Chapter 3492 — The Divine Art of Nanming
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
"Ah, that is wonderful. If there are other ways to advance, then Aunt Qing will have no problem at all." Bingtang was instantly set at ease, then shot Wei Zhao a glare. "Why did you not say so earlier? You had me worrying over you for nothing!"
"That is because I had not gotten my hug yet!" Wei Zhao said with a laugh.
"Hmph!" Bingtang glared at Wei Zhao again. "Then go see Yubing quickly, refine the Qi Gathering Pills, and get back to tracking down that pill formula!"
"Mm..." Wei Zhao nodded.
Yubing was doing quite well inside the Ice Palace. He could request leave to depart the palace and return to the Hidden Yu family, and here too he was something of a minor captain; he had risen from an outer-court steward to vice-executor of the Ice Palace. Above the executors came the elders. For now Yubing's strength fell short, but should his strength prove sufficient, promotion to executor would surely follow as a matter of course.
In the past the Ice Palace had never admitted a male disciple into its core ranks, but that did not mean it never would. With Wei Zhao's connection behind him, and with his own solid performance, Yubing had climbed the ranks swiftly.
"Chief, you came to see me!" Yubing was delighted at the sight of Wei Zhao. "I got in touch with the family and learned that my little sister is an inheritor and has already left. I hope you will look after her a little more, Chief, in the coming Heaven Rank Trial... my strength is certainly not enough for it, but I will stay in the mundane world and help you hold the Ice Palace, Chief!"
"Mm, I understand what you mean. But first I will raise the strength of you and Qijiu, then you can take a Qi Gathering Pill and advance to the early Heaven Rank, and help Aunt Qing guard the Ice Palace. As for the rest, we will discuss it when I return!" Wei Zhao said to Yubing.
He had already made his plans. Though after taking a Qi Gathering Pill Yubing might be unable to advance his own strength for a time, Wei Zhao would give each of them several energy stones for cultivation, until he returned—or until he had gained a firm foothold on Cloud Terrace Island and could bring them all over. Then Wei Zhao would certainly help them advance again!
"Ah? Chief Wei Zhao, can I take a Qi Gathering Pill too?" Yubing was both startled and overjoyed. Raised in the Hidden Yu family and steeped in its ways, he knew well that reaching the Heaven Rank was already a formidable achievement—otherwise Yu Xiaochen would never have fallen out with the Hidden Zhao family over a Qi Gathering Pill back then.
So Yubing felt no resistance toward the Qi Gathering Pill at all; rather, he eagerly looked forward to it. "To possess the strength of the early Heaven Rank would already be excellent. Chief, I will go fetch Zhao Qiwu right away!"
"Good!" Wei Zhao nodded...
Once the two of them were settled, Wei Zhao went off to refine the Qi Gathering Pills. He told Bingtang about giving each of them a pill, and he also left behind a number of energy stones for their cultivation.
With all of that done, it was time for Wei Zhao to set out on his return journey. Before the eve of the Heaven Rank Trial, he had to make one trip to Zhang Lifeng's ancient tomb. What came after that was the Heaven Rank Trial itself...
What the trial truly signified, Wei Zhao did not know. Had Ancestor Xuanchen devised it merely to select the entrants for the Heaven Rank Assembly? To Wei Zhao it seemed rather a needless complication... but whatever Wei Zhao thought, the Five Luminaries Sect was the originator of the Cloud Terrace Island plan. So long as they had not truly provoked Wei Zhao's wrath, he had no choice but to play by their rules.
Taking his leave of the Ice Palace, Wei Zhao returned to East Sea City with Wang Xinyan's cultivation method and mnemonic verses. He intended to settle Wang Xinyan in first, then go with Yu Xiaoke to the ancient tomb... Yu Xiaoke... At the thought, Wei Zhao's heart could not help but ache.