Chapter 1652: Winning Zhang Hao Over
Zhang Feng was currently sitting inside his office. In his hand was the formation disc that Zhao Hai just fixed. He stroked the disc gently with a smile on his face.
Zhang Feng was currently feeling ecstatic. He didn’t expect the heavens to drop Zhao Hai into his lap. Zhao Hai’s ability was very important for Zhang Feng. As long as he has Zhao Hai, he would be able to win more people and increase his influence. He can now be equal to those core disciples.
Zhao Hai’s ability to recycle and synthesize was very powerful. There was no shortage of alchemists and refiners in the Great World of Cultivation. However, alchemists and refiners with high yield were very hard to come by.
In the Great World of Cultivation, no matter which stage they were at, they would need pills to a.s.sist them. However, the more crucial pills were very hard to refine. Moreover, the rate of their production was absurdly low. Even if you obtain the necessary materials, the end product isn’t guaranteed to be made. Most importantly, the quality of these pills couldn’t be easily dictated.
There was a story spread in the Great World of Cultivation that was stuck inside Zhao Feng’s mind. In the Central Orthodox Province, there was once a disciple who had great cultivation talent. When he was going to break through to the Golden Core Stage, he ama.s.sed 200 sets of medicinal herbs to make a pill. Then he found an alchemy master to help make the pill.
But to everyone’s surprise, the alchemy master wasted all but 2 percent of the materials. In the end, the genius cultivator went through his breakthrough without his pill and failed. Losing the bright future in front of him, the genius cultivator committed suicide.
At the same time, the alchemy master was a good friend of the genius cultivator. The death of his friend caused him to become insane. The brutal reality of the Great World of Cultivation could be seen from this story.
If Zhao Hai was present, that person might not have committed suicide. With Zhao Hai, those waste materials would be recycled and the alchemy master would be able to try to refine the pill once more. No matter how many times he failed, the waste materials would still be recycled. With 200 sets of materials to make a pill, 200 pills would eventually be made. Not to mention the genius cultivator, even trash cultivators would be able to benefit from this.
One could see from this point how Zhao Hai’s existence could become crucial to cultivators. The presence of Zhao Hai meant that there would be an inexhaustible amount of materials to be made into pills and artifacts. No cultivator would be able to resist it.
In the past, because of his ident.i.ty, it was impossible for Zhang Feng to win over those high-level alchemists and refiners. All of these people looked down on inner disciples and only had their eyes on core disciples. It was for this reason that Zhang Feng didn’t even have a great alchemist and refiner on his side.
Now that Zhao Hai appeared in front of him, Zhang Feng’s happiness could reach the heavens. After some time, Zhang Feng received the disc. Then his brows wrinkled.
Zhao Hai was very important to him. But he needed to protect Zhao Hai and hide him from others. This would be his biggest problem right now.
Besides Zhao Hai and Zhang Feng, Zhang Hao also knew about Zhao Hai’s ability. If Zhang Hao wasn’t taken care of, then Zhao Hai’s ability would no doubt be exposed.
The best way to keep a person from revealing a secret was to bury them into the ground. Although Zhang Hao’s position in the sect wasn’t that great, his position was still important. If he suddenly died, the Black Tiger Gang would definitely investigate. It must be known that the people of the Darkness Hall couldn’t be trifled with. They have people in every corner.
If an outer disciple in an ordinary position was killed, then it might be let go. However, outer disciples that manage Battle Slaves were different. These people frequently interacted with the outside world. If they died, then the first people the gang would suspect would be other sects.
Moreover, Zhang Hao represented Zhao Hai. If Zhang Hao suddenly disappeared, the sect would definitely look into Zhao Hai’s situation.
But if Zhang Hao wasn’t taken care of, things would become more troublesome. Zhang Feng didn’t know whether Zhang Hao would tell other people or not.
Since killing Zhang Hao wouldn’t do, then there’s only one thing Zhang Feng could do. And that was to pull Zhang Hao to his side.
Zhang Hao wasn’t very strong nor was he talented. Even if Zhang Feng wanted to deal with people, he still wouldn’t get Zhang Hao to his side. But in order to keep him silent, he needed to take Zhang Hao in.
Zhang Feng knew that if he really wanted to win Zhang Hao over, then Zhang Hao would definitely agree. Zhang Feng was the top inner disciple of the sect while Zhang Hao was just an ordinary outer disciple. Zhang Hao would be insane if he declines Zhang Feng’s invitation.
Moreover, there was Zhao Hai, this huge secret weapon. With Zhao Hai, Zhang Feng knew that Zhang Hao wouldn’t be able to do anything. And Zhang Hao wouldn’t dare use this opportunity to increase his status. Zhang Hao should know full well that even if he revealed this information to the core disciples, it wouldn’t bring him much advantage. Zhang Feng might not be able to do anything to the core disciples, but dealing with someone like Zhang Hao wasn’t a problem.
After thinking about it, and being certain of the outcome, Zhang Feng said, “Zhang Hao, come into my room.”
Zhang Hao was nervous. Although Zhao Hai’s ability seemed average, it wasn’t worse compared to other high-level abilities. Anyone would want to groom Zhao Hai. On the other hand, Zhang Hao was someone with no talent nor background. It was impossible for him to move up.
Originally, Zhang Hao didn’t think much about Zhao Hai’s ability. But once he pondered it over in his room, Zhang Hao began to sweat heavily.
Zhang Feng’s feud with the core disciples wasn’t a secret. And Zhao Hai’s importance to any cultivator was apparent. Zhang Feng will definitely want Zhao Hai under his umbrella. And Zhang Hao was the only person besides the two who knew about this secret. Zhang Hao was afraid that he would suffer a bad end.
The more he thought about it, the more afraid Zhang Hao was. Zhang Hao sleeplessly sat in his room. He was a small figure among outer disciples. He might be able to act mighty in front of Luo Ying, but he knew that he had no future. In Zhang Feng’s eyes, Zhang Hao was a mere ant. If Zhang Feng wanted to kill him, it was a matter of waving his hand. And Zhang Feng wanted a secret to be kept, it was very possible for Zhang Hao to be killed.
Thinking of this, Zhang Hao wiped a cold sweat. He knew that running right now was useless. Even if he ran, Zhang Feng could still find people to chase him down. Although Zhang Feng wasn’t as strong as the core disciples of the sect, his influence was still quite substantial. Otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to hold onto his current position.
At this time, Zhang Hao heard Zhang Feng’s voice. As soon as he heard it, Zhang Hao felt his head buzz. He knew that he was done. It took quite a while before Zhang Hao calmed down. He took two breaths before going outside. He was too close to Zhang Feng, so even if he wanted to run, he couldn’t get out of Zhang Feng’s reach. It was better to just face Zhang Feng.
Upon arriving outside Zhang Feng’s room, Zhang Hao said, “First Senior Brother, it’s Zhang Hao.”
Zhang Feng replied, “Come in.” Zhang Hao pushed the door open. When he was in front of Zhang Feng, Zhang Hao gave a salute and said, “May I know why First Senior Brother called me over?”
Zhang Feng looked at Zhang Hao and smiled faintly. To be honest, he had some appreciation towards Zhang Hao. Naturally, this wasn’t because of his strength nor talent. Instead, it was Zhang Hao’s management ability. Zhang Feng knew how to manage people himself, so he could recognize those who were good at this kind of work. Most cultivators don’t need to know how to manage people well nor do they need to flatter everyone. With enough strength, instead of flattering people, those people would flatter you themselves.
Zhang Feng has to recognize Zhang Hao’s ability to manage the Battle Slaves.
Zhang Feng replied, “Zhang Hao, I called you over because of Little Hai’s situation. You should know what Little Hai’s ability represents. This information shouldn’t be revealed. After this, you will be Zhang Feng’s disciple brother as well as Little Hai’s. Only you and I know about Little Hai’s ability. I will give you an opportunity right now. Do one thing for me and as long as you can do it well, I will cover for you in the future. What do you think?”
Hearing Zhang Feng, Zhang Hao couldn’t help but stare. Then his face lit up with happiness. He knew clearly what Zhang Feng was saying. Zhang Feng wanted to win him over while it was also a threat. Even though he didn’t understand the entire thing, it was clear that he wouldn’t be killed. Not only that, he also gained a huge backing. This was very important for an outer disciple.
Zhang Hao didn’t have any objections. He kowtowed to Zhang Feng and said, “I ask First Senior Brother to tell me what you want me to do. As long as it’s within my abilities, I will go through fire and water to complete it.”
Zhang Feng looked at Zhang Hao and couldn’t help but smile. He expected Zhang Hao’s response. Then he said, “Take my token and arrange Zhao Hai’s promotion to the outer sect. It’s best if you can arrange a place for him where n.o.body would pay attention. The fewer people he would come in contact with, the better. Moreover, you shouldn’t bring any attention to yourself. What do you think? Can you do it?”
Zhang Hao stared, then he stood up and said, “First Senior Brother can rest a.s.sured. I will complete it.”
Zhang Feng smiled and said, “Alright, go.” After he said that, he took out a jade token and threw it towards Zhang Hao. After receiving the token, Zhang Hao gave a salute before leaving.
Zhang Feng looked at Zhang Hao’s back and smiled as he said, “Let’s see how he completes this task. It would be good if he did well.”
The conversation between the two was heard by Zhao Hai. He was quite surprised by Zhang Feng’s response. But Zhao Hai soon figured out why Zhang Feng did so. He couldn’t help but smile as he said, “I didn’t expect to become such a sweet potato. But this is also good. I can observe the world more carefully in a quiet place. I believe Zhang Feng wouldn’t treat me badly.” He wasn’t only talking to himself, Cai’er and the others heard him as well.
Zhao Hai’s current understanding of the Black Tiger Gang and the Great World of Cultivation was as thin as paper. In this case, he was restricted in his actions. It’s better to stay in the Black Tiger Gang under Zhang Feng’s arrangements. As an outer sect disciple, he can slowly learn about the Black Tiger Gang. It wouldn’t be too late to make his moves when the time comes.
Also, Zhao Hai didn’t dislike Zhang Feng’s arrangement. On the contrary, Zhang Feng’s plan would save him a lot of trouble. Zhao Hai wasn’t afraid that Zhang Feng would force him to refine pills and artifacts. This was because Zhang Feng needed him. Zhang Feng wasn’t foolish enough to kill the chicken to get the eggs.
Zhao Hai now wanted to know what kind of status Zhang Hao would a.s.sign him. In any case, Zhang Feng no longer staged fights for Zhao Hai in the life and death arena.
Zhao Hai rested in his room for the next several days. Zhang Feng also didn’t summon him. He didn’t want Zhao Hai to attract too much attention. But he still frequently used the double shadow mat to look into what Zhao Hai was doing. He also mobilized everything in his ability to see what Zhang Hao was up to. He was afraid that Zhang Hao would reveal the secret. If Zhang Hao did, then Zhang Feng needed to be prepared to deal with the consequences.
Zhang Hao didn’t return for ten days. But through Zhang Feng’s surveillance system, he received information about Zhang Hao’s moves. Zhang Hao didn’t betray Zhang Hao nor did he attract any attention. In fact, besides b.u.t.tering up to other outer disciples in the Handyman Hall, Zhang Hao didn’t do anything else. This caused Zhang Feng to be curious. He wanted to know what was inside Zhang Hao’s mind.