Chapter 120: Dead Fatty's Extreme Joy Turns to Sorrow
Translator: Subudai11 Editor: Chrissy
Stepping outside the Mansion of Light, Wen Bao originally planned to directly go back to the inn, but then he caught the sight of Wang Lu and Yue Xinyao shoulder to shoulder in the shadow on one side of the corners.
Wen Bao hastily sent off his two assistants and then quickly strode forward.
Looking at the remnant of “at a loss” look from Wen Bao’s face, Wang Lu, with a teasing smile, said, “Fatty, winter has finally came, and spring is not too far away!”
“Pfft.” Yue Xinyao covered her mouth as she chuckled.
Wen Bao lowered his head in distress. Glancing at Yue Xinyao’s smiling face, an unspeakable bitterness welled up in his heart once again.
“How is the negotiation going?”
Being asked about the main issue, Wen Bao suppressed his emotion and earnestly answered.
Wang Lu patted the fatty’s shoulder. “Not bad, you’re really not a disappointment.”
However, Wen Bao actually ruefully shook his head. “It’s all built on top of Senior Brother’s solid foundation… In fact, the other party has long been interested in the cooperation, and today, I just pushed the boat with the current [1], there’s nothing worth mentioning.”
“Pushing the boat with the current also needs some skills, at least, other people should be willing to let you push, that’s not easy, you know.
After being around Wang Lu for a long time, Wen Bao could hear that the other party’s words were meant to tease him; he couldn’t help but feel embarrassed. “Senior Brother is joking… This is nothing at all.”
“It doesn’t matter, sooner or later, you will have it. Since she had made the appointment to continue the discussion tomorrow, you need to prepare well tonight. Tomorrow, you need to display your best effort so that her favorability towards us increase like a towering pagoda.”
Wen Bao was surprised. “Senior Brother, you just want to stand aside and do nothing!?”
“Otherwise, don’t tell me you want me to leave my mortal frame [2]?” Wang Lu spread out his arms. “Since you have a good talk with the other party today, you should continue your effort. In the negotiation process, changing the negotiator is like changing the writer of a book, both carries an enormous risk.”
“T-This is different than the beginning of an agreement.”
Wang Lu patted Wen Bao on the shoulder. “Then you need to be progressive.”
“This!?”
Seeing that Wen Bao’s heart was genuinely uneasy, Wang Lu seriously explained, “At this stage, you are the best person to negotiate with that Qian Hu. Because, regardless of the result of your negotiation with her, there’s still room to maneuver; behind you, there’s me, and behind Li Nana, there’s the Great Ming Country’s government. Moreover, Li Nana and I both have an aggressive temper. If we met, we definitely want to outdo each other. So, if I’m the negotiator, we’re just going to end up quarreling or even fighting. Therefore, at this time, I need you to come forward to ease the atmosphere. The way I see it, your performance today is very good.”
Wen Bao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “I nearly lost my dignity after being humiliated.”
“For the first time, it’s okay if you’re relatively shaky, but later on, as you awaken your awakening type more and more often, things would get smoother. Not to mention even if you’re humiliated, you still have me as the Sect Leader. Lastly, and also the most important reason, that Qian Hu likes you very much, so you must take advantage of this favorability.”
Wen Bao felt helpless. “Senior Brother, how can you know she likes me!?”
“Otherwise, think carefully, based on your ability, why haven’t you lost your dignity after nearly being humiliated?”
Wen Bao suddenly froze.
——
No matter how he argued, Wen Bao couldn’t shirk away from his assignment. The heavy responsibility of being the negotiator was mercilessly pressed on Wen Bao’s shoulder by Wang Lu. And then he disappeared without a trace; Yue Xinyao was also, without a doubt, on Wang Lu’s side. Therefore, Wen Bao had no choice but to be a lonely and sad single fighter.
However, over the next two days, the negotiation with Li Nana was not as difficult as he imagined.
Li Nana indeed has a strong character. Countless times in their negotiation, she interrupted him to ask some questions, causing Wen Bao to sweat out cold sweat nonstop; he was terrified of being humiliated. However, every time he nearly got humiliated, Li Nana purposely left rooms for him to maneuver, never letting him be too embarrassed.
This might be because her intention to cooperate was very strong, or because she had an abnormal taste, taking a liking to an obese youth like Wen Bao… However, Wen Bao has no time to think about these trivial details. It took all his energy to negotiate with the Mansion of Light on behalf of the Wisdom Sect. The problems that needed to be solved were many, and the conflict of interests that needed to be disputed was endless. It was so much that in these two days, Wen Bao and Li Nana never stopped their discussion, talking all night and day until their mouth went dry.
After two days, the final outcome of the negotiation was quite gratifying. Mansion of Light got the most powerful support from the grassroots level; the more than one million followers would be at its beck and call. Li Nana, as the head of the Mansion of Light, enjoyed the same authority as the Wisdom Sect’s Vice Sect Leader; the most important thing in that was that she could freely read the sect’s information. Except for a few information that was classified as top-secret, such as Wang Lu’s identity, the rest was completely open for her. The value of this point alone was immeasurable for Li Nana. Not to mention that the Vice Sect Leader’s authority was far more than this; as long as she wanted, now she could even command the followers to carry out large-scale construction or resource gathering.
Of course, the Wisdom Sect’s harvest was also not small. The most important point was that the Mansion of Light was willing to provide the Great Ming Country’s official recognition for the Wisdom Sect!
From the outside, exchanging a Vice Sect Leader’s authority for the country’s official recognition seemed like a lost deal. However, for the Wisdom Sect, currently, the official recognition was the thing that was most important to it. With it, the Wisdom Sect could boldly expand from villages to counties, and from counties to prefectures without worrying about anything.
In fact, right up until the two sides reached an agreement, the Wisdom Sect was fundamentally a full-fledged cult. Developing in the Great Ming Country, yet it didn’t have the Great Ming Country’s approval and didn’t register in the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals, what was it then if not a cult? It was basically a bird of a the same feather with the Seven Stars Sect.
Today, however, with the official recognition from the Mansion of Light, Wisdom Sect morphed into a legal sect, impressively cleaned up. Even if they developed followers in the prefectural cities or even the capital, it was still legal. At the Wisdom Sect’s present stage, this was essential.
Although the number of followers was over one million and the development momentum was still rapid, Wisdom Sect’s bottleneck was not too far away. The country’s remote villages were almost all covered by the Wisdom Sect, and a few small counties were still being occupied by other forces—these were apparently the places where other sects tried to profit from but not enough gain, not worth to pay attention to. As for those affluent counties or even the prefectural capitals, Wisdom Sect hasn’t had the qualification to enter there; they would get into trouble if they tried to. As for expanding to other countries, it was, even more, a less reasonable choice. Not every country could turn a blind eye to the development of an Immortal Cultivation Sect like the Great Ming Country; the current Great Ming Country’s Imperial Court has a tangled attitude towards the Immortal Cultivators, and this was the main reason the Wisdom Sect could go unhindered and expand rapidly in the first place.
Now with the permission from the Mansion of Light, Wisdom Sect’s sole bottleneck would block them no more, and in the future, their expansion would go unhindered. Thus, after the cooperation agreement was reached, Wen Bao was extremely excited. That same evening, he and his two assistants drank to their heart’s content—with his cultivation, mortal world’s wine was almost useless. Thus, the dead fatty drank Immortal wine worth several hundred spirit stones, it was truly extravagant.
Early the next morning, Wen Bao felt a splitting headache. Wine was filled with spiritual energy; if one only drank a small amount of it, not only could it make one feel carefree and relaxed, it could also enhance one’s cultivation. However, excessive drinking would hurt one’s Primordial Spirit. Currently, Wen Bao felt there were signs of dispersion on the initial condensation of his Primordial Spirit that would be difficult to reverse even with cultivating for three to five days… However, the two days and nights of consecutive negotiation was nerve wracking. Even the Foundation Establishment Qian Hu was physically and emotionally exhausted that after the third day, she decided they would continue the details of the cooperation a few days later after they have had enough time to rest.
Stepping out of the guest room, Wen Bao took a long yawn and readied himself to stroll through the city. Firstly, because he has nothing else to do. Secondly, he considered this as area survey and research because, in the future, Wisdom Sect would inevitably set up a branch in the capital. As the head of the Infrastructure Department, the responsibility to build it would fall on his head. Thus, it was not a bad thing if he prepared in advance.
However, before he could even go out of the Inn entrance, Wen Bao’s mind suddenly jerked, and his Primordial Spirit trembled as if a great terror was about to befall him.
The next moment, a majestic voice rang in his Primordial Spirit. “Wen Bao.”
This voice too familiar to him, which appeared in many of his nightmares as the source of terror; Wen Bao immediately felt his chest stiffen. “Third Uncle…”
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[1] Taking advantage of the situation for one’s own benefit.
[2] To die.