"Uncle Qing, you used to be an Earth-rank expert, didn't you?" Wei Zhao asked.

"I was. Before I lost my strength, I was an Earth-rank expert..." Uncle Qing let out a sigh. A trace of melancholy crossed his face, as though he had been carried back to memories of those days. "I wonder when I'll be able to recover the strength I had at my peak... But even if I do, I still don't know who my enemy is..."

"Don't worry, Uncle Qing. The truth about what happened back then will come to light one day..." Wei Zhao consoled him. "As long as you're still here, there is hope. I'm still growing stronger, and you'll grow stronger alongside me. By the time we both reach the Heaven rank, the day when we avenge your blood feud won't be far away..."

"Yes. So long as a person is still alive, there is hope. It's just that of all the people who were there back then, I'm the only one left... My wife, my daughter, and my ** have all vanished..." Uncle Qing sounded helpless, yet there was resentment in his voice as well. "At first, I thought I had already let it go. But ever since you raised my strength to the early Earth rank, an uncontrollable fury for revenge has flared up inside me once more. I know that one day, perhaps, I'll set out on that road. I'm truly sorry, Little Yi. Perhaps before long, I won't be able to keep my promise to look after Yaoyao and the others for the rest of their lives. Their safety, and Mr. Gu's, will have to be entrusted to you!"

"Heh, listen to yourself. It's only revenge, isn't it? How serious can it be? By the time I can raise you to the Heaven rank, I'll be a Heaven-rank expert myself. Everyone around me will be at the Heaven rank too! Qiu Lingshan, Chen Yutian, Wu Chengtian, Xiaoxiao, and the two of us: six Heaven-rank experts in all. Even an ordinary ancient sect couldn't field a lineup that powerful. When the time comes, wiping out your enemy will be as easy as turning over our hands." Hearing Uncle Qing's words, Wei Zhao brushed them off with a consoling smile.

"You're right!" Uncle Qing nodded. "With that many Heaven-rank experts, we could wipe out my enemy even if we formed a group and went after him together... Hearing you put it that way, I feel much more at ease, and my confidence has returned as well! By the way... why did you suddenly ask me about this?"

Uncle Qing suddenly realized that Wei Zhao would never have brought up the subject without a reason.

"Actually, I wanted to ask if you know anything about martial arts techniques," Wei Zhao said.

"Martial arts techniques? Earth-rank martial arts techniques? Of course I know about them. For a martial artist, the Earth rank is a watershed. The Yellow rank is merely the beginning, while the Mysterious rank can be considered a modest achievement. But only upon reaching the Earth rank can one truly be said to have set foot on the path of a martial artist!" Uncle Qing explained. "An Earth-rank expert is the first person who can truly be called a martial artist. Martial arts techniques are their combat skills, and compared with those of the Mysterious and Yellow ranks, they offer a considerable advantage. That was why the Arbitration Association of Hidden Families sent Earth-rank experts into the secular world back then. If it came to a real fight, Mysterious- and Yellow-rank experts were no match for them at all!"

"I see. Then, Uncle Qing, do you know ** any martial arts techniques?" Wei Zhao asked. "Or, to put it another way, do you know any powerful ones?"

"Naturally, I do ** martial arts techniques... Hmm? Why are you suddenly asking about this? Don't tell me you've already..." Uncle Qing was no fool. After connecting Wei Zhao's words with what had come before, he immediately reached a startling conclusion and stared at Wei Zhao in astonishment.

"That's right. I'm at the early Earth rank now." Wei Zhao smiled faintly and let his early Earth-rank aura unfold before Uncle Qing.

"I never thought... You really broke through!" Uncle Qing had always known that Wei Zhao would break through one day, but he had never imagined it would happen so soon. Before, when Wei Zhao was still at home, he had constantly been searching for an opportunity to break through. Then he had been struck by the Five-Step Dissipation Powder, and all hope had seemed to vanish.

In Uncle Qing's view, Wei Zhao would have to wait until the poison was removed before attempting a breakthrough, which meant waiting at least until the following year. Yet, astonishingly, Wei Zhao had gone out for a while and returned as an Earth-rank expert.

"It couldn't be helped. I ended up taking the Qi Gathering Pill." Wei Zhao gave a bitter smile. "It was a bit wasteful to use it that way, but at least I put it to use."

"You took the Qi Gathering Pill?" Uncle Qing froze. "Don't tell me you didn't know about its drawback?"

Uncle Qing had never imagined that Wei Zhao would simply take the Qi Gathering Pill and use it as the opportunity for a breakthrough. The thought gave him quite a fright. Earlier, when Wei Zhao had mentioned obtaining a Qi Gathering Pill, Uncle Qing had not paid much attention. After all, it was a pill for breaking through from the peak of the late Earth rank to the Heaven rank, far beyond Wei Zhao's reach at the time. So he had said nothing more.

But he had never expected Wei Zhao to take it on his own already. Uncle Qing was both shocked and distressed. He, too, had heard of the Qi Gathering Pill in his youth, but his ** had told him about its drawback. That drawback, however, did not apply to Uncle Qing.

Indeed, it was because Uncle Qing's sect had made such a grand spectacle of searching for the Qi Gathering Pill that it aroused the suspicions of other sects. The sect's priceless treasure was exposed, and the entire sect was consequently destroyed.

"I know. After taking it, it becomes difficult to ** again, doesn't it? The spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth in the natural world is too thin now, and it isn't as pure as the true energy in the Qi Gathering Pill. So once someone takes the pill, they instinctively develop an aversion to the true energy of the natural world and can no longer continue to ** in it," Wei Zhao said.

"Exactly. It's like a savage who has eaten nothing but raw meat his entire life. Once he tastes cooked food, raw meat becomes impossible to swallow. It's the same principle." Uncle Qing nodded. "Since you knew that, why did you take the Qi Gathering Pill? Don't you want to continue breaking through beyond the Earth rank?"

"Heh... I'm different from other people." Wei Zhao smiled. "I have my own ** method."

Uncle Qing was taken aback by Wei Zhao's words. He was curious, naturally, but he did not ask any further. Back then, he had possessed that priceless treasure himself, which was why he had been spared the drawback of the Qi Gathering Pill. Yet that very treasure had brought disaster upon his sect. So after hearing Wei Zhao's words, Uncle Qing chose not to probe any deeper.

"You want to learn martial arts techniques? But martial arts techniques are generally used in conjunction with a cultivation method and its formula. When you ** your cultivation method, didn't you learn any accompanying techniques?" Uncle Qing asked, puzzled. "Although some profound martial arts techniques can be used universally, without the corresponding cultivation method to support them, learning them is still extremely difficult. That is why every cultivation method generally has several corresponding martial arts techniques. They are the essence distilled through the experience of those who came before us. The techniques that accompany my cultivation method may not suit your own."

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