Chapter 5155 — The Magnate Wei Zhao
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
Led by Xin Yi'an, the whole party descended into the sea and soon reached the undersea spirit ore site. Wei Zhao looked it over on all sides and was immediately disappointed.
"From the look of it, even if it's not a played-out mine, it can't be far off." Wei Zhao shook his head. Though no formal excavation had begun, his mining experience back on North Island had taught him to tell a good mine from a bad one easily enough.
Judging by the spiritual energy density of this undersea spirit ore site, on a lucky day a single person might still dig out two or three pieces of spirit jade; otherwise they would be hard-pressed to get even one. For the other disciples, who had no choice but to perform their obligatory labor, this was not so bad—but in Wei Zhao's eyes it was worth next to nothing.
After a word with Xin Yi'an, Wei Zhao made ready to leave at once. Reaching a place where no one was about, he habitually shifted into his primordial-spirit form. This had been the main substance of his training over the past few months: not only did it increase his immediate combat power, but more importantly, even after he returned to Cloud-Tier Island in the future, he would have a practiced command of all manner of primordial-spirit techniques—two benefits in one.
Yet no sooner had he surfaced than he saw Xue Jianming and another man slacking off on the pretext of catching their breath. But Wei Zhao was now in primordial-spirit form; with a little care and the cover of the seawater, ordinary people could not detect him at all—not even an early Golden Core expert like Xue Jianming.
"Brother Qin Yuanming, that matter I spoke to you about last time—have you given it any thought?" Xue Jianming asked. The two had deliberately chosen the most remote spot, and within a hundred meters in every direction only the two of them were at the surface exchanging breath. Add to that the perception of an early Golden Core expert, and there was no fear of anyone approaching to eavesdrop—little knowing that Wei Zhao was hovering right behind his head.
"Well…" The other man hesitated and did not answer.
Qin Yuanming? Wei Zhao was slightly taken aback at the name. He had not recognized the man earlier, but the name did ring a bell. This man was a training disciple of the Cangwu Sect from North Island, at the late Foundation Establishment stage; Wei Zhao had seen him several times, though they had never spoken.
But since Qin Yuanming was a Cangwu Sect disciple from North Island, and given the present tension between Xue Jianming and the North Island Cangwu Sect, how was this fellow mixed up with Xue Jianming?
Wei Zhao puzzled over it only a moment before understanding. Most likely Xue Jianming was quietly trying to win Qin Yuanming over on the Center's behalf. Thanks to the convenience of cultivating primordial-spirit techniques, Wei Zhao had spent these days watching Dr. Glasses and his people almost every day, and so their every move was naturally clear to him.
Even Yao Long of the Primordial Five Luminaries Sect and Jing Yueming of the Thousand Blades Sect had been placed by Wei Zhao on his key surveillance list. Though for the time being he had no intention of provoking the Center, he meant to have that roster in hand, just in case.
And indeed it was just as Wei Zhao had supposed: Xue Jianming was courting Qin Yuanming. By rights, the best people to court would have been fellow disciples on good terms with him, but Xue Jianming had always been haughty by nature. Plenty of his fellow disciples flattered and fawned on him, yet he had almost no real friends among them—not one worth putting on a list of recruitment targets. (To be continued.)