Starting as the heir of a marquis's mansion, I gained access to a summoning system.

Guangling Prefecture City, Eryuetang Headquarters.

Unlike Ichigetsudo's covert efforts to build its strength, Nigetsudo's development is more like an invisible net that is slowly tightening.

After the Iron Sword Sect surrendered, the first thing Chai Yuguan did was not to celebrate, but to uproot the Iron Sword Sect's original intelligence system and reshuffle it.

Dugu Yi had no objection to this—since he chose to surrender, he knew that Chai Yuguan would not allow him to retain any independent power.

Old intelligence was destroyed, old relationships were reorganized, and old personnel were screened. Those who remained were those who had stood the test of time; those who were eliminated were anyone who might have harbored disloyalty.

Chai Yuguan personally oversaw this purge. He sat in the main hall of the Er Yue Tang headquarters, with piles of intelligence files from the Iron Sword Sect over the years in front of him, flipping through them one by one and marking each one.

"Dugu Yi's Iron Sword Sect has been operating in Guangling Prefecture for twenty years, and the intelligence accumulated during these twenty years is of immeasurable value."

He said to Lu Qian beside him, "But the value of intelligence lies not in how much you know, but in how many people know it. A piece of intelligence is just a piece of waste paper if many people know it; it is gold if only one person knows it."

Lu Qian nodded: "Does Hall Master Chai mean that the truly core part of the Iron Sword Sect's intelligence system is only controlled by Dugu Yi?"

"That's right." Chai Yuguan closed a dossier. "So rather than cleaning up the Iron Sword Sect's intelligence system, it's more like taking out what's in Dugu Yi's head and putting it into our own system."

Lu Qian was originally just a rogue cultivator. In his early years, while traveling the martial world, he learned skills in stealth, disguise, and espionage by chance, and he was extremely perceptive in judging people's hearts and situations. He had no ties to any sect or official position, and upon hearing that the Azure Dragon Society had established the Eryue Hall in Guangling Prefecture, he took the initiative to come to them.

Chai Yuguan tested him three times—once by setting a trap to test his loyalty, once by testing his adaptability under pressure, and once by sending him to keep an eye on a target to see how much he could uncover.

Lu Qian exceeded Chai Yuguan's expectations in all three tests. Especially in the last one, he only needed three days to figure out the entire background of a medium-sized chamber of commerce, and even copied a copy of the black ledger that the chamber's owner hid in a secret compartment.

Chai Yuguan immediately decided to give him an important position. Within just half a month, Lu Qian had established six intelligence outposts in Guangling Prefecture, covering every main street and key location in the city. Three of these were located openly:

The East Market branch was located in the backyard of the Fulai Inn. On the surface, it was an inn, but in reality, it was an intelligence relay station for the Eryuetang. The innkeeper was a subordinate recruited by Lu Qian, two waiters were responsible for keeping an eye on merchants coming and going, and three beggars were stationed at the entrances of various shops, recording every carriage that entered and exited and every unfamiliar face.

The West Market branch was located in the back room of Ping'an Pawnshop, responsible for monitoring the underworld forces in the city. The pawnshop clerks collected pawned items during the day and organized intelligence at night; the porters of the carriage company kept an eye out for activity while delivering goods; and the bookkeepers of the cloth shop searched for unusual transactions in the company's accounts.

The southern branch station was located in a teahouse near the government office, specifically to monitor the movements of the officials. The teahouse owner was a friend Lu Qian had met during his early travels. He had been framed and dismissed from his post by local powerful figures and harbored deep resentment towards the government and the powerful clans. Through the servants, secretaries, and clerks of the officials who frequented the teahouse, this man had already figured out the temperaments and weaknesses of most of the officials in the government office.

The other three locations are extremely secretive, recruiting no personnel from outside and contacted only by Lu Qian. In Chai Yuguan's plan, these three intelligence stations are the last resort to be used as a last resort—even within the Eryuetang, apart from Chai Yuguan and Lu Qian, no one else knows of their existence.

The framework of the intelligence network was in place, but the flesh and blood still needed to be added gradually. Chai Yuguan was in no hurry; he had plenty of patience.

At the same time, the base that Eryuetang was building underground in Guangling Prefecture was also progressing simultaneously.

The first secret chamber is located two zhang underground, beneath the main headquarters. It is built of bluestone on all four sides and supported by ironwood beams on the top. It can accommodate thirty people to hide in, and the stored pills, weapons, and silver are enough to last for two months.

The second stronghold was located underground in an abandoned mortuary in the west of the city. The mortuary was a place that the locals avoided like the plague, and no one would go near it, making it a natural and suitable hiding place.

Chai Yuguan had a secret passage dug beneath the mortuary's altar, leading to an underground safe house. This safe house, in turn, connected to an escape route leading to the mass grave outside the city. To outsiders, the mortuary remained a gloomy and terrifying place for storing corpses; no one knew that the stone slabs beneath the altar could be pushed open.

The third stronghold was located beneath a warehouse at the northern dock. The warehouse nominally belonged to a merchant with no connection to Chai Yuguan, but was in reality secretly controlled by the Er Yue Tang. The warehouse's underground location led directly to the dock's waterway, allowing for evacuation by water if necessary.

Chai Yuguan also had several small boats and a batch of diving bags kept in the warehouse for emergencies.

The fourth, fifth, and sixth outposts are also in the process of site selection and construction.

Chai Yuguan's plan was to establish at least twelve such underground strongholds in Guangling Prefecture and the surrounding three towns, forming an interconnected and mutually supportive underground network.

Each stronghold has its own reserves of elixirs, weapons, and silver, and they are connected to each other through secret passages or codes. Even if some of the strongholds are discovered or destroyed by the enemy, the others can still operate independently.

Standing in the newly built underground chamber in the backyard of the headquarters, Chai Yuguan inspected every detail by the light of an oil lamp. He walked to the weapon rack, drew out several swords, flicked the blades, and judged the quality of the steel by the sound. Most of the weapons were up to standard, but two swords had cracks that were barely visible to the naked eye. He threw those two swords on the ground: "This batch of goods from the blacksmith shop is no good. Go to another one."

Emerging from the secret chamber, Chai Yuguan sat down in the pavilion in the backyard of the headquarters. A cool night breeze blew, and the moonlight was like water. Lu Qian was already waiting there, holding an intelligence summary filled with tiny, neat characters.

"Master Chai, news has arrived from the north."

"explain."

Lu Qian lowered his voice:

"The Northern Garrison Command of the Imperial Court has been frequently mobilizing personnel recently, seemingly in pursuit of the whereabouts of an ancient artifact. What exactly it is is still unclear, but the mobilization is of a very high caliber—the Commander-in-Chief of the Garrison Command is personally leading the team, with the assistance of spies from three thousand-household units."

"Ancient relics." Chai Yuguan repeated these four words, tapping his fingers lightly on the stone table. "Something that could cause such a commotion for the Northern Garrison Command is no ordinary object. Continue the investigation, but be careful not to alert them."

"Understood. In addition, we have also gathered some information about the movements of the major sects."

Lu Qian turned to the second page of the intelligence summary: "Chaotian Palace has recently been recruiting more disciples, and the sect leader has been in seclusion for three months, with outsiders speculating that he is trying to reach a higher realm. There seem to be changes within the Iron Blood Hall recently; the sect leader has not appeared for two months, and the sect's affairs are being temporarily handled by the eldest disciple, Xie Yun. These are all just rumors, without any concrete evidence."

After listening, Chai Yuguan did not immediately express his opinion. He picked up the teapot on the stone table in the pavilion, poured himself a cup of tea, took a slow sip, and then looked at Lu Qian.

"There's no rush to investigate the Iron Blood Hall and Chaotian Palace matters." He put down his teacup. "But we mustn't miss a single move by any of the mid-level forces. In the martial world, the actions of small fry often reveal more than those of big fish."

Lu Qian nodded, keeping these words in mind.

Chai Yuguan stood up, put his hands behind his back, and looked up at the northern night sky.

The news that the Zhenfu Division was investigating ancient artifacts was like a thorn in his heart.

He dislikes the idea of ​​major events happening without his knowledge, and he dislikes the possibility that these events might intersect with Qinglong without his knowledge.