Chapter 2724 — Testing Attributes

"Oh—I mean, let Sister Xinyan's daddy buy another one," Shen Yushu said, backpedaling. Privately, she was already making plans: when Tang Zhi called in a few days, she would bring it up, and have Tang Zhi ask Xuegu for another one of these fine treasures.

"Yeah, let me see if it'll work," Wang Xinyan said hurriedly. The credit belonged to Tang Zhi, yet it had somehow been pinned on her, and it made her cheeks burn. She was not a greedy person and did not want Wei Zhao's gratitude toward Tang Zhi transferred onto herself; that would leave her feeling utterly indebted.

It had already made her feel a little guilty, stepping in for Tang Zhi as Wei Zhao's principal wife; to also covet Tang Zhi's contribution would leave her terribly uneasy. True, Wang Xinyan had agreed to nothing and promised nothing—but she slept in the same bed as Wei Zhao every night, and who would believe she was not his girlfriend?

"That's fine then. A little more expensive doesn't matter," Wei Zhao said after hearing her out.

"All right, Arrow-Brand Bro, you owe us the story of this trip to the ancient tomb! Little Shu loves hearing your tales best!" Shen Yushu changed the subject. She did not want to dwell on Kang Xiaofeng's errand—talk too much and you slip.

"Oh, the tomb. Right—the haul from this trip really was enormous!" Wei Zhao nodded, suspecting nothing. He had only just returned to the villa from the tomb that day and had not gone to school; when Gu Mengyao, Shen Yushu, and Wang Xinyan came back that evening, he had not even had time to say anything to them before Kang Xiaofeng arrived.

So Wei Zhao sat down and told Gu Mengyao, Shen Yushu, and Wang Xinyan about this journey into the tomb. The tale was hair-raising and chilling to the bone; Gu Mengyao broke out in cold sweats as she listened, and when she heard that Yu Xiaoke had gone missing, her face went stark white with fright.

But when they heard that Yu Xiaoke had actually discovered a hidden mechanism, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

Shen Yushu clicked her tongue in admiration. "Arrow-Brand Bro, this Yu Xiaoke is quite something—a worthy hand of the Thief Sect. If you hadn't brought her along, you and Teacher Bai might have come back from that tomb with nothing at all."

"Exactly. Yu Xiaoke may be a bit money-hungry, but that's hardly a flaw of hers. The gold and silver she takes never go toward her own comforts—every bit of it goes to the children at the orphanage," Wei Zhao said with a nod.

That was precisely why Wei Zhao had kept helping her. Otherwise, if Yu Xiaoke had been a vain, materialistic girl, he certainly would not have aided her so unstintingly—nor could he have fallen for her.

"So do you like her?" Shen Yushu asked suddenly.

"I…" Wei Zhao smiled wryly. That was a question he truly could not answer. But after thinking it over, he nodded in admission. "Somewhat."

Wei Zhao's answer did not surprise Gu Mengyao and the others. After all, if he did not like Yu Xiaoke, he would never have helped her so much.

"Yu Xiaoke isn't bad by nature, but bringing her home to live with us isn't really practical either—she can't leave the orphanage," Gu Mengyao said after a moment's thought.

"Right, let's drop that for now." Wei Zhao waved a hand. "This treasure for testing one's constitution that I brought back from the tomb—you should all try it too and see what constitutions you have. Then I'll keep an eye out for cultivation methods and mnemonics that suit each of you."

"Wonderful!" Gu Mengyao had long wanted to become a cultivator. Over these past weeks she had realized that Wei Zhao could not protect her forever; he had his own affairs to attend to. Even if they kept living under the same roof for the rest of their lives, he would inevitably have to leave on business. She had to be able to protect herself, so that Wei Zhao could leave with peace of mind.

And most important of all, Gu Mengyao envied those Heaven Tier experts—Bingtang, Xueli, and the like—whose looks aged so slowly. She did not want to become a haggard old woman someday and find herself utterly out of place beside Wei Zhao.

Tang Zhi, Feng Xiaoxiao—they would all stay impossibly young, forever twenty. She refused to be outshone, and so she burned with enthusiasm for cultivation.

"The test is simple. Just put your hand on it and circulate your inner-energy method… Huh? You don't have any inner-energy methods?" Wei Zhao froze, suddenly realizing a serious problem.

Back in the tomb, he had not read the *Record of Strange Tales and Marvels* carefully himself; it was Leader Bai who had read it and then told him what to do. So now Wei Zhao had no idea how to test Gu Mengyao and the others.

"No inner-energy method, no test? Then what use is this thing…?" Gu Mengyao was speechless too. This treasure Wei Zhao had brought back—why did it seem so useless?

"Let me ask." Wei Zhao took out his phone and dialed Leader Bai's number.

"Xiaoyi, what is it?" Leader Bai picked up quickly.

"Teacher Bai, it's like this. I was going to use that round bead for testing constitutions to check Gu Mengyao and the others, but they don't have any inner-energy methods of their own—how do we test them?" Wei Zhao asked.

"Oh, you don't need to circulate a mnemonic to test. But you can only test false attributes and true attributes—you can't test illusory attributes!" Leader Bai explained. "False or true, both are innate to the body, so they can be tested directly. Illusory attributes, however, are acquired later, so without circulating an inner-energy mnemonic there's no way to test them! Back then, I had you circulate the mnemonic because I wanted to test the illusory attribute inside you. To test true and false attributes, no mnemonic is needed—just rest your hand on the bead for more than five seconds and the result will show."

"Oh? So that's how it works!" Wei Zhao said in sudden understanding. "All right then, Teacher Bai, carry on with your work—I'll run a test on my end."

"Fine. If anything else is unclear, give me a call," Leader Bai said readily.

After hanging up, Wei Zhao said to Gu Mengyao and the other two, "Testing true and false attributes doesn't require a mnemonic. Just place your palm on it for more than five seconds."

"Oh? Then let me try first?" Shen Yushu reached out curiously and laid her palm on the round bead inside the wooden box in Wei Zhao's hand. After about five or six seconds, a fiery red color suddenly appeared on the bead—brilliant and bright, flickering with a vivid crimson glow!