Chapter 1713 — Call Me Brother-in-Law
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
"Wei Zhao will do." Wei Zhao spoke indifferently. "Your sister is a shrewd one — I am nothing but her shield. She comes to me when there is trouble and keeps away when there is none. It seems my lot in life is to be the shield-bearer."
Wei Zhao's words lifted the somewhat stifled air in the hall at once, and everyone finally understood why Shen Yushu called Wei Zhao "shield-bearer." So that was what it meant.
"Then... I shall do as Wu Chengtian and the others do, and call you Chief for now..." Sun Yikai decided to keep in step with the rest. Since Wu Chengtian and Chen Yuxuan both addressed him so, there could be no mistake in doing the same.
"Heh—" Wei Zhao smiled. "In truth, my purpose in founding this Cultivators' Association is simple: to have everyone stand together. And I will swiftly raise the strength of one person in each of your families. I trust you have all seen with your own eyes how the strength of Wu Chengtian, Chen Yuxuan and Qiu Lingshan has changed. But for now each family has only one place; later, as circumstances allow, we may consider adding more."
Wei Zhao could only elevate men who were his own trusted followers. He would never dare use the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art on others at will. It came down to a question of loyalty — and if word of it spread, it would be bad for his own safety.
The crowd had suspected before this that the sudden surge in strength of Wu Chengtian, Chen Yuxuan and Qiu Lingshan had something to do with Wei Zhao, but hearing it from Wei Zhao's own lips still shook them — and left them somewhat regretful.
One place per family meant that only Wu Chengtian, Chen Yuxuan, Qiu Lingshan, Yang Huaijun and Sun Jingyan would enjoy Wei Zhao's favor. As for the Liu family, having no cultivators as yet, they did not think much of it.
None felt the regret more keenly than Sun Yikai. He knew well enough that Wei Zhao's place would surely go to Sun Jingyan; among all these spokesmen, his circumstances alone were peculiar.
But it did not matter. Wei Zhao had said that more places might be added later as circumstances allowed — which meant he still had his chance.
Seeing the excitement on every face, Wei Zhao went on: "In truth, you should all know my identity well enough. I am a physician. But by another identity I am an alchemist — and that is why I can swiftly raise another's strength. Yet my vigor and my grade are limited; I cannot refine pills without end."
Wei Zhao laid the wondrous power of his Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art at the alchemist's door. The alchemist's identity had already been revealed once, back when he was hiding in the Tang family; that did no harm — alchemists were rare, to be sure, but no one thought anything amiss in it.
But if Wei Zhao were to say that he could transmit true qi into another, and word of it got out, that would be a grave matter indeed. He feared being seized and made somebody's guinea pig. An alchemist was different; taking an alchemist captive was useless. Any cultivator with a grain of sense understood that not just anyone could be an alchemist, and that capturing one gained nothing.
Moreover, there was an unwritten rule in the jianghu: an alchemist stood a cut above the rest. No family or sect would seize an alchemist and force him to refine pills for them; that would be to break the rules of the jianghu.