23: City Lord's Treasury

"Father, Old Ancestor, let's make a trip to the City Lord's Mansion," Shen Yuanmo said calmly after a moment of thought.

"Go to the City Lord's Mansion?" Shen Qiming was taken aback.

"What are we doing there now? Waiting for orders from the commandery city?"

"No." Shen Yuanmo shook his head, a meaningful arc tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"To retrieve some things."

"Retrieve things?" Shen Qiming and Shen Zongdao exchanged glances, both struggling to process this.

Shen Yuanmo looked at them and spoke slowly.

"Zhao Wuji has suffered from Qi Deviation and is unconscious. The massive City Lord's Mansion is now without a leader, and the important treasury is completely unattended."

"If any petty thieves take advantage of this to enter and cause the Immortal Dynasty's property to suffer losses, wouldn't everyone in Linjiang City be held responsible for failing to supervise?"

"As part of Linjiang City, and being the 'discoverers' and 'reporters' of this incident, it is only right that our Shen Family helps relieve the burden for the Lord Prefectural Governor. Taking the initiative to 'act as custodians' of these important assets on behalf of the Immortal Dynasty until the new City Lord arrives to take over is our bounden duty."

As his voice trailed off, the meeting hall fell into a deathly silence.

Shen Qiming and Shen Zongdao stared at Shen Yuanmo in stunned silence, as if they were seeing him for the first time.

How high-sounding and righteous those words were!

To describe blatant robbery so refreshingly and refinedly, while placing himself on the moral high ground of helping the Immortal Dynasty!

Shen Zongdao had lived for over a hundred years and considered himself to have seen many deep-thinking people.

But someone like his grandson—so young, yet acting with such boldness and meticulous planning—was something he had never seen in his life.

"Yuan Mo... this... this is probably not appropriate, right?" Shen Qiming swallowed hard, his voice sounding a bit dry.

"That is the City Lord's Mansion, after all; it is the face of the Immortal Dynasty. If we do this, what if the commandery city decides to investigate..."

"Father." Shen Yuanmo interrupted him, his gaze turning sharp.

"In the cultivation world, strength is respected. Rules are meant to bind the weak. When we have sufficient strength, what we say becomes the rules."

"As for the commandery city, as long as we handle it properly, they will not only not investigate but will actually be happy to see it happen. A City Lord's Mansion without any private property is the easiest one for them to control."

"As for the new City Lord... a penniless empty shell, who would he rely on if he wants to establish a foothold in Linjiang City? Won't he have to rely on our Shen Family?"

Shen Yuanmo's words caused Shen Qiming and Shen Zongdao to suddenly see the light.

That's right! They had always habitually viewed problems with outdated perspectives and thinking.

They had forgotten that the current Shen Family was no longer the Ninth-Grade, bottom-tier Family that could be easily manipulated.

Shen Yuanmo, with his own strength, had forcefully elevated the status of the entire Family to a whole new level.

They, too, had to adapt to this change as quickly as possible.

"I understand!" A flash of determination crossed Shen Zongdao's eyes.

"Yuan Mo is right! Being timid will never lead to great achievements! The opportunity is right before us; if we don't dare to take it, we will surely regret it in the future!"

He stood up, his spine straightened by his healed injuries, radiating the imposing aura that a Foundation Establishment Cultivator should have.

"Let's go! The three of us, grandfather and grandson, will go and see today just how many good things are hidden in the City Lord's Mansion's treasury!"

Shen Qiming looked at the heroic Old Ancestor and his indifferent son; the last shred of worry in his heart vanished into thin air.

"Alright! I will go arrange the men right now!" He nodded heavily.

"There's no need." Shen Yuanmo waved his hand.

"Too many eyes will only make things inconvenient. Just the three of us will go."

Half an hour later.

Linjiang City, City Lord's Mansion.

The mansion, which was usually heavily guarded and solemn, was now in total chaos.

The guards and servants in the mansion, upon learning that the City Lord Zhao Wuji had been crippled, were already in a panic.

The bold ones had packed up some valuables and fled overnight.

The timid ones were hiding in their rooms, trembling, not knowing what their future fate would be.

When the figures of Shen Yuanmo, Shen Qiming, and Shen Zongdao appeared in front of the gate of the City Lord's Mansion.

The few remaining guards were scared out of their wits; their spears clattered to the ground as they hurriedly knelt down.

"Greetings... greetings to Old Ancestor Shen, Family Head Shen, and... and Senior Shen!"

They didn't even know how to address Shen Yuanmo.

The terrifying figure who had crippled the City Lord with a flick of his finger had left them with such deep psychological trauma.

Shen Yuanmo ignored these minor characters, his Divine Sense spreading out like a tidal wave, instantly enveloping the entire City Lord's Mansion.

Everything in the mansion had nowhere to hide from his perception.

"In the backyard, one hundred feet underground." Shen Yuanmo quickly locked onto the location of the treasury.

The three of them arrived at the backyard of the City Lord's Mansion without any obstruction and found the entrance to the underground treasury beneath a dry well.

Following the deep, dark stairs downward, a heavy profound iron gate appeared before the three of them.

The gate was covered with dense, intricate runes; these runes formed a complex and mysterious Formation, and waves of powerful spiritual energy flowed continuously across the gate, emitting a dangerous aura.

"A Second-Grade High Grade defensive Formation, the Mysterious Turtle Suppressing Sea Formation." Shen Zongdao recognized this Formation at a glance, and his expression became grave.

"This Formation is known for its defensive power, with interlocking links that are endless. Without the correct medallion and incantations, it is extremely difficult to break through by force. Even if I were to attack with all my strength, I fear it would take ten days or half a month, and it would certainly cause a huge commotion, potentially even triggering the Formation's self-destruct Restriction."

Shen Qiming's heart sank upon hearing this. Could it be that after going to such lengths to get here, they were going to be blocked by a single gate?

He subconsciously looked at Shen Yuanmo.

He saw Shen Yuanmo walk slowly forward and stand before the profound iron gate.

He did not summon any Magical Artifact, nor did he cast any incantations.

He just watched quietly.

In his eyes, this Mysterious Turtle Suppressing Sea Formation, which seemed impregnable to Shen Zongdao, presented a completely different scene.

Countless lines of spiritual energy crisscrossed to form a seemingly perfect cycle.

However, under his [Insight into Origin] talent, several key nodes in this cycle.

Those tiny flaws caused by design or Materials limitations were infinitely magnified, clearly presenting themselves in his mind.

These were the weak points of the Formation!

Under the nervous gaze of Shen Qiming and Shen Zongdao, Shen Yuanmo slowly raised his right hand.

At the tip of his index finger, a pure glow of Liuli True Yang power lit up once again.

He did not use this power to attack the gate; instead, in an extremely light yet incredibly precise manner, he tapped seven times, unhurriedly and gently, on the rune-covered profound iron gate.

Each tap landed on a seemingly unrelated rune node.

The moment the seventh tap fell.

"Click."

A sound of a mechanism turning, so slight it was almost inaudible, rang out from inside the profound iron gate.

Immediately following that, the spiritual light of the Formation, which had been flowing continuously and emitting a dangerous aura, receded like a tide and vanished without a trace in an instant.

The entire Mysterious Turtle Suppressing Sea Formation had just... stopped?

Shen Zongdao and Shen Qiming were completely petrified.