In May, the temperature in Fengri City began to climb. Just taking a walk outside on a clear day would leave you drenched in sweat.

The Xuanqing Guard’s summer Black Robe was very thin, but it didn’t absorb sweat well at all. You had to wear a short undershirt beneath it as a base, otherwise the sweat would glue the Brocade Robe to your body and you’d look ridiculous.

And if you wore Inner Armor under the Brocade Robe, it’d be even hotter; you would have to use True Qi from time to time to insulate yourself from the heat, or even a Cultivator couldn’t bear it.

Every year in this season, Shen Hao tried not to go out at noon; the shaded spots inside the house could at least keep a person comfortable.

Beside him was a pot of chilled tea, filled with various heat-clearing medicinal herbs, and a hint of sweet and sour—it tasted pleasant and perfectly suited Shen Hao’s palate.

The iced tea was Xia Nu’s proud creation; supposedly Lin Xin’Er had taught her, and she’d even consulted Li Erfu, the grand chef, to improve the recipe. Now, Shen Hao practically couldn’t do without it—he smacked his lips and was always tempted to take a few sips.

He set down the cup; in front of him was a confidential Order from the Governor’s Office, delivered that morning. It was personally written by Jiang Cheng—most of it praised Shen Hao’s achievements over the past month in advancing the Black Water Plan, and the rest pushed for faster progress on the part of the Plan involving the brokerage.

According to Jiang Cheng’s thinking, the section on the brokerage was to reach a preliminary conclusion by September or October at the latest—to see if it was truly feasible or not.

Why the rush? Since the start of the Black Water Plan, this was the clearest sense of urgency Jiang Cheng had conveyed to Shen Hao.

Logically speaking, for a highly covert plan like this, the best approach would be to let it seep out quietly and gradually—the slower, the deeper the infiltration, and the more effective the results. Pushing hard would only raise the risk of leaks.

Jiang Cheng couldn’t possibly overlook these issues, so why was he still so impatient?

The only explanation was that Jiang Cheng had reasons he couldn’t avoid.

Was it orders from above the Governor’s Office, pressuring Jiang Cheng to produce results quickly? That’s possible. If Fengri City could prove the viability of the Black Water Plan, then the higher-ups in the Xuanqing Guard could extend it to all regions of the Dynasty.

In this way, Fengri City became an experimental field, with both advantages and drawbacks.

Still, Shen Hao intended to avoid rushing the brokerage section for fear of flaws. Thus, although the "consumable" personnel were being trained rapidly with drugs and partial brainwashing, the "elite" trainees underwent complete brainwashing and meticulous cultivation.

The basic training was organized by Liu Meng’s men—materials and projects all reported up for Shen Hao’s review, and he’d contributed fresh ideas for the training modules as well.

They must master disguise, excel at deduction, possess sharp insight, display a suitable level of combat ability, and above all, their acting had to be flawless.

Of course there were a whole series of tests and trials: enduring interrogation, holding their tongue while drunk, keeping secrets even when muttering in their sleep from exhaustion, resisting money and lust...

If Zhu Shou had changed expressions several times upon seeing the training syllabus, it was for good reason—with training like this, the success rate aside, anyone who made it through would be someone exceptional. There was little hope of producing true elites in under a year.

Three years. Each batch of elites would take three years according to Shen Hao’s plan, and he reckoned that three years would give him some breathing room too—his Cultivation and rank were still too low at present.

Leaving aside the elite plan, which had only just completed the "selection" phase, the "consumable" personnel had already been sent out. This first batch comprised eight—all general labor slaves with no Cultivation, but sharp minds. They were controlled by drugs from the Xuanqing Guard, incentivized with material rewards, and promised an elevation from servitude after ten years of service. This was no lie—the Black Water Plan was explicitly designed like this.

And what could be more enticing to new recruits than seeing retired Scouts promoted to instructors? The power of example was immense. Besides, anyone surviving ten years as a Scout would be quite remarkable—well qualified as a trainer.

Of course, if someone didn’t want the trainer post, they wouldn’t be eliminated; they’d be sent to a remote area and kept under Xuanqing Guard surveillance for the rest of their lives.

In Shen Hao’s view, an intelligence-gathering system couldn’t be wholly cold and ruthless—such designs easily produced internal problems. Reliability stemmed from a well-structured system and detailed rules.

The same applied to the Black Market segment of the Black Water Plan.

Speaking of the Black Market, Flying Dragon did not let Shen Hao down. News arrived two days ago that Fengri City’s last Black Market territory had been seized. Now, within all cities under Fengri City’s jurisdiction, Flying Dragon controlled 90% of Black Market transactions. The daily intelligence reports were overwhelming in volume.

According to Wang Jian’s report, the Little Ghost division alone received enough transaction bulletins each day to fill fifty jin’s worth of paper.

Even after repeated culling, what reached Shen Hao was still substantial.

After over a month of this, Shen Hao had developed the habit of reviewing Wang Jian’s reports every third day, marking anything suspicious with a red pen for Wang Jian to investigate further.

The second-stage intelligence on those previous major trades had also been delivered. According to Wang Jian, this came from the freshly established "Impermanence" division—created on Shen Hao’s advice and focused more on Martial Force than strategy. Shen Hao did not interfere, letting Wang Jian figure things out and adjust as necessary.

The second-stage intelligence was fascinating. Over half the major items—grain, pig iron, General Spirit Stone—were being smuggled out: once deals were completed in Fengri City’s Black Market, most were shipped to Yu City and then taken downriver.

Yu City sits beside the Bai River, which runs southwest from west to south, cutting across all of Jingxi’s southwestern region—the largest and longest waterway in Jingxi.

Shipping exports by river made sense on the surface. But with Bai River’s flow and Yu City’s particular location, it became oddly suspicious.

The Bai River moves downstream from west to south. Meanwhile, Yu City is already in Jingxi’s far southern borderlands. Downstream from Yu City lies the military stronghold Hai Xia, past which is a dense stretch of fortified small towns before flowing out past the border into the Southern Barbarian Territory’s "Ten Thousand Miles Bamboo Sea."

So any boat departing Yu City can only head further south, but past Yu City, there simply aren’t any large cities to absorb these goods—it can only flow into the Southern Barbarian Territory. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Pig iron and General Spirit Stones might make sense—rumor has it those are scarce in the Southern Barbarian Territory. But grain? That made less sense.

Weren’t the Southern Barbarians all scattered into tribes? Didn’t they grow their own food? Could staple grains really be sold across the border in bulk?