Chapter 590 - 361: Mastermind

The vast meeting hall of the Falling Blossom Villa was cloaked in a heavy, suffocating silence.

Outside the tall, latticed windows carved from pale sandalwood, the faint rustle of drifting cherry blossoms brushed against the tiled eaves.

Yet inside the cavernous chamber, the air was dense and cold, smelling of burning incense and aged paper scrolls.

A broad, rectangular conference table crafted from thousand-year spirit cedar dominated the center of the hall, its polished, dark grain gleaming under the gentle, azure radiance of hanging luminescent spirit stones.

Haoran’s entire inner circle, aside from those who were out patrolling, were gathered here, sitting in front of a rectangular table.

At the head of the long table sat the grand high-backed seat, carved from solid white jade and upholstered in deep crimson velvet.

It was reserved for Haoran and remained empty.

Even in his absence, the phantom weight of that young man’s authority seemed to linger over the vacant chair, casting an unspoken expectation of absolute discipline and order over everyone present.

Huo Yue was sitting on the seat beside the head seat.

Her posture was straight and rigid, draped in flowing crimson and dark silk robes that whispered against the polished wood whenever she shifted.

Her hair was gathered in a high, intricate bun pinned with sharp silver needles, and her sharp, crimson eyes surveyed the gathered figures with cold vigilance.

Her pale fingers rested lightly on the armrest, tapping in a slow, rhythmic cadence that betrayed the suppressed tension coiling beneath her composed facade.

As the person entrusted to oversee administrative affairs while Haoran was away attending to personal matters, the mounting pressure of the past several days rested squarely on her shoulders.

Meanwhile, Xu Xiansu, Shen Xinye, Shen Ying, Shen Tao, Shen Jian, and Xia Mengyao were seated on the side.

Xu Xiansu sat with stacks of freshly drafted reports, ledger scrolls, and glowing message jade slips laid out before her.

Her delicate fingers trembled slightly as she smoothed down the edges of a parchment detailing the latest casualties.

Taking a deep breath to steady her fluttering breath, she pushed her chair back slightly and rose to her feet, drawing the collective gaze of the entire table.

"I will deliver the consolidated report for the past three days," Xu Xiansu began, her voice clear and formal, though an undercurrent of strain frayed its edges. "To summarize our current situation plainly: ever since Haoran departed the academy grounds for the Ye Family’s territory three days ago, the attacks targeting our territories and forces have not merely escalated—they have exploded in both frequency and lethality."

She unfurled a long, crimson-inked ledger across the smooth cedar wood, pointing toward the jagged peaks of numerical losses.

"During the first day of Haoran’s absence, we recorded forty seven skirmishes outside our city. In the last forty eight hours alone, that number has surged past three hundred and twenty separate incidents. The hostile forces are operating in coordinated strike squads of five to ten men, moving with terrifying familiarity through our boundary patrol routes. They strike swiftly, kill everyone in sight, burn the infrastructure, and vanish before our guards or the reinforcement platoons can arrive."

Xu Xiansu swallowed hard, turning to the second page of the dossier, her knuckles whitening.

"The primary targets of these ambushes have been the gamers. The losses suffered by their ranks are reaching catastrophic proportions. Over four hundred registered gamers have been cut down in the southern mist valleys, the spirit-iron quarries, and the dense training woods surrounding the academy perimeter. These attackers are not just killing them in passing but are actively camping the designated resurrection points. They set up concealment formations, wait for the gamers to re-manifest their physical vessels with weakened vitality, and kill them repeatedly until their soul couldn’t handle it and eject them."

The grim reality of her words hung over the hall like an executioner’s blade.

"Because of this relentless hunting, the psychology of the gamers is deteriorating rapidly," Xu Xiansu continued, her voice growing heavier with every syllable. "Aside from die hard fans, some casual gamers are starting to complain bitterly. The communication forums and guild channels are overflowing with outrage, panic, and rebellion. Many of the prominent guild leaders have declared strikes, refusing to leave the inner walls of our settlements. They argue that their experience progress has been erased, and their leveling speed has been ground down to an absolute standstill. Thankfully, no one seems to want to rage quit yet.x

She turned the ledger once more, exposing columns of red numbers that detailed a bleeding financial ledger.

"Naturally, the collapse of our security has triggered an immediate and devastating chain reaction across the entire economy of our Boundless Sky City. The city’s commerce is withering by the hour. The seven major trade routes connecting our market districts to the southern provinces have been severed by hit-and-run raiders who target merchant caravans regardless of their flags. Warehouses are packed with raw spirit herbs, unprocessed monster beast hides, and refined ores that cannot be transported out, while essential daily consumables within the city are facing severe shortages."

Xu Xiansu looked around the silent table, her eyes filled with grave worry.

"Worse still is the loss of consumer confidence. With the outer perimeter constantly engulfed in ambushes and smoke, the fear of slaughter has gripped the surrounding lands. Almost no natives from academy dimensions, nor the students factions, are willing to step foot inside Boundless Sky City. The market squares, which used to buzz with tens of thousands of merchants trading spiritual artifacts, pills, and rare scrolls, are now completely desolate. Over eighty percent of the guest pavilions, auction halls, and tavern chains have shuttered their doors. Foreign merchants have evacuated their assets through the teleportation gates, stating openly that our city is no longer a safe haven for commerce. Our daily tax revenue has plummeted by seventy four percent."

As Xu Xiansu concluded her detailed report and lowered her gaze, the heavy silence inside the meeting hall became almost suffocating.

The sheer scope of the crisis was laid bare on the polished table, demanding an answer that none of them had yet been able to formulate.

Shen Ying sat on the left side of the table, silent and as stoic as ever.

Dressed in her baggy white robes that hides her figure, with her arms loosely tucked inside her wide sleeves, she stared blankly at the polished wood before her.

Her breathing was so faint and rhythmic that she appeared more like a carved jade statue than a living person.

Her heavy eyelids drooped, her head nodding downward by a fraction of an inch every few seconds, looking for all the world as though she were on the verge of dozing off entirely amidst the grim economic discourse.

To a master of the silent blade like her, trade deficits and grain shortages were meaningless noise; only when a throat needed slitting or a target was marked would her dead eyes truly awaken.

Beside her, Shen Xinye just furrowed her brows, but said nothing.

Her delicate, pale fingers traced the rim of an untouched porcelain teacup, her knuckles taut.

Her refined features were pinched into a tight, troubled expression, her silver pupils reflecting the flickering blue light of the spirit stones.

She was acutely aware of the delicate balance holding their territories together.

Every instinct warned her that an overt overreaction could play directly into the enemy’s hands, yet remaining passive while their lifeblood was slowly bled away was equally untenable.

Caught between calculated restraint and mounting frustration, she kept her lips pressed into a thin, unyielding line, choosing silence over empty speculation.

Across from them, Xia Mengyao leaned back against the high wooden frame of her chair, her arms crossed firmly over her chest.

A sharp, mocking scowl carved itself across her striking face, her eyes flashing with pure disdain as she looked at the reports.

"...cowards," Xia Mengyao spat coldly, her voice laced with sharp, biting venom that sliced through the quiet room. "When young master Haoran was right here, not a single one of these faceless cowards dared to breathe too loudly in our direction. Now, they scramble out of their burrows to bite our heels like starving dogs. They don’t dare face him openly, so they pick on the weak, ambush the gamers, and disrupt our trade to make themselves feel powerful!"

BANG!

A deafening crash shattered the atmosphere as Shen Jian slammed his fist onto the cedar table!

The force of his strike sent a violent tremor through the heavy wood, causing the porcelain teacups to rattle violently and several jade slips to skip across the surface.

Shen Jian surged to his feet, his broad chest heaving with unrestrained fury, his jaw clenched so hard that the muscles along his cheeks twitched.

"Damn them all!" Shen Jian roared, his teeth gritted in a feral snarl, his bloodshot eyes sweeping across the room. "We sit here counting numbers, looking at ledgers, and talking about merchant routes while our brothers and the vanguard are butchered in the dirt! What is there to debate?! Let me lead three thousand elite troops and the Heavy Armor Corps directly into the southern woods! We will sweep through every square inch of the mist valleys, uproot every tree, and turn the soil upside down! Whoever we catch, we will peel their skin off, hang their corpses along the trade highways, and show these hiding cowards what happens when they touch the Shen Clan’s domain!"

His murderous aura flared out, hot and untamed, rattling the window lattices.

"Sit down, Shen Jian."

A calm, deep voice cut through the shouting like a heavy iron weight dropped into deep water.

Shen Tao sat on the opposite end, his arms crossed over his broad chest, his gaze steady and immovable as an ancient mountain.

His dark, weathered face was an unreadable mask of iron discipline, entirely unmoved by Shen Jian’s explosive outburst.

He didn’t even raise his chin; he simply leveled a stern, piercing stare at his hot-headed kinsman.

"You speak of sweeping the southern woods as if the enemy will stand in a line and wait for your warhammers," Shen Tao said coldly, his tone brooking no argument. "You would lead three thousand men into the brush, exhaust their vitality, and leave our inner city walls completely hollowed out, offering the enemy the exact opening they have been baiting us to create. Control your temper and sit down."

Shen Jian’s breath hitched.

He glared at Shen Tao, his veins throbbing along his temples, but under the immovable, stronger authority of the First Crown, he slowly forced his violent aura back into his core.

With a frustrated, low snarl, he dragged his chair back and dropped heavily onto the seat, crossing his arms and looking away.

Once the room settled back into tense stillness, Shen Tao turned his head toward the front of the table, his eyes locked onto Xu Xiansu, who still stood holding her brush.

"Your analysis is accurate, Sister Xu," Shen Tao said, his voice dropping into a low, grave rumble that commanded the undivided attention of every person in the hall. "However, the guessing game regarding who is orchestrating this sabotage is over. An hour before this meeting was convened, Shen Hei returned from his deep reconnaissance mission behind the northern boundary lines."

At the mention of Shen Hei—the most ruthless, elusive shadow operative and assassin within the Crowns—even the seemingly dozing Shen Ying opened one cold eye, focusing entirely on the speaker.

Shen Tao leaned forward, placing his forearms flat against the cedar table, his expression darkening with lethal certainty.

"Shen Hei managed to track and follow the trails of a certain strike team that ambushed the third vanguard mining camp today and has confirmed the mastermind behind the raids, the economic blockade, and the systematic hunting of our gamers."

Shen Tao paused, letting his gaze sweep over the faces of the inner circle before delivering the final, definitive truth.

"It is Sky Reaching City. City Lord Lin Yun is the one pulling the strings."