Chapter 3328 — A Plan Thrown into Disarray
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
The idea had been sound enough: choke off Wei Zhao's source of raw materials, and he would have no choice but to cooperate obediently. But now? Wei Zhao had replaced the second-grade medicinal cauldrons outright, rendering every cauldron Kang Jingming produced worthless. Not only had manpower and resources been squandered for nothing—most damning of all—the Five Luminaries Sect no longer had any leverage to bargain with Wei Zhao.
"Barring any surprises, that is how it stands..." Ancestor Xuanchen had never been much good at matters of business to begin with, and now that this had happened, he was even more at a loss. Yet he did not blame Kang Jingming; after all, the decision had been his own to make in the first place, so he bore a large share of the responsibility for the present trouble.
"Barring any surprises... barring any surprises... Father-in-law, how about we give him a surprise?" As Kang Jingming spoke, a vicious, ruthless glint flickered across his face. Wei Zhao, you brought this on yourself. Since you refuse to appreciate our kindness and won't cooperate with us, then don't blame me for fighting you to the bitter end, even if we both go down together!
"A surprise? What sort of surprise?" Ancestor Xuanchen had been at his wit's end, but at Kang Jingming's words his eyes suddenly lit up, and he pressed eagerly for an answer.
"Heh heh, isn't Wei Zhao heading to the Haku Namata Desert to find that Paoli race?" Kang Jingming said. "Father-in-law, you must have a way to contact the Paoli, surely? White Leader said it himself—so long as one offers sincerity and bargaining chips enough, the Paoli will return a plum for a peach! In that case, why don't we strike first and have the Paoli refuse to cooperate with Wei Zhao, refuse to sell him white energy stones? That way, Wei Zhao's scheme for those first-grade and second-grade automatic medicinal cauldrons will die on the vine!"
"It's not that it couldn't be done, but even if we manage it, Wei Zhao will still be able to produce his first-grade and second-grade automatic cauldrons—or at least the existing second-grade ones—using new materials as substitutes. And then we'd still have no competitive edge!" Ancestor Xuanchen had none of Kang Jingming's business acumen, so he did not quite grasp what the younger man was driving at.
"It's like this: without white energy stones, they'll only be able to make the second-grade automatic cauldrons they have now. Even if they substitute the cauldron's materials, the functions stay the same, don't they?" Kang Jingming paused there, then went on: "As long as that holds, we'll have the strength to compete. We at the Xuandan Sect have already gotten our hands on one of the second-grade automatic cauldrons on the market—when the time comes, we'll have Dr. Benjamin II's side reverse-engineer it. They should be able to manage it; it's only a matter of time. Then we'll sell ours too and compete with them head-on, and we won't have to worry about those second-grade cauldrons going unsold!"
"A fine idea!" Ancestor Xuanchen nodded. He might lack Kang Jingming's head for business, but when it came to ruthlessness, he outdid the younger man and then some. His mind turned, and he devised an even more vicious scheme: "And what if Wei Zhao were dead? Wouldn't the cauldron market then be ours at the Xuandan Sect to sell exclusively? At that point, we could rake in the money however we pleased!"
"Oh? Father-in-law, you mean to do away with Wei Zhao?" Kang Jingming was startled and delighted at once. "But Wei Zhao's strength speaks for itself—didn't he once cut down an expert at the peak of the late Heaven Rank in a single blow? Who would we send to kill him?"