"You're not afraid I'll reveal your strength?"
Liu Wumei looked at Su Chen.
"It doesn't matter. On my way here, Third Young Master Qin, Qin Hao, invited me to meet him."
"If you spread the word that I've reached the Innate Realm, I imagine Qin Hao will offer me a hefty price."
Su Chen spoke.
On his way here, he'd received a letter.
Its message was simple: Qin Hao wanted Su Chen to meet him two days later.
It didn't even include an address.
As for why it hadn't—
The other party was certain he knew where Qin Hao lived.
"Looks like I completely misjudged you!"
"Let's get straight to the point. If you agree to help me make contact with Mu Qingxue, I can send an early-stage Spirit Refining Realm expert to assist you for the time being, Tower Lord Su."
Liu Wumei gave up trying to control Su Chen.
He was calm, knew how to conceal his strength, and struck without mercy. Someone like him would make a good friend and partner.
As an enemy, he'd be someone to guard against. Picking a fight with him would be a losing proposition.
Besides, there was no need to attack Su Chen.
Their interests didn't conflict.
What's more, letting someone else reap the benefits wasn't Liu Wumei's style.
"An early-stage Spirit Refining Realm expert? Fine. Here's to a pleasant partnership."
Su Chen said.
He'd revealed his strength to secure a partnership with Liu Wumei.
The Golden Wind Fine Rain Tower had good intelligence in Qingcheng City, but it still hadn't uncovered Qin Hao's purpose. With Yuchun Courtyard's information added to the mix, they should be able to find out soon why Qin Hao had come here.
At that moment,
inside Lei Hall,
Qin Hao and Elder Xue entered the main hall.
Lei Mu and the others had gathered there.
Not far away lay Mo Beiming's corpse, still covered with a white cloth.
"What can you tell from the blade marks?"
Qin Hao asked as he entered the hall.
"Third Young Master, judging from the marks, Bai Tianyu wasn't the one who killed Lei Ao."
"The blade marks are different. The killer didn't use the same weapon as Bai Tianyu. Bai Tianyu looks like a master of the blade, and he'd never switch weapons."
Lei Gu said.
"So the person who killed Lei Ao wasn't sent by Ling Tianhe?"
Qin Hao asked.
"We can't be sure. Ling Tianhe may have another blade-user on his side."
Lei Gu replied.
They'd confirmed Bai Tianyu hadn't killed Lei Ao, but they couldn't rule out the possibility that Ling Tianhe had another blade expert with him.
"Whether Ling Tianhe has anyone else with him isn't the issue. We need a large quantity of Void Nether Stone. How are we going to solve that?"
Qin Hao said gravely.
"Third Young Master, judging by the situation, Ling Tianhe won't agree to give us the Void Nether Ore!"
"It'll be hard for us to get our hands on it."
Lei Mu said gravely.
"If we can't get it from Ling Tianhe, why not take Su Chen instead?"
"He's the publicly acknowledged Tower Lord of the Golden Wind Fine Rain Tower!"
Qin Hao said.
"Take Su Chen?"
Lei Mu's eyes lit up. "You mean we should approach Su Chen and buy the Void Nether Ore from him?"
"But the Golden Wind Fine Rain Tower is under Ling Tianhe's control. Even if we approach Su Chen, it won't do us any good!"
Lei Mu frowned.
"I'm not telling you to approach Su Chen."
"If Su Chen hesitates, won't that hold up our plans?"
"You can seize him and force Ling Tianhe to bring the deed to the Void Nether Mine as ransom."
Qin Hao said.
"Third Young Master, kidnapping Su Chen would be easy, but I'm worried Ling Tianhe might use us to kill him."
Lei Muyan said.
"When you seize Su Chen, spread the news throughout Qingcheng City. People from Zitan Palace will arrive soon, and Ling Tianhe won't dare stand by and let him die!"
Qin Hao said.
At his words, the Lei Family members' eyes brightened.
From Ling Tianhe's conduct today, it was clear he knew quite a bit.
Lei Hall and the Golden Wind Fine Rain Tower were already enemies.
"Lei Yao, you three will bring Su Chen to that safehouse outside the city tonight. Tomorrow, I'll send Ling Tianhe a message and spread the news through Qingcheng City. Let's see whether he'll bring the Void Nether Mine to trade for him."
Lei Mu gave the order.
After issuing his instructions, Lei Mu went over to Qin Hao.
"Third Young Master, we're no match for Bai Tianyu, who's with Ling Tianhe. If he steps in, then even if we seize Su Chen and use him to threaten Ling Tianhe, it'll be useless."
"Don't worry. I'll arrange for someone on my side to hold Bai Tianyu off."
Qin Hao said.
"Then we're grateful, Third Young Master. The Lei Family will follow your lead."
Lei Mu hurried to pledge his loyalty.
Lei Mu hadn't hesitated when Qin Hao suggested they attack Su Chen because he wanted Qin Hao to see how loyal the Lei Family was.
"You're doing my bidding. I won't treat you unfairly. Once we've dealt with the Fifth-grade Lotus Platform, I'll return to the Qin Family and give you a bottle of Tong Shen Dan."
Qin Hao said.
Tong Shen Dan had an impressive name, but its only effect was to help Innate Peak Stage martial artists break through to the Spirit Refining Realm.
Lei Mu and Lei Mo had been stuck at the Innate Peak Stage for a long time without reaching the Spirit Refining Realm.
They hoped to use pills to break through.
But Tong Shen Dan was rarely found outside the prefectural city. It was controlled by the great clans and sects there, making it hard for ordinary small factions to buy.
Now Qin Hao had promised them five pills.
Once the other three reached the Innate Peak Stage, they could use the Tong Shen Dan. Lei Hall might then have five early-stage Spirit Refining Realm experts.
Of course, there was no guarantee. Breakthroughs with pills could fail.
But after taking Tong Shen Dan, one would be left with a weakness: breaking through to the Refining Soul Realm would be extremely difficult.
"Handle this matter. Now that Mo Beiming is dead, you'll need to arrange for someone to guard the place afterward. Lei Mo, take a batch of Void Nether Stone there later."
Qin Hao ordered.
"We'll obey, Third Young Master!"
Lei Mo hurriedly replied.
"Good. Make your arrangements. I'll return to the residence outside the city first. If anything comes up, notify Elder Xue!"
Qin Hao said, then left with Elder Xue.
He still needed to improve his strength. Today, he'd had Elder Xue capture several Innate Realm experts from Qingcheng City and add their blood to the blood pool.
He wanted to see whether it would help him break through to the Spirit Refining Realm.
Lei Mu and the others saw Qin Hao off.
After Qin Hao had left,
Lei Muyan said, "Hall Master, if we kidnap Su Chen, what if Zitan Palace turns on us when they arrive?"
They'd agreed so readily in front of Qin Hao, but they hadn't meant it.
"We'll take it one step at a time!"
"As long as we help Third Young Master Qin guard the Fifth-grade Lotus Platform, we'll get the Tong Shen Dan. Then we can leave Qingcheng City at once, before Zitan Palace has a chance to move against us."
Lei Mu said.
From his words, it was clear he planned to take the Lei Family and run as soon as they got the Tong Shen Dan.
Outside Lei Hall,
Qin Hao and Elder Xue climbed into a carriage.
"Young Master, weren't you planning to approach Su Chen? Why have the Lei Family attack him now?"
Elder Xue asked.
"I'm putting pressure on Su Chen. I want him to understand that the weak have no choice—they can only submit obediently."
"Only then will he serve me willingly and become my pawn against Mu Qingxue."
Qin Hao said coldly.
Mu Qingxue's strength would be no weaker than his.
She should have experts by her side.
Once he had Su Chen under his thumb, he could not only keep tabs on Mu Qingxue's daily life, but also ambush her at a crucial moment and help him capture her.
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