Four Ninth-Rank Martial Saints, Emperor Yu's Shock!

Sun Zhengyang's actions were faster than Lin Hu had anticipated.

In less than two hours, the secret codes in the encrypted letters were all deciphered.

He strode into the study holding a translated intelligence report, his expression grave.

"Envoy, the secret codes have been deciphered."

Sun Zhengyang handed the translation over with both hands.

"One of the letters mentioned a location—Green Wolf Mountain, three hundred miles north of Xu Province city."

"Within the mountain lies an abandoned Mountain God Temple, which is the Holy Demon God Sect's largest branch sect hideout in Xu Province."

"The letter also stated that they were to destroy all documents and prepare to relocate immediately upon receiving the message."

Lin Hu took the translation and scanned it, his brow furrowing.

"Relocate immediately?"

He recalled Sun Tai's unusual behavior earlier.

That Xu Province governor had been willing to take risks to stop him, likely to buy time for this branch sect.

A day and a night had passed since he was blocked at the mansion gates.

If they delayed any longer, these rats might truly slip away.

"I will go personally."

Lin Hu slammed the translation onto the table and stood up.

"You continue interrogating Sun Tai and dig out everything he knows."

As he spoke, He raised his hand and tore open the space before him, stepping into it.

Sun Zhengyang watched the vanishing spatial rift and couldn't help but gasp.

The ability to tear space to travel was truly enviable.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and turned towards the prison.

Green Wolf Mountain, the abandoned Mountain God Temple.

This temple had been deserted for who knew how many years.

More than half of the roof had collapsed, and the walls were covered in moss.

The temple's idol had long since shattered into a pile of mud, with only half of its base crookedly standing there.

It looked like no place for people at all.

But thirty feet below the Mountain God Temple, in a vast underground cavern.

Dozens of cultists in dark red robes were frantically destroying documents.

The flames in the brazier crackled loudly.

Scrolls of ledgers and lists were thrown in, turning into ashes.

A leader at the Seventh-tier Grandmaster realm stood in the center of the cavern, his face terrifyingly grim.

"Hurry up!"

He roared in a low voice.

"The person sent from the Capital City is a Ninth-tier Martial Saint personal guard under Prince Wu'an. Sun Tai has already failed, and the Demon Suppressing Division could find this place at any moment!"

"Burn everything you can't take with you. Not a single piece of paper must be left!"

Just then, The rock layer at the top of the cavern was suddenly torn apart by a terrifying force.

A white figure descended from the sky.

White-haired and in white robes, he was enveloped in a sharp aura of metal and warfare.

The pressure of an early Ninth-tier Martial Saint bore down like a physical entity.

The entire cavern trembled violently, and debris rained down from the walls.

The leader looked up at the figure, his pupils contracting sharply.

"You?!"

His voice was filled with despair.

Lin Hu wasted no words.

He waved his hand, and a white Geng Metal Sword Qi swept out.

The sword qi was like a gale sweeping through fallen leaves, and wherever it passed, the bodies of all the cultists exploded simultaneously.

Flesh and blood evaporated completely in the white light.

In just one breath, only ashes and unburnt documents remained on the ground in the cave.

Lin Hu retracted his hand.

He glanced at the remaining items in the cave.

Several chests contained a good amount of Spirit Crystals and elixirs, and some weapons and armor were piled in the corner.

He raised his hand and sent a communication talisman to Sun Zhengyang.

"The Green Wolf Mountain hideout has been eliminated. Send people to clean up the scene."

After doing all this.

He tore through space again and returned to Xuzhou City.

At the same moment.

In the Imperial Study of the Capital City's Imperial Palace.

Su Gan sat behind the dragon desk, holding a report that had just been urgently sent from Xuzhou.

His expression grew increasingly grim.

Upon seeing Sun Tai's personal confession of colluding with the Holy Demon God Sect for three years, he slammed his hand down on the dragon desk.

"Scoundrel!"

The teacup jumped, and tea splashed across the table.

"The Prefect of Xuzhou! The chief official of a province! He actually defected to the Demon Cult!"

"First the Assistant Minister of Revenue, Qian Youde, and now the Prefect of Xuzhou, Sun Tai! How much benefit did these beasts receive from the Demon Cult? Have they forgotten their own ancestors?"

He paced back and forth in the hall, veins bulging on his forehead from anger.

The communication officer kneeling below trembled all over, not daring to breathe.

Su Gan continued to read.

Then his footsteps suddenly stopped.

The report was very clear.

Lin Hu, under the command of Prince Wu'an and a Ninth-Rank Martial Saint of early stage cultivation, had single-handedly intimidated the entire Prefectural Governor's Mansion and personally apprehended Sun Tai.

He then used thunderous methods to pry open Sun Tai's mouth, uncovering all his collusion with the Demon Cult.

Su Gan looked up, a flicker of shock in his eyes.

"Ninth-Rank Martial Saint..."

He muttered to himself and read the report carefully from beginning to end again.

Lin Changqing had previously told him that Lin Long, Lin Hu, Lin Que, and Lin Wu were his followers from when he lived in seclusion.

He had always thought these four were at most Eighth-Rank Grandmaster level martial artists.

After all, an Eighth-Rank Grandmaster was already a top-tier expert in any force.

It would be understandable for them to be Prince Wu'an's personal guards.

But now, the report from Xuzhou clearly stated in black and white that Lin Hu was a genuine Ninth-Rank Martial Saint of early stage!

A personal guard was a Ninth-Rank Martial Saint.

What about the other three personal guards?

Lin Long had already been sent to Yuzhou to serve as the Governor, managing his fiefdom.

How could his cultivation be lower than Lin Hu's if he was entrusted with such an important task by Prince Wu'an?

Lin Que and Lin Wu, one went to Qing Province, the other to Yan Province.

Who would dare to take sole responsibility for the cleanup operation in a province without some backing?

At the very least, they would be peak Eighth-Rank Grandmasters, or even... Ninth-Rank Martial Saints themselves!

Su Gan grew more alarmed the more he thought about it.

Four Ninth-Rank Martial Saints as personal guards.

A pure-blooded Qilin voluntarily joined, also at the Ninth-Rank Martial Saint level.

Coupled with Prince Wu'an himself—a twenty-year-old Ninth-Rank Martial Saint peak.

This was a total of six Martial Saint-level combat powers!

And their entire Great Yu Dynasty, not counting Prince Wu'an and his subordinates.

There were only eleven Ninth-Rank Martial Saints in total, both openly and secretly.

Prince Wu'an's personal power alone accounted for half the number of Martial Saints in the Great Yu Dynasty!

"Twenty years old... Ninth-Rank Martial Saint peak... and four Martial Saint guards under him..."

Su Gan murmured to himself, his voice full of emotion.

Were not martial artists of the Ninth-Rank Martial Saint level all overlords who shook one side of the land?

Even if they didn't lead factions, they would receive the grandest courtesies and the most generous overtures wherever they went.

The price to recruit a Ninth-Rank Martial Saint to serve a faction was often astronomical.

But now?

Four Ninth-Rank Martial Saints were willingly serving as Prince Wu'an's guards.

They served tea and water, held horses and assisted with stirrups, and ran errands for him daily.

Judging by their demeanor, they didn't show the slightest hint of unwillingness; instead, they seemed to believe it was only natural.

What other secrets did that Evergreen Saint Venerable hide that he didn't know about?

Su Gan took a deep breath, suppressing the shock in his heart.

But then.

A deep sense of lingering fear surged into his heart.

Fortunately.

Fortunately, Prince Wu'an had no interest in power or status, and his daughter Su Wanqing's relationship with Prince Wu'an was growing closer day by day.

And the conditions he had offered back then were generous enough, and his attitude sincere enough.

If he had shown the slightest disrespect or harbored any improper thoughts back then...

With the strength Prince Wu'an possessed, the entire Great Yu Dynasty could have undergone a change of dynasty!

However, looking at it from another angle.

By recruiting just Prince Wu'an, he had brought six Martial Saint level combatants to the Great Yu Dynasty.

Counting that Qilin, it was seven.

This deal was like pie falling from the sky!

Danger and opportunity have always been two sides of the same coin.

Su Gan sat back on the dragon throne, his fingers tapping lightly on the imperial desk.

"It seems the plan for Yun Shu and Prince Wu'an's marriage... I need to find a suitable opportunity to bring it up with Prince Wu'an as soon as possible."

He murmured to himself, a hint of decisiveness flashing in his eyes.

Prince Wu'an's power was too immense.

So immense that he, the Emperor of Great Yu, felt somewhat uneasy.

Even if the other party had no ill intentions, as long as this marriage was not settled, he would not feel at ease.

Only by making Prince Wu'an truly the Su family's son-in-law, the imperial son-in-law of the Great Yu Dynasty.

Could this relationship be completely solidified.

"But the most urgent matter now is to purge the Demon Cult."