Chapter 4946 — Seeking Him to Lodge a Complaint

The Divine Farmer's Cauldron could be used ten thousand times over, but the materials were only enough for three attempts. That was the reality of it. If all three failed, it would be as good as declaring the whole alchemical endeavor a failure.

Since Zhuang Yifan had supplied slightly more materials than strictly required, Wei Zhao now had a little over two portions left in hand—not quite three.

He certainly did not dare throw it all in at once. Even though the alchemical curve had already been adjusted somewhat, no one could know whether it would truly succeed until the results of the second attempt came out. If further fine-tuning proved necessary and he foolishly dumped every last scrap of material in at once, it would be absurd.

Wei Zhao thought it over and put in half of what he had, then pressed the advantage and began the second refining. Whether it succeeded or failed hardly mattered to him personally; everything depended on whether the Divine Farmer's Cauldron, fitted with its alchemical artifact peripheral, could deliver.

This time, the refining process was clearly far more tortuous than the first. Strange noises issued from it again and again, and with every sound Wei Zhao's heart sank a little further. This was the rhythm of impending failure!

Yet when he finally opened the Divine Farmer's Cauldron and looked inside, he was struck dumb on the spot. There, unmistakably, lay two earth-yellow pills—without question, Earth-Solidifying Pills.

So those odd noises had not signaled failure at all, but the legendary truth that good things come only after hardship. Two pills at once! Han Jingyi's alchemical artifact was truly remarkable—it handled even a Mystic-rank, first-grade pill with ease, and could still overproduce as reliably as ever. How could those lofty Mystic-rank alchemists not be mortified?

Holding the two Earth-Solidifying Pills in his hand, Wei Zhao could not help letting out a long breath of foul air. Now he could finally give Zhuang Yifan a proper accounting, with no further mishaps. Otherwise, had the refining truly failed, the man might have flown into a rage and done something to his detriment—and that would have been serious trouble indeed.

While Wei Zhao was refining his pills, Bao Zuoliang and Su Kesheng, on the other side, took advantage of everyone's inattention and quietly slipped off the treasure ship.

"Young Master Bao, are you sure we can really borrow a flying spirit beast in a place like this?" Su Kesheng asked, trailing behind Bao Zuoliang.

"Of course! A mere flying spirit beast—how could we possibly fail to borrow one?" Bao Zuoliang shot him a look.

"But this is Thunder Plain Island. It's desolate and uninhabited, with no academy main city anywhere about. Where would we even go to rent a flying spirit beast?" Su Kesheng said, astonished.

"Who said anything about renting? We just go ask someone to lend us one! Don't forget, there's an Alliance branch here, and my father happens to know one of the Alliance higher-ups stationed on this island. Once I make the request, borrowing a flying spirit beast will be a trifle." Bao Zuoliang said smugly.

"I see. As long as we can borrow a flying spirit beast, our plan is already half successful." Su Kesheng nodded, his eyes lighting up.

"All right, on the ship you were afraid of eavesdroppers and wouldn't speak. Now there's no need to keep us in suspense—out with it, what exactly is this plan?" Bao Zuoliang asked impatiently.

"Young Master Bao, if we were to go up against that fellow surnamed Lin with our current strength, how confident do you think we'd be?" Su Kesheng answered with a question of his own.

"That..." Bao Zuoliang's expression immediately turned somewhat ugly, and he said with a bitter look, "That fellow surnamed Lin has already grown into something formidable. He can challenge Mountain-Opening stage magnates above his own level, and now even Zhuang Yifan has become his ally. If just the two of us wanted to do him in, the odds really aren't good..."

"Not just not good—under normal circumstances, we simply no longer have the opportunity at all." Su Kesheng ruthlessly shattered Bao Zuoliang's last illusion, saying with absolute certainty, "Young Master Bao, don't think I'm boosting others' morale and diminishing our own. To speak plainly, we are now completely on a different level from that fellow surnamed Lin. Even if your father took action himself, he might not be able to do anything to the man—and might even end up being blamed for it instead."

Even Zhuang Yifan, the Alliance Chairman, was helping Wei Zhao, while his father was nothing but an ordinary city lord with no particular distinction, who did not even rank in Zhuang Yifan's eyes. How could an arm ever twist a thigh?

Bao Zuoliang fell silent. Even without Su Kesheng saying so, he could have figured this out himself. Though he was ten thousand times unwilling to accept it, before this cruel reality he had to bow his head. Otherwise, if he acted rashly in the heat of the moment and did something foolish, not only would he fail to deal with Wei Zhao—he would only get himself dragged down in the process.

"Then what do you say we do? Just resign ourselves to it like this?" Bao Zuoliang said with a frown. Even now he still coveted Wang Xinyan; that haunting, dream-entwining feeling was simply beyond comparison with those vulgar, common women. To let her go now—he reckoned he would never be reconciled to it for the rest of his life.

What was more, in several covert clashes before this he had suffered heavy losses at Wei Zhao's hands, which to him was nothing short of a monstrous humiliation. How could he ever swallow such foul air?

"Actually, setting aside personal likes and dislikes, and considering it purely in terms of advantages and disadvantages, giving up here really is the best choice." Su Kesheng sighed, glanced at Bao Zuoliang's gloomy expression, and then continued, "But I imagine you certainly won't agree to that, Young Master Bao. In truth, even I myself don't want to give in like this—otherwise I wouldn't have proposed sneaking out."

"Enough, no more idle talk. Get to the point. You had me sneak out, and you had me go borrow a flying spirit beast—what exactly are you planning?" Bao Zuoliang asked. As for that "best choice" Su Kesheng had mentioned, it was not within his consideration at all.

"My plan is simple: we go to Dingcheng Town right now!" Su Kesheng said with a chuckling laugh.

"Dingcheng Town? What are we going there for?" Bao Zuoliang was taken aback for a moment, then caught on at once. "You can't be thinking of seeking out the Debt-Collecting Ghost to lodge a complaint?"

"Exactly—seeking him out to lodge a complaint," Su Kesheng said with a nod.

The "Debt-Collecting Ghost" in their words was in fact Zang Zili's man, the father of Chang Laiting—Chang Minghui, the town lord of Dingcheng Town. "Debt-Collecting Ghost" was a nickname circulating among the common folk, and it suited this Dingcheng Town bigwig rather well. Not only was it homophonous with his real name, but more importantly, this bigwig had always been vindictive in the extreme: at the slightest offense, he demanded a life in repayment. The number of people who had died at his hands over trivial matters was beyond counting—and that was why he was called the Debt-Collecting Ghost!

"That... is it really necessary?" Bao Zuoliang could not help but hesitate, frowning as he said, "That fellow surnamed Lin beat his wife and son until they were barely conscious. Given the Debt-Collecting Ghost's ways, even without us lodging a complaint, he wouldn't let the man surnamed Lin off, would he? Is there any need for us to do something so superfluous? Besides, in his eyes the two of us are nothing but unrelated outsiders. If he mistakes us for having ulterior motives, we'd lose more than we'd gain. Better to just sit back and watch the show!" (To be continued.)