Wu Long spent the next week recuperating. The injury from the lightning of Annihilation, even though he did not actually let it run in his body but used it as a medium to seal it in a self-contained loop was too severe to be healed in a short period of time even with a technique as ridiculous as the Chaos Refining Body Tempering Art.

However, the positive side of that was that he was still passively benefiting as he used the residual damage to further temper his body.

With his current level of body tempering, he could stop a full attack of a cultivator in the Qi Condensation Realm with his body, not needing to evade or block. His strength and speed allowed him to barely match people with higher cultivation than him before, but now he could be on par with people in the Foundation Building Realm without being inferior in basic strength or speed at all.

He was also constantly discussing techniques with Luo Mingyu, as they both benefited from them. She was of course the bigger beneficiary but discussing the knowledge he already knew allowed him to introspect and find flaws or consider it from another point of view, and occasionally she would ask questions that were from a completely fresh perspective, giving him further opportunities for improvement.

On one of the days, it was lightly raining, the summer was entering the second month, and the heat was going up so this rain was like a heaven-sent gift to soothe the heat a little.

Butler Bang carefully approached Wu Long who was in the company of his beauties, looking at the rain from the terrace as the others listened to Wu Long and Luo Mingyu’s discussion.

As Wu Long saw the old butler’s expression he nodded and he approached behind him, whispering to his ear. Luo Mingyu noticed the change and smiled as she understood that they would likely take a break from the discussion.

“I will come back soon”

He smiled at his women and stood up to leave as the others started to talk, inspired by the discussion earlier and confirming their new understandings with Luo Mingyu.

Wu Long arrived at the entrance to the inn, where Old Yen stood with a man in a bamboo hat, with a gray cloak covering his clothes from the rain.

“The future sun of the Azure Eagle sent me”

“You want to talk here?”

Wu Long nodded to the badge the man produced and asked. The man shook his head and Butler Bang took out an umbrella, opening it as Wu Long stepped out of the inn, covering him from the rain as Old Yen saw them off, staying at the entrance of the inn.

They went through the streets that were slightly less populated in this weather, as the sound of raindrops hitting the umbrella was combined with the sound of it hitting the bamboo hat of the man in gray cloak and hitting the roof tiles of the buildings around, as well as small puddles of water on the street to create a unique music of rainfall.

Wu Long was walking with hands behind him as if taking a leisurely stroll while appreciating the symphony of the rain, unlike the man in gray who was almost imperceptibly, but quite obvious to Wu Long on high alert.

They arrived in a small unpopular restaurant and went past the mostly empty hall to the kitchen and from there to a room in the back. Butler Bang noted that all of the kitchen staff they passed on their way were very highly trained fighters and that the room they were led to was covered in high-level perception-warding formations. The kitchen staff looked like they were busy cooking but it was quite obvious to Wu Long that their focus was on him and Butler Bang as he smiled while shaking his head.

Once they arrived the man stood to the side while a middle-aged man in the clothes of the restaurant manager smiled at Wu Long.

“Greetings, Mister Wu”

“So, who sent you?”

Wu Long asked and both the restaurant manager as well as the man in the bamboo hat slightly shook.

“I think our friend here already told you, besides, is it not soon the date of the deadline?”

The manager asked with a slight strain in his voice. It was now roughly a year since Wu Long ‘woke up’ in his current body, and around three months left to the deadline of one year that he negotiated with Crown Prince Song Minfu.

“His Highness is not the kind of person to send people to pester me when there is no meaning, but I followed you here since I am quite interested in who has the ability to know of the agreement. I doubt he told anyone he did not trust”

Wu Long smiled and both the man in gray and the restaurant manager slightly changed their postures.

“Haa~ learn a little, will you? Have you seen any of the attempts of the idiots from the other faction succeed?”

He then sighed as if disappointed. Both men already started to slightly move but then froze as the sound of rain outside filled the silence that hung in the room.

Thin threads appeared in the room, held by Butler Bang, some of which were wrapped around the necks of the two as blood was slowly seeping through the minor wounds that they received when they tried to move earlier.

“So, I will ask again, who sent you?’

Wu Long asked and the face of the manager finally betrayed malice.

“You don’t know what you are messing with, young man”

“Hahaha, I think I heard these words so many times now that I am starting to guess that it is not entirely the fault of the Bull** Training Camp, but someone must have written a Bull** Manual that became widely popular on the three continents”

Wu Long looked to the side at Butler Bang while laughing and the threads around the necks of the two slightly tightened.

“Glory to the Song Dy-…”

As both men wanted to shout something they moved in a desperate attempt and their heads rose into the air.

“Haa~ a pity, I was hoping for someone easier to fish out information from, but it seems that they got what they wanted”

Wu Long then shook his head as he sensed people in the kitchen and dining hall of the restaurant approaching the room.

“Young Master means…?”

Butler Bang looked at Wu Long with slightly widened eyes and he smiled back.

“I was wondering what they wanted but it seems if the attempt failed the backup plan was for me to attack them”

He said as the door burst open and Spiritual Qi attacks rained into the room. From the outside, the restaurant looked tranquil like before as the curtain of the rain shrouded it, and people went by it, minding their business, without knowing that blood was now splattering on the walls of the back rooms.

“You see, they are undeniably people of the Song Dynasty, just not loyal to the Crown Prince but someone else. However, that does not change that this hideout was one of the locations of the Secret Imperial Guard of the Azure Eagle Empire”

As Wu Long went among the corpses he explained to Butler Bang who was following him.

“Then… their goal is…”

“To dampen my relationship with the Crown Prince”

Wu Long finished for him and Butler Bang worriedly looked at him. 𝗻𝐨𝐯𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

“Haha, don’t worry. I knew that there might be a possibility as soon as I heard that someone came claiming to be from the Crown Prince, I was just not sure of the way they wanted to do it before I saw the suicidal look in the eyes of the two”

“So you have a countermeasure?”

“Not really, but that is beyond the point, since they simply underestimate the intelligence of the Crown Prince. And even if he is somehow fooled by them, which I doubt, it is still not as big of a problem to be nervous about”

Wu Long shrugged his shoulders as he arrived at the entrance to the restaurant. He looked at the people peacefully passing by and smiled as he stretched out his hand to feel the drops of water fall on to his palm.

“When this curtain will lift there might be a slight uproar, but for now… let’s enjoy this peaceful rainy day”

He then stepped out and the old butler opened up the umbrella at impeccable timing to cover him as they joined the masses of people in the rainy streets.