Chapter 967 — Manufacturing an Earth-Rank Expert

But whether Uncle Qing would still be able to cultivate inner-family skills once his meridians were repaired, Wei Zhao did not know. Yet no matter what, the moment the idea took hold, he could not suppress the urge to test it.

If Uncle Qing recovered his strength, then at Wei Zhao's side there would be one more arm to lean on, an Earth-rank expert's arm. The mere thought of it was badass as hell, and Wei Zhao could not help a surge of excitement.

"You mean... you can repair meridians?" Uncle Qing asked, rather uncertainly. "Of course... the Sun family can, so you should be able to as well!"

"Uncle Qing, I will spend some time helping you restore your meridians!" Wei Zhao nodded and said it again, certain of himself.

A flicker of excitement swept across Uncle Qing's eyes, unstoppable, and then it died out again. "Xiao Yi, even if my meridians are repaired, there is not a trace of true qi left in my body. If I want to cultivate, I must begin all over again!"

"And what is so wrong with beginning again?" Wei Zhao said. "Twenty years ago you already stood at the summit of the early Earth rank. Is that not proof that your natural gifts are extraordinary? To start anew now is not too late!"

"Natural gifts I had," Uncle Qing sighed. "But the strength I possessed was piled up out of countless heavenly treasures and earthly rarities, and with the aid of that thing besides... only then did I come by such proud power... And now..."

Hearing this, Wei Zhao too fell silent. He had indeed thought it a little too simple. Yes, Uncle Qing had once been an Earth-rank expert, but that did not mean he could now cultivate his way back to the Earth rank.

One had to understand that in most cases, a breakthrough in rank required chance and coincidence.

"In any case, let us first repair your meridians and speak of the rest afterward. Perhaps there are other ways as well?" Wei Zhao was unwilling to give up; the lure of an Earth-rank expert was simply too great. If he truly had one at his side, then some Ma Zhu or whatever would be pitifully weak.

"Very well. Since you place such hopes in me, Xiao Yi, how could I disappoint you?" Uncle Qing nodded with a smile. "When I think that I still have Miss Gu to protect, I too must go on cultivating."

"Good. That is all for today, and over these next days I will come every day to repair some of your injuries and meridians, until you are fully restored," Wei Zhao said.

"Every day?" Uncle Qing gave a somewhat startled, bitter smile. "Your true qi truly does recover fast enough. I cannot even tell where you absorb it from. You must know, in the city true qi has grown thin to the very limit, and yet every time you lose your strength, you recover so quickly. That is impressive indeed!"

"Heh." Wei Zhao smiled and offered no explanation, for the matter of the jade pendant's space could not possibly be explained to outsiders. Such secrets could be shared only with the old man; of others, Wei Zhao could not yet trust enough. "If you are bored, and want to reminisce about the old days, you can always come find me to talk."

"Good!" Uncle Qing understood Wei Zhao's meaning: he wanted to ask about the particulars of those years. But Uncle Qing did not wish to tell Wei Zhao too much. With Wei Zhao's present strength, there was no need for him to know such things, and knowing them would do him no good.

"I will keep today's business secret from Uncle Chu," Wei Zhao said, turning and leaving Uncle Qing's room.

"Thank you..." From Uncle Qing's mouth came those two words, solemnly. What they contained was naturally not merely Wei Zhao's keeping of the secret, but his willingness to restore Uncle Qing's meridians and help him recover his strength.

Gu Pengzhan, Gu Mengyao, and Shen Yushu all sat on the sofa, waiting anxiously for word from Wei Zhao.

Uncle Qing could be called Gu Pengzhan's right arm; for all these years he had been unfailingly loyal. So he cared deeply for Uncle Qing's safety.

And for Gu Mengyao, apart from Gu Pengzhan, Wei Zhao, and Xiao Shu, the person she was closest to was Uncle Qing, and so in her heart she too prayed that Wei Zhao could heal him.

Shen Yushu might laugh and joke all day long, but in her heart she was the most steadfast of Brother Arrow's worshippers. She cared about Uncle Qing too, but she was even more certain that Brother Arrow could surely cure him! Article One of the Little Wife's Code: you must believe, and be wholly certain, that your man is the most formidable of all.

"Xiao Yi, how is he?" Seeing Wei Zhao come out, Gu Pengzhan hurriedly rose to his feet and strode quickly over.

"Uncle Qing is awake, but the follow-up treatment will take a few more days," Wei Zhao said.

"Awake? Wonderful!" Joy broke at once across Gu Pengzhan's face. "Xiao Yi, I have truly put you to trouble!"

"Uncle Chu, you are too formal." Wei Zhao waved a hand. "It was no more than a lift of the hand."

"May we see him?" Gu Pengzhan asked.

"Of course. Apart from not being able to leave his bed yet, Uncle Qing is in excellent spirits." Wei Zhao thought to himself that Gu Pengzhan was being far too careful. Uncle Qing had just been telling him stories!

But Gu Pengzhan was judging by ordinary reason. In his eyes, Uncle Qing was like a patient just come down from the operating table, and Wei Zhao the surgeon who had performed the operation. That was why he questioned Wei Zhao the way other patients' families did.

The pressure on the Gu family vanished in an instant, and the Gu Group became the Gu Group of former days once more. Even some of the company's senior executives did not know what had happened these past few days, but since Gu Pengzhan did not speak of it, naturally they did not press. In short, it was all over.

Songshan City returned to calm. All the Gu Group's enemies seemed in that instant to have gone to ground, vanishing without a trace. Even Zhao Qibing was no longer arrogant; quietly, in the shantytown, he had taken up a redevelopment project. He too could only set his feet on solid ground and earn a little money through honest enterprise.

The Medicine King was covered in needles, and no solution had yet been found. Though as a Mystic-rank expert he could sleep even sitting up, with those needles in his body he was like a time bomb, ready at any moment to strip him of all his strength.

Wei Zhao's life returned to its calm as well. Only now he had taken over Uncle Qing's duties, and every day played driver for the young miss and Xiao Shu.

The Bentley had been repaired and come back from the shop, but Wei Zhao did not like driving so formal a car, and he was no professional driver either, so he chose Gu Mengyao's Audi S5. Only now there was one more person to pick up and drop off each day: Tang Yun.

The young miss's attitude toward Tang Yun seemed to have improved somewhat, but ordinarily they scarcely spoke, and along the way there was almost no exchange between them.

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