Chapter 2779 — Xuanzhen's Phone Call

After dinner that evening, Han Jingyi went back to her own home. Gu Mengyao, Shen Yushu, and Wang Xinyan went upstairs to sleep. Wei Zhao, afraid that he might lose control in the middle of the night and start cultivating before he could stop himself, did not ask Wang Xinyan to stay. And Wang Xinyan was all the more embarrassed to stay—before, she had been helping Wei Zhao cultivate, but now what excuse could she possibly use?

Wei Zhao returned to his room and called White Leader, first letting him know he was safe, then asking, "Teacher Bai, that matter of my body receiving the inheritance—how is it going? Any news?"

"I am still looking into it for you, but so far there is no word at all... Ah, if only I were still at the Five Luminaries Sect. But as things stand, I cannot ask them yet..." White Leader said, somewhat helplessly.

"It is all right, there is no rush." Though Wei Zhao said this, he was still very anxious at heart.

"Hmm... Tell you what. If the chance comes, I will give my second junior brother a call and ask him..." White Leader naturally understood what Wei Zhao was thinking. After a moment's hesitation, he made up his mind. His relationship with Xuanchen was poor, but his relationship with Xuanzhen was very good. White Leader's alchemy master had passed away early and had taught him almost nothing; it was Xuanzhen whose alchemy skills he had personally brought up. So his bond with Xuanzhen had always been close. It was only that they had not been in contact for many years, and he did not know whether Xuanzhen was still the Xuanzhen of old, or whether he had thrown in his lot with Xuanchen's faction.

"This... will there be no ill effects or consequences?" Wei Zhao asked, somewhat worried.

"I will give it a try. If it works, it works. If it does not, then it does not." White Leader smiled and said indifferently, "At worst I lose a bit of face. What else could be so terrible?"

"Thank you, Teacher Bai..." Wei Zhao sighed. The man who had once been sect master of the Five Luminaries Sect now had to beg a favor of his former junior brother, and might even lose face for it—and all of it was for Wei Zhao's sake. How could Wei Zhao not be moved?

"If you can grow, that is the greatest comfort to me. I am still counting on the day when you and I return to the Five Luminaries Sect together!" White Leader said.

Wei Zhao said nothing more. Words of gratitude were superfluous; everything now would be proven by what he did in the days to come.

White Leader hung up on Wei Zhao. He hesitated a long while before finally dialing Xuanzhen's number. Within the Five Luminaries Sect, the satellite phone numbers of Xuanchen and Xuanzhen had not changed in many years. He had always kept them, but had never once taken the initiative to call. He would rather have forgotten them altogether.

But today, for Wei Zhao's sake—for the sake of this disciple of his—he had no choice but to dial the number of Ancestor Xuanzhen.

Ancestor Xuanzhen was studying the pill formula Kang Jingming had brought back—a fourth-grade pill formula. This formula was flawless, yet he could not refine it, and his heart was filled with endless emotion. If his senior brother Xuan Tian were here, he would surely be able to refine this pill, would he not?

"Senior Brother, are you well?" Only when no one was around did Ancestor Xuanzhen dare to show his true feelings. All these years, under the pressure of Ancestor Xuanchen, he could only swallow his anger and bide his time; for the sake of the sect's grand plan, he had no choice but to play along with Xuanchen.

A phone rang. Ancestor Xuanzhen assumed it was Ancestor Xuanchen calling, telling him to return to the sect—after all, Ancestor Xuanzhen had been staying at the Xuandan Sect all this time.

But when Ancestor Xuanzhen glanced at the caller display on the phone, he was slightly taken aback. It was an unfamiliar number.

"Hello? Yes?" Ancestor Xuanzhen picked up. Because satellite phone numbers used a special range, a wrong number was fairly unlikely, so even though he did not know who was calling, Ancestor Xuanzhen still answered.

"Xuanzhen, is that you?" Hearing Ancestor Xuanzhen's voice again, White Leader was overcome with emotion, as though he had returned to his younger days, when every day he had led the boy along to refine pills. Those days had always been so happy...

"You... are you Senior Brother?" Ancestor Xuanzhen's eyes went wide, and the instant he heard that voice, tears welled up and spilled over! He had never imagined that the very person he had just been thinking of would call him.

"Yes, it is me. Xuanzhen, are you well?" White Leader asked.

"Senior Brother, I am sorry, I am so sorry..." Ancestor Xuanzhen had a thousand words to say, but in the end they all turned into apologies, because he no longer knew how to express the tangled feelings in his heart.

"Heh heh, what is past is past. I do not blame you." White Leader smiled. He had long since come to understand the events of that year—Xuanzhen surely had nothing to do with it. He had merely been used. The one who had tampered with things must have been Xuanchen!

"No, it is my fault. I was too weak, too cowardly. All these years, I never dared to seek you out, never dared to bring you back to the sect... Wuwuwu..." Ancestor Xuanzhen wept aloud like a child, but he did not care—in the secret chamber of the Xuandan Sect, no one would ever know.

White Leader understood now as well: Xuanzhen had not thrown in his lot with Xuanchen. His nature was still as timid as it had been in those years. Though he was now an ancestor of a sect, deep down he was still a child.

"Xuanzhen, do not cry. I know the events of that year had nothing to do with you," White Leader consoled him.

"Yes, yes..." Hearing White Leader say this to him in person, Xuanzhen relaxed at once.

"The reason I am calling you this time is that there is something I must ask of you..." White Leader felt somewhat reassured. It seemed his second junior brother could still be trusted. There should now be a way forward for Wei Zhao's inheritance.

"Ah? Senior Brother, please, do not say such things. Whatever it is, just tell me—what is this talk of asking favors? If you need me to do something, simply say it!" Ancestor Xuanzhen said hurriedly. "But... you know as well as I do that with Xuanchen around, there are things I cannot do. Are you asking me to keep the Five Luminaries Sect from targeting your disciple?"

"It is not about that." White Leader denied it. "I will not put you in a difficult position. It is something else."

"That is good..." Ancestor Xuanzhen breathed a sigh of relief. To set himself against Ancestor Xuanchen—that he still did not dare. The Five Luminaries Sect could be said to be entirely under Ancestor Xuanchen's control; he, the second ancestor, was in truth nothing but a figurehead.

His influence was limited to the Xuandan Sect, and even there it was only covert influence. On the surface, the Xuandan Sect was still controlled by Ancestor Xuanchen. He could not overreach, or Ancestor Xuanchen would see through him. As for himself, he did not much care—but his two disciples would surely suffer for it...

"It is this: how can an illusory-attribute constitution receive the inheritance of origin power and transform it into a tangible attribute?" White Leader asked. "This is recorded in detail in the scripture pavilion of our Five Luminaries Sect." (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (.) to cast