Chapter 1530 – Preparing for Departure

Zhao Hai stood calmly outside the conference hall. It has been two months since his last entry to this room. Last time, Zhao Hai left very impolite words towards Mu Yao. However, Mu Yao didn’t blame him. On the contrary, he agreed with what Zhao Hai said.

A month ago, Mu Yao officially handed control over to Shen Wei. Now, Shen Wei had become the Hundred Treasures Realm’s leader for the next 100 years. It was also at this time that Mu Yu and the others began their closed-door cultivation.

Zhao Hai didn’t close up and even attended the handover ceremony. When he saw Shen Wei, Zhao Hai didn’t expect to see him as a gentleman. His whole person looked gentle and elegant, with an extraordinary temperament. However, there was an arrogant look on his face, which made Zhao Hai uncomfortable.

After attending the handover ceremony, Zhao Hai returned to Bluetree Planet. Meanwhile, in the headquarters, things were changing. Shen Wei moved swiftly. Naturally, he didn’t overrule anything that Mu Yao set in place. This was because Mu Yao’s arrangements were good for the Hundred Treasures Realm. If he vetoed it, then the people in the Hundred Treasures Realm wouldn’t allow it. Instead, Shen Wei cleaned up the people in the headquarters, he let his own people in while he transferred others. With this, the Mu Faction began to lose some influence in the Hundred Treasures Realm.

Zhao Hai didn’t oppose this. After all, a new boss would bring his own staff. A new officer would naturally arrange his own people to important positions in order to calm his heart.

In this way, no ma.s.sive waves were caused to the Hundred Treasures Realm. There was a smooth transition. And since the Mu Faction tolerated it, this matter pa.s.sed quietly.

The reason why Zhao Hai was back in the headquarters was because of the sea expedition! Last time, when Zhao Hai talked with Mu Yao, they weren’t in the conference hall but in Mu Yao’s abode. Because of this, n.o.body knew that Zhao Hai volunteered to explore the sea.

There were still ten days before the expedition would leave. The Hundred Treasures Realm already decided on who to send. As expected by Mu Yao, it was Zhao Hai.

Zhao Hai knew that when Shen Wei decided that he would explore the sea, a lot of people came to oppose it. However, Shen Wei was stubborn and determined. And since Mu Yao didn’t come forward, Zhao Hai’s a.s.signment was set in stone.

Zhao Hai also knew that this was Shen Wei acting against him. But he didn’t care since he knew about it a long time ago. He wasn’t worried at all.

At the same time, Zhao Hai was aware why Mu Yao didn’t step forward. This wasn’t because Mu Yao can’t do anything, but instead it’s because Shen Wei hasn’t done anything excessive yet. Therefore, Mu Yao just lied in wait.

Zhao Hai knew that the words he spoke to Mu Yao that day had been received. Mu Yao wanted to wipe out Shen Wei’s arrogance. However, he needed an opportunity. An opportunity that Shen Wei wouldn’t just willingly give.

Although Mu Yao didn’t want to battle with Shen Wei for the stability of the Hundred Treasures Realm, Shen Way had been more and more insolent lately. Shen Wei’s action towards Zhao Hai was too much for Mu Yao’s bottom line. Now that Shen Wei did indeed act against Zhao Hai, what’s stopping him from dealing with Mu Yu later? It’s precisely because of this that Mu Yao was ready to deal with Shen Wei.

Mu Yao doesn’t want to go head to head against Shen Wei. But once he decided to, Mu Yao wouldn’t be a saint. He knows how to fight tigers. Therefore, he needed to wait for a chance, a chance to deal damage to Shen Wei that he wouldn’t be able to recover from.

Had it not been for his conversation with Zhao Hai, Mu Yao would have come out and gone head to head with Shen Wei once the latter decides to send Zhao Hai for the expedition. But if that happens, Mu Yao wouldn’t be able to beat Shen Wei. But after talking with Zhao Hai and knowing that Zhao Hai had a desire to go to the sea, Mu Yao decided to wait for an opportunity.

The entire headquarters was under Zhao Hai’s surveillance. Therefore, he knew whatever Mu Yao was planning. He doesn’t blame Mu Yao. Conversely, he agreed to Mu Yao’s method. An opponent like Shen Wei needed to be erased. Otherwise, he would cause endless trouble in the future.

Now that it has been decided that Zhao Hai would go out to explore the sea, Shen Wei sent a jade sword message to summon Zhao Hai to the headquarters. In the past, Zhao Hai treated the conference hall like his own home, coming in and out at will. But now, he already stood outside the hall for quarter of an hour and had yet to be invited in.

Zhao Hai wasn’t worried nor angry about this. He already knew that Shen Wei would pressure him. Therefore, he calmly waited outside. This wasn’t a shameful thing. On the contrary, it would only make Shen Wei look worse to the rest of the Hundred Treasures Realm.

Everyone in the Hundred Treasures Realm knew who Zhao Hai was. He was someone who contributed a lot to the Hundred Treasures Realm. His popularity wasn’t any lower than Mu Yu. In this case, n.o.body objected when Mu Yao allowed Zhao Hai to just enter the conference hall whenever he wanted.

And then there’s Shen Wei who made Zhao Hai wait outside for a quarter of an hour. The others from the Hundred Treasures Realm couldn’t bear it.

Everyone was aware that Zhao Hai was someone from the Mu Faction. But strictly speaking, Zhao Hai couldn’t be considered as someone under Mu Yao. The benefits that Zhao Hai gained were obtained through his contributions. Although he was close friends with Mu Yu and Tang Jie, he doesn’t have any enmity with the Shen Faction. It was Shen Wei and Mu Yao who had a grudge with each other, so why did Shen Wei bother Zhao Hai and a.s.signed him for the sea expedition?

Zhao Hai could hear the conversation of everyone around him, but he kept his calm. With eyes half-shut, he just stood in place. People who didn’t know would think that he was asleep.

Actually, Zhao Hai was communicating with Cai’er. At this time, Cai’er and the others were organizing the students to enter the h.e.l.l King’s s.h.i.+p. After all, Zhao Hai decided to bring them along for the trip.

With the students leaving, the only ones left in Bluetree Planet were the robots. These robots would look after the medicinal fields as well as the plantations and crops.

Since Zhao Hai and the students were leaving, there was no need for the medicinal fields to be harvested. Some medicinal plants get better as they get older. And this time, Zhao Hai and the others would be on a long journey.

As for the beasts in Bluetree Planet, they had been butchered and loaded into the s.p.a.ce. These beasts would be used as meat. If they were left behind, then all the plants in Bluetree Planet would be eaten.

A year ago, Zhao Hai also took Julie in officially as his woman. Although Julie still had her wild nature, she was now able to distinguish right from wrong. She could now act like a human.

As Zhao Hai was paying attention to the preparations in Bluetree Planet, a voice was suddenly heard, “Zhao Hai, enter.” Zhao Hai opened his eyes and walked slowly towards the conference hall.

Upon entering the hall, Zhao Hai saw Shen Wei in the head seat. As usual, Shen Wei had the righteous look on his face. As he sat in his seat, Shen Wei did look like an upright official.

Zhao Hai cupped his fist as he gave his greetings, “Zhao Hai has seen Elder Shen Wei and the other Elders. I don’t know why Elder summoned me, but I would accept any advice.”

Shen Wei looked at Zhao Hai, then he coldly snorted and said, “Is this your first day in the Hundred Treasures Realm? How come you can’t even give an offering? Forget it, this Elder wouldn’t haggle against you. In ten days, the semicentennial exploration of the sea will begin. This Elder has decided to give you this opportunity. Do you have any opinion about this?”

Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, “Zhao Hai doesn’t have any opinions about it. I’ll listen to Elder’s arrangement.”

Zhao Hai’s reply caused Shen Wei to stare. He thought that Zhao Hai would reject his order. He didn’t expect Zhao Hai to agree so quickly. Shen Wei sized Zhao Hai up as he said, “The sea expedition is very important to my Hundred Treasures Realm. Since you agreed to this a.s.signment, you need to go to the appointed place in time. Otherwise, this Elder will punish you heavily.”

Zhao Hai smiled and said, “Zhao Hai will remember. I guarantee that I’ll arrive on time. Elder can rest a.s.sured.”

It was difficult to hit a smiling face. Zhao Hai has been smiling ever since he entered the hall. Moreover, he accepted the a.s.signment without delay. This denied Shen Wei the chance to show his authority. This aggrieved Shen Wei. He looked at Zhao Hai and said, “It’s good that you know. This is the place where the other explorers will gather. There is still time, but don’t be late. Now go.”

Zhao Hai nodded as Shen Wei gave him a jade slip. Then he withdrew from the conference hall. As Zhao Hai left, Shen Wei frowned and said to the Immortal Expert at his side, “Third Brother, what do you think about Zhao Hai? Why did he accept easily? Doesn’t he know the dangers of exploring the sea?”

The Immortal Expert at the side knit his brows and said, “I don’t know. Although we haven’t been in contact with Zhao Hai for a long time, rumors say that he’s someone who plans deep before taking action. How is it possible for him to not know the dangers of the sea? Moreover, even if he doesn’t know, how could the Mu Faction not? Mu Yao stepped back and allowed us to do this. It’s impossible for him to withhold the danger to Zhao Hai. This is indeed strange.”

Shen Wei knit his brows and said, “I originally want to use Zhao Hai to lure Mu Yao out and use the name of justice to deal with him. However, I didn’t expect Zhao Hai to accept the task. The situation has become more difficult.”

The Immortal Expert next to him said, “This is no big deal. In any case, Zhao Hai has to undergo this task. If he doesn’t go, then we will deal with him. I don’t believe that Mu Yao would just watch if that happens. No matter how much contributions Zhao Hai gave to the Mu Faction, if Mu Yao doesn’t protect him, then n.o.body would dare follow him in the future.”

Shen Wei nodded, then he coldly snorted and said, “This time, I must let Mu Yao suffer a big loss.”

Then at this time, an Immortal Expert sitting on the end of the table turned towards Shen Wei and said, “Brother Shen, I’m fine with dealing with the Mu Faction. However, I think we shouldn’t touch Zhao Hai. Although he gave great achievements to the Mu Faction, all of these achievements were also made for the Hundred Treasures Realm. Everyone in the realm knows about this. If we touch Zhao Hai, then people would think bad of us. I don’t think it’s worth it.”

Shen Wei looked at the Immortal Expert, then he coldly snorted and said, “Zhao Hai is just someone who moved to the Hundred Treasures Realm. What’s so great about that. The Mu Faction is just putting gold on his face. If we can deal with him, then we’ll deal with him. What can he do?”

Looking at Shen Wei, the Immortal Expert no longer said anything. He knew that Shen Wei had been muddled by anger. When Mu Yao was in charge of the Hundred Treasures Realm, the Giant Spirit Realm and the Fireweavers attacked. At that time, he was also involved in the war. However, at that time, they were sent to deal with the other party’s Immortal Experts. Therefore, they hadn’t seen Zhao Hai’s actions. However, the Immortal Expert was aware that Zhao Hai’s achievements were real and not Mu Yu pinning it on him. To be honest, Mu Yao gave too little reward to Zhao Hai. It wouldn’t be a wise decision to deal with such a person. It would be going too far. Even if they succeed, they would suffer backlash in the future.

However, the Immortal Expert also knew that even if Shen Wei looked scholarly and well-mannered, he was actually hard-headed. He wouldn’t listen to criticism and advice. Anything the Immortal Expert would say from now on would be in vain.

When Zhao Hai exited the hall, he took a glance at it one more time before going to the transmission formation. When he arrived at Bluetree Planet, Zhao Hai took out the jade slip and read the contents inside. The jade slip recorded the time and place where the realms would begin exploring the sea. The location was quite far from the Hundred Treasures Realm. If he wants to arrive there in ten days, he needs to depart right now.”

The sea expedition wasn’t only the Hundred Treasures Realm’s operation. Other high-grade realms also deemed it important. Each one of them would send a famous youth to partic.i.p.ate. And whether they had any grudges or not, once they entered the sea, they all needed to work together. Otherwise, they would suffer punishment when they come back.

Although Zhao Hai can use transmission formations to shorten his journey, the last bit of the trip needed to be flown. Considering this, ten days of traveling time was still a little tight.

Moreover, Zhao Hai heard from Mu Yu that during the expedition, the realms would send an Immortal Expert to escort the representative towards the meeting site. But from what Zhao Hai can see, Shen Wei wasn’t planning on sending someone to escort him.

The reason people needed an escort was because the road towards the meeting site wasn’t safe. Although a lot of realms would send representatives over, they would set off to the sea at the same time. If one arrives late, then they would lose their qualifications to join the group. And if the expedition finds something, then that realm wouldn’t be able to get a cut.

There was a realm in the past that deliberately sent their people late so that they wouldn’t partic.i.p.ate in the expedition. But in the end, they were pressured by the other realms. In the end, the representative of the realm was killed in order to quell the anger of the other realms.

It can be said that the sea expedition has become a major compet.i.tion between high-grade realms.