Chapter 966: Substitute

"Cloudfall City?" Zu An's eyes narrowed. He hadn't expected such a coincidence; it seemed this trip to Cloudfall City was now a certainty.

At this point, Xiao Jianren, who was standing nearby, tentatively asked, "Lord Eleven, will you be staying on the ship now? Lord Sang has arranged a room for you; would you like me to show you the way?"

Zu An shook his head. "No, I have another mission and won't be staying on the ship."

Fortunately, Embroidered Uniform Envoys were inherently mysterious, and subordinates were not allowed to question their superiors' affairs. Otherwise, it would have been truly difficult to conceal.

Xiao Jianren hesitated. "But what if something happens, how will we contact you, my lord?" Since the lord wouldn't be constantly by their side, Xiao Jianren felt uneasy.

"I will come aboard from time to time to communicate with you, and you can report to me then," Zu An replied in a deep voice. "As for any emergencies, I will be aware and appear when needed."

Xiao Jianren was surprised. He thought, *I can understand Lord Eleven coming aboard from time to time, but if a true emergency occurs, how will he know immediately if he's not on the ship?* However, recalling that all Golden Emblems possessed various unfathomable abilities, he didn't dwell on his doubts for too long. "Understood!"

"Then I'll be leaving now." Zu An was about to depart when he noticed a book on Xiao Jianren's desk and paused. "You should read during the day from now on. Reading at night can strain your eyes."

"Thank you for your concern, my lord," Xiao Jianren bowed. Such advice was easier said than done. Only at night did he have such quiet time to himself, and not using it for reading would be too much of a waste.

After leaving Xiao Jianren's room, Zu An circled outside a few times to ensure he wasn't being followed before returning to his own quarters.

After changing out of the Golden Emblem Eleven's attire, Zu An fell into deep thought. While it might work once or twice, maintaining this deception long-term would easily expose him, especially since both Sang Hong and Xiao Jianren were meticulous individuals.

He pondered for a moment, then an idea suddenly struck him. He promptly summoned Daji.

Dressed in a white gown, bathed in the tranquil moonlight outside the window, her entire being seemed enveloped in an ethereal mist, radiating a soft glow. She was beautiful beyond earthly description. Her long, enchanting fox eyes added a touch of alluring seduction to her ethereal presence, making her appear at once innocent and desirable.

"Unfortunately, like a lotus, she can only be admired from afar, never touched." Zu An was filled with frustration, but having long accepted this fact, he quickly composed himself. He then took out another set of clothes and handed them to her. "Put these on."

Daji's captivating eyes swept over the clothes, and she promptly ignored him.

Zu An was speechless. He wondered, *Who exactly is the master here?*

He took a deep breath and forced a friendly smile. "You don't need to take off your current clothes; just put these on over them."

Daji hesitated. Seeing that she wouldn't need to remove her current clothes, she no longer had reason to refuse.

"I'll help you," Zu An said, unable to hide his delight.

To his surprise, she immediately took a step back, gazing at him warily.

Zu An was speechless, realizing she refused any physical contact with him. He thought, *I can transmit commands to you directly through telepathy; in a sense, our minds are connected. Your very brain has been shaped by me, yet you're still so wary. Is it truly necessary?*

"Put them on yourself then." Zu An turned his back, pulled up a stool, sat down, and sulked alone.

After a while, when the rustling sounds behind him ceased, Zu An turned his head, his eyes widening in admiration. Daji stood before him in a crisp uniform, embroidered with exquisite cloud patterns. Her entire demeanor had suddenly changed drastically.

Before, she had resembled a fallen fairy or a beguiling temptress destined to ruin nations. Now, her previous alluring aura was gone, replaced by a valiant and spirited demeanor, like a female prosecutor, or perhaps a police officer... *Cough, cough*, he thought, *no more associations, or I'll get a 404.*

Zu An thought for a moment, then took out the Golden Emblem Eleven's mask and placed it on her face. "Simply perfect!" he exclaimed. Previously, he had worried that wearing a dress underneath the Embroidered Uniform Envoy's attire would make her look bulky and expose her. He was surprised, though, that her white dress, whatever its material, now seemed to have no discernible presence underneath. The uniform remained crisp and perfectly fitted.

Although her physique was naturally more petite than his, the ample space occupied by her chest meant that, in the end, the uniform fit her much like it fit him. "Will the 'pecs' be too exaggerated?" Zu An mused, stroking his chin. He quickly dismissed the thought, however. 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 chest made the uniform appear slightly more prominent on her than on him, others weren't intimately familiar with Golden Emblem Eleven's exact physique, making it unlikely they would notice the anomaly.

Height, however, remained an issue. Although Daji was tall, she was still a bit shorter than him. After some thought, he pulled out items from his Glazed Orb and tinkered with them for quite a while. He then handed over a pair of newly crafted shoes. "Master Huang's Sweat-Blooded Boots," he declared, "growing taller is no longer a dream!"

Daji tilted her head, clearly not understanding the "Master" he mentioned, but she put on the shoes nonetheless. Naturally, she didn't remove her own shoes but simply slipped the new ones on over them. Zu An's eyelids twitched. He probably wouldn't be able to wear these shoes himself now. Fortunately, Golden Emblem Embroidered Uniform Envoys were not short on footwear.

Seeing that Daji's height was now comparable to his, Zu An nodded in satisfaction. "Excellent, excellent. Walk a few steps and let me see."

Daji wouldn't refuse such a simple command. She immediately took a long stride, but then...

"Careful!" Zu An instinctively reached out to steady her.

However, Daji reacted faster, pressing her palm into the air towards the ground and firmly regaining her balance.

Zu An sheepishly withdrew his hand. "I'm your master, not some wolf," he grumbled. "Do you really need to be so wary of me?"

Daji ignored him and continued to practice walking. As she was a formidable practitioner herself, she quickly mastered her balance and walked in the height-increasing shoes as if on flat ground. Zu An was initially pleased, thinking that in a sense, she was wearing high heels, and indeed, her walk became graceful and elegant. However, he immediately realized a problem:

"Hey, don't sway your hips when you walk."

"Don't sway your waist either."

"Can you please not be so alluring? How am I supposed to face people in public if you walk like that?"

It took a long time of coaching before she grudgingly changed some of her innate habits, making her walk appear more normal. Next, he had her change her hair. Its length wasn't a concern; in this world, just like in ancient times, both men and women wore long hair. The main issue was the hairstyle; with her long, flowing hair, she clearly looked like a woman.

After several hours of practice, her appearance barely passed inspection.

"Next up is cultivation level," Zu An muttered to himself. Although Golden Emblem Eleven gave the impression of being between the sixth and seventh ranks, his true combat power was far beyond that. However, Daji had only just broken through to the sixth rank, which was a bit too low.

With this in mind, he immediately brought up the Rage Value system. It had been a long time since he'd used its lottery feature. He calculated that he had accumulated a total of 118,815 Rage points. Looking at this result, Zu An frowned in dissatisfaction. It seemed he had been slacking off recently, having only earned such a paltry amount of Rage points. Was it because his status was increasing, making him instinctively reluctant to stoop to intentionally despicable acts? In the future, he vowed to remember his original intention!

He offered a brief prayer, then began the lottery draw. With 118,815 Rage points, he could draw 1188 times. As he watched the cursor constantly flash, never landing on the letter keys, Zu An could only resignedly accept his fate. However, what he lost on the swings, he gained on the roundabouts. When the final results were revealed, Zu An's eyes widened: 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, he had drawn more than triple that amount. Could this be considered a stroke of incredible luck?

Zu An fed the Primordial Energy Fruits to Daji, who then began to meditate and refine them. Soon, her aura began to steadily climb. From barely entering the sixth rank, she had directly reached the fourth stage of the sixth rank. While still a bit low, it wasn't too outrageous. He wondered if he could have her make an appearance as Golden Emblem Eleven another day and successfully maintain the deception.