Chapter 471 - 453: Surrender, Night Raid

At the entrance to the Su Mansion, Su Yu’s figure appeared, startling Su Can.

Since the Su Mansion was last attacked, he had placed increasing importance on the mansion’s security, personally patrolling every night without fail.

"Second Brother, is something wrong?"

Facing Su Can’s question, Su Yu smiled faintly. "Third Brother, rest easy. It’s nothing serious. Someone has just arrived. You can all continue your patrol."

Hearing Su Yu say this, Su Can finally relaxed and continued his patrol with the guards.

Su Yu sensed Su Can’s Qi and Blood and nodded slightly.

’My third brother’s Qi and Blood is growing more abundant. He’s already reached Skin Tempering Realm Perfection. It seems that with his above-average innate talent, plus the Su Mansion’s resources, breaking through to the Flesh Refining Realm will be no problem.’

"My lord! Your subordinate, Feng Han, is here to see you!"

In the dark of night, a cloaked figure flickered into view, arriving before Su Yu and immediately bowing his head in obeisance.

Su Yu’s expression was calm. His Divine Sense swept in the direction Feng Han had come from, and after confirming no one was there, he spoke, "Feng Han, have you come to me with intelligence to report?"

Feng Han immediately adopted a cautious look, glancing around before nodding.

"Come inside."

Su Yu turned and entered the mansion. Behind him, Feng Han quickly rose and followed.

Seeing Su Yu’s calm demeanor, which showed he wasn’t paying him any special mind, Feng Han actually felt a sense of relief.

’Lord Su truly is the Divine Son, his methods are unfathomable.’

’I hadn’t even sent the signal, yet he was already at the gate waiting for me. It’s a good thing I didn’t try anything funny, or losing his trust would have been a disaster.’

He was currently a double agent, wavering on which side to truly support.

Or rather, he was someone who always sided with his own interests; he would act as long as it was to his benefit.

In the Inner Courtyard, Su Yu sat at a stone table, watching Feng Han as he followed him in.

In the brightly moonlit courtyard, that little Croc-Dragon was lying to one side like a loyal guard dog, staring intently at Feng Han.

In the Iron Locust Tree, the Cyan-Scaled Eagle’s sharp gaze was also locked onto Feng Han’s every move.

If he dared to make the slightest unusual move, it would immediately swoop down and tear at his throat with its claws.

Feng Han’s expression changed slightly. Although he was a Muscle Forging Realm Perfection expert, he could sense that these two Exotic Beasts were astonishingly powerful.

The Cyan-Scaled Eagle in particular had a shocking aura; an ordinary Muscle Forging Realm expert would likely be no match for it.

"Feng Han, what business brings you here this time?"

Su Yu said lightly.

"Lord Divine Son, I’ve come to bring you a message! The Black Lotus Sect is planning to sabotage the canal dredging and obstruct the integration of the Inner and Outer Cities!"

Su Yu’s gaze sharpened. He nodded slightly, waiting for him to continue.

"The one leading this operation is the Black Lotus Sect’s Windless Black Lotus Envoy, an expert of the Divine Storage Realm. However, he won’t be acting personally. He’s mainly dispatching several of his Muscle Forging Realm experts."

Feng Han cautiously observed Su Yu’s expression, but seeing his calm face, he couldn’t discern anything.

"They plan to make their move in three days at the hour of Zi, creating massive chaos to prevent the canal from being completed."

Thoughts flashed through Su Yu’s mind. He asked, "Are you participating as well? How strong are the ones involved?"

"Lord Divine Son, I’m being forced into this! When the time comes, you must show mercy. Please, whatever you do, don’t kill me. The others taking part are all very strong. They’re also at Muscle Forging Perfection, but I can’t even take a few of their moves. I heard they’re all on par with the top twenty experts from the city’s Martial Examination! The leader, though he’s only at the Muscle Forging Realm, can fight against a Profound Bone Realm expert!"

Su Yu’s interest was piqued. ’The Black Lotus Sect really has a lot of experts. They’re sending out their absolute best from the Muscle Forging Realm.’

"Was it Cibei who sent you?"

"Yes, yes, it was all that bitch Cibei’s idea. The Windless Black Lotus Envoy went to her for help, and she sent me."

"Do you know any more detailed plans?"

"My lord, Wu Feng didn’t inform this subordinate."

Su Yu’s mind raced as he tried to determine the truth of the matter.

’I obviously can’t trust everything Feng Han says, but there’s a high probability this is real. The fact that Feng Han only knows the peripheral details actually makes it more credible.’

’If the Black Lotus Sect really attacks the canal, they probably won’t just target the downstream Outer City section. They might even attack the upstream Inner City canal directly!’

’If I were the enemy, I’d blow up the upstream dam. The destructive force would be immense!’

’This matter must be dealt with as soon as possible!’

"Anything else to add?"

Feng Han wracked his brains, then added, "Oh, right, Lord Divine Son, there is one more thing. Tonight, the Windless Black Lotus Envoy arranged for his spies in the Inner City to transport a batch of supplies inside. As for what they are exactly, this subordinate does not know."

"Good! Infiltrate the Black Lotus Sect again and continue gathering useful intelligence. If this incident turns out to be true, I will credit you with a meritorious deed!"

"Thank you, Lord Divine Son!"

...

「Black Stone City, the Outer City waterway.」

The cold, white moonlight spilled down, bathing the waterway in a vast expanse of white.

At a section of the waterway on the border between the Inner and Outer Cities, a middle-aged man with a square face, wearing a cloak, strolled leisurely along the riverbank.

Strangely, a squad of Security Guards patrolling in the distance was completely oblivious, as if they couldn’t see him at all.

The square-faced man’s figure flickered, and the next moment, his feet landed in the middle of the newly dredged riverbed.

His gaze shifted upstream toward the Inner City, where a massive dam stood like a colossal beast straddling the city.

In the beast’s mouth was a sturdy meteoric iron gate—the Hanging Mirror Gate!

"This is the core of the waterway. That’s right."

The square-faced man muttered to himself, and the next moment, he pulled a pitch-black statue from his robes.

The statue’s base was a twelve-petaled lotus, upon which stood the unclear figure of a female deity. It was the Divine Statue of the Black-Faced Matriarch.

The man’s hand stabbed down into the riverbed. As if cutting through tofu, it easily reached the bottom of the hard riverbed, where he buried the Divine Statue.

After burying the Divine Statue, the man pulled his cloak tighter and continued walking toward the Inner City.

...

「The next morning.」

Su Yu calmly consumed a Jiao Tendon Pill as usual, then finished his morning practice of the Green Wood Shadow Ape Fist and the Demon Ape Demon-Vibrating Saber.

[Martial Arts]: Green Wood Shadow Ape Fist (Great Success 60/4000)

[Martial Arts]: Demon Ape Demon-Vibrating Saber (Great Success 1200/4000)

Glancing at the panel, Su Yu nodded in satisfaction. ’As long as I have enough Martial Arts Resources, with my current talent, I can maintain a very fast breakthrough speed.’

’There are no bottlenecks either. When the time is right, I’ll naturally break through to the Profound Bone Realm!’

No matter what happened, he could not let it interfere with his daily cultivation. This was an absolute, unshakeable rule.

However, the matter with the Black Lotus Sect also needed to be handled soon.

Mounting his Blazing-Flame Dragon Scale Horse, Su Yu headed straight for the Outer City section of the Celestial Mirror River.

...

At the waterway, thousands of river workers were already busy.

Most of them came from the slums of the Outer City and the western part of the city. They couldn’t afford to eat breakfast in the morning, but here, they could get a bowl of thick rice porridge, two large pieces of cornbread, and a small bowl of sweet and sour pickled vegetables.

Su Yu dismounted and inspected the breakfast, then nodded slightly.

With him personally inspecting it every day, no one dared to skimp on the workers’ meals.

After checking the food, he recalled Feng Han’s intelligence from last night and swept his Divine Sense over the raggedly dressed workers.

Many of them were sallow-faced and emaciated—truly impoverished people.

However, he couldn’t guarantee whether there were any Black Lotus Sect followers among them.

Suppressing the thoughts in his mind, he continued to sweep his Divine Sense down the waterway until it reached the Hanging Mirror Gate, which connected to the Inner City.

The mighty river crashed against the Hanging Mirror Gate, producing a thunderous roar of water.

If the Black Lotus Sect were to actually make a move on the Hanging Mirror Gate and break it open ahead of schedule, the river water would surely rush down in an instant.

If the waterway was still silted up, it would surely destroy the houses on both banks and even flood large parts of the city.

’This waterway must be repaired as soon as possible!’

As Su Yu was thinking, a suspension bridge on the opposite bank suddenly tilted.

"Look out!"

"The bridge is collapsing!"

Hundreds of pounds of timber instantly tumbled down the tilted bridge, RUMBLING as they crashed toward the heads of dozens of workers below.