Chapter Thirty-Four: Departure from the Valley (Part 1)

  It was already noon, and after chatting for a few more sentences, Ling Feng bid farewell to Shi Jian and returned to his own courtyard.

  As I walked into the house, I saw several dishes of food on the table, still steaming hot.

  Ling Feng smiled in his heart. Presumably Tai Bo, who was responsible for meals, had just arrived and saw that he was not in the house, so he put down the lunch and left on his own.

  Taibo is a man of few words, but his cooking skills are not bad. He takes good care of Ling Feng's daily life and diet, and every day he will change the style to make different dishes.

  The aroma of dishes wafted up, and his stomach growled with hunger. He walked to the table, sat down, and started eating voraciously.

  After half a stick of incense, Ling Feng touched his own belly, and his small face showed a satisfied expression.

  As the saying goes, with a full stomach and a good sleep, one is happier than an immortal. Ling Feng walked directly to the bedside, without even changing his clothes, wrapped himself in the quilt and fell fast asleep.

  It wasn't until he heard someone calling his name that Ling Feng slowly opened his eyes, blurry and disoriented, to see several figures standing beside his bed.

  He rubbed his sleepy eyes, and after seeing the visitor's face clearly, Ling Feng immediately woke up, jumped out of bed, and bowed to the visitor, saying: "Disciple has seen the three elders!"

  The figure standing beside his bed was none other than the three elders in charge of the affairs of the Submerged Dragon Valley!

  "No need to be polite!" The white-haired old man, Qu, chuckled and looked at him, saying: "Look at you sleeping so soundly, we three old guys really didn't have the heart to disturb you!"

  "All talk and no action!"

  His peaceful sleep was disturbed, Ling Feng had a belly full of fire, but his face didn't reveal even half a hint. With courtesy and etiquette, he said: "Three senior elders have come to my humble abode, I wasn't able to welcome you from afar, please forgive me!"

  He said with his mouth, but in his heart he was thinking. Usually, if the three old men had something to summon him, they would usually send Xun Shangshi to convey it, and rarely come to the courtyard in person. Like today, all three came together, which had never happened before. Could it be...

  There was a faint guess in his heart, if he guessed correctly, he might have to leave the Hidden Dragon Valley!

  "Ling Feng, you've been in Qianlong Valley for half a year now. How is it? Are you still getting used to the life here?" The three elders had already walked over and sat down at the table, with Qu Changlao's warm gaze falling on Ling Feng as he asked with concern.

  The three elders in charge of the Dragon's Gorge are led by this Elder Qiu, who is also the highest-ranking person in the Soul Clan after the High Priest.

  "Thank you for your concern, venerable ones, I am living well!" Ling Feng replied respectfully.

  "That's good!" Old Man Qu nodded with a smile, stroking his beard.

  "Why beat around the bush? Just say it!"

  Ling Feng muttered to himself in his heart. He had already learned from Yun Ning's mouth that the disciples of Qianlong Valley were shouldering the mission of going undercover at Xiuxiandian, and he was mentally prepared. To be honest, if Ling Feng had a choice, he would rather go undercover at Xiuxiandian than stay in Qianlong Valley under someone else's control.

  "Ling Feng, since you entered the valley, your performance has been outstanding. All the elders are very satisfied with you!" Qu Tzu cleared his throat and began to get to the point, "I'm sure you also know that all the disciples collected by Qinglong Valley have spiritual roots. After a period of cultivation, they will leave this place and go to various major Xianmen schools to serve as family members."

  After entering the valley for so long, Ling Feng knew that he would shoulder a heavy responsibility, but this was the first time he heard it from the elder's mouth. Although he didn't feel surprised, his heart still felt some tension.

  "Since the Battle of Blackstone Castle three hundred years ago, our Southern Barbarian tribes suffered a crushing defeat, with countless deaths and injuries among our people. What's even more infuriating is that every year we still have to offer large quantities of goods to our enemies, those detestable cultivators! This humiliation is unbearable for all the people of the Southern Wilderness!" Old Man Qu's eyes revealed his hatred as he continued: "Many years ago, our tribal alliance had already begun making plans. We selected children with spiritual roots from each tribe and arranged new identities for them, sending them to infiltrate the major cultivator sects!"

  "These children will receive the support of the clan's vast resources, infiltrate the core group of the Xianmen sect, and wait for an opportunity to steal the enemy's secrets. Once the time is ripe, they will work together with the clan to launch a fatal blow against the enemy!" Elder Min added from the side.

  Upon hearing this, Ling Feng, who had been silent with his head hung low, sensed that the three elders' gazes were all fixed on him. He knew it was time for him to express his stance!

  "For the sake of restoring our clan's great undertaking, I, Ling Feng, am willing to follow the elder's arrangements and brave scorching heat and boiling water; even if I die, I will have no regrets!"

  With a straight body and an excited expression, his tone was sonorous and powerful. Knowing that the clan had already made up their minds, even if he didn't want to, he couldn't resist, so he might as well speak freely, make his point clear, and win over the good feelings of the people in front of him.

  "Good!"

  ……

  Ling Feng's small face radiated a holy light, and the grandeur he displayed immediately earned a burst of applause. Then, only to see that the slender Elder Yin took out a jade slip from his bosom and handed it over to Ling Feng.

  Under this ancient symbol, Ling Feng placed the jade slip on his brow, and with a thought, a vast amount of information surged into his mind.

  "Li Changqing, eight years old, a direct disciple of the Li family in Siping, his mother died early, and his father Li Rong is a member of the Li family..."

  After a long time, Ling Feng finally digested all the information recorded in the jade slip. The content mainly records a child named Li Changqing, who is of the same age as Ling Feng and also has a wind spirit root. The jade slip records all the detailed information about this person, including his family background, etc.

  "Li Changqing is your new identity!" Qu Changlao's face was somewhat solemn, and he said: "Ling Feng, remember one thing from this old man, after tonight, you are Li Changqing, as for the name Ling Feng, you must thoroughly forget it!"

  "Disciple understands!" Ling Feng bowed and replied.

  To become an excellent undercover agent, the primary condition is that you must forget who you are.

  This is the first iron rule that Ling Feng's instructor had him remember when he was training in his past life. With his rich experience as an undercover agent, he didn't need Old Man Qu to remind him of this point at all.

  "Get a good rest tonight, and tomorrow morning Elder Yin will take you out of the valley!"

  Gu Zhanglao stood up and instructed Ling Feng a few words before turning around with the other two elders to leave.

  As they left, Old Man Qu seemed to have thought of something and added a sentence: "Tomorrow before you leave the Hidden Dragon Valley, the High Priest will summon you in the secret temple for your departure ceremony!" After that, the three of them left together.

  After the three elders left, only Ling Feng was left in the house. He stood there, speechless, his facial expression changing unpredictably, sometimes excited, sometimes a little annoyed, and emotionally entangled.

  Being able to leave the Hidden Dragon Valley was a joyous occasion for him. However, after leaving, he had to go and infiltrate the Xianmen Sect, which was something he was reluctant to do!

  Ling Feng really dislikes being an undercover agent, and even hates the two words "undercover". In his heart, he thinks that Ling Feng who is an undercover agent is not himself at all, but another person, a person who makes himself feel strange and hateful!

  However, the clan's decision left him powerless to resist, and since everything was already predetermined, he could only take things one step at a time.

  The road ahead is vast and obscure, Ling Feng feels a sense of disorientation, in his heart, there's a feeling that he's about to get lost, it can't be put into words...