Starting as the heir of a marquis's mansion, I gained access to a summoning system.

Three days later, the four halls were established.

In Yiyue Hall, Shangguan Jin Hong was stationed in Pingyang County.

The city is the core, radiating outwards to seven county towns. His approach hasn't changed—infiltration, co-optation, and binding interests.

Merchants, local bullies, and martial arts schools in Pingyang County have either already submitted or are in the process of doing so.

But Shangguan Jin Hong was not content with just being in the rear.

He knew that the first hall was the foundation. If the foundation was not solid, no matter how fast the other three halls were built, it would be a castle in the air.

The other hall masters were advancing triumphantly.

He focused his energy on two things:

First, transform Pingyang County into an impregnable logistical base.

Second, secretly train an absolutely loyal elite force.

He recruited retired veterans, down-on-their-luck martial arts masters, and wandering martial artists from all over the country.

Jing Wuming personally screened the recruits. Those who didn't meet the requirements were rejected. Training was conducted in the deep mountains outside the city, as well as in several underground chambers within the city. To the outside world, it was only stated that the expansion of the main headquarters was underway.

In half a month, this elite force called the "Dragon Scale Guard" began to take shape. It numbered no more than fifty, but each of them was at least at the Acquired Golden Body Realm.

The soldiers and armor were acquired from the black market at great expense, and their orders were strictly enforced.

Outsiders only know that Shangguan Jin Hong is recruiting.

No one knew that the hidden knife had been sharpened.

In Shangguan Jin Hong's vision, the Dragon Scale Guard was not intended for conquering cities and seizing territories.

It's meant to kill with a single blow.

His secret report to Dongfang Weiwu contained only one sentence:

"The Yiyue Hall is the foundation. If the foundation remains unshaken, the Qinglong Society will not fall."

Pingyang County, the headquarters of Yiyuetang.

midnight.

The lights in the city gradually went out.

A secret room in the backyard of the headquarters.

The candlelight flickered, and a map of Pingyang Prefecture hung on the wall.

The map is densely marked with various strongholds, warehouses, secret passages, and the training grounds of the Dragon Scale Guards.

Shangguan Jin Hong sat in a grand chair in front of the map.

He was playing with a copper coin in his hand.

Jing Wuming stood silently behind him.

"When will the fifth batch of Dragon Scale Guard training begin?"

"Three days later. This time, twelve people have been selected, all of whom are at least at the Golden Body Realm."

"Too slow."

The coin bounced up, tumbled in the air, and landed back in the palm of the hand with a crisp sound.

"The underground forces in the seven counties of Pingyang Prefecture have been mostly absorbed. But the people absorbed are unreliable. I need a knife, not a fence-sitter."

Jing Wuming remained silent for a moment.

"There's someone in mind. They weren't announced before."

"Who?"

"Shen Qingfeng. Peak of the Innate Realm, a rogue cultivator. Four years ago, the Cangwu Sect was wiped out, and he was its only surviving successor. The Blood Nether Sect was responsible, and they chased him all the way to Pingyang County. His injuries hadn't fully healed, so he took refuge in a dilapidated temple in the east of the city."

Shangguan Jin Hong's finger stopped.

"The hatred of wiping out the whole family."

He repeated those four words softly.

A genuine interest has appeared in their eyes.

"lead the way."

A dilapidated temple in the east of the city.

Shen Qingfeng sat cross-legged before the dilapidated Buddha statue. A long, unsheathed sword lay across his lap. The blade was dull, but upon closer inspection—a very thin line of blood ran along its edge.

That was his natal sword, which he had nurtured for many years with his own blood and essence.

The breath was long and steady.

The true energy circulated slowly, as if repairing some old, hidden injury.

However, stagnation occurs at several key acupoints – a consequence of failed attempts to force a breakthrough.

Four years ago, on the night of the massacre.

He used the sect's secret techniques to activate forbidden arts, forcefully pushing himself from the early stage of the Innate Realm to the peak of the Innate Realm, killing three disciples of the Blood Nether Sect, and then broke through the encirclement with the remaining secret manual.

The cost is damage to the meridians.

For the next four years, he made no further progress. Reaching the peak of the Innate Realm became his ceiling. He needed to break through to the Grandmaster level. Not to become stronger.

It was because the Blood Nether Sect Protector who led the destruction of the Cangwu Sect was a Grandmaster.

Until one becomes a master, there will be no hope of revenge.

Footsteps could be heard outside the dilapidated temple.

Shen Qingfeng's eyes were not open.

The long sword on his lap hummed.

A group of people arrived—their footsteps varied in weight, but their steps were synchronized and made no extraneous noise.

Well-trained. Not an ordinary freelancer.

"Shen Qingfeng."

A calm voice came from outside the temple.

It didn't sound like an inquiry; it sounded more like a name being called out.

Shen Qingfeng opened his eyes.

Under the moonlight, a middle-aged man dressed in a dark blue robe stood with his hands behind his back outside the threshold.

He was tall and had a refined appearance with a faint smile on his lips, looking like a scholar.

But the aura emanating from him caused Shen Qingfeng's sword cry to suddenly rise an octave higher—

Grandmaster.

Moreover, it's one of the most dangerous among grandmasters.

A man in gray stood behind him.

Its aura was unfathomable, like a sword hidden in its sheath.

"Shangguan Jin Hong." Shen Qingfeng didn't stand up, but he wasn't impolite either. "The leader of the First Hall of the Azure Dragon Society. What brings you here so late at night?"

Shangguan Jin Hong stepped into the dilapidated temple.

His gaze swept over the dilapidated Buddha statue, the leaky roof, and the sword on Shen Qingfeng's lap.

Finally, it landed on his face.

"The Cangwu Sect has been wiped out for four years."

Shen Qingfeng's expression changed.

"It was done by the Pingnan Hall of the Blood Nether Sect. The leader is Li Tianxiao, the left protector of the Pingnan Hall, known as 'Blood Hand,' a Grandmaster in the early stage, with the Crimson Blood Palm technique."

Shangguan Jin Hong spoke as if he were talking about the weather, "Li Tianxiao's backer is Meng Po, the 'Ghost Hand' of Pingnan Hall, a late-stage Grandmaster. You want revenge—with your current cultivation, you can't even beat Li Tianxiao, let alone Meng Po."

The veins on Shen Qingfeng's hand, gripping the sword, bulged.

His face, however, remained as calm as a stone.

"What do you want to say?" The voice was low and hoarse.

"I want to say that you can't avenge this alone." Shangguan Jin Hong walked to the Buddha statue, standing three steps away from Shen Qingfeng. "But in this world, only I can help you."

Shen Qingfeng sneered.

"I do your work, and in return, you help me get revenge?"

You don't deserve it.

Shangguan Jin Hong shook her head, her tone as indifferent as if she were talking about a trivial matter.

"Helping you break through to the Grandmaster level is just a piece of cake. You will naturally do what I need you to do."

Shen Qingfeng's pupils contracted.

There was no transaction, no discussion, and not even expectation in Shangguan Jin Hong's tone.

It was a kind of confident arrogance from a superior position.

It was as if Shen Qingfeng's fate was already in the hands of the person in front of him.

"Can you help me break through to the Grandmaster level?" he asked.

There was a hint of wavering in his voice that he himself didn't even realize.

"Heavenly Thunder Body Tempering Technique"

Shangguan Jin Hong condensed a wisp of deep blue true energy at his fingertips, within which faint lightning flickered.

With a snap of the fingers.

The wisp of true energy shot towards Shen Qingfeng like a living thing, disappearing into his chest.

Shen Qingfeng was startled.

The pupils suddenly contracted.

In that instant, he saw—

It's not true qi, it's not a martial art.

It is the trajectory of true qi circulation at the Grandmaster level.

It was as clear as a road laid out before him.

Four years of hardship, four years of groping, and then a single finger pointed the way.

He took a deep breath and looked up at Shangguan Jin Hong.

For the first time, awe appeared in his eyes.

"Aren't you afraid I'll back out after I break through to the Grandmaster level?"

The voice had lost its previous sharpness.

Shangguan Jin Hong turned around, facing away from him, and stood with her hands behind her back.

"You can give it a try."

The sound wasn't loud, but the air in the entire dilapidated temple seemed to freeze.

"Let's see if you can withstand one of my moves after breaking through to the Grandmaster level."

Shen Qingfeng remained silent for a long time.

Outside the dilapidated temple, the night wind blew through the collapsed walls, stirring his tattered robe.

He looked down at the long sword on his lap.

The bloodstain on the sword gleamed a dark red under the moonlight.

He suddenly stood up.

Kneel on one knee.

He held the long sword horizontally above his head.

"Shen Qingfeng is willing to serve the hall master."

Shangguan Jin Hong did not turn around.

He did not accept the sword.

He simply said one sentence:

"Keep your sword. I, Shangguan Jin Hong, don't need to recruit people this way."

After a pause, he finally turned his head and glanced at Shen Qingfeng.

There was no gratitude or appreciation in that glance.

There is only a calm and serene confidence—

It's as if subduing a grandmaster is just a piece of cake, not worth taking seriously.

"Come find me again when you're healed. I don't need a half-crippled grandmaster."

After saying that, he stepped out of the dilapidated temple.

They disappeared into the night.

Jing Wuming followed behind.

Silently.

Shen Qingfeng remained kneeling on the spot, not getting up for a long time.

His hand holding the sword trembled slightly.

It's not because of fear.

Instead, he suddenly realized something—

From beginning to end, Shangguan Jin Hong never asked him whether he was willing or not.

Because in Shangguan Jin Hong's eyes, there was only one answer from the very beginning.

This confidence is more unsettling than any threat.

The training grounds for the Dragon Scale Guards were moved from deep in the mountains and secret chambers to an abandoned mine outside the city.

The depths of the mine have been transformed into a training ground.

The ground was covered with thick sand, and the walls were covered with torches.

Fifty Dragon Scale Guards trained day and night.

There were no commands, no shouts.

Only the hissing sound of blades cutting through the air and the rustling sound of armor plates rubbing together could be heard.

After joining the Dragon Scale Guard, Shen Qingfeng did not participate in the combined attack training like the others.

Shangguan Jin Hong gave him only two tasks:

Let's focus on healing the injury first.

Then break through to the Grandmaster level.

Seven days later, a clear, long howl echoed from deep within the mine.

All the Dragon Scale Guards stopped what they were doing and looked in the direction from which the sound came.

The howl contained astonishing fluctuations of true energy, as if some kind of constraint had been broken in one fell swoop.

Shen Qingfeng emerged from the depths of the mine.

His steps were steady, and his demeanor was completely different from seven days ago.

His eyes were sharper, as if he could see right through a person's internal organs.

The unsheathed longsword was still lying across his lap, but the bloodstains on the blade had disappeared—the entire blade had turned a faint blood color.

The natal sword shows signs of improving in sync with his own cultivation level.

He walked to the entrance of the mine.

Shangguan Jin Hong stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the distant horizon, without even turning around to look at him.

Shen Qingfeng stood three steps behind him.

Clasping hands in a fist salute.

Bowing.

"Master."

Shangguan Jin Hong did not turn around.

He simply said:

"Your aura is too superficial, your foundation is unstable. Did you reach the level of Grandmaster by simply piling on elixirs?"

Shen Qingfeng was taken aback.

I was drenched in cold sweat.

Without the slightest error—he was too eager to succeed and took a Breakthrough Pill left behind by the Cangwu Sect at the last moment of his breakthrough.

Although a breakthrough was achieved, the foundation was indeed not as solid as that of those who achieved success naturally.

"Master, you are wise." He lowered his head.

Shangguan Jin Hong finally turned around and glanced at him.

There was no blame or disappointment in his eyes.

There is only one kind of all-knowing understanding.

"Fine. As long as it works."

Four words, a simple and understated description.

Shen Qingfeng's heart sank completely.

After breaking through to the Grandmaster level, he originally wanted to win Shangguan Jin Hong's approval with his strength.

Deep down, he even had a thought: the power of a grandmaster might make the hall master look at him differently.

But Shangguan Jin Hong saw right through him with just one glance.

Looking at the figure in the dark blue robe in front of him, he felt that even though he had broken through to the Grandmaster level, he still couldn't see through the other party's true strength.

The unfathomable gap instantly dispelled any arrogance Shen Qingfeng had felt from his breakthrough.

He knelt on one knee, his voice even more respectful than it had been seven days ago:

"Shen Qingfeng is willing to go through fire and water for the Hall Master."

Shangguan Jin Hong reached out her hand.

I flicked his forehead lightly with my finger.

A wisp of extremely pure Heavenly Thunder True Qi entered Shen Qingfeng's brow.

The restless medicinal power within the body was instantly suppressed, and the underlying feeling of instability was greatly reduced.

"Consider this a greeting gift." Shangguan Jin Hong withdrew her hand. "From this moment on, your life belongs to me."

The spot on Shen Qingfeng's forehead where he was hit felt faintly hot.

He didn't dare to rub it.

He simply kowtowed repeatedly.

"Yes."

Shangguan Jin Hong stopped looking at him and turned to leave.

Jing Wuming stepped out of the shadows and glanced at Shen Qingfeng.

He unusually said an extra sentence:

"If the sect leader didn't want you to break through, you would have died seven days ago. What he could give you, he can naturally take back as well."

Shen Qingfeng knelt on the spot.

My back was soaked with cold sweat.

The Dragon Scale Guard has gained another Grandmaster.

With the addition of Jing Wuming and Shangguan Jin Hong, Yiyue Hall now possesses three Grandmaster-level combatants.

Jing Wuming broke through last month. The news was strictly censored.

The outside world only knew that Shangguan Jin Hong was recruiting soldiers, but they did not know that this hidden force already had a fatal fang.