Chapter 1871 — The Product Launch
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
Just now, for a fleeting moment, Wei Zhao had indeed felt as though he stood above the heroes of the age, looking down upon every master under heaven—but now, on reflection, he recognized it for what it was: an unhealthy swelling of self-confidence. Had Jiao Yazi not warned him in time, he might well have strayed onto a crooked path without even knowing it.
If he pursued the learning of ever more martial techniques for their own sake, then when he truly faced an enemy, he might not even know which technique to use. Too much deliberation would waste precious time, and he would long since have been struck down and left sprawled on the ground.
"Heh, I was only speaking offhand. It's enough that you remember it." Jiao Yazi nodded.
"By the way—last time, how exactly did I suffer that qi deviation?" Once Wei Zhao had recovered, he had thrown himself straight into cultivation and had not yet found the chance to ask about it.
"You still don't know?" Jiao Yazi was taken aback for a moment, then said, "Neither do I..."
"You don't know either?" Wei Zhao was all the more astonished. "What happened after I fell unconscious—you don't know that?"
"I don't. My connection to the outside world runs through you as its medium. You were unconscious—how could I know what happened?" Jiao Yazi shook his head. "Besides, I can only sense the world outside when you and I actively establish a connection. At all other times, I am sealed off."
"It seems I'll have to ask Little Shu and the others..." After waking, Wei Zhao had asked Yaoyao and Little Shu about his qi deviation, but they had given him only a very brief account of what had happened—that, on Old Man Wei's advice, they had gone to Snow Valley to beg for an Ice Spirit Sacred Fruit. As for the process itself, they had not gone into detail.
Such was the Young Lady's nature: no matter what she gave, she would never put it on display. Wei Zhao knew that although the Ice Spirit Sacred Fruit was not as important to Snow Valley as the Fire Spirit Sacred Fruit was to the Ice Palace, it must still have cost them no small price.
It was simply that the Young Lady was cold on the outside and warm within, unwilling to claim credit. What did strike Wei Zhao as strange was that if the Young Lady would not speak of it, Little Shu had said nothing either—she had not brought her gossiping talents into play to recount the whole affair for him.
Wei Zhao supposed the Young Lady must have ordered her to keep silent.
"Never mind that. Tell me what you did before the qi deviation—I'd guess something went wrong at one of the steps..." said Jiao Yazi.
"All right..." Wei Zhao nodded, and recounted in detail to Jiao Yazi everything that had happened before the qi deviation.
"Ah!" Having heard Wei Zhao out, Jiao Yazi gave a somewhat speechless sigh.
"What is it?" Wei Zhao found Jiao Yazi's reaction rather odd.
"Boy Lin, what do they mean by 'haste makes waste'? How many times have I said it before—a towering tower rises from level ground. And you... you actually used other medicines to substitute for the one used in refining the body-tempering draught. It would be a wonder if you hadn't suffered a qi deviation!" Jiao Yazi said with a bitter smile. "How could the Restful Herb be replaced at will? It is the very key to stilling the spirit and calming the mind. But once you replaced it, it could no longer serve that purpose—so was a qi deviation not only to be expected?"
"This..." Wei Zhao's face flushed at once. He had not consulted Jiao Yazi beforehand; relying on his own familiarity with the properties of medicines, he had taken it upon himself to swap out one ingredient—and the result had brought such unforeseen consequences.