Chapter 2975 — Seeking Feng Xiaoxiao
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"Of course not!" Kang Jingming denied it flatly. "I'm an elder of the Xuandan Sect—why would I use poison? If anyone's an expert in poison, it's the hidden Yao family's Medicine King!"
"Oh..." Seeing how tightly Kang Jingming had sealed his lips, Wei Zhao knew he would get nothing more out of him, so he asked straight out, "When will my Qi-Gathering Pill be ready?"
"That sort of thing takes time, you know that. I agreed to half a year, and barely a month has passed—how could it possibly be done so soon? Besides, I have the Xuandan Sect's affairs to see to; I can only study your pill in whatever spare moments I get," Kang Jingming said. "But rest easy—within half a year, I guarantee it will be yours."
"Fine, then." Wei Zhao had no other choice. Kang Jingming had indeed promised exactly that before, and since half a year was the agreed term, Wei Zhao could only accept it.
Wei Zhao hung up, and on his end, Kang Jingming went off to find the Xuanchen Patriarch.
"Master, Wei Zhao just called to ask about the Qi-Gathering Pill. Isn't he a cripple now? Why would he still want a Qi-Gathering Pill? Don't you think there's something odd about all this?" Kang Jingming reported to the Xuanchen Patriarch honestly, recounting the whole of his conversation with Wei Zhao.
"Hmm..." The Xuanchen Patriarch pondered a moment, then said, "Wei Zhao's dantian and meridians are ruined, so a Qi-Gathering Pill would indeed be of no use to him. But does he have any subordinate of peak late Earth Rank at his side? Perhaps he means to create another Heaven Rank expert to protect himself."
"That's quite possible!" Hearing the Xuanchen Patriarch's analysis, Kang Jingming found it wholly convincing. "In that case, the hidden Han family's Han Tianba must be at peak late Earth Rank, and the hidden Zhuang family ought to have someone of that level too. If he means to create another Heaven Rank expert, it's hardly surprising."
"String him along for now. There's no hurry in any case. Perhaps before the half year is out, Wei Zhao will be dead, and then we won't need to refine any Limit Qi-Gathering Pill for him at all. And if he's still alive within the half year, then refining him one won't hurt. If he wants to make himself a Heaven Rank expert, let him—it does us no harm. He's no more than an ant. Were it not for the White Leader's side, I'd have killed him long ago! Would it even have come to the hidden Zhao family having to act?"
"True enough!" Kang Jingming nodded in agreement.
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After a long journey, Zhao Qilei finally arrived at the borders of the Ice Palace—the Ice and Snow Spirit Town!
Coming to this familiar place once more, Zhao Qilei was overcome with emotion for a time, and old memories surged up in his heart all at once: his clashes with Wei Zhao, then his submission to him, and together with Wei Zhao encountering the mad old Heaven Rank man in the mountain cave. Thinking back on all this, Zhao Qilei felt a pang of sorrow.
How high-spirited Wei Zhao had been back then! Yet out of trust in him, he had fallen for the Zhao family's trick and been reduced to a cripple. And he, as a subordinate, had been unable to do anything for him. Though Wei Zhao had never blamed him, Zhao Qilei's own heart ached terribly.
He parked the car before the Ice Spirit Inn. At this time no one was taking part in the Ice Palace's trials, so the inn seemed utterly desolate. The sudden arrival of a stranger's car brought even Manager Li of the inn out in person to see what was going on.
"Are you here to stay, sir?" Manager Li asked from a short distance away. Although the Ice Spirit Inn had been built specifically to house the Xuandan Sect's trials, it also did ordinary business the rest of the time, taking in travelers and adventurers as well—hence Manager Li's tentative question.
"No, I've come to the Ice Palace to find someone," Zhao Qilei said, having parked the car and gotten out. He came straight to the point with Manager Li.