Chapter 3142 — The Panicked Five Luminaries Sect

"This Wei Zhao—isn't he a lone cultivator? And Guan Doctor Pharmaceuticals, if I remember rightly, isn't that a company from the mundane world? Back then, the company belonging to Elder Kang Jingming's family was driven into bankruptcy by this very company, wasn't it?" Ouyang Legend had also thought of something. His expression turned solemn, and he demanded sternly of Ouyang Nong: "Ouyang Nong, Wei Zhao and Kang Jingming are enemies—don't let yourself be used as someone else's weapon! Kang Jingming sends over all these first-grade pills, and right on his heels you bring out a first-grade automatic pill cauldron. Doesn't that make it plain as day that you don't want Kang Jingming to have an easy time of it?"

If anyone else had said such a thing, President Shen would surely have wondered whether Ouyang Legend and Ouyang Nong had conspired beforehand. But coming from Ouyang Legend, it was different. If this matter really had anything to do with Ouyang Legend, how could he possibly have said these things? Had he not spoken, President Shen would hardly have thought of any of it; only after he spoke did President Shen grasp the implications. And so, precisely because of this, President Shen ruled out the possibility that Ouyang Legend had known in advance.

"President Ouyang, how could Little Nong have known Kang Jingming was coming today, and how could he have calculated it so exactly—Kang Jingming had barely arrived before he showed up right behind him?" Here President Shen turned to look at Little Kong and asked, "Little Kong, on your way here, did you come straight in to see me?"

"Ah, yes!" Little Kong was fiddling with the first-grade automatic pill cauldron in his hands, and at President Shen's question he answered hastily.

Little Kong was an ordinary disciple, and his fondness for the first-grade automatic pill cauldron was written all over his face. With a man whose emotions showed so plainly, President Shen could tell at a glance that he was not lying, which only confirmed his own conjecture. Even so, he asked further: "Little Nong, do you know that Wei Zhao and Kang Jingming are enemies?"

"I know." Ouyang Nong nodded briskly.

"You know?" President Shen's expression shifted slightly, and he frowned. "If you knew, why didn't you say so earlier?"

At that moment, Ouyang Legend's expression shifted as well; he could not tell what play Ouyang Nong was putting on.

"Ah?" Ouyang Nong blinked, then said, "Previously, the pills in our market were all supplied by Mr. Wei Zhao. Last time, Mr. Wei Zhao brought me some first-grade and second-grade pills to sell, but our Cultivators' Commerce Association had already adopted the pills sent by Elder Kang of the Mystic Pill Sect as its exclusive supply. So I had no choice but to refuse Mr. Wei Zhao, and I explained the situation to him. Mr. Wei Zhao was quite angry at the time—he seemed to hate this Elder Kang bitterly."

"Is that all?" After hearing this, President Shen asked with a strange look on his face.

"Yes—isn't that enough to count as a grudge?" Ouyang Nong said with a bitter smile. "Still, it wasn't anything major. I didn't think much of it at the time. Later, when Mr. Wei Zhao brought me the first-grade automatic pill cauldron, I finished handling matters at the market and hurried over to meet President Shen and President Ouyang in person to explain this matter."

"Oh—then why didn't you make a phone call beforehand?" President Shen asked.

"With something like this, if you hadn't seen it with your own eyes, would you have believed me if I'd called you or President Ouyang?" Ouyang Nong spread his hands and said with some helplessness.

"That's true enough." President Shen nodded. "Ouyang Nong, you and this Wei Zhao—you're on good terms?"

"Yes. I've been working with him all along. I'm also very sorry about refusing him last time, but the rules of the Cultivators' Commerce Association can't be broken, so I had no choice but to turn him down. Still, this time, seeing Kang Jingming take a fall—from a selfish standpoint, I have to say I felt rather gratified!" Ouyang Nong said.

Ouyang Nong's words were all aboveboard. Though a little petty-minded, he said whatever was on his mind, and the last shred of President Shen's suspicions dissolved. "Good. This thing—how much can Wei Zhao's company produce? If it were auctioned, I imagine it would fetch a sky-high price!"

"The first-grade automatic pill cauldron comes in categories like this: there's a single version, a five-in-one version, and the ten-in-one limited edition I'm holding here..." With that, Ouyang Nong explained the categories of the first-grade automatic pill cauldron to President Shen and Ouyang Legend.

Hearing this, President Shen also understood that Wei Zhao was likely using the Cultivators' Commerce Association as his backing for a cooperative sales venture—though only the limited edition was part of the cooperation. President Shen did not mind. Auctioning such an outrageous item at the Cultivators' Commerce Association would draw attention and goodwill, and everyone would make money. Why not?

"Good, Little Nong. From now on, you'll have full authority over the auction, sales, and promotion of this first-grade automatic pill cauldron. I'll also assign you several disciples skilled in pill refinement to assist you," President Shen said.

"Thank you, President Shen!" Ouyang Nong was overjoyed. It seemed he had muddled through today after all—President Shen had no suspicion of him whatsoever.

Ouyang Nong left with Little Kong and set about the promotional work, while Kang Jingming went straight back to the Five Luminaries Sect and made his way to the room of Ancestor Xuanchen.

"Father-in-law, this is bad—something terrible has happened!" Kang Jingming, forgetting all propriety, said urgently.

"Oh? What has happened?" Looking at Kang Jingming's state, Ancestor Xuanchen knew something considerable must have occurred; otherwise Kang Jingming would never have lost his composure like this. Over the recent period, tempered by his time at the Five Luminaries Sect and the Mystic Pill Sect, Kang Jingming had grown somewhat steadier than his initial flightiness, and he had weathered many great storms.

"The Cultivators' Commerce Association has come out with something called a first-grade automatic pill cauldron—it can automatically refine first-grade pills! With that, who are we going to sell our first-grade pills to?" Kang Jingming said with a mournful face.

"Oh? What first-grade automatic pill cauldron? Such a thing exists? It can automatically refine first-grade pills? Zhaoming, are you sure you heard correctly?" Ancestor Xuanchen frowned. The term sounded utterly absurd to his ears. A pill cauldron that was automatic? Then what would pill refiners be for?

"Absolutely true—and it's not hearsay, I saw it with my own eyes!" Kang Jingming said. "What's more, I even tried it out. It really can refine pills! It even succeeded in a single attempt at refining a first-grade pill I had never refined before!"

"Oh? What exactly is going on? Tell me in detail!" Ancestor Xuanchen immediately realized this matter was likely no trifle.RS