Chapter 2633 — Bai Lingtou's Goal

Bai Lingtou, however, did not argue against Elder Xuanchen's words. If he had, it would have amounted to giving Wei Zhao away, and knowing Elder Xuanchen's temperament, the old man would certainly seize Wei Zhao and use him as a laboratory rat for experimentation. So Bai Lingtou merely gave an ambiguous grunt of acknowledgment.

"Eldest Senior Brother, you know as well as I do how badly Tagan Long is injured. A third-grade Great Return Pill can only preserve his life, not heal him. Since you have a supply of top-grade fourth-grade Great Return Pills, could you spare one for the sect?" Elder Xuanchen asked cautiously. "After all, you know what Tagan Long is worth to us. If he could be restored to health, it would be a matter of tremendous importance!"

"Oh, but regrettably, there are none left," Bai Lingtou said faintly, letting the misunderstanding stand. "I did have one final pill. Had you spoken sooner, I would have given it to Tagan Long. But my disciple was injured, and I must naturally give priority to my own disciple. So I am sorry, there is nothing to be done. If you must blame someone, blame Little Eleven for striking too ruthlessly. Without a top-grade fourth-grade Great Return Pill, she cannot be saved!"

"That..." Elder Xuanchen had not expected Bai Lingtou to say such a thing, and for a moment he was at a loss for words. Yet he still did not quite believe it, nor had he given up hope, so he pressed on with his persuasion. "Eldest Senior Brother, this is a matter of great consequence for our sect, a project a thousand years in the making. To restore our sect to the standing it held in the ancient era, to stand shoulder to shoulder once more with those ancient sects—that has been the ultimate goal of every generation of our patriarchs. As the sect master of this generation, you surely support this plan, do you not? Set against the great cause of the sect, our personal grievances are nothing. You are the sect master; you should be able to make the right choice, should you not?"

"If I still had one, I would certainly bring it out. Rest assured of that. You need not even ask; I would do so of my own accord," Bai Lingtou said, still in that same faint tone. "I know my own position better than you do. I am the sect master of the Five Luminaries Sect, and I want the Five Luminaries Sect restored to the standing of the ancient sects more than anyone—restored to Cloud Terrace Island, even at the cost of my life! For that, too, is the goal of my entire life... It is only a pity that I truly have none left. When my strength recovers, I will refine more."

"That..." Elder Xuanchen frowned. Though he was still not entirely convinced, he did know Bai Lingtou's character, and if Bai Lingtou said as much, then the pills were most likely truly gone. So he had no choice but to say, "Very well, then. Let us leave it at that for now..."

"If I succeed in refining a top-grade fourth-grade Great Return Pill, I will contact you," Bai Lingtou said, still utterly unruffled.

After hanging up, Elder Xuanchen's brows knitted tight, and regret crept in. "It seems that going after Han Jingyi and Wei Zhao this time was a blunder. Had I contacted Bai Lingtou first, perhaps he would have given the top-grade fourth-grade Great Return Pill to Tagan Long. Given his devotion to the sect, he would surely have agreed. Ah, one wrong step!"

"Master, do not be too disheartened. Now that Bai Lingtou's injuries have healed, perhaps he will be able to refine top-grade fourth-grade pills after all. And besides, is not Second Senior Uncle Xuanzhen also striving to become a fourth-grade alchemist?" Little One consoled him.

"Mm, that is true enough!" Elder Xuanchen nodded.

After Bai Lingtou hung up, however, he sank into deep thought and shock. Wei Zhao had actually healed Han Jingyi of such grievous injuries—how had he done it? Suddenly Bai Lingtou recalled the words Wei Zhao had spoken and the questions he had asked the night before in his study.

Wei Zhao had said then: if Bai Lingtou's injuries were to recover, what would Elder Xuanchen do once he learned of it? At the time, Bai Lingtou had thought Wei Zhao was merely joking, speaking offhand. But now it seemed that was not the case at all. Wei Zhao truly must have the ability to restore his injuries!

A glimmer of hope and excitement flashed through Bai Lingtou's eyes. Was his conjecture really true? Could Wei Zhao truly do it? Bai Lingtou found himself faintly expectant...

Yet Bai Lingtou did not immediately call Wei Zhao to ask about these things. Instead, he fell into contemplation of the future...

Now, inevitably, Wei Zhao had been drawn into this future conflict within the sect. Whether Bai Lingtou wished it or not, the mark of this disciple had already been stamped upon Elder Xuanchen. If he himself recovered his strength, then naturally he could overawe Xuanchen. But what if he could not?

Once the Cloud Terrace Island plan was set in motion, once the Five Luminaries Sect was restored to the standing of the ancient sects and its former glory revived—would Xuanchen, his confidence swollen, move against him again, or even against Wei Zhao and Han Jingyi?

But how was such a situation to be resolved? Bai Lingtou thought for a long while and could not come up with any particularly good solution. In the end, everything came down to the fact that his current strength was insufficient—and that was a hard flaw, one that could not be changed.

You Panhu decided to go find Wei Zhao and Han Jingyi and have a word, to see whether he could obtain that special notebook in Han Jingyi's possession. But he absolutely must not breathe a word about Zhang Lifeng the alchemist's notebooks.

You Panhu, though often deceived by Wei Zhao, was by no means a fool. On the contrary, it was only in Wei Zhao's presence that his intellect seemed to fail him; ordinarily he had a fair share of cleverness.

On the one hand, he was genuinely desperate to obtain what Wei Zhao held, and sometimes being deceived was simply unavoidable. On the other hand, Wei Zhao's fearsome reputation—capable of slaying a Heaven-rank expert in an instant—left You Panhu somewhat cowed in his presence, and his wits would short-circuit of their own accord.

Especially when he heard that even the peak late-stage Heaven-rank expert who had come this time had failed to kill Wei Zhao—that left You Panhu all the more aghast. True, Bai Lingtou had intervened, but it was still Wei Zhao's own strength that had stood there. Otherwise, before Bai Lingtou could have stepped in, Wei Zhao would already have been dead!

Who could have imagined that an expert at the peak of the mid-stage Earth rank could hold out so long against one at the peak of the late-stage Heaven rank?

In truth, even Wei Zhao himself had not expected it. But sometimes things happen in just such a coincidental way: a single true-qi bomb had saved Wei Zhao—and this was a matter that even Little One himself had likely never fully understood.

So if You Panhu were to mention Zhang Lifeng the alchemist's notebooks, Wei Zhao would certainly ask how he had come to know of it. And if that were then connected to the earlier business with Little One and Little Eleven, You Panhu would be in dire straits—he might well be beaten to death.

Thus You Panhu could only probe obliquely and ask for some other materials instead. In his view, Han Jingyi spent every day writing and sketching on her tablet, and she must surely be recording alchemical insights and experience!