Chapter 2271 — Going to the Rescue

That settled one thing: Wei Zhao's medical skill was extraordinary—he truly had the power to heal cultivators' injuries. In the past, Old Master Pi might have taken such talk with a grain of salt, but now, seeing Wu Chengtian before his eyes, he believed it.

"Old Master Wu, your fame precedes you!" Old Master Pi, having worked the matter out, smiled at Wu Gonggao and cupped his fists in salute.

"Grandpa Wu!" Pi Zhifeng said respectfully as well.

"You are too kind, Old Master Pi—young Pi..." Wu Gonggao was a little flattered. But remembering that here rank was determined by one's place among Wei Zhao's younger brothers, he dared not be too modest either, for fear of embarrassing Wei Zhao.

"Old Master Pi, time is short, and since I count you as one of our own, I won't mince words!" Wu Chengtian, wary of long delays, had no patience for beating around the bush, and said straight out: "The leader's divine powers are beyond anything you can imagine. Take me, for instance—I used to be nothing but an outer-path cultivator of early Yellow Rank, but now I am an early Earth-Rank cultivator, trained both within and without! We are all outer-path cultivators here, so I needn't spell out to you, Old Master Pi, the benefits of cultivating both within and without, need I?"

"Naturally! Among outer-path cultivators, who would not wish to cultivate both within and without?" Old Master Pi nodded in wholehearted agreement. He had always wanted to cultivate the inner path, but no matter how he tried, he could never find the way—he could not even set foot on Yellow Rank, and had no choice but to give it up.

And he understood too that Wu Chengtian would not speak at random; there must be deep meaning hidden in these words.

"If this business succeeds, and Sister-in-law Wang Xinyan is rescued safe and sound, I don't think the leader will let your efforts go unrewarded. The two of you could at the very least become inner-path experts at the peak of late Mystic Rank!" Wu Chengtian laid out the tempting stakes all at once.

True, Wei Zhao had said the Pi family needed a favor from him, but for a task this dangerous, without heavy profit to drive them, it was hard to say whether Old Master Pi would give it his all—and what if he shrank back at the critical moment? So Wu Chengtian laid out every benefit.

Wu Gonggao sat quietly to one side, listening to his grandson, and could not help sighing inwardly. The boy had truly changed—not only had his strength grown, but he had become far more adept at handling people and affairs. These stakes, as an outer-path cultivator himself, Wu Gonggao knew well, were something no one could refuse.

Sure enough, once Wu Chengtian finished speaking, Old Master Pi and Pi Zhifeng exchanged a glance. Both their expressions changed—grew blazing and feverish!

Their purpose in coming here had been nothing more than to lend help in a time of need, so that when Wei Zhao returned he would heal Pi Zhitao's injuries. But who would have thought Wu Chengtian would toss out such a huge piece of cake!

Its pull on them was indeed immense! And at last they understood why Wu Chengtian had risen so fast—and understood, too, why that good-for-nothing Han Xiaohu, worthless as he was, had seen his strength explode on the eve of the Hidden World Families Summit and become an early Earth-Rank expert!

So it really was all Wei Zhao's doing! If that were so, the returns far exceeded what the Pi grandfather and grandson had expected. Their original plan had been simply to heal Pi Zhitao's injuries—but now... now they thought: no wonder Wu Chengtian was so utterly devoted; no wonder the Hidden Han family fawned on Wei Zhao so. This time, the Hidden Pi family absolutely could not let this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity slip by!

At first, Pi Zhifeng had acknowledged Wei Zhao as leader for a purpose, driven by profit—but now it was wholehearted and sincere.

"Rest assured, Brother Wu—my grandfather and I will do everything in our power to bring the leader's woman back!" Pi Zhifeng declared, cupping his fists.

"Good, then I leave it in your hands!" Wu Chengtian said. "Let the Wind-Thunder Purple-Lightning Beast take you there—it knows where Wang Xinyan is being held. Only the guards there are formidable. That will be up to you, Old Master Pi!"

"Very well!" Old Master Pi agreed without hesitation. That the Wind-Thunder Purple-Lightning Beast was with Wei Zhao did not surprise them—the creature had gone with Wei Zhao in the first place.

"By the way, that opponent—formidable as he is, I always feel his wits are lacking and his reactions slow. If you cross blades with him, Old Master Pi, it would be best not to meet him head-on. Evade his moves, then strike at him—I think that should yield some results..." Wu Chengtian had spent the night turning the previous day's battle over in his mind and distilled this lesson from it, which he passed on to Old Master Pi to spare him any misstep.

Only, this kidnapper gave Wu Chengtian a strange sense of familiarity, as though he had seen him somewhere before—yet when he thought harder, nothing came.

"Oh? Is that so? I will bear it in mind!" Old Master Pi nodded and said.

But when Pi Zhifeng and Old Master Pi saw the Wind-Thunder Purple-Lightning Beast, they were stunned. Was this creature not a Yellow-Rank spirit beast? When had it become Mystic Rank—and at the peak of late Mystic Rank, no less?

Could it be that Wei Zhao could not only upgrade people, but spirit beasts as well? What a terrifying notion was that?

Old Master Pi and Pi Zhifeng exchanged another glance, and each read deep shock in the other's eyes.

"The Hidden Han family's standing out at the Hidden World Families Summit was no stroke of luck!" Old Master Pi shook his head with a bitter smile. "This time we've been strung along—all of us strung along together. This Wei Zhao, I suspect, is playing us for fools!"

"Indeed, and we have Zhihai to thank—otherwise how would we ever have found such an extraordinary leader?" Pi Zhifeng nodded. "But it is not too late even now. Our Hidden Pi family has its chance too..."

The Wind-Thunder Purple-Lightning Beast bore Pi Zhifeng and Old Master Pi without complaint. Though it was a remarkable ancient spirit beast, this was no ordinary moment—it was going to rescue the woman of its contract master, its mistress—so how could it not be eager?

"Awoo—roar, roar!" The Wind-Thunder Purple-Lightning Beast came to a halt near the abandoned farmstead and gave two soft howls to signal that they had arrived.

Pi Zhifeng and Old Master Pi climbed down from the beast's back. For the first time they understood what the speed of wind truly meant—from the villa to this place had taken but the blink of an eye!

"Zhishan, in a moment you follow behind me, riding the Wind-Thunder Purple-Lightning Beast. I will deal with that expert, while you and the beast go free Miss Wang. If ever that expert turns on you, flee on the beast—whatever you do, do not meet him head-on!" Old Master Pi pondered a moment, then laid out the battle plan.

"Understood!" Pi Zhifeng did not boast. Even Wu Chengtian had been badly wounded—what was he, to think himself a match for the enemy in a straight fight?

The Wind-Thunder Purple-Lightning Beast raised no objection to this arrangement either, and the two men and the beast slipped quietly into the abandoned farmstead.