Chapter 304: The Signal Sent
Thirty minutes prior to the sky rending over Crimson Iron City...
Inside the grand, polished executive room of the Golden Cauldron Merchant Union, Bai Ruolan sat behind her massive wooden desk, silently reviewing the latest financial ledgers.
She was dressed in her pristine indigo robes, her posture faultlessly poised, but beneath the calm exterior, her heart was hammering against her ribs like a wild beast.
Today was the day
The day Shen Yu’s grand orchestration would violently descend upon this stronghold.
As the key asset embedded within the union’s core leadership, her role was of absolute importance.
A soft knock rattled the carved doors.
"Come in," Ruolan said, her tone smooth and measured.
A female attendant in light blue robes stepped into the office, bowing respectfully.
"Leader Bai, the high executive council meeting will commence in ten minutes."
Bai Ruolan gave a subtle nod, setting the scroll in her hands down without a single tremor in her fingers.
"I understand. Let us head over."
Standing up, she smoothed her silk robes and stepped into the corridor.
She walked with effortless grace, but every step felt like marching toward a war zone.
Her palms were faintly slick with sweat.
If her acting faltered for even a fraction of a second, or if the signal failed, Shen Yu’s entire plan would suffer.
She swallowed hard, anchoring her mind to the memory of Shen Yu’s overwhelming, possessive touch and his unyielding promise of absolute triumph.
Five minutes later, she entered the opulent, high-ceilinged grand council chamber.
The air inside was thick with tension and spiritual pressure.
Already seated around the long oval table were the ruling elite of the union.
At the head sat Union Chief Meng De, a stern, veteran Golden Core master exuding an air of absolute authority.
On his right sat Zhao Tianxing, the ruthless leader of the Blacksmith Division.
His sharp, hawkish eyes flashed cold as Ruolan walked into the room.
Ignoring his hostile glare, Bai Ruolan took her designated seat directly to the left of Meng De, facing Zhao Tianxing across the polished wood.
Moments later, the heavy doors opened once more as Ye Jun, the main treasurer of the union, hurried in and claimed the final seat.
Meng De swept his eyes over the gathered executives and rested his hands on the table.
"Now that everyone is present, let us begin the high council assembly."
The meeting proceeded with dull, routine reports.
They reviewed weekly profit margins, herb acquisitions, and internal security protocols.
As the agenda moved toward the upcoming Imperial Competition, Zhao Tianxing leaned forward, aggressively talking about him and his faction’s blacksmiths, boasting of the absolute dominance they would secure under the Emperor’s gaze.
Ruolan listened quietly, nodding at appropriate intervals while her left hand subtly slipped into the wide sleeve of her robe.
Her fingers brushed against a thin, cold piece of jade, a specialized transmission talisman directly linked to the talisman in Shen Yu’s sleeve.
As Meng De raised his hand to deliver his concluding remarks for the assembly, Bai Ruolan executed her move.
With subtlety, she channeled a microscopic thread of Qi into the hidden talisman.
The jade flared quietly beneath her sleeve, sending an invisible, spatial vibration shooting out into the city toward the high pagoda across the street.
’It is done,’ she thought, her pulse spiking with adrenaline.
However, before she could even withdraw her hand, a piercing, suffocating gaze locked onto her face.
Ruolan froze. She looked up slowly, meeting the dangerous, narrowed eyes of Zhao Tianxing.
"What did you just do, Leader Bai?" Zhao Tianxing demanded, his voice dropping into a harsh, confrontational register that instantly drew the eyes of every elder in the room.
Ruolan’s blood ran cold, her heart slamming violently against her chest.
Her palms instantly drenched in cold sweat, but she forced her expression to remain frozen in cold, aloof disdain.
"I don’t know what you mean, Leader Zhao," Ruolan replied smoothly, keeping her voice completely steady.
I merely adjusted my posture."
"Lie to someone else!" Zhao Tianxing sneered, his Golden Core Qi flaring aggressively as he stood up, slamming his heavy hand onto the table.
"I felt a distinct, concealed fluctuation of Qi right under your sleeves! Why are you using qi in the middle of a secure—"
Before the words could fully leave his throat, a sudden, apocalyptic weight slammed down onto the entire building!
BOOM!
The massive stone structure of the Golden Cauldron Union groaned under an terrifying, unholy demonic pressure.
The overwhelming density of the aura crashed down like a falling mountain, instantly cracking the building’s primary spiritual wards.
"Aaargh!"
Several late-stage Foundation Establishment elders screamed in agony as the suffocating pressure slammed them violently out of their seats, pinning them flat against the cold marble floor as they spat sprays of fresh crimson blood!
Even Meng De and Zhao Tianxing gasped, the color instantly draining from their faces as their Golden Cores shuddered under the terrifying, absolute dominance of a higher realm.
"Nascent... Nascent Soul?!" Meng De choked out, his eyes wide with unadulterated horror.
"What is happening?!"
"That’s... demonic Qi!"
"Why is a demonic cultivator inside the Empire?! Why is he attacking us?!"
Panicked, overlapping shouts erupted across the room as elders scrambled in utter chaos.
But before anyone could even draw a weapon, a monstrous, sky-shattering scream tore through the atmosphere, booming directly above the council chamber like divine thunder!
"GOLDEN CAULDRON TRASH!"
The terrifying roar imploded every single stained-glass window in the grand hall, sending a lethal storm of colored glass shards raining down upon the cowering leaders!
"DIE!"
Outside, the bright afternoon sky twisted into a sickening, blood-drenched red.
High above the avenue, a gigantic, hundred-meter phantom blade forged of dark red and pitch-black demonic Qi ripped through the clouds, descending in a violent, world-splitting vertical arc aimed directly at the council chamber where they stood!
-x-
A/N:
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