Chapter 2887 — Little Nine's Illness

"Those questions I asked before—can you answer them now?" Wei Zhao held Yang Qiqi in his arms. After a long while, seeing that she still said nothing, he asked.

"Ah..." Yang Qiqi gave a slight start, and her face flushed at once. She hurriedly said, "Mm... my father—there's still no word of him. He hasn't contacted us again. My mother and the others are terribly worried, but there's no way to reach him. Home is all right, only that after Father left, our influence and standing are nothing like they were before. And as for cultivation, Father never left behind any connections in that world either. That is why I came out to search so hard for medicine for Little Nine!"

"So that's how it is..." Wei Zhao nodded. Indeed—back then, though his master had been renowned in the secular world of assassins, he had left Wei Zhao no connections at all in the world of cultivation. That was why Wei Zhao had struggled so bitterly all this time. Had he belonged to a good sect like Zhang Naipao's, he would not have had to labor so hard, nor risk such dangerous trials just to obtain Qi-Gathering Pills and Ice Heart Jade Bone Pills. "Little Nine—how is she, really? From the way you've been acting these past few times, her condition seems very grave?"

"Yes. The spirit medicine I traded for at the cultivators' market failed when we tried to use it, so I had no choice but to search again for things connected to earth-attribute spirit beasts. The Dragon of the Five Baleful Spirits is a five-attribute spirit beast, and its claws are of the earth attribute. That is why I came here," Yang Qiqi said. "As for Little Nine's problem... honestly, I don't fully understand it myself. I had people from the Overseas Cultivators' Association examine her. They said it is because there is too much earth element within her body, and it has never been activated. At first the symptom was that she could not walk with her legs; now it grows worse and worse—her entire lower body is limp and utterly without strength, like a puddle of mud. It keeps worsening. If she is not treated in time, in the end she will be like a victim of rickets, and her whole body will go limp..."

"Rickets?" Wei Zhao was slightly taken aback. But one thing he could be certain of: Little Nine's illness was absolutely not rickets. Old Man Wei had not been able to diagnose it back then—how could it possibly be rickets? Something else struck him as strange, though: "That spirit medicine from the earth-attribute spirit beast last time—how did it fail?"

"The Overseas Cultivators' Association is, after all, different from the birthplace of martial cultivation here. They have skilled masters over there, but they are not at all clear about certain ancient legends. It was only after consulting a great deal of material that they reached their conclusion—that the earth element in Little Nine's body could be suppressed with things taken from earth-attribute spirit beasts. But as for how to suppress it, and how the parts taken from the spirit beast should be used, there was no correct method at all; one could only grope one's way forward!" Yang Qiqi smiled bitterly. "Last time, after I went back, I mixed it into water and had Little Nine soak her body in it, but it had no effect whatsoever..."

"Too much earth-attribute essence?" Wei Zhao frowned slightly. Why did it sound rather like Feng Xiaoxiao's case back then? The only difference was that Feng Xiaoxiao had had too much yin-cold attribute, while Little Nine had too much earth-attribute essence.

But in a matter like this, Wei Zhao was not quite sure whom to ask. The only ones he could turn to now were Leader Bai or Old Man Wei.

At that thought, Wei Zhao first called Leader Bai. After all, Old Man Wei had known of Little Nine's condition before and had examined her, yet had no good solution either, so Wei Zhao decided to ask Leader Bai first.

"Xiaoyi?" Leader Bai was somewhat surprised to receive Wei Zhao's call. "Aren't you off at the trial? Why are you suddenly calling back? Have you run into some trouble?"

"Teacher Bai, I have indeed run into some trouble!" Wei Zhao told him honestly. "Do you have time right now?"

"I do. What exactly has happened?" Leader Bai's heart tightened. Wei Zhao had gone to take part in the Xuandan Sect's trial, and Leader Bai knew very well how the Five Luminaries Sect stood in relation to the Xuandan Sect. What he feared most was that the Five Luminaries Sect would join hands with the Xuandan Sect to move against Wei Zhao.

"It's like this..." Wei Zhao then related the whole matter of Little Nine to Leader Bai in detail.

"Oh?" Leader Bai had not expected that Wei Zhao was calling him about this, but he breathed a sigh of relief—so long as Wei Zhao was not in danger, he could rest easy. "From what you have described, my preliminary conclusion is that this Little Nine of yours may be a cultivator with an earth-attribute constitution, and Faint Light of Old Dreams to activate it. And the method you mentioned—using things from earth-attribute spirit beasts to guide and activate it—is indeed one approach. Your situation is somewhat similar to that of an inheritor. But the specifics of the method, I do not know. If I were still with the Five Luminaries Sect, it would be easy for me to make inquiries for you, but now..."

Leader Bai could have gone to ask Ancestor Xuanzhen, but he had just asked Ancestor Xuanzhen about the matter of the void attribute and the true attribute. If he asked about anything else, and Ancestor Xuanzhen went digging through the records again, it would be hard to avoid Ancestor Xuanchen noticing and growing suspicious—and that would be disastrous.

"I see..." Wei Zhao was rather disappointed to hear this. "Teacher Bai, this person is very important to me. Could you see..."

"How about this: after some time has passed, I will ask Xuanzhen again and see whether he has any way." Leader Bai pondered for a moment, then said.

"Thank you, Teacher Bai!" Wei Zhao knew well how difficult it was for Leader Bai to converse with Ancestor Xuanzhen without Ancestor Xuanchen noticing. Had he not been so desperately worried about Little Nine, he would never have let Leader Bai take such a risk.

"Ha, what are you thanking me for?" Leader Bai smiled faintly. "With the bond between us, such words are too formal."

"Mm. Teacher Bai, there is one more piece of good news I want to tell you..." Wei Zhao hesitated a moment, then decided to tell Leader Bai now about his success in obtaining the inheritance of the origin power. Originally he had meant to wait until he returned, but telling him now, to let Leader Bai share in the joy, would do no harm! Besides, Yang Qiqi was no outsider—she was the person closest to Wei Zhao since childhood.

"Oh? What good news? Could it be that you have successfully passed the trial and received the Xuandan Sect's reward?" It was no wonder Leader Bai did not think more of it—after all, Wei Zhao had gone this time to take part in the Xuandan Sect's trial, and by his reckoning, it had only been a few days since Wei Zhao passed it. What other good news could there be?