Chapter 3979 — Xu Lingchong Comes Knocking

Anyone who was not utterly ungrateful would hold such a favor close to heart—and hold it willingly, without the slightest discomfort. Over time, a vast and dependable network of connections would naturally take shape.

"More friends, more roads"—in the world of cultivation, that saying was pure gold. And for a merchant like Hong Zhong, who lived by his connections, it was doubly true.

One could only say that a man like Hong Zhong was bound to achieve great things no matter what he turned his hand to. Strength was only one part of it; his character and his wisdom in dealing with the world were just as indispensable—and often more useful than brute power.

Wei Zhao could not help but feel once again, and deeply, that cultivating ties with a figure like Hong Zhong would surely bring great benefit and play a great part in his own future.

"Steward Hong, you have already helped me beyond measure. How could I presume to ask for more and borrow spirit jade from you as well?" Wei Zhao said with a faint smile. "Truth is, the reason I'm bringing back so many spirit herbs and materials this time is that I mean to fire up my furnace and refine pills. When I bring them back to sell to you next time, I expect that will be enough to cover the auction's needs."

"Excellent, most excellent. Then this old man shall wait and see what Young Hero Lin can produce," Hong Zhong said, his eyes lighting up as he nodded in approval.

After taking his leave from the Hong Merchant Guild, Wei Zhao did not linger outside. He headed straight home. The matter of artifact-forging would have to be set aside for now; with two stalks of Heart-Devouring Linglong Grass in hand, the priority was plainly to refine the Foundation Establishment Golden Core first.

Strictly speaking, it had not been long since Wei Zhao advanced to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage. Until he had thoroughly consolidated and mastered his realm and strength, he would not take a Foundation Establishment Golden Core even if he had one on hand. Haste makes waste, after all—doing so would easily produce the side effect of an unstable foundation.

So for the short term at least, Wei Zhao had no use for Foundation Establishment Golden Cores. But provision averts peril: he was only at mid-Foundation Establishment now and would remain in the Foundation Establishment realm for a long time to come. For him, Foundation Establishment Golden Cores were a case of the more the better—there was no such thing as too many.

The night passed without a word. Wei Zhao was already thoroughly practiced in pill refinement, and with the Divine Farmer's Cauldron assisting him, mishaps were essentially impossible. This time was no different.

Wei Zhao had assumed he would produce at least three Foundation Establishment Golden Cores this time, just as before—after all, both stalks of Heart-Devouring Linglong Grass had been gathered in the wild by others, not mass-cultivated in a spirit herb garden with their innate flaws, so their quality was somewhat better than last time. Reality, however, proved otherwise: this time he succeeded in refining only two Foundation Establishment Golden Cores.

Still, inside the Divine Farmer's Cauldron he also discovered two spoiled pills. In other words, had everything gone smoothly, he ought to have produced four Foundation Establishment Golden Cores in one batch. Instead, half had withered on the vine—a loss to make any man sigh.

There was no helping it. No alchemist could maintain a hundred percent success rate, and Wei Zhao, even with the Divine Farmer's Cauldron's aid, was no exception. Spoiled pills were unavoidable; beyond lamenting and sighing, one could only accept reality.

Wei Zhao was not greedy, however. Producing two Foundation Establishment Golden Cores this time left him thoroughly satisfied. As for whether two would be enough for him to later charge at the peak of mid-Foundation Establishment—that would have to wait for another day.

If they were not enough, then so long as Hong Zhong and Chen Heihu continued to help with all their hearts, Wei Zhao believed that with the influence of those two, he would surely have the chance to acquire more Heart-Devouring Linglong Grass in the future. And with the grass, Foundation Establishment Golden Cores would be no trouble at all.

But spoiled pills were not entirely useless either. A spoiled Foundation Establishment Golden Core had roughly the same effect as a Foundation Establishment Pill—it could enable someone who had not yet established their foundation to succeed at doing so, and its effect was even superior to that of a Foundation Establishment Pill.

After adjusting his condition slightly, Wei Zhao soon prepared to fire up the furnace again. This time, what he intended to refine was the Foundation Establishment Barrier-Breaking Pill.

Apart from keeping a small portion for his own use, Wei Zhao planned to sell most of the Foundation Establishment Barrier-Breaking Pills he produced this time to the Hong Merchant Guild, as previously agreed. That way he could both repay Hong Zhong's kindness and raise a large sum of spirit jade to prepare for the auction—two birds with one stone.

However, before Wei Zhao could fire up the furnace again, the restriction barrier outside his cave dwelling was triggered, and he had no choice but to set his work aside for the moment.

Opening the cave dwelling's main door and looking at the familiar old faces before him, Wei Zhao could not help but laugh. "Heh, what wind blows you here today? What business do you gentlemen have?"

Standing at the cave dwelling's door at that moment were none other than Xu Lingchong, Kang Jingming, and Zhong Yongliang—that whole crowd.

Setting aside his identity as Lin Er, these people were Wei Zhao's greatest sworn enemies at present. Especially after the pointless loss of Meng Jueming, that capable subordinate of his, Xu Lingchong, that young master, was probably itching to press Wei Zhao to death on the spot. So what on earth did he mean by bringing his men to pound on the door in broad daylight like this?

It was broad daylight, after all, and some of the startled newcomers of the Azure Cloud Pavilion were still watching from a distance. Wei Zhao was certain that even if you lent the man ten times his courage, he would never dare resort to force on an occasion like this.

Seeing that Wei Zhao was not only unafraid but wore an air of breezy indifference, as though no one else was worth his notice, Xu Lingchong felt his chest seize up at once. He truly had not come this time intending to play rough with Wei Zhao, but he had still wanted to put on a show of force and cower the man—ideally to frighten Wei Zhao so badly in public that he would lose all face and never dare show himself again.

So this time, Xu Lingchong, as never before, personally unleashed the full force of his formidable aura—unreservedly, the great perfection of Foundation Establishment. With such a terrifying aura laid bare, men like Kang Jingming would long since have been unable to withstand the pressure and dropped to their knees had they not been hiding behind him.

Yet Wei Zhao, standing right before him, a mere two paces away, remained breezily unruffled, as if nothing were the matter at all. It was truly far beyond Xu Lingchong's expectations.

To be honest, if Wei Zhao had only early-Foundation Establishment strength, he might indeed have been unable to withstand such a formidable aura. But he was now a bona fide mid-Foundation Establishment expert, tough of mind besides, and his strength far surpassed that of ordinary cultivators of his level. If he could not even withstand this little bit of aura from the other man, he might as well give up the game entirely!