The group from Lingxu Market rushed back with the intercepted mysterious letter. The Master of Wanbaoge Pavilion summoned scholars from within the pavilion who were proficient in various mysterious runes and encrypted symbols to study the contents of the letter. Meanwhile, the Linghe Chamber of Commerce mobilized all its intelligence resources, attempting to piece together the enemy's plan from various clues.

Inside the Wanbao Pavilion, scholars sat around a table, frowning and pondering the strange encrypted symbols on the letters. They consulted various ancient texts, comparing different rune systems, trying to find the patterns. An elderly scholar with white hair held a magnifying glass, carefully examining each symbol, his eyes filled with focus and determination.

"These symbols seem chaotic at first glance, but upon closer inspection, they appear to follow a certain cyclical pattern," the old scholar murmured to himself.

Meanwhile, the Linghe Chamber of Commerce's intelligence agents were on the move, making contact with informants in various places. They delved into every corner of the cultivation world, sifting through rumors and gossip to find any useful information that might be related to the mysterious symbols or the Blood Blade Sect's conspiracy.

An intelligence agent overheard a conversation between several strangers in a tavern in a remote town. They were whispering about a mysterious "Shadow Project," which seemed to be related to a series of recent events in the Spirit Ruins Market. The agent immediately relayed this information back to the Spirit Union Merchant Guild.

Upon learning this, Lin Yang realized it might be the key to solving the mystery. He shared this information with the scholars at Wanbaoge, hoping it would provide new insights into deciphering the symbols.

During the intense research and intelligence gathering process, the Spirit Sword Sect strengthened the internal and external defenses of the Spirit Ruins Market. Sword cultivators patrolled the area around the market, vigilant against any possible attacks. They set up hidden sentry posts in the mountains and along key roads, ready to sound the alarm immediately upon detecting any abnormalities.

After several days of arduous work, the scholars at Wanbaoge finally made a major breakthrough. They discovered that these encrypted symbols were related to an ancient, heretical runic system, and through in-depth research and repeated calculations of ancient texts, they successfully deciphered part of the letter's contents.

"According to the deciphered information, the Blood Blade Sect has colluded with several evil forces from afar and is planning an operation called 'Project Shadow.' They intend to use a mysterious and evil formation to seize all the spiritual energy within the Spirit Ruins Market during a large-scale celebration, turning the market into a dead zone," the Pavilion Master of Wanbao Pavilion reported solemnly to Lin Yang and the others.

Upon hearing this, everyone's expression changed drastically. "This celebration is a crucial opportunity for us to enhance our influence in the Lingxu market; we absolutely cannot let them succeed. We must formulate a countermeasure as soon as possible," Lin Yang said.

The president of the Linghe Chamber of Commerce continued, "We can use our intelligence network to spread false information and mislead their assessment of our defenses. At the same time, we can conduct in-depth investigations into the background of these evil forces and find their weaknesses."

The Pavilion Master of Wanbaoge nodded: "I will lead the weapon refiners to develop a magic weapon that can counter evil formations as soon as possible, so that it can play a role at a critical moment."

The elder of the Spirit Sword Sect gripped his sword hilt tightly: "The sword cultivators will intensify their training to prepare for any enemy attack. We will also set up a sword formation at the celebration site, coordinating it with the defensive formation to ensure absolute safety."

A race against time has begun. The Linghe Merchant Guild's intelligence agents move among various factions, skillfully spreading false information to confuse the enemy. They fabricate the illusion of lax defenses in the Lingxu Market to lure the enemy into a trap.

Inside the Wanbao Pavilion, the weapon refiners worked day and night. They experimented with incorporating various rare spiritual materials and special runes into the crafting of magical artifacts to enhance their ability to counter evil formations. Flames roared in the refining furnace, illuminating the entire pavilion.

The sword cultivators of the Spirit Sword Sect were sweating profusely in the training ground. They practiced their sword formation repeatedly, developing countermeasures for various possible situations. The power of the sword formation was constantly increasing; the sword energy seemed capable of tearing through space itself.

However, the Bloodblade Sect and other forces were not entirely unprepared. They were skeptical of the news coming from the Spirit Ruins Market, and at the same time, they accelerated preparations for "Project Shadow." They gathered materials needed for the evil formations from all over the place and secretly trained assassins to carry out the plan.