Chapter 2916 — Xiao Jiu's Silence, and a Friend Who Seemed Quite Important Indeed, or Else Tu Qingsong Would Not Believe Wei Zhao and Yang Qiqi Would Go to Such Trouble Over This Matter

"Earth Tyrant, you've done well! I never expected that you would sit out this trial, yet come back so much more mature!" Tu Qingsong said approvingly.

"Uncle..." The Earth Tyrant gave a bitter smile. How could a man grow without ever suffering a setback? He too had been beaten into a cripple by Zhang Naipao, and only after that blow to his pride had he learned that there is always another mountain higher than the one you stand on.

"Send the photo to me by email. Actually, whether I look at it or not hardly matters now—it is completely certain that Xiao Jiu is Ranran. All you need to do is find a way to get Mr. Wei Zhao to send her back to our Yellow Earth High Sect." As he said this, Tu Qingsong felt a stir of emotion. Could it be that what the fortune-teller his father met all those years ago had said was true?

Tu Ranran's fate had been changed because of her man? And who could that man be but Wei Zhao? From the Earth Tyrant's words, Tu Qingsong had also sensed the uncommon bond between Wei Zhao and Xiao Jiu, and so he reached this conclusion.

It seemed his father's decision back then had been a wise one—that two million had been worth every cent. Not only was Tu Ranran unharmed, but the Yellow Earth High Sect had gained a powerful ally.

Others might not know the background behind Wei Zhao, but Tu Qingsong knew it through and through. At present, Wei Zhao's standing in the martial world still looked precarious; if the Yellow Earth High Sect became a subordinate sect of Wei Zhao's, it would without question be a case of offering coal in the snow.

This bond of loyalty was nothing like the kind that adds flowers to brocade later on. Whoever followed Wei Zhao first and earned his recognition would seize the initiative; when Wei Zhao rose, the Yellow Earth High Sect would surely rise with the tide.

"Yes, Uncle. I'll send it to you in a moment!" the Earth Tyrant answered.

"Good. You take charge of following up on this matter. Arrange a meeting with Mr. Wei Zhao and see when he can come to our Yellow Earth High Sect," Tu Qingsong said.

……………………

After learning of her origins, Xiao Jiu suddenly fell silent. For so many years she had come to regard Yang Zhao's home as her own. Yang Zhao was her adoptive father, yet he was much like a real father to her, treating her and Yang Qiqi exactly the same, never playing favorites.

And so, toward a strange home and a strange Yellow Earth High Sect, Xiao Jiu found it hard to feel any sense of belonging. True, her long-lost family was there—her brother, her father—but in Xiao Jiu's heart, Wei Zhao and Yang Qiqi, and Yang Qiqi's parents, were the ones she felt closest to.

She had lived here since she was small. As for the Yellow Earth High Sect in the Western Regions, this was the first she had ever heard of it. Faced with all these unknowns, she still felt a certain resistance in her heart...

"Xiao Jiu... what's wrong?" Yang Qiqi heard the silence on the other end of the line, and when Xiao Jiu said nothing for a long while, she could not help asking.

"Sister Qiqi, I feel like none of this is real... I have a family now?" Xiao Jiu's voice sounded somewhat low, entirely without the excitement of one who had found her family—only a sorrow she did not know how to face.

"Xiao Jiu, aren't you happy? At the Yellow Earth High Sect your health problem can be solved, and you'll be able to meet your family..." Yang Qiqi did not quite understand Xiao Jiu's mood at that moment, nor why she should be so downcast.

"Sister Qiqi, it would be a lie to say I never thought about my own family. When I was little, I did wonder what my real parents and family were like. But as time went on, I long ago came to see you, Brother A-Yi, my adoptive father and adoptive mother as my closest kin..." Xiao Jiu said softly. "And then suddenly, I have a family, and I feel as if I don't know what to do with myself... Sister Qiqi, let me have a little time to calm down, all right? Let me think it over, and then I'll get in touch with you..."

"All right..." Yang Qiqi nodded. "Xiao Jiu, then take some time to be quiet."

After hanging up, Yang Qiqi did not go straight to Wei Zhao. Instead she called Mother Zhou. Mother Zhou was another of Yang Qiqi's father's wives, skilled in hacking, and Xiao Jiu's teacher. To have her talk Xiao Jiu around was likely the most fitting choice.

But no matter how Xiao Jiu decided on her end, the trial at the Xuandan Sect had finally ended, and the trial's award ceremony was set for the next morning, in the square of the Xuandan Sect's inn.

It was called an award ceremony, but in truth it was merely a matter of handing out a symbolic certificate and recording each trial participant's request. If the pill they wanted was in stock, they could naturally take it with them; if not, they would have to place an order.

Few participants had successfully passed the trial—so few, in fact, that one might call the number pitifully small. A total of more than forty cultivators of Earth Rank or above had entered this trial, and reckoning that the spirit beasts had been killing two Earth Rank or higher experts every day, excluding the several days when the Five Demons Dragon had posted its mission earlier and the five-day extension after the fifteen days, roughly close to thirty Earth Rank or higher experts had been lost during the intervening ten days.

Yet the number of cultivators who passed this trial was also the highest of any year, so even with so many dead, no one would suspect anything.

Feng Shihua exchanged his reward for a Great Return Pill, and so did Ge Xian, Zhao Qilei, and Li Ciba—each of them exchanged for a single Great Return Pill. Feng Shihua wanted the Great Return Pill entirely for Feng Nitian; Ge Xian was a lone cultivator, and a Great Return Pill would serve to protect himself; Li Ciba was an external-school expert, for whom other pills were of little use—only the Great Return Pill could heal his wounds. As for Zhao Qilei, even he himself did not know why he had exchanged for a Great Return Pill.

Elder Bi was already dead, and the Great Return Pill was of no use to the Zhao family for the time being. But the finished pills the Xuandan Sect could offer were few, and he had only one trial spirit herb in hand; by the rules, he was not permitted to name a future delivery of a pill. Of course, such things also depended on the Xuandan Sect's mood—if the Xuandan Sect agreed, there would be no harm in it—but Zhao Qilei did not wish to stir up trouble.

Because of Zhang Naipao, what was exchanged was a Marrow-Washing and Bone-Transforming Pill. The Xuandan Sect had none of these in stock, but out of consideration for the Tomorrow and Tomorrow Sect, Tian Canbian agreed to let Kang Jingming refine one such pill for Zhang Naipao.

When it came to Wei Zhao's turn, however, Wei Zhao said directly to Kang Jingming: "Great Return Pill!"

Kang Jingming was taken aback, and Tian Canbian, sitting behind the scenes not far away, was startled as well. Was it not the Ice Heart Jade Bone Pill that Wei Zhao wanted? How had it become the Great Return Pill? Kang Jingming had already made up his mind: if Wei Zhao wanted the Ice Heart Jade Bone Pill refined, Kang Jingming would gladly agree. Even though Wei Zhao had only one trial spirit herb in hand, that did not matter—his plan was that once Wei Zhao brought the materials over, he would tell Wei Zhao the refinement had failed, and let Wei Zhao waste a whole pile of materials for nothing. RS