護花近衛 - 第2654章 冰宮、冰糖 - 清風書屋

"That does make sense!" Yu Bing was rather moved by Zhao Qiwu's words. He had not expected Zhao Qiwu to be so thoroughly consistent, inside and out, and so truly loyal to Wei Zhao and Zhao Qilei. Still, Yu Bing thought about himself: if it were he who had obtained the pills, would he have set them aside for Wei Zhao?

The answer was obvious. Of course Yu Bing would have done so! That he had kept his life under Yu Shan, that he had been able to remain in the Ice Palace to cultivate, that he had become an outer-court steward—all of it was thanks to Wei Zhao. Without Wei Zhao, he might well have died far from home.

So Yu Bing's gratitude toward Wei Zhao was no less than Zhao Qiwu's. When Zhao Qiwu proposed setting the pills aside, he understood the other man's thinking at once, yet he still advised, "After so long, Chief Wei Zhao has surely broken through the Mystic Rank and advanced to the Earth Rank. For all we know, he may be on the verge of the Heaven Rank even now. From what I see among these pills, you should take the Lesser Qi-Gathering Pills yourself, and keep the Greater Qi-Gathering Pills for Chief Wei Zhao."

"Actually, the Lesser Qi-Gathering Pills were meant for Young Master Tan..." Zhao Qiwu smiled. "Yu Bing, there is no need to try to persuade me. My mind is made up, and I will not touch these pills. I would rather keep grinding away at my cultivation!"

"Good. In that case, let us strive together!" Yu Bing nodded.

In truth, how Feng Xiaoxiao longed to give these pills straight to Wei Zhao! But she could not. Bingtang had made a pact with Wei Zhao: if Wei Zhao failed to refine the Ice-Heart Jade-Bone Pill within two years, then she must accept the inheritance. And if Wei Zhao could become a peak late-stage Heaven Rank expert, or an alchemist of the third grade of the Yellow Rank or above, then Bingtang would become Wei Zhao's littlest-little-little-little wife. So it was impossible for Feng Xiaoxiao to secretly help Wei Zhao—and Bingtang would not permit it either.

Therefore, the only thing Feng Xiaoxiao could do now was distribute these pills among Wei Zhao's underlings and let them grow as much as they could, so that they might become his supports in the future. What she had not expected was that Zhao Qiwu would be so loyal as to set the pills aside for Wei Zhao!

What Feng Xiaoxiao did not know was that while she was missing Wei Zhao, Bingtang was also secretly watching him! Though Wei Zhao had promised her that he would refine the Ice-Heart Jade-Bone Pill within two years, Bingtang did not quite believe it, and so she naturally paid him a little more attention.

Of course, there was another reason as well: Bingtang had once boasted that if Wei Zhao became an alchemist of the third grade of the Yellow Rank or above, or a peak late-stage Heaven Rank expert, she would marry him and be his littlest-little-little-little wife. Bingtang feared that Wei Zhao might, by some slip, actually achieve that goal—and then, when the time came, would she marry him or not?

This was a knot that greatly vexed Bingtang, especially as she watched Wei Zhao's strength advance by leaps and bounds, from the late Mystic Rank he had held when he first arrived at the Ice Palace to his current peak mid-stage Earth Rank. His growth could only be called swift!

And what astonished Bingtang most was that Wei Zhao had actually taken a great pile of second-grade pills to the marketplace of the Cultivators' Commerce Guild to sell—and pills of exceedingly fine quality at that. Could it be that in such a short time, Wei Zhao had already become a second-grade alchemist?

After all, many alchemists could never reach the second grade in their entire lives. And even a second-grade alchemist could not possibly refine pills as plump and full as those Wei Zhao had made. This discovery left Bingtang both delighted and conflicted.