Chapter 3646 — A Plea for Alchemy
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
His senior brother's words were no lie; before coming here he truly had been anxious on Wei Zhao's behalf. Touched, Wei Zhao's eyes suddenly lit up. Turning to avoid the other's gaze, he drew out thirty spirit jades, packed them into a bag, and handed it to his senior brother.
His senior brother was instantly stunned, waving his hands again and again. "Junior Brother Lin, what is the meaning of this? Do you think I am like the others, coming to you to trade waste jade for good jade?"
Seeing that his senior brother was genuinely somewhat offended, Wei Zhao hurried to explain: "Senior Brother Ku, you are overthinking it. If this really were the three-to-one exchange ratio the others use, these thirty good jades of mine could never buy that much waste jade from you. This is merely because I have put you to the trouble of worrying about me, and I felt uneasy about it—so it is just a small token of my regard."
"This... but Junior Brother Lin, you need these good jades more than I do!" Though somewhat moved, his senior brother still insisted on refusing. Truth be told, in his years as a steward senior brother, he had never once seen so many good jades at one time; thirty pieces of good jade could sustain his cultivation needs for a very long while.
"Haha, Senior Brother Ku, you need not worry about the spirit jade on my account. Have you forgotten that I can refine pills to earn it back? Especially since you have provided me with so much waste jade—enough for me to refine no small number of pills! So take these spirit jades and be at ease about it. Between senior and junior brothers like us, is there any need to be so scrupulous? That would truly wound me!" Wei Zhao urged with a smile. "Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai both accepted theirs. If you refuse, Senior Brother Ku, does that mean you do not count me as one of your own?"
With Wei Zhao having put it that way, his senior brother could refuse no longer, and could only say with a shamefaced air: "Well... all right then. I shall shamelessly take advantage of Junior Brother Lin this once, and I will keep this kindness close to my heart."
Had this been before, he might still have insisted on refusing, but now, entrusted by Lu Bianren with a task, and needing to stand against Meng Jueming in days to come, he was in urgent need of strengthening his cultivation—and spirit jade was the sort of thing of which one could never have too much.
"Senior Brother Ku, you make it sound far too serious. Is helping you not helping myself?" Wei Zhao waved it off carelessly.
In truth, if he had not been saving up spirit jade to buy the Star Ink Stone, he could have given more. As it was, after parting with thirty pieces, he had less than five hundred left on hand; give any more, and it might not be enough when the time came.
His senior brother nodded gratefully and carefully put away the thirty spirit jades. After thinking it over, he offered Wei Zhao one more word of warning: "Junior Brother Lin, you have surely heard the saying that an innocent man is guilty by virtue of his treasure. Others may know you are an alchemist, and it does no harm for that to spread—but if your alchemy success rate is very high, it will bring you trouble in the end. So best be cautious and careful from now on."
"Rest assured, Senior Brother Ku, I know what I am doing," Wei Zhao replied.
His senior brother made to leave at once, yet at the door he hesitated for a long while, and finally turned to Wei Zhao and said: "Junior Brother Lin, since you are an alchemist and your success rate is not low, I wonder—could you refine a pill for me called the Foundation Establishment Barrier-Breaking Pill?"