Chapter 4147 — None of Them Dare to Make a Move

"Then it must have been Wei Zhao beyond any doubt! Damn it, why is it this brat again? His strength is nothing to speak of, yet he keeps ruining our plans time and again—he is practically trampling all over our faces!" Nan Tian Liuguang said in a fury.

If not for Wei Zhao, there would have been no Di Xingdao; and without Di Xingdao, he would by now be the revered Vice Island Master of Zhongdao. Instead, here he lay, bedridden and gravely wounded, the laughingstock of the world.

"Academy Head Nan Tian, we cannot swallow this insult, nor can we keep indulging that brat Wei Zhao and let him run rampant. We must find an opportunity to make an example of him!" Elder Xuanchen suggested with a dark expression.

"Indeed, the brat is far too arrogant." Si Haitao nodded in agreement. The last time he had been beaten to a pulp at the Hong family's merchant guild in Beidao, it had in fact been connected to Wei Zhao as well, and he had nursed that grudge all along.

"Hmph, you think I do not want to finish that brat off? It is just that we cannot strike openly here. Di Xingdao is plainly shielding him; if we make an example of him just like that, we will be offending that madman Di Xingdao!" Nan Tian Liuguang said with a frown.

The battle at Zhongding Mountain had left a psychological scar on him. Di Xingdao was merely at Nascent Soul Grand Perfection, yet he had forced Nan Tian Liuguang, a fine expert of the early Xuan Ascension stage, to feel an insurmountable gulf in strength. Others could not see that gulf, but he himself had already sunk into despair.

Nan Tian Liuguang was, without question, a proud and lofty man, but even so, he had completely lost the courage to cross blades with Di Xingdao again. For the rest of his life, he probably would never get the chance to beat Di Xingdao.

Hearing this, Si Haitao and Elder Xuanchen both fell silent. Even Nan Tian Liuguang feared Di Xingdao; their own strength was far inferior, so they were all the more unwilling to provoke him.

"How about we wait until Wei Zhao returns to Beidao and strike then? No matter how formidable Di Xingdao is, surely he cannot follow him to Beidao?" Elder Xuanchen suddenly proposed.

"That is even worse. The brat has backing in Beidao too—Shangguang Tianhua, the pavilion master of Chongtian Pavilion, covers for him!" Si Haitao said, shaking his head.

"Shangguang Tianhua? Merely a pavilion master of Chongtian Pavilion. What is there to fear?" Nan Tian Liuguang said disdainfully.

With strength like Di Xingdao's, he was undoubtedly among the top echelon of Zhongdao; that Nan Tian Liuguang was no match for him was understandable. But Zhongdao was, after all, Zhongdao—the strength of its peak experts was far beyond anything Beidao could boast.

"Old friend Nan Tian, there you are greatly mistaken." Si Haitao shook his head again and again.

"Oh? How so?" Nan Tian Liuguang was startled by his words.

"You may think Shangguang Tianhua is merely the pavilion master of Chongtian Pavilion in Beidao, but reliable intelligence shows that more than twenty years ago he was already an expert at Xuan Ascension Grand Perfection. If he were truly provoked into acting, killing the lot of us would be as easy as a breeze." Si Haitao smiled bitterly.

"What? A mere pavilion master of Chongtian Pavilion in Beidao is nearly on par with the Island Master's strength?" Nan Tian Liuguang was greatly astonished, and Elder Xuanchen beside him was equally shocked.

"Old friend Nan Tian, you must not underestimate the strength of those regional overlords outside Zhongdao. Many of them simply have no wish to come to Zhongdao; otherwise, the balance of power here would not necessarily look as it does now." Si Haitao offered a reminder: "Shangguang Tianhua rarely acts in person. Few know his true strength, and fewer still speak of it. If I had not recently taken charge of the intelligence division of the Central Merchant Guild in Beidao, I would not know these things either."

At this, both Nan Tian Liuguang and Elder Xuanchen were at a loss for words. The terrifying strength of Xuan Ascension Grand Perfection—even compared with the monster Di Xingdao, it was likely only stronger, never weaker. To move against Wei Zhao on his own turf would be no different from tweaking a tiger's tail!

"Then this... we cannot move in Zhongdao, and we cannot move in Beidao—are we truly unable to touch that brat Wei Zhao?" Elder Xuanchen said, unwilling to accept it.

"Actually, it is not that there is no way." Si Haitao's eyes suddenly lit up. "We can strike on his way back to Beidao! He is a disciple of Sandie Pavilion in Beidao. Never mind that he is in Zhongdao now—I refuse to believe he will never return!"

"Exactly! If Wei Zhao stays in Zhongdao forever and never goes back, that amounts to betraying Sandie Pavilion of Beidao, and Yunjie Island will no longer have a place for him—even Shangguang Tianhua would not be able to shield him! So sooner or later he must return, and the road will be the perfect opportunity. Steward Si, this idea is brilliant!" Nan Tian Liuguang and Elder Xuanchen both voiced their agreement.

"In that case, let us begin preparations early. There will be only one chance, so we must prepare thoroughly and ensure nothing goes wrong." Si Haitao nodded, then added: "By the way, old friend Nan Tian, now that you have awakened, it is time you met the patron of our Central Merchant Guild. What do you say?"

"Very well. This time your Central Merchant Guild invested so much in me, and the result was a mess. To be honest with you, Steward Si, I have been uneasy about it and have long wanted to come and offer my apologies with a rod on my back." Nan Tian Liuguang said somewhat nervously.

The Central Merchant Guild was mysterious and unfathomable; the more one came into contact with it, the more one was alarmed by its power. Now that the matter had gone awry and he himself was gravely wounded, should he be judged to have lost his value, Nan Tian Liuguang greatly feared what unfavorable moves the other side might make against him. That was only human nature.

"Ha, old friend Nan Tian, you are overthinking it. Even the best rider may fall from his horse; no matter how well one prepares, there will always be mishaps. Our patron made his stance clear long ago—he does not blame you, old friend. Otherwise, I could not possibly have given you so many miracle remedies for your wounds." Si Haitao comforted him with a smile.

"That is good, that is good." Only then did Nan Tian Liuguang breathe a sigh of relief.

The next day, Si Haitao brought Nan Tian Liuguang to the Zhongdao headquarters of the Central Merchant Guild. Elder Xuanchen, as Nan Tian Liuguang's follower, was brought along as well.

Arriving at the Central Merchant Guild, Nan Tian Liuguang was soon granted an audience with the patron Si Haitao had spoken of—none other than the mysterious figure in black robes who had taken him in back in Beidao.

This man was strong! Nan Tian Liuguang gave a sudden shudder. Though he could not even make out the man's features, simply from the aura the man exuded, Nan Tian Liuguang could be one hundred percent certain that the man's strength was absolutely far above his own—at the very least, an expert of the mid Xuan Ascension stage or above!

The feeling he gave off was that his strength was even faintly on par with the Island Master of Zhongdao. The moment that thought surfaced, Nan Tian Liuguang startled himself.

Looking across all of Zhongdao, experts of the Xuan Ascension stage were never many to begin with, and those at the mid stage or above were even rarer. Nan Tian Liuguang had spent so many years at the cultivator academy that he knew essentially every prominent figure—yet this man before him was the sole exception, one of whom he had not the slightest recollection. R1152