Chapter 1473 The First Piece
1473 The First Piece
While Wang Wei waited for the association to receive him, an invited guest came to see him.
"Prime Minister Zu, what brings you here?" Wang Wei asked as he sipped his tea. "Are you here to make another deal?"
"Where is Hong Wa?" Zu Chenghuang asked directly.
"Why are you asking me about your people?" Wang Wei asked back, not hiding his confusion.
"This is not a joking matter. Where is she?"
"Watch your tone!" Wang Wei said with squinted eyes, sending chills down the latter's back. However, the Prime Minister did not back down.
"I can tell you honestly that we are prepared for an all-out war for her," Zu Chenghuang warned.
"First of all, you are accusing me of something that I haven't done, nor do you have any proof of," Wang Wei said calmly. "But if you want a war, I can give you one. How about I take this opportunity to slaughter all of you?"
"You!"
"I probably couldn't get through your dynasty's main array, but it should be no issue slaughtering all your citizens and ruining your luck," Wang Wei stated calmly, and Zu Chenghuang stared at him with flaming eyes.
"You see that? That's how you make a threat," Wang Wei continued before slowly sipping his tea. He let his words marinate, increasing the pressure on the Prime Minister. "The last time we spoke, you were confident — nay, arrogant — you could protect her. But now that she has escaped your grasp, you come barking at me like a mad dog. How does that make sense?"
"We know you did it?"
"Besides you, who could remove our tracking method?" Zu Chenghuang countered.
"As much as I'm flattered that you think so highly of me, haven't you received the information of what happened in the trial?" Wang Wei asked. "There were so many factions with powerhouses on the level of the two suns. You don't think your method can hide from them, right? From what you know, Hong Wa might have surrendered to them in exchange for her freedom. Or worse, someone noticed your so-called tracking method and was interested, so they captured her."
"Kong would have rescued her if she was captured," Zu Chenghuang fought back.
"That's true," Wang Wei nodded. "So, she left of her own volition? Well, I can't blame the poor girl."
Zu Chenghuang took a deep breath to calm down: "I'm going to need you to hand over Hua Xue."
Wang Wei chuckled in response. "Let me tell you what's going to happen. You'll stay here as our guest until your dynasty comes to get you." The prime minister was about to display another bout of outage but found himself unable to move or speak.
"Sect master," Wang Wei called out, and Yu Cai's projection appeared before them. "Send news to the Qin Court that their prime minister has wrongly accused us of something we have not done and, in the process, offended a Paragon. If they want his return, they must pay remuneration.
"Our sect's face cannot be trampled like that for no reason."
"I understand," Yu Cai nodded. "How much are we speaking of?"
"We only want to save face and show our attitude, so one piece of Paragon Tier material is enough," Wang Wei said. "But you can negotiate for more; just don't go too far."
"It will be done," Yu Cai bowed before dissipating.
Wang Wei's gaze shifted to the prime minister. "You're lucky I'm not putting you in a prison." He waved her hand to send him to the Ambassador Mountain reserved for the Qin Dynasty. But this time around, the mountain was isolated by arrays to display his status as a prisoner.
Once Zu Chenghuang was out of sight, Wang Wei forgot about him. He knew how to play the political game of these Overlords. As for the Qin Court's remark about war? He believed it was a bluff, but even if it were real, Wang Wei would still not back down.
The only advantage the Qin Court had over the Dao Opening Sect was Hongjun's Butterfly Jade Pendant, which is supposedly a transcendent artifact. As long as they planned for that, the only result of an all-out war would be Qin's destruction, or things would develop into an all-out war of the Overlords, forcing everybody to come to the table to make peace.
A few days later, Wang Wei teleported to the Rune Source Domain, the location of the Occupation Skill Association's headquarters. Unlike before, when the Overlords hid their headquarters in hidden dimensions, they were now in the open. Tong Ruobing led a small team of delegates in receiving him.
"Hmm? The Empyrean Battle Taboo Realm?" Wang Wei commented as soon as she saw him, and Tong Ruobing sighed to herself. She tried to hide it and all her other information, but it was useless.
'"It kind of happened," Tong Ruobing said. When she was helping Mu Lei become unique to increase his status in the Primeval Mansion, she thought maybe she could also benefit from his improvement and thought of a method of Dao Companions to share life and death together.
While trying to devise such a method, Tong Ruobing discovered a rare Yin-Yang Material from the Refining Tower and used it. The result was that both couples managed to share their foundation, allowing them to link their [Existence] and benefit from each other's advantages. In other words, Mu Lei and Tong Ruobing entered the Battle Taboo Realm before becoming Paragons.
"It seems like luck was on your side," Wang Wei commented. A few of his peers were also lucky as Tong Ruobing, including Xiao Tiandi and Xun Junyao. Meanwhile, others like Ye Dafu and Lin Fan had to rush to increase their strength. The rest, like Jian Wushuang and Ao Shen, were not so lucky and became Paragons first.
"And you could have figured it out yourself," Wang Wei replied. "We are no longer Heaven Chosen competing for one chance at immortality. By now, you should know the importance of being slow and steady."
"Isn't that hypocritical coming from you?"
"How so?" Wang Wei asked, quite confused.
"You've become a Paragon in record time while also checking everything on the list to ensure you have the best foundation possible. There is nothing slow about you, but you still have all the advantages and preparation of someone steady."
"That would be a fair point if I portrayed myself as just an ordinary cultivator instead of an anomaly," Wang Wei said, not trying to brag but telling the truth.
"I forgot how frustrating it can be to talk with you," Tong Ruobing sighed deeply. "Alright, let's get this meeting started." Wang Wei shrugged before following her for a brief tour of the association before directing him to Destiny Peak. Wang Wei noted she did not take him to the Primary Mountain, the Association President's ruling area.
'It seems that woman still have immense power even after the Association Master has become a Paragon,' Wang Wei thought. Elder Chen and countless others received him before starting a banquet. The food and wine were out of this world, especially since they were from the Cooking and Winery Mountain. Although these professions were not so famous, the association still trained a few talents — especially in the wine department. Many people dabbled in wine as a secondary Dao, with swordsmen being the majority.
Then, after a few hours of tedious conversation about nothing, the real talk started.
"So, what brought you here for this visit?" Elder Chen asked politely.
"I'm here for the Abomination Creature's blood," Wang Wei said. He now knew the Old Ones were not called as such in the Chaos Universe but referred to as the Abomination.
23:31
"It is in our hands," Elder Chen admitted before waving her hand to signal someone. An Empyrean Elder approached from another table and opened a wooden box to show a purple liquid shining with golden light.
"As you can see, we've spent much effort to purify it."
"Indeed," Wang Wei nodded.
"We have no problem handing it over, but would you mind telling us what you plan to do with it?" Elder Chen asked.
"Not possible, " Wang Wei answered without hesitation, and his refusal made the previous joyous atmosphere slightly tense.
"We understand you plan to utilize it to destroy the lock," Elder Chen said, her soothing voice easily eliminating the tension.
"You know a lot," Wang Wei commented casually.
"We just want to know your plan and see how we can help."
"The answer is still no."
"So you don't trust us?" the President asked.
"Now you're getting it," Wang Wei replied, and the present was slightly shocked by such a direct answer.
"Listen, I've only survived so long despite being its target," — Wang Wei pointed at the sky — "is because I'm overly cautious. I don't know your association and whether you have been infiltrated. The mere fact that I showed up so openly puts me in grave danger."
"How can you say that?"
"No, he has a point," Tong Ruobing added. "We cannot be too careful when dealing with beings on that level." The president wanted to say something but remembered what happened during the Ji Chengming and Tian Xuan battle.
"I understand your point of view," Elder Chan stated. "But you have to see ours as well."
"This conversation is meaningless," Wang Wei replied. "Your faction wants the merit and destiny for participating in the lock's destruction, but the distribution is not up to me."
"But the plan is yours, and you can give us a greater role."
"Like I said, I don't trust anybody with this matter, so the plan relies almost entirely on me," Wang Wei continued. "However, if things do not go accordingly and I need more help, I will be more than glad to ask your association."
"Can I take that as you giving us your word?"
"You can," Wang Wei admitted. If things reached such a point, Wang Wei could guess how dangerous subsequent plans would be. If the association wants to offer him aids, mainly cannon fodders, he'll take them.
"Good. I know you have a reputation for keeping your word, so I won't ask for anything in writing," Elder Chen said.
"I'm sensing a but," Wang Wei sighed.
"Yes, before we hand the blood over, we would like to discuss our Luck Artifact."
Join my Discord to have many discussions about the story and so on. Here is the Link: https://discord.gg/bnsezTApeY
LazySageDao