The Long Journey to Immortality

After leaving the Chamber of Commerce, Han Lu checked into a hotel owned by Dongweng Shop on the Star Islands, which catered to VIPs.

In terms of environment, this place is much better than Han Lu's temporary residence on the Dragon Head Islands.

Having just become familiar with her surroundings, Han Lu, like any other cultivator from the East Sea, cautiously set up numerous restrictions around her residence.

This was both to dispel suspicion and to avoid being monitored, so that Han Lu could act discreetly, both to lure the enemy out of hiding and to surround and attack reinforcements.

As for Manager Chen, who had promised many discounts but could not deliver on them for the time being, he hurriedly contacted the second branch of Dongweng Shop on the Dragon Head Islands through an uncommon means after seeing Han Lu off, requesting to communicate with Young Master Lan Ya and obtain some irregular but beneficial support for the branch.

Upon arriving at a large room in the basement of the shop, Manager Chen, accompanied by a dedicated communicator, activated a magical artifact that was half the size of a room. He then informed the Dragon Head Islands branch of this major transaction that had taken place in the Star Islands in plain language, explaining his side's needs and reporting the specific order details.

This enormous magical artifact is specifically designed for transmitting information over medium distances.

Most of the larger trading companies in the East China Sea are equipped with these devices, though their performance varies. Most of them are able to transmit large amounts of information to another branch of the trading company in a way that is much faster than the human transmission by monks flying.

Store Manager Chen sought help from Young Master Lan Ya in this way.

Han Lu flew from the Dragon Head Islands at a relatively slow speed, taking about a day.

The information transmitted by this large magical artifact was completely transmitted to another magical artifact that was 99% similar to it, located in the Dongweng Shop on the Dragon Head Islands, in just about two hours.

The information was then transmitted through two and a half layers of encryption before finally reaching the hands of Young Master Lanya, who had been holding banquets for several days in a row.

I heard that before the good news had even faded, another big deal had come my way.

Having just drunk half a pot of immortal wine, Young Master Lanya agreed to Manager Chen's decision almost without hesitation and was determined to use his connections to make this big deal a success.

This is a good opportunity to solidify his position as the successor in the Chamber of Commerce.

After all, only by having strong blacksmithing skills and managing the branches assigned to you by the senior management can you achieve substantial profits.

Only by proving their business acumen can they be considered as having potential and ability, and thus be considered a qualified successor.

In comparison, defeating the opponent is merely a bonus.

This banquet was originally a gathering hosted by Young Master Lanya under the pretext of "celebrating Lü Zhi's humiliation" to win people over and foster relationships.

Among the guests attending the banquet were many high-ranking executives of Dong Weng businesses on the Dragon Head Islands.

I spent a long time negotiating one-on-one with many high-ranking officials who had the authority to arrange this matter.

Ultimately, with Lan Ya Gongzi taking on all the responsibilities and the tacit approval of the higher-ups who were trying to place their bets on Lan Ya Gongzi, the deal fell through.

Three hours after the banquet ended, following a somewhat informal process, the large amount of precious materials on the list were arranged for a journey, packed into storage bags, and escorted by three hastily selected escorts to the Star Islands in a relatively discreet manner.

In order to make this happen, so that Young Master Lanya's performance evaluation over the next five years can be outstanding and stand out from the crowd.

Two of the three cultivators were at the early stage of the Golden Core realm, and one was at the late stage of the Foundation Establishment realm. They were all capable assistants supported by the Dongweng Shop branch in the Dragon Head Islands.

Although Young Master Lanya did not see the three "protectors" off from Dragon Head Islands, he believed that his luck had recently turned around and that this series of good fortunes would lead him from one victory to the next.

Operating a large trading company with branches all over the East China Sea is a skill in itself.

After the ancient cultivation era ended, for the first 20,000 years, the East Sea was not much different from the barbaric civilization.

Aside from maintaining a relatively intense balance between cultivators, true spirits, and magical beasts, the cultivators did not develop a distinctive culture or civilization in the East Sea region.

Fortunately, most of the true spirits and magical beasts that were banished to the East Sea were defeated and lost in the great war of the ancient cultivation era.

Over 20,000 years, through generations of inheritance, the essence of these alien races was completely erased.

This allowed the cultivators of the East Sea, who had a vague connection with the Central Plains civilization, to gain a foothold in this ocean with its infinite possibilities.

Thirty thousand years after the ancient war, the rudimentary form of the Immortal Pavilion Merchant Guild, which now dominates the East Sea, was finally formed.

Initially, it was just a few monks working together to organize commodity trading.

It took thousands of years and three or four generations of high-level cultivators to pass on the knowledge and skills, and only then did it develop into a relatively open and close-knit business organization.

Ultimately, under the leadership of a highly skilled cultivator with sufficient business knowledge and experience, the Immortal Pavilion finally became a so-called "legitimate and formal commercial organization," a chamber of commerce that the cultivators of the East Sea could trust, possessing both production and commercial trade capabilities.

After many twists and turns, it took 30,000 years for the rudiments of a chamber of commerce to take shape.

The leaders of other emerging chambers of commerce all have some connection with the Immortal Pavilion.

It's like when blood relatives in one place start their own businesses, giving rise to companies like STO Express, YTO Express, ZTO Express, and Yunda Express.

Legend has it that the cultivator who founded Dongweng Shop was originally a mid-level "employee" in the Immortal Pavilion. It was his talent and "plagiarism" skills that enabled him to make Dongweng Shop bigger and stronger.

The wheels of history slowly rolled forward, and it took another 70,000 years of inheritance to become the "Immortal Pavilion" it is today. Naturally, the culture, experience, and business knowledge accumulated within it cannot be understood or grasped by Han Lu in a short period of time.

It was fortunate that Lu Zhi, a high-ranking official familiar with the rules, provided information and assistance; otherwise, Han Lu probably wouldn't have been able to compile even the first list, let alone handle the subsequent series of complex actions.

Indeed, if any random Golden Core cultivator from out of town could rob the resources transported by the merchant guilds, then many merchant guilds in the East Sea would have gone bankrupt long ago and become storage bags for ruthless people in the East Sea.

This time, the materials for transporting nearly 100,000 spirit stones were carefully secured based on experience gained over tens of thousands of years, to prevent them from being easily robbed or to avoid being embezzled by the guards who were escorting them.

The storage bag is protected by a restriction that not only periodically releases "spiritual energy" to indicate its exact location, but also seals its opening tightly with a sophisticated restriction.

There are also several "marked points" along the route that must be reached within a certain time to prevent the escorting guardians from delaying the journey and causing trouble.

Even if these three cultivators, whose highest cultivation level was only at the early stage of the Golden Core realm, really wanted to become traitors, they wouldn't be able to gain any benefit from it. On the contrary, they would lose their secure jobs.

Even if outsiders attempted to rob the goods, they wouldn't be able to find the three "protectors" hiding in the vast ocean and sky, let alone find and defeat them. They wouldn't be able to open the storage bag and transfer the stolen goods in a short time.

Almost every loophole that might exist based on human nature and business principles has been plugged one by one.

Upon learning that the Chamber of Commerce's resources had been plundered, the Dongweng Chamber of Commerce will immediately dispatch its strongest forces to flex its muscles and annihilate this scoundrel who dared to challenge the Chamber's authority.

The complete security plan, passed down through generations of experience, is the reason why most ruthless people in the East China Sea only target small business associations.

Robbing a large merchant guild like Dongweng's shops would have a low success rate and be a losing proposition.

This time, however, Han Lu is going to try to pluck the tiger's whiskers in front of him with the help of Lü Zhi, the first heir of the Immortal Pavilion, and give him a good retaliatory blow.

Chapter 844 The Traitor

It is rare for resources and magical artifacts worth nearly 90,000 spirit stones to be rapidly transferred to a "remote" branch store in a short period of time without any warning.

Therefore, even though Young Master Lanya had smoothed out all the relationships and the Dongweng Shop branch in the Dragon Head Islands did indeed possess all the materials listed by "Fairy Qin," the series of preparations were still done in a hurry.

Although there were no major oversights, it still forced Young Master Lanya to take on a lot of responsibility and handle everything himself in order to expedite the process.

When problems or accidents occur, Lan Ya Gongzi, who should only bear secondary responsibility, becomes the person primarily responsible in such situations.

Unintentionally taking on a major burden actually fulfilled the initial wish of Lü Zhi, Han Lu, and others.

Less than a quarter of an hour after the three temporarily selected cultivators set off, Lü Zhi received detailed information.

In almost the same way, this crucial information was sent to the branches on the Star Islands via the internal communication system of the Immortal Pavilion.

When Han Lu first arrived at the Star Islands as the "Fairy of the Qin," her visit to the Immortal Pavilion was both a cover and a way to meet with the trusted confidants arranged by Lü Zhi within the Immortal Pavilion.

This confidant had set off from the Dragon Head Islands as soon as Han Lu and Lü Zhi had figured out the plan, and had been lying in wait in front of the large magical artifact at the Immortal Pavilion branch.

The communication artifacts used by the Immortal Pavilion were more advanced, and the message was delivered to its destination in just an hour and a half, where it was collected and organized by this trusted confidant.

The collected and organized information was then sent by this confidant through another convenient short-distance communication and contact device, ultimately ending up in Han Lu's hands.

There is a lot of information.

Personal information about the three escorting guardians.

The locations of several key points that the three are required to pass through on their route.

Finally, we must untie the restriction on the storage bag.

In the midst of a fierce commercial war, the Immortal Pavilion deployed numerous spies to infiltrate Dongweng's shops, gathering information, intelligence, and gaining access to the other party's business secrets.

This time, the detailed information that Lü Zhi provided to Han Lu was thanks to these spies.

The information has been provided. Next, Han Lu needs to refine the vague and flexible parts of the plan based on this intelligence and information, so as to intercept the goods without revealing the identity of the spy or herself.

Han Lu already had a plan in mind.

In her view, the best way to cover up the fact that there was a mole within Dongweng Immortal Pavilion was to fabricate a mole and make Dongweng Immortal Pavilion suspicious and search for him.

The best candidate for this traitor is naturally among the three guardian monks who are escorting the complex cargo.

As for who it is, that depends on Han Lu's judgment based on the information to determine which one is more likely to be the mole, and then she can frame him.

After all, most cultivators in the East Sea have some dark history.

With just a little guidance from Han Lu, it's likely that the final evidence will show that the three guardians, who were temporarily brought together, conspired to steal from each other, and Dongweng Immortal Pavilion will have a 30% chance of believing it.

After reviewing the materials, Han Lu quickly identified the Foundation Establishment cultivator among the three escorting protectors as the perfect candidate to frame someone and become an inside traitor.

That Foundation Establishment cultivator was named Lin Jinhuan, a cultivator from the East Sea with considerable strength and talent.

He had a long history of misdeeds and committed numerous crimes, and was also on the bounty list.

Faced with the pressure of being hunted down, he ultimately chose to accept the offer of amnesty from Dongweng Immortal Pavilion and became one of its escort protectors.

I have been working at Dong Weng's shop for ten years now.

It's quite normal for a person who is inherently evil to choose to surrender under pressure, only to betray others again when faced with significant interests.

Ten years is enough time for Lin Jinhuan to infiltrate Dongweng Immortal Pavilion and find accomplices who can help him complete this heist.

In addition, the documents state that Lin Jinhuan had undertaken the task of escorting supplies to the Star Islands on multiple occasions, which is one of the reasons why Han Lu chose him as the "mole".

Most importantly, Lin Jinhuan is at the late Foundation Establishment stage, which means that in terms of combat power, he may be stronger than the other two mediocre cultivators who advanced using beast cores.

However, Lin Jinhuan was only at the Foundation Establishment stage, making him suitable for Han Lu to use illusions to ambush and control him from the shadows, thus perfectly enacting a "long-planned" betrayal.

At this point, the details of the flexibility aspect have been 99% complete. All that's left is to choose a suitable location for an attack to complete the plan.

Take out the nautical chart and compare it with the specific locations of several key "check-in" points sent back by the scout.

The Dragon Head Islands are not far from the Star Islands, and the Dong Weng Shops only set up three "check-in" points along the way.

These "check-in points" were randomly selected before the escort began.

The so-called "opening" only requires three escorting guardians to pass through the array set up by Dongweng Shop at the checkpoint, carrying storage bags with restrictions drawn on them.

This is not much different from security guards swiping their IC cards as they pass through the community during nighttime patrols.

In the end, Han Lu chose a spot to visit, which was only half a day's journey from the Star Islands, and decided to ambush them there to put an end to the matter once and for all.

This is the last of the three "check-in points".

In Han Lu's opinion, taking action here was the most appropriate and convenient option.

After estimating the time and resting for half a day at her temporary lodgings, Han Lu quietly set off.

Dongweng Xiange only placed "Qin Fairy" under the lowest level of surveillance, which was mostly for the purpose of taking care of and serving her.