"What, you want to learn this martial technique?" The White Leader thought for a moment. "This technique, from the sound of it, can only be cultivated by someone with a five-element constitution. An ordinary person cannot cultivate it at all. Even if they did, they could only draw out the power of one or two of the elements, so naturally the might would be much diminished."

"I only want to study it a little." Wei Zhao had no way to explain his wondrous all-purpose martial technique to anyone else, so he could only fob him off with a vague reply.

"Oh." The White Leader did not take it too seriously. He nodded and walked over to the bookshelf, found a thread-bound handwritten volume, pulled it out, flipped to the page marked by the bookmark, and handed it to Wei Zhao. "According to what you say, your body possesses the fire, wood, and water elements. But fire and water are inherently opposing elements, and that is what causes your defect — your inability to refine pills. Yet according to the introduction in the ancient texts, this is because the elements within your body cannot form an internal circulation, cannot tightly bind together into a circulating ring, and so you cannot refine pills. If you could set the elements within your body circulating, then your three elements would no longer oppose one another but would form a cycle — and in that way, they could lock together link by link."

"Oh?" Wei Zhao hurriedly took the book the White Leader handed him and began flipping through it. It indeed described the drawbacks of the five elements within the body before circulation, and the benefits after circulation — though it used the five-element constitution as its example by way of illustration! If the power of the five elements could be combined and matched with a corresponding martial technique, one could unleash a martial technique whose might equaled each element's own plus five ranks!

By the reckoning given in the book, that was somewhat terrifying. One element plus five, five elements made five times — that was twenty-five. In other words, one move would equal another person's twenty-six moves?

An early Earth-rank expert could beat to death an expert at the peak of late Heaven-rank? Was there any cheat that outrageous? People with a five-element constitution were simply lunatics!

"Tagan Long?!" The first person Wei Zhao thought of was Tagan Long! That was right — he must have set the five elements in his body circulating, though perhaps not too successfully, and coupled with the issue of his personal aptitude, the martial techniques he unleashed were not this insane — merely a bit more heaven-defying than Wei Zhao himself.

"Mm, Tagan Long is probably just such a case." The White Leader nodded. "First, I need to test the elements within your body, and then find the method for this elemental circulation. If it succeeds, then you should be able to refine pills!"

"Then..." Wei Zhao was somewhat excited, and somewhat worried. Although the White Leader had now found some related descriptions, the method itself was completely absent. This filled Wei Zhao with anticipation, and yet he knew that this matter would most likely remain unresolved.

"Heh heh, you needn't worry. I'll search the materials again — I have a great many materials here. Back then, though I did not carry off secret manuals of martial techniques and the like, I did carry off no small number of transcribed copies of alchemy materials. Many of them I have not yet studied; this one I only just came across." The White Leader pointed to a bookshelf not far away.

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Teacher Bai!" Wei Zhao drew a deep breath and spoke excitedly.

The White Leader's bookshelves were indeed filled with books on pills and elixirs, from which one could also see just how obsessed the White Leader was with the art of alchemy!

If the White Leader could regain the level he had in those years, then refining third-grade pills should pose no problem at all, surely? But by no means could Wei Zhao restore the White Leader to his former strength!

Healing injuries — that Wei Zhao could manage. He could fully restore the White Leader's damaged meridians. But raising his strength was out of the question. The situation of internal-school and external-school cultivators was different. Even if Wei Zhao repaired the White Leader's meridians, the true energy within those meridians could not come back; only Wei Zhao himself could slowly raise it for him.

It was just like when he had treated Uncle Qing. Though Uncle Qing had once been an Earth-rank expert, Wei Zhao at the time, constrained by the limits of his own strength, could only raise Uncle Qing's strength to the peak of late Yellow-rank.

And now, Wei Zhao could repair the White Leader's injuries, but the White Leader's strength would at most be early Earth-rank. If he wished to become a Heaven-rank expert, he would still have to cultivate his way up bit by bit!

Of course, if the meridians had not been completely severed, or had only just been severed with the true energy not yet dissipated, then Wei Zhao was confident that after repair he could restore the previous strength. But the White Leader's meridians had not been severed just now — they had been completely severed — and Wei Zhao truly had no way.

Even so, Wei Zhao still intended, at a suitable moment, to help the White Leader repair his meridians. As for the cultivation afterward, that would be the White Leader's own affair. Only if Wei Zhao set foot in Heaven-rank could he continue to help him level up.

So in this way Wei Zhao was not especially anxious to heal the White Leader and raise his level, because even if the White Leader recovered, he could not possibly refine third-grade pills — at best, like Han Jingyi, he could refine second-grade pills.

"Teacher Bai, tell me — if your meridians were restored, would Xuanchen grow suspicious and then kill you to silence you?" Wei Zhao hesitated a moment, then decided to give the White Leader a precautionary warning.

"Oh? My meridians restored? How could that be?" The White Leader was slightly taken aback. "I know my own injuries. This is no external wound but an internal one. Even a third-grade Great Return Pill has no effect. How could they possibly be restored?"

"I only said if," Wei Zhao said.

"If..." At this point the White Leader could not help falling into deep thought. Although he had always felt that Xuanchen would not do things so ruthlessly, today's events had also shown him that some things truly were that ruthless! Though he did not wish to admit it, he had to admit that if his meridians were restored, Xuanchen might once again harbor murderous intent!

"He would act, wouldn't he?" Seeing the White Leader's hesitation, Wei Zhao understood at once.

"Possibly... I'm not certain either..." The White Leader gave a bitter smile and shook his head. "But even if I restored my meridians, I would have to cultivate all over again. There is no true energy left in my body at all, so I would still have no strength."

"Oh. Then if it's possible — once you've recovered your strength, hide it for now. Endure it a while..." Wei Zhao suggested.

"Heh heh, naturally. I'm not what I was in those years either; naturally I must be careful in all things. But the key problem is that I have to be able to recover first!" The White Leader laughed and said.

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