Chapter 3701 — Killing Intent Stirred

Kang Zhaoming hesitated for a moment, then suddenly spoke up: "Young Master Xu, I've heard tell of a kind of Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid that, taken together with the Foundation Establishment Pill, can greatly increase one's chances of success?"

Xu Lingchong glanced at him and nodded. "That's right. In your current state, taking the Foundation Establishment Pill alone gives you only a thirty-percent chance. But if you combine it with Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid, the odds rise to at least seventy percent. And with top-grade spirit liquid, the success rate can reach as high as ninety percent. The trouble is, this liquid has a very short shelf life—once it's brewed, it must be consumed within a single day. That's why it's so rarely seen on the open market. Most of the time you can't buy it even if you want to; it has to come through special channels."

Kang Zhaoming and the others exchanged glances, their eyes burning with eagerness. A thirty-percent chance was hardly worth the gamble, but seventy percent or better was far more dependable—and with top-grade spirit liquid, the success rate could reach ninety percent!

"Then... given Young Master Xu's background and connections, procuring this Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid shouldn't be difficult, I imagine?" Kang Zhaoming ventured cautiously. "Young Master Xu, you know as well as we do that the lot of us are sworn enemies of Wei Zhao. If we sit idle these next few days, then face an early-stage Foundation Establishment Wei Zhao at the ranking tournament, I fear we'll only bring shame upon you."

Xu Lingchong mused for a moment, then looked at Kang Zhaoming and the others, whose faces were full of hope, and said: "Very well, then. Tomorrow I'll make a special trip to the Pill Hall. With my standing, getting a bit of Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid from them shouldn't be a problem."

"Thank you, Young Master Xu!" Kang Zhaoming was overjoyed on the spot, and Zhong Yongliang and Meng Tong beside him chimed in with their own thanks.

Xu Lingchong cast a glance at Meng Tong. Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid was no common commodity. His original intention had been to give it only to Kang Zhaoming and Zhong Yongliang—after all, those two were his core lackeys, while Meng Tong at best counted as an outsider. What right did he have to the same treatment as those two?

But on second thought, his foremost purpose in coming here today was, after all, to deal with Wei Zhao, and Meng Tong was the cannon fodder standing at the very front line. If the man's strength was too pathetic and he ended up being thrashed too brutally by Wei Zhao, that would hardly be fitting. Let him have this one favor, then—it was a trifling matter done in passing, anyway.

Li Zhengming watched all of this with cold detachment, thinking to himself that Meng Tong had truly stumbled into a stroke of dog-shit luck this time. Yet he felt not the slightest envy for such luck. His foremost task now was to keep a low profile; breaking through to Foundation Establishment too early would only draw attention, which was no good thing.

Moreover, he came from a prestigious family with deep roots. Given time, achieving Foundation Establishment through his own strength would be no difficult feat. By contrast, taking the Foundation Establishment Pill and Spirit Liquid as these people before him did might look enviable, but compared with cultivators who broke through by their own power, there was an inherent gap in depth and foundation—hardly the optimal choice.

Still, if Xu Lingchong really did procure Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid for them, then this intelligence had to be passed to Leader Wei Zhao ahead of time. Otherwise, even if Leader Wei Zhao was already a peak early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, suddenly running into three early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators like Kang Zhaoming and the others would still catch him off guard.

What Li Zhengming did not know was that even without his warning, Wei Zhao would receive the news in advance all the same. After all, besides him, Wei Zhao had another informant planted long ago among those present—Zhong Yongliang.

Only after Kang Zhaoming and the others had lavished him with flattery did Xu Lingchong turn the conversation: "As a matter of fact, to me, what strength that brat Wei Zhao has is utterly irrelevant. Even if he's an early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, in my eyes he's still nothing but an insignificant ant. But during this trial, I've spotted a most unwelcome trend—this boy who doesn't know his place in the world has begun to cross my bottom line!"

"What trend?" Meng Jueming and the rest pricked up their ears in unison.

Xu Lingchong swept his gaze over them. "Haven't you noticed? Since some point, that brat has somehow gotten himself connected with Junior Sister Shangguan Lan'er!"

Meng Jueming and Meng Tong exchanged looks at once. On this matter the two of them were the foremost authorities—that Wei Zhao had come to know Shangguan Lan'er, they could claim the lion's share of the credit!

But this was something they dared not tell Xu Lingchong. If this Young Master Xu's wrath spilled over onto them, what then? Better to feign ignorance—the wiser course.

Xu Lingchong's face darkened as he continued: "I needn't elaborate on Shangguan Lan'er's status. True, for a little princess of such noble birth, curiosity about a grassroots commoner like Wei Zhao from the secular world is only natural—folk tales have never lacked for the trope of a rich man's daughter falling for a penniless nobody. But this is something I will absolutely not permit to happen to Shangguan Lan'er. She is mine—no one but me may touch her!"

This was the true, fundamental reason he had mustered such a force and come to find Meng Jueming today! Otherwise, if it were merely a matter of dealing with Wei Zhao, there would have been no need for him to appear in person—a message sent to those present would have sufficed.

"If Young Master Xu puts it that way, then it truly is dangerous! That Wei Zhao was notorious for philandering even back in the secular world. Take the seven inheritors in charge of transporting us—every one of them a great beauty, and every one of them entangled with Wei Zhao. A naive girl like Miss Shangguan, who knows nothing of the world, could easily be swept off her feet once that creature sets his sights on her. And if he really did climb high enough to become the Shangguan family's son-in-law, that would be a fine mess indeed!" Kang Zhaoming added fuel to the fire from the sidelines.

And with every sentence Kang Zhaoming spoke, Xu Lingchong's expression darkened a shade further. By the time he finished, Xu Lingchong's face had turned grim as deep water—nay, a chilling killing intent radiated from him.

Before this, though Wei Zhao had openly opposed him, he had always regarded the man as an ant beneath contempt. But now the matter involved Shangguan Lan'er, whom he had long since claimed as his own forbidden prize—and the nature of the affair was utterly different!

"Which is why this trend must be nipped in the bud!" Xu Lingchong ground his teeth. "We must find a way to make Junior Sister Lan'er detest Wei Zhao. If that cannot be done, then there is only the risky course—to find some way to dispose of Wei Zhao!"

Everyone present shuddered in unison. Young Master Xu had truly stirred his killing intent this time!

"Young Master Xu, striking Wei Zhao down directly would be simplest, but the risk is far too great. Unless there is no other way, it would be better to think of some other method," Zhong Yongliang hurriedly cautioned.

With him as an informant on the inside, it made no difference how ingenious a trap these people devised against Wei Zhao—but if Xu Lingchong were driven to desperation and insisted on a forcible kill, then the situation would be beyond Zhong Yongliang's control.