Chapter 1209 — None of the Methods Work

"As for a way to cure her — there is one. There are, in fact. But none of them can be put into practice now." Old Man Wei sighed. "It is all fate."

"What methods? Tell me at once — don't sit there sighing. Old man, when did you turn so long-winded?" Wei Zhao asked, exasperated and urgent at once.

"First: find a cultivator who holds a heart method of utmost yang, and have him use his true qi to slowly neutralize the yin-cold qi inside her, infusing it at regular intervals. It cannot solve the problem outright, but it can keep her alive. Only, the man must be a master of the Heaven stage or above." Old Man Wei said, "And even this has its restraints. At the outset a Heaven-stage master can hold the yin-cold qi down, but as the years pass, the yin-cold qi grows and swells along with her, and the suppression grows harder and harder, until in the end it may be of no use at all."

"Eh? Old man, the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art I cultivate — is that not a heart method of utmost yang? Then my true qi ought to be of use to Feng Xiaoxiao, shouldn't it?" What occupied Wei Zhao's mind now was this: the first time, his true qi had worked on Feng Xiaoxiao; the second time, why had it failed? Was there something in it he had overlooked?

"Your Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art is indeed such a method, but you must never attempt it. You might well lose your life." The moment he heard Wei Zhao's words, Old Man Wei warned him: "Your strength is far too low; it would have no effect whatever. If you went to her now and poured true qi into her, you would be sucked dry on the spot — every last drop of your true qi would become a feast for the yin-cold qi."

"Uh... I have already been sucked dry..." Wei Zhao said, somewhat embarrassed.

"What! Already... sucked dry?" Old Man Wei was stunned for a moment; then his tone turned anxious. "Xiao Yi, are you telling the truth?"

Hearing the anxiety in Old Man Wei's voice, Wei Zhao was struck dumb in turn. In Wei Zhao's memory, Old Man Wei had always worn a face unmoved by favor or disgrace; rarely was he ever anxious. Even when he himself had been injured last time, Old Man Wei had not been much alarmed — he had only told Wei Zhao to take refuge back in West Star Mountain Village. This time, Old Man Wei truly was alarmed.

That thick, deep feeling moved Wei Zhao greatly. For all that Old Man Wei seemed indifferent to everything, when trouble truly came, he cared for Wei Zhao more than anyone.

"It's true. My strength is now zero," Wei Zhao said.

"Then why aren't you dead? Are you man or ghost?" Old Man Wei demanded.

"Not dead. Alive and well." Wei Zhao did not know whether to laugh or cry.

"Not dead, and that is what matters!" Old Man Wei let out a breath of relief. "Strength lost can be trained back; dead is dead and nothing remains. Thank goodness, thank goodness! You did not simply drop dead."

"..." Wei Zhao was speechless for a moment. "I am experienced at this by now. The last time, in Yanjing, I was sucked dry once too — and afterward it turned out a blessing in disguise: when I cultivated again, I broke through instead. I expect that if I train again this time, I may break through as well. I have more or less touched the bottleneck at the peak of the Profound stage's middle tier, and ought to be able to push straight through."

"I—!" Hearing this, Old Man Wei's eyes went round. "So you have been using her to grind levels, you little wretch? Scared me to death!"

"It is not exactly grinding levels. It simply came just as I neared the bottleneck. After breaking down like that, it is a little easier to break through the barrier..." Wei Zhao said with a wry smile.

"Never mind. In any case, you cannot do it now." Old Man Wei spoke with finality. "Even if you train the true qi in your body back up and pour it into her again, round after round, it will be of no use whatever. Your true qi will become a banquet for the yin-cold qi, and will only make it swell greater and greater."

"I see..." Wei Zhao was suddenly vexed. So his good intentions had wrought harm? All that true qi he had poured into Feng Xiaoxiao had not helped her in the least, but hurt her instead? As for a Heaven-stage master of an utmost-yang heart method — that was beyond him for the present; and the old man had said this was only a stopgap to prolong life, good for a time but not for a lifetime, a trouble that would return. So Wei Zhao turned his eyes to the second method. "Old man, if there is a first, does that not mean there are others as well?"

"There are. Legend tells of a fruit called the Fire Spirit Sacred Fruit — a fruit of pure yang, imbued with the utmost yang spiritual qi of heaven and earth. One fruit taken can suppress the yin-cold qi in the body for decades. Of course, it varies from person to person: some may be suppressed for a lifetime, while others for only eight or ten years. Still, it is a comparatively reliable method." Old Man Wei said, "At the very least, far more reliable and safer than the first."

"Fire Spirit Sacred Fruit? I have never heard of such a thing. What is it?" Wei Zhao was startled; of such a thing he had never heard a word.

"I don't know either." Old Man Wei's words were like a basin of cold water dashed over his head.

"Uh..." Wei Zhao wanted to swear. You don't know, so why say it? Isn't that just empty talk? Still, he choked down his anger and asked, "Old man, if you don't know, then why say such a thing?"

"I only read a description of this fruit in some old pharmacopoeia — it is a sovereign remedy for dispelling yin-cold poison. But what the thing actually looks like, and where it is to be found, that I do not know." Old Man Wei sighed. "If I could find it, I would have gone looking long ago. Why wait until now?"

Wei Zhao thought it over and had to admit the old man was right. If he knew where to look, he would have gone long ago; it was he himself who was too impatient, and had overlooked that.

"Then this method is only a legend? Most likely it cannot be done at all?" Wei Zhao asked, dejected.

"Yes — unless you can find a Fire Spirit Sacred Fruit and have her try taking it," Old Man Wei said with a nod.

"Is there a third method?" Wei Zhao asked.

"A third... you could say there is. Find a supreme heart method and oral formula of the yin-cold attribute and let her cultivate it. When she has cultivated it to the Heaven stage, perhaps she will then be able to guide the yin-cold qi in her body and make it serve her." Old Man Wei thought for a moment, then said.

"This..." Wei Zhao was left speechless. Never mind how hard such a supreme yin-cold heart method and oral formula would be to find — even if one were found, in the weather and environment of a city she could make no progress in cultivating it; and even if she made some progress, to reach the Heaven stage was difficult beyond words... And beyond all that, the most important point: Feng Xiaoxiao lay in a coma — how was she to cultivate at all? So Wei Zhao could only say, "Isn't that just empty talk?"

"It is empty talk — because from the very beginning I said I had no method." Old Man Wei sighed.

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