Chapter 3328 — A Plan Thrown into Disarray

The idea had been sound enough: choke off Wei Zhao's source of raw materials, and he would have no choice but to cooperate obediently. But now? Wei Zhao had replaced the second-grade medicinal cauldrons outright, rendering every cauldron Kang Jingming produced worthless. Not only had manpower and resources been squandered for nothing—most damning of all—the Five Luminaries Sect no longer had any leverage to bargain with Wei Zhao.

"Barring any surprises, that is how it stands..." Ancestor Xuanchen had never been much good at matters of business to begin with, and now that this had happened, he was even more at a loss. Yet he did not blame Kang Jingming; after all, the decision had been his own to make in the first place, so he bore a large share of the responsibility for the present trouble.

"Barring any surprises... barring any surprises... Father-in-law, how about we give him a surprise?" As Kang Jingming spoke, a vicious, ruthless glint flickered across his face. Wei Zhao, you brought this on yourself. Since you refuse to appreciate our kindness and won't cooperate with us, then don't blame me for fighting you to the bitter end, even if we both go down together!

"A surprise? What sort of surprise?" Ancestor Xuanchen had been at his wit's end, but at Kang Jingming's words his eyes suddenly lit up, and he pressed eagerly for an answer.

"Heh heh, isn't Wei Zhao heading to the Haku Namata Desert to find that Paoli race?" Kang Jingming said. "Father-in-law, you must have a way to contact the Paoli, surely? White Leader said it himself—so long as one offers sincerity and bargaining chips enough, the Paoli will return a plum for a peach! In that case, why don't we strike first and have the Paoli refuse to cooperate with Wei Zhao, refuse to sell him white energy stones? That way, Wei Zhao's scheme for those first-grade and second-grade automatic medicinal cauldrons will die on the vine!"

"It's not that it couldn't be done, but even if we manage it, Wei Zhao will still be able to produce his first-grade and second-grade automatic cauldrons—or at least the existing second-grade ones—using new materials as substitutes. And then we'd still have no competitive edge!" Ancestor Xuanchen had none of Kang Jingming's business acumen, so he did not quite grasp what the younger man was driving at.

"It's like this: without white energy stones, they'll only be able to make the second-grade automatic cauldrons they have now. Even if they substitute the cauldron's materials, the functions stay the same, don't they?" Kang Jingming paused there, then went on: "As long as that holds, we'll have the strength to compete. We at the Xuandan Sect have already gotten our hands on one of the second-grade automatic cauldrons on the market—when the time comes, we'll have Dr. Benjamin II's side reverse-engineer it. They should be able to manage it; it's only a matter of time. Then we'll sell ours too and compete with them head-on, and we won't have to worry about those second-grade cauldrons going unsold!"

"A fine idea!" Ancestor Xuanchen nodded. He might lack Kang Jingming's head for business, but when it came to ruthlessness, he outdid the younger man and then some. His mind turned, and he devised an even more vicious scheme: "And what if Wei Zhao were dead? Wouldn't the cauldron market then be ours at the Xuandan Sect to sell exclusively? At that point, we could rake in the money however we pleased!"

"Oh? Father-in-law, you mean to do away with Wei Zhao?" Kang Jingming was startled and delighted at once. "But Wei Zhao's strength speaks for itself—didn't he once cut down an expert at the peak of the late Heaven Rank in a single blow? Who would we send to kill him?"

"Us? We needn't lift a finger!" Ancestor Xuanchen shook his head and chuckled darkly. "The Paoli are no weaklings. From what I know, they already had three consummate experts at the peak of the late Heaven Rank, and by now they likely have even more. Let them probe Wei Zhao's depths—having them do the killing is a perfectly good approach! As things stand, no one knows whether Wei Zhao can hold his own against a consummate expert at the peak of the late Heaven Rank, so letting the Paoli make the move saves me a great deal of testing—and even if they fail, we lose nothing."

"That is a good idea. I never realized the Paoli were so formidable. But, Father-in-law, will they actually act?" Kang Jingming was confident enough that the Paoli would refuse to trade with Wei Zhao, but far less certain they could be persuaded to kill him, and so he could not help worrying.

"There's no harm in trying!" Ancestor Xuanchen mused for a moment, then said, "Here's what you'll do: set out at once for the Paoli, bearing my token of authority, and negotiate with them."

"What? I have to go in person?" Kang Jingming was taken aback.

"The Paoli have had no contact with the cultivation world of the Central Plains for two or three hundred years, and I have no way to reach them either. Back then there were no telephones, and the messenger pigeon spirit beasts that knew the way are all long dead. Without going to their door in person, there truly is no way to get in touch!" Ancestor Xuanchen said. "But rest assured—when the Paoli's envoys first came to the Central Plains, it was our Five Luminaries Sect they contacted. Go as a disciple of our Five Luminaries Sect, and they will not make things difficult for you!"

"That's a relief!" Kang Jingming thought to himself: if it meant Wei Zhao's death, what did it matter if he had to cross mountains and rivers to reach the Haku Namata Desert? So long as Wei Zhao died, no hardship would be too great.

"In that case, pack your things and set out tomorrow!" Ancestor Xuanchen instructed.

As it happened, Wei Zhao had also been planning to set out within the next few days. But who could have foreseen that just then a major incident would occur, forcing him to halt in his tracks and suspend his plans to journey to the Haku Namata Desert, keeping him instead in Donghai City?

Wang Xinyan had fainted—and fainted without the slightest warning!

The matter was simple enough, really. That morning, Xiaoshu was supposed to get up together with Wang Xinyan and go eat the breakfast Wei Zhao had made, but Wang Xinyan happened to still be sound asleep and had not woken.

At first Xiaoshu thought nothing of it and went downstairs by herself. After all, Wang Xinyan sleeping in was no great matter. In Xiaoshu's view, it was probably because Wei Zhao had only just returned the night before, and Wang Xinyan had been rather excited—the two of them had chatted for a long while in the middle of the night before finally resting.

So when Wei Zhao did not see Wang Xinyan, he asked Xiaoshu about her. Xiaoshu said Wang Xinyan had gone to bed late the night before and had not gotten up, and Wei Zhao thought no more of it.

But when the two of them had finished breakfast and Wang Xinyan still had not come downstairs, Wei Zhao found it rather strange! (To be continued.)