Chapter 1013 — The Making of a Master

After all, for the time being he was still safe; there was no need to worry that Xie Yufeng would come kicking down his door.

With that thought, Wei Zhao did not stop channeling energy into Uncle Qing. Even after Uncle Qing's meridians were repaired, he kept the Xuan Yuan Dragon-Taming Art circulating, pouring energy into Uncle Qing's body in an unbroken stream.

Uncle Qing felt his meridians had been restored, and was about to cry out in joyful surprise, to rise and stretch his limbs and savor the feeling of being the inner-school expert he had once been—but the next moment he discovered, to his horror, that Wei Zhao's true qi was still surging into his body without pause!

"Xiao Yi... you..." Uncle Qing's eyes went wide, and he stared at Wei Zhao in astonishment.

Wei Zhao only smiled and gave no answer, still wholly absorbed in feeding energy into Uncle Qing's body. Something in Uncle Qing's heart tightened, and he understood a little. Wei Zhao actually meant to use the true qi within his own body to forcibly remake him into an expert!

Uncle Qing had been through this before. The true qi his wife cultivated could not only heal wounds but also be used by him to raise his own strength. Yet each time, the true qi his wife had painstakingly cultivated over a whole year, once passed into his body, could only help him improve by a small fraction.

Fortunately, after her cultivation, the only thing his wife could do was help him train, so Uncle Qing did not feel too guilty about it—the Sun family's art was simply like that.

But Wei Zhao was different! Wei Zhao was neither kin nor old friend to him. Healing his wounds and repairing his meridians was already a kindness equal to giving him a second life, and it had cost Wei Zhao a great portion of his true qi! Now Wei Zhao meant to force-feed his own true qi into Uncle Qing's body as well—how could Uncle Qing not be overcome with emotion?

And Uncle Qing was astonished to find that Wei Zhao's true qi really could be used by him. As Wei Zhao's true qi poured in without cease, Uncle Qing could feel his strength recovering little by little. It was just like when he had first trained in the inner-school arts—it gave him the feeling of cultivating all over again!

Seeing Wei Zhao's smile, Uncle Qing knew he had made up his mind. Wei Zhao was young, but once he set his will on something, he was rarely moved from it. Uncle Qing was a little embarrassed to accept Wei Zhao's true qi, yet he also feared that interrupting him now would put Wei Zhao in even greater danger.

At that thought, Uncle Qing felt he must not betray Wei Zhao's good intentions. He hastily began to circulate the mnemonic of his own sect's mental art, setting the true qi Wei Zhao sent into motion and working with him to move it through his body.

Yet no sooner had Uncle Qing begun to circulate his mental art than the rate at which his body absorbed energy abruptly quickened. Every inner-school art aims at drawing the true qi of heaven and earth and making it one's own; so once Uncle Qing ran his mnemonic, he too was absorbing true qi—only what he absorbed was the true qi Wei Zhao transmitted to him.

Wei Zhao suddenly sensed the quickening of Uncle Qing's absorption. He was taken aback for only a moment before he understood that Uncle Qing was cooperating with him. Wei Zhao showed not the slightest intention of stopping; the faster Uncle Qing absorbed, the happier he was.

It was harder on Wei Zhao, true, but after all, at this pace he could, once Uncle Qing was remade, slip quickly into the jade pendant's space to cultivate and recover his strength—if all went well, a single night would suffice. By the next morning, Wei Zhao would be back to his former strength.

Minute by minute, second by second, the time slipped away. Wei Zhao poured true qi in without cease, while Uncle Qing absorbed it without cease.

The two of them were like old monks sunk in meditation; neither spoke a word, yet the expressions on their faces grew graver and graver.

Uncle Qing felt he was about to step into Yellow Rank strength! Even as joy welled up in him, he could scarcely believe it. After all, to forcibly transform a man with no strength at all into a Yellow Rank expert—how much true qi would that take?

So much true qi, all of it cultivated through bitter effort, and Wei Zhao was simply giving it to him for nothing! Moved beyond words, Uncle Qing swore to himself that one day he must repay Wei Zhao. This kindness was simply too great!

Wei Zhao seemed to sense Uncle Qing's growing strength as well; the corner of his mouth flickered faintly with a smile.

A breakthrough was coming! Uncle Qing felt he had already touched the threshold of Yellow Rank. His thoughts could not help drifting back to the years of his old training—to think how thrilled he had been, back then, at his first breakthrough to Yellow Rank expert!

"Boom!" This time Uncle Qing broke through to Yellow Rank with no pressure at all; his body only gave a slight tremble, and he passed smoothly through the transformation from ordinary warrior to Yellow Rank expert.

A joyful smile spread at once across Uncle Qing's face! He had actually become an inner-school Yellow Rank expert this easily? Was it not far too fast?

Yet after Uncle Qing's breakthrough to Yellow Rank, Wei Zhao could plainly feel the absorption of energy within Uncle Qing's body grow still more rapid—so rapid that even he could hardly keep up.

Checking the energy remaining in his own body, Wei Zhao frowned slightly. Repairing Uncle Qing's meridians earlier had already consumed roughly a third of his energy, and now, having helped Uncle Qing break through to Yellow Rank strength, the energy left in Wei Zhao's body was nearly gone!

He was about to reach the critical line!

What was he to do now? Give up? Wei Zhao was unwilling to accept that. He wanted to finish forging Uncle Qing into a first-rate fighter in one sustained effort, and whether it succeeded or failed would be decided in this single push.

But with no energy left in his body, how was he supposed to carry on?

That was it! All at once Wei Zhao remembered the process by which he had once channeled true qi into General Weiwu. Once he entered the jade pendant's space, so long as his body in the outside world remained in a state of transmitting energy to Uncle Qing, he could circulate the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art within the jade pendant's space, and he would not only be able to absorb energy but also channel it straight into Uncle Qing.

What a fool he had been! Wei Zhao nearly slapped his own forehead and cursed himself for an idiot. He hurriedly shut his eyes and entered the jade pendant's space.

Because the energy within his body was all but spent.

Once inside the jade pendant's space, Wei Zhao did not bother with exchanging words with Old Jiao; he simply resumed circulating the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art at speed. Even as the energy of the jade pendant's space poured into Wei Zhao's body, it surged on without cease into Uncle Qing's body as well.

And the pace was plainly far quicker than before, for the energy within the jade pendant's space greatly exceeded that within Wei Zhao's own body.