Chapter 524: 478 Intelligence

Hearing this question, Tang Zhao's heart skipped a beat, and he looked toward the Golden Crow.

This concerned the next steps for Yunzhou and where it would go from here.

The Golden Crow was silent for a moment, then said, "Being underground is not bad. I have grown accustomed to it; life is very peaceful. Besides... I cannot move anyway."

Gaoyuan Marquis pressed, "Is it because your power is constrained?"

The Golden Crow scrutinized Gaoyuan Marquis without answering directly; clearly, it did not possess the innate trust toward her that it had for Tang Zhao. It only said, "If I can merge with Destruction this time, I will be able to come and go as I please. Whether I stay or leave, there will be room for maneuver."

Gaoyuan Marquis nodded. She understood what the Golden Crow meant: although staying underground was comfortable enough, it did not reject leaving. It was just that for special reasons, it could not move right now. Only by successfully mastering the portion of the Golden Crow's power at Wangliang Mountain could there be any talk of leaving.

With a great enemy currently at the gates, this matter concerned the long term and could be set aside for the moment.

When all was said and done, they still had to go to Wangliang Mountain.

The Golden Crow added, "After so many years, the ground under Yunzhou has long been scorched and melted, creating vast hollows. In the past, my power was what supported it. If I truly leave, the surface of Yunzhou will collapse. You had best be prepared."

Gaoyuan Marquis's expression turned solemn, and her brows furrowed involuntarily.

Upon hearing this, Tang Zhao could not help but feel a stir in his heart, thinking of something.

The three discussed some details about going to Wangliang Mountain, and the Golden Crow once again used the Array in reverse to leave the area. It came quietly and left quietly; only three people knew about it. Even the people in the camp did not know that the Lord Golden Crow, whom they had spent many days preparing to deal with, had just made a round trip right before their eyes.

Only after watching the Golden Crow disappear did Gaoyuan Marquis slowly heave a sigh of relief. She patted Tang Zhao lightly and said, "Azhao, thanks to you, truly thanks to you. If not for you, there would be no hope for this great calamity in Yunzhou. Having you is truly the fortune of Yunzhou, and even the fortune of the Human World, the fortune of the world."

Let's not talk about fortune yet; the disaster hasn't left.

Even now, there is only hope of surviving the Heavenly Tribulation.

Whether they can survive the great calamity—from Gaoyuan Marquis to the Golden Crow, not one of them has any certainty in their heart.

Thus, Gaoyuan Marquis first called Zhang Rong to discuss the matter, then immediately set off to return to Yunzhou, while Tang Zhao remained at the Yunzhou base to continue presiding over Zhaoyang Base.

Logically, since the plan to contact the Golden Crow had yielded results, the mission of Zhaoyang Base should have come to an end, but hadn't a new task arrived?

Attacking Wangliang Mountain likewise required Zhaoyang Base.

Because this attack plan focused on small teams pushing forward to guide a large-scale Teleportation Array, the main camp did not need to be stationed near Wangliang Mountain. If the small team successfully deployed the Teleportation Array, they would only need to gather the main force to perform an airborne landing directly.

It just so happened that Zhaoyang Base was already completely sealed and was quite spacious, and Xue Xianyun was there with his Disciples, making it convenient to build a Great Array encompassing the entire base. When the time came to be summoned, they would be transferred over, people and camp together.

The current team was just right to be kept on as the backbone. The camp not only had many Sword Guests, but most of them used Light or Fire as their Sword Image, which was perfect for dealing with Wangliang Mountain.

However, now that Tang Zhao, the leader of Zhaoyang Base, had to go to Wangliang Mountain, he could not manage the affairs of the rear camp; someone was needed to take charge of the camp in the back.

Gaoyuan Marquis grabbed a Sword Hero who currently had no assignment and was familiar with the inside story to fill the position. That's right, it was Xing Ji.

Tang Zhao was very happy to be able to offload such a heavy responsibility onto Xing Ji. Even though he was gradually becoming capable as a leader, the burden of operating the base for hundreds of people was still very exhausting.

He quickly handed over the matters at hand and focused on preparing to go to Wangliang Mountain.

There was a lot of preparation work.

First, he coordinated the channel for entering Wangliang Mountain.

Although he was prepared for his identity to be less than honorable, he was still quite shocked when he received the intelligence.

He had thought that entering Wangliang Mountain meant doing business, that he would have to pretend to be a human trafficker or something to sneak in, but that was not the case.

Of course, there was a connection.

His identity this time was actually that of an insider. A great Manor Master of Wangliang Mountain was summoning his Disciples from outside to return to the mountain to prepare for the triennial "Deep Shadow Gathering" to be held next month.

Tang Zhao didn't pay attention to the "Deep Shadow Gathering" at first; he was very surprised: Wangliang Mountain still had Manor Masters?

Fortunately, the subsequent information noted it directly: not only did they exist, but Wangliang Mountain was basically governed by a Manor Master system. Apart from Wangliang, who controlled everything in Wangliang Mountain like a deity, there was no unified manager, only Manor Masters of various sizes.

These Manor Masters were all at the level of Sword Guest or above. Relying on their strength, they would stake out a territory, build a manor, and then raise many slaves—that is, Sword Slaves.

Within their territory, a Manor Master was more powerful than an emperor; they were the absolute masters. And in such a place, with subordinates who were all slaves, one could imagine how cruel it was. Added to that was the attrition from various Sword Washing, making the elimination rate of Sword Slaves shockingly high. Every year, children were continuously sent in, yet the supply still could not meet the demand.

That was just for ordinary Sword Slaves, which were still relatively easy to find. As for those top-tier ones who could be used for Sword Washing Seeds and even had a slim chance of becoming Sword Guests, they were generally nowhere to be seen. Even if some were caught outside, they were mostly held for a high price, unwilling to be sold easily to any one Manor Master, but instead taken to the "Deep Shadow Gathering" to find a buyer.

The Deep Shadow Gathering was a high-end trading fair. Not only would they trade high-level slaves, but Manor Masters would also sell valuable goods produced by their own manors. There were also "honored guests" from outside who would use the gathering to reach long-term cooperation agreements with the Manor Masters, entering and exiting multiple times within three years. It could be said to be a rare scene of connection between the extremely closed-off Wangliang Mountain and the outside world.

Such a grand gathering was indeed a good opportunity. Tang Zhao even felt that perhaps the Turtle Bandits had timed their trouble-making to coincide with this. After all, according to intelligence gathered by informants, most Manor Masters showed no signs of being controlled by the Turtle Bandits. The Turtle Bandits couldn't run rampant in such a place either; they definitely had to find an opportunity to cut in.

Sneaking into the Deep Shadow Gathering was not too difficult. Not only did Tongming Hall have channels, but Yunzhou also had its own channels. Pretending to be a wealthy and imposing honored guest made it relatively easy to contact a Manor Master.

However, this time there was an opportunity with higher risk but also greater rewards.

That was that within the manor of this particular Manor Master, there was an informant from the Land Inspection Division, and they had sent back internal news in a timely manner.

In fact, this Manor Master had suddenly died of a sudden illness.

The Disciple he had summoned back was actually his illegitimate son, and thus the heir to the manor.

Because Wangliang Mountain was a world where the strong preyed on the weak, if a Manor Master died without a powerful heir, the manor would be carved up and devoured in an instant. Therefore, the deceased Manor Master's confidants dared not let anyone know and only called the heir back under the guise of preparing for the Deep Shadow Gathering.

The report said that according to the route, that person should be passing through Yunzhou. If they could intercept him, they could borrow his identity to enter Wangliang Mountain and directly take control of a large manor. At that point, they would be in the main seat at the Deep Shadow Gathering rather than a guest seat, making it a hundred times more convenient to act.

This report had actually arrived a month ago and was not prepared for Tang Zhao. It was only because of the alliance with Baiyujing that they paid attention to Wangliang Mountain and doubled their emphasis on intelligence, but they had not yet decided whether to take action.

As it happened, Yunzhou's security was becoming increasingly strict, making it difficult for outsiders to enter or leave, and they just happened to intercept that heir on the border of Liangzhou.

Since they had intercepted him, it would be impolite not to make use of him.

Within a few days, this person's background had been stripped bare and sent to Tang Zhao.

"Jian Chenglong, twenty-eight years old. Illegitimate son of Wucang of the Changfa Manor on Wangliang Mountain. Sent to the outside world to study in his youth, Sword Guest realm, his sword is the Nether Fire Sword... at least it has the word 'fire' in it."

If the opponent's Sword Image was something completely unrelated, Tang Zhao might not have been suitable to impersonate him; it would have been better to select someone from the Land Inspection Division with a similar Sword Image to have the advantage, with Tang Zhao acting as the deputy. But since it was Nether Fire, Tang Zhao could barely manage to pass, especially since his Sunlight Sword Image was good at disguise and could adjust colors; pretending to be Nether Fire was also...

"Wait, his Sword Image is the Ghost Fox?"

Tang Zhao rubbed his head and looked at the picture—the Art Tool he had improved could already record real light and shadow, no longer needing to draw those pictures that even the biological parents couldn't recognize. Therefore, one could intuitively see the appearance of this person and his sword.

There was nothing to say about the person; he looked like an average twenty-seven or twenty-eight-year-old youth, dressed in a flashy and wealthy manner. He was said to have a flamboyant personality; even though he was returning to the mountain in secret, he hadn't been very low-key, which was why he was caught. He looked decent enough, and one couldn't tell from his temperament that he was from Wangliang Mountain; he actually had a bit of... a scholar's air? The difficulty of playing the role was not high.

Actually, even if the acting was a bit off, it didn't matter. This Young Villa Master had cut off contact with most people in the mountain ever since he was sent out of Wangliang Mountain at the age of ten. He only had an old servant sent out by Wangliang Mountain who had raised him since childhood, and that old servant had also died recently. The other people serving him were all found outside the mountain, and the Manor Master's confidants didn't recognize him either. If they hadn't caught the person, in fact, just sending someone of a similar age with a bit of luck could have passed.

But his Sword Image was truly... familiar.

A black fox emitting yin energy from its body. Of course, perhaps because its fur wasn't fluffy enough, it didn't look as cute as a white fox.

Since it was such a coincidence, it would be a waste not to arrange it. Yunzhou was going to cooperate with Baiyujing anyway, and the first batch of vanguards would also be given a spot for Baiyujing to show the sincerity of the cooperation.

Even if they wanted to mobilize a large force to fight, Gaoyuan Marquis was inclined to launch it in the name of Baiyujing. Wangliang Mountain was not in Yunzhou, but deep in Liangzhou, close to the Hu lands, too far from Yunzhou, not to mention that it was entangled with various forces; it was truly a hot potato. Even for the sake of Yunzhou's safety, launching a sudden expedition in the name of a provincial marquis was too conspicuous.

If it is done in the name of the ancient and mysterious Baiyujing, there will be no problem. When the time comes, if the people of Baiyujing find the Ruyi Sword and can awaken this Sword Immortal, allowing the Xiancheng above the clouds to tower over Wangliang Mountain, who in the Human World would dare to say "no"?

This is the greatest benefit of working in full cooperation with Baiyujing.

"He has an old servant by his side who came out of Wangliang Mountain to meet him this time. This old servant is the key; we need someone with good acting skills, alertness, and experience to avoid any flaws. There are quite a few such talents in Yunzhou, aren't there many in the Jing'an Division? It just so happens that I have asked the Marquis to find me an experienced deputy, who should be able to play him."

"As for the male and female servants by his side... that doesn't matter, even the number can be flexible; bringing a few is fine. However, it is better to have quality than quantity. Three or four will be enough."

"He even brought... two pairs of young boys and girls? Are they his high-level reserve sword slaves, prepared to show their faces at the Deep Shadow Society? As expected of a rotten seed from Wangliang Mountain, rotten to the core. After being out for so many years, all his studies have gone to the dogs! This item is exempted!"

Tang Zhao carefully read through the information, formed a plan in his heart, and began to assemble his people.