Chapter 3630 — An Unintentional Feud

It seemed he would have to find the right time to test whether the idea of trading good jade for waste jade was actually workable. Wei Zhao made up his mind in secret. Compared with that, every other way of earning spirit jade was simply too slow. Only this plan could bring the jade pendant space's effects into play to the fullest. Of course, it carried considerable risks as well, which was why it needed to be tested first.

While Wei Zhao was secretly examining the Star Ink Stone, the inner disciple of Soaring Heaven Pavilion beside him turned and glanced his way. The discovery that someone else recognized the stone's value clearly startled him, and his eyes filled with the hostility of a rival. But after taking in Wei Zhao's attire, his gaze grew distinctly contemptuous, as though he no longer considered Wei Zhao worth taking seriously.

That was hardly surprising. To keep his identity concealed, Wei Zhao had not only used the Thousand Threads Mask to change his face, but had also chosen clothes that resembled neither the distinctive garb of a newcomer from Welcoming Pavilion nor the attire of an inner disciple of Threefold Pavilion. In the eyes of others, he was simply a grassroots rogue cultivator.

The market district was open to every cultivator on the Northern Island of Cloud Stair Island, but compared with disciples of Threefold Pavilion, grassroots rogue cultivators were plainly the lowest of the low. Getting such penniless wretches to produce the astronomical sum of a thousand spirit jades would be harder than climbing to heaven! For people like them, merely entering on an open day for the inner street and feasting their eyes on the merchandise was already something to be thankful for. Buy a treasure worth a thousand spirit jades? They could dream on!

Yet although he looked down on Wei Zhao as a poor grassroots rogue cultivator, that did nothing to change the fact that this inner disciple of Soaring Heaven Pavilion was just as short of money himself. After greedily taking a few more looks at the Star Ink Stone, he could only turn away in frustration. As he passed Wei Zhao, he sneered, "A toad dreaming of eating swan meat. These days, you really do see every kind of fool..."

Watching the man's departing back, Wei Zhao shook his head with an amused, unreadable smile. If he managed to get the swan meat into his own mouth first one of these days, he wondered what expression this fellow would wear then.

After looking around the Hong Clan Trading Company, Wei Zhao went on to make a circuit of the other shops along the inner street. Because the Star Ink Stone was on his mind, he paid little attention to anything else. As for the Heart-Devouring Exquisite Grass he had hoped to find, he saw no trace of it anywhere, which meant he would still have to find a way to obtain it during the upcoming newcomer trial at Welcoming Pavilion.

After leaving the market district, Wei Zhao returned to his cave abode. He sorted the five medicinal ingredients he had purchased earlier and placed them beside the medicine cauldron in the jade pendant space.

Han Jingyi had specially made that cauldron for him back in the mortal world: an automatic Shennong medicine cauldron. Once the ingredients were prepared and placed inside, all he needed to do was inject true qi at the Celestial level, and it would automatically refine a third-grade pill. If he injected true qi at the peak of the Celestial level, it could refine a fourth-grade Heavenly Dao Golden Pill. It was a genuine divine artifact of alchemy!

Thinking of Han Jingyi, Wei Zhao suddenly fell into a daze... She had come to Cloud Stair Island too, yet she was not on the Northern Island. Where was she now...?

Jingjing, are you all right? Thank you for developing this automatic Shennong medicine cauldron for me!

At the thought of Han Jingyi, Wei Zhao's gaze hardened with resolve. For the sake of all those familiar faces, he would keep moving forward no matter what!

At present, everything needed to refine a Heavenly Dao Golden Pill was ready except for the crucial final ingredient. Once he obtained the Heart-Devouring Exquisite Grass, everything would be in place!

Besides refining the Heavenly Dao Golden Pill to increase his strength, Wei Zhao had another urgent task: earning spirit jade as quickly as possible. That Star Ink Stone could be bought by someone else at any moment. The safest course was to gather a thousand spirit jades within a month and purchase it on the next inner-street open day. Otherwise, the longer he waited, the more unforeseen complications might arise.

Still, the matter of trading good jade for waste jade had to be planned with great care. If he tried it recklessly beforehand, he might well invite trouble he had never anticipated.

The moment Meng Tong spotted Wei Zhao in the distance, he could not wait to call out, "Well, well, if it isn't our grandstanding newcomer. You only took a day off, and your chest tightness is already gone?"

"Junior Brother Wei Zhao, if your chest feels tight, I suggest you take a few more days off!" Meng Jueming put on an understanding smile and chuckled from the side. "I won't make any promises about anything else, but I can still approve a few days of leave for you. After all, you're the top newcomer of our Qingyun Pavilion. If failing to dig up good jade leaves you so depressed that you develop a mental illness, then I, your senior brother, would bear a terrible sin. Don't you agree?"

Wei Zhao glanced at the two of them, a teasing curve appearing at the corner of his mouth. "Thank you for your consideration, Senior Brother Meng. But after resting for a day yesterday, I've adjusted my luck and accumulated quite a bit of good karma. Maybe I'll have a breakthrough today!"

Pfft—!

Meng Jueming and Meng Tong burst out laughing at once. Adjust his luck? Accumulate good karma? So this idiot really was an absolute moron, to be able to spout such brainless nonsense. There truly was no limit to his stupidity!

"Ha ha, what an incredible ability! No wonder Junior Brother Wei Zhao is a genius who managed to distinguish himself in the mortal world! Then go on and dig. Give us a demonstration of your sudden burst of power today. I promise I'll organize every newcomer in Qingyun Pavilion to come watch and learn from you. We'll be waiting with bated breath!" Meng Jueming and Meng Tong howled with laughter, nearly laughing themselves breathless. To think they had once treated this idiot as a formidable enemy! Looking back, they must have been blind as dogs!

Aside from being lucky, Wei Zhao truly had nothing going for him! But heh, I, Meng Jueming, am known as the Terminator of Luck. Just wait and see!

"Heh... Then I look forward to it." Wei Zhao turned and entered Mining Tunnel Ten.

Six hours passed in a flash, and it was time to turn in the day's work. Meng Jueming had gathered a group of newcomers at the entrance long ago. Since this idiot Wei Zhao had volunteered to make a fool of himself and was practically begging to be humiliated, why would they stop him? Naturally, they had to cooperate with all their might!

As usual, Wei Zhao was the last to appear. The first thing Meng Jueming said when he saw him was, "Come on, let's give our top newcomer a round of applause and have him show us exactly how he plans to unleash his power today!"

The newcomers immediately dissolved into laughter, each of them enthusiastically applauding in perfect cooperation. Their commotion attracted not only the people gathered there, but also several others who had not yet left. Even the guards kept turning their heads in this direction despite themselves.

For the fastest updates, enjoy ad-free reading.