Chapter 492: Plan

The next day, as the first ray of morning sunlight shone into the bedroom, Jiang Cheng slowly opened his eyes.

After a night of cultivation, not only had his proficiency in the Visualization Method increased, but so had his proficiency with the Seven Treasure Flowing Light Pendant.

At most another two days of meditation, and the pendant's proficiency would reach the skilled level.

This meant that, originally breaking through from First-level Spirit Master to Second-level Spirit Master would take seven or eight days, but now it would only take three or four.

It was foreseeable that, before the next patrol mission, he would break through to Second-level Spirit Master.

"Too bad, even a Second-Level Master isn't enough to look at."

Jiang Cheng's mind conjured the image of the masked man.

Just then, the phone beside him rang.

After seeing the caller's name, Jiang Cheng's eyes flashed with surprise, though it was within his expectations—he just hadn't expected it to come so soon.

"Chief."

After answering the call, Jiang Cheng spoke.

"Hmm, calling you this early—did I disturb your rest?"

Chu Feng asked with a chuckle.

"How could I?"

Jiang Cheng also laughed, "I just finished cultivating, and I'm about to go downstairs for breakfast and head to the academy to report."

"That's good. By the way, I heard about what happened yesterday—you did well." Chu Feng praised.

Jiang Cheng possessed the Heaven-Stabilizing Tower, but the other few members of his squad did not.

In such a life-or-death situation, an ordinary person reacting in time to protect themselves would be good, but Jiang Cheng did better, shielding the others as well.

Jiang Cheng caught the meaning behind the words and quickly said, "Chief, this is what I should do; after all, we're members of the same squad, and the captain and others have treated me well."

"That's what you say, but saving those several people is an undeniable fact. And although this incident seems like an accident, there are some suspicious points—what do you think?"

"But go ahead and speak?"

"But go ahead and speak."

Upon hearing that, Jiang Cheng recounted the results of his discussion with Qin Lao from yesterday.

Chu Feng fell silent for a moment, then said, "I can't deny that your guess is possible, but I know Sun Bo fairly well—it's unlikely he'd do something like this just to regain a bit of face."

"I hope that's the case, but I've been here a long time and basically haven't offended anyone; if the previous incident was truly someone pulling strings behind the scenes, I believe only he could be responsible." Jiang Cheng said calmly.

Chu Feng had no reply.

After a moment, he gave a wry smile and said, "Jiang Cheng, I understand your point—if I suddenly encountered this, I'd be suspicious too—but the Sun Clan is indeed different; their ancestors sacrificed themselves to resist the Jiao Tribe,

and many of their descendants died while building Hope City; even now, they, like the rest of us, guard Hope City. To act on a mere suspicion would be unrealistic."

"I understand."

Jiang Cheng also didn't expect Chu Feng, after hearing his guess, to go straight to Sun Bo for questioning.

Emotionally and logically, that would be inappropriate.

"Chief, I also know this might not be an inside job—it could just be bad luck, running into invaders—but just in case, I'd like to ask you for a favor."

Upon hearing that, Chu Feng let out a slight sigh of relief, smiled, and said, "Sure, tell me what you need."

"During the next few missions, I hope you can quietly follow behind us; if it's a sudden situation, it shouldn't happen again, but if it's the other possibility, the enemy will definitely reappear—and be stronger than before."

"Ah, that's what it is."

Chu Feng suddenly realized, muttering to himself, "That's not a bad approach, though I might not be able to protect you too many times. I've been staying in the city lately just to break through to Supreme; after succeeding and adjusting to the new power, in a month or two I'll likely have to go out."

"Is that also to go out on a mission?"

"Hahaha, you could say that too." Chu Feng didn't hide it, "It's to give the people of Wu Family Fortress a lesson; by then, not only will our Hope City act, but the other two cities' people will join as well, and during the New Year we'll give the Wu Family Fortress folks a big surprise."

Hearing this, Jiang Cheng's eyes lit up.

"Chief, can I come along as well then?"

"You want to come too?" Chu Feng asked in surprise.

"Yeah, after all I'm also a member of Hope City; the Chief and the Big Chief have treated me well, so even though my strength is low, I want to contribute what little I can, and also I'd like to settle some old grudges."

"I see."

Chu Feng laughed, "Of course it's possible—the Wu Family Fortress's territory isn't small; besides the main fort, there are many outposts where defenses are weaker, and you have a Sixth-grade Treasure on you, so even if you meet a Grandmaster two or three levels above you, it shouldn't be a problem."

He didn't object, because genius also needs to be tempered by blood and sweat to grow; sweat alone isn't enough.

"However, I'm curious about the grudge you mentioned—could it be that you want to go to the Gu Family and cause trouble for Gu Zhanglin?"

"No," Jiang Cheng shook his head, "I don't have any grudge against him, even if he might think otherwise; the person I really want to deal with is Gu Zhangjun."

"Oh? You mean the current head of the Gu Family?"

"He became the family head?" Upon hearing that, Jiang Cheng blinked in surprise.

"Yeah, come to think of it, we actually helped him a great deal—we took the treasure from Gu Zhanglin's person, letting him profit." Chu Feng laughed helplessly.

"That guy's ability is average, but trying to take him down isn't realistic—even I don't have much confidence to settle him inside the city; perhaps if he leaves the city there'd be a chance, but as the family head..." Chu Feng trailed off, but the meaning was clear.

"Thanks for the reminder, Chief—I also know my own limits; even if he weren't the family head, I couldn't do anything to him right now."

Jiang Cheng shrugged, "So the person I really want to deal with then is Bing Li of the Dawn Society."

"Oh oh, so that's the organization." Chu Feng nodded, "I've heard the Dawn Society's chief recently broke through to First-level Force Master; his strength is decent among peers, but he shouldn't be your match—would you like me to send someone to capture them?"

"No, I'd rather handle it myself."

"Hahaha, I knew you'd say that. Alright, we have about two months until the operation—focus on boosting your strength; regarding what you mentioned, I've agreed, just give me a call when the time comes."

"All right, thanks, Chief." (End of chapter)