Ever since Wang Jian took on the bewildering post of "Patrol Officer," his whereabouts had become increasingly elusive. Even his family could no longer hear him chat idly about his official duties; when questioned, he’d cut them off bluntly with a single word: "Confidential."

Though the Wang Family was not of the highest nobility, as Nobles they still had some experience with such matters. The elders suspected their boy must’ve taken on some secret assignment. Most likely, he was being highly valued by that Hundred Households of Shen.

But no matter how the Wang Family guessed, they could never have imagined that Wang Jian’s task was so risky it could cost him his head at any moment.

Black is black, white is white—there is no grey area in the law, nor is any mixing of black and white permitted. Thus, the Xuanqing Guard’s infiltration into the Black Market’s intelligence channels could never be made public; and now, Wang Jian was the very chess piece caught in the middle.

The risks were tremendous, but so were the rewards.

Wang Jian had always understood that with his family background, his prospects in the Xuanqing Guard would likely be limited to slowly grinding away with time. By his thirties or forties he might achieve the rank of General Flag; if his Cultivation improved, perhaps even Trial Hundred Households or Hundred Households. But by then he’d be around fifty, and after that, there’d be no further path upward.

The youthful and ambitious Wang Jian naturally detested such a slow, unrewarding road. Especially after following Shen Hao and personally witnessing the latter’s meteoric rise, Wang Jian too yearned for a shot at something greater.

Fight for it—otherwise, he simply couldn’t accept it.

Shen Hao had initially given him a month, but Wang Jian would never cram things into the last minute. He dared not slack off for even a moment, interrogating Flying Dragon about the situation every three days, and adjusting his own progress ceaselessly based on Flying Dragon’s feedback.

Now half a month had passed. The three-part intelligence processing system Wang Jian had designed was already mostly in place; next, he would spend five to ten days testing if any adjustments were needed.

For these meetups with Flying Dragon, Wang Jian chose Tu Kui City: he’d never been there before, so no one would recognize him, and as it was Flying Dragon’s newly "taken" territory, secret meetings would be more convenient.

The intelligence process Wang Jian had split into three sections now had new names. The first, in charge of comprehensive collection, was called "Little Ghost." The second, handling classification, was "Ghost Gate." The third, responsible for verification, was "Judge." Each section knew of the others’ existence but not their identities, locations, or numbers.

Moreover, all personnel had been trained for their specific sections—at least with the basics—so, with time, proficiency would naturally follow.

Additionally, none of these people had any idea why they were doing this, or who was behind it all. Everyone only knew Flying Dragon, and not Wang Jian at all.

During this period, Wang Jian also met with Zhang Lie. Compared to the ever-smiling, prosperous-looking Flying Dragon, Zhang Lie was strictly formal with Wang Jian, and obvious in his pride. After all, he was a master of the Gathering Spirit Realm, while Wang Jian’s pitiful Cultivation wasn’t worth his notice. If not for Shen Hao’s regard, he most likely wouldn’t even bother acknowledging Wang Jian.

Still, Wang Jian felt fortunate that Zhang Lie, for all his attitude, was diligent in his duties. The monitoring and screening of the three divisions remained under Zhang Lie’s supervision. As for how he chose people, he had his own methods—Wang Jian didn’t ask. He trusted this man, brimming with Evil Qi.

As Flying Dragon put it, "Brother Zhang Lie has been on a killing spree these days." All the major brokers in Tu Kui City had been hunted to extinction by him, leaving the entire Black Market’s channels under Flying Dragon’s control.

Now, with Tu Kui City, Li City, and Pingshun City held smoothly in hand, seventy percent of all Black Market transactions within the Fengri City domain could not escape Flying Dragon’s gaze.

This was why, whenever he was alone, Wang Jian would clench his fists and pump himself up. He realized he’d joined a grand game, with rewards far greater than he’d ever imagined.

Never mind the distant future—even the Elixirs, once so hard to come by, were no longer scarce. With all Black Market channels under Flying Dragon’s control, both buyers and sellers bowed to his favor, offering extra perks on top of brokerage fees—sometimes Elixirs, sometimes silver coins. In just half a month, Wang Jian had received a Small Nourishing Pill and two thousand taels of silver.

That’s not even including the cut from the "Zhang Family Five Spirits" that now had spread across every city in Fengri City’s jurisdiction—profits from that were a vast ocean.

In the dead of night, Wang Jian lit a lamp. All the windows were sealed with black cloth, not a sliver of light escaping.

"Knock knock knock." As expected, a knock came at the door. Two masked men in black delivered a large bundle of Copper Rods, all intelligence filtered and sent from the Judicial Department. These two were Zhang Lie’s men.

The people delivering changed every day, and Wang Jian’s location varied too. Sometimes Flying Dragon would collect in his stead, holding onto the items for a day or two before passing them along. Wang Jian worked to avoid every possible risk.

After making the delivery, the two black-clad men turned and left without a word.

This was the eighth batch of compiled intelligence since the establishment of the three divisions. Every time, about twenty Copper Rods came, written to the brim—just a small fraction after all the filtering. Clearly, Black Market transactions were far more rampant than outsiders imagined.

Counting the days, there were seven left of the month Shen Hao had given. Wang Jian intended to gather two more days of intel before reporting early to Shen Hao five days ahead of deadline.

Sitting under the lamp, he opened the Copper Rods one by one, pen in hand, occasionally jotting notes onto official records.

Practice makes perfect; though tedious, Wang Jian read through the information swiftly.

"Something’s odd. This much bulk grain and raw iron ore being smuggled? In just six days, two large shipments? And even more small ones—five cases in all?

And the General Spirit Stone... tsk, these quantities—state-run mines must be involved, right?"

Each time he reviewed these summaries, a chill ran through Wang Jian’s heart. It was like a bird living in a great tree—never sensing anything wrong—yet now discovering the tree was riddled with more worms than he’d imagined, he couldn’t help but worry if his home would rot and collapse. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

This feeling changed something in Wang Jian. He’d found a sense of responsibility in this task, no longer just aiming to complete it for its own sake.

Two days later, Wang Jian returned to Fengri City with a summary of his first ten days’ results, ready to report to Shen Hao in person.

Meanwhile, Flying Dragon, with Zhang Lie and the others, set out again—to claim the last territory in Fengri City’s domain that remained untouched.