Chapter 962: The Substitute

"Cloud Mid-Commandery?" Zu'an's eyes narrowed. He hadn't expected such a coincidence; it seemed his trip to Cloud Mid-Commandery was destined.

At this moment, Xiao Jianren, who was nearby, tentatively asked, "Sir Eleven, will you be staying on the ship from now on? Master Sang has arranged a room for you. Shall I show you the way?"

Zu'an shook his head. "No need. I have another mission, so I won't be staying on board."

Fortunately, embroidered-uniform envoys were inherently mysterious, and subordinates were not allowed to question their superiors' affairs, otherwise it would have been difficult to conceal.

Xiao Jianren hesitated. "But what if something happens? How do we contact you, Sir?" He felt uneasy with the superior not being constantly present.

"I will come aboard periodically to communicate with you. You can report to me then. As for any emergencies, I will be aware and appear promptly," Zu'an replied in a low voice.

Xiao Jianren was surprised, thinking, *I understand Sir Eleven coming aboard occasionally, but if a true emergency occurs, how would he know immediately if he's not on the ship?*

However, considering that all Golden Medallion envoys possessed various inscrutable methods, he didn't dwell on his doubts for too long. "Yes, Sir!"

"I'll be going then." Zu'an was about to leave when he noticed the book on Xiao Jianren's desk and paused. "You should read during the day from now on. Reading at night strains your eyes."

"Thank you for your concern, Sir." Xiao Jianren bowed. Such advice was easy to give but hard to follow; only at night did he have quiet time to himself, and not using it for reading felt like a waste.

Zu'an left his room, walked a few circles outside to ensure he wasn't followed, and then returned to his own room.

After changing out of the Golden Medallion Eleven uniform, Zu'an fell into deep thought. Once or twice might be fine, but maintaining this facade long-term would easily expose him, as both Sang Hong and Xiao Jianren were meticulous individuals.

He pondered for a moment, then a thought struck him, and he directly summoned Daji.

Dressed in a white gown, she appeared to be enveloped in a misty aura under the quiet moonlight streaming through the window. A soft glow flowed around her, making her beauty seem otherworldly.

Her long, seductive fox-like eyes added a touch of enchanting allure to her ethereal presence, making her simultaneously innocent and desirable.

"Unfortunately, like a lotus, she can only be admired from afar, not defiled." Zu'an felt a pang of frustration, but having already accepted this reality, he quickly regained his composure. He then took out a set of clothes and handed them to her. "Put these on."

Daji's captivating eyes briefly swept over the clothes, then she decisively ignored him.

Zu'an was speechless.

*Who's the master here, anyway?* he wondered.

He took a deep breath and forced a gentle smile. "You don't need to take off your current clothes; just wear this directly over them."

Daji hesitated, and seeing that she didn't need to undress, she had no reason to refuse.

"I'll help you," Zu'an exclaimed, delighted.

To his surprise, she immediately stepped back, watching him warily.

Zu'an was speechless, realizing she refused any physical contact with him.

*I can transmit commands to you directly through thought; in a way, we're telepathically linked. My will shapes your mind, yet you're still so wary of me. Is that really necessary?* he thought.

"Just put them on yourself then." Zu'an turned his back, pulled up a stool, and sat down, sulking alone.

After a while, when the rustling sounds behind him ceased, Zu'an turned around and his eyes lit up.

Daji stood there in a crisp, upright uniform, adorned with exquisite cloud patterns. Her entire demeanor had dramatically changed.

Previously, she resembled both a fallen immortal and a mischievous succubus who could bring ruin to a nation. Now, abandoning her former charm, she appeared heroic and valiant, like a female prosecutor, or a policewoman… *Cough, cough*, he mused, *can't go further with that line of thought, or I'll be in trouble.*

Zu'an pondered for a moment, then took out Golden Medallion Eleven's mask and placed it on her face. He couldn't help but exclaim, "Simply perfect!"

Earlier, he had worried that wearing the embroidered-uniform envoy's attire over her gown would make her appear bulky and reveal her disguise.

Yet, he realized that her white gown, made of an unknown material, was completely imperceptible under the uniform, which remained crisp and perfectly fitted.

Although her figure was originally daintier than his, the space occupied by her chest somehow balanced out, making the uniform fit her almost identically to him.

"Are the 'pecs' a bit too prominent?" Zu'an mused, stroking his chin. He quickly dismissed the thought. He himself had undergone several body refinements through the Primordial Chaos Scripture, and to some extent, he was quite muscular now. Even if Daji's uniform appeared slightly fuller than his, others weren't intimately familiar with Golden Medallion Eleven's physique, making it unlikely they would notice any anomaly.

However, height was still an issue. Although Daji was tall, she was still slightly shorter than him.

After a moment's thought, he rummaged through the items in his Glazed Pearl for a while, then handed over a newly modified pair of shoes. "These are like Sect Master Huang's Blood-Sweating Treasure Boots—growing taller is no longer a dream!"

Daji tilted her head, evidently not understanding the "Sect Master" he mentioned, but she put the shoes on anyway.

Of course, she didn't take off her own shoes but simply slipped her feet into the new ones while still wearing her previous footwear.

Zu'an's eyelid twitched. He probably wouldn't be able to wear these shoes himself now. Fortunately, Golden Medallion embroidered-uniform envoys had no shortage of footwear.

Seeing Daji was now roughly his height, Zu'an nodded in satisfaction. "Excellent, excellent. Walk a couple of steps, let's see."

Daji wouldn't refuse such a normal command. She immediately strode forward with her long legs, but due to the padding inside the shoes, she was initially unaccustomed to them and almost lost her balance, on the verge of falling.

"Watch out!" Zu'an instinctively reached out to steady her.

However, Daji reacted even faster, pressing her palm into the air above the ground to forcefully regain her footing.

Zu'an sullenly withdrew his hand. "I'm your master, not a wolf. Do you really need to be so wary of me?"

Daji ignored him and continued practicing walking. As she was a master of her own, she quickly mastered her balance, walking effortlessly in the height-increasing shoes.

Zu'an was initially pleased, thinking that in a way, she was wearing high heels, and indeed, her gait became graceful.

However, he immediately realized a problem:"Hey, don't sway your hips when you walk.""And don't sway your waist either.""Can you please not be so seductive? How am I supposed to face people if you walk like that?"

It took a long time of coaching before he reluctantly managed to make her alter some of her natural habits, making her walk appear somewhat normal.

Next, he had her change her hair. The length wasn't a concern; in this world, like ancient times, both men and women wore long hair. The main issue was the hairstyle; her flowing long hair instantly identified her as a woman.

After several hours of practice, her appearance barely passed the requirements.

"Next is her cultivation," Zu'an muttered to himself. Although Golden Medallion Eleven was perceived by the outside world as being between sixth and seventh rank, his true combat power was far beyond that. However, Daji had just broken through to sixth rank, which was a bit too low.

Thinking of this, he directly brought up the Rage points system; it had been a long time since he'd drawn a lottery.

He calculated his accumulated Rage points, frowning in dissatisfaction at the result. It seemed he had been slacking off recently, having only earned so few Rage points.

Could it be because his status was rising, and he instinctively couldn't bring himself to do those deliberately base things anymore?

He reminded himself to always remember his original intentions!

He offered a brief prayer, then began the lottery draw.

With his accumulated Rage points, he could draw 1188 times. Watching the cursor flicker continuously without landing on any of the letter keys, Zu'an could only resign himself to fate.

However, what he lost on the swings, he gained on the roundabouts. When the final result appeared, Zu'an's eyes widened in surprise: he had drawn a total of 389 Primordial Energy Fruits!

Usually, these Rage points would yield at most a little over a hundred Primordial Energy Fruits, but today, it was more than triple that amount.

Did this count as a moment of incredible luck too?

Zu'an fed these Primordial Energy Fruits to Daji, who immediately began meditating to refine them. Soon, her aura began to climb steadily.

From initially just entering the sixth rank, she directly ascended to the fourth stage of the sixth rank. Although still a bit low, it wasn't overly unreasonable. *Perhaps I can have her make an appearance as Golden Medallion Eleven another day, and see if she can fool them,* he thought.