Chapter 2731 — A Little Guidance

From what Wei Zhao could tell after his examinations, there was no illness in Wang Xinyan's body at all—only extreme weakness. But he brewed her a medicinal draught every single day. How was it that the weakness not only failed to improve, but grew worse and worse?

Kang Jinglong had originally meant to bring You Panhu along after class and put on a grand display of his newfound backing. But Wang Xinyan had not woken up, and if she was asleep, she would not see a thing. With no other choice, he shelved the notion for later and instead steeled his patience and walked over to Wei Zhao's side. "What did you do to her last night? Why is she still sleeping now?"

Wei Zhao gave Kang Jinglong a faint, sidelong glance. "She's ill. What could I possibly have done to her? Besides, even if I had done something to her, I don't owe you an explanation, do I?"

"She is my fiancée. I have the right to know," Kang Jinglong said.

"Oh? She's your fiancée? But you're not married yet, are you? I might as well say she's my girlfriend!" Wei Zhao said.

"You..." Kang Jinglong forced down his fury and turned to leave, sneering inwardly. Just you wait, Wei Zhao. When Wang Xinyan wakes up in a little while and you learn what backing I have now, let's see if you don't piss yourself in fright! I'll let you strut about for a while longer!

It was not until noon that Wang Xinyan finally woke. Kang Jinglong, wanting to show off, had bought boxed lunches with You Panhu and eaten them right there in the classroom. The moment he saw Wang Xinyan awake, he abandoned his food, shot to his feet, and strode over to Wei Zhao and Wang Xinyan.

Seeing the two of them approach, Wei Zhao immediately frowned. But to his surprise, You Panhu actually took a seat beside Han Jingyi, who sat behind Wei Zhao, and Kang Jinglong casually settled into the empty seat next to him. Neither of them came to bother Wei Zhao or Wang Xinyan at all.

"Han Jingyi, how has your pill refining been coming along lately? How about we compare notes?" You Panhu said to Han Jingyi, who was scribbling and sketching away on her tablet. Staring at the tablet in her hands, he wished he could snatch it away in one grab.

"Oh..." Han Jingyi casually shut off her tablet and glanced at You Panhu. "Here to swindle Jingjing out of her good materials again?"

"Uh... ahem, ahem..." You Panhu choked on her words. What did she mean, swindle her out of her good materials *again*? It was clearly just a lousy set of class notes, and she had fleeced him for a fortune at that auction!

But You Panhu could not very well say that aloud. The auction had been voluntary, after all—no one had forced him to buy anything there. If he had bought at a loss, he could only count himself unlucky. So You Panhu could only say, "How can you call it swindling? Aren't we just exchanging knowledge? I merely wanted to ask whether you've run into any difficulties in your refining lately."

"If I have run into difficulties, can you solve them for me?" Han Jingyi shot back.

"Of course I can't. But I can find a formidable pill refiner to give you some guidance—that refiner is truly formidable!" You Panhu said.

"Oh? And who might that be?" Han Jingyi frowned. "Don't tell me you mean your grandfather?"

"Heavens, no. My grandfather is only a second-rank pill refiner. The one I mean is a third-rank pill refiner—and a Heaven-rank expert, no less!" You Panhu said in a tempting tone. "Well? Would you like him to give you some pointers?"

"Oh. Then have him come," Han Jingyi said perfunctorily.

"He's an elder of the Xuandan Sect! How could he just come at a word? Here's what we'll do—you give me your notes on pill refining, I'll show them to him and have him give them a look and a few pointers. A casual remark or two from him, and you'll benefit enormously!" You Panhu said.

"Swindling Jingjing's notes again. Who's to say this person even exists?" Han Jingyi glared at You Panhu, no longer willing to pay him any mind.

"Uh... how can you call it swindling? This person really exists! Brother Kang Jinglong can vouch for me—if you don't believe me, ask Brother Kang!" You Panhu shot Kang Jinglong a meaningful look, signaling that it was his turn on stage.

Kang Jinglong had been waiting for this moment, practically itching with impatience. He hastily said, "Naturally that's true, because that person is my younger brother, Kang Jingming. He is currently the Eighth Elder of the Xuandan Sect, a Heaven-rank expert, and a third-rank pill refiner!"

"Oh, so that's how it is..." Han Jingyi said flatly.

The whole time Kang Jinglong said this, he kept watching Wei Zhao's expression for a reaction. But to his dismay, Wei Zhao seemed not to have heard a word—he simply went on quietly eating his boxed lunch, showing no sign of anything amiss at all.

In truth, Wei Zhao's shock was all on the surface. Deep in his heart, he was utterly shaken. He could never have imagined that a good-for-nothing prodigal young master of the past had actually become a Heaven-rank expert and a third-rank pill refiner.

This was simply insane, wasn't it? Wei Zhao had long known that a lone cultivator like himself could not be mentioned in the same breath as disciples of ancient sects, but even so, he had never imagined Kang Jingming could go from an ordinary person to the Heaven rank in such a short span of time. Faster than even Zhang Naipao?

Even though Wei Zhao understood that pill refiners cultivated faster than ordinary cultivators—and were correspondingly weaker in strength than ordinary cultivators—he still could not quite stomach it. Had the man been popping pills? How could his strength have grown so fast? Even Feng Xiaoxiao, an inheritor, was not this fast, surely?

Still, this revealed one thing at least: either Kang Jinglong was boasting, or the Xuandan Sect was concealing strength among the ancient factions. It was not merely one of the strongest of the ancient sects—it must have other cards up its sleeve as well.

What baffled Wei Zhao most was how Kang Jingming had become the Eighth Elder of the Xuandan Sect. What did he have to his name? Why would the Xuandan Sect pour such effort into cultivating a prodigal young master like him? They would have been better off cultivating Kang Jinglong!

Suddenly, a possibility occurred to Wei Zhao. Back when Kang Jingming had kidnapped Guan Xin, he had demanded the pill formula for the "Life-Extending Detox Pill." But what Wei Zhao gave him was actually a new "Marrow-Cleansing Bone-Transforming Pill" formula that he had derived by merging the Life-Extending Detox Pill with Zhang Lifeng's genuine Marrow-Cleansing Bone-Transforming Pill.

Wei Zhao had deliberately planted two small flaws in that formula. One of them was that refining the new "Marrow-Cleansing Bone-Transforming Pill" required having previously taken either the Life-Extending Detox Pill or the Marrow-Cleansing Bone-Transforming Pill. Only a person of pure constitution could refine it successfully.

And according to what was said, Kang Jingming had eaten the other half of that dog-turd-like Life-Extending Detox Pill at Kang the Divine Physician's birthday banquet. That made Kang Jingming one of the candidates capable of refining the new "Marrow-Cleansing Bone-Transforming Pill." And with that, everything fell neatly into place.

A wondrous novel—[Web]—remember our web address: