Shameless Immortal: Emperor of Ten Thousand Beauties

Chapter 289: Chapter 289: The Intelligence at the Inn

The dead silence inside the Cao Clan’s pavilion stretched thin, heavy with the weight of an imperial mandate that had just shattered a month’s worth of intricate plotting.

Patriarch Cao fell back into his chair, his previous anger completely replaced by a hollow, paralyzing dread.

"An Imperial Procurement Right... backed directly by the Empire. This isn’t just about selling pills anymore. This is a baseline reshuffling of power. Whichever faction claims victory will become the absolute hegemon of Crimson Iron City. The other two will be driven to irrelevance, if not outright execution."

He looked toward Shen Yu, hoping for the mysterious strategist’s usual calm, calculating reassurance.

But Shen Yu remained seated, his face an unreadable mask of cold stone.

His eyes stared right through the fine porcelain of his teacup.

’The Empire,’ Shen Yu thought, his mind working with furious, cold precision.

’Why now? Why a localized tournament in a border city like Crimson Iron?’

He knew how the high-ranking empires functioned.

They didn’t disrupt the commerce of border territories unless there was a deeper, hidden motive, likely an impending military mobilization or a sudden shortage of high-grade resources in the imperial capital.

The fact that they included both alchemists and blacksmiths in the decree proved they were preparing to secure massive supply lines for war materials.

"Senior Mo..." Cao Yan whispered again, stepping closer to the sofa. Her breath caught as she felt a sudden, freezing pressure bleed off his frame.

The previous amusement that usually danced in his aura had completely vanished.

In its place was the suffocating, ancient weight.

For a brief second, Cao Yan felt an instinctive urge to drop to her knees and press her forehead against the floorboards.

"Do not panic," Shen Yu finally spoke, his voice dropping into a low, gravelly register that vibrated right through the marrow of everyone present.

He stood up, his massive frame towering over the room. "The board has flipped, but the players remain the same. We still don’t know the full scope of what is going on, so we should just wait for now."

Cao Yan nodded in absolute agreement, her eyes fixed on his commanding figure. "I understand, Senior Mo." With a respectful bow, she turned and left the chamber to execute his orders.

The moment the doors clicked shut, the calm expression on Shen Yu’s face vanished, replaced by a sharp, calculating focus.

Activating his Phantom Steps, his body blurred into a weightless shadow.

He stepped effortlessly out of the high window, vanishing into the bustling, chaotic streets of the city without leaving a single trace behind.

A few moments later, he materialized directly outside the Whispering Pavilion Inn.

Stepping inside the establishment, his eyes instantly locked onto Huo Lin, the seductive receptionist he had previously branded.

He walked straight up to the counter, slid a gleaming gold coin across the polished wood, and murmured, "I need a private room."

Huo Lin’s eyes widened slightly as she saw him.

Suppressing a shiver of deep, submissive anticipation, she gave a tight nod, scooped up the coin, and led him up the grand staircase to a luxurious, heavily isolated private room.

The moment the heavy wooden door swung shut behind them, Shen Yu walked in and sat back on the plush velvet sofa, crossing one leg over the other.

Huo Lin didn’t wait for him to ask.

Stepping close to his side, she lowered her voice, eager to prove her utility to her master.

"The decree wasn’t just localized, Master. Our intelligence confirms that the exact same announcement was made simultaneously by all the city lords across the main cities of the southern region. It seems a massive upheaval is brewing, and the Empire is aggressively preparing for it."

She paused, adjusting her robes as she combed through her memory.

"While imperial competitions have happened before, they have never been held on a scale this massive, nor have they ever been hyper-focused on a single region. The only historical precedent for an event like this was when a major ancient ruin opened hundreds of years ago."

’A ruin?’ Shen Yu’s eyes narrowed, his mind instantly racing through the historical lore of his previous life.

’Could it be the opening of the Desolate Asura Realm?’

He leaned back, his fingers tapping a slow, rhythmic pattern on the armrest.

If a realm of that magnitude was opening, the Empire’s sudden urge to secure exclusive procurement rights for top-tier pills and weapons made perfect sense.

They either wanted to monopolize the supply chains to resell the materials at an astronomical premium to incoming factions, or they were directly arming their own elite forces to plunder the realm’s core secrets.

Looking up at the woman standing beside him, Shen Yu asked, "Do you have any specific details regarding which ruin it is?"

Huo Lin bowed her head, her voice dripping with genuine regret.

"I am sorry, Master... my current rank within the network doesn’t grant me high enough access to unearth those specific records."

"No matter," Shen Yu murmured smoothly, standing up from the sofa.

A dark, predatory grin returned to his handsome features as he stepped directly into her personal space.

He pulled her flush against his massive frame, his large hand aggressively wrapping around the full, meaty curve of her ass and squeezing it ruthlessly.

"I am highly annoyed that some of my plans were just disrupted. You’re going to help me relieve this tension with this body of yours."

He brought his hand back and delivered a sharp, echoing slap right across her cheek.

SLAP!

"Ah—!" Huo Lin let out a sharp, breathless moan, her body trembling with a mixture of sudden shock and overwhelming lust as her vaginal walls instantly flooded with moisture.

Without needing another word of command, she dropped directly onto her knees right there on the rug.

Her fingers trembled with eager submission as she hurriedly unfastened his belt and tore open his black robes, pulling free his massive, fiercely throbbing erection

The moment his heavy length was fully exposed, she tilted her head back, opened her mouth wide, and bravely swallowed the thick shaft down her throat in one smooth, desperate gulp.

"Good girl," Shen Yu purred darkly, a look of satisfaction settling on his face as his large hand possessively patted her head, guiding her frantic, bobbing rhythm.