"Young Master Tian, may I ask—is there anything I must give in return?" Kang Zhaoming asked cautiously.

"Give in return? All you need do is devote yourself to learning pill refinement. Nothing else need concern you," Tian Canbian said lightly. "Of course, if you have the talent, your future standing in the Xuandan Sect will be beyond imagining. If you have none—well, then I'm sorry, but you'll go back to wherever it was you came from."

"I will do my utmost!" Kang Zhaoming's heart tightened, and he answered at once.

"Fine words come cheap. What comes next depends on you alone," Tian Canbian said.

"Then... shall I call home now and tell them the good news?" Kang Zhaoming asked.

"There's no need to tell them yet. I will have Elder You inform the Kang family that you are helping the You family with a certain matter," Tian Canbian said. "This matter must remain secret for now! Of course, if you achieve something, if you truly become a pill refiner who satisfies me, I will send you home in silks and glory and guarantee that the Kang family becomes a hidden clan standing equal to the You family! But if you prove to be mud that no wall can hold, then you need say nothing to anyone."

"Yes..." Kang Zhaoming had meant to go home and show off a little, but hearing Tian Canbian's words, he realized this was likely some secret affair. If he did well and became a pill refiner, he could return home in glory as a pill refiner—but he must never breathe a word of what he was to do!

So if it worked out, everything would be fine; if it did not, he would be sent packing, and he must not talk too much besides.

"Good. Since you've agreed, come back to the Xuandan Sect with me tonight," Tian Canbian said. "Remember: once there, say little. What you are asked to do is absolutely confidential. In the hidden You family, only Old Master You knows of it."

"Yes. Rest assured, Young Master Tian—I, Zhaoming, will gladly dash my brains out and smear the ground with my liver to repay your kindness in recognizing my worth!" Kang Zhaoming said hurriedly.

"Fifth Uncle, take him down first," Tian Canbian instructed the Fifth Elder.

"Yes, Young Master." The Fifth Elder led Kang Zhaoming away to rest, and now only Old Master You and Tian Canbian remained in the room.

"Elder You, at this Hidden Clan Summit, your hidden You family seemed to perform rather poorly," Tian Canbian said.

"Indeed. We failed to live up to Young Master Tian's expectations," Old Master You said with a bitter smile. "Who could have foreseen that a dark horse like Wei Zhao would come charging out..."

"Wei Zhao?" At the name, Tian Canbian gave a noncommittal nod. It was not the first time he had heard it—the Xuandan Sect had its own intelligence network, and he knew a fair amount about Wei Zhao. The boyfriend of Feng Xiaoxiao, inheritor of the Ice Palace!

"That Wei Zhao is simply too formidable. And at the ancient level, private action is not permitted at the Hidden Clan Summit, so..." Old Master You watched Tian Canbian's expression carefully.

"Mm. Although our Xuandan Sect and..." Tian Canbian paused there, did not continue, and switched topics outright: "But at the ancient level, things are not for us alone to decide. In any case, before the Heaven-Tier Assembly, the fewer complications the better. That day draws nearer and nearer. If we can seize it, the entire strength of the ancient level will undergo a qualitative breakthrough..."

"Yes..." Old Master You thought to himself that it was fortunate they had not made a move at the Hidden Clan Summit.

"From what I know, that Wei Zhao is merely an Earth-Tier expert. Can you truly do nothing against him?" Tian Canbian asked, somewhat curious.

"It's true that Wei Zhao is only a mid Earth-Tier expert, but he possesses certain trump cards and killing moves. He can fight opponents above his level—several levels above, and several opponents at once. That makes us rather wary of acting rashly..." Old Master You said.

"Oh? How so?" Tian Canbian asked.

"In fact, before this, our hidden You family, the hidden Yu family, and the hidden Zhao family joined forces to encircle and suppress Wei Zhao..." Old Master You's voice turned somewhat bitter here.

"I know of this matter. You told us—you failed," Tian Canbian said. Naturally he knew of it, though he had not bothered to ask for details. He had many matters to attend to each day, and was busy; where would he find time to concern himself with so small a figure as Wei Zhao?

"Yes, we failed. Only I did not state the details plainly. Wei Zhao annihilated three Earth-Tier experts with a single move—and one of them was even late Earth-Tier," Old Master You said. "A single move..."

"Oh? A single move?" Tian Canbian's expression shifted slightly. To annihilate three Earth-Tier experts in one move—even he could not help but be moved! He was called the most prodigious genius in the history of the Xuandan Sect, formidable not only in pill refinement but in martial cultivation as well. Yet even he would not claim that at the Earth-Tier he could have instantly slain three experts of the same level—and of slightly higher level at that...

"Indeed. And at this Hidden Clan Summit, Wei Zhao did something else astonishing..." Old Master You held nothing back, recounting in detail to Tian Canbian Wei Zhao's battles with Ma Dashen and with Wo Jindao.

"This Wei Zhao... is truly remarkable. But there is one thing I cannot understand: when he fought Wo Jindao, why did he not end the battle in a single move, as he did against Ma Dashen?" Tian Canbian was a clever man and saw the discrepancy at once.

"That... I do not know either. But the whole course of the matches was as I have said; I am simply recounting the process faithfully, exactly as it happened," Old Master You said. In truth, he also wished Tian Canbian to learn more about Wei Zhao, so that they might find his weakness.

"By your account, the situation is indeed somewhat bizarre," Tian Canbian nodded. "If you mean to deal with Wei Zhao, hold off for now. If it is truly as you say, then even if you went in person, you might not be Wei Zhao's match."

"That... naturally..." Old Master You smiled awkwardly. If he had been confident, he would have joined the interception of Wei Zhao outside the manor in the first place! That he had not intercepted him was precisely proof that he lacked confidence!

"As for the matter of Wei Zhao, when I return I will report it to the Dharma Protector of our Xuandan Sect's War Hall and ask him to help analyze the situation," Tian Canbian said.

The Xuandan Sect was one of the largest among the ancient sects, divided internally into the Pill Refinement Hall and the War Hall. The Pill Refinement Hall devoted itself to pill refinement—though its elders were also highly accomplished in martial arts—while the War Hall was charged with the Xuandan Sect's combat and defense. Its Dharma Protectors cultivated martial arts exclusively, though they also understood a little of the art of pills, without being authoritative in it.

This too was where the Xuandan Sect held its advantage and its dominance over other ancient sects: in pill refinement and in cultivation, it was wholly self-sufficient.

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