After tracking the team's return to the Southern Wilderness, the Lingxu Market quickly launched a comprehensive overhaul. Lin Yang knew that although the "Dark Alliance" had suffered a temporary setback, the potential threat still lingered.

Inside the Wanbao Pavilion, the Pavilion Master summoned all the weapon refiners and said solemnly, "The encounter of this tracking team in the Southern Wilderness has shown us the importance of magical artifacts. We must develop more powerful and targeted magical artifacts." The weapon refiners nodded in unison, their eyes revealing firm determination.

They began to study day and night, starting with the dangerous environment of the Southern Wilderness and the characteristics of the "Dark Alliance's" techniques. Regarding the evil spiritual power emitted by the "Dark Sky-Splitting Technique" practiced by the "Dark Alliance," a weapon refiner proposed an idea: "We can forge a 'Purifying Spirit Blade.' This blade, with pure spirit crystals at its core and infused with purification runes, can effectively suppress evil spiritual power." Everyone agreed with this idea and immediately began preparing the spiritual materials, throwing themselves into the intense work of refining.

Meanwhile, to counter the various bizarre attacks from the Southern Wilderness, Wanbaoge also plans to upgrade its defensive magic weapons. They intend to incorporate "Void-Defying Spirit Veil" into the "Flame-Melting Ice-Breaking Shield," so that the shield can not only resist ice and poison attacks, but also buffer against spatial distortion spells.

Within the Spirit Sword Sect, the elders organized high-intensity training for the sword cultivators. "The trip to the Southern Wilderness exposed our shortcomings in combat under complex conditions. From now on, the training difficulty will be doubled!" With this order from the elders, the sword cultivators began their arduous training.

They trained in a simulated Southern Wilderness environment, where they not only had to contend with attacks from various demonic beasts but also had to break through complex restrictions and traps. Sword formation training also emphasized flexibility and adaptability; the elders constantly adjusted the changes in the sword formations, allowing the sword cultivators to learn to quickly adapt to different combat scenarios in real battles.

During training, a swordsman remarked, "The training used to be too comfortable. This time, I really felt the pressure of real combat." His teammate beside him replied, "Yes, but only in this way can we protect the Lingxu Market when facing real danger."

The Linghe Chamber of Commerce is working diligently to improve its intelligence network. Under the personal command of its president, intelligence agents are being deployed to every corner of the cultivation world, especially areas bordering the Southern Wilderness. "We must be fully aware of every move, and we absolutely cannot allow the 'Dark Alliance' any further opportunity," the president solemnly declared.

The intelligence agents, disguised, infiltrated various factions and established closer ties with informants in different regions. The Chamber of Commerce also set up an intelligence analysis center to sift through and analyze the massive amounts of information collected, attempting to find any trace of the remaining forces of the "Dark Alliance."

However, while the Lingxu Market was actively undergoing rectification, some hidden dangers were quietly emerging. On the edge of the Lingxu Market, there was an abandoned warehouse. Recently, mysterious figures had been frequently seen near the warehouse, acting suspiciously and always entering and leaving at night.

A low-ranking intelligence officer from the Linghe Merchant Guild stumbled upon this anomaly and, out of curiosity, attempted to approach the warehouse to investigate. As he crept closer, he heard low, muffled conversations coming from inside.

"The orders from above are that the mission must be completed without the Lingxu Market noticing," a hoarse voice said.

"Don't worry, everything is going according to plan. When the time is right, the Lingxu market will definitely descend into chaos," another voice replied.

The intelligence officer was alarmed, realizing the gravity of the situation. He dared not linger and quickly reported the news to the Chamber of Commerce president. Upon learning of this, the president immediately informed Lin Yang.

Lin Yang's expression turned grave: "It seems the 'Dark Alliance' really has a backup plan. We can't alert them; we should investigate secretly and find out their plans first."

Therefore, the Linghe Chamber of Commerce dispatched experienced intelligence experts to conduct comprehensive surveillance of the abandoned warehouse. They used various concealed magical artifacts and techniques to closely monitor the every move of the mysterious person inside the warehouse.

Inside the warehouse, the mysterious figures seemed to sense something amiss. "Lately, we feel like there's always a pair of eyes watching us. Has our operation been exposed?" one of the mysterious figures said worriedly.

"Don't scare yourself. We'll just be careful. The key is to speed things up and complete the mission as soon as possible," the mysterious leader said.

Can the Lingxu Market uncover the mysterious man's conspiracy without alerting him? What other terrifying plans has the "Dark Alliance" been plotting? Beneath the seemingly calm surface of the Lingxu Market, undercurrents are surging, and a new crisis is quietly approaching.

During the intense surveillance, the Linghe Chamber of Commerce's intelligence experts discovered that these mysterious individuals would meet with a merchant from out of town every few days. This merchant would always bring seemingly ordinary goods, but closer inspection revealed that the packaging was highly unusual, suggesting the goods concealed some secret.

The intelligence experts decided to follow this out-of-town merchant to see where his goods came from and where they were going. After several days of tracking, they discovered that the merchant's goods came from a remote town. The town seemed ordinary, but an eerie atmosphere permeated it.

The intelligence experts cautiously infiltrated the town and found that most of the residents were aloof and wary of strangers. After searching the town thoroughly, they finally found a clue in a dilapidated temple in the town center.

Inside the temple stood a strange statue, its face grotesque and radiating an evil aura. Beneath the statue's base, they discovered the entrance to a secret passage. The intelligence experts entered the passage, which was dark and damp, its walls covered in strange runes.

As they ventured deeper into the secret passage, they discovered a massive basement. The basement was filled with various evil artifacts and books, and a group of people were secretly performing some kind of sinister ritual.

“This should be a secret base of the ‘Dark Alliance’,” an intelligence expert whispered.

Just then, the people in the basement seemed to realize someone had broken in. "Who goes there? How dare you trespass!" a voice roared.