Chapter 2744 — The Worsening Condition

Shaking his head, Xuanzhen Ancestor could only force those thoughts aside. Some things he could not change; he could only endure them in silence.

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Wei Zhao had stopped cultivating with the fragrance from Wang Xinyan's body, which left Wang Xinyan rather puzzled. She looked at Wei Zhao, who was earnestly reading his book and listening to the lecture, and asked with a strange expression, "You... why have you stopped cultivating?"

"Oh, isn't it almost finals? I'm doing some reviewing," Wei Zhao said offhandedly.

"Reviewing? Weren't you specially exempted by Teacher Bai? You can skip the finals and get the credits directly, can't you?" Wang Xinyan blinked, somewhat surprised by his answer.

"Heh, that's what they say, but I still have to take the exams..." Wei Zhao said with a smile.

"Then you still don't need to review so seriously..." Wang Xinyan bit her lip and said anxiously, "How about you cultivate? I'll take off my outer clothes?"

"Huh?" Wei Zhao was taken aback, staring at Wang Xinyan.

"I... I just want you to make the most of your time cultivating, nothing else..." Wang Xinyan truly meant nothing else. She wanted Wei Zhao to cultivate as quickly as possible and gain the strength to contend with the Xuandan Sect as soon as possible, so that she would no longer have to live in constant fear every day. That was why she wanted to help Wei Zhao raise his strength however she could.

At first, Wei Zhao had not wanted to say anything, but seeing the look on Wang Xinyan's face, if he did not explain clearly, she was clearly poised to dig to the bottom of it. Helpless, Wei Zhao could only explain, "Xinyan, it's not that I don't want to cultivate—it's your body... it seems the problem arose because of my cultivation!"

"My body? What's wrong?" Wang Xinyan was startled, not quite understanding what Wei Zhao meant.

"Lately, haven't you been having this trouble of drowsiness? I suspect it's because I absorbed the fragrance from your body," Wei Zhao said.

"What? The fragrance on my body?" Wang Xinyan stared at Wei Zhao in astonishment, but at that moment, prompted by his reminder, something occurred to her: "So on the nights when you're not there, I can get up normally the next morning—is that it?"

"Yes, that's exactly it." Wei Zhao nodded. "I'm not absolutely certain, but it's probably close to the mark. That's why I stopped cultivating, to keep your body's problem from getting worse."

"Ah... this... then what about your cultivation!" Wang Xinyan immediately grew worried. In her plans, Wei Zhao could use her fragrance to cultivate rapidly during these few years of university, and by graduation he ought to be able to contend with the Xuandan Sect. But now that Wei Zhao could no longer cultivate with her help, the pace of his cultivation would naturally slow down, and this made Wang Xinyan rather despondent.

"It's fine. Before you came along, didn't I cultivate all the same?" Wei Zhao shrugged indifferently. "Besides, I've cultivated for so long already—I've gotten more than my share. Later on I'll just think of some other way to cultivate."

"Sigh!" Wang Xinyan sighed. She knew that, given it concerned her own body, Wei Zhao could not possibly keep cultivating, so she said, "Then can you think of a way to cure my body's problem as soon as possible? That way you could keep cultivating?"

"Hard to say for now. I give you medicine every day, but the effects aren't especially obvious. Your body seems to grow weaker by the day—you may not feel it yourself, but this is a change over a long cycle," Wei Zhao said. "So we can only wait until I've stopped cultivating and see whether you slowly recover."

"I see, all right. I really hope I get better soon..." Bolstered by her mother's support from yesterday, Wang Xinyan had grown a little bolder. "Then when the time comes, I can help you keep cultivating!"

"Huh? Cultivate again after you recover?" Wei Zhao was astonished. "Wouldn't that just cause the problem all over again?"

"It's fine—once the problem comes up, we'll just stop, and when I'm better we'll continue," Wang Xinyan said.

"..." Though Wang Xinyan's words sounded like a joke, a little playful, they filled Wei Zhao with boundless emotion! When a girl is willing to make such a sacrifice for you, her feelings need no voicing—no matter how dense Wei Zhao was, he could understand what was in Wang Xinyan's heart.

But what Wei Zhao could never quite figure out was this: since Wang Xinyan liked him in her heart, why wouldn't she agree to his pursuit? Could it be that she was wary of Kang Jinglong? Still, Wei Zhao could understand Wang Xinyan's worries—with the strength he had displayed so far, he truly could not contend with the Xuandan Sect!

Even that day when Wei Zhao brought up Feng Xiaoxiao's status, it had been out of sheer necessity, because Kang Jinglong had invoked the background of the ancient era, and Wei Zhao had none of his own. Otherwise, Wei Zhao truly would not have wanted to bring it up.

And although Wei Zhao could fight opponents above his level, his strength was ultimately only that of the late Earth rank. To speak of contending with the Xuandan Sect with such strength was nothing short of a fool's dream! Once Wei Zhao understood the reason, he stopped pressuring Wang Xinyan—he did not want to cause her too much trouble. One day, when he trampled the Xuandan Sect beneath his feet, everything would fall into place naturally.

"Thank you..." A thousand words, and in the end they could only become those two. Wei Zhao did not know how to begin to express what he felt at this moment.

"It's nothing." Wang Xinyan shook her head. "Sigh, how did my body end up with a problem anyway? What a nuisance..."

"Don't worry. I'll help you think of a way," Wei Zhao said.

"Mm..." Wang Xinyan trusted Wei Zhao deeply and nodded emphatically.

But over the next few days, Wang Xinyan's condition only grew worse! Wei Zhao brewed her medicine every day and had stopped cultivating, and although Wang Xinyan was able to get up and go to school normally in the mornings, at school she could not help but doze off.

What worried Wei Zhao most was that Wang Xinyan's condition had progressed from an initial midday nap to needing a sleep at every break between classes—and even during class her eyelids would battle each other, and with one slip she would nod off!

Wang Xinyan's frequent bouts of drowsiness not only worried Wei Zhao but also drew Kang Jinglong's concern. Seeing Wang Xinyan always inexplicably sleeping in class, Kang Jinglong finally could not hold back—he did not even have the chance to find an opportunity to get close to Wang Xinyan, because apart from class time, she was simply sleeping the whole time. He could not even approach her to pursue her; she was asleep even during class, so where would he find the chance?

"Wei Zhao, what on earth is wrong with Xinyan? Why is she sleeping all day?" Kang Jinglong tried to keep his attitude as mild as possible, so as to avoid another beating from Wei Zhao.