Chapter 2928 — The Campaign Against Wei Zhao

The reason Old Master Zhao was not at home was that he had arranged a meeting with several important personages that day; at that very moment he was holding a secret conference in the council chamber of the Hidden You Family.

Ever since Zhao Qilei had been taken away in person by Wei Zhao, Old Master Zhao had been unable to sit still or sleep soundly. If Wei Zhao dared to kill him, there would be nothing he could do but stare helplessly! Old Master Zhao absolutely could not watch such a dangerous lurking threat hovering before his eyes!

And when word came back that Zhao Qilei had successfully passed the trial, Old Master Zhao felt as though doomsday had arrived. Zhao Qilei had returned home, and with Wei Zhao backing him, what was he to do? When the time came, if Wei Zhao insisted on making Zhao Qilei the head of the family, forced him to abdicate, and forced Zhao Qibing to give up his claim, what then?

Thus Old Master Zhao finally could hold back no longer. He sent invitation letters to several hidden families and sects that bore grudges against Wei Zhao, to discuss together how to rid themselves of this scourge, Wei Zhao!

The families Old Master Zhao invited were the Hidden You Family, the Hidden Yu Family, the Qianshan Sect, the Golden Bell Sect, and the Fire Wolf Gang! All of these were families and sects that harbored intense hatred for Wei Zhao—only the Hidden Yu Family did not come.

Old Master Zhao had known the Hidden Yu Family would send no one, and he had not taken it to heart; he merely assumed that the Yu Family and the Zhao Family had fallen out over the matter of Zhao Qibing and Yu Ning, and were unwilling to attend a secret meeting convened by the Zhao Family.

In truth, when Old Master Yu saw the words "deal with Wei Zhao together" on the invitation, he had simply thrown the letter away. Though he had no intention of informing Wei Zhao, he had even less interest in attending!

Imperceptibly, through a gradual and silent process, Old Master Yu had already begun adjusting the Hidden Yu Family's future plans and policies. Especially after Yu Ning's misfortune, Old Master Yu's attitude toward Wei Zhao had undergone some subtle changes.

Of course, these things were unknown to Old Master Zhao.

In the meeting room, apart from Old Master Zhao, there now sat Old Master You of the Hidden You Family, Sect Master Wo of the Qianshan Sect, Sect Master Jin of the Golden Bell Sect, and An Mingyue of the Fire Wolf Gang.

The reason the meeting was held at the You Family was that the last Hidden World Families Summit had been hosted by the Zhao Family, so this time they had simply changed venues.

The Qianshan Sect and the Golden Bell Sect were both situated deep in the mountains and were rather inconvenient to reach, while An Mingyue of the Fire Wolf Gang was merely a regional chief in Eastsea City and had no headquarters to speak of. Thus the Hidden You Family had become the best place to hold the meeting.

The Qianshan Sect and the Golden Bell Sect both hated Wei Zhao to the bone and wished they could butcher him on the spot for vengeance. Whether it was Sect Master Wo or Sect Master Jin, the important figures of both sects had all died at Wei Zhao's hands—and what was more, the Qianshan Sect's guardian spirit beast had been spirited away by Wei Zhao!

As for the Fire Wolf Gang, they had always wanted to do away with Wei Zhao, so An Mingyue had likewise come here without hesitation.

As for the Hidden You Family, they actually coveted Zhang Lifeng's alchemist's notes. If Wei Zhao died, then Han Jingyi would be easy to deal with; so long as You Panhu won Han Jingyi over, everything would unravel of itself. The key problem was that if Wei Zhao did not die, Han Jingyi would never accept You Panhu.

So these people could be said to have hit it off at once!

"Old Master Zhao, you are the one who convened this meeting to campaign against Wei Zhao—tell us, what method do you have for dealing with him?" Sect Master Wo asked impatiently. If he had the strength, he would have killed Wei Zhao long ago.

"If I had a method, I would not have needed to gather everyone here!" Old Master Zhao gave a bitter smile and sighed. "The main purpose of my coming here is in fact to pool everyone's wisdom and see what means we might have to eliminate Wei Zhao! As everyone knows, Wei Zhao's strength grows greater by the day. If we do not strike now, we will have no chance later! Back then, at the Hidden World Families Summit, there was a golden opportunity that comes but once in a thousand years, but we let it slip..."

"Old Master Zhao, if you and Old Master Yu of the Yu Family had not fallen out back then, our plan would have succeeded. You cannot blame anyone else for that!" Old Master You interjected mildly.

"That... never mind, let us not speak of it. Old Master You, could it be that you have some good method?" Old Master Zhao narrowed his eyes and looked at Old Master You, who had spoken up. "Since Old Master You is so eager, you must surely have a plan all worked out!"

"Hmph, spare me this useless talk. I am a Heaven-rank expert, but my strength lies merely in alchemy. When it comes to fighting enemies, I am not even a match for an Earth-rank expert—what method could I possibly have?" Old Master You snorted coldly.

"Enough, stop quarreling. We are here to discuss important matters, not to bicker. Let each speak in turn!" Sect Master Jin waved his hand and cut off the argument between the two. "Our Golden Bell Sect is declining day by day, and all of it is thanks to Wei Zhao. There is nothing left that our Golden Bell Sect can offer that is worth mentioning..."

Everyone knew that Sect Master Jin of the Golden Bell Sect was speaking the truth. Jin Wudi was dead, and several of the Golden Bell Sect's outstanding disciples were dead as well; at present the Golden Bell Sect was nothing but an empty shell, and there was no counting on him.

"If Wei Zhao has a spirit beast, I could in a short time bring it under control, so that the spirit beast would not attack us! Our Qianshan Sect has a secret art that can, in a short time, strip a spirit beast of its power," Sect Master Wo said.

"Not bad, Sect Master Wo's method is very useful. Wei Zhao has spirit beasts at his side, and we must guard against them!" Old Master Zhao nodded in agreement. "Mr. An, do you have any suggestions?"

"It occurs to me that Sect Master Wo's proposal has given me an idea—could we poison Wei Zhao? As far as I know, if we were to meet Wei Zhao head-on, all of us put together would not be his match!" An Mingyue said. "Going there would be nothing but walking to our deaths. If we could poison Wei Zhao and win by cunning, that would be the true way."

"There is sense in that!" Old Master Zhao nodded in agreement after hearing him. "It is true that we are no match for Wei Zhao, but this poisoning... I hear that Wei Zhao is also an expert in the medical arts. Even the medicine king of our family is no match for him..."

"Heh heh, what does the medicine king of your family amount to?" Old Master You said with some disdain. "That medicine king of yours counts for nothing at all in the eyes of our Hidden You Family!"

"Oh? Could it be that Old Master You has some lofty insight?" Though Old Master Zhao was somewhat displeased with Old Master You's words—from his tone, he seemed to hold the medicine king in great contempt—Old Master Zhao could not fly into a rage at this moment. After all, Old Master You came from an alchemist family and had the Xuandan Sect at his back; it was only natural that he would look down on the medicine king.