Chapter 558: Another Breakthrough

Chapter 558: Chapter 558: Another Breakthrough

Celestial Wings... the name of this trading company is no small matter; even though Shen Hao rarely pays attention to various merchants, he has still heard of it.

It is said that Celestial Wings Trading Company belongs to the Imperial Merchant "Blade," primarily engaged in carriage-and-horse shops and shipbuilding.

"Is it possible to make it through?"

"Liu Hengyi thinks it’s very difficult, especially for the business on the Baijiang Waterway. Due to restrictions with the ships, getting in is almost impossible—unless we continue along the land route and bypass the waterway section."

"Did Liu Hengyi notice?"

"Yes, my lord. The situation over there is not quite what we previously thought. Although there are water gates and checkpoints, it’s not under martial law—as long as you have proper travel documents and a road pass, you can enter and exit. Many local commoners are aware of that place, and plenty of businesses depend on it to survive.

It’s just that the government limits news about the City of Unjust Death, and village chiefs and local spokespersons in the countryside quietly warn the people; that’s why for years, almost no outsiders know what’s really going on there."

With that, Shen Hao understood. Simply put, the City of Unjust Death isn’t some untouchable secret—it’s only that the authorities use travel documents and road passes to cap the number of people entering and leaving that area, and there’s deliberate suppression of information. So outsiders don’t know, but locals are all aware.

Thinking about it, this logic does make sense. Otherwise, how could a city that big go unnoticed?

Shen Hao had previously asked Wang Jian to signal Liu Hengyi to investigate the Baijiang waterways, and now Liu Hengyi had indeed dug up everything clearly. However, there was some leakage where secrecy was concerned.

"Liu Hengyi is an expert in this area. If he feels confident that he can take a piece of the land-based business along the Baijiang banks, that’s fine. If he needs anything, have him come to you directly, and if you can’t resolve it, report it to me. Also..." Shen Hao paused and continued, "Have Zhang Liao select two suitable people to serve as Liu Hengyi’s bodyguards—to protect him thoroughly. Choose clever ones, and make sure their cultivation stands out."

"Understood, my lord." Wang Jian bowed in agreement, knowing in his heart that Lord Shen was just tying a rope around Liu Hengyi.

After Wang Jian left, Shen Hao summoned Wang Yiming inside, and handed off all the recent matters that needed handling, stating bluntly that he would be adjusting his state soon to focus on cultivation, and not to bother him unless absolutely necessary.

Wang Yiming naturally bowed in compliance; rather than feeling exhausted, he actually felt a kind of "being finally trusted by my lord."

With the delegation of tasks, Shen Hao clearly sensed himself becoming idle—those beneath him tried to finish things independently, and once the broad direction was set, there was little that needed to get passed to Shen Hao’s desk. In handling day-to-day business, he gradually began to increase his cultivation time.

This was the first time that Shen Hao had made cultivation his daily priority after the black beast tattoo on his body revealed its ability; also the first time he proactively wanted to improve his cultivation as quickly as possible. Compared to treating cultivation like homework in the past, Shen Hao now could truly feel the changes cultivation brought him.

He had only just broken through to the Gathering Spirit Realm Seventh Layer, yet in just five days, he stabilized his foundation after the breakthrough, then immediately started charging upwards. By Shen Hao’s sense, ever since "Qi Connects Heaven and Earth," his manipulation of True Qi became far more deft, and every time he consolidated his foundation, he’d obtain an influx of Heaven and Earth Energy, an effect at least twenty percent better than before. This was one reason he managed to firm his foundation in just five days.

But if he had to count the actual improvement in True Qi within, it wasn’t significant—perhaps because he’d already reached the current limit he could bear. The increase in cultivation time simply doubled the benefits he gained compared to before. In other words, Shen Hao’s cultivation now grows in direct proportion to his time spent cultivating.

Half a month later, by late August, Shen Hao once again "saw" the barrier to his next small realm. This time, he did not suppress or linger, but drove his meridians and Sea of Consciousness to expand to their utmost in the shortest time—then launched a direct assault on this realm barrier.

And so, on the very last day of August, Shen Hao completed his breakthrough—ascending from Gathering Spirit Realm Seventh Layer to Gathering Spirit Realm Eighth Layer.

His family members were either ordinary folk or, at best, guards cultivating in the Initial Stage of Qi Refining. To them, Shen Hao’s terrifying speed in breaking through meant nothing; at most, the ever-observant Xia Nu noticed that her master smelled even nicer and his skin seemed even better.

The ones truly struck dumb by Shen Hao’s progress were, in fact, the three guards from the Commander’s Office who watched him almost around the clock. Their current feelings could only be described as "utterly stunned."

They had personally witnessed Shen Hao go from Gathering Spirit Realm Sixth Layer into the Seventh, even assisted him with protection during the process. At the time, they had felt a bit envious, thinking that comparison only leads to frustration. Seeing his cultivation soar so rapidly, they felt the gap was quite hard to accept. For them, barring some great incident, their lifetimes would only see their cultivation rise one or two more small realms at most—hardly ever a truly great leap.

But their shock from last month had barely faded before they were now blown to pieces.

When did cultivation in the Gathering Spirit Realm become something you could raise by a full small realm in just a month? And this wasn’t an unstable, shortcut breakthrough from guzzling elixirs—it was clearly a solid improvement, just as it had been before. With their insight, they naturally understood that Shen Hao’s breakthrough, like prior ones, was steady and genuine—a normal progression when True Qi hits its limit.

Precisely for this reason, it was even more frightening.

They’d heard of people being "late bloomers" in cultivation, whose talents are slowly awakened with time, not fixed at birth like most. In the past, Shen Hao had always been regarded as such a "late bloomer." But now, looking at it—isn’t his "blooming" a bit too much?

Their duties pulled them from their shock soon enough, and they quickly passed this eye-catching news back to the Commander’s Office. They didn’t know if there would be an adjustment in Shen Hao’s protection detail above, but instinctively each of them heightened their own vigilance.

Yet the reaction within the Commander’s Office, after receiving the news, was far greater than what the three shadowing guards had expected.

Pang Ban pushed the copper rod with the report forward, sliding it in front of Jiang Cheng who stood at attention. Smiling, he said, "I suppose you haven’t seen your proud disciple for some time, have you? Take a look."

Disciple?

Jiang Cheng, having been summoned early in the morning, already felt a bit puzzled. Now, hearing Pang Ban mention Shen Hao directly, Jiang Cheng grew even more confused and muttered inwardly: Didn’t that boy spend this past month quietly in Fengri City? Could he have made another fuss? If something had happened, I should have known beforehand!

As he muttered to himself, he took the copper rod Pang Ban handed over and unfurled it. At a glance—Jiang Cheng’s eyes widened uncontrollably. And his first thought was: This can’t be possible!