Chapter 3366 — Obtaining the Qi-Gathering Pill Once More

Seeing Tuo'er Long lying on the ground barely breathing, Tuo'er Riyue hastily fumbled a jade bottle from his robes, took out a third-grade Great Restoration Pill, and placed it into Tuo'er Long's mouth.

Having taken the Great Restoration Pill, Tuo'er Long's complexion improved somewhat, but his injuries were not healed; at best he would not die for a while yet: "Father... I am finished. To think that He Yi could still unleash such a strike even as he died..."

"Do not worry too much, Tuo'er Long. Hold on—Mr. Lin can save you!" Tuo'er Riyue said urgently.

"My wounds... are too grave..." Tuo'er Long said with a bitter smile. "And besides, why would Mr. Lin save me?"

Tuo'er Long's words made Tuo'er Riyue pause, and then he too realized: what he and Wei Zhao had was a transaction. Wei Zhao had healed his and Tuo'ertu's injuries in exchange for killing He Yi and obtaining the depleted energy stones. But now there was one more, Tuo'er Long—would Wei Zhao lift a hand?

Still, no matter what, Tuo'er Riyue had to try! He lifted Tuo'er Long in his arms and instructed the two elders of the Pali clan: "Tuo'er Da, Tuo'er Xiao, keep a close watch on Kang Jingming. Do not let him slip away!"

"Yes!" The two elders nodded in assent.

"Tuo'er Shan, Tuo'ertu, follow me!" With that, Tuo'er Riyue ran swiftly toward Wei Zhao's room.

A burst of urgent knocking made Wei Zhao pause slightly. He opened the door and saw Tuo'er Riyue carrying Tuo'er Long, which surprised him somewhat: "Old Patriarch, what has happened to Mr. Tuo'er Long?"

"Mr. Lin, Tuo'er Long was struck by He Yi's dying blow and badly wounded. I beg that Mr. Lin lend a hand and save him!" Tuo'er Riyue said.

"Oh?" Wei Zhao glanced at Tuo'er Long. Grave as his wounds were, they seemed to have been checked by the pill, and he would not die for a while yet. But Wei Zhao did not agree at once. Instead he said, "Old Patriarch, do you think healing others costs me nothing? Healing you and Tuo'ertu cost me no small amount of physical strength and true qi—my cultivation grade nearly dropped."

"That..." Only then did Tuo'er Riyue realize that Wei Zhao used his true qi to heal others! Small wonder—how much physical strength and true qi could one cultivator have? How precious were their strength and true qi? Otherwise, how could energy stones be worth cities?

Wei Zhao had to pay a price as well. So for Tuo'er Riyue to expect Wei Zhao to heal Tuo'er Long with nothing but bare words was truly rather shameless.

Of course, this was not Wei Zhao making things difficult for them. In truth, it was also because the relationship between Wei Zhao and the Pali clan was nothing more than a transaction! Had the Pali clan not attacked him at the very beginning and imprisoned him in their dungeon, Wei Zhao would not have minded doing them a favor!

But as things stood, the Pali clan had first allied with Kang Jingming, and only after seeing how powerful he was had they turned to cooperate with him. Thus the Pali clan's standing in Wei Zhao's eyes had fallen a notch, and he would not deal with them so sincerely.

Sometimes, one must play hard to get.

"Mr. Lin, if you were to heal Tuo'er Long, what price would you require?" Tuo'er Riyue was no fool. Since he and Wei Zhao had already struck two deals, why not strike a third? "He Yi has already been slain by us."

"Killing He Yi was our agreed condition from the start." Wei Zhao shook his head faintly. "For me to heal him, the true qi I would lose is simply too much..."

"We can trade ten fully charged energy stones..." Tuo'er Riyue said after a moment's hesitation.

"I have no need of fully charged energy stones." Wei Zhao refused. "Do you have anything else?"

"Beyond that... there are pills and such, though Mr. Lin should have little need of them..." As Tuo'er Riyue said this, a thought suddenly struck him! Had Wei Zhao not said earlier that Kang Jingming still owed him a Qi-Gathering Pill? Could it be that Wei Zhao wanted this Qi-Gathering Pill? If so... At this thought, Tuo'er Riyue hastily said, "Our Pali clan still has one Qi-Gathering Pill. I wonder whether Mr. Lin might need it?"

The Qi-Gathering Pill was of little use to the Pali clan. They had plenty of energy stones for cultivation and no need of Qi-Gathering Pills at all. They had traded for a few back then and then stopped, and one still remained.

"A Qi-Gathering Pill?" Wei Zhao raised an eyebrow. He had not expected the Pali clan to have such a thing, and he nodded slowly. "A Qi-Gathering Pill will do, but you should know that the value of a single third-grade pill is hardly enough to make me lift a hand."

"This I understand, Mr. Lin. Our Pali clan will bear your kindness in mind forever! Consider it a debt our Pali clan owes Mr. Lin—hereafter, should Mr. Lin have any need of us, so long as it lies within our power, we will certainly do it!" Tuo'er Riyue said.

"Good. Guard Tuo'er Long for me!" With that, Wei Zhao reached out and pressed his fingers to Tuo'er Long's wrist, then set the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art into motion!

Although Wei Zhao acted only for the sake of the Qi-Gathering Pill, the Pali clan had not yet produced it and Wei Zhao had already begun—for which Tuo'er Riyue was endlessly grateful!

For all Wei Zhao's talk of complexity, healing Tuo'er Long was truly a trifling effort. Once Tuo'er Long was fully recovered, Wei Zhao released his hand and said, "It is done."

Tuo'er Riyue was about to ask Tuo'er Long how he felt when Tuo'er Long sprang to his feet, bowed deeply before Wei Zhao, clasped his fists, and said, "Thank you, Mr. Lin, for saving my life. I shall never forget it. From now on, my life belongs to Mr. Lin. The Pali clan owes Mr. Lin a debt—that is the clan's. I, Tuo'er Long, personally will follow Mr. Lin's lead from this day forward!"

Tuo'er Riyue looked at his eldest son and in the end said nothing. He knew his son's character—a man who repays kindness. No doubt he too understood that the value of a single Qi-Gathering Pill was nowhere near enough to buy back his life!

Truth be told, if the Pali clan had wished it, one Qi-Gathering Pill could have been traded for a single energy stone—ten would not even have been needed! Yet Wei Zhao had not asked for ten energy stones but for the Qi-Gathering Pill instead, which showed that Wei Zhao likely happened to need the thing and had simply done the Pali clan a favor along the way.

"Heh, and how is Kang Jingming?" Wei Zhao had no use for Tuo'er Long at present—he was far away in a foreign land, too distant from Wei Zhao. Distant water cannot quench a nearby fire, and for the moment Wei Zhao truly had nothing for him to do.

"Kang Jingming is being held under guard by our people. How does Mr. Lin think he should be dealt with?" Tuo'er Riyue asked. In his view, whether Kang Jingming lived or died was a matter of a single word from Wei Zhao. (To be continued...)