Chapter 3114 — It Wouldn't Sell

"Mm, Jingjing, if there's nothing else, you should head back. I won't keep you... Oh, right—what exactly have you been researching?" Wei Zhao asked, a little curious. Han Jingyi had been in seclusion for some time now, and he still had no idea what she was working on.

"Heh, it's something to do with pill refining. It'll definitely help you out, Brother Wei Zhao—you'll know when the time comes!" Han Jingyi said mysteriously. Then, suddenly smiling, she blinked her eyes adorably. "Actually, it's because Jingjing hasn't succeeded yet. If it turns out she can't manage it, she's afraid that saying it now would make Brother Arrow-Brand laugh at her for being a dummy!"

"Heh, how could I?" Wei Zhao chuckled. "Then I won't ask. Get back early."

"Mm-hm!" Han Jingyi nodded. It was getting late, and she... had to hurry back. Thinking of all the things she still had left undone, she couldn't help feeling a touch of a headache coming on...

Wei Zhao hadn't expected Han Jingyi to leave so briskly, without the slightest dawdling; she went straight out of his villa and back to her own.

"Sis, you're back!" Han Xiaochao was pleasantly surprised to see Han Jingyi return—after all, it had been quite a few days since he'd last seen her.

"Mm..." Han Jingyi nodded. "I've still got things to do. You read your books for now."

With that, Han Jingyi paid Han Xiaochao little further attention and went straight upstairs...

Wei Zhao was not idle either. Carrying the pills Han Jingyi had refined, he headed straight for the Cultivators' Guild. What he meant to do was exploit the gap in timing: before the Dongfang family's experts arrived, he would get to the Guild and unload the pills in his hands for some cash, so that by the time Dongfang Buruo came looking for trouble that evening, he would already be back home.

Only, Wei Zhao had misjudged the eagerness of the Dongfang family expert sent this time. He had not arrived this morning—he had flown into Donghai City as early as last night!

There was a reason this Dongfang family expert was so eager: he was the full younger brother of the deceased Dongfang Jian. His name was Dongfang Ying! Although Dongfang Ying had come this time to help Dongfang Buruo deal with Xu Shilan, his first move was not to seek out Dongfang Buruo but to go to the Cultivators' Guild and investigate the cause of his brother's death.

Naturally, Dongfang Jinxing had tacitly approved all this—after all, Dongfang Jinxing wanted to know how Dongfang Jian had died too. And Dongfang Ying also wanted to see whether the Guild might have any medicinal herbs he could buy for Dongfang Buruo's cultivation.

Wei Zhao entered the Guild's market district without a hitch and immediately dialed Vice President Ouyang's number.

"Mr. Ling?" Vice President Ouyang picked up, somewhat surprised. After beating a Dongfang family expert to death, Wei Zhao actually dared to call him? True, his side had withstood the pressure and covered things up nicely, but you can't wrap fire in paper. He hadn't been the only one present that day; the others were all unaffiliated cultivators, but even so—what if the Dongfang family came calling on one of them?

"It's me, Vice President Ouyang. I'm over in the Guild's market district—are you in? I've got a bit of business with you!" Wei Zhao said.

"I'm here, in my office. Just come find me directly!" Vice President Ouyang replied.

Carrying the pills, Wei Zhao made his practiced way to Vice President Ouyang's office. "Vice President Ouyang, you're keeping well, I hope!"

"Mr. Ling, you've come." Vice President Ouyang rose to his feet, greeting Wei Zhao with a face full of smiles. "To what do I owe the honor this time, Mr. Ling?"

"Vice President Ouyang, I've got some finished pills on me. I was hoping you could do me a favor and help me convert them into a bit of cash—I'm a little short on funds lately." As he spoke, Wei Zhao laid out all the pills he had brought on Vice President Ouyang's desk.

"This..." Vice President Ouyang's expression instantly turned rather strained. Looking at the pills Wei Zhao had set on the desk, he had no idea how to explain things to him.

"What's the matter?" Wei Zhao blinked, taken aback. "Vice President Ouyang, are you in some difficulty?"

"Mr. Ling, to be frank with you, our superiors at the Cultivators' Guild have just issued a notice—and it came personally from the Great Supreme Honorary President. We branch chapters are no longer permitted to buy or sell pills on our own authority. All our pills will henceforth be supplied exclusively by the Xuandan Sect." Vice President Ouyang spoke with some embarrassment. "I may have backing of my own within the Guild, but I cannot defy the word of the Great Supreme Honorary President!"

"The Xuandan Sect?" Wei Zhao was baffled. "Don't they refine high-grade pills? They want to corner the market for first- and second-grade pills too?"

"I don't know what's behind it either. All of a sudden, an Elder Kang from the Xuandan Sect approached our Guild with a partnership: they'd provide us with large quantities of first- and second-grade pills, and they signed an agreement with the Great Supreme Honorary President for exclusive supply." Vice President Ouyang explained. "So I hope you'll forgive me, Mr. Ling..."

"Elder Kang?" Wei Zhao frowned, and at once thought of Kang Jingming. The brat was out to cut off his source of income! But how did he know Wei Zhao came here to sell pills? Could he have had someone investigate?

Still, what was the point of doing this? At most it cut off his income; it wouldn't touch his foundations. At most it was meant to disgust him... Could that really be all it was—just to disgust him?

If so, Wei Zhao had to hand it to Kang Jingming. To wield such influence as to sway the Xuandan Sect's decisions, to make the sect's alchemists mass-produce so many first- and second-grade pills—how much manpower and material resources would that burn?

And besides, first- and second-grade pills might not look cheap, but compared with third-grade pills, the difference was like heaven and earth. Wei Zhao found it hard to imagine the entire Xuandan Sect wasting its alchemists' physical stamina and true qi refining such rubbish—all to disgust him?

Were their heads screwed on straight?

"That's right, Elder Kang it is. He's a newly promoted elder of the Xuandan Sect, and by all accounts his word carries a lot of weight there." Vice President Ouyang said. "So, Mr. Ling, I hope you won't put me in a hard spot. There's nothing I can do."

"I know." Wei Zhao nodded. He could tell Vice President Ouyang didn't seem to be lying, and the story was told in convincing detail. As it happened, Wei Zhao did have a grudge against Kang Jingming—though Ouyang probably knew nothing of that, since Wei Zhao's public identity now was Ling Yi, not that Wei Zhao. (To be continued)