Sun Zhengyang acted faster than Lin Hu had expected.
In less than two hours, all the coded messages in those secret letters had been deciphered.
He hurried into the study with a translated report in hand, his expression grave.
"Your Excellency, the code has been deciphered."
Sun Zhengyang presented the translation with both hands.
"One of the letters mentions a location—the Green Wolf Mountain, three hundred li north of Xu Province City."
"There's an abandoned Mountain God Temple in the mountain. It's the Holy Demon God Sect's largest branch sect stronghold in Xu Province."
"The letter also says they should destroy the documents and prepare to relocate as soon as they receive word."
Lin Hu took the translation and skimmed it, his brow furrowing slightly.
"Relocate immediately?"
He recalled Sun Tai's strange behavior earlier.
That Xu Province Inspector would rather risk taking action than let him through the gates. He had probably been trying to buy time for this branch sect.
A day and a night had passed since Lin Hu had been stopped outside the mansion.
If they delayed any longer, the rats might really slip away.
"I'll go myself."
Lin Hu slapped the translation onto the table and rose to his feet.
"Keep interrogating Sun Tai. Dig out everything he's hiding."
As soon as he finished speaking,
he raised a hand and tore open the space before him, then stepped inside.
Sun Zhengyang watched the Spatial Rift vanish and couldn't help drawing in a sharp breath.
Tearing through space to travel was truly enviable.
He wiped the sweat from his brow and turned toward the prison.
Green Wolf Mountain, abandoned Mountain God Temple.
The temple had been abandoned for who knew how many years.
Most of its roof had collapsed, and moss covered the walls.
The idol inside had long since crumbled into a heap of mud. Only half its base remained, leaning crookedly in place.
It hardly looked like anyone could be living there.
But thirty zhang beneath the Mountain God Temple, inside a huge underground cavern,
dozens of cultists in dark red robes were frantically destroying documents.
The fire in the brazier crackled and roared.
Rolls of ledgers and lists were tossed into the flames and reduced to ash.
A Seventh-Rank Grandmaster leader stood in the middle of the cavern, his face frighteningly grim.
"Move faster!"
He barked in a low voice.
"The Capital sent a Ninth-Rank Martial Saint bodyguard under Prince Wu'an. Sun Tai's side has already failed, and people from the Demon Suppressing Division could find this place at any moment!"
"Burn everything we can't take with us. Don't leave a single scrap of paper!"
Just then,
the rock above the cavern was suddenly torn apart by a terrifying force.
A white figure descended from above.
White hair and white robes, with a sharp, metallic aura swirling around him.
The pressure of an early Ninth-tier Martial Saint bore down like a solid weight.
The entire cavern shuddered violently, and loose stones pattered down from the walls.
The leader looked up and saw the figure. His pupils contracted sharply.
"You?!"
His voice was filled with despair.
Lin Hu wasted no words.
He swept out a hand, sending a streak of white Geng Metal Sword Qi slashing across the cavern.
The Sword Qi swept through like a gale scattering fallen leaves. Everywhere it passed, the cultists' bodies burst apart at once.
Their flesh and blood vaporized completely in the white light.
In the space of a single breath, only a floor of ashes and a few unburned documents remained in the cavern.
Lin Hu lowered his hand.
He glanced at the items left behind in the cavern.
Several boxes held quite a few Spirit Crystals and Pills, while weapons and armor were piled in a corner.
He sent a Message Talisman to Sun Zhengyang.
"The Green Wolf Mountain stronghold has been wiped out. Send people to clean up the site."
Once he had finished,
he tore open space again and returned to Xu Province City.
At the same time,
in the Imperial Study of the Imperial Palace, in the Capital,
Su Gan sat behind the Dragon Desk, holding a report that had just arrived from Xu Province under urgent dispatch.
His expression grew darker and darker.
When he saw Sun Tai's own admission that he had colluded with the Holy Demon God Sect for three years, he slammed a hand onto the Dragon Desk.
"Bastard!"
The teacup jumped from the blow, spilling tea across the desk.
"An Xu Province Inspector! The chief official of an entire province! And he's gone over to the Demon Cult!"
"First Qian Youde, the Vice Minister of Revenue, and now Sun Tai, the Xu Province Inspector! Just how much have those beasts gained from the Demon Cult? Have they even forgotten their own ancestors?"
His temples bulged with rage as he paced back and forth across the hall.
The messenger kneeling below trembled all over, not daring to breathe too loudly.
Su Gan continued reading.
Then he suddenly stopped in his tracks.
The report was very clear.
Lin Hu, a White Tiger Guard under Prince Wu'an, was an early Ninth-tier Martial Saint. He had cowed the entire Prefectural Governor's Mansion by himself and personally captured Sun Tai.
He had then used thunderous methods to pry open Sun Tai's mouth, exposing every detail of his collusion with the Demon Cult.
Su Gan looked up, shock flashing in his eyes.
"Ninth-Rank Martial Saint..."
He murmured to himself, then 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 followers from the days when he had lived in seclusion.
Su Gan had always assumed the four were, at most, Eighth-Rank Grandmasters.
After all, an Eighth-Rank Grandmaster was already a top powerhouse in any faction.
It made sense for one to serve as Prince Wu'an's personal bodyguard.
But now the Xu Province report stated in black and white that Lin Hu was a genuine early Ninth-tier Martial Saint!
Even one bodyguard was a Ninth-Rank Martial Saint.
What about the other three?
Lin Long had already been sent to Yu Province as its governor, to manage Prince Wu'an's fief on his behalf.
If Prince Wu'an had entrusted him with such an important task, how could his cultivation be inferior to Lin Hu's?
Lin Que and Lin Wu had gone to Yan Province and Green Province, respectively.
They had dared to take charge of the purge in an entire province on their own. Who would do that without the strength to back it up?
At the very least, they had to be Eighth-Rank Grandmaster Peaks. Perhaps... they were Ninth-Rank Martial Saints too!
The more Su Gan thought about it, the more alarmed he became.
Four Ninth-Rank Martial Saints serving as personal bodyguards.
A Pureblood Qilin had come to join them of its own accord, and it too was at the level of a Ninth-Rank Martial Saint.
And then there was Prince Wu'an himself—a Ninth-Rank Martial Saint Peak at the age of twenty.
That made a full six Martial Saint-level fighters!
As for the entire Great Yu Dynasty, excluding Prince Wu'an and his subordinates,
there were only eleven Ninth-Rank Martial Saints in total, both publicly known and hidden.
Prince Wu'an's own faction was equal to half the Martial Saints in the Great Yu Dynasty!
"Twenty years old... a Ninth-Rank Martial Saint Peak... and four Martial Saint bodyguards..."
Su Gan murmured, his voice full of wonder.
Which Ninth-Rank Martial Saint wasn't a lord who shook an entire region?
Even if they didn't lead a faction, they would receive the grandest welcome and most lavish offers wherever they went.
Recruiting a Ninth-Rank Martial Saint to serve a faction usually cost an astronomical price.
But now?
Four Ninth-Rank Martial Saints willingly served as Prince Wu'an's bodyguards.
They spent their days pouring tea, holding horses, and running errands as attendants.
From their usual expressions, they didn't seem the least bit reluctant. If anything, they seemed to think it was only natural.
Just how many secrets did that Evergreen Saint Venerable still have?
Su Gan took a deep breath, forcing down his shock.
But right after that,
a deep sense of lingering fear washed over him.
Fortunately.
Fortunately, Prince Wu'an had little interest in power or status, and his daughter, Su Wanqing, was growing closer to him.
And the terms he had offered back then had been generous enough, while his attitude had been sincere enough.
If he had shown even the slightest neglect or entertained some improper thought at the time...
With the power Prince Wu'an held, the entire Great Yu Dynasty could have changed hands!
But from another perspective,
by offering terms to win over Prince Wu'an alone, he had brought six Martial Saint-level fighters to the Great Yu Dynasty in one fell swoop.
Seven if the Qilin was included.
This deal was practically a pie falling from the sky!
Danger and opportunity had always been two sides of the same coin.
Su Gan sat back down on the Dragon Throne and lightly tapped his fingers against the Dragon Desk.
"It looks like I need to find a suitable opportunity soon to bring up Yun Shu's marriage to Prince Wu'an..."
He murmured, a determined glint in his eyes.
Prince Wu'an's faction was too powerful.
So powerful that even he, the Great Yu Emperor, could hardly sit still.
Even if Prince Wu'an had no ulterior motives, as long as the marriage remained unsettled, Su Gan would never feel at ease.
Only by making Prince Wu'an a son-in-law of the Su family, a consort of the Great Yu Dynasty,
could their relationship be truly secured.
"But the most urgent matter right now is still purging the Demon Cult."
Before you continue