Chapter 4185 — Vital Intelligence
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"He... he's changed a great deal these days. His whole manner is different, as if he has become another person entirely. He mostly keeps to his cave dwelling in solitary cultivation and rarely comes out."
"Mm. And Wei Zhao? No sooner had I returned than I heard the lot of you had lost battle after battle?" Xu Lingchong shifted the question. Of Wei Zhao's forceful return and the single strike that had slain Su Zhaohe, he had already heard on the road back; he asked now only to confirm it.
"Er... yes..." The others exchanged looks and could only nod meekly. Against Wei Zhao, they truly had no recourse left at all.
"Hmph, you pack of useless trash!" Xu Lingchong cursed coldly, then curled his lip in contempt. "Forget it. I shall simply have to handle this myself. Wahahaha! With Lord Pao's true transmission, no matter how Wei Zhao prances about, he is but a grasshopper at autumn's end—not long for this world!"
"All hail Young Master Xu!" Kang Jingming was quick to lead the flattery.
"Young Master Xu, might I ask who this Lord Pao is...?" Si Haitao ventured cautiously. He stood highest among them, and his specialty was intelligence-gathering, yet even he had never heard that the center harbored any such formidable figure as Lord Pao.
"Is that a question for a servant like you to ask?" Xu Lingchong shot him a displeased glance, but seeing curiosity written on every face, he could not resist boasting. "In short, Lord Pao is exceedingly formidable—one of the top figures in our center. And I have already cultivated Lord Pao's unique divine art, the Chrysanthemum Treasure Manual!"
"Ah? The Chrysanthemum Treasure Manual?" Every face in the room changed at once. Rumor held it to be a peerless art of high antiquity, extinct for many years even on Cloud Terrace Island; only a single sect in the mortal realm was said to preserve its transmission to this day. And Xu Lingchong had actually cultivated such a world-shaking art!
On second thought, though—the Central Chamber of Commerce could trade with the mortal realm, so it was not impossible that they had obtained such a peerless art from there.
At that moment, Zhong Yongliang wore a look of equal shock and astonishment, but his focus was entirely different from the others'.
Lord Pao? The Chrysanthemum Treasure Manual? Good grief! Could this Lord Pao be that fellow Zhang Naipao? Oh, surely the boy hasn't turned traitor? I only feigned submission to the center—but that Zhang Naipao seems to be doing rather well for himself in the center, doesn't he?
No, this is vital intelligence. I must find a way to inform Leader Wei Zhao at once!
"For Young Master Xu to have cultivated such a divine art is truly a cause for celebration. In the years to come, among the younger generation of the Threefold Pavilion, Young Master Xu shall surely stand alone at the summit!" Kang Jingming hastened to flatter—though inwardly he was just as astonished as Zhong Yongliang.
After all, he knew Zhang Naipao too. Put the two telltale labels "Lord Pao" and "Chrysanthemum Treasure Manual" together, and any normal person would make the same association. Doubt was doubt, of course; until he actually laid eyes on this Lord Pao, it remained mere conjecture, and he could only bury it for now.
Were he to speak it aloud in public and guess right, well and good; but should he guess wrong, he would not only make a fool of himself over a false alarm—if it provoked that Lord Pao, the loss would far outweigh the gain.
"Hmph, dominating the Threefold Pavilion is merely the first step. The road I mean to walk hereafter is still long." Xu Lingchong smiled smugly. Since joining the center, his horizons had changed utterly from what they once were.