Chapter 3145 — Wei Zhao's Crisis

As for Kang Jingming and Patriarch Xuanchen, envy and hatred gnawed at them, of course—but that did nothing to stop them from being first in line to visit the Liu family of the secular world and buy a first-grade automatic cauldron to take home and study.

As the uproar over the first-grade automatic cauldron got underway, the Dongfang family, for their part, had finally uncovered Wei Zhao's true identity.

"Father, Second Brother, that brat is no disciple of the Tomorrow-All-Tomorrows Sect named Zhang Naipao at all—he's Wei Zhao! We've all been played for fools!" Having received the news, Dongfang Jinxing stormed in fury to the place where Ouyang Badao and Ouyang Yinxing were in seclusion.

"Oh? Wei Zhao?" Dongfang Badao had heard the name before. Back during the Xuantian Sect trials, Wei Zhao had defeated that Tomorrow-All-Tomorrows Sect disciple Zhang Naipao, and at the time the Dongfang family had even considered approaching Wei Zhao to ask him about Zhang Naipao's weaknesses. But the family had always prided itself on being an ancient house, lofty and aloof, unwilling to go begging instruction from a loose cultivator, so the matter had simply been shelved.

What they had never expected was that Wei Zhao would turn out to be their enemy.

"Yes, Xu Shilan's close guard is named Wei Zhao, and he is no disciple of the Tomorrow-All-Tomorrows Sect at all. This Wei Zhao is thoroughly uncanny—back in the Xuantian Sect trials, even Zhang Naipao of the Tomorrow-All-Tomorrows Sect was no match for him. It is only natural that he can fight above his level. We fell into a trap that Dongfang Ying had planted in our minds beforehand, convincing ourselves he was a Tomorrow-All-Tomorrows Sect disciple!" said Dongfang Jinxing.

"In that case, then the man at the Cultivator's Chamber of Commerce who colluded with Vice President Ouyang and murdered Dongfang Jian—that was Wei Zhao too?" Dongfang Badao asked.

"Indeed. Now it looks to be absolutely certain!" Dongfang Jinxing said with assurance. "Father, you don't know the half of it. Just today I received word that this first-grade automatic cauldron that the Cultivator's Chamber of Commerce has been hyping so feverishly of late was launched jointly by Ouyang Nong and Wei Zhao. Their relationship is deeper than we thought, and from this we can deduce that the man is undoubtedly Wei Zhao!"

"Wei Zhao, eh? Very good! A mere loose cultivator, and he dares to oppose our Dongfang family again and again—does he really think we're easy to push around?" Dongfang Yinxing slammed the table and rose to his feet, roaring in fury: "Father, let me go deal with this little mongrel and avenge the good men of our Dongfang family who have died!"

"Patience!" Old Master Dongfang Badao was plainly not one for rashness. He waved a hand and said: "Right now Wei Zhao is working with the Cultivator's Chamber of Commerce, and his star is at its zenith. If we go kill him at this moment, we make an enemy of the Cultivator's Chamber of Commerce—and that is an entity even the Xuantian Sect dares not provoke. How could our Dongfang family possibly stand against it?"

Word had spread that the Xuantian Sect had come off the worse against the Cultivator's Chamber of Commerce, and all because of Wei Zhao's first-grade automatic cauldron. Even the Xuantian Sect had swallowed its losses. How could the Dongfang family possibly stick its neck out first?

"Father, are we just to let it go, then?" Dongfang Yinxing was plainly unwilling to accept it, his eyes bloodshot as he asked.

"Of course we can't just let it go!" Dongfang Badao gave a cold smile. "We cannot openly strike Wei Zhao down now, but we can do it in secret. Only—leave Xu Shilan alone for the time being. If we move against her, it must not be connected to the business with Wei Zhao. Once this storm blows over and Wei Zhao is dead, then we go after her, and no one will suspect that Wei Zhao's death had anything to do with us."

"That is true enough..." Dongfang Yinxing nodded. Plainly he too did not wish to bring trouble down on the Dongfang family in the name of revenge.

"By the way, Father, when I was investigating Wei Zhao's identity earlier, I made a point of verifying things with the Tomorrow-All-Tomorrows Sect, and it seems they too intend to send an expert at the peak of the late Earth Rank to kill Wei Zhao!" Dongfang Jinxing suddenly thought of something and spoke up at once.

"Oh? The Tomorrow-All-Tomorrows Sect? What is this about?" Dongfang Badao's interest was immediately piqued.

"Earlier, since I believed Wei Zhao was one of theirs, I called Pure Yang Heavenly Venerable to ask whether their disciple Zhang Naipao had lately come out from the mountain. But the answer I got was that ever since returning from the Xuantian Sect trials, Zhang Naipao has been sunk in the inner demon of his defeat at Wei Zhao's hands, melancholy day after day—how would he have had the time to go out and kill anyone from our Dongfang family?" Dongfang Jinxing said. "I did not quite believe it at the time, but then I thought that the Tomorrow-All-Tomorrows Sect had no reason to lie to me about such a thing, so I accepted it... Later, I received a call from Feng Tianhu of the ancient Feng family, telling me that Xu Shilan's close guard was Wei Zhao. So I called Pure Yang Heavenly Venerable of the Tomorrow-All-Tomorrows Sect once more, told him I was very sorry for the earlier business and that we had misjudged them, that we had now uncovered the true culprit—Wei Zhao—who was also an enemy of their Tomorrow-All-Tomorrows Sect."

"Oh? And what did Pure Yang Heavenly Venerable say?" Dongfang Badao asked with interest.

"Pure Yang Heavenly Venerable said that even if we did not go after Wei Zhao, they were already preparing to send Pure Yin Heavenly Venerable to finish him off, and that if we harbored the same intention, we might as well tell them and go kill Wei Zhao together—lest one side get there first and leave the other displeased," Dongfang Jinxing said.

"Oh, that would be best of all. With two experts at the peak of the late Heaven Rank setting out together, Wei Zhao may be formidable, may be able to fight above his level, but he will die beyond any doubt!" A trace of a smile crept onto Dongfang Badao's lips. "So much the better. When the time comes, the Tomorrow-All-Tomorrows Sect will be in the open and we in the shadows—and once Wei Zhao is dead, we can lay it all at their door!"

As for why the Dongfang family would still need to join in when the Tomorrow-All-Tomorrows Sect was already making its move, the reason was simple: the Dongfang family had lost so many of its own. If they did not send someone in person to kill Wei Zhao, how could the fury in their hearts ever be appeased?

Only by taking revenge with their own hands could they have peace of mind. Otherwise, the Dongfang family would remain stifled and bitter forever.

"Very well. Still, sending two experts at the peak of the late Heaven Rank—that is really doing Wei Zhao great honor. A waste of talent!" Dongfang Yinxing curled his lip and said: "By the way, Elder Brother, you didn't mention the matter of Dongfang Bushu, did you?" (To be continued)