Chapter 2958 — Zhao Qibing Takes a Master

Nor did they dare be careless or arrogant. Could this man have come to settle accounts on Wei Zhao's behalf? But that made no sense either—Wei Zhao knew full well that he himself was an earth-rank expert, so what would he want with another expert at the peak of the late earth rank? To send him to his death?

Think as they might, they still hurried to the gate. Old Master Zhao saw the black-clad man standing there, a face entirely unfamiliar to him, and could not help asking, "May I ask what brings you here?"

"Are you the one in charge of the Hidden Zhao family?" the black-clad elder glanced at Old Master Zhao and asked.

"Yes, I am the head of the Hidden Zhao family. And you are?" Old Master Zhao frowned. The man did not seem to be here to settle accounts for Wei Zhao—so what was he here for?

"I will keep it brief. Wei Zhao has a younger brother named Zhao Qilei, correct?" the black-clad elder asked. "He is a member of your Hidden Zhao family, is he not?"

"Yes..." Old Master Zhao hesitated a moment, then nodded in assent. After all, this could not be concealed; whether Zhao Qilei belonged to the Hidden Zhao family could be learned with a single inquiry. But now he was puzzled again—had this man come because of Wei Zhao after all?

"Wei Zhao and his younger brother, during the trial at the Xuandan Sect, robbed our Dark Night Palace disciples of their trial spirit medicines. The Supreme Elder of our Dark Night Palace is greatly enraged and has sent me expressly to inform you: hand over the Third-Grade Great Return Pill obtained by illicit means, and our Dark Night Palace may show leniency and let bygones be bygones. Otherwise—heh heh!" The black-clad elder spoke with menace.

"What?! The spirit medicines Wei Zhao and Zhao Qilei won in the trial were robbed from your Dark Night Palace?" Old Master Zhao was struck dumb. He knew of the Dark Night Palace—an ancient sect. But the Xuandan Sect's trial, though he had never taken part, he knew to be a place where status and background counted for nothing; whatever happened inside was left to fate. Who had ever heard of settling scores after the fact? What was the matter with this Dark Night Palace?

"That is correct. Hand over that Third-Grade Great Return Pill at once, and I guarantee you will come to no harm!" the black-clad elder urged with some impatience.

Old Master Zhao and Zhao Qibing exchanged a glance. Though they did not know why the Dark Night Palace would violate the rules and come here demanding pills, Zhao Qilei had already given the Third-Grade Great Return Pill to Old Master Zhao, and Old Master Zhao naturally had no intention of handing it over.

True, Zhao Qilei had surrendered the Third-Grade Great Return Pill in exchange for the status of a candidate for young family head. That status no longer existed, but Old Master Zhao pretended not to know this and had pocketed the Great Return Pill himself.

"Wei Zhao has more than one younger brother besides Zhao Qilei, and Wei Zhao himself also holds a Third-Grade Great Return Pill. You can go demand it from Wei Zhao!" Zhao Qibing urged slyly.

"Wei Zhao was injured by you lot and swallowed a Great Return Pill—wasted it! If I could get it from him, would I need to waste words on you? Enough of that. If you do not wish to taste pain, hand over the Great Return Pill quickly, before I lose patience and break your dog legs!" Seeing that the Hidden Zhao family was so obstinate, the black-clad elder flared up at once.

"Break my legs? Even so, I will not hand it over! Go on, break them if you dare!" Zhao Qibing's eyes lit up, and he spoke with defiance.

"You think I do not dare?" The black-clad elder was furious too. He swept a kick straight at Zhao Qibing's legs and bellowed, "Thousand Legs—Third Form!"

"Bang—crack!"

Zhao Qibing's legs were broken. Yet he stared at the black-clad elder before him, dumbstruck—not for any other reason, but because the martial technique the black-clad elder had used was also called "Thousand Legs"!

Zhao Qibing dropped straight to his knees on the ground, but he had already forgotten the pain. His eyes flickered with hope: "Master above, please accept this disciple's bow!"

"?" The black-clad elder was dumbfounded. Was something wrong with Zhao Qibing? His legs were broken and he was kneeling on the ground—why had he suddenly taken a master? "What I broke were your legs, not your head. Is something wrong with you? Who is your master?"

"Master, to be frank with you, this disciple has been practicing Thousand Legs all along. That is why I deliberately let Master break my legs. This disciple has been groping on his own without ever getting past the threshold. Now that I have seen Master, I naturally fell to my knees before Master's domineering might..." Zhao Qibing was no fool; he knew an opportunity when he saw one. Kang Jingming of the Kang family had blundered into becoming the Eighth Elder of the Xuandan Sect—what kind of destiny was that?

Even Zhong Yongliang could become a disciple of the Tomorrow Upon Tomorrow sect. Yet he, Zhao Qibing, had started from a higher place than any of them, and had remained obscure all this time. Now that a good opportunity had finally come his way, how could he let it slip by?

Though Zhao Qibing did not know whether the Dark Night Palace was great or small, it was at least an ancient sect. With an ancient sect as its backer, would the Zhao family still be the Zhao family of old?

The black-clad elder, however, paid no heed to Zhao Qibing's rambling, illogical flattery. He had only heard that Zhao Qibing too had broken his legs for the sake of practicing Thousand Legs, and was at once astonished. He could not help asking, "These broken legs of yours—did you break them before becoming a cultivator, or after?"

"I broke them before, and I have broken them after as well..." Zhao Qibing wanted to answer as the black-clad elder wished, but he was not sure what answer the elder wanted, so he could only reply truthfully.

"Oh? So you broke your legs before you became a cultivator too? Both legs entirely broken?" the black-clad elder asked quickly.

"Yes, both legs entirely broken..." Though Zhao Qibing did not understand what lay behind this, he nodded and answered.

"Do not move for now. Let me examine you!" Hearing this, the black-clad elder at once bent down and examined Zhao Qibing's legs. The moment he checked, a look of delighted surprise appeared on his face! He murmured over and over, "Good, good..."

"Master, have you decided to take this disciple?" Hearing the black-clad elder praise him as good, Zhao Qibing was both startled and overjoyed, and asked hastily.

"That..." The black-clad elder hesitated, then said, "I must first seek the Supreme Elder's instructions. I cannot give you an answer just yet!"

Though the black-clad elder thought Zhao Qibing a fine prospect and greatly wished to take him as his direct heir disciple, in the Dark Night Palace the Supreme Elder acted with absolute dominance, his every word law. To take a disciple, he must first have the Supreme Elder's consent.

One had to understand: though Thousand Legs seemed to require only that the legs be broken enough times before one could practice it, the black-clad elder knew well that to cultivate Thousand Legs to its utmost, there was a precondition—before becoming a cultivator, one must also have had both legs broken, and after breaking they must have recovered completely, leaving not the slightest aftereffect. Only a metal-attribute cultivator such as this could cultivate Thousand Legs to great perfection. (To be continued. For more exciting novels, remember our website address: [web])