Chapter 5001 — The Island Lord's Invitation
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
Things having come to this pass, Zheng Dongyang's bitterest hatred was no longer aimed at Wei Zhao but at Oda Zhou, the man who had made him lose face. He was now even entertaining thoughts of dragging this acting island lord who looked down on him down from his seat.
"Will this really work?" Wu Che stared at the contents and could not help swallowing hard.
"You can drop the 'really.' This time it is not just Wei Zhao and Tian Pill Pavilion—even that supercilious acting island lord of yours is going to have a proper cup of trouble to drink!" Zheng Dongyang read it over once more with perfect confidence, then picked up his brush and added one final line, making clear that the academy should deliver the letter into Zhuang Yifan's hands.
A rank-seven alchemist after all—his transcendent status guaranteed him a transcendent voice. Zheng Dongyang counted as somebody in the Eastern Continent's Yellow Rank Sea Zone, and before a figure like Zhuang Yifan, president of the alliance, he could still make himself heard.
Of course, whether Zhuang Yifan would actually take his words to heart was another matter entirely. At least Zheng Dongyang's own self-regard remained in excellent condition.
"Good. Then let us return to Famous Pills Sect and send the letter through their channels!" Though Wu Che had been trembling with dread for the better part of the day, he now felt a stir of excitement. If things truly went as Zheng Dongyang said and even Oda Zhou came to grief along with the rest, then might he not allow himself to daydream a little about the acting island lord's seat?
"No need. Use the official channels of your Island Lord's Pavilion," Zheng Dongyang said with a shake of his head.
"That hardly seems wise. Using the pavilion's official channels will certainly alert Oda Zhou—what if he sees it?" Recalling all the lurid embellishments and accusations in the letter, Wu Che could not help feeling a pang of guilt. If Oda Zhou read it and flew into a rage on the spot, there was no telling what he might do.
"I want him to see it. If he has the sense to come to me and soften his tone, the matter ends there. But if he insists on refusing the toast only to drink the forfeit, then he has no one to blame but himself. Even if he comes from a top-tier clan, I refuse to believe he does not hold the Eastern Continent Academy in some regard!" Zheng Dongyang's face twisted with menace.
"This... very well then..." Wu Che hesitated a moment, but in the end did as Zheng Dongyang instructed.
Yet what neither man expected was that Oda Zhou showed not the slightest inclination to look into the matter at all. Far from opening the letter, he did not so much as offer the barest statement of position; he merely stamped it with the great seal of the Island Lord's Pavilion as a matter of routine, and beyond that paid it no heed whatsoever.
It was a passionate punch landed square on cotton. Faced with Wu Che's peculiar expression, Zheng Dongyang went red in the face with pent-up fury, and only after a long while did he squeeze a single sentence out through clenched teeth: "We shall see."
Over the days that followed, Zheng Dongyang and Wu Che devoted themselves wholly to awaiting word from the Eastern Continent. Once they had lowered their flags and fallen silent, Tian Pill Pavilion returned to its former bustle.
Thanks to the rank-seven pills Wei Zhao had released, business grew fiercer by the day, forcing him to borrow two more assistants from Cai Zhongxuan to meet the demand. Xueli, for her part, had finally begun recruiting as well. At this rate, expanding Tian Pill Pavilion was a matter of immediate urgency—without sufficient hands, there was simply no way to manage.