Zhao Changhe knew that playing tricks on the Maitreya Sect was essentially walking a tightrope. The Heavenly Girl was right—the other party was not stupid; they just always wanted to recruit, and never imagined that he harbored ill will towards them. They weren't on the same wavelength, which led to this interesting situation.
Whether Fa Yuan's strength on the Human List was inflated remained unknown, but even without that, it could be presumed he was on par with Yue Hongling. Furthermore, believers of the sect were everywhere in Yangzhou, so it most likely wasn't a falsehood. If one day they realized they were being played, he wouldn't even know how he died.