Shen Fei went to the City Lord's Mansion on his family's behalf to submit the paperwork for next month's city defense supplies. The steward had caught a chill a few days earlier and was bedridden, so Shen Hong had casually told him to make the trip.
In the past, an errand like this would never have fallen to the eldest legitimate son, but Shen Fei had managed the accounts reliably over the past few months, and Shen Hong had lowered his guard around him somewhat.
Shen Fei took the documents, changed into a neat set of everyday clothes, and left the Sacred Family estate through a side gate.
It was just past Si Hour. People streamed through the streets, vendors carrying shoulder poles mingling with cultivators on their way somewhere, filling the main street with bustle and noise.
No one could sense how many hidden currents ran beneath this seemingly peaceful, secure city.
When he reached the main gate of the City Lord's Mansion, the guards checked his identification token and let him straight through without giving him much trouble. At this hour, the mansion's inner courtyard was usually quiet, with servants tending to their duties and even keeping their footsteps light.
Today was different. As soon as he passed through the second gate, he saw servants hurrying back and forth, carrying blue stone slabs covered in carved patterns and baskets of inscription materials. There were twice as many patrolling guards as usual, their expressions tense.
Shen Fei paused. This commotion did not look like ordinary repairs. It looked more like they were setting up something important. He asked no questions and headed straight for the administrative office.
Steward Wang, who handled the supply reports, was checking lists, so busy he could barely lift his head.
"Just leave the documents here. Once I've checked them, I'll send someone with a reply." Steward Wang's brush raced across the paper. Shen Fei nodded and asked casually, "What's keeping everyone so busy? There's quite a commotion."
Steward Wang glanced around. Seeing that no one was paying attention, he lowered his voice.
"What else could it be? The Ten Thousand Demons and Spirits Array that Young Master Nie Li designed. The City Lord personally approved it, and everyone in the mansion is helping set it up."
Shen Fei's heart jolted. The Ten Thousand Demons and Spirits Array. In his previous life, he had spent a year in the City Guard and had never heard that name. When the Demon Beast Tide breached the city, Glory City had not even possessed a decent large-scale defensive array.
"Is this array that powerful?" he asked without betraying anything. "Of course it is." Steward Wang's face held a trace of awe. "According to Young Master Nie Li, the complete array can subdue even a Legend Rank Demon Spirit Master."
"Even with nothing but its framework in place, it has more than enough power to deal with Black Gold Rank demon beasts."
A Legend Rank Demon Spirit Master. Those words struck Shen Fei like a hammer. He knew all too well what Legend Rank meant.
The Legendary Demon Beast that had finally smashed the Beacon Tower in his previous life had blotted out the sky and sun. Facing it brought nothing but endless despair. A single swipe of its claw could bring down half a city wall.
If there truly was an array capable of standing against Legend Rank power, Glory City's fate might really turn out differently. He had known Nie Li was capable, but he had never imagined his abilities reached this far. His understanding of Nie Li deepened once again.
With his business finished, Shen Fei did not leave immediately. He circled around to the outer wall of the inner courtyard and peered over it. The wall was too high for him to make out the arrangements inside. All he could occasionally see were faint, scattered glimmers of runes above the wall.
He wanted to go in and see the array for himself. But the rules were clear: without a summons from the City Lord, members of outside families could not enter the inner courtyard at will. He waited at the foot of the wall for a quarter of an hour. Everyone inside was busy, and no one noticed the man standing outside.
Shen Fei gave a self-mocking smile and turned to leave. What would seeing it accomplish? He knew nothing about arrays. Even if he stood inside one, he would not understand its workings. On reflection, perhaps he ought to study inscriptions.
On the way back, he kept thinking about it. The Ten Thousand Demons and Spirits Array had undoubtedly come from Nie Li.
No one but this man who had returned with memories of his previous life could produce an array of that caliber.
At the Genius Tournament, Nie Li had merely shown a glimpse of his abilities and knocked Shen Hao, a Gold Rank 1-Star, off the stage.
The claim about Legend Rank might have been exaggerated, but the array certainly possessed Black Gold Rank power. With it in place, launching another surprise attack on the City Lord's Mansion would not be so easy for the Dark Guild.
After returning to the Sacred Family estate, Shen Fei went to the study to sort out the accounts as usual.
The expenditure entries recorded as losses that corresponded to the Dark Guild had shrunk again this month. Presumably, Nie Li's increasingly frequent moves had cut off many of their avenues, forcing them to pull back their defensive lines.
He was leafing through the ledger when Shen Yue sauntered in, humming a tune. Seeing Shen Fei there, he curled his lip and spoke sourly.
"Have you heard? Nie Li has moved into the City Lord's Mansion now. Lord Ye Zong treats him like an honored guest."
Shen Fei did not even lift his head, his fingertip tracing the figures on the ledger page. "He's capable. It's only natural that they'd let him stay there."
"Capable?" Shen Yue scoffed. "Doesn't he just know a few crooked tricks? In a real fight with blades drawn, those cheap shortcuts of his might not be enough to beat me."
Shen Fei said nothing. Cheap shortcuts? Shen Hao had lost so miserably at the last Genius Tournament, yet Shen Yue still could not see the gulf between them. If he actually faced Nie Li, he would not even touch the hem of his clothes.
Shen Yue went on for some time. When Shen Fei continued to ignore him, he lost interest and left, grumbling curses. The study fell quiet again.
Shen Fei set down his brush, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes. The Ten Thousand Demons and Spirits Array, Nie Li, the Dark Guild, the Demon Beast Tide. Each piece lined up in his mind, and the connections grew ever clearer.
Nie Li operated in the open, openly strengthening the city's defenses and winning over the City Lord's Mansion, driving the Dark Guild into a dead corner step by step. Shen Fei followed a hidden path, remaining within the Sacred Family, secretly gathering intelligence and building his strength.
Their methods differed, but their goal was the same. He opened his eyes, his gaze settling on the dusty inscription manuals on the lowest shelf of the bookcase. Arrays and inscriptions would only grow more important. Even if he could not do what Nie Li did, he at least needed to understand them.
He could not truly rely on others for everything. He rose, walked over, and pulled out the topmost volume, Fundamentals of Inscription. After patting the dust from its cover, he returned to the desk.
The pages were yellowed and the writing somewhat blurred, but it was enough to get him started. Shen Fei opened the first page and read it word by word.
He had learned from Nie Li that studying inscriptions was the first step toward becoming strong. Judging by the inscriptions on those arrays, they had even surpassed the Legendary Inscriptions he and Xiao Ning'er had discovered in the ruins back then.
The page displayed the simplest single-pattern lines. Their strokes were plain, yet they concealed a fixed logic governing their operation.
He had never studied any of this before and had always thought there was nothing special about those winding lines.
Only when he truly settled down to read did he discover that the direction of every line and the connection of every node served a precise purpose.
Looking at these and comparing them with Nie Li's inscriptions, he knew he still had a very long road ahead.
As he gazed at the moonlight outside the window, he could not help wondering just how far Nie Li had advanced.
Shen Fei shook his head. "Forget it. I'll start now."
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