Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
It is said that every man has a fool up his sleeve. It was exactly the case with Tang Xiu at the moment. Mo Awu’s reminder made him remember that all of them were cultivators and they could still move very fast at sea using their flying swords. Other than that, he could also refine some communication jade slips that wouldn’t be affected by any electromagnetic storm should it occur.
“You’re right, Awen.” Tang Xiu nodded and then asked, “Anyway, where’s Long Zhengyu? Tell him to come over. I have something to discuss with him.”
“Got it, Boss!”
Jin Shi immediately strode away after hearing that.
A few minutes later, Long Zhengyu was brought by Jin Shi. The former immediately said after he saw Tang Xiu, “Brother Tang, are we people who are very close?”
The question made Tang Xiu raise his brows as he nodded and answered, “We are; we have a very good relationship indeed.”
“If so, then why can’t you teach me cultivation art?” asked Long Zhengyu. “I used to be like a frog watching the sky while sitting at the bottom of a well. I never knew that people like you existed in the world. Now that I know about it, I’ve been imagining I’m like you, flying in the sky and having terrifying combat prowess.”
Tang Xiu himself had long guessed Long Zhengyu’s wish, so he already expected that he would request this. After thinking about it, he replied, “I believe you’re also clear on what’s going on here, Zhengyu. Although we’ve killed those two wizards, the problem is far from over. It is likely more experts from the Celestial Wizard clan will soon arrive to this island. Facing such an enemy now, let’s put aside the matter of teaching you cultivation art for now. I’ll definitely teach you cultivation art and help you embark on the path of cultivation once we’ve completely solved the crisis brought by the Celestial Wizard clan.”
The response made Long Zhengyu pleasantly surprised and he immediately said, “No problem. I’ll listen to you, Brother Tang. Also, I can’t help you in the battle, but tell me anything I can do in some other aspects if you need my assistance. I’ll do my best to accomplish it as long as it’s within my abilities.”
“I want you to pick up the pace of the construction project. It’s best if you can finish it within half a month,” said Tang Xiu. “I still have a big plan to implement once the construction team on the island has left.”
“A big plan?” Long Zhengyu was confused and asked, “What is it?”
“Let’s drop the subject regarding it for now. I just need your assurance whether or not you can finish the work within half a month,” said Tang Xiu.
Long Zhengyu pondered for a while and gritted his teeth before saying, “Completing the project within half a month is not a problem if we work overtime.”
“Alright.” Tang Xiu nodded and said, “Anyway, I asked you on the phone before to pass by Hong Kong and help me bring a batch of jade here. Have you brought them?”
Long Zhengyu zoned out for a moment and immediately said, “I brought some, but I heard from Hao Lei, the General Manager of Grand Fortune Jewelry, that she hasn’t gathered enough jade yet.”
Tang Xiu fished out his handset and dialed Hao Lei’s cell number.
“Hello, Boss.” Hao Lei’s voice came from the phone, though her voice was rather perturbed.
“What’s your current situation?” asked Tang Xiu in a deep voice. “You haven’t yet collected enough jade for me still?”
“I should’ve been able to get enough, Boss, but I encountered some difficulties,” said Hao Lei with a bitter smile. “Some people are also buying jade on a large scale, so its price has been ceaselessly rising. Our Grand Fortune Jewelry has made a fortune from the jade you previously gave me. But if we were to wantonly purchase raw jades at this time, we’ll have no profit at all.”
“Do you know who the other buyers are?” asked Tang Xiu.
“Yeah. I already sent some people to investigate it. It’s Li Juren from Hong Kong,” answered Hao Lei.
Li Juren?
Tang Xiu’s brows creased and he looked puzzled. Li Juren was just an ordinary person; this man bought some pills from him to increase his life expectancy. What does he wanna do by buying so many raw jades? After thinking about it but still not figuring it out, Tang Xiu decided to call Li Juren directly after he ordered Hao Lei to hurry and buy raw jade regardless of its price.
Hong Kong.
Li Juren was reading a stack of documents in his office. In front of him were two tall middle-aged men in Chinese tunic suits, each carrying a long sword and looking straight at him.
“Alas…”
After spending a long time reading, Li Juren put down the documents in his hands and looked up at the two middle-aged men. Forcing a smile, he spoke, “Two gentlemen, frankly, I really don’t have the means to gather the raw jade you need in a short time. The number you need is too many, after all. More so with the current situation where it is quite scarce in the market, leading to its soaring price. Its current price has even reached higher than it ever has in the past.”
The middle-aged man standing on the left shook his head and said, “Money is nothing in our eyes; we don’t care about the price, Mr. Li. We urgently need a lot of raw jade now, so I hope you can help us. We can accept your grandson as our in-name disciple so that your Li Family can have a cultivator in the future. That’s the sincerity we can offer you.”
Li Juren’s eyes, however, fell back on the documents on the table. Some of the contents written on it made him very cautious because it involved Hong Kong’s Grand Fortune Jewelry. It may be unknown to others who ran this business, but he was clear about it.
Grand Fortune Jewelry had been buying raw jades on a large scale for some time. He could tell that it was Tang Xiu who was in urgent need of it. If he were to choose to compete with Tang Xiu for raw jade at this time, he was afraid that he would offend him. Yet, he wouldn’t be able to fulfill the agreement with the two men in front of him should he back away from the battle to purchase the jades in the market with Grand Fortune Jewelry.
This was simply a headache and a dilemma for him!
Li Juren rubbed his temples and was about to talk when his phone on the table suddenly rang. He swallowed back the words and his expression changed after he saw the caller’s name on his phone screen.
Tang Xiu is calling me now? His men should’ve investigated that I’m the one who’s been buying a large amount of raw jade on the market, right?!
As he thought up to this point, Li Juren immediately looked at the middle-aged men dressed in Chinese tunics, saying, “Two gentlemen, can you give me some more time to think about it and find the solution? Also, I’d like to invite you to dine at the Everlasting Feast Hall tonight; I’ll give you my reply at that time. How about it?”
The two middle-aged men exchanged glances and immediately nodded. After rejecting Li Juren’s offer to send them off, they left the office directly.
Li Juren then picked up the call and spoke, “Hello, Tang Xiu.”
“Elder Li, I need an explanation from you,” said Tang Xiu.
“I know what explanation you want from me, Tang Xiu.” Li Juren bitterly smiled and said, “I hope you don’t take it as an offense since I didn’t know before that your Grand Fortune Jewelry has been buying raw jade as well. Two mysterious men came to me ten days ago. Their true identity is of cultivators, but I still have no idea about their origins. I made a deal with them to accept my grandchild as their disciple and thus learn cultivation art in exchange for my help in buying them raw jades. They were standing in front of me just before I picked up your call, asking me to keep buying raw jades.”
“You really don’t know who they are and why they need to buy so many raw jades?” asked Tang Xiu.
“I really don’t know about it,” confirmed Li Juren.
Tang Xiu was silent for a short while and said, “Old Li, I urgently need raw jades. I must get enough jade within 15 days to carry out one of my major plans. Therefore, I hope you can give up your continuous purchase of it. I’ll also teach your family a cultivation art as your compensation.”
Li Juren’s eyes lit up since he could pull out another meaning from Tang Xiu’s words. The previous two cultivators only promised to accept his grandson as an in-name disciple. There was another request from them that his grandson was forbidden to impart the cultivation art to someone else. But Tang Xiu’s words didn’t have such a meaning. He would impart the cultivation art to his Li Family, meaning that once his family obtained it, they had the right to decide who could learn it.
One person compared to the whole family!
It was easy for Li Juren to make up his mind in an instant. Then, he said in a deep voice, “Tang Xiu, most of the raw jade I’ve bought have already been handed over to the other party, but I still have some of them stored in my warehouse. I’ll secretly send them over to Manager Hao at Grand Fortune Jewelry later. Also, I’ll stop buying raw jades for at least half a month.”
“If so, then you have my thanks, Old Li,” said Tang Xiu with a satisfied smile. “I’ll visit Hong Kong after some time; I’d like to invite you for a drink to express my thanks.”
“This is nothing to speak of. We’re friends, and I’ve previously gotten a lot of benefits from you,” said Li Juren with a chuckle.
Nine Dragons Island.
Tang Xiu hung up the phone and looked at Mo Awu. “Call Xiaoxue. Tell her to pass my message to Ji Chimei to suspend her tasks in Jingmen Island and rush over to Nine Dragons Island. My current power is still weak and I am probably not a match for Nascent Soul Stage experts should any of them come here. This place is our base; I need her to take command here.”
“Affirmative!” replied Mo Awu with a nod.
As the next day came, Tang Guang and Tang An arrived on Nine Dragons Island with Singluen under their protection, along with the petite female and five guardian elders of Singluen. After receiving them, Tang Xiu placed them in one of the newly built buildings on the island. In order to avoid troubles, however, he didn’t tell them anything about the situation on the island and even asked them to stay in the assigned building cluster and not stroll around the island at will.
On the third day, a group of 80 experts from the Everlasting Feast Hall arrived. Under Tang Xiu’s arrangement, they were scattered throughout the island and were on security duty. To prepare for the upcoming battle, however, Tang Xiu took his time to teach them many magic spells, though he spared himself from finding out how much they could manage to grasp in such a short time.
Additionally, Tang Xiu also assigned a team of peripheral members to be stationed on 16 small barren islands within 200 nautical miles. They were responsible for monitoring the situation of the surrounding sea, reporting to him at once should they spot any suspicious vessels or people.
Time fleeted by and fourteen days passed in the blink of an eye. At the moment when the first beam of sunlight rose from the East, Tang Xiu, who was sitting cross-legged atop the palace roof, heard Long Zhengyu’s shout to him.
