Chapter 4949 — Uproar in the Hall
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 3
"Heh heh, President Zhuang flatters me." Wei Zhao smiled with a mild, noncommittal air. To face such a great man's public praise and still remain neither servile nor overbearing truly left the whole hall dumbfounded. So this fellow had been hiding his true colors all along—what a master's bearing he carried!
"No, no, no, not flattery at all. It is Master Lin who is too modest." Zhuang Yifan shook his head again and again.
That single Earth-Solidifying Pill in the small box had completely dispelled all his doubts. In less than a day's time he had actually refined a Mystic-rank, first-grade Earth-Solidifying Pill, and judging by its quality it was absolutely of the highest grade. With such astonishing alchemical ability, he practically had the urge to kneel before Wei Zhao and lick his boots.
As for Mystic-rank first-grade alchemists, rare as they were, he had seen a few back in the Mystic-rank sea region. Yet even those transcendent beings, revered as honored guests by countless magnates, could never refine pills so easily and cleanly. Otherwise Mystic-rank pills would long since have been everywhere, instead of being, as now, priceless for want of supply.
In truth, he had expected that Wei Zhao might manage to refine it for him within a month, and that would have been good enough. He had never imagined Wei Zhao would work without pause on his behalf, much less that it could be done in under a day. With all his knowledge and experience, he could not help but sigh: this fellow is just too damn heaven-defying!
In personal strength, an early Mystic Ascension cultivator could already overthrow an early Mountain-Opening one; in alchemical ability, a Mystic-rank first-grade Earth-Solidifying Pill could be refined in a single day. If Zhuang Yifan had previously harbored any doubts about Wei Zhao's identity, now he believed absolutely and without reservation.
Such a heaven-defying prodigy—if he were not jointly cultivated by Shangguan Tianxia and the Pill God Zhang Lifeng, then Zhuang Yifan would twist off his own head and kick it around like a ball!
"President Zhuang, I suppose you no longer wish to keep me here for a spell?" Wei Zhao smiled and glanced at him with a hint of amusement.
"Er..." Zhuang Yifan's old face flushed at once. With an embarrassed chuckle he waved his hand: "I was measuring a gentleman's heart with a petty man's yardstick. I beg Master Lin's generous forbearance—Zhuang offers his apologies here! As for that separate courtyard, Zhuang will still keep it reserved for Master Lin. Whenever Master Lin wishes to stay, he may move in at any time; it shall be the alliance's highest treatment, of course. And naturally, Master Lin may leave whenever he pleases. Zhuang merely wished to play the proper host—he would never force Master Lin."
"Heh heh, President Zhuang is too kind. Though I am not a disciple of Morning Star Academy, on this outing I count as half a member of Morning Star Academy, eating and lodging with everyone else. I would rather not be singled out for special treatment." Wei Zhao declined with a smile.
By now Zhuang Yifan would naturally not resort to tricks like house arrest again, but Wei Zhao did not wish to grow too close to this man. After all, at bottom theirs was nothing more than a pure alliance of interests: Wei Zhao refined the Earth-Solidifying Pill for him, and he provided Wei Zhao with protection. That and nothing more.
Although Zhuang Yifan had successfully obtained the Earth-Solidifying Pill, he had also witnessed Wei Zhao's heaven-defying skill as an alchemist. Under such circumstances he would never burn the bridge after crossing it; any Mystic-rank alchemist was a transcendent being that demanded the utmost effort to court.
In other words, the stronger the alchemical ability Wei Zhao displayed, the more Zhuang Yifan would have to protect him—and the more he would scheme to draw closer, so as to make it easier to ask again in the future.