Li Guanqi looked as calm as ever. "Draw up a complete list of all the needed materials," he said softly. "I will find a way."
Qianqiusui shook his head and said in a hushed voice, "Since the other side chose to pull the rug from beneath us like this, they must be absolutely certain it will succeed!
"We have already checked every single supplier. Even if we pool all their inventory together, it won't fulfill a tenth of the orders."
Li Guanqi's eyes flickered; it truly was rather thorny.
He turned the matter over in his mind and realized it was far more troublesome than he had anticipated.
If the entirety of Guanyun Pavilion mobilized all its strength to fulfill these orders, they would indeed earn an enormous sum of spirit stones.
Yet there were severe drawbacks!
With everyone scrambling to meet the deadlines, their attention would inevitably shift away from other medicinal pills and commercial operations.
If Tianji Pavilion chose to strike in the short term, Guanyun Pavilion would be thrown into complete disarray!
And if they failed to fulfill the orders, Guanyun Pavilion would face astronomical penalties!
No matter how one calculated it, this was a losing proposition...
Li Guanqi's expression gradually darkened. Seeing this, Qianqiusui held his tongue.
Li Guanqi was exceptionally sharp; he would surely see through to the deeper implications.
Yet Guanyun Pavilion could not afford to fall into the trap. Once they made a move, the enemy would surely be prepared.
Li Guanqi let out a cold laugh. "What an overt scheme. They are aiming straight for Guanyun Pavilion's foundation!"
After all, four hundred million spirit stones was nothing to Tianji Pavilion with its profound legacy. Even four billion or forty billion was well within their means.
For Guanyun Pavilion, however, such a blow would cut straight to the bone...
Li Guanqi pondered for a moment before speaking softly: "Still, gather the list of all needed materials and give it to me. I'll find a way.
"Furthermore... since they've made their move, it is only proper to return the courtesy!
"Pass down the order: spread word among mercenary organizations that we require certain common pills.
"Target a specific region and have the Cloud Shadow Guards capture certain unusual demon beasts from the Purple Spirit Grotto-Heaven and dump them there."
Qianqiusui did not quite grasp Li Guanqi's intentions...
Frowning, he asked, "What is the point of doing this?"
Li Guanqi sneered, "Taint certain special medicinal herbs with poison, then find a way to slip them into Tianji Pavilion!"
Qianqiusui's eyes lit up. He gasped in a low voice, "Pavilion Master, do you intend to... destroy Tianji Pavilion's reputation?"
Li Guanqi gave a cold smile. "That's only the first step. Put it into motion first; I'll tell you what to do next afterward!"
After a short while, Qianqiusui handed a jade slip to Li Guanqi and left to attend to the other arrangements.
Holding the jade slip, Li Guanqi scanned the densely packed list, feeling his scalp tingle. Tianji Pavilion's move to pull the rug from beneath them was ruthless indeed.
Whether Guanyun Pavilion could fulfill the orders or not, Tianji Pavilion only stood to lose four hundred million spirit stones at most.
Yet if Guanyun Pavilion failed to deliver, its capital would be completely cut off!
Taking out a transmission jade slip, Li Guanqi spoke softly: "Elder Guo, Elder Jiang, Elder Han, there is a matter I need your help with.
"Uncle Gu, there is something I need your assistance with.
"Qin Wushang, I need you to do me a favor.
"Uncle Ye, how many Grand Alchemists are there in the Nine Dragons Immortal Sect? Could you do this junior a favor?"
Putting down the jade slip, Li Guanqi let out a slight breath of relief. No matter how Tianji Pavilion plotted, they would never expect that his connections and influence were not limited to Guanyun Pavilion!
Suddenly!
Li Guanqi's expression shifted drastically. If he knew enough to turn to these people for help, with Gu Yong's intellect, how could he not have anticipated it?
Still, he had done everything within his power for now. As for anything deeper, there was no point in wildly second-guessing.
Li Guanqi sat in the seat belonging to the master of Yunding, his slender fingers lightly tapping on the tabletop. The rhythmic knocking echoed through the room.
His eyes narrowed slightly. He felt that Tianji Pavilion's move with the orders was also just a feint.
After obtaining the Tianji Chart, Gu Yong would inevitably discover he could not open it. Judging from his recent actions, he had only two motives!
First, to use the lives of those close to Li Guanqi to threaten him into undoing the Spirit Absolution seal on the Tianji Chart!
As for the second point... Li Guanqi himself was somewhat puzzled.
The other party seemed intensely fixated on the problem of Tianji Pavilion and Guanyun Pavilion coexisting.
He could understand if it were a matter of two tigers sharing one mountain, but for all this time, Tianji Pavilion and Guanyun Pavilion had existed side by side in peace.
Though their functions overlapped, Guanyun Pavilion focused far more on commerce rather than intelligence.
In fact, early on, Li Guanqi had never intended to expand Guanyun Pavilion across all Six Domains.
Tap, tap, tap!
The first point made sense to Li Guanqi. He deduced that the current Gu Yong was still Gu Yong, only that he harbored secrets.
And those secrets were certainly unknown to anyone else!
If the Gu Yong who returned after breaking through to the Mahayana realm was not Gu Yong, his father-in-law Meng Jiangchu would surely have noticed some clue after spending so much time around him!
Even if Meng Jiangchu failed to notice...
Do not forget that Gu Yong had accompanied Meng Jiangchu on a journey to the Seventh Domain!
In that place... whether it was the Eight Generals or Li Guanqi's grandfather, they would definitely have detected anything amiss with him!
Having realized this, Li Guanqi grew all the more curious about what had transpired in the Seventh Domain!
What had caused Gu Yong, after returning from the Seventh Domain, to still choose to become his enemy?
He had even been willing to drag the entire Tianji Pavilion down with him!
Thinking along these lines... the reason Gu Yong opposed him was that the people behind Gu Yong wanted the Tianji Chart on the one hand,
and on the other, they wanted total control over the intelligence networks of the Six Domains!
They wanted to use Tianji Pavilion to gather intelligence, and even to disseminate information!
The flickering candlelight cast shifting shadows across the side of Li Guanqi's face.
Sharp light glinted within his pure-white eyes. He felt his deductions were exceedingly close to the truth.
Yet he still did not understand what the people behind Gu Yong were after...
This was the first time he had experienced such methods. It felt as though, somewhere in the unseen depths, another player had joined the game of chess!
As if guided by some unseen force, the world before Li Guanqi's eyes gradually darkened, and thousands upon thousands of dense go boards materialized in front of him.
He sat upright at the center of these boards as three colossal phantoms emerged, towering like hundred-zhang mountains and looking down at him.
An inexplicable, suffocating pressure set Li Guanqi's heart pounding furiously. Li Guanqi drew a deep breath, and the world before his eyes gradually cleared.
The phantoms vanished, and the aura choking his throat faded away.
Li Guanqi was drenched in cold sweat. When he looked up, a chilling light glinted in his eyes.
Leaning back in his chair, his chest heaving slightly, he murmured under his breath:
"One day, I will come up there myself and find you.
"And with the sword in my hand, I will reason with you rats hiding in the dark!"
With those words, Li Guanqi pondered for a long moment before transmitting his voice softly: "Execute an assassination operation. Decapitate those who placed the orders!"
His tone was bone-chilling. Li Guanqi had ruthlessly chosen the most effective method!
"Yu Hua, arrange for someone to purchase Heart-Clearing Pills two days from now, and then make a scene in front of Tianji Pavilion's shop.
"Elder Xi, keep an eye on the recent movements of the subordinates. Tianji Pavilion will definitely infiltrate us. Leak some rumors at the right moment and pull out every single one of those nails!"
Chapter 1046