493: Chapter 493 The Mastermind, Qingxuan

"Tell me, what happened?"

Zhou Yan sat on a luxurious lounge chair, looking at the hanging Qing Xuan, waiting for its response.

"Yuan... Yuan Chenling was tricked into the Eastern Region by me."

"When that little girl Shi Suiyan came to find me, I was really at my wit's end, so I had Qian Santong arrange for them to go."

"Yuan Chenling was just a poor soul I grabbed to ensure the little girl's safety. I didn't expect him to be captured instead."

"Uh, and Long Tianxing came to the library before to ask me about the resurrection method. I really, really was out of ideas."

"That kid's luck is too good. Even after I fooled him like that, he still found it immediately."

"Then he took the book, grabbed Wang Yao, and went to the Southern Desert, saying he was going to resurrect you."

"But don't worry, Wang Yao is still in contact. As for Long Tianxing... with his luck, he'll definitely be fine."

"And there's more..."

Listening to this dead bird spill all the stupid things it had done, Zhou Yan's veins bulged.

What on earth had this dead bird done?

He only now learned that besides Yuan Chenling and Shi Suiyan waiting for rescue, there was also an unexpectedly missing Long Tianxing.

If Zhou Yan didn't trust Long Tianxing's luck, he would be truly overwhelmed.

Forget it, things have come to this, there's no time to settle scores with you. Now tell me what's going on with Secretary Wang, and by the way, help me check how to treat a dao wound. My time is running out.

After the interrogation ended, he let Qing Xuan down.

Seeing that it had finally gotten through, Qing Xuan breathed a sigh of relief. It actually had some things it hadn't confessed yet; it had only told half of what it just said.

Mainly, it didn't quite know how to face Zhou Yan right now, so it planned to wait until everyone was confirmed safe before finding a time to confess.

Yeah, just like that.

"Holy Brother, sit down first, don't tire yourself out."

"I'll massage your shoulders and tell you slowly."

Saying this, Qing Xuan eagerly helped Zhou Yan to his seat and carefully began massaging his shoulders.

"This matter is quite interesting. You noticed when you returned to New Taiyi City, right?"

"Over these years, we've undergone a massive transformation."

"With the Main City as a supplier, we essentially control the resources of two worlds, along with those Humanity Legacies you left behind."

"We slowly combined the Main City, Taiyi City, and the Taiyi Sect to create an Economic Self-Circulation System."

"As the Main City's development stabilizes, we can soon achieve preliminary self-production and self-consumption—that is, producing Power Of Faith ourselves to supply the resource cycle."

"And after Taiyi City annexed another city with the help of the Zhang family, our population exploded."

"After seeing our System, those people also showed unimaginable passion."

"After all, they had just been harvested."

"Just like that, after unexpectedly obtaining a large amount of Power Of Faith, we invested more of it into the construction of the Main City. The Main City also received quite a bit of replenishment by absorbing the spirits of the other city, though more of them had already entered Reincarnation."

Qing Xuan spoke with great enthusiasm, occasionally flapping its wings.

"People equal Power Of Faith, and Power Of Faith equals resources. Plus, they are unexpectedly easy to satisfy, so Power Of Faith is easily obtained."

"As long as the initial resource allocation is managed well, it's almost zero-cost explosive growth."

"As for the combat power needed for the city, we have a solution: the Clergy System."

"We found that among the legacies you left behind, there is a cultivation System. Since we have the Dynasty as an existing template, we independently developed a similar cultivation method."

"But unlike the Dynasty, we are bound to you as the concept of a deity, which is the Taiyi God."

Zhou Yan finally couldn't help but interrupt.

"Wait, wasn't I asking about Secretary Wang? What is all this you're talking about?"

"And you guys actually came up with a cultivation method? Isn't that turning back the clock of history?"

Seeing Zhou Yan like this, Qing Xuan pretentiously stroked its non-existent beard.

"That's exactly the point."

"Doing it this way is really attractive because there's no lack of resources, and cultivating the humanity System is only limited by the Power Of Faith ceiling of the Taiyi God."

"Under the massive infusion of Power Of Faith, the Taiyi God Statue, which was originally at the Nascent Soul level, has also reached the Soul Transformation Stage."

"So as long as one is willing to join the System, becoming a Soul Transformation is possible, and the resource consumption is even quite a bit lower than the Imperial Dynasty System."

"Currently, except for being unable to achieve Body Integration and having relatively low combat power, our System can be called perfect."

"As for those who want to become Body Integration, they generally won't come to us."

"And among the outsiders who want to join, Secretary Wang is one of them."

"When they first arrived, they came as merchants, and we suspected they might be spies."

"So we focused on them for a while."

"At that time, there were still many spies from various forces in the Desire Realm. We cleaned them out regularly. After all, with the help of the Divine Path, finding Heretics who joined the Taiyi Sect is incredibly accurate."

"The reason we didn't clear them out was that they were truly too devout; they didn't look like spies at all."

"A few days after they arrived, they said they wanted to join the Taiyi Sect. Because we saw they really had faith and didn't have ulterior motives like those spies, we agreed."

"As a result, as you saw, they seemingly imagined something on their own and spontaneously became spies."

"After all, they are also people from the Eastern Region, having the chance to achieve Soul Transformation, not lack resources, and enjoy a beautiful life."

"How many people from the Eastern Region below Body Integration can resist such temptation?"

Zhou Yan became thoughtful upon hearing this.

It did make sense.

After all, humanity cultivation is famous for its low resource consumption, and this part of the resources can be provided by the Main City. Because by providing these resources, the Main City can get even more feedback, thus lifting itself up by its bootstraps and achieving Ascension on the spot.

So it wasn't strange that it was so attractive. It was also normal for the other party's faith to be so firm.

After all, even many Disciples of the Qingxu Grotto-Heaven went to Great Yu and Great Qian to seek official positions; one could imagine the current status of Taiyi City in the Eastern Region.

As if remembering something, Qing Xuan again casually asked.

"By the way, Holy Brother, why are you looking for a way to treat a dao wound? Has someone around you suffered a dao wound?"

"Is it someone you found in the Eastern Region during this time, or did Yuan Chenling suffer a dao wound?"

"Didn't King Dong say he wasn't willing to offend you? Then he shouldn't have mistreated him."

Zhou Yan then remembered what he had to do. Right, he had to go to Dream City in a day and a half, and the dao wound hadn't been treated yet.

"It's nothing, just that I suffered a bit of a dao wound. See if there's any way you can help me treat it."

"And while you're at it, help me gather some manpower so I can easily participate in that plan in Dream City."

"Also..." Zhou Yan was just about to say he would resurrect Zheng Dafu and have Qing Xuan persuade him to become his strength.

Unexpectedly, upon hearing that Zhou Yan had suffered a dao wound, Qing Xuan's eyes widened instantly. It grew two or three times larger in the wind, picked up Zhou Yan in its beak, and flew into the Main City.

"Eh?"

Zhou Yan was picked up in a daze. Before he could react, he felt himself being thrown into a pool.

"Holy Brother, you must not be in trouble!"

"Don't die, Holy Brother!"

Seeing Qing Xuan inexplicably start mourning, Zhou Yan was even more confused.

"With which eye did you see me dying!"

Hearing Zhou Yan's words, Qing Xuan didn't recover at all, still looking worried.

"Holy Brother, don't say anything. Use this pool of Power Of Faith for now; it can quickly repair your dao wound. You must treat it well! Don't give up on treatment!"

"I'll go to the Sect and find another way!"

After saying that, Qing Xuan disappeared, leaving Zhou Yan alone in this secret room.

He looked at the sign above the secret room that read "Power Of Faith Storage Warehouse Pool No. 1" and the golden solution he was half-submerged in, then scratched his head in confusion.

"What's the situation?"

He didn't really understand what happened, but since Qing Xuan said this Power Of Faith could solve his problem, he didn't think much more about it. He leaned against the edge of the pool, submerged most of his body, and prepared to start absorbing.

Meanwhile, he didn't forget to throw Zheng Dafu into the Resurrection Pool and instructed Qian Santong to help look after him.

Zheng Dafu had just been resurrected and his cultivation wasn't high; he still needed resources to fill his power later. So Zhou Yan wasn't worried that the newly resurrected him would cause any trouble in front of Qian Santong, who was a Nascent Soul of the new method.

After doing all this, he once again began to absorb a large amount of Power Of Faith.

"Power Of Faith... I haven't used this stuff in a long time. Last time was probably when I was condensing my Godly Body, and I directly crafted many Nascent Soul-level Items."

"I wonder what surprises there will be this time."

After speaking, Zhou Yan closed his eyes and felt silently.

"Hmm, this is pure faith. Not bad, the taste is actually sweet."

"There are also those complaining about their grievances... hmm, I wonder if they've been resolved. I can ask after this is over."

After absorbing some Power Of Faith, Zhou Yan really felt his body getting better, and his health bar limit gradually returned to normal.

He once again marveled at the versatility of Power Of Faith; it was truly second only to the crystals given by the System, and even stronger in some aspects.

But just then, the eyes-closed Zhou Yan suddenly frowned.

"Wait!"

"Praying for wealth and blessings is one thing, but who on earth is praying to me for marriage and children?"

"What have you all done to my divine duties!"

While Zhou Yan was cursing, he didn't notice that as the Power Of Faith was repairing his neck, a small portion of it was lost.