135: From now on, this Burning Heaven Palace must be named after my Qingxuan Sect.

The three of them were all calculating their own schemes, and for a moment, the vast main hall was silent.

On the other side, Gu Changge, far away in the Azure Profound Sect, looked down through his Divine Sense, observing this series of arrangements. With a mindset of watching the show, he found their farce in the main hall to be an interesting pastime, "Wonderful, wonderful."

Seeing the Grand Elder's suffocated, furious, yet daring-not-to-speak expression, and the Second Elder's secret delight mixed with a facade of being overwhelmed by responsibility, he couldn't help but find it amusing.

The Third Elder, however, was somewhat interesting, secretly transmitting messages… After a long while, the Second Elder calmed his mind, raised his hand to smooth out the wrinkled corners of his robe, and adopted the steady demeanor of a "new official taking office."

"Two Elders, since the Palace Master has entered seclusion, the most urgent task is to stabilize the morale of the Sect. Let us discuss the subsequent matters."

As soon as these words were spoken, Grand Elder Yan Cangyun's anger ignited like a firecracker: "Second Elder! Tell me, now that those people outside are mocking our Sect, if we continue to be so low-key every day, is that acceptable? In the future, who in Xuan Province will still respect our Burning Heaven Palace?"

The Second Elder secretly thought, "Here it comes," but immediately put on an expression even more distressed than his: "Grand Elder, calm your anger, do you think I want this?"

He sighed, lowering his voice, conveying a sense of intimacy as if they were allies, "The Palace Master was beaten senseless by the Secret Realm, and now all he thinks about is surviving by lying low. We'll humor him for now, and when he comes out of seclusion, we'll slowly persuade him!"

The Grand Elder muttered, full of helplessness: "That's easy to say, but we can't…"

Late at night, the Second Elder dismissed everyone, and set up layers of Restrictions in his newly moved-in, luxurious quiet room belonging to the acting Sect Master.

The composure on his face had long vanished, replaced by an extreme excitement mixed with a sense of absurd tension.

From the deepest part of his personal Storage Magic Treasure, he took out a seemingly ordinary jade talisman, but one that was actually engraved with communication runes.

As spiritual power was injected, the jade talisman glowed faintly, and the familiar illusory figure of Sect Master Xuan Yangzi appeared.

"Junior Brother Qingfeng?"

Xuan Yangzi's illusory figure seemed somewhat surprised, his voice transmitting through the jade talisman.

"An urgent message at this hour, could Burning Heaven Palace have undergone a major change? Is that old scoundrel Lie Tianxiong up to something again? Or has your identity been exposed?"

Li Qingfeng (the Second Elder) took a deep breath, his expression too complex to describe, as if he wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. He spoke rapidly: "Senior Brother! A major change! An enormous change! Lie Tianxiong… he made me the acting Sect Master!"

On the other end of the jade talisman, Xuan Yangzi's illusory figure clearly froze, as if the signal was bad.

After several seconds, his voice came through, filled with deep doubt and uncertainty: "…Qingfeng, speak slowly. Who made whom what? Acting what? Have you had a Cultivation deviation, are you disoriented?"

"I'm not disoriented! Senior Brother! It's real!"

Li Qingfeng was so excited he almost jumped up, gesticulating wildly, "Lie Tianxiong seems to have been beaten so badly in the Secret Realm that his Dao Heart is almost collapsing! Today, in the main hall, in front of all the Elders, he announced a set of absurd theories about 'strategic concealment' and the 'Great Dao of Longevity'! In short, he wants Burning Heaven Palace to henceforth live cautiously and lie low until the end of time!"

He took a breath and continued, "Then he directly announced that he would go into seclusion to comprehend, and let me be the acting Sect Master! To preside over the overall situation! The Grand Elder and Third Elder will assist me! Senior Brother! I am now the boss of Burning Heaven Palace! Albeit acting!"

On the other end of the jade talisman, a longer, deathly silence ensued.

Xuan Yangzi's illusory figure even swayed vaguely twice, as if his true self was digging his ears on the other side, wondering if he had misheard.

After a long while, Xuan Yangzi's uncontrollable, earth-shattering laughter suddenly erupted from the jade talisman.

"Pfft—hahaha! Acting Sect Master? Has that old fellow Lie Tianxiong been beaten silly?! Hahahahaha! Strategic concealment, how could he even think of that, lying low is just lying low, yet he makes it sound so grand!"

Li Qingfeng looked at his Great Master Senior Brother, who was laughing without any restraint, with a helpless expression: "Senior Brother! Don't just laugh! What should I do now? My undercover mission has turned into leading the enemy! How should this play proceed?"

"Proceed! You must proceed! And you must do it well!" Xuan Yangzi finally managed to stop laughing, his tone becoming extremely excited and serious, "Junior Brother Qingfeng! Well done! You have rendered an immense service!"

"An opportunity! A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! Listen! Since Lie Tianxiong wants you to 'preside over the overall situation,' then don't be polite!"

Xuan Yangzi's eyes gleamed like an old fox, and he spoke rapidly.

"Get a clear understanding of all Burning Heaven Palace's treasures, Secret Realms, Spiritual Veins, hidden agents, personnel rosters, detailed accounts, and distribution maps—everything!"

"Then find a reason to adjust the positions of the Sect's guards and intelligence department, and try to place our people in key positions as much as possible!"

"In short, seize this excellent opportunity to thoroughly understand Burning Heaven Palace, inside and out, from top to bottom! Control as much as you can! In the future, this Burning Heaven Palace, nominally belonging to Lie, will secretly belong to my Azure Profound Sect!"

Li Qingfeng listened, dumbfounded, but quickly reacted, his eyes also gleaming: "Senior Brother's appetite is truly growing. I understand! I guarantee I will sort out Burning Heaven Palace clearly for you!"

"Good! Good! Good!" Xuan Yangzi said "good" three times in a row, his joy practically overflowing.

He looked at his Junior Brother's nervous yet excited face in the jade talisman, couldn't help but feel deeply moved, and muttered to himself:

"Tsk tsk, it's still Junior Brother who lives up to expectations! I knew you were clever from a young age, the type to accomplish great things! This immense fortune really did fall into your hands!"

The more he thought about it, the better he felt. Stroking his non-existent beard, he began to make comparisons:

"Look! Look at Qingfeng! An undercover agent who can become an acting Sect Master! Then look at the one planted in the Myriad Law Pavilion, who's only an outer Sect deacon after ten years… And the one planted in the Tianyan Sect, who's almost secretly engaged to an Elder's daughter there, hasn't accomplished much of anything… Alas, what a difference!"

Xuan Yangzi, facing the Void Realm, seemed to be giving a motivational speech to all undercover agents: "You all need to work harder! Look up to your Senior Brother Li! Don't set your goals so low! If you can't be an acting Sect Master, being an Elder with real power is fine too! You must have ideals! You must have aspirations!"

Li Qingfeng's mouth twitched on the jade talisman's end: "Senior Brother… aren't your demands… a bit too high?"

Is this something that can be mass-produced? This would require the opposing Sect Masters to collectively be beaten silly!

"Not high, not high!" Xuan Yangzi waved his hand grandly, full of spirit, "Dreams are still worth having! What if a miracle happens? Alright, Qingfeng, be careful in everything, act according to circumstances! If you need anything, Azure Profound Sect will fully support you! You are now our Sect's 'strategic asset'!"

The communication ended, and the jade talisman's light dimmed.

Li Qingfeng stood in place, digesting everything that had just happened, feeling as if he had experienced a bizarre dream.

He touched the token on his body that symbolized his status as acting Sect Master, and then recalled his Great Master Senior Brother's call to "have ideals and aspirations," and couldn't help but smile bitterly and shake his head.

"What is all this…"

But his eyes immediately lit up with fighting spirit. He pushed open the secret chamber door, held his head high, and walked towards the center of power of Burning Heaven Palace.

The halo of the ended communication completely dissipated, but Xuan Yangzi was still clutching the communication talisman and grinning foolishly. His fingertips brushed the lingering spiritual power on the talisman's surface, when suddenly a "thump" sounded in his mind—

"Dao of lying low? Strategic concealment?"

He slapped his thigh abruptly, his eyes instantly changing, "Damn it!"

"Isn't this the motto of my Azure Profound Sect's 'silent development' all these years? That old fellow Lie Tianxiong was beaten a few times, forged a new path, and actually comprehended our core Mind-Cultivation Technique?"

Thinking of this, the smile on his face instantly vanished. He paced around the stone table twice, his brows furrowing tighter and tighter: "This is bad, this is bad! If Burning Heaven Palace really learns its lesson and keeps shrinking back instead of causing trouble, among the Seven Great Sects of Xuan Province, who will be the 'obvious target' to attract firepower??"