Chapter 330: The Real Intention of Cao Wei
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
"How confident are you?" The other party asked incisively.
Cao Wei replied calmly, "A good sixty percent." When it came to the battle between Song Qingyuan and Xiao Budian, Cao Wei was not as relaxed and assured as he appeared. That was because Lin Feng’s disciples had shown how they had many tricks up their sleeves and how their opponents had been too often caught off guard.
However, the other party was already satisfied with his reply. "Sixty percent is sufficient. Even if it fails, it’s not as if we did not gain anything out of it."
Cao Wei replied plainly, "Other than the rock on Mount Yujing and the leaves from the treasure tree, what else could you have gained?"
"That is my own matter. You just have to relax. Even if you lose the gamble, you will have nothing to lose." The gentle middle-aged man’s voice continued from the Voice-Projecting Crystal, "I will compensate you for any of the losses that Heaven Lake Sect shall sustain."
Cao Wei said, "I am currently betting on your behalf and am almost ridiculed by others. Sponsoring the stakes is nothing but necessary."
The middle-aged man laughed, "And that is because you have something that you want as well. That’s why you are linking up with me, isn’t it?"
Cao Wei replied truthfully, "THat is correct. I must lay my hands on the Green Bronze Crucible of Emptiness."
"It is but a mere Nascent Soul stage magic item. Let’s not talk about the Heaven Lake Sect. Even you yourself will not treat it with such importance." The middle aged man spoke, "I’m sure the true value of it shouldn’t lie on the item itself but on somewhere else."
Cao Wei frowned lightly, "Wu Qingrou, this is none of your business."
The middle aged man was none other than the Great Qin Empire’s Prime Minister, Wu Qingrou. Hearing Cao Wei’s words, Wu Qingrou laughed, "If I didn’t remember wrongly, six thousand years ago, there was an Immortal Soul stage cultivator called the Mountain and River Holy Man. The magic treasure that he has with him was called the Mountain and River Void Crucible."
After hearing what Prime Minister Wu had said, Cao Wei’s expression changed. Wu Qingrou continued, "Legend has it that the Heaven Lake Sect and the Mountain and River Holy Man do not share a good relationship. In fact, during an intense battle, he lost his life on one of the snow plains very far up north. And because of that, the magic treasure, the Mountain and River Void Crucible has landed in your sect’s hands."
"But other than the Mountain and River Void Crucible, there are other nine Nascent Soul stage magic crucibles that come in a set along with the magic treasure."
Wu Qingrou smiled gently, "The Mountain and River Void Crucible might be a magic treasure but it might not be worth that much of your effort. It seems that the magic treasure has some secret that requires all nine little crucibles to unlock. Am I right?"
Cao Wei calmed down and spoke in the plainest tone possible, "So, are you going to interfere in this?"
Wu Qingrou shook his head and replied, "Nope. I do not have the intention to do so. I hope you don’t mind but I do like to perform checks on my working partners."
"On a more serious note, I also wanted to see how inclined the Heaven Lake Sect is to collaborate. From this, I can understand how willing you all would want to work with me and this would allow me to better calculate the input that I should invest in this collaboration after gaining a better understanding of the success rate."
Cao Wei heard his reply and nodded his head gently, "That’s fair."
After this, Cao Wei suddenly changed the topic, "Now, do you mind telling me how confident you are of locating the precise location of Mount Yujing in the turbulence and currents within the void dimension after acquiring the rock form Mount Yujing as well as the leave from the treasure tree?"
"At most fifty percent." Wu Qingrou answered plainly. "This is purely a hypothesis. Only after laying my hands on these two items, I can then give a more accurate answer. Any talk about this would still be premature."
"Especially the tree on Mount Yujing. No one has seen, it and of course, no one has even touched it. Even I know nothing about the tree."
Wu Qingrou continued, "However, the fifty percent chance is enough for me to make a decision already. I will continue to perfect the plan until it reaches a hundred percent success rate."
Cao Wei did not what to take a stand on that matter as he replied nonchalantly, "And that would be your own business."
Wu Qingrou was not withholding anything as he pointed out directly, "In my plan, your portion is where I find it hardest to control."
Cao Wei was expressionless as he said, "When it comes to my disciple, I am very sure that he has a sixty percent chance of winning. I don’t dare to claim any higher but definitely not lower."
Wu Qingrou replied, "If you say so, then that’s good."
His voice became softer gradually which was a sign that the voice projection was about to be cut off. Just before it cut off, Wu Qingrou mentioned a line that made Cao Wei’s heart skipped a beat.
"After the Spiritual Conference, there might be some changes to the opening of the Ancient Huanghai World. Tell your disciples to hold their horses."
After this line, the connection was completely cut and Cao Wei’s brows furrowed. He knew that the last line from Wu Qingrou was an addition act of concern from his partner but the lack of details generated suspicion.
Just as he was communicating with Wu Qingrou, in the Hidden Dragon Teapot, Xiao Budian and Song Qingyuan had already began a vicious battle.
Xiao Budian had already taken the form of the Thunderstorm Demon and God which was a good two meters tall as he struck an attack in the direction of Song Qingyuan, trying to exercise his advantage in close combat.
Song Qingyuan might possess the Two Bodies of Ice and Fire, but when it came to a straight-on close combat battle, he knew that he had little chance in overcoming Xiao Budian’s physical prowess. Hence, he did not waste anytime and went straight to focusing on using his spells to attack Xiao Budian from a distance.
Although he had also mastered the Heaven Lake Sect’s Dark Polar Blaze Mantra, Song Qingyuan’s style was vastly different from Mu Jihai’s.
Fang Zhong’s icy blaze was the coarsest amongst all of them and that was because he had just mastered the mantra and could not exercise any close control. All he could do was to produce the icy blaze and then launch it towards his opponent, relying purely on the power of the icy blaze.
Dao Yuting’s mastery of the mantra was higher than Fang Zhong and could already exercise some close control over it. But nevertheless, she was still at the beginner stage and her fighting style was still rather direct and lacked variation.
At the Aurous Core stage, Mu Jihai, having trained for a good hundred years, his mastery of the icy blaze was way above his two juniors, who were still at the Foundation Establishment stage. And because he had focused all his energy on mastering this mantra, his control of the icy blaze was very good and was capable of producing multiple variations.
Even if the grandmaster at the Nascent Soul stage within his sect coul win him based on mana and raw power, they might not be able to achieve the micro-control that Mu Jihai could over the icy blaze.
And what Song Qingyuan now was displaying once again affirmed his position as the number one disciple of the Heaven Lake Sect, and why Mu Jihai could only stay in his shadows.
The number of spells which he had learnt and mastered was way more than Mu Jihai and any of the spells would have required a large amount of time and energy from any disciple to learn. Even when it came to the mastery of the Dark Polar Blaze Mantra, Song Qingyuan was at least on par with him.
Song Qingyuan’s icy blaze was scattered all around the space within the Hidden Dragon Teapot as it slowly turned into a mist-like form that shrouded the interior of the teapot.
Regardless of which direction Xiao Budian was attacking from, he would be blocked by the icy blaze at the first instant.
And strangely, maybe because of the lesson learnt from the previous fight, Xiao Budian had adopted a more conservative battle style as compared to previous wild and bold manner.
If it was still the same battle that he had with Mu Jihai, Xiao Budian would have chosen to barge through the defence from the icy mist with his brute strength.
But now, Xiao Budian was much more cautious as he circled around Song Qingyuan’s icy blaze and tested the defence from different angles in an attempt to locate the Achilles’ Heel of this strange defence before launching the finishing blow.
"I see you have gained some experience after the previous fight… Or is he trying to conceal his strength so as to reserve his energy for the final battle by winning with minimal cost?" SOng Qingyuan continued with his pondering, "But if he were to be so cautious, it won’t be good for me."
"Master has entrusted me with two matter and I have only done one. The next one would be difficult if he were to be so conservative."
At this thought, Song Qingyuan made up his mind and changed his fighting style.
If Xiao Budian had decided to be conservative, Song Qingyuan had decided to be more aggressive as he turned all the icy blaze into sparks of flame contained within an icy cyclone which spun its way towards Xiao Budian.
Lin Feng saw the change in the spell from outside of the Hidden Dragon Teapot and let out an inconspicuous smile.
Song Qingyuan’s fearsome attack filled the entire interior of the Hidden Dragon Teapot and had excited all the Heaven Lake Sect cultivators which were watching anxiously from the outside of the teapot.
Some of the disciples exclaimed gleefully, "Senior Mu might have lost but he had nonetheless destroyed the arrogance and courage of Shi Tianhao."
"Without aggression and courage, how could he triumph over Senior Song? Senior Song is definitely going into the finals. If Shi Xingyun from the Great Qin Empire can actually drain some of Zhu Yi’s energy, Senior Song would be able to claim the victory in the final battle with ease."
After hearing these words, many of the disicples who were still at the lower echelons showed looks of approval and agreement. Even some of the Aurous Core stage cultivators revealed a smile as they watched Song Qingyuan’s attack.
However, the few Nascent Soul stage grandmasters from the Heaven Lake Sect revealed a look of worry and for some, even a tinge of anger.
But most of them were unable to understand, "That’s too hasty! The spell might look big and powerful but it has too many loopholes."
"How could he forget about his fundamentals just from making it into the top four? Unless he thought that Shi Tianhao had become a coward and became too impatient for his victory. This is not how Song Qingyuan usually behaves!"
And of course, the patient Xiao Budian was energized at the sight of Song Qingyuan’s attack as he consolidated all the wind and thunder energy underneath his feet before springing forward like lightning towards Song Qingyuan. He pierced through a hole in the Dark Polar Blaze Mantra and went straight for Song QIngyuan.
Song Qingyuan’s face darkened and was enraged by the sight of this. He quickly recovered his icy blaze as he attempted to reconstruct his tought defence line.
But just as how the strongest and longest dam could be eroded by a single ant nest, once the loophole or weakness had been identified by the opponent, it was only a matter of time before the defence line would crumble in the face of immense pressure.
Regardless of how SOng QIngyuan tried to turn the tables back into his favor, the odds were slowly tilting to Xiao Budian’s favor.
The change in tides within the Hidden Dragon Table was simply due to the carelessness of Song Qingyuan and immediately, he had handed the advantage to Xiao Budian.
Outside the Hidden Dragon Teapot, Lin Feng was laughing inside as he thought, "If you really want to play, let me fulfill your wish."
He turned around to look at Cao Wei before asking politely, "Lord Cao, I would like to increase the stakes. But that is of course under the condition that you are willing to play along?"