King's Dilemma

Wei Han said calmly, "Master Shi, take one-twentieth of each pill, merge them together, and then consume it. If you feel anything suspicious, then you can inform me."Mo Chang was shocked at Wei Han's shrewdness and started sweating inwardly. He remembered he once suggested adding poison to the antidote. He thought even if Wei Han asked the alchemists for verification, he could verify one or two. Thus, mixing poisons among a few pills wouldn't be a big deal. He was confident he could let the king choose the pill with no poison.He knew that alchemists had lost their abilities, and the Wei Dynasty had no way of verifying whether the poison would work or not unless they tested it directly on someone. They could only verify one or two, but who would have thought he would check them all in this manner?In fact, this has another advantage. If there is poison in any antidote, then it will be known. In case, after merging so many pills, the poison is diluted and is no longer harmful, then this method will be used to give the antidote to all the alchemists. It will also avoid any unforeseen circumstances where a certain pill might have poison. Wei Han doesn't trust these Demonic Faction members, so he wouldn't place his fate in their hands.Master Shi took the pill. However, he didn't find any changes within himself. He is only a Rank 2 Warrior and thus is incapable of completely sensing what is going on within his body.Wei Han transmitted his spiritual essence into Master Shi's body and inspected it. He nodded. "It's good that you didn't put anything in it."Mo Chang was sweating. 'It turns out Uncle Cheng has already expected this situation. This is why he warned me not to interfere with these pills.'Wei Han nodded with satisfaction. "Okay, you can leave now."Mo Chang was surprised at this. He looked at the king and said deeply, "Your Majesty, what about our deal?"Wei Han smiled. "Which deal?"Mo Chang said coldly, "Aren't you afraid we would ruin your reputation? We have proof of the deal!"Mo Chang underestimated Wei Han. He knew reputation was most important for righteous people, but he forgot one thing: the value of power! Wei Han was already the king of the entire Wei Dynasty, and Mo Chang represented the Demonic Faction, resented by most of the Northern Continent Warriors. No proof they presented would cause a significant effect on Wei Han.However, Wei Han was still wary due to the involvement of Ren Ying. Ren Ying also had significant influence, even though it was still far from the Wei Dynasty. Thus, somewhere in his heart, this threat had some value, even though it was minimal.Mo Chang took out a paper and recalled what his uncle had told him."Remember, only give this letter to the king when he refuses to release Ren Ying after getting the benefits."He said lightly, "Your Majesty, this letter was given by Uncle Cheng. I hope you consider the situation before rejecting our deal."Wei Han narrowed his eyes. In his opinion, the value of Renhuo trading far exceeded that of any alchemist in their dynasty. However, he was unable to convince Ren Ying despite his efforts.He took the paper and read its content. He was shocked after reading it but immediately calmed down.He said lightly, "I let you go, but you dare to threaten me? Capture him!"Mo Chang was surprised. "What?"Mo Chang didn't even know the content and felt that he was deceived. He felt aggrieved.There was only one line written in the letter: "This antidote only works for below Rank 3 Warriors."This sentence had only one meaning at this time. It was that Mo Tiancheng knew Wei Han would go back on his words. Thus, he expected Wei Han to show some sincerity if he wanted to get other antidotes. Wei Han was the person who first broke the deal from his end, and thus he should make appropriate compensation if he wanted other antidotes.Wei Han smiled. "Oh Mo Tianchen, you didn't expect it, did you? Even though we value the alchemists, the value of Renhuo trading and Ren Ying is far greater. We can't give up on alchemists, but there are already future alchemists in the Wei Dynasty who are all about Rank 2 Warriors."As he murmured this, he thought of a young child and his heart was filled with pride. The poison was not only spread among the famed alchemists of the royalty but also among the young talents trained by Li Gang. This is precisely why Wei Han thought it must have something to do with him.He said lightly, "Master Shi, take these pills and mix them all together and recreate 19 pills, then distribute them among the young alchemists who are the future of the Wei Dynasty."Even without these old alchemists, they could handle the losses for at least the next ten years. It was sufficient time for these young talents to grow and take over the burden their elders had left on their shoulders.Wei Han still got support from Renhuo trading. Even without Ren Ying, they could still operate properly due to the presence of various alchemists, and they also paid taxes in the form of these pills.In fact, most of the alchemists from Renhuo trading were recruited by Li Gang. Only a few were trained by him. Those who were trained by him were his trusted subordinates, and they had more power than anyone else. Of course, there were also some spies introduced by Wei Han, which he was unaware of. When handling such a large business, it was impossible to have a force filled with loyalty. In every garden, there were bound to be weeds among the flowers that stole resources.All these were the causes of the failure of this deal. Just the potential of the younger generation was not a sufficient reason for Wei Han to make such a risky decision. Long-term goals can't meet short-term needs. We always have to compromise to balance short-term plans and long-term plans. 'Balance' is a very simple term, but it has a very deep meaning.A few days later, in one of the rooms of the Wei Royal PalaceWei Han was sitting at the bedside. There was a young man resting on the bed with a pale face. A Rank 3 alchemist was looking over the young man.Even though most of the alchemists were poisoned, how is it possible that in such a large dynasty, there wouldn't exist a hidden tiger? Each dynasty has trillions and quadrillions of people, probably even more. No one can accurately tell when uncertainty may occur. No plan is absolute. No prediction can be absolute. Only flexible and dynamic strategies are long-lasting and effective.However, he was not affiliated with Royalty. These days, Wei Han recruited various alchemists from the dynasty to resolve short term problems. An alchemist is also a doctor. He knows about the human body as much as he knows about medicines; otherwise, it is impossible to create pills that benefit the Warriors in their cultivation and their health issues.Wei Chan, the third prince, was on the verge of life and death. Wei Han was a righteous Warrior. Righteous doesn't mean that a person can't use deception. A war is all about deceptions. Here, a king seeks the benefit of his subjects. For the subjects, the king can make decisions that can demean him or harm him. Wei Han may not be absolutely righteous, but he takes care of his subjects, his family, and his sons.The Rank 3 alchemist said slowly, "Your Majesty, only Master Ren has the ability to save him. He is a Rank 5 alchemist. Young Master Chan is losing his vitality slowly. This has spread even faster since you fed the antidote to him. The antidote must be a catalyst to activate another hidden poison in the body."Some people may wonder, why can't Wei Han find another poison master for treatment? A Rank 6 poison master is not even as rare as Rank 4 alchemists.The reality is that most poison masters are experts in creating poison, not antidotes. They never need an antidote because, for every poison they create, they adapt it to their body. Their bodies are always nearly immune to poisons. It's not that they can't create antidotes, but they can only do so for a poison they are very familiar with. Alchemists have been unable to identify what poison was used this time. It is common sense in this world, and thus Wei Han didn't even bother thinking about it.Wei Han sighed. Wei Chan was not the only one suffering from it. Every younger generation member who was fed the antidote faced the same issue.He clenched his fists. "Ren Ying!"He sighed and said to the guard near him, "Call Gu Zhen here."The guard left and soon returned with Gu Zhen.Wei Han said only one sentence, "Release Ren Ying and Mo Chang and let them meet me."Even though it was only one sentence, he felt he had lost all his strength while saying this.Gu Zhen wanted to say something, but seeing the expression on Wei Han's face, he nodded. "Yes."He immediately left for the Royal Prison.Behind the bars, Li Gang was tied to an extraordinary chair. This chair was made of Rank 5 Materials and had formations that suppressed spiritual essence, thus reducing the healing ability of a Warrior.Gu Zhen looked at his bare body and didn't care. He had seen worse situations. He had gone easier on him because he didn't want to lose a promising talent for the dynasty.Li Gang's entire body was filled with burn marks, along with various scars on his face, chest, and forearms.