Infiltration

A hidden sentry post,

concealed within the thickets, with a pair of eyes sweeping the surroundings from time to time.

A faint breeze drifted past without drawing the slightest attention.

Jiang Ding had pushed the Minor Breath-Concealing Technique to its limit, and the optical camouflage of his fatigues was fully activated. He was like a chameleon that could shift at any moment; in daylight, one could still glimpse faint transparent ripples and changing colors.

Under the cover of night, all those traces were hidden.

The inner force within Jiang Ding's Lesser Celestial Circuit flowed, giving him a sense of endless reserves for a short time. With a tap of his toes, he dropped from the treetops and began climbing the cliff face bit by bit.

The protrusions on the sheer wall and the occasional cliff cypresses became steps for his ascent. His figure shot upward, never touching any terrain with complicated features that might conceal traps.

"There are capable people in the Fierce Tiger Stronghold..."

Jiang Ding muttered to himself.

Even a place like this had been arranged with care. More than a dozen hidden sentries were spread across both sides of the cliff, and none of them slackened their vigilance.

Once alerted, they would send a signal. Powerful bows and heavy crossbows would converge upon him, while experts blocked his path. Even someone whose inner force had reached perfection would swiftly die.

Yet beneath the drone's thermal sensors, every hidden sentry was laid bare in full view.

In an open patch of ground, a spot of earth was faintly sunken.

Jiang Ding panted lightly and found a place beneath the shadow of a tree. Pressing a hand to his sword, he closed his eyes and regulated his breathing, restoring the inner force he had expended.

More than thirty minutes later, his figure flashed and vanished from where he stood.

With the drone overhead and the ever-burning lights within the stronghold, he effortlessly found the location of the Hall of Brotherhood.

The lights here were more numerous, and the guards far stricter.

All trees and weeds around the courtyard walls had been cleared away. The firelight illuminated every blind corner, and the guards could take in the entire vicinity at a single glance.

"With such tight defenses, these are definitely no ordinary bandits."

Jiang Ding frowned.

An organization like bandits was held together by brotherhood, by great mouthfuls of meat and great gulps of wine. It was impossible to discipline them this strictly; everyone would run off. Even an overwhelmingly powerful leader would not help.

His gaze settled on an inner force realm martial artist standing before the Hall of Brotherhood's doors.

This one as well. Since an inner force realm martial artist had chosen to become a bandit, it was for wealth and indulgence. He would never willingly stand guard at someone's door.

In an emergency, perhaps he could endure it for a while, but this was clearly routine.

The other man seemed to sense something and looked toward a shadow beneath the eaves.

Jiang Ding's heart tightened. He withdrew his gaze as the Minor Breath-Concealing Technique rapidly circulated, making his entire presence infinitely close to stone and dead wood. At the same time, his muscles tensed, ready to strike with his sword at any moment.

The inner force realm martial artist guarding the door drew back his gaze with slight puzzlement and began inspecting elsewhere.

It was probably an illusion. The place was visible at a glance, without any blind corner that could hide a person or object. There could not possibly be a problem.

"I made a grave mistake!"

Jiang Ding's muscles relaxed slightly as he silently warned himself.

"I actually stared directly at him and made him sense something. Not even the most ignorant novice would make such a mistake."

He switched to monitoring the entrance from the corner of his eye. Sure enough, the man could no longer detect him.

Jiang Ding was exceedingly patient. He waited silently, and even after his inner force had filled to the brim, he still had spare energy to temper and nourish the tiny branches of the Twelve Primary Meridians.

More than an hour later, a turning point finally appeared.

"Fifth Brother, shift change!"

The inner force realm martial artist guarding the door laughed and cursed toward the barracks not far away. Before long, a brawny bearded man carrying a refined steel battle axe over his shoulder emerged from the barracks gate, his eyes still bleary with sleep.

"Yell at your turtle bastard of a son!"

The subordinates brought by the two men also began replacing one another in an orderly rotation.

Jiang Ding's thoughts stirred, and the information he had obtained from Long San surfaced in his mind.

Mountain-Splitting Tiger Zhou Kuang and Gold-Touching Tiger Zhou Sheng were brothers. Both possessed minor inner force attainment and excelled at fighting together. They were respectively the fifth and sixth among the Seven Tigers.

Taking advantage of the slight chaos during the shift change, Jiang Ding lightly tapped his feet, stepped onto the courtyard wall, then tapped again and moved along the rooftops toward the center of the Hall of Brotherhood.

At that moment, the central hall was brightly lit, with the sounds of strings and pipes drifting out from time to time. Eastern Mountain Flying Tiger Lu Jingtian was probably not asleep yet.

In the shadows formed beside the windows by the direct lamplight, faintly undulating transparent ripples appeared at some unknown moment, then vanished in an instant.

The lamps burned brightly, yet there was not the slightest thread of smoke. They also carried a faint, unusual fragrance. This was whale oil, worth its weight in silver!

Beautiful maidservants in splendid attire danced gracefully, while musicians plucked their strings in accompaniment.

Though deep in the mountains, this place was scarcely inferior to the luxury of nobles and princes.

None of this drew the attention of the three men seated above.

"The news has returned."

Eastern Mountain Flying Tiger Lu Jingtian stood seven feet tall with a sturdy build. Though his temples were streaked with gray, it did nothing to diminish his imposing presence. Every movement he made was like a ferocious tiger sitting or lying down, making people instinctively hold their breath and listen carefully.

He casually released a gray carrier pigeon and said blandly, "That little brat refuses to accept our price and leaves no room whatsoever. He said outright that if the goods are not delivered to our door at the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce's price three days from now, then the deal is off."

"So forceful?"

A highly imposing middle-aged man frowned.

"Could our guess have been wrong? Perhaps this Blueglow Butterfly is not so important to him and the members of the Lineage behind him."

Jiang Ding's expression turned cold.

The Brotherhood Gang's leader, Yang Dongsheng, known as 'Righteousness Reaching the Clouds'!

He too was an important figure. Within Eastspirit Prefecture, the only ones qualified to be mentioned in the same breath as him were the head of Dragon-Tiger Martial Hall and the Zheng Clan's patriarch.

"Excellent... he isn't the most troublesome one."

He muttered to himself inwardly.

For Yang Dongsheng to establish such a vast enterprise within Eastspirit Prefecture, he must have had excellent relations with those in the upper ranks and close exchanges of benefits. But in the end, he was not truly a member of the Tang Clan of the Marquis's Estate.

If he died, it would not be enough to dispatch troops.

"Impossible!"

A sinister old man in black robes said decisively, "You do not understand. You only need to know that any material which a force capable of refining realm-breaking pills would go to such lengths to gather must be extraordinarily precious, worth far more than realm-breaking pills."

"Why is that?"

Yang Dongsheng and Lu Jingtian exchanged a glance. They seemed to trust the black-robed elder deeply and offered no rebuttal.

I don't recognize him. An unfamiliar martial artist whose inner force has reached perfection...

Jiang Ding carefully searched through the intelligence in his mind but found no relevant information.

Martial artists whose inner force had reached perfection were not cabbages growing in a field. No one would willingly hide in obscurity for so many years for no reason. This was certainly an outsider.

"It is nothing more than a bluff."

The black-robed elder sneered.

"That would be for the best... I only fear that the force capable of refining realm-breaking pills is no weak one. The longer the night, the more dreams arise!" Lu Jingtian let out a long sigh. "You old fellows and I all have disappointing descendants. Once our generation is gone, our juniors can only fade into the common crowd."

"That is still the better outcome."

The black-robed elder sneered. "Considering how many people we have offended, when we ourselves die, there is an eighty or ninety percent chance it will also be the day our Lineages are exterminated. Do you believe it? Do you want to recall where the Lineages of those underworld bosses from your youth are now?"

"Surely not. We are all working for those above us and have rendered outstanding service. Brother Qiu, you also come from a great sect. Could it be that there is not even a way out left for us?"

Yang Dongsheng frowned. Unlike the other two, he possessed a vast estate in the prefectural city, more than ten wives and concubines, and dozens of children.

"Outstanding service? What the hell is that worth!"

Lu Jingtian mocked, "You think yourself hardworking and meritorious, but in their eyes, you are merely a piece of toilet paper, a stain they cannot wait to throw away. What affection could there possibly be?"

"As for great sects, they are no kind places either."

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