Yang Wudi Comes Calling

Dugu Bo's eyes lit up. "You really are a little rascal!"

The more he looked at Li Xun now, the more he liked him. The boy had quite a bit of his old flair.

"I was just guessing."

Li Xun scratched his head and chuckled. If his strength allowed it, he would not have wanted to use such a method either. In any case, he had already offered Yu Xiaogang a way to borrow a chicken to lay eggs.

Whether they chose to face the difficulty head-on or endure for now and build up their strength would depend on what Teacher and the others decided.

Ning Fengzhi lowered his head, his brows tightly furrowed.

He had always excelled at strategy, so how could he fail to see the feasibility of this plan?

It was just that—

As the master of a sect renowned across the continent, even if joining Spirit Hall was only a pretense, he would inevitably face gossip and criticism.

Ning Fengzhi looked up at Sword Douluo, only to meet his gaze.

Sword Douluo gave Ning Fengzhi a slight nod.

He had already thought a great deal about it. One side was the sect where he had lived for many years; the other was the powerful Spirit Hall. In the end, emotion had prevailed in this difficult choice.

So long as it could create a one-on-one situation between him and Qian Daoliu, joining Spirit Hall was not entirely unacceptable.

Silence...

Though they all had thoughts of their own, no one was willing to speak first.

Even Li Xun said nothing more.

Only Ning Fengzhi could make this decision himself. Even if they chose to confront Spirit Hall head-on, it would merely mean Sword Douluo losing an arm first, while the disciples left to guard the sect were nearly wiped out.

Just as everyone waited for someone else to speak first, someone outside the hall announced a visitor.

Yang Wudi had arrived.

Ning Fengzhi and the others exchanged looks, immediately feeling a headache coming on.

The Breaking Clan's conflict with Spirit Hall was far more complicated than theirs. Ever since the Clear Sky Sect sealed its mountain, their clan had suffered no small amount of suppression from Spirit Hall.

"Haha, Brother Feng Zhi, I trust you've been well!"

Just as the group sat in silence, a hearty voice rang out from beyond the hall. Immediately afterward, a tall figure strode inside.

"Brother Wudi, you honor us with your visit. Feng Zhi failed to welcome you properly; please forgive me." Ning Fengzhi smiled as he rose, stepped forward a few paces, and cupped his hands in greeting.

The others also rose from their seats.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had a cooperative relationship with Yang Wudi, and he was a powerful man in his own right. He deserved this respect.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Ning Fengzhi introduced him. "This is Senior Dugu Bo."

Yang Wudi's expression turned solemn as he bowed. "Greetings, Your Excellency."

A year ago, Li Xun had told him that Poison Douluo was discussing joining the sect with Ning Fengzhi. Yet after he began cooperating with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, it was as though that matter had never happened.

At times, he could not help wondering whether that brat Li Xun had deceived him. Fortunately, it had finally been confirmed today. It seemed Li Xun had truly been telling the truth.

Once everyone had taken their seats again,

Ning Fengzhi smiled and spoke first. "Brother Yang, are you satisfied with this year's profit share?"

The two families had been selling medicine together for a year. Because preparations had been rushed, they had not reached their original target of a million in annual profits.

Some days ago, he had sent someone to invite Yang Wudi to collect his share of the cooperative profits. He had not expected him to arrive so many days early.

"Haha, if I'm not satisfied with an annual income of more than nine hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, then I'd be far too greedy." Yang Wudi grinned.

When they first partnered, Li Xun had said they could earn a million in profit each year. Though they had not reached that amount now, they were not far off.

This was only the first year of their partnership. Once their trade routes were fully established, the one million Gold Soul Coins Li Xun mentioned might even have been an underestimate.

"As long as Brother Yang is satisfied." Ning Fengzhi nodded with a smile.

Yang Wudi had not explicitly joined the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Their partnership was still founded solely on mutual interests.

Such cooperation was highly unstable among Soul Masters. After all, strength reigned supreme on Douluo Continent, and Gold Soul Coins were simply too easy for someone like Ning Fengzhi to obtain.

Yet through their many dealings over the past year, Ning Fengzhi had also gained a rough understanding of Yang Wudi's character.

For a powerhouse like him, money was important, but it was far less important than his convictions and his clan's rise and fall. Now that Spirit Hall had become overwhelmingly powerful, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was about to change its strategy.

Yang Wudi had arrived at just the right time.

Ning Fengzhi felt it was necessary to test Yang Wudi's attitude beforehand and hear what he thought, lest something happen suddenly in the future and leave him caught off guard, causing the two sides to turn against each other.

After considering it for a moment, Ning Fengzhi said thoughtfully, "Brother Yang, your arrival today is timely. We were just discussing matters concerning Spirit Hall."

He immediately told Yang Wudi about Spirit Hall's many hidden powerhouses, merely leaving out Li Xun's plan to join Spirit Hall.

As Spirit Hall's hidden strength was revealed, Yang Wudi's expression gradually grew grave. "I never expected Spirit Hall to have hidden itself so deeply. No wonder it could force the Clear Sky Sect to seal its mountain and refuse to emerge."

So they had known all along how powerful the other side was. At that thought, the flesh on Yang Wudi's face twitched as he clenched his teeth.

When the Clear Sky Sect fled back then, they had not even given them a warning, leaving them to stubbornly fight Spirit Hall to the death. If Spirit Hall had truly been determined to destroy them, it would only have needed to send out less than half of its Title Douluo to crush their Single Attribute Four Great Clans.

"Brother Yang, now that you know this, what are your plans?" Ning Fengzhi asked softly.

He needed to know what Yang Wudi was thinking before he could continue the discussion.

If Yang Wudi still held hopes for the Clear Sky Sect, there would be no need to bring up what came next. The two sides would continue cooperating, but the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect would no longer invest effort in the Breaking Clan.

After all, once they moved closer to Spirit Hall, the Breaking Clan might even turn against them.

"..."

Yang Wudi's thoughts were in complete turmoil, and for a moment, he could not think of what to do next.

There was no need to consider the Clear Sky Sect. Leaving aside the fact that it had already abandoned their Four Single-Attribute Clans, it was uncertain whether it would even dare reopen its mountain gates.

The Two Great Empires could not possibly stop so many powerhouses.

The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had long been weakening, and among the Lower Four Sects, some forces had already pledged themselves to Spirit Hall. Meanwhile, the Four Single-Attribute Clans did not even have a single Title Douluo.

Thinking it over, only the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect could still be considered a powerful force. And now, it even had three Titled Douluo.

However—

Yang Wudi raised his head and looked at Sword Douluo and the other two.

Compared with Spirit Hall, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was still far too weak.

"Sigh! It seems Brother Yang has no good solution either." Seeing Yang Wudi's expression, Ning Fengzhi understood. "When I first heard of this, I felt just as powerless as you did."

"But Xiao Xun gave me a rather good idea."

Yang Wudi turned to glance at Li Xun. "What method did this brat come up with?"

When Li Xun had discussed their partnership with him, he had already seen that the boy was no ordinary person. He had not expected Li Xun to have ideas even concerning something as major as Spirit Hall.

Seeing Yang Wudi look at him, Li Xun grinned without saying a word.

He merely took out an Immortal Grade herb and leisurely played with it in his hand.

Yang Wudi had only glanced at Li Xun, and his attention had actually remained on Ning Fengzhi.

But when he looked back at Ning Fengzhi, he immediately sensed that something was off. He swiftly turned his head again and stared at the herb in Li Xun's hand.

"Brother Yang, we intend to join Spirit Hall."

Ning Fengzhi had been watching Yang Wudi's expression all along. Seeing him drawn in by the item in Li Xun's hand,

he promptly spoke those words.