"I understand!" Zhao Guangyin nodded. "I will personally arrange for someone to take Chen Xi away, and then I will appear in person to speak with Chen Xi's mother, to get her to call Wei Zhao and ask for his help..."

"Yes, exactly!" Old Master Zhao nodded. "When the time comes, Chen Xi will be unharmed, but Wei Zhao will be a dead man! Even if he doesn't die, he'll be left in a sorry state. Pu Huotai has deep connections—his father is the second master of the Right Miao Sect, the foremost underworld gang in Southeast Asia. If Pu Huotai dies, Wei Zhao will have endless trouble on his hands all the same."

"Haha, what a fine scheme—borrowing a knife to kill!" Zhao Qibing was overjoyed at the sound of it. "Grandfather is still the one who knows best. The old ginger is spicier! It seems I have much to learn!"

"Mm..." Old Master Zhao smiled and nodded at Zhao Qibing's words. This boy is worth teaching!

……………………

After parting ways with Zhao Qibing, Han Xiaopo contacted Wei Zhao at the first opportunity and relayed everything Zhao Qibing had said to him, word for word.

"Every session has had restrictions—only this one doesn't?" Wei Zhao frowned after hearing Zhao Qibing's account. What on earth was the Xuandan Sect up to? It was strange, and yet he could not put his finger on where the strangeness lay.

If that trial ground truly was perilous, then surely the stronger one was, the safer one would be? The more likely one would be to walk out alive? Was it that the Xuandan Sect was so desperately short of the substance they needed to collect that they had no choice but to loosen the conditions—or was there some other reason?

If it were the former, couldn't the Xuandan Sect simply send its own experts? To have to offer third-grade elixirs and natural treasures of equal value in exchange seemed far too wasteful.

"That's all. Zhao Qibing doesn't know the reason either—he even wondered whether the Xuandan Sect had simply been careless," Han Xiaopo said.

"I see..." Wei Zhao nodded. Still, whatever the case, this change in the conditions worked in his favor; otherwise, as an expert already above the Earth rank, he would have been restricted as before and could never have taken part in the trial.

"Right. As for the matter of Zhao Qitan, I asked about that too, and this is the answer Zhao Qibing gave..." Han Xiaopo went on to recount to Wei Zhao where Zhao Qitan had gone.

"Qitan is going to the Xuandan Sect's trial as well?" Wei Zhao was taken aback. He had not expected the hidden Zhao family to make such an arrangement. The claim that Zhao Qitan was in seclusion and could not contact the outside world struck him as dubious, but the hidden Zhao family's decision was most likely genuine!

Most likely, though, it was not Zhao Qitan's own choice but a forced one! Perhaps they had already discovered Zhao Qitan's ambitions, and so that Zhao Qibing might smoothly rise to power, they had placed Zhao Qitan under house arrest—and meant to use this Xuandan Sect trial to dispose of him.

Otherwise, before entering seclusion, Zhao Qitan would surely have contacted him to explain the situation; there could not have been no sign at all.

"Yes. But afterward Zhao Qibing also said that if you were to join the trial too, they would like you to look after Zhao Qitan..." Han Xiaopo said.

"Oh?" Wei Zhao was briefly startled, then grasped at once what the hidden Zhao family and Zhao Qibing were up to! A scheme of borrowing a knife to kill—they had likely not only sensed Zhao Qitan's ambitions but also learned from somewhere of the relationship between Wei Zhao and Zhao Qitan!

And so, they not only wished to be rid of Zhao Qitan, but also hoped to exploit that relationship to dispose of Wei Zhao along the way! After all, the Xuandan Sect's trial was perilous in the extreme, and most who went in never came back. If Wei Zhao went in and had to look after a Mystic rank dead weight, he would very likely be unable to save himself.

"What did you say to that?" Wei Zhao asked Han Xiaopo once he had worked all this out.

"I said that if you were to lend a hand and look after him, you couldn't be expected to do it for nothing—there would have to be some token of gratitude. I seized the chance to demand some benefits from the hidden Zhao family, and Zhao Qibing did not refuse," Han Xiaopo said.

"Well done!" Wei Zhao smiled faintly. "Since I'm fated to look after Zhao Qitan, I may as well make the Zhao family pay through the nose for it!"

"Right. Boss, am I to join this trial as well?" Han Xiaopo asked.

"It's too dangerous. You'd better not go." Wei Zhao pondered a moment. "Protecting one Zhao Qitan will likely be hard enough for me. Add you to the mix and my hands will be tied."

"I understand. Then I won't sign up." Han Xiaopo knew Wei Zhao was speaking the truth and took no offense; after all, the gulf between his strength and Wei Zhao's was as vast as heaven and earth.

"I have some Minor Qi Gathering Pills here. I forgot to give them to you today—come fetch them whenever you need them," Wei Zhao said.

"Heh, no need to worry. My family doesn't need any for the moment." Han Xiaopo smiled faintly, unconcerned.

After hanging up, Wei Zhao fell into deep thought. One thing was certain: this Xuandan Sect trial was by no means simple—which was precisely why the hidden Zhao family meant to use it to dispose of Zhao Qitan.

Yet this trial was very important to Wei Zhao. His hopes for color-refined steel, blue crystal powder, and pure yellow jade all rested on the trial's rewards. The Xuandan Sect certainly had color-refined steel, and the other two materials might well be found there too.

So Wei Zhao would have to take part in the trial no matter what. That Zhao Qitan was now going as well merely gave him firmer resolve—and in any case, he could not ignore Zhao Qitan's plight.

Of course, if Wei Zhao had not needed to obtain certain things from the trial, he might have gone straight to the Zhao family to demand the man. He believed that with his present strength, even if he could not defeat Old Master Zhao, he would still stand a chance of escaping with Zhao Qitan.

Wei Zhao was confident now that ordinary experts at the peak of the late Earth rank were no match for him, but there is always a higher mountain and a farther sky. Experts of the caliber of Tagan Long and the Five Guardians had once given him a hard time, and that said everything.

Even now, if Wei Zhao were to face the Five Guardians and Tagan Long again, he might not come off as badly as before, but to slay them with ease was still utterly beyond him.

To say nothing of facing unknown Heaven rank experts! How strong a Heaven rank expert truly was, Wei Zhao had never tested in combat. So even though the gap between the great perfection of the late Earth rank and the early Heaven rank was but half a step, Wei Zhao was not foolish enough to think that an early Heaven rank expert was only slightly stronger than one at the great perfection of the late Earth rank.

The peak of the late Mystic rank and the early Earth rank were entirely different concepts—Wei Zhao knew this from deep experience! Every leap to a higher major tier was a qualitative transformation!

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