"All of you! Return to your duties!" Jian Ganglie ordered, dispersing the disciples.
Once they had left, Jian Ganglie cupped his fist respectfully.
"Azure Sky Elder, please follow ."
Although puzzled, Azure Sky Elder complied, wondering what this was about. Jian Ganglie led him into a secret room and once again cupped his fist politely.
"Reporting to Azure Sky Elder, the eting concluded yesterday. The Thousand Treasure Pavilion acquired all of the artifacts from the Flaming Lotus Secret Realm."
"What!? What did you say!?" the elder’s voice carried both alarm and confusion.
"The artifact set from the Flaming Lotus Secret Realm has already been consigned to the Thousand Treasure Pavilion. Please forgive , I was powerless to prevent it," Jian Ganglie said in a subservient tone.
Azure Sky Elder wanted to lash out at the man before him, but he restrained himself. This was only a sect leader of a small sect, he had no power to resist.
The other party was the Thousand Treasure Pavilion, an auction house and rchant network closely tied to the Sky-Severing Demon Valley, the most powerful demonic path sect in Azure River Province. A small sect like Sword Manor had no say in such matters.
Still, holding back his ire was no easy task. On the other hand, openly blaming Sword Manor would risk pushing them toward supporting the Thousand Treasure Pavilion, sothing the Azure Sky Elder could not allow. That would only lead to a decline in the conglorate’s revenue.
"What about that vagabond? Did he agree to this so easily?" the elder asked.
"Reporting to Elder, he was the one who proposed holding the eting without you, since you had not yet arrived. Mo Xingyao, head of the Thousand Treasure Pavilion, also went along with it and strongly urged us forward. As the saying goes, a mantis cannot stop a chariot. I truly had no choice." Jian Ganglie politely bowed his head as he report.
Azure Sky Elder’s face darkened. Never before had anyone treated him this way. It was one thing for the Thousand Treasure Pavilion to act against him, but for a re vagabond to do so?
This was inconceivable! Wei Chen! A vagabond!
This could not go unanswered.
It was not about being petty—this was about the honor of an elder of the Azure Sky Conglorate. Such a thing could not be allowed to stand.
"I see... good, good, good! He has nerve!" the elder spat through gritted teeth, each "good" filled with fury.
Jian Ganglie sneaked a glance at his expression before quickly lowering his head again.
"I understand, Sect Leader Jian. It was my subordinates’ negligence that caused the Azure Sky Conglorate to arrive late, costing us this opportunity," Azure Sky Elder said.
By framing it this way, he placed the bla on his own subordinates while giving himself a reason to direct his anger toward Wei Chen.
With this thought, he turned to Jian Ganglie.
"Since the eting has already concluded and there is nothing more here, I shall take my leave. Thank you for informing . The Azure Sky Conglorate will rember this."
"There is no need to thank , Elder. This was my responsibility," Jian Ganglie said humbly.
Azure Sky Elder nodded in approval before departing the secret room and returning to the flying ark.
Standing outside the main hall, Jian Ganglie watched as the Azure Sky ark departed into the clouds. He let out a sigh of relief.
"As Mr. Wei predicted, thanks to him, Sword Manor has avoided this calamity," Jian Ganglie murmured to himself, recalling yesterday’s eting.
— Yesterday - At the eting —
At the eting room, Wei Chen sat back and relaxed as he laid out his plan to help Sword Manor avoid calamity.
"The plan is simple. There are three things we need to do," he began.
"First, Sect Leader Jian needs to show that you are subservient to him and powerless to stop our eting. As the saying goes, it’s hard to slap a smiling face. If he believes Jian is under his control, then even if he wants to vent on Sword Manor, he will hesitate to do it directly or soon after finding out."
"But this old fart is one of the pettiest people I know. I think the chance he’ll lash out at Sword Manor is still very high."
"That’s where the second point cos in." Wei Chen turned to Jian Ganglie. "Sect Leader Jian, when you speak to that old man, you need to throw under the bus."
"Throw you under the bus? What’s a bus?" Jian asked, confused.
"I an, you need to bla . Throw a lot of dirt on , pour fuel on the fire, do anything you can to make that old man hate my guts. If you do that, his target will shift from you to ."
"I see," Mo Xingyao said. "Since he is a hypocrite, he must preserve his image. A lone cultivator and wanderer with no backup is a softer target. If Sect Leader Jian shows subservience, the elder will believe Jian is under his control and will refrain from acting against him."
Wei Chen made an "Aha" face. "That’s right! You’re so smart. Co on, girl, have a treat!" He produced a large barbecue drumstick and pointed it at Mo Xingyao’s mouth, which irritated her.
"If you don’t stop I’ll bite you to d... huh?" Mo Xingyao began, but the aroma of the drumstick made her stop. She snatched it from Wei Chen’s hand and took a bite.
"Hmm! What’s this? It’s the first ti I’ve tasted sothing like this," she exclaid, munching happily.
Jian Ganglie ignored the little demon’s antics and turned back to Wei Chen. "Mr. Wei, I can do that, but are you going to be okay? Azure Sky Elder is very vengeful. If he sees you as an enemy he will never let you off."
Wei Chen chuckled. "C’mon, Sect Leader Jian. He would not let off either way. Instead of two people getting into trouble, why not concentrate the trouble on one? Besides, as this girl said, I’m a wanderer and I also have ways to protect myself."
Jian Ganglie nodded, though worry still showed in his eyes.
"As for the third point, I’ll make sure he keeps his attention on , so his target remains . During that ti, I hope this biter girl", he pointed at Mo Xingyao wit, who was still enjoying the drumstick with his thump. "can send experts to help protect your sect. After all, your sect and disciples will be the main factory to produce Spirit Net Jade for our plan."
Mo Xingyao thought while munching on the drumstick, then said,
"I could send so experts to help guard Sword Manor, but... nomb nomb."
She looked at Wei Chen, her mouth still busy with the large drumstick, chewing nonstop.
"This plan will only succeed if you can effectively draw that old fart’s attention long enough for to send so experts from Sky-Severing Demon Valley to secretly protect Sword Manor."
"How long do you need?" Wei Chen asked.
"About one week, at most two."
"I’ll give you four weeks," Wei Chen said with a confident smile.
"Oh? You’re that confident?" Mo Xingyao asked, her interest piqued.
It must be said, anyone in the elder position of Azure Sky Conglorate was never simple. They had resources, influence, and, most importantly, spies everywhere.
Especially in Sword Manor. A small sect like this could not escape Azure Sky Elder’s eyes and ears. Sooner or later, the secret that Sword Manor would serve as the main factory to produce Spirit Net Jade would be exposed.
And at that ti, Sword Manor’s situation would beco even more precarious.
"Don’t worry about it. I’m a professional troublemaker, just trust ," Wei Chen said with his usual confident smile.
"Professional troublemaker? Who causes trouble for a living? I don’t believe you... nom nom..." Mo Xingyao said skeptically, still chewing the barbecue drumstick with relish.
"Believe it or not, it’s up to you. But I didn’t lie," Wei Chen replied with a shrug.
That’s right. Which nuisance strear doesn’t cause trouble for a living? At least for him, it was his bread and butter, enough to make his net worth more than twenty million US dollars.
"Hmph!" Mo Xingyao snorted.
"By the way," Wei Chen began, "that Azure Sky Elder... what was he like during his youth?" He asked Mo Xingyao.
"That old fart?" Mo Xingyao paused, recalling what she had heard from her father.
"I heard that during his youth, he was the young master of the Wang Clan, one of the noble clans with great influence in Azure River Capital City. This guy was also well connected."
"Even though he’s the weakest among the elders of Azure Sky Conglorate, by using his connections alone, he gained the title of Azure Sky Elder, holding the most authority in the Conglorate," Mo Xingyao explained.
Wei Chen nodded in understanding as he listened. This guy was a typical young master... could it be...
"Then, during his youth, did he ever lose to soone he looked down upon, or get... bitch-slapped by soone with lower cultivation?" Wei Chen asked.
"Bitch-slapped?" Mo Xingyao repeated the unfamiliar term, then quickly ford a smile before choking on the drumstick.
"Cough! Cough! Ahahaha! Hahahaha!" She burst out laughing at the expression Wei Chen used.
"Are you trying to kill by making laugh? That term is great! Bitch-slapped!? I’ll use it from now on! Hahahaha!" Mo Xingyao laughed, then slowly cald herself before answering with a grin.
"Yes... there was such a person. He lost to soone exactly as you described. He didn’t die, but that loss beca a demon in his heart, preventing him from advancing beyond the Nascent Soul Realm. That’s the main reason why he’s the weakest," said Mo Xingyao.
"Is that person still alive today?" Wei Chen asked further.
"Of course. He’s still alive. That old fart couldn’t do anything to him back then when the other party was stronger, and he certainly can’t do anything now, since the man has already beco the current vice sect leader of the Heavenly Sword Sect," Mo Xingyao said.
"Can you help with a small favor? Think of it as owing you one," Wei Chen asked.
"What is it?"
"Can you arrange a eting between and this vice sect leader of the Heavenly Sword Sect? I want to interview him," Wei Chen said with a scheming smile.
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