Chapter 3120 — Tianchan's Thoughts

What was more, Kang Jingming had called him earlier to boast about it, saying he had cut off Wei Zhao's source of income; on his suggestion, the Xuandan Sect had taken over the entire pill market of the Cultivators' Guild. In this way Wei Zhao would soon find himself in dire economic straits—not that it would do him any physical harm, but inflicting mental damage on him still counted as winning a round.

So Zhao Qibing firmly believed that once he got on good terms with the Xuandan Sect's young sect master, how could Wei Zhao not be finished? The Xuandan Sect's young sect master was a man—surely he couldn't also be one of Wei Zhao's women, could he?

Heh heh heh heh. Good thing I, Zhao Qibing, kept a trick up my sleeve. Just wait and see how I play you to death!

"Starting today, you will be cleaning the toilets!" Gu Mengyao said flatly.

"Yes..." Zhao Qibing did not refuse. A wise man does not fight when the odds are against him; he knew well that if he refused, Gu Mengyao would likely think up some other way to have her revenge, so he agreed without hesitation.

The Xuandan Sect!

Although Vice Chairman Ouyang had said nothing, in the marketplace of the Cultivators' Guild the eyes and ears of the honorary grand chairman—the great grand elder—reported to him the news that Wei Zhao had been there. Although the report was not specific, one could easily guess that Wei Zhao had come away humiliated.

Nor was this any secret; word spread quickly through the Xuandan Sect, and naturally Tianchan came to hear of it as well.

Yet even if she wished to help, she had no way to do so. Surely she could not go against Ancestor Xuanchen's orders for no reason at all? If she did, even the most foolish Ancestor Xuanchen would see that she was secretly helping Wei Zhao.

Ah, there was nothing to be done. Although Tianchan was a formidable sect master, in certain small matters Ancestor Xuanchen would interfere, and interfere he did.

Standing beside Tianchan, Tiandie felt somewhat puzzled. Why was Tianchan so attentive to matters concerning Wei Zhao? Could this Wei Zhao have something special about him? Yet Tiandie had never noticed anything special—he was nothing but a wandering cultivator. Had she not intervened last time to help him out, Wei Zhao would have been utterly helpless before the people of the Dark Night Palace.

But no matter what, in Tiandie's eyes Tianchan was always right. Whatever Tianchan did, she would blindly imitate. Since Tianchan was paying attention to Wei Zhao, Tiandie decided she would pay attention to Wei Zhao too.

"Tiandie, do me a favor and look into whether Wei Zhao is short of money." Tianchan did not know about Wei Zhao's company; such things were too far removed from her world, so she meant to have Tiandie investigate in detail.

"Yes, Young Sect Master." Tiandie gave a reply and vanished from Tianchan's window.

Once Tiandie had gone, a faint blush stole across Tianchan's face. She pursed her lips, feeling a kind of bewilderment about the future—it seemed she had developed feelings that were never meant to be hers. Had she fallen for Wei Zhao?

If so, what was she to do from now on? She could never become the heir now. Yet her identity as the young sect master of the Xuandan Sect remained; her younger brother was utterly unfit for that position, and Tianchan could not bear to force him into it.

But if that were so, then no matter what, Tianchan could never again resume her identity as a woman. Even if she could meet Wei Zhao again, it could only be as Tianchan, never as Tian Canbian. This secret she would have to bury forever.

In Ancestor Xuanchen's chamber.

"Father-in-law, good news, sire! Wei Zhao went to the Cultivators' Guild to sell pills, but they wouldn't take them!" Kang Jingming excitedly reported the news to Ancestor Xuanchen.

"Mm, there's nothing to get excited about. This business is no great matter," Ancestor Xuanchen said with a faint wave of his hand. "It will only cause Wei Zhao some financial difficulty; it won't break his bones."

"True enough. Oh, by the way—just now Wei Zhao asked me how the matter of the Qi-Gathering Pills was coming along. Father-in-law, when shall we begin refining pills for Wei Zhao?" Kang Jingming asked.

"No rush for now. The business with Little One and Little Eleven last time has already put Squad Leader Bai on his guard. If this time Wei Zhao eats a pill and dies from it, he certainly won't let the matter rest. We wait a while longer. When the wood-element heir has been fully cultivated, then I shall have nothing to fear and can deal with Wei Zhao with my hands untied," Ancestor Xuanchen said.

"Understood, Father-in-law. So for the time being we continue refining first-rank and second-rank pills, correct?" Kang Jingming asked.

"Correct. Take all the money of our Five Luminaries Sect and use it to buy up the ingredients for first-rank and second-rank pills, then refine them as fast as you can. You must understand that the Cultivators' Guild's demand is enormous; we shall glut this market until it is saturated so that Wei Zhao has no way to get a foothold," Ancestor Xuanchen said. "Moreover, we should refine extra stock, so that if a time comes when we have no leisure to refine, the Cultivators' Guild will not run short of goods."

"Understood," Kang Jingming nodded. Actually, even if the Xuandan Sect and the Five Luminaries Sect refined pills together, the cost would not be low. After all, even for first-rank and second-rank pills, refining in bulk could not guarantee a steady success rate, and with the effort spread thin, the rate of spoiled pills would only climb.

Besides, not every alchemist was a second-rank or third-rank alchemist; there were also many alchemist disciples for whom succeeding once out of two attempts was already considered good.

Fortunately, although the cost was high, the selling price was higher still; even at a discount there was considerable profit. Otherwise, given Ancestor Xuanchen's temperament, he would never have done business at a loss.

There were many ways to strike at Wei Zhao; there was no need to lose money just to make a show of it, harming others without benefiting oneself. To harm others and benefit oneself at the same time—that was Ancestor Xuanchen's style.

Dongfang Ying had half an eye socket shorn off. Though he had taken a Small Restoration Pill to stop the bleeding, a lost eye socket could not grow back. All he could do now was find some way to fit a fake eyeball and a protective casing over the skull.

"Tomorrow-Plus-Tomorrow Sect, I'm not done with you!" After fleeing, Dongfang Ying crouched in a deserted place, gasping for breath. He fumbled out his phone and dialed Dongfang Jinxing's number.

"Dongfang Ying, how goes it? You've reached East Sea City, haven't you? Is everything going smoothly? Have you found out who killed Dongfang Jian?" Dongfang Jinxing asked.

"Patriarch, I've found out—it was the Tomorrow-Plus-Tomorrow Sect!" Dongfang Ying said through gritted teeth. "But I've been badly wounded too!"

"You? Badly wounded? What happened? Don't tell me the killer who murdered Dongfang Jian is still there?" Dongfang Jinxing was startled and asked hastily.