A week has passed since Xu Zhoujian and Huang Qingqin met up with members of their respective clans, as well as Lady Guang. Naturally, everyone went on their separate ways after that, with all of them pondering as to how they would be able to solve the problem that was the awakening of Qin’s father.

For the couple, their focus was to have Qin improve her proficiency over alchemy, with the goal of her eventually having the ability to concoct the medicine needed for her father to wake up. On top of that, they also started cultivating assiduously again, which was something they neglected after running away from their respective clans.

As for those that they met… they had other things going on.

…

Inside a bustling city was a modest home that had two floors. For the most part, its appearance did not stand out that much compared to the other houses along the street it was in. However, the aura it gave off was different. Strong waves of energy were released from the house every once in a while, making those that happened to walk by at those times to hasten their steps. After all, such strong waves would only come from high-level cultivators.

“Haah…” With a light sigh, Guang Zhenqiang gradually lowered her extended palm, taking note of the strong burst of energy that appeared while wielding the technique she was practicing. Taking in a few deep breaths after that, she murmured, “If I can make sure that every palm strike would yield a strong burst of energy, my mastery of the [Force Palm Manual] would reach Advanced grade.”

“But alas, I’m still far from reaching that point.” She sighed, thinking that she had done enough practice for the day. With that, she went ahead and made something to eat for herself, realizing that it was already time for lunch.

While cooking up something to eat, she could not help but ponder over the conversation that had transpired a week ago at Jian and Qin’s house. From the outside, it seemed like it was a conversation held by five people, aiming to help Jian and Qin wake the latter’s father, ending the problem for both clans there and then. However, as she was a scholar and a disciple of the famed Mirror Heart Sect, the intentions of both Huang Yongzhen and Xu Zhoucheng were laid out in plain sight for her.

“Two-faced. This is why I don’t normally involve myself in clan matters,” she muttered with a hint of disgust, scratching her head as she plated up the food she had cooked. Making her way to the living room as she sent a bit of her qi to the television in front of her, Guang Zhenqiang started to eat her lunch as she watched the news, deciding to rest her mind for a bit as she let it wander off for a while.

After she had consumed all of the food on the plate, she went ahead and closed the television before doing all of her daily chores, eventually ending up at her study located on the second floor of her home around a few hours after noon.

Sitting in front of a desk with a bunch of documents laid out on top of it, Guang Zhenqiang looked at all of them, focusing her attention on one document that had a list of numbers written on it as she picked it up. “To think the demand for the stuff is actually this great…”

Surprisingly, the numbers written on the document she picked up were the figures she had obtained after she sold off all of the Spirit Slag and high-grade Spirit Slag she had obtained from Jian and Qin’s place.

To say it was an astronomical sum for the couple was an understatement. Heck, even Zhenqiang could not help but feel a hint of greed towards it. But after recalling the motto of her sect, she quickly reined it in, splitting the profits 50-50. 50% for the medicine that would wake up Qin’s father, and 50% for the materials that Qin would have to buy in order to progress in alchemy.

“I’ve already tried sending the money to them multiple times this past week, but for some reason, it isn’t getting there,” she said to herself, recalling the multiple times she made her way to the nearest bank, only to be contacted a day later to be told the transfer had failed. Of course, she received the money back from it. But naturally, it was quite suspicious for something like that to always fail.

“Are the two clans trying to restrict them?” she muttered, thinking that it was possible. Eventually, she let out a sigh, saying, “Ah, whatever. I’ll just send the money to them directly sometime in the future.”

“For now, I should probably focus on my cultivation.”

…

Inside one of the various buildings in the Huang clan’s estate, two people could be seen facing each other as they sat in front of a table. One of them wore a light blue robe. However, with the man’s weathered face and battle-hardened gaze, it was unlikely for someone to mistake the man for a greenhorn. As for the other man, he also wore a light blue robe, yet the sly expression the man always had on his face made others want to stay away from him.

“So, Yongzhen. I know it has been a week since you’ve gone to where the young miss lives, but making sure that a meeting like this wouldn’t be heard by other people is quite difficult to achieve,” the man with the sly expression said to the other man, who was surprisingly Huang Yongzhen. “Therefore, I would like to apologize to you beforehand for taking this long.”

“There’s no need to worry about it that much, Elder Fang,” Yongzhen said in response, his tone polite. Unexpectedly, the man he was talking to was one of the elders of the Huang clan. “In any case, it is definitely my honor to be conversing with you face-to-face.”

“Enough of the pleasantries,” Elder Fang replied. “What news did you obtain from the young miss when you got there?”

“Well, from the looks of it, the two plan to awaken the clan leader sometime in the future,” Huang Yongzhen told the elder, who silently listened to him. “Normally, that wouldn’t be a problem as the two don’t have the necessary funds to do so. However, out of sheer luck, they had chanced upon a budding spirit vein, selling its byproducts to not only obtain the necessary funds, but also save up funds on the side to buy the medicine necessary to awaken the clan leader outright.”

“How unlucky,” Elder Fang said in response with a frown. Though, as he heard the phrase ‘budding spirit vein’, a hint of greed appeared on his face as he asked, “Do any other people know of the existence of that budding spirit vein? It would be quite useful if we were to obtain it for ourselves as it could enhance the clan’s foundation.”

Shaking his head, Yongzhen replied, “Other than the young miss and the young master from the Xu clan, only the young master’s brother, a friend they met, and I know of the budding spirit vein’s existence. However, I’d suggest not making a move to plunder the spirit vein for ourselves.”

“And why is that?” Elder Fang raised his eyebrows.

“Naturally, that would make it obvious for the two that we weren’t going to help them out in the first place,” Yongzhen told the elder, even going so far as to show a hint of disappointment on his face. “After all, we don’t want them to know what we’re really planning to do.”

“Let’s leave the matter of the budding spirit vein aside for now,” the elder said soon after, deciding to rein in his greed. “For now, let’s focus on what’s more important. What did the Xu clan say?”

Surprisingly, the words spoken by Xu Zhoucheng to both Jian and Qin about the Xu clan forging a deal with the Huang clan was actually the truth. It’s just that the two wouldn’t expect that Huang Yongzhen was also a part of the problem.

“They’ve agreed to give us support in the form of resources and reinforcements,” Huang Yongzhen replied. “However, they said that they would only do so if we were adamant in our decision to kill the clan leader.”

“As expected of those despicable bastards,” Elder Fang said, letting out a sigh soon after. “In any case, having their help would definitely make the process easier. Plus, it would also shut that megalomaniac’s mouth for good. Using the opportunity we’ve created to take hold of the clan leader position? Only those from the clan are worthy of being in that position.”

“Have they told you how long it would take for support from their end to arrive?” he asked not long after, to which Huang Yongzhen responded, “At the earliest, their reinforcements would arrive three months from now. At the latest, half a year.”

“Sounds about right.” Elder Fang nodded after hearing that. “In any case, that’s enough time for us to make countermeasures in the off chance the Xu clan tries to backstab us. After all, with their help in this plan, we’re basically showing our backs to them.”

“Well, for the most part, you don’t have to think about it. Just keep cultivating and make sure to talk to the young miss from time to time,” he added.

With that, the two of them stood up from their seats, shaking each other’s hands as Huang Yongzhen said, “I’ll do my best to make sure that we won’t be on the losing end of the deal.”

Nodding in response, Elder Fang replied, “And I’ll make sure that the whole clan would be in support of you…”

“Future clan leader.”