"What? We have to cooperate with the Celestial Sword Sect disciples to exterminate the remnants of the Ten Directions Sect?"
"Vice Gang Leader, forgive my bluntness, but is the Black Flood Dragon Gang really suited to get involved in this?"
"What if... and I’m just saying ’what if’... a few remnants of the Ten Directions Sect slip through the net? Once the Celestial Essence Sword Sect disciples leave, they could come back for revenge..."
As the meeting began, Zou Feng continued to play the part of the invisible man in his wheelchair.
The moment Vice Gang Leader Xiang Kang started speaking, an uproar swept through the hall.
Cooperating with a local power for convenience made perfect sense, of course.
But for the Celestial Essence Sword Sect, which had been hyped up to be so incredible, to do something like this still felt a bit... underwhelming to Zou Feng.
’And another thing,’ he thought. ’The Ten Directions Sect is an Evil Sect, and their strength is clearly nothing compared to the Celestial Essence Sword Sect. What’s their game, constantly opposing them?’
’A spy they planted actually managed to become a True Disciple of the Celestial Essence Sword Sect...’
’It’d be a miracle if there wasn’t some higher-level political game going on behind the scenes.’
’In short, the Celestial Essence Sword Sect’s current situation probably isn’t as glamorous as it appears...’
Facing the successive waves of questions from his subordinates, Xiang Kang didn’t rush to explain.
Only after everyone had gradually calmed down did Xiang Kang look up and sigh. "When the disciples from the Celestial Essence Sword Sect came to discuss this matter, I naturally had the same concerns as all of you."
"So, I was about to firmly refuse them, but..."
"They just offered too much!"
The room was suddenly plunged into a strange silence.
But soon, a Hall Master couldn’t wait to ask, "How much is ’too much’?"
"One High Grade True Skill, over a hundred bottles of dozens of types of Middle Grade Pure Pills, and ten thousand taels of patterned silver."
"Furthermore, an Elite Disciple from the Sword Sect has promised to personally perform a Purification of Marrow for ten of our brothers!"
"Most importantly, they also promised that when they recruit disciples in the future, they might allocate one or two spots to us..."
These rewards were indeed extremely generous.
But for a behemoth like the Celestial Essence Sword Sect, this was just a drop in the bucket—the kind of thing they could toss out without a second thought.
Especially those ten spots for the Purification of Marrow. To put it bluntly, it just meant using the purest, most orthodox Inner Strength to eliminate some of the hidden dangers that had accumulated in a person’s body from cultivating Evil Skills.
But it definitely wouldn’t be a complete purge. Most likely, it would only clear a small portion, or perhaps just provide temporary relief.
For the Celestial Essence Sword Sect disciples, it was probably equivalent to just spending a little time and consuming some Inner Qi, like a light workout.
But since most members of the Black Flood Dragon Gang practiced Evil Skills, this became a rare opportunity to eliminate some of those hidden dangers!
’As for the extra recruitment spots?’
’The Celestial Essence Sword Sect must be short on cannon fodder lately...’
"The Ten Directions Sect is devoid of conscience and has committed every evil imaginable! Everyone has a duty to hunt them down!"
"That’s right! It is our undeniable duty to help the Celestial Essence Sword Sect exterminate the Ten Directions Sect!"
"Brothers, we’ll start the manhunt immediately! Follow me and let’s crush the remnants of the Ten Directions Sect!"
Seeing everyone in the gang now seething with righteous indignation over the evils of the Ten Directions Sect, Zou Feng almost thought he’d joined a Renowned and Righteous Sect where it was "all for one, and one for all."
However, despite the passionate uproar, quite a few people hadn’t gotten carried away and still felt this might not be a good thing.
Those who were blinded by the reward and shouting the loudest now would likely be the first to die when the time came.
But in truth, the Black Flood Dragon Gang had no choice.
The Celestial Essence Sword Sect couldn’t have only approached the Black Flood Dragon Gang; the other powers in Yuan Guang City were bound to be involved as well.
Especially the Black Flood Dragon Gang’s current rivals, the Mountain and River Association and the Danxin Alliance. If they participated and the Black Flood Dragon Gang was the only one that didn’t, wouldn’t that be a blatant offense to the Celestial Essence Sword Sect?
They’d be fools to expect an easy time after that!
Meanwhile, Zou Feng was extremely glad that he was still in a state of "severe injury, not yet recovered."
’No matter how deranged these Black Flood Dragon Gang members are, surely they wouldn’t make me join the extermination mission in a wheelchair, right?’
But even though he wouldn’t have to participate in the mission and didn’t need to worry about his safety, he had to give serious thought to how he could exploit this chaos to reap some benefits.
Profiting from chaos was always the best way to get rich.
Especially since his "severe injuries" allowed him to stay out of the mess, at least on the surface.
’Speaking of which, Yuan Guang County is getting more and more dangerous. I need to advance to the Eighth Grade as soon as possible.’
Zou Feng’s plan for advancing to the Eighth Grade was to master at least one more Evil Skill to the level of Refined Skill before attempting a breakthrough.
The more he accumulated and the higher the quality, the greater the benefits after breaking through. Only then would his future path of advancement be as smooth as silk.
But his Human Gu wasn’t mature yet, and it was unlikely he could master any of his other Cultivation Skills to the level of Refined Skill in a short time.
That left only the Chaos Finger skill to work on.
He needed something with more of a kick!
He had heard that the Ten Directions Sect was exceptionally skilled at refining and using various "Evil Pills" with exaggerated effects.
They used brainwashing doctrines combined with brainwashing elixirs to stir up trouble everywhere—a classic Evil Cult.
The Celestial Immortal Joy Powder, banned by the Great Yan Dynasty but revered as a divine medicine by scoundrels, was one of their creations.
If he could gather enough of that stuff to aid his cultivation of the Chaos Finger, he was sure he could break through to the level of Refined Skill in one go!
As the meeting ended and he was leaving the ship, Zou Feng shot a discreet glance at Ma Pingchuan.
That guy was chatting happily with the Sixth Young Master, who was beaming with delight.
Zou Feng knew for a fact that Ma Pingchuan and Qian Kun must have already been colluding with the remnants of the Ten Directions Sect.
Otherwise, the ones who came to assassinate him wouldn’t have been from the Ten Directions Sect.
’But now, all the powers in Yuan Guang City are supposed to cooperate with the Celestial Essence Sword Sect to wipe out the Ten Directions Sect. So, if I were Ma Pingchuan, what would I be doing right now?’
’From a profit-maximization standpoint, the obvious move would be to continue colluding with the Ten Directions Sect remnants and sell them our side’s intelligence for a high price.’
’When the time comes, the Black Flood Dragon Gang’s extermination mission will either find nothing or walk right into a deadly trap...’
During the meeting just now, it was mentioned that there would be a large-scale mountain search tonight.
The most likely hiding place for the Ten Directions Sect remnants was, of course, Qifeng Mountain on the other side of the East River in Yuan Guang County.
Zou Feng, the "severely injured" man, certainly wasn’t going to volunteer to join the mountain search in his wheelchair.
But he could find an opportunity to hop out of his wheelchair, slip away, and secretly tail Ma Pingchuan.
Doing so might lead to a pleasant surprise.
It was worth mentioning that Zou Feng wasn’t too worried about getting discovered by the big fish after he’d hooked it.
The effectiveness of the Drunken Immortal Moon Gazing Step for escaping went without saying.
Zou Feng could also imitate an "Alchemist" from some game, using a "run-and-poison" tactic to make any expert who dared to chase him suddenly realize with horror that their legs were growing weak as they ran...
Everyone was out to get the remnants of the Ten Directions Sect. As long as they couldn’t catch him immediately, what awaited them would be an inescapable dragnet.