

The airship broke through the clouds and sped off in the southwest.

"Liu Ben's status isn't high either. Even if he enters the Taiyi Dao Palace's celestial realm through a secret passage in Yujing, he'll be exposed once discovered. It's best for him to find another identity. Besides..."

Chen Qing stood at the bow of the boat, the strong wind hitting his face, his brows slightly furrowed. He was now wearing Liu Ben's mask.

"This flying boat is incredibly slow! The formation is crude, and the spiritual energy is sluggish. The formation is so sluggish that it's like an old ox pulling a broken cart. It doesn't even have a decent automatic cruise function, and you have to constantly take your eyes off it to control it. If it were my 'Void Crossing' that I had refined, I wouldn't be dawdling here."

His divine sense was as smooth as water, and he had already thoroughly explored the inside and outside of this standard flying boat. He had already discovered several hidden monitoring runes. These runes were embedded in the core formation and constantly transmitted the flying boat's trajectory, spiritual energy consumption, and even the faint fluctuations of energy inside the cabin to the unknown.

"As expected, there is a hidden door with the function of monitoring and transmitting back. Although it is hidden, it cannot escape my perception. In fact, at critical moments, it can be used to forcibly control the flying boat and delete various travel records, making it impossible for anyone to investigate!" Chen Qing muttered after exploring this place, "The Taiyi Dao Palace is indeed meticulous in its actions, but unfortunately, it has used it in the wrong place."

Since he needed to remain hidden, he naturally couldn't leave such an obvious flaw, but he also didn't intend to be monitored step by step. After all, he only needed to hide for a while. After some time, when he had reached the ninth level of the Golden Core stage, he wouldn't care about any raging floods.

Therefore, after the investigation, Chen Qing flicked his fingers, and several glowing talismans silently entered the array nodes inside the flying boat. They subtly altered several key spiritual networks, enveloping and isolating the monitoring portal, thus interfering with it and making it difficult to transmit true information completely.

"Anyway, this infiltration wasn't for any long-term plan. I just need to avoid being exposed before I fully comprehend the mysteries of the Mysterious Female, the Nine Revolutions of the Golden Elixir, or find clues to the Gate of Taiyi. What harm is there in exposing myself once I've succeeded? Besides, during this time, I can act without any scruples while wearing this villain's face..."

Having made up his mind, he stepped out of the cabin, stood at the bow, and looked down at the land.

Below, the mountains and rivers are magnificent, and the landscape is quite different from the barren north.

The further south you go, the richer the spiritual energy becomes, and the more beautiful and vibrant the mountains and rivers become. Ancient trees reach for the sky, and waterfalls and springs can be seen from time to time. You can also see mountain gates shrouded in clouds and mist, with faint array lights and a solemn atmosphere.

“Compared to what I saw in my lifetime, Chen Qing has seen quite a lot.” Chen Qing’s gaze swept over the mountains bearing the marks of various sects, comparing them in his mind. “When the Immortal Dynasty was first established, it abolished all sects and swept the world clean. Many lineages were cut off, and mountain gates were left empty. Now, thousands of years later, they have sprung up again like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.”

As Chen Qing was pondering this, the spiritual jade disc embedded in the central hub of the flying boat suddenly hummed and emitted a halo of light.

He frowned, strode over, pointed with his finger, and a face with narrow eyes and thin lips appeared on the jade wall, its face full of impatience and arrogance.

Before Chen Qing could speak, the man launched into a scathing rebuke: "Liu Ben! How dare you! The patrol warrant shows that you dared to leave the jurisdiction of Zuoquji without authorization and head straight for Yujing? What do you want to do!"

Chen Qing frowned almost imperceptibly, already guessing that this person must be Liu Ben's superior, who was fully aware of Liu Ben's movements thanks to the flying boat's restrictions. However, he was too lazy to imitate Liu Ben's tone, so he remained calm and said indifferently, "During my investigation, I discovered something strange, which I suspect is related to the unusual spiritual energy activity that the palace is currently investigating. Considering the matter's importance, I need to report to the Jade Capital as soon as possible..."

"What kind of attitude is this!" The man interrupted abruptly, a cold glint flashing in his narrow eyes. "And what's this? You want to report this to the Jade Capital in person? Liu Ben, have you forgotten your own worth? You're just a mere patrol officer. Even if you stumbled upon something by sheer luck, you should report it to me first! I'll consider it and decide whether to submit it! You want to bypass your superiors and step on my head to curry favor with the Jade Capital?"

At this point, his voice suddenly rose, and he reprimanded, "Let me tell you, any discovery must be reported to me first! I will decide the severity of the matter and whether to submit it! If your communication jade slip does not bear my Zhao Huai's spiritual seal, it will be nothing but a piece of useless jade when it reaches Yujing, and it won't even be able to enter the outer gate of the Transmission Hall! Who will recognize you, Liu Ben? Rules are rules! Your behavior has broken the rules!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Qing immediately understood.

The person opposite him should be Liu Ben's superior, named "Zhao Huai," who is an outer sect steward of the Taiyi Dao Sect.

In fact, the Hidden Star Sect also has many such outer sect stewards. They are numerous and scattered in various places, responsible for some tedious matters unrelated to cultivation. Their presence in the sect is very low on a daily basis. They usually only do what they are ordered to do and report back after doing a good job. Otherwise, they are hard to be noticed by people like Chen Qing.

"I never expected that I would realize today that such a marginal figure in the sect seems to have a lot of power. And if what this person said is true, then the messages that are transmitted from place to place must be signed by this outer sect steward before they can be delivered to the sect. Doesn't that mean that this seemingly marginal figure actually has some of the sect's ability to spread rumors?"

Within the sect, the true core figures and true disciples are all busy cultivating. Although they have many supernatural powers, techniques, magical artifacts, and magical treasures to obtain information, these are limited to key intelligence such as the overall situation of the world. They cannot pay attention to every little detail. Therefore, they still need some channels to obtain intelligence in order to keep abreast of external developments.

"If the outer sect deacons could control a portion of the information transmission, then many of the outrageous operations of major sects would seem to have a new explanation. However, from Bi'an to Liu Ben, and then to Zhao Huai, the Taiyi Dao Palace, a major sect of the Immortal Dynasty, is rife with infighting and shackles, not much different from the mortal officialdom. Layer upon layer of exploitation and obstacles are set up everywhere, which is really boring."

Upon realizing this, he felt dejected and, too lazy to continue the pretense, cut off the communication.

On the other side of the jade disc, in a luxuriously furnished quiet room, Zhao Huai stared at the suddenly dim jade disc for a moment, then turned purple with anger and slammed the jade table next to him, cracking it all over!

"Rebellion! Rebellion! This bastard dares to cut off my communication!" His chest heaved, his eyes flashing with ferocity. "You, Liu Ben, you must think you've got some incredible leverage over us and want to cause a ruckus in the capital? Just you wait!"

He took a few deep breaths, then suddenly gave a sinister smile: "Crushing a mere Liu Ben like this is as easy as crushing an ant, isn't it? Perfect, another batch of envoys from Yujing will be arriving soon. I can further bribe them. All I need to do is find a reason to report it, and there won't be a single problem! I'll use the Dao Palace's orders to extort benefits, bribe the Dao Palace's envoys, and pave my own way! This is using leverage to create mysteries! There's a great deal of wisdom hidden in human relationships! Only in this way can I leave no room for error and gain complete control!"

the other side.

On the flying boat, Chen Qing shook his head and sighed: "The vast Taiyi Palace is actually harboring such parasites. No wonder we have been searching for so many days and have not been able to find even a trace of me. They are all focused on fighting for power and exploiting their own people. I wonder if anyone will actually do any work after this order is issued. Is it possible that every level is just using this order to benefit themselves?"

After that, he ignored the message from the jade disc and focused on activating the flying boat.

However, after the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Chen Qing suddenly had a thought, and then the flying boat beneath his feet suddenly shook violently! The runes on the cabin walls flickered wildly, and a piercing cracking sound came from the core array plate!
Then, several array patterns and restrictions underwent drastic changes, drawing out the spiritual energy originally used for driving the process, which then erupted from within!
"That Zhao Huai is so vicious, remotely activating the destruction restriction buried inside the flying boat!" After understanding the reason, Chen Qing's last bit of patience ran out. "I originally wanted to use this as an excuse to avoid some trouble and arrive in Yujing safely. However, before I even saw the King of Hell, these little devils are already so self-righteous, playing tricks everywhere! With such complicated thoughts, they think they can seek the Dao and become immortal?"

He swayed and leaped out of the cabin.

"Boom!"

Behind them, the standard airship exploded with a deafening roar, turning into a dazzling fireball with fragments flying everywhere.

Chen Qing rose into the air, his robes fluttering in the strong wind. Looking down at the vast land below, he raised his hand and formed a sword incantation.

"Since your rules won't work, then I'll have to use mine. And coincidentally, there's a teleportation array over there..."

After speaking, he pointed his fingers like a sword and made a gesture in front of himself.

"Shoot-"

A dark crack appeared out of nowhere, with starlight flowing within.

With one step, Chen Qing's figure disappeared into the ripples of space.

at the same time.

Hidden in a mountain stronghold.

Zhao Huai was leading several trusted men, rushing to the front of the Flowing Light Array Platform.

The platform was made of white jade, with runes flowing around it and a hazy glow. Two young men dressed in moon-white Taoist robes with golden flame patterns embroidered on their sleeves stood on it, their expressions arrogant and their bearing imposing, completely out of place with the gray-brown outer disciples around them.

Zhao Huai put on a fawning smile, quickly stepped forward, and bowed deeply: "You two envoys have come from afar, thank you for your hard work! Your subordinate, Zhao Huai, is only here to patrol the area and has not been able to greet you properly. I hope you will forgive me." The gang members behind him also bowed, not daring to breathe loudly.

On the platform, the stern-faced envoy on the left didn't even lift his eyelids. He snorted and said, "Deacon Zhao? You're the one in charge here? I see that the rules here are quite lax."

Zhao Huai's heart tightened, and he bowed even lower, hurriedly saying, "Your Excellency, please understand! It's truly because we've been searching for the source of that unusual spiritual energy lately, and we're short-handed. I'm overwhelmed with work and afraid of delaying important sect matters. I apologize for any slight neglect. Please, both of you, move to the main hall. Local specialties have been prepared and will be delivered to your lodgings shortly..."

The envoy on the right, whose face was fairer, suddenly interrupted and said indifferently, "Zhao Huai, put away your act. We don't need your offerings."

His gaze, sharp as lightning, swept over Zhao Huai and the trembling outer sect members behind him, his expression filled with undisguised contempt: "Normally, you use patrols as an excuse to skim off some money, and the sect turns a blind eye. But this time, we two are acting on the imperial decree, carrying out urgent official business! You must cooperate fully. Any deviation, or any disobedience..."

He gave a cold laugh, not finishing his sentence.

Zhao Huai's heart skipped a beat, realizing something was wrong. Were these two really serious? Had they actually found a clue to the abnormal spiritual source, and now they wanted their help but also wanted to cut off their source of income? Without the pretext of investigating abnormal spiritual energy, how could they use it to plunder spiritual essence?
One of his trusted aides couldn't contain himself and muttered, "Could it be that the envoy has already found the source of that unusual spiritual energy?"

"The root cause?" The cold-faced envoy smiled faintly. "That's not something you should worry about. You only need to do one task: go to Windfall City and keep an eye on one person."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Huai felt a sense of relief. Based on his extensive experience, he knew that these two were putting on airs, but in reality, they were using their position for personal gain!

But as long as there is a request, it is easy to handle.

He immediately adopted a knowing expression, cupped his hands, and said, "Rest assured, Your Excellency! We will do our utmost! Who should we keep an eye on? We'll make sure to arrange everything clearly for him, labeling him as an 'abnormal connection to spiritual sources,' and we can easily track him down..."

"No need!" The white-faced envoy interrupted, a fierce glint in his eyes. "This man is named Li Qing, and he currently resides in Fengxi City. You only need to secretly monitor him, ascertain his whereabouts, social interactions, and daily habits, and report back in detail! Remember, you can only observe from afar, do not disturb him, and are absolutely forbidden to act on your own! This man will be of great use to my Bright Fire lineage. When the sect's main force gathers to capture that treasure-stealing thief, we can take advantage of the situation to deal with him. At that time, you will have a share of the credit."

Zhao Huai felt a chill run down his spine, but dared not ask any further questions. He quickly replied, "Yes, yes, yes! I understand! I will handle this matter properly and ensure that Li Qing does not suspect anything!"

Just then, a voice came from beside the array platform—

"Your lineage of Bright Fire is truly a persistent ghost."

Everyone was startled and looked in the direction of the sound, only to see "Liu Ben" striding towards them.

(End of this chapter)