What Envoy Song didn't know was that Zhou Chun had already made contact with the people from Green Lotus Temple while he was at the Golden Dragon Branch Altar.
The shop assistant he met at the pharmacy that day was an undercover agent of Green Lotus Temple, sent to infiltrate the Dragon Transformation Sect years earlier.
By the time he and Envoy Song, along with the three guards, had safely escorted the ordinary Sect Members through mountains and waters back to the Golden Dragon Branch Altar, his message had finally reached Green Lotus Temple.
"So he was banished to the newly established Golden Dragon Branch Altar? No wonder there had been no message for such a long time!"
Inside Green Lotus Temple, Temple Master Qingwei's eyes slightly narrowed as she read the latest undercover intelligence report.
As an undercover agent who was given considerable attention, Zhou Chun's whereabouts had always been of interest to her.
However, up until now, no one had been able to make contact with Zhou Chun.
Now, although it was not easy for some finally to establish contact with Zhou Chun, the intelligence they brought back was not good news.
This gave her a bit of a headache.
In fact, not only was Zhou Chun's situation grim, but other undercover agents embedded by Green Lotus Temple were not faring well, either.
The upper echelons of the Dragon Transformation Sect were not fools; of course, they knew that sects from Jingguo Country would plant undercover agents within the Sect, so they were very vigilant against this.
All Foundation Establishment Cultivators who defected were tightly controlled, regardless of whether they had defected voluntarily or were introduced by the Dragon Transformation Sect's Missionary Envoys; they were not given much trust.
Many people were like Zhou Chun, being treated as laborers and exhausted with various tasks to perform.
The ones that the upper echelons of the Dragon Transformation Sect truly trusted were their own Sect Members, whom they had been nurturing since childhood.
The reason they were now aggressively recruiting Cultivators from outside was to offload the dirty and tiring work to these people, allowing the trusted Sect Members to focus on their Cultivation in peace.
After all, the territory of the Dragon Transformation Sect did not have Loose Cultivators or numerous small- and medium-sized Cultivation families to exploit.
However, even knowing that it would be difficult for such sent agents to gain the trust of the Dragon Transformation Sect's higher-ups in the short term, Green Lotus Temple had no other options.
After all, if they started by sponsoring and nurturing Cultivators from the Qi Refinement Realm, by the time a Qi Refinement Cultivator successfully reached Foundation Establishment and gained access to the Dragon Transformation Sect's confidential matters, the time span would be too long.
Moreover, Qi Refinement Realm Cultivators themselves didn't have many opportunities to leave the branch altar and travel far, which meant that finding a legitimate opportunity to offer them "fortune" required quite a bit of ingenuity.
The resources and manpower spent would be less economical than sending Cultivators at the Foundation Establishment Stage to be undercover agents.
"Ah! It seems that relying on these undercover agents to play a significant role is a slim hope. Now we can only hope that our revered ancestors will have some success!"
Master Qingwei couldn't help but let out a long sigh, immediately summoned Taoist Mingxia over, informed her of Zhou Chun's message, and asked her to relay it to the Zhou Family.
Within two days, Zhou Mingde and Zhou Daoyi were also informed that Zhou Chun had been assigned to Golden Dragon Hall.
Upon receiving the news, both of them felt a mix of joy and worry.
Zhou Mingde immediately said, "According to Taoist Friend Mingxia, the Golden Dragon Hall where Zhengchun is currently located is a place newly established by the Dragon Transformation Sect, situated deep within the Wasteland Territory, far from the border of Yunzhou."
"This outcome could actually be a good thing for Zhengchun!"
"Being in a remote area, he won't come into contact with any confidential matters and will reduce the risk of exposure."
"However, he has left all his Magic Artifacts at the Family, which will likely affect his strength. We need to find a way to get these items to him!"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Daoyi nodded repeatedly and said, "Indeed, not only do we need to quickly send the Magic Artifacts to Zhengchun, but also Zhou Zhengyuan must start refining the Demon Spirit Pills as soon as possible."
"If Zhengchun's Silver Lightning Python can advance to a second-grade mid-tier Demon Beast, and he uses the Ancestral Resurrection secret technique, then it would be difficult for anyone at the Foundation Establishment Stage to threaten him."
Hearing this, Zhou Mingde promptly said, "Then Daoyi, you go and urge Zhengyuan. His success in reaching Foundation Establishment was entirely due to Zhengchun's blessing; it's time for him to repay Zhengchun now."
"I will go and talk to him right away," answered Daoyi.
Zhou Daoyi gave his affirmation and immediately left Pagoda Peak to head towards Hundred Medicines Peak.
At the time, because Zhou Chun had agreed to go undercover, Green Lotus Temple not only helped the Zhou Family fend off the pressure from the Jiang Family of Lingzhou and Tianjing Villa, but they also gifted the Zhou Family with a Foundation Establishment Pill.
And it was this Foundation Establishment Pill that allowed Zhou Zhengyuan of Hundred Medicines Peak to succeed in Foundation Establishment, becoming the Zhou Family's eighth Foundation Establishment Cultivator.
Originally, after succeeding in Foundation Establishment, Zhou Zhengyuan was busy transitioning to a new Cultivation Technique and had no time for Alchemy.
But now, Clan Leader Zhou Daoyi personally visited him and requested that he successfully refine a Demon Spirit Pill within a year.
Although Zhou Daoyi didn't explain the reason, this demand exerted great pressure on Zhou Zhengyuan.
Looking at Zhou Daoyi's stern face, which didn't seem to allow room for negotiation, Zhengyuan could only grit his teeth and assent, "Please rest assured, Clan Leader, I will do my utmost to fulfill the task you have entrusted to me."
"Confidence is good, Zhengyuan!" Zhou Daoyi nodded slightly and then patted his shoulder, adding, "Work hard. Don't let me and the Family Elders who support you down!"