As things stood, Elder Nie had already divulged most of the secrets of the Cabinet. If they kept him in the Green Cloud Pavilion, he would only pose a threat to the Pavilion Master.

A treacherous snake never changed its nature. If Elder Niewas able to betray the Cabinet, then it was only a matter of time until he did the same to theGreen Cloud Pavilion.

They couldn't afford to have any of their confidential information leaking out.

Vice-President Tang had only agreed to the conditions of the exchange because he wanted to lull the Cabinet Elders into thinking that they had the upper hand withElder Nie.

These geezers might think that Vice-President Tanggave a damn aboutElder Nie, but it couldn't be further from the truth. He couldn't care less if the old man died; he was no longer of any use to them, anyway.

All in all, it would be the Green Cloud Pavilion's victory at the end of the day.

"Shameless!" Elder Wangspat out, his face filled with rage.

"How dare you go against our agreement! You're digging your own grave, I tell you. Who do you think will cooperate with you in the future when you betray the other party's confidence like this?"

Vice-President Tang was unfazed byElder Wang's rebuke. If anything, he became even chipper.

"Do you think I care about that?" he laughed. "Those trifling matters are only for the weak. The Green Cloud Paviliondoesn't give a hoot about what others think. We only need to win."

Besides, if the other party refused to cooperate, the Green Cloud Pavilionwould simply force them to.

Promises were for pretentious dandies who didn't have what it takes to thrive in a ruthless world.

In any case, the Green Cloud Pavilionwas sure to come home with gains tonight. Not only would they be rescuing their men, but they would also be obtaining an additional bunch of Cabinet disciples, which would certainly be a huge blow to the Cabinet.It was a productive meeting, indeed.

"You!" Elder Wangroared again, but he seemed unable to say anything else."You!"

He was much too incensed.

They had foolishly thought that this exchange was going to be a breeze. They should have known that the Green Cloud Pavilionwould not honor their word!

Vice-President Tang began humming a merry tune as he waited for his people to report back to him. He wanted to answer the call in front of the Cabinet and anger them even further.

He couldn't wait to rub it in their faces.

Unexpectedly, it was Elder Xu's phone that rang. The old man answered the call, and an excited voice came through the line.

"Elder Xu, we've already beaten the people who tried to ambush us. It only took two of our disciples to deal with them. We didn't expect to defeat them so easily. I didn't know the people from the Green Cloud Pavilionwere this week."

His voice was laced with glee and relief as the Cabinet disciple added, "Elder Xu, do you want us to capture these men and bring them back as hostages?"

Never in their wildest dreams did they think that they would be able to capture the enemy without much effort.

It turned out that they were just a band of weaklings, all bark and very little bite.

Elder Xu made a point of switching the phone to speaker mode and turning the volume up to the maximum so thatVice-President Tangcould also hear the conversation.

"Impossible!" the latter declared vehemently, shaking his head and gnashing his teeth together.

In order to ensure that nothing went wrong this time, Vice-President Tanghad sent a total of twenty men to the site. Not only that, but they were theGreen Cloud Pavilion's elite fighters, each of them fit and strong for combat.

How could they have been defeated, when the Cabinet had only sent five disciples?

They were four times more in number!

And what had that presumptuous youth said? It had only taken two of the Cabinet disciples to dispose of all the Green Cloud Pavilionmembers?

There was no way that could be true!

This must be a trick, some psychological tactic the Cabinet was using to dupe him.

Vice-President Tang took comfort in the idea and desperately clung to it.

Across from him, Elder Xuvisibly relaxed, his body exuding a calm and composed air. He was sporting a serene smile on his face.

The Cabinet disciples would, of course, use their spiritual strength to attack. More importantly, they had relied on their own strength to improve their cultivation all this time, unlike those hooligans from the Green Cloud Pavilion, who resorted to devious techniques to force their cultivation higher.

When it came to a real battle, true strength would naturally prevail.

It wouldn't be surprising if the elite status of those twenty fighters was just for show. They probably couldn't withstand a single blow.

This, too, showcased the difference between innate spiritual power and something that was developed through external forces. The gap was so huge that even a novice could recognize it after the first couple of strikes.

Vice-President Tang could deny it all he wanted, but he could never change the results.

It was clear that their methods were ultimately the wrong path toward spiritual advancement.

Vice-President Tang was still stewing in his suspicions when his phone rang. It was his subordinate, who had gone with the team meant to retrieve their captured comrades.

This was from the other side.

Elder Xu's phone call earlier was about those who had been waiting at the site where Zhang Yiwas supposed to have been held, whileVice-President Tang's subordinate was calling from a different location.