Chapter 2704 — Return to the Ancient Tomb

Early Yellow Rank, Early Yellow Rank peak, Mid Yellow Rank!

Mid Yellow Rank peak, Late Yellow Rank!

Late Yellow Rank peak, Early Mystic Rank!

White Leader's strength soared all the way up, and Yu Xiaoke's expression shifted from her initial astonishment and adoration to the blankness she wore now. She had grown used to it—as the saying goes, get surprised enough times and you get used to it.

White Leader, naturally, had grown used to it too. He had become numb to his own upgrades; Wei Zhao had said he could soar all the way to Late Mystic Rank peak, and at last he believed it.

"Phew..." At last White Leader felt Wei Zhao's side cease channeling true qi, and his own strength came to rest at the Great Perfection of Late Earth Rank peak. He rose to his feet, let out a long breath, and said with vigor, "I, White Leader, am back!"

"My master... can he be restored to this strength too?" Yu Xiaoke looked at Wei Zhao with hopeful eyes.

"He can." Wei Zhao nodded. "Once I'm certain, then yes!"

"Thank you!" Yu Xiaoke nodded gratefully. She knew that if it were possible, Wei Zhao would surely keep his word—for the male thief was not a man who made promises lightly.

"Xiaoyi, is it really this miraculous? I'm restored already?" White Leader felt strength fill his whole body; in an instant he seemed several years younger, and his whole being felt clearer and lighter.

"Yes. Here is a Small Qi-Gathering Pill—swallow it." Wei Zhao drew a Small Qi-Gathering Pill from his robes and handed it to White Leader.

"This... isn't that a bit much? I'm already so grateful, and now you want to give me your pill as well..." White Leader was almost embarrassed.

"Teacher Bai, aren't you Liu Yi's teacher? Why be so polite?" Yu Xiaoke found it rather strange. In her eyes, a disciple giving things to his master and helping his master heal his wounds was simply the natural order of things, requiring no explanation at all—yet White Leader was so grateful that it hardly seemed like a master and disciple at all.

"A teacher can't just accept things from his student whenever he likes!" White Leader shook his head.

"Come now, Teacher Bai. Xiaoke has already said it—what's with all this politeness?" Wei Zhao forced the Small Qi-Gathering Pill into White Leader's hand.

"Very well, since it's come to this, I won't stand on ceremony!" White Leader drew a deep breath, took the pill, and swallowed it straight down. A stream of pure true qi unfurled and spread through his dantian; White Leader hastily held his breath and set his inner-energy method circulating to dissolve the pill's efficacy...

Yu Xiaoke watched White Leader with undisguised envy, then said softly to Wei Zhao, "Male thief... I want to cultivate inner-family arts too... could you help me?"

"I can!" This time Wei Zhao did not hesitate, agreeing at once. "But do you have a suitable inner-family method?"

"Ah, I do. My brother says our family has an ancestral masterpiece, a method suited for girls to learn!" Yu Xiaoke said. "That's an inner-family method. When the time comes, could you help me raise my strength?"

"That I can do." Wei Zhao nodded. "But why doesn't your brother cultivate it? Wait—since when do you have a brother?"

"Oh, I haven't had the chance to tell you yet. I found the brother I was separated from as a child. His name is Yu Dake. He was brought by... someone I rather dislike, a man who's courting me. Ah, though I'm grateful to him, my heart already belongs to you, so I can't accept him..." Yu Xiaoke said with a faint sigh.

"Oh? What's his name?" Wei Zhao asked, feigning ignorance. He had nearly given himself away today, and he had to clear himself of suspicion—otherwise, at this rate, Yu Xiaoke would spot the flaw sooner or later.

"He... never mind. Even if I told you, you wouldn't know him. Let's not talk about him..." Yu Xiaoke did not say Wei Zhao's name; she feared the male thief would make trouble for Wei Zhao. Wei Zhao was formidable now and at the height of his fame, and she was afraid the male thief would not be his match and would come off the worse for it, so she simply let it drop. "Let's talk about my family's ancestral masterpiece. This inner-family method is purely yin; they say it's a truly formidable ancient method. Men cannot cultivate it—only girls can!"

"Oh? That is remarkable. It must be a rather special method, or it wouldn't be called an ancestral masterpiece!" Wei Zhao did know of some strange methods that only particular people could cultivate—Feng Xiaoxiao's method, for instance, and his own, which was a pure-yang method that girls could not cultivate either, the exact opposite of Yu Xiaoke's.

"Yes, it is remarkable," Yu Xiaoke said. "My brother says he'll find a chance to bring it to me."

"Good. When the time comes, I'll help you study it." Wei Zhao nodded in agreement. Yu Xiaoke's strength really did need raising; otherwise she was too weak, and she was always going off to do dangerous things—Wei Zhao truly could not rest easy.

Yu Xiaoke was delighted. Though the male thief had given her no straight answer regarding her master's matter, when it came to her own affairs he had agreed without the slightest hesitation. Yu Xiaoke truly felt that the male thief cared about her.

White Leader was a man who could endure. The breakthrough brought by the Minor Rejuvenation Pill was somewhat painful, yet nothing of it showed on his face. Indeed, without an iron will, White Leader could never have held on this long after his qi deviation had wrecked every meridian in his body.

"Xiaoyi, many thanks!" White Leader, having broken through to Early Earth Rank, said gratefully to Wei Zhao. "Only, at this level of strength I can still refine no more than Yellow Rank second-grade pills. Yellow Rank third-grade is still beyond me—the true qi supply can't keep up."

Wei Zhao nodded. White Leader was now a Yellow Rank second-grade alchemist as well; add Guan Xin and Han Jingyi, and if that combined-strike method really worked and Wei Zhao could cultivate it, then refining third-grade pills should be no great problem.

It was only that each cultivator was limited to a single method and oral formula, and Wei Zhao had no way to change his own.

"I've already said it—no thanks are needed." Wei Zhao waved a hand. "It's light out now. Shall we rest a while before heading to the ancient tomb, or go straight there?"

"Straight there. Every inch of me is brimming with strength—I've no need to rest at all," White Leader said. "Besides, I can hardly wait!"

"What about you, Xiaoke?" Wei Zhao turned to look at Yu Xiaoke.

"I'm fine too. I rested a while earlier." Yu Xiaoke shook her head as well, indicating she was ready.

That settled, Wei Zhao rose and handed each of them a pack of compressed biscuits. Together with White Leader, Yu Xiaoke, and the Thunder Pig, he entered the ancient tomb through its Gate of Life exit...