City Lord's Mansion Alliance!

He softly repeated, "What an appetite."

"Mr. Xiao..." Ya Fei hesitated.

"Mr. Xiao, they aren't just talking!"

Ya Fei said urgently, "According to our intelligence, they've already begun seeking experts and are preparing to strike at the Xiao Clan's merchant caravans!"

"Merchant caravans?"

Xiao Chen raised a brow. "What they want to cut off is the Xiao Clan's strength."

"Exactly!"

Ya Fei nodded. "Mr. Xiao, should I send Mittel personnel to protect the Xiao Clan's merchant caravans first?"

"No need."

Xiao Chen shook his head and said slowly, "Since they want to make a move, let them. This is a good chance to see what the Misty Cloud Sect Outer Sect is truly made of."

"Mr. Xiao..."

"Don't worry."

Xiao Chen smiled and waved a hand. "I have my own arrangements. Miss Ya Fei, help me with something. Find out the weaknesses of the Misty Cloud Sect Outer Sect's upper ranks."

"Weaknesses?"

Ya Fei froze. "Mr. Xiao, you mean to..."

"Don't they want to cut off the Xiao Clan's trade routes?"

"Then we'll cut off their avenues as well."

"The Misty Cloud Sect Outer Sect has always relied on several trading houses in the central Jia Ma Empire to supply its cultivation resources. Miss Ya Fei surely knows better than I do who stands behind those establishments."

Ya Fei's eyes flickered. She slowly nodded and drew in a sharp breath.

"Mr. Xiao means... we should start with those trading houses?"

"No rush."

Xiao Chen smiled. "First, find out where their weaknesses lie. Then we can discuss how to strike."

"They want to break the Xiao Clan's arms, so I'll first knock out their teeth."

"Yes! Ya Fei will see to it immediately!" She solemnly accepted the task and turned to leave.

"Oh, right."

She reached the doorway, then stopped again. "Mr. Xiao, should I root out that informant while I'm at it?"

"No need."

Xiao Chen smiled. "Keeping him around will still be very useful."

Ya Fei nodded as though she understood, then turned and vanished into the night.

After seeing Ya Fei off, Xiao Chen summoned Xiao Zhan that very night.

"Patriarch, beginning tomorrow, double the frequency of patrols by the clan's disciples."

Xiao Zhan nodded heavily and turned to leave.

Xiao Chen called after him. "Patriarch, for the next few days, tell the clan's disciples not to cause trouble or clash with anyone. The Misty Cloud Sect's people may be watching the Xiao Clan from the shadows at any moment."

"Yes!"

Xiao Zhan's heart tightened, and he solemnly accepted the order.

"The City Lord's Mansion has never involved itself in disputes between merchant associations. Will that lord agree?" Ya Fei asked hesitantly.

"He will." Xiao Chen gave only that one-word reply.

"Why are you so certain?"

"Because the City Lord's Mansion lacks neither power nor money. It lacks only one thing."

Xiao Chen lifted his teacup. "Good pills."

"The Three-Year Agreement is fast approaching. If the Misty Cloud Sect truly causes trouble in Wutan City, the City Lord's Mansion will lose face as well. Now that I'm going to him to ease his worries and offer fine pills, why would he refuse?"

Ya Fei suddenly understood.

That morning.

A document bearing the City Lord's Mansion's great seal was delivered to the Misty Cloud Sect Outer Sect.

Regarding the Xiao Clan's trade-route operations, the Wutan City Merchant Association had formally filed a report with the City Lord's Mansion and requested oversight in accordance with regulations. Should any sect force attack the merchant association's traders without prior notice, it would be making an enemy of the City Lord's Mansion.

When the document arrived, several elders of the Misty Cloud Sect Outer Sect were gathered in a side hall discussing matters.

The leading elder accepted the document. After scanning it twice, his expression darkened.

"Is this... using the City Lord's Mansion to pressure us?" He stared at the document, his face livid.

"The Xiao Clan actually has the City Lord's Mansion backing it?" Another elder sucked in a breath.

"The City Lord's Mansion has never interfered in sect affairs. Why this time..."

"Hmph!"

The leading elder snorted coldly. "Do we even need to ask? That Xiao Chen must have used some method to persuade the City Lord's Mansion!"

"It's not just that."

Another man said gravely, "As far as I know, the Xiao Clan has also formed an alliance with Mittel Headquarters!"

"The City Lord's Mansion bearing down on us, Mittel cutting off our supplies..."

The leading elder's expression grew even uglier. "This Xiao Chen is trying to drive us into a dead end!"

Not long after the news spread, the Misty Cloud Sect Outer Sect discovered something.

Several trading houses that had previously maintained secret ties with them suddenly refused all their orders overnight.

The backing behind those trading houses was Mittel.

"Mittel... they've gotten involved too?!" The outer sect elders were consumed by fury, yet could do nothing.

"Elder, those trading houses are where our cultivation resources come from!"

A disciple said anxiously, "If they cut us off, our pills and medicinal materials will all be cut off too!"

"What are you panicking for?!"

An outer sect elder said in a low voice, "We'll find other channels."

"But... what other channels could possibly be as reliable as those?"

As the leading force in Jia Ma Empire commerce, even the Misty Cloud Sect did not dare offend Mittel lightly.

That same day, the Xiao Clan's merchant caravans quietly changed course to the eastern route, avoiding the Misty Cloud Sect Outer Sect's sphere of influence. The experts the outer sect had stationed along the trade route waited for three entire days, yet never even caught sight of a Xiao Clan merchant caravan!

"The Xiao Clan's caravans ran away?"

"They didn't run. They took a detour!"

"They're... guarding against us!"

"Could they have known all along that we were going to act?!"

"Could there be... a Xiao Clan informant among us?!"

Everyone in the Misty Cloud Sect Outer Sect looked worse than the last.

They had plotted for days, yet failed to create even the slightest ripple!

"That Xiao Clan guest elder... just who is he?!"

The outer sect elder gritted his teeth, but could only order, "Withdraw! Bring everyone back!"

"Elder, are we just letting this go?" a disciple asked unwillingly.

"What else can we do if we don't?!" the outer sect elder roared. "The City Lord's Mansion is watching us, Mittel is blocking us, and the Xiao Clan's caravans have taken a detour. We've hit walls on all three sides. Are we staying here to make fools of ourselves?!"

"But we planned this for so long. If we return in such a pathetic state, the sect..."

"I'll explain things to the sect once we return!"

The outer sect elder's face was ashen. "Better than losing all our face here!"

"Withdraw!"

The Misty Cloud Sect Outer Sect returned in defeat, withdrawing its people in disgrace and swallowing its bitterness in silence.

Back mountain.

"Uncle Xiao, what is this...?" Xiao Yan looked utterly bewildered.

"The Three-Year Agreement is only a few months away."

Xiao Chen said calmly, "Starting today, I'll personally spar with you for three days. Bring out everything you've learned these past few months and let me see what you're made of."

"Spar?"

Xiao Yan's eyes lit up. "Uncle Xiao, don't blame this kid if I hit too hard!"

"If you have the ability to make me bleed, I'll treat you to Drunken Immortal Tower for a month."

"Deal!"

As soon as the words fell, he burst forward and threw a punch!

His High-Rank Dou Shi battle qi surged at full force. Wrapped in a gale fierce enough to tear through the air, that punch smashed viciously toward Xiao Chen's face!

Bang—!

Xiao Chen raised one palm and casually blocked the punch, his body utterly unmoving.

"Too slow."

He said calmly, "Again."