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At the Hidden Zhao family, Elder Zhao was receiving several extremely important guests today: Elder You of the Hidden You family, Sect Master Jin of the Golden Bell Sect, and Sect Master Wo of the Qianshan Sect!

They had come to the Hidden Zhao family today to discuss the second phase of the plan to wipe out Wei Zhao!

The Hidden Zhao family had already completed the first phase of the plan to destroy Wei Zhao. Originally, all they had to do was wait for Wei Zhao's enemies to make trouble for him, and once Wei Zhao was dead, everything would be settled. But they waited and waited, and the enemies did come—only for Xuan Dan Sect's interference to drive Wei Zhao's foes away again!

This left Elder Zhao utterly beside himself. He had assumed Wei Zhao would be dead the moment he returned, yet after days of waiting, there was no sign of activity at Wei Zhao's villa. At last Elder Zhao lost his patience—and the Hidden You family, the Golden Bell Sect, and the Qianshan Sect, equally Wei Zhao's enemies, had lost theirs as well. So they agreed to meet today at the Hidden Zhao family to discuss the second phase of the plan.

"Elder You, Wei Zhao has swallowed the poison and is crippled, but no one has gone after him—that simply will not do!" Elder Zhao said bluntly once everyone was seated.

These people were all Wei Zhao's enemies, all come with the same purpose, so there was no need for pleasantries—they could get straight to the point.

"Isn't this all your Hidden Zhao family's doing? Dawdling and dragging your feet! If you had simply killed Wei Zhao right after he was poisoned, none of this would have happened. As it stands now, all of Wei Zhao's underlings have gathered around him, and it won't be easy to strike." Elder You gave a cold snort and complained.

"You can hardly blame the Hidden Zhao family for that. If you're so capable, why didn't you wait outside our gates and kill Wei Zhao yourself?" Elder Zhao curled his lip. "Who isn't afraid of Wei Zhao's primordial-tier underlings coming to make trouble?"

"From the look of things now, not a single one of Wei Zhao's primordial-sect underlings has shown up—clearly they're unreliable," Sect Master Jin spoke up. "But there's no need for you two to bicker. Before, everyone feared bearing the retaliation of those primordial underlings alone; now that nothing has happened, let's put our heads together and figure out how to finish Wei Zhao off—that's what matters."

"Exactly. Endless quarreling will get us nowhere." Sect Master Wo nodded in deep agreement.

"I do see a way," Elder Zhao said. "The few of us join forces, storm Wei Zhao's home, and kill him—it's not impossible. Elder You and I are both Heaven-Rank experts. One of us only needs to pin down the old man Pi, while the other wipes out Wei Zhao's underlings. Sect Master Wo deals with the spirit beasts, and Sect Master Jin can go straight for Wei Zhao himself."

"Hmm... that plan sounds workable enough, but are you certain one of you can pin down old man Pi, and the other can wipe out Wei Zhao's underlings?" Relatively speaking, Sect Master Jin's task was the easiest—merely finishing off a cripple like Wei Zhao—but if anything went wrong elsewhere, he would suffer for it too.

"There won't be any problem," Elder Zhao said. "I'll keep old man Pi occupied. The Hidden You family has several Heaven-Rank experts at home—bring them all, and we'll slaughter Wei Zhao's underlings together. It'll be a one-sided massacre!"

"A fine notion you've got—and I'm the one who has to bring my experts along!" Elder You curled his lip. "Those are all retainers and disciples; without profit, they won't come. I'll be bleeding money again!"

"Don't talk like that. Because of this plan, the Hidden Zhao family has already handed out two hundred million in cash—has anyone bled more than we have?" Elder Zhao retorted.

"Fine, I agree to this plan!" Elder You thought it over and decided Zhao had a point—the Zhao family had indeed paid a great deal—so he nodded in assent.

"I have no objections either!" Sect Master Wo was quite experienced at dealing with spirit beasts. He was pondering whether this time he might knock out the Wind-Thunder Purple Lightning Beast and haul it back. After all, that beast belonged to their Qianshan Sect; and if he could scoop up a few other spirit beasts along the way, he would make a killing!

"In that case, Elder You, contact your family's experts, and we'll prepare to set out!" Seeing that everyone had agreed and no objections remained, Elder Zhao was about to depart when suddenly urgent knocking came from the door of the meeting room!

Elder Zhao frowned. What was the matter with these disciples of his, having so little discipline? Did they not know he was convening a meeting of the heads of the various hidden families and ordinary sects?

Still, it would not do to lose his temper before outsiders, so he reined in his patience and asked, "Who is it? What's the matter?"

"Patriarch, it's terrible—terrible!" A Hidden Zhao disciple burst into the meeting room, shouting as he came.

"What is so terrible? What kind of conduct is this, yelling and carrying on? I am here, along with Patriarch You of the Hidden You family, Sect Master Wo of the Qianshan Sect, and Sect Master Jin of the Golden Bell Sect—every one of them a first-rate expert. Even if the sky fell, there would be someone here to hold things together. What are you wailing about?" Elder Zhao was thoroughly furious. Was this not making a spectacle of him before outsiders?

"Yes... yes..." The Hidden Zhao disciple wore an expression of utter terror and did not dare talk back. He could only say, "Patriarch, something really has gone wrong..."

"What has gone wrong? Out with it!" Elder Zhao waved a hand and demanded.

"No need for him to say it—I'll speak instead." An abrupt yet familiar voice rang out all at once, and every patriarch and sect master present felt a sudden chill, frozen on the spot as though struck by lightning!

"Lin... Wei Zhao?" Elder Zhao was especially familiar with that voice and cried out in horror.

"Heh heh, it seems Elder Zhao knows my voice quite well—I haven't even arrived, and already I've been recognized." Wei Zhao's voice drew nearer from afar, until at last he appeared in the doorway of the Zhao family meeting room.

Except that Wei Zhao had come in a wheelchair—and the one pushing it was Zhao Qitan!

"Gah?" Elder Zhao had been so frightened by the sound of Wei Zhao's voice that his heart nearly leapt out of his chest, but when he saw Wei Zhao being wheeled in by Zhao Qitan, he burst out laughing. "Bwahahahaha! Wei Zhao, is there something wrong with your head? You're crippled—why aren't you staying home properly instead of coming here in a wheelchair to throw your life away? And you, Zhao Qitan—didn't you go to the Ice Palace? How have you ended up mixed in with this good-for-nothing Wei Zhao again? And you two think that just because a pair of worthless trash like you came here, you can settle scores and have your revenge? How childish!" (To be continued)

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