Chapter 82: Tumultuous Times

Feeling somewhat at a loss, Duan Ping instinctively asked, "What should I do then?"

Seeing this, Wang Yu reassured him, "Don't worry, you can't escape responsibility, and neither can I. I came to find you precisely for this matter. Could you arrange for me to meet the True Disciple in person?"

"Yes, yes, yes." Duan Ping agreed without hesitation. After asking a few more details, he quickly left the Ice Snow Tower.

Seeing this, Lan Ji asked curiously, "What happened to him? He looks startled."

"Minor matter," Wang Yu said briefly, then quickly returned to his ordinary cave dwelling in Evil God Market.

While waiting for notification, he quietly cultivated and planned.

Another half a month passed. Instead of the news he was longing for, an uninvited guest arrived, making him sigh. Everything seemed to be erupting at once, leaving no room to breathe.

The visitor was Zhou Tao!

Connecting this to the Alchemist Society matter, Wang Yu could largely guess the visitor's purpose.

"Brother Wang, I trust you've been well," Zhou Tao began. "I heard you've been back for some time. Why haven't you visited the Society? After all, it's something you painstakingly established."

Zhou Tao had come to visit alone, specifically carrying a courtesy gift in his hands, not keeping it in his storage bag.

Upon hearing this, Wang Yu's expression showed displeasure.

Wang Yu's interactions with others depended on their status. He was humble and deferential towards those from prominent families like Liu Jinxian and Zhuo Shouqing. However, despite Zhou Tao's ninth-level Qi Condensation cultivation, Wang Yu viewed him as an ignorant fool who didn't understand his own place.

Therefore, his words were quite impolite.

"What, are you in trouble now, and suddenly the Society is my brainchild again?" Wang Yu retorted. "From what I've seen, you've been doing quite well, so why bother coming to see me?"

Hearing this, Zhou Tao didn't seem embarrassed, repeatedly offering fawning smiles. "Yes, yes, it's my fault."

"However, there truly is something I need your help with, Brother Wang. This small gift is merely a token of my respect."

He placed the basket he was carrying on the table. It contained high-end spiritual food and pastries from the market, which were quite expensive. At the very bottom, a storage bag was concealed.

Wang Yu took it out and scanned it briefly with his spiritual sense. "Good heavens," he thought, "at least twenty thousand spirit stones." This amount was comparable to most of his entire fortune, indicating that Zhou Tao's trouble was significant.

Placing the storage bag back into the basket, Wang Yu said, "Tell me what it is. I might not be able to help you."

Zhou Tao nodded and quickly explained the recent events. Generally, it was as Wang Yu had suspected: alchemy was a monopolized business, entirely controlled by the sect's Alchemy Hall.

Originally, the four-person society had operated on a small scale, and the pills they produced never entered the open market. Instead, they went to the Ice Snow Tower, consumed by some inner disciples, causing no stir and maintaining a low profile.

In the first year after Zhou Tao took over the Society, he actually continued to cooperate with Zhao Shang, even setting aside Wang Yu's share of the dividends.

But as time went on, Zhou Tao's ambition began to sprout. He wanted to expand the Society's membership, increase pill production, and profit more from it.

Zhao Shang disagreed, leading to the incident three years ago where Zhao Shang was reported for insider dealing, which provided Lan Ji with an opportunity to step forward.

The two formed a new partnership. Using Lan Ji's status, Zhou Tao expanded their distribution channels to other True Disciple Towers in Cold Blood Market, adopting a low-price strategy.

The Society's members steadily expanded, eventually exceeding a hundred.

Their production capacity significantly increased. Among them, a few individuals violated Zhou Tao's rules and privately sold low-priced pills to fellow disciples in the Society's name. This action disrupted the stable pricing of the sect's pills.

This attracted a large number of lower-level cultivators, who actively sought to buy cheap pills from them. Then, some others, relying on Zhou Tao's connections and unable to resist the lure of spirit stones, became enchanted, causing a small handful of people to turn into the majority.

The expansion of this private market then led to the downfall of everyone in the Society, including Zhou Tao himself, as they couldn't resist the large sums of spirit stones flowing in and out daily.

The rules Wang Yu had set early on were completely disregarded.

The snowball grew larger and larger, eventually reaching a critical point. At this juncture, Lan Ji became afraid; she no longer dared to profit and proactively severed her ties with Zhou Tao.

This group within the Society was also reckless, valuing money over their lives.

With the True Disciple's channel gone, the market among the lower-level disciples continued to grow, eventually leading to some individuals being caught by the Hall of Enforcement during private transactions.

Such conduct was explicitly forbidden by the sect's rules.

Zhou Tao's account was very detailed; he didn't even hide the parts that reflected poorly on Wang Yu, choosing to disclose everything. It was clear he was truly panicked. No wonder he was willing to offer twenty thousand spirit stones for a connection; he must have been desperate.

After listening quietly, Wang Yu sighed. "I can't help you. When Lan Ji backed out, you should have realized that True Disciple Su couldn't protect her, at least not in her own estimation. What made you dare to continue then?"

Zhou Tao slammed the table in frustration, his face exceedingly gloomy. "Brother Wang, I can give you a thirty percent cut of the profits if you help me this once. I know you have connections in the Hall of Enforcement; the matter with the Xu family's pill shop was your doing, I could tell."

"Just get those few arrested people out and keep it temporarily hidden from the Hall of Enforcement, and the Alchemist Society will disband overnight!"

Wang Yu gave him a speechless side glance. "It's too late. Do you really think they don't know? They were just waiting for you to get fat. Too thin... they wouldn't have enough to eat."

The members of the Alchemist Society were from the lower ranks of the Ten Reverse Blood Markets, low-level alchemists who found it hard to advance. Many people were likely eyeing them. What could Wang Yu possibly do? He wasn't the Sect Master.

The words were blunt, but Zhou Tao wasn't foolish. Otherwise, he wouldn't have adhered to Wang Yu's rules in the first place. It was just a pity he was still blinded by large sums of spirit stones. After all, knowing something is one thing; putting it into practice is another.

Everyone understands grand principles, but not everyone becomes a saint or an ancestor. This is human nature's inherent flaw, difficult to avoid!

Perhaps his last hope had been shattered. Zhou Tao's demeanor turned malicious, and his ninth-level Qi Condensation aura pressed down, threateningly. "You must help me, Wang Yu! Don't forget you're the true founder of the Alchemist Society. What if I tell the Hall of Enforcement about your collusion with Zhao Shang? Won't they deal with you as well?!"

Wang Yu slammed the table and stood up, his late-stage Qi Condensation aura completely unconcealed, confronting Zhou Tao head-on. "You dare?!"

"Heh—" "I'm already facing death, what is there to be afraid of?" Not everyone had an escape route like Zhao Shang; at least Zhou Tao didn't. Under the threat of death, he was capable of anything.

Wang Yu detested such coercion. After all, this matter had nothing to do with him. It was trouble caused by a group of greedy people, and he hadn't gained any benefits. Why should he clean up their mess?

Noticing Wang Yu's seventh-level Qi Condensation strength, Zhou Tao was somewhat shocked. After all, he himself had a three-spiritual-root aptitude and had been aided by significant resources, yet it had still taken him over fifty years to break through to the ninth level of Qi Condensation.