Chapter 4508 — The Challenge Renewed
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
Businessmen put profit first. They could not care less about heretic cultivators or anything of the sort—so long as a house could overawe the petty rabble and the pirates, so long as it could deliver their goods safely and reliably, that was the formidable escort agency they would choose above all others.
When all is said and done, the victor is king. So long as one's strength reaches a certain height, even a heretic cultivator becomes the righteous cause. With the Old Sect of the Western Mountains, a mountain-opening titan, holding the fort for the Longzhou Escort Agency, that was no stain—it was a blessing no amount of lifetimes of cultivation could earn.
So long as the Old Sect of the Western Mountains endured, not a soul would dare provoke the Longzhou Escort Agency. Let their vessels fly the Longzhou banner, and even pirates and raiders would give them a wide berth; for to harbor the slightest wicked design against them was to make an enemy of the Old Sect of the Western Mountains—and ten lives would not be enough to pay for that.
Compared with that, whether they recovered second place was a trifling matter, one might even call it immaterial. With the word the Old Sect of the Western Mountains had given today, the Longzhou Escort Agency could forgo joining the Southern Continent Escort Alliance altogether and still be fine. With a mountain-opening titan at their back, could they possibly lack for business?
Long Kuiba was wild with joy inside, but the focus of the hall at this moment was not on him—it was on Cheng Haonan and Wei Zhao.
A moment ago, when they heard the Old Sect of the Western Mountains change tack and refuse to say another word about avenging his nephew and personal disciple Wu Baoliang, the crowd had assumed he meant to let Wei Zhao off the hook. They had never imagined he had been saving that task for Cheng Haonan.
"Yes, Master! Your disciple shall bring back Ling Yi's head at once, to avenge Senior Brother Wu, as the gift of my induction!" Cheng Haonan was instantly elated, brimming with swagger.
The title of leader of the Poison Eye Mercenary Corps might sound imposing, but in the eyes of those at the highest levels it was utterly beneath notice. Never mind the great sects—even a figure like Qi Mingyuan could despise him without a shred of ambiguity.
But now all that had changed. He was to replace Wu Baoliang as a personal disciple of the Old Sect of the Western Mountains—a formidable backing that no great personage would dare slight. From this moment on, Cheng Haonan's life had reached its turning point; he would soar straight up into the clouds.
And of course, all of it was thanks to Ling Yi. His road to glory would begin with killing Ling Yi!
Watching Cheng Haonan strut forward step by step, drunk with triumph, Wei Zhao—the very man he was after—remained as composed as ever. It was Qi Wenmo and the others beside him whose faces had gone ashen, seized with panic.
No matter what, they had always stood on Wei Zhao's side; they were long since a community of shared interests. Neither Qi Wenmo nor Qi Mingyuan—nor Chai Laoshi, standing among the chamber of commerce delegates—would turn his back on Wei Zhao at a time like this.
The trouble was that they truly had no recourse now. Cheng Haonan and his like were not much to fear, but with what were they supposed to stand against the Old Sect of the Western Mountains, that mountain-opening heretic titan?
By strength, all of them put together could not withstand a single blow from the Old Sect of the Western Mountains. To leap out rashly now could only mean courting death—there was no second possibility. And yet, could they simply stand by and watch Wei Zhao be killed by Cheng Haonan?