Chapter 2587 — Useless

Look again at the second layer. This "second layer" is in truth the combined-strike art of three people—what began as a pairing of two is now a joining of three, and the power that was once two-in-one becomes three-in-one. If three peak early-stage Earth-rank experts stack their strength together, they would likely reach something close to Heaven rank; a fight against an early-stage Heaven-rank expert would be no problem at all.

Of course, some will think: if two peak early-stage Earth-rank cultivators added together can already reach the peak of late-stage Earth rank, perfect and complete, then how could three early-stage Earth-rank cultivators together only just touch Heaven rank—and merely be able to fight an early-stage Heaven-rank expert to a standstill?

In truth, this is easy enough to understand. Every time a cultivator rises a level, the true qi energy required grows larger—like the experience bar in a game. The higher the level, the more slowly the bar fills, and the more experience it demands.

The drawbacks of the three-person combined-strike art, by contrast, are not so many. It is backward-compatible: within a trio, any two of them, so long as they circulate the first-layer heart method, can still perform the two-person combined strike. The power drops, yes, but in a two-against-two battle they remain invincible.

As for cultivating it alone—there the drawbacks are even greater! It amounts to splitting all the true qi within the body of the one who cultivates the heart method into two halves, pouring them respectively into the two who do not cultivate it, and then joining those other two together into a two-person combined-strike formation. Both of them possess the stacked power—only the one who cultivates the heart method is left in a sorry state; the moment he stops circulating the method, he becomes an ordinary man outright.

There is, however, one further drawback: the other two need not cultivate the combined-strike heart method, but they must cultivate the same type of heart method. Otherwise no stacking is possible—the true qi will reject one another.

Such a rotten, thankless heart method—apart from Wei Zhao, presumably no cultivator would ever cultivate it on his own, unless his head were waterlogged.

"..." Wei Zhao was rather speechless as he read. If his Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art were not so heaven-defying, he would never have dared to attempt this madman's heart-method mnemonic.

One had to remember: once Wei Zhao stopped the heart method, he would become an ordinary man. If some ill-intentioned person came along, a single palm strike would be the end of Wei Zhao.

Still, Wei Zhao was certain that if he, with his strength, cultivated the second layer of the combined-strike heart method and then found another Earth-rank alchemist to work alongside Han Jingyi in refining pills—with Wei Zhao pouring his power into them—the odds of successfully refining third-grade pills would rise greatly. He might even refine third-grade pills outright!

Only, of the alchemists Wei Zhao knew, apart from You Panhu there truly was no one else. To have that man cooperate—Wei Zhao would sooner kill himself and be done with it.

Shaking his head, Wei Zhao halted the circulation of the second layer of the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art and began to cultivate according to the mnemonic of the first layer of the combined-strike art.

But no sooner had Wei Zhao begun circulating the combined-strike heart method than his expression changed! He could not circulate it at all!

Wei Zhao discovered to his astonishment that not only would this heart method not circulate—the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art within his body actually began circulating on its own, rejecting the combined-strike mnemonic outright, with a feeling of fire and water refusing to mix!

"..." Wei Zhao had thought himself special, that the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art was an all-purpose heart method able to accommodate other mnemonics. But to his surprise, he was just like everyone else: once you cultivate one heart method, you cannot cultivate another, or rejection sets in.

Did that mean he would have to abolish the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art before he could cultivate the combined-strike art? Wei Zhao dared not try it lightly. If he abolished it and could not cultivate it back, he would lose enormously. The combined-strike art was heaven-defying, true—but without the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art, why would Wei Zhao bother cultivating it at all?

Without the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art, his strength would be depleted and could not be replenished. So Wei Zhao shook his head decisively and abandoned any notion of further studying the combined-strike art. It seemed there was no cutting corners for him.

Putting the combined-strike art aside, Wei Zhao once more circulated the second layer of the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art and began to cultivate with the aid of the fragrance upon Wang Xinyan's body...

In the blink of an eye, school was out. You Panhu came bustling over, having taken from a hidden disciple of the You family everything Wei Zhao had asked for. He ran straight to Wei Zhao's seat, sat down, set the things upon Wei Zhao's desk, and said, "Take a look—everything's here. Cash on delivery, one hand pays, the other hands over the goods!"

"Where's the money?" Wei Zhao asked.

"What money?" You Panhu blinked.

"Didn't you say cash on delivery—one hand pays, the other hands over the goods?" Wei Zhao countered.

"...Damn it! Wei Zhao, you're not trying to swindle another sum out of me, are you?" You Panhu started in alarm and said hurriedly, "I'm telling you, no backing out now—these were the agreed terms. There's no money. If you won't trade... then you'll trade whether you like it or not!"

"Heh..." Wei Zhao looked at You Panhu and smiled. He had expected the man to say "then forget it," but instead it was "you'll trade whether you like it or not."

"The data?" You Panhu held out his hand.

"Let me check first." Wei Zhao opened the box on the desk. Inside was a second-grade medicinal cauldron; You Panhu had given him one before, and Wei Zhao inspected this one and found no problem. As for the smelting materials for a third-grade cauldron, Wei Zhao did not know what they ought to be, so he only gave them a rough once-over. He supposed You Panhu would not cheat him—and the man had no idea whether Wei Zhao knew or not.

As for the third-grade pill ingredients, Wei Zhao recognized only those for the Qi-Gathering Pill. He knew the formulas for the Ice-Heart Jade-Bone Pill and the Great Return Pill, but some of their ingredients he did not recognize. Still, since the Qi-Gathering Pill materials were all correct, the rest should be fine as well.

"Done checking? Relax, nothing's missing. I, You Panhu, do have that much credibility—no need to look so closely!" You Panhu, thinking Wei Zhao meant to inspect the quality of each medicinal herb one by one, grew a little anxious.

"All right, Jingyi, give him the data," Wei Zhao said.

"Okay." Han Jingyi nodded, and was just about to—