411: Chapter 411 Alliance Reorganization, Eliminating Potential Hazards

As the morning light just began to climb the eaves of the Council Hall, Chen Wuwang's finger remained on a jade talisman that had yet to be dispatched, his fingertip feeling slightly warm.

The Spiritual Qi fluctuation maps on the jade wall were still pulsing; the sound of sword practice from the Zhao Clan's side hadn't stopped, but the rhythm had finally stabilized.

He looked up and scanned the empty Council Hall. The dagger marks on the stone table still shimmered faintly. The agreement reached by the three of them last night was like a taut net, needing only one final command to be cast wide.

“Issue the order,” he spoke. His voice wasn't loud, yet it caused the copper bells in the corners to chime softly. “All twelve families of the Eastern Wasteland Alliance are to immediately connect to the Joint Defense System's main control terminal—within twelve hours, complete the filing of behavior patterns for all personnel.”

The messenger waiting outside immediately responded, “Yes! Shall I state a reason?”

“Just say,” Chen Wuwang stood up, his Mechanical Prosthetic Eye flashing with blue light as maps of the Spiritual Vein distribution for each Family's station appeared on the jade wall, “that due to recent Spiritual Qi turbulence and signs of lurking external enemies, all families must submit the Spiritual Qi movement trajectories of their Core Disciples from the last thirty days for System comparison.”

The messenger noted the words and turned to leave.

“Wait,” Chen Wuwang called him back. “Tell them this is part of a defense System upgrade. For those who do not cooperate, their mine vein quotas will be suspended, and the law enforcement teams will move into their outer defense lines.”

The messenger hesitated. “Then... what about the Wang Family of Chiji Ridge and the Zhao Clan of Xiling?”

“Have they already begun to stall?” Chen Wuwang let out a cold sneer. “Then start with them.”

Half an hour later, seven major families, including the Chuanyun Sect, Leiyin Pavilion, and Cangling Clan, were the first to respond, and data from their Spirit Array monitoring terminals began uploading one after another.

On the jade wall, the green progress bar climbed steadily.

However, the representative of the Wang Family of Chiji Ridge stood at the entrance of the Council Hall, his face ashen.

“Head of the Chen Family, our Wang Family Disciples spend every day patrolling mountains, guarding veins, and performing Body Refining. Where would we find the time to record some ‘behavior pattern’? Is this System of yours meant to defend against external enemies or to guard against your own brothers?”

Before he could finish, an old deacon from the Zhao Clan of Xiling also entered, leaning on a cane. He snorted coldly, “Exactly! Last night when your Zhao Clan was practicing swords, the System nearly blew the alarm. Now today you want us to hand over data? If this isn't a pretext to expand your power, then what is?”

Chen Wuwang didn't look up; his fingers continued to tap on the tabletop at a moderate pace.

“You think I'm expanding my power?” He suddenly laughed. The sound wasn't loud, but it sent a chill down their spines.

He raised his left hand, and the blue light from his Mechanical Prosthetic Eye surged as an encrypted command was projected into the air. “I have pulled the leyline records from three days ago—at the third quarter of the Hour of the Rat last night, members of your Wang Family used a secret seal to activate a Restriction gate and entered the abandoned mine shaft on the west side of the Main Peak, staying for two quarters of an hour. And you say you were patrolling the mountain?”

The Wang Family representative's expression changed. “That... that was a routine inspection!”

“Inspections don't require masking your aura, nor do they require bypassing three sentry points,” Chen Wuwang said coldly. “I have already archived this footage. Now, I give you two choices—either submit the data immediately, or I will send this recording to everyone in the Alliance right now.”

The Wang Family representative opened his mouth but eventually lowered his head. “...I will go back and make the arrangements.”

“The same goes for the Zhao Clan.” Chen Wuwang turned to the old deacon. “When your Zhao Clan practiced swords last night, the System judged it as a ‘high-risk fluctuation.’ I personally moved it to the whitelist.

Now you won't cooperate? Fine, I'll remove the whitelist. Try practicing again tonight and see if the alarm doesn't ring throughout the entire Alliance.”

The old deacon's face flushed red, but he didn't dare talk back further, leaving dejectedly with his cane.

By noon, the data submission rate from the twelve families surpassed seventy percent.

Chen Wuwang stood before the jade wall, watching the progress bar advance bit by bit. His finger finally left the jade talisman.

Suddenly, a law enforcement member rushed into the hall. “Family Head! The System has flagged five high-risk individuals, and all of them have just lost contact! Their signals last appeared at Black Wind Canyon on the border between the Beigu Lei Family and the Nanqiu He Clan!”

“They ran?” Chen Wuwang narrowed his eyes.

“It wasn't an escape,” the law enforcement member shook his head. “It was a disconnection. Their identity jade plaques are still at their Family stations, but the people are gone, as if they received word in advance.”

“Then they aren't ordinary Disciples,” Chen Wuwang sneered. “Anyone who can get internal information must be at least at the deacon level.”

He turned and grabbed the dagger at his waist, quickly carving a line on the stone table. “Activate the ‘Flow-Break Fuse’ for reverse tracking—are the Sword Intent remnants Xiao Dao previously placed at the Spiritual Vein nodes of each Family still there?”

“They are! As long as the targets have used Spiritual Qi, we can reverse their positions!”

“Then find them for me,” Chen Wuwang's gaze turned sharp. “Five people, not one less.”

Meanwhile, on the station square of the Nangu Lin Family, three low-level Disciples were forced onto a high platform, bound with Spirit-Suppressing Locks.

“We didn't rebel at all!” one of them roared. “The System says our Spiritual Qi trajectories are abnormal, but we just practiced our Cultivation Technique for two incense sticks longer last night! This is a misjudgment! You are slaughtering the innocent!”

The crowd began to grow restless.

Just then, Chen Wuwang's voice descended from the sky: “Play back their Spiritual Qi trajectories from the last thirty days.”

A light screen appeared, clearly showing that one of them had approached the leyline hub late at night multiple times, and each time, they deliberately masked their aura at corners, staying far longer than a normal patrol.

“Do you recognize this?” Chen Wuwang stood on the high platform, his gaze like a blade. “This is the third time. The first time you pretended to gather herbs, the second time you pretended to repair a Formation Plate. This time, did you want to blow up the branch Spiritual Vein?”

The man's face turned deathly pale. He wanted to argue further, but the law enforcement team had already dragged him down.

“As for the rest of you,” Chen Wuwang scanned the crowd, “anyone else who questions the System, I can pull up your records on the spot. Don't believe me? Come and try.”

The entire field fell into a dead silence.

By evening, the five missing persons were intercepted at Black Wind Canyon.

A mecha squad dug them out from an underground secret passage. Each had a self-destruct poison capsule in their mouth, which they bit as soon as they were discovered. Fortunately, the Chen Family was prepared; nerve-blocking needles took effect instantly, and the people survived.

All nine hidden threats were escorted into the underground detention area, including two Family deacons, an Artifact Refining Workshop manager, and three external infiltrators disguised as handymen.

Late at night, the Council Hall was brightly lit.

The head of the Dongling Wen Family stood up and cleared his throat. “Head of the Chen Family, this reorganization has indeed cleared out threats, but the concentration of power is too great. I fear that in the future...”

Before he could finish, the Old Ancestor of the Northern Plains Sun Clan interjected, “Why not establish a Joint Governance Committee? Major decisions could be discussed by the thirteen families together. What do you think?”

Chen Wuwang didn't speak; he simply waved his hand.

The jade wall on the wall lit up, clearly playing the entire process of a certain Wang Family member tampering with an access token several days ago—

The man had secretly copied a secret seal and activated a Restriction gate, yet he was automatically recorded by the Level 3 Protocol. Even the beads of sweat on his forehead were clearly visible.

“This footage,” Chen Wuwang's voice was calm, “is not just in my possession. Right now, it is playing on a loop in the main control terminals of every Family.”

He slowly stood up and walked to the edge of the high platform. “From this day forward, any command not authenticated by the System is illegal. To anyone who wishes to challenge these rules—”

He paused, his gaze sweeping across the room:

“I don't mind arresting another batch of ‘potential threats.’”

No one spoke again.

A moment later, the representatives of each Family lowered their heads and exited, their footsteps heavy.

Chen Wuwang stood atop the high platform, watching them leave.

He turned and entered a side hall.

On the desk, nine detention reports were neatly arranged, and three seized encrypted jade talismans lay quietly on a tray, their surfaces still carrying the dampness of the underground prison.

He picked up the first confession folder, his fingertip slowly tracing over the suspect's name.

The candlelight flickered, reflected in the Mechanical Prosthetic Eye of his left eye, casting a glint of cold light.