Chapter 3299 — Drawing Out Wei Zhao

Of course, Wei Zhao had successfully advanced to the mid-stage of the Heaven Rank, and it was time he returned. Hiding abroad indefinitely was no solution, and without any miraculous elixir, Wei Zhao currently had no opportunity for another breakthrough.

One day, Wei Zhao took leave of Yang Qiqi and Little Nine, and set out for home with Xu Shilan and Cheng Yiyi.

During Wei Zhao's absence, however, some major events had unfolded at the upper echelon, all concerning the Dark Night Palace. Yet because the affair involving Wei Zhao had stirred up such a storm, few people paid any attention to matters of the Dark Night Palace.

Zhao Qibing had lived bitterly during this period. Scrubbing toilets one-armed was arduous enough, but Gu Mengyao had actually escalated things, heaping every kind of filthy and grueling chore upon him, step by step.

By now, Zhao Qibing had become the one who tended the pigs, fed the cattle, herded the sheep, and worked the fields for the Dark Night Palace. Whenever the disciples were on duty or laboring, Zhao Qibing's figure could be seen every time. He did not want to do it, but there was no help for it; the Dark Night Palace had become entirely Gu Mengyao's domain, a place where one voice decided all. So long as what she did did not harm the Dark Night Palace's interests, the Grand Elder generally would not oppose it.

And Zhao Qibing's patron, the black-clad elder, had now also fallen from power, unable to protect even himself. How could he have the capacity to look after Zhao Qibing?

Zhao Qibing was suffocating with frustration. The mere thought of it enraged him, yet he was utterly helpless. In his heart, he had already begun plotting to defect to the Xuandan Sect. But going to the Xuandan Sect was not something one simply did. Although Kang Jingming had already agreed, if you went to pledge allegiance, you had to bring some sincerity, did you not?

If he rushed over rashly, he would likely never attain any standing within the Xuandan Sect at all. He might end up a menial disciple, no better off than he was in the Dark Night Palace. He wanted to rise above others and take revenge on Wei Zhao and that despicable woman Gu Mengyao, so he had to possess strength!

A true man cannot go a single day without strength, but without status, where does strength come from? At present, Zhao Qibing had essentially no possibility of increasing his strength within the Dark Night Palace, unless Gu Mengyao died or some accident befell her.

Just as Zhao Qibing was racking his brains here, unable to find a reason to defect or a worthy gift to offer, a phone call sent him into transports of delight!

"Hello, is this Zhao Qibing? This is Kang Jingming!" From the other end of the line came Kang Jingming's voice, smug and imperious.

To think that back then, Kang Jingming had been nothing but a profligate son of an ordinary family, not even a member of a great clan. Yet he had vaulted to become an elder of the Xuandan Sect, one of the largest sects at the upper echelon. Of course, he still did not know that Kang Jingming was the son-in-law of Ancestor Xuanchen; had he known, he would have been even more consumed with envy.

"It is I, Elder Kang. You were looking for me?" Zhao Qibing said with the utmost deference.

"It is like this. Let me ask you something. Does Gu Mengyao now hold absolute power in the Dark Night Palace?" Ancestor Xuanchen had some knowledge of affairs in the Dark Night Palace, and lately he had truly grown somewhat anxious.

Wei Zhao had fled abroad and would not return, and those who had gone to make trouble for the Blood Garment Yellow Springs Sect had also beat a retreat. Ancestor Xuanchen wanted to deal with Wei Zhao, yet he did not even know where to begin.

But to let Wei Zhao off just like that was absolutely impossible. Not to mention that Little Eleven had been reduced to such a state by Wei Zhao, the mere accumulation of past grievances meant he could not simply let the matter drop.

Therefore, Ancestor Xuanchen wanted to force Wei Zhao back and see how those sects preparing to make trouble for Wei Zhao would react. If they did not go after Wei Zhao, that would mean something was wrong with the earlier affair; if they did go after Wei Zhao, then Ancestor Xuanchen could watch the fire from the opposite bank.

Yet no matter how he racked his brains, he could not find a suitable pretext. But a single remark from Kang Jingming opened Ancestor Xuanchen's eyes! Kang Jingming, brimming with wicked schemes, had in a flash hit upon a fine idea: to make Gu Mengyao the target.

As Kang Jingming's status rose, Ancestor Xuanchen had also confided certain secrets to him, such as the Cloud-Tier Island plan and the like. And at this very moment, Kang Jingming also understood that the reason those junior sect masters of the Xuandan Sect, with their heaven-silk transformations, wanted to take wives and concubines, and wanted to marry Bingtang as a wife, was simply to secure the title in advance, to prevent them from losing their virginity before the Cloud-Tier Island plan commenced in the future and thereby affecting the plan.

The wife and concubines reserved for the junior sect master of the Xuandan Sect were, in effect, the junior sect master's people, and thus they could all remain virgins for the time being.

So Kang Jingming suggested that the junior sect master of the Xuandan Sect go to the Dark Night Palace to propose marriage. After all, this was something Ancestor Xuanchen was bound to do in the coming years anyway. When Gu Mengyao ran into trouble, could Wei Zhao sit idly by?

In this way, Wei Zhao would surely return to the country, and his enemies would come knocking at his door! Even if his enemies did not act, Ancestor Xuanchen could hint to certain others to make a move against Wei Zhao within the Dark Night Palace.

Of course, all of this rested on the premise that Wei Zhao must show himself. And that was how the scene of Kang Jingming calling Zhao Qibing came about.

"Ah, that is currently the case!" Zhao Qibing nodded and said, "Right now, in the Dark Night Palace, what the one surnamed Chu says carries the weight of a tripod cauldron; even the Grand Elder generally does not oppose her."

"Is that so..." Kang Jingming furrowed his brow. If the Xuandan Sect went to propose marriage and the Grand Elder blocked it, refusing to yield no matter what, what then? He knew the Grand Elder's temper was foul and stubborn. If she stood on Gu Mengyao's side, the matter would indeed be somewhat difficult to handle.

It was like Bingtang of the Ice Palace back then. The Ice Palace had the capital to be forceful; if Bingtang refused, Ancestor Xuanchen could do nothing about it. After all, he could hardly send the Xuandan Sect to attack the Ice Palace, could he? That was unrealistic! And fortunately, Bingtang also knew that activating the Cloud-Tier Island plan required maintaining virginity. As a branch of the Five Luminaries Sect, the Ice Palace's ancestral precepts surely explained such matters, so there was no worry that Bingtang would act recklessly.

The same reasoning applied to the Snow Valley. What displeased Ancestor Xuanchen was that the Ice Palace and the Snow Valley had, one after the other, replaced their inheritors with Wei Zhao's wives, major and minor. That was truly a nasty trick. Even if they remained virgins now, when the time came to execute that plan, there would surely still be resistance.

That resistance was Wei Zhao. So in Ancestor Xuanchen's eyes, Wei Zhao had to die! It was only out of consideration for the wood-element inheritor on the White Leader's side that Ancestor Xuanchen had refrained from moving against Wei Zhao again.