"Yes, Uncle-Master!" Tianchan answered with a cupped-fist salute, her face expressionless, though her heart was stirring with excitement.

"Tianchan, be careful on your own." Matters having come to this, Ancestor Xuanzhen could only offer that much by way of instruction.

"Rest assured, Master. I will be careful, and I will find Zhang Naipao," Tianchan said with a nod.

"Good. Then it is decided..." Ancestor Xuanchen had no sooner finished speaking than a knock came at the gate of the traveling palace's side courtyard.

Before long, Xiaotaohong came over cautiously. But seeing that both Ancestor Xuanchen and Ancestor Xuanzhen were present, she seemed to want to say something and yet held her tongue.

"Who has come?" Ancestor Xuanchen turned to look at Xiaotaohong and asked.

"The Eighth Elder is here, requesting an audience with the Young Sect Master." Xiaotaohong scarcely dared breathe; head lowered, she spoke with great care. These were all boss-level figures! Yet she too had her own little calculations. If she could arrange for Kang Zhaoming to appear more often before Ancestor Xuanchen and Ancestor Xuanzhen, that would be of tremendous benefit to him. Should he win Ancestor Xuanchen's favor, he would soar to wealth and rise through the clouds!

"Kang Zhaoming, is it?" Ancestor Xuanzhen naturally knew this Eighth Elder, and asked mildly.

"Yes, Master," Tianchan said hurriedly.

"Let him in." Ancestor Xuanzhen was a man who kept his word. Kang Zhaoming had rendered great service to the Xuandan Sect. Though Tianchan's inheritance had failed, other cultivators would still have to be found to receive the inheritance of the source power, and so Kang Zhaoming's pill refining was still needed. He had promised Kang Zhaoming a reward—to introduce him to Ancestor Xuanchen as a nominal disciple—and now the opportunity had come.

"Yes, Ancestor Xuanzhen!" Xiaotaohong answered excitedly, and went out to find Kang Zhaoming: "Brother Kang, Ancestor Xuanchen is here too. Your chance has come! If you can win Ancestor Xuanchen's favor, the Young Sect Master will look on you with favor as well!"

"I understand, Xiaotaohong. Rest assured—just watch me perform," Kang Zhaoming said, somewhat excited himself. Ancestor Xuanzhen and Ancestor Xuanchen were lofty, unapproachable beings; to win their favor would be to ascend the heavens in a single step.

"This disciple, Xiaoming, pays his respects to Ancestor Xuanzhen, Ancestor Xuanchen, and the Young Sect Master!" Kang Zhaoming kept his posture very low, positioning himself as an ordinary disciple of the Xuandan Sect.

"Second Brother, this is the Kang Zhaoming you spoke of?" Ancestor Xuanchen glanced at Kang Zhaoming and asked. Earlier, when Ancestor Xuanzhen had proposed rewarding Kang Zhaoming by making him Ancestor Xuanchen's nominal disciple, Ancestor Xuanchen had given his verbal consent.

"Indeed, Xuanchen, this is the man. What do you say—take him as a nominal disciple?" Ancestor Xuanzhen asked with a nod.

"Fine. Since Second Brother has spoken, how would I, his junior, dare disobey?" Ancestor Xuanchen laughed heartily. "Kang Zhaoming, I accept you as my nominal disciple!"

On the surface he seemed to hold Ancestor Xuanzhen in great respect, but in truth it was mere posturing. On matters of real consequence he had never once heeded Ancestor Xuanzhen's words; only in such trivial, inconsequential affairs did he treat Ancestor Xuanzhen as his Second Brother.

"Disciple Kang Zhaoming pays his respects to the honored Master!" Kang Zhaoming was overjoyed at the words and fell straight to his knees, knocking his head three times upon the ground with resounding thuds before Ancestor Xuanchen, thereby sealing the bond of master and disciple.

"Good, not bad. Rise for now. When the trial is over, come find me and I will teach you some martial techniques that a pill refiner can bring forth. Since you are my disciple, you must not weaken my name," Ancestor Xuanchen said to Kang Zhaoming.

"Many thanks, honored Master. Please rest assured, honored Master, this disciple will strive with all his might in cultivation," Kang Zhaoming said.

"Enough. First tell us why you have come here," Ancestor Xuanchen said with a wave of his hand, signaling Kang Zhaoming to get to the point.

"It is like this, honored Master, Ancestor Xuanzhen, Young Sect Master: today is the closing day of the trial. From the last four who emerged until now, no one else has come out of the teleportation formation," Kang Zhaoming reported. Inwardly he was wildly excited—Wei Zhao had actually failed to come out! He truly wanted to laugh aloud three times in celebration, but before so many great personages he did not dare.

"So then, Zhang Naipao did not come out?" Ancestor Xuanchen had long anticipated this outcome, yet his expression was still exceedingly grim. It seemed all hope was utterly dashed.

"Uncle-Master, do not worry. Tomorrow this disciple will go to the Five Baleful Wildlands and investigate Zhang Naipao's whereabouts!" Tianchan said hurriedly. Of course, searching for Zhang Naipao was only a pretext; to find Wei Zhao was her true purpose. She ought to thank Xuanchen for giving her a reason to resolve upon returning to the Five Baleful Wildlands.

"Good. Since the trial has ended, go now and investigate Zhang Naipao's movements, then prepare to set out," Ancestor Xuanchen said with an impatient wave of his hand, as though he wished Tianchan would go to the Five Baleful Wildlands this very moment.

"Yes. Then this disciple will go investigate at once." Tianchan had likewise been meaning to look into those acquainted with Wei Zhao, to see why he too had not emerged.

Kang Zhaoming, however, was startled. He had not expected that the person Ancestor Xuanchen worried about was Zhang Naipao! No wonder Tianchan Bian had always had him report information—so it was because of Zhang Naipao! Of course, Kang Zhaoming had misread Tianchan's intentions.

Tianchan did not linger either, and went straight out of the traveling palace's side courtyard. Kang Zhaoming, naturally, could not remain either; Ancestor Xuanchen was plainly fretting over Zhang Naipao's situation and had no time for this nominal disciple of his. So Kang Zhaoming tactfully cupped his fists and said, "Master, Senior Uncle, I shall take my leave as well!"

"Good, go on ahead. When I am done here, I will send for you," Ancestor Xuanchen said with a wave, signaling that Kang Zhaoming might depart.

Kang Zhaoming left the traveling palace's side courtyard, and Xiaotaohong saw him out, happy for him as well: "Brother Kang, you are truly fortunate! To be accepted under Ancestor Xuanchen's wing—from now on you will have a patron in the Xuandan Sect. And if the Young Sect Master looks on you with special favor besides, then you will be a lord in your own right!"

"Indeed. But for now I am only a nominal disciple; I must strive to become a formal disciple!" Kang Zhaoming said with a nod. He was a man of ambition!

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