I established the Eternal Immortal Clan by taming beasts.

He looked at the intelligence officer standing in the corner.

The intelligence officer was a thin, middle-aged man with an ordinary face. He wore a gray robe and stood in the shadows, almost blending into the wall.

Upon hearing this, he immediately opened a thick booklet, his fingers slicing rapidly across the pages, his eyes gleaming. After a moment, he looked up, his voice steady:

"There are currently seventeen spies in the Chuyang City area who are still active and have not been exposed."

"Seventeen people." Li Feng sneered, his laughter full of mockery and anger: "A branch that has been operating for more than ten years, overnight, only seventeen people are left. Good, very good."

"The most senior among them is a spy named Liu Fang." The intelligence officer continued flipping through the booklet, speaking steadily and without any emotion.

"She was among the first batch of spies sent there more than a decade ago, and has been responsible for gathering intelligence on the Lin family. She has been operating in Chuyang City for many years without ever making a mistake. She is quite capable, but her cultivation level is a bit low, only at the early stage of Foundation Establishment."

"Early Foundation Establishment stage?" Li Feng frowned. "That's too low. How can the head of the Chuyang City branch be convincing if he's only at the early Foundation Establishment stage?"

Gu Tiannan stopped holding the jade beads.

"Liu Fang." He repeated the name, his half-closed eyes slightly opening as he looked up at Li Feng.

"Let her temporarily take charge of the management of the Chuyang City branch and see how she performs!"

Li Feng pondered for a moment, his brows furrowed, and the rhythm of his fingers tapping on the table slowed down.

Although he felt that Liu Fang's cultivation level was too low to command respect, he couldn't find a more suitable candidate at the moment.

The new recruits are unfamiliar with the local situation and it will take time for them to take over, while the network in Chuyang City cannot be interrupted.

"Very well." He nodded, looking at the intelligence officer: "Inform her to keep a low profile, rebuild the network, avoid exposure, and prevent any further mishaps."

"Yes." The intelligence officer bowed and accepted the order.

"And another thing," Gu Tiannan's voice rang out again, his half-closed eyes now fully open, revealing a pair of deep, unfathomable eyes: "Have her keep a close eye on the Lin family. That Lin Che is no simple man."

He paused, and the jade bead in his hand stopped spinning.

"The investigation into Meng Yan, although on the surface it seems to be just a smuggling case, I always feel that it's not that simple. A branch that had been operating for more than ten years was uprooted overnight. It's too simple, too clean, too clean to be a coincidence."

Li Feng's expression hardened, and his gaze narrowed slightly.

"What the sect leader means is..."

"I'm just guessing." Gu Tiannan closed his eyes again, and the jade bead in his hand began to spin again. "But it's never wrong to be cautious. Have Liu Fang keep an eye on the Lin family's movements and the City Lord's Mansion. Report any unusual activity immediately."

……

Two hours later, in a secluded residence in Chuyang City.

The night was as dark as ink, and all was silent.

There were no pedestrians on the street outside the window, only the occasional barking of dogs and the heavy footsteps of patrolling guards in the distance.

Liu Fang sat under the dim light, holding the communication jade slip she had just received in her hand.

The jade slip was entirely black, with fine spiritual patterns flowing across its surface, emitting a faint, cold light.

Those are communication jade slips used exclusively by the Shadow Hall. Each one undergoes special encryption, making them impossible for outsiders to decipher even if intercepted.

The jade slip contained only a short line of text, but her gaze lingered on that line for a long time.

[Effective immediately, you will temporarily serve as the head of the Chuyang City branch. Maintain a low profile, rebuild the network, and pay close attention to the Lin family and the City Lord's Mansion's movements.]

Her fingers trembled slightly.

It wasn't because she was nervous or excited, but because someone had told her about this day years ago!

She still remembered the scene from a few years ago when the man wearing a black and white mask first approached her.

At that time, she was just an ordinary spy for the Shadow Hall in Chuyang City, responsible for collecting intelligence on the Lin family. She had a low status and limited access to information.

The man told her, "I am from the Lin family. You can call me Zhihei. From now on, I will be directly responsible for your communication."

Finally, he made a promise to himself.

"One day, I will make you the person in charge of the Shadow Hall in Chuyang City."

She didn't believe it at the time.

How did she, a mere early Foundation Establishment cultivator, manage to sit in that position?

The Shadow Hall has strict rules, and promotion depends on seniority, ability, and connections; none of these can be lacking.

She has nothing.

But that man did it.

He spent three years meticulously weaving a net, placing each piece one by one, calculating every step precisely, and always stepping into the blind spots of the Shadow Hall.

He used the city lord's mansion to cut off half of the Shadow Hall's network;

They then used the Shadow Hall to put her in a position of leadership.

call--

He let out a long breath, and the anxiety and anticipation that had been building up in his chest for years finally dissipated into calm.

She looked up and glanced at the pitch-black night outside the window.

He put the jade slip into his bosom and placed it close to his body.

Then he got up, walked to the corner of the wall, squatted down, and used his fingers to feel a seemingly ordinary blue brick on the ground.

She gently pried at the crack between the bricks with her fingertips, and the blue bricks loosened slightly.

She lifted it up, revealing a hidden compartment about the size of a palm underneath.

In the hidden compartment, a jade slip lay quietly.

That one was left to her by Zhihei.

She didn't rush to pick it up, but instead closed her eyes and listened intently to the sounds around her.

Outside the window, the night wind rustled through the old locust tree.

In the distance, there were a few intermittent chirps of insects. There were no footsteps, no fluctuations of spiritual energy, and nothing unusual.

She then reached out and took out the jade slip, immersing her consciousness into it.

The jade slip contained only one line of text, a cryptic script commonly used by the Black-Handed Swordsman, concise and austere:

Once accomplished, proceed according to plan.

She held the jade slip in her palm; the coolness of the jade penetrated her skin and reached her bones, making her thoughts clearer.

After a moment of silence, he then immersed his consciousness back into the jade slip and left a new line of writing in the blank space.

That was what she needed to report to Zhihei: the orders from the Shadow Hall headquarters, her new identity, and how she needed the Lin family to cooperate openly.

Then, she closed the jade slip, walked to the window, and pushed open the wooden window shutter.

The night breeze, carrying moisture, swept over me, with the unique refreshing coolness of Shattered Star Lake.

She took out a tiny, silvery-white communication insect from her sleeve. Its wings were as thin as cicada wings, and it was curled up in her palm, emitting a faint glow.

She gently inserted the jade slip into the groove on the back of the spirit insect, and then released her fingers.

The insect flapped its wings, emitting a very faint buzzing sound, like a mosquito flying past your ear.

It circled once by the window, then transformed into a thin silver line and disappeared into the night.

Liu Fang stood by the window, watching the silver figure disappear into the darkness.

Her gaze was calm, but her heart was beating much faster than usual.

From now on, she will be the head of the Shadow Hall branch in Chuyang City!

……