When Shen Yue arrived home, he shut himself in his room and started to cultivate using the books for Black Gold rank compiled by the Library. Although, the compilation is not complete, he could still feel his soul force increase significantly. When he tested using a soul stone, he had reached the beginnings of Black Gold rank. In Glory city, he should be considered a top expert and be able to face anyone or escape safely from battle except Lord Ye Mo, the City Lord Ye Zhong and his father Shen Hong.
The next day, Shen Yue arrived at the place he agreed to meet Zi Yun. He found her already waiting on the corner of the city square. He used his spiritual sense to inspect the surroundings and as he suspected there were two Gold rank experts hiding in the shadows. It seemed the city lord didn't completely trust him yet.
"Hi Zi Yun. You are here early." I smiled lightly at the beautiful young woman standing by herself.
"Hello, Shen Yue. I just arrived."
"Shall we walk to the park?" I gestured towards the direction of the park.
"Ok. Let's go."
"How's everything going? Is anything new?"
"Not really. Oh, Nie Li is now staying in the mansion. He's helping my father with something." Zi Yun felt a bit awkward talking about Nie Li though she didn't understand why.
'As expected, he should start helping the City Lord with setting up a demonic array. Per the timeline, there will be an attack on the mansion soon.'
"Ok. Here we are. Let's walk through the garden path like others." When they arrived at the garden path, there were already some couples walking hand in hand talking and laughing among themselves.
"Maybe …we should walk arm in arm like the others. Just to be safe in our cover" When Zi Yun heard what Shen Yue said, she hesitated but nodded with a neutral expression. It was pretty weak reasoning but surprisingly she linked her arm around Shen Yue and kept walking as if nothing has happened. After about half an hour, Shen Yue gestured towards a bench under a tree where no one was around.
"Let's go sit under the tree for a moment." Zi Yun nodded and went to sit on the bench. Shen Yue first used his spiritual sense to sense his surroundings and when he is satisfied, he said to Zi Yun.
"Zi Yun, I have some information you can relay to your father." Zi Yun became alert and she was looking at Shen Yue seriously.
"I have reason to believe my family will send some dark guild members to wreak havoc in City Lord's mansion in the next few days. " Zi Yun visibly tensed then trembled.
“But why would they do this? What do they gain from such an attack? Wouldn’t this be a clear evidence of betrayal?”
"Their purpose is to create instability and to cast doubt on your father's ability to lead Glory City. In short, the dark guild wants my father Shen Hong to become city lord and make him a puppet to control Glory City. Also there will not be any public experts from my family participating in the attack so City Lord can’t directly pin in on us."
"I will relay this information to my father." The atmosphere had become quite tense when Shen Yue proposed to go back. When he offered his arm, Zi Yun didn't hesitate to take it. They didn't talk at all during their walk back as both were absorbed in their own thoughts. When they arrived back at the square, Shen Yue said.
"Let us meet again next week here at the same time." He smiled at her gently as he said goodbyes. Zi Yun nodded and said the same and went back home.
The next few days Shen Yue stayed at home hanging around elder Shen Ming or others. They seem to just not mind him and went about their business. The group from the restaurant also came several times. They must be planning for the attack on City Lord's mansion.
At the end of the week, Shen Yue went to visit Yang Xin as planned. They talked for a while about some alchemy problems. She seemed to be aware of Sacred Family's betrayal as she asked some roundabout questions. Alchemy Guild president must be in the confidence of Ye Zhong as in the story. It seemed Yang Xin was in the inner circle of the guild’s higher ups. Shen Yue revealed to her that he was the source for the information and was working with City lord to give information. She was shocked but eventually accepted after his assurances.
In the evening, they had a private dinner and Shen Yue was about to leave when they heard sounds of explosions. When they went outside, they found long columns of smokes and commotions coming from the direction of the City lord’s mansion. Shen Yue held Yang Xin’s hand as they gazed towards the mansion with various thoughts running their heads. The attack on the City Lord's mansion had begun.
