159: Chapter 159 Accelerating the Recruitment of Underlings

After learning that Fan Jun had not returned to the royal capital...

...Wei Zhenjiang had already suspected that the man had betrayed him and the Wei Family.

He just didn't understand. The Wei Family was currently at the height of its power; among all the major factions in the royal capital, only the Zhenwu Division could suppress them.

So, what reason did Fan Jun have to betray the Wei Family?

Moreover, over the years, he had treated Fan Jun very well. For the other party to achieve a Breakthrough to the Blood Refining Realm, besides the top-grade Medicinal Pills he had bestowed, his personal guidance was also indispensable.

Treating him so generously, he really couldn't fathom what reason the other party would have to betray him.

Wei Zhenjiang couldn't help but wonder: was Fan Jun doing this for personal gain, or was he being coerced?

As for profit, as long as he served him loyally, would he really begrudge him any rewards?

As for coercion, Fan Jun's Blood Refining Realm might not be the absolute strongest, but he was still considered a peerless powerhouse.

With a super powerhouse like himself in the Middle Stage of Gang Refining looking after him, who could possibly coerce him?

Or rather, who would dare coerce him?

Analyzing up to this point, Wei Zhenjiang still felt it was impossible for Fan Jun to betray him.

Suddenly, a thought struck him.

"Could this fellow have done something to wrong the Wei Family, and then someone caught wind of it and held it over him as leverage?"

The more he thought about it, the more likely Wei Zhenjiang felt this possibility was.

"Then, who is the person threatening Fan Jun with this leverage?" The figures of various factions flashed through Wei Zhenjiang's mind.

But try as he might, he couldn't pin down a target; he couldn't even narrow down a primary suspect.

Because of the Wei Family's rise over the years, they had seized the interests of too many factions and too many people.

Simply put, they had offended too many people.

Secondly, his worthless son was arrogant and domineering, also offending a vast number of people.

It was only due to the power and strength of the Wei Family that those people harbored their anger in silence.

Suddenly...

...Wei Zhenjiang thought of his son being plotted against in Linjiang Prefecture.

Then he connected it to Fan Jun being turned.

"Could it be that some people have formed a secret Alliance to target my Wei Family together?"

Otherwise, for both things to happen at the same time was simply too much of a coincidence.

The more he thought about it, the more likely he felt this was.

In the royal capital, apart from the imperial family and the Zhenwu Division, no one was a match for his Wei Family.

As for the imperial family, they had close ties with the Wei Family, so they wouldn't target him.

As for the Zhenwu Division, they were independent of the imperial court and directly under the Emperor's jurisdiction, so there was no reason for them to target him either.

Besides, if the Zhenwu Division wanted to deal with him...

...they wouldn't need to resort to any underhanded schemes at all.

Therefore, he ruled out the Zhenwu Division as well.

"Then, who could it be?"

Wei Zhenjiang thought to himself.

Still having no clues after some thought, he decided to first send someone to the Wanyan Pavilion to take charge of the overall situation.

"Someone, go invite Elder Jiang to see me!"

The "Elder Jiang" he spoke of was the former Pavilion Master of the Wanyan Pavilion, who was currently spending his retirement years in the Marquis's estate.

He called it retirement, but in truth, it was house arrest.

After all, Elder Jiang knew too many of the Wei Family's secrets. If he were let go and leaked those secrets, the loss to the Wei Family would be immense.

Soon...

...a black-robed elder arrived before Wei Zhenjiang.

"This old man greets the Marquis."

"Elder Jiang, Fan Jun has betrayed us. I need you to come out of retirement and take charge of the Wanyan Pavilion again!" Wei Zhenjiang said in a deep voice.

"Yes, this old man obeys your command!"

"Furthermore!" Wei Zhenjiang continued, "Find Fan Jun. Dead or alive."

"This old man obeys!"

Linjiang Prefecture.

Chen Family.

Chen Hu went to his study after having breakfast.

Last night, he had practiced with Liu Xiangyue six times, leaving him extremely exhausted, so he hadn't opened his cards after midnight.

After opening the resource cards and item cards...

...Chen Hu took out the enlightenment card.

He used it on the Earth-grade Martial Technique he had copied from the Green-Robed Elder.

Although Chen Hu now looked down on Earth-grade Martial Techniques a bit, leaving the enlightenment card unused would only be a waste.

Soon, after integrating the memories...

...Chen Hu completely mastered this Earth-grade Martial Technique.

Then, he took out the martial arts cultivation card.

He silently opened it.

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining 90 days of cultivation!"

"Not bad!"

Chen Hu chose to use it. The cultivation entered his body, turning into fuel to accelerate the process of his second Marrow Refining.

Soon, the 90 days of cultivation were completely consumed, significantly advancing his second Marrow Refining process. By tomorrow at the latest, the second Marrow Refining would be complete, and he could step into the Late Stage Marrow Refining.

The intelligence card appeared in Chen Hu's hand.

He silently opened it.

Today's Intelligence: Having failed to find the culprit who plotted against the Young Marquis, the squad sent by Marquis Weiwu has adopted a strategy to lure the snake out of its hole. They will put up three Spirit Medicines that are extremely beneficial to a warlock's cultivation for auction at the Nangong Family's auction house.

Seeing this piece of intelligence...

...Chen Hu couldn't help but show a thoughtful expression.

Without the warning from this intelligence, if three Spirit Medicines beneficial to a warlock's cultivation appeared, he might actually have gone to the auction and used his immense wealth to secure them.

Once he secured them, the people sent by Marquis Weiwu would likely shift their focus to him.

Therefore, he could not go to this auction.

But he still wanted those three Spirit Medicines.

"I've got it! I can use a transformation card!"

He could easily capture someone with an invitation letter in secret, and then transform into their appearance to attend the auction.

Since he also possessed the Earth Escape Divine Ability, escaping would be extremely easy.

However, he couldn't let his guard down.

The State Preceptor's side had also sent people.

After a brief consideration, Chen Hu took out an identity card and opened it.

The one opened today was just an ordinary person.

Chen Hu read his memories, which held absolutely no value.

Next, he used a connection card, which was still a D-grade connection.

He discarded it immediately.

Next, Chen Hu took out the cultivation multiplier card.

He drew an 8x cultivation effect.

Taking out a soul nourishing pill, he began to Cultivate.

An hour later, he claimed the 8x cultivation effect.

A stream of pure Soul Power poured into his Primordial Spirit, absorbed almost instantly.

For a moment, Chen Hu was lost in thought. After his Divine Soul reached the Primordial Spirit Realm, the effects of the soul nourishing pill had become somewhat lacking.

Even with the 8x cultivation effect, the improvement to his Primordial Spirit was quite minuscule.

To accelerate the growth of his Divine Soul Realm, he either needed a more advanced Pill Formula than the soul nourishing pill...

...or obtain Spirit Medicines that provided a massive boost to the Divine Soul.

Unfortunately, since the day he took a concubine and opened a Spirit Medicine like the heaven soul grass, he had never opened one again.

"It's time to go to the General Hall!"

On the way to the Fierce Tiger Gang with General Zhao Zilong, Chen Hu sent a voice transmission to Gao Hangzhou via a sound transmission gu, asking how the integration of the Yiqi Sect was going.

Gao Hangzhou told him that after the deaths of Ding Xian and his three adopted sons, he had completely taken control of the Yiqi Sect.

Since he had complete control, Chen Hu had him summon the higher-ups of the Yiqi Sect to discuss joining and merging into the Fierce Tiger Gang.

Marquis Weiwu made Chen Hu feel a sense of pressure.

He had to recruit more underlings and open gift packs from the lucky draws to make his strength grow rapidly.

Before long...

...Chen Hu arrived at the Fierce Tiger Gang's General Hall. He first took a trip to the dungeon and copied another Earth-grade Martial Technique.

Meanwhile...

...Gao Hangzhou issued the order to convene a high-level meeting.

Once everyone had arrived...

...Gao Hangzhou said in a loud voice, "I have gathered everyone today for one matter. I intend to lead our sect to submit to the Fierce Tiger Gang. Does anyone have any objections?"