Chapter 1468 — Zhao Qitan's Recruitment

"What I mean is that we act together during the trial and split the results evenly between us. That way, our odds improve a little as well!" Zhao Qitan issued the invitation. Abrupt as it was — the two had met only today — the conversation had carried them to this point, and the proposal came at precisely the right moment.

"This matter... forgive me, but I cannot agree on the spot. My sect has its rules. Give me leave to consider it before I answer..." Wei Zhao did not accept outright, but declined with tact.

Zhao Qitan was somewhat disappointed at Wei Zhao's answer, though it was within his expectations. It was only natural that Wei Zhao should have misgivings: who would rashly agree, on the very first day of acquaintance, to team up with a man whose very character they did not yet know, and enter a trial at his side?

"Heh, of course. Brother Ling need not answer at once — go back and think it over first." Zhao Qitan laughed. "Come, let us speak no more of such things. Great bowls of wine, great hunks of meat — we men of the jianghu need not stand on ceremony..."

As he spoke, Zhao Qitan cut off a piece of the roasted lamb leg and thrust it into his mouth, chewing noisily. Back when he was hidden away in the Zhao family, he had been a man of excellent breeding and refinement; the Zhao family's rules were strict, and he would never have eaten or drunk in such a manner. But in his eyes, Wei Zhao came from a jianghu sect and must carry jianghu habits, so he did this to win Wei Zhao's goodwill and draw him into his own team.

Wei Zhao was a skilled hand at the peak of the mid Profound Rank — no weak existence by any measure. With Wei Zhao joining, they would be like a tiger given wings.

"Good." Wei Zhao had always wolfed down his food anyway; he too cut off a chunk of the lamb rack and set to gnawing at it.

Once they had eaten and drunk their fill, the three rested and chatted idly for a while, and then Zhao Qitan rose to settle the bill. The food here was rather expensive, but Zhao Qitan clearly did not care.

The three left the restaurant and climbed straight into the carriage. All of them were Profound Rank cultivators; naturally they could not get drunk — and with friend and foe so hard to tell apart, they dared not get drunk. For all that Zhao Qitan joked and laughed with Wei Zhao and deliberately courted him, he remained very much on his guard against the man in his heart.

Once in the carriage, the hearty manner in which Zhao Qitan had been drinking vanished at once, replaced by calm, and he said to Zhao Qijiu, "This Ling Yi is no simple fellow — not an easy man to handle either. After a whole meal, he gave me no clear promise."

"Young Master Tan, that is only natural, really. Look at it from another angle: if someone tried to recruit us, could we agree on the spot?" Zhao Qijiu laughed. "In any case, let us simply invite him to dine with us every night for the next few days. Even if he will not join us, we must not let him become an enemy."

"That goes without saying. It is only that the boy has yet to let slip a single useful piece of information. Which sect he belongs to, I still have no idea." Zhao Qitan frowned.

"Yes, his background is truly unclear. If it is as he says, then his sect must be no small one..." Zhao Qijiu nodded as well. "But his identity need not be doubted. His car was borrowed from the Mystery Investigation Bureau — most likely to ensure a smooth journey all the way. At present, the only ones who can have dealings with the Mystery Investigation Bureau and obtain its help are the hidden families and sects of that rank. Back when someone from the Yu family went out to train, did the Mystery Investigation Bureau not send people to protect them as well?"

"That is true." Zhao Qitan nodded. "I am not doubting his qualifications. Anyone who comes here for the trial is certainly strong enough to qualify, or he would not come seeking death. I simply do not know what faction he belongs to, or whether he has any ties to our Hidden Zhao family."

"I have never heard of our Hidden Zhao family having especially close relations with any other hidden family or sect. Only the Hidden Yu family counts as in-laws to us... but your position, Young Master Tan, is a little awkward..." Zhao Qijiu smiled bitterly.

Had the child of Zhao Guangyin and Yu Xiaojin come in person to take part in the trial, there might have been a chance of forging an alliance with the Yu family. But as things stood, the Yu family would be doing well merely not to harm them — who had made them contenders for the position of the next Zhao family head?

The Yu family surely wished for Yu Xiaojin's son to inherit the position of Zhao family head, so that their good cooperative relations with the Yu family could be maintained.

"That is no problem... The Yu family is no solid block of iron either. From what I know, the ones who came to this trial are Yu Bing and Yu Shan. Yu Bing is out of the question, but Yu Shan can be put to use — Yu Shan wants to compete for the Yu family heir as well, and that suits us to a tee!" Zhao Qitan saw things with clarity. "Those two from the Yu family are not of one heart, so there will be a good show to watch."

"Young Master Tan is truly brilliant!" Zhao Qijiu said. "That way, whatever happens, we have an ally within the Yu family, and it gives us that much more confidence for this trial!"

After returning to the inn, Wei Zhao bade farewell to Zhao Qitan and Zhao Qijiu and went back to his room.

The information Wei Zhao had gained today was not much, but all of it was useful. Naturally he did not expect to ferret out every piece of news in a single day — that was unrealistic — and if he asked too many questions, Zhao Qitan would certainly grow suspicious. One could see that Zhao Qitan was a man with some brains about him.

Wei Zhao had obtained two useful pieces of information. One was that the location of the Ice Palace was very similar to the location of the Fire Spirit Sacred Fruit. The other was the reward for winning the Ice Palace's trial: one was to become an outer sect disciple of the Ice Palace, and the other was to gain the right to exchange for heaven-and-earth treasures.

Becoming an outer sect disciple of the Ice Palace did not interest Wei Zhao much, but the right to exchange for heaven-and-earth treasures interested him rather more. He did not know whether the Fire Spirit Sacred Fruit truly was under the Ice Palace's control; if it was, then could that right of exchange be used to trade for the Fire Spirit Sacred Fruit?

Of course, this was only the preliminary information Wei Zhao had gathered. Everything would have to wait until he obtained a few more pieces of news before he made his decision.

Over the next two days, Wei Zhao practiced catalyzing pill fire by day, and by night he went out to dine with Zhao Qitan and Zhao Qijiu. He ate no small amount of fine food and drank no small amount of strong liquor, but he did not say much. It seemed that what Zhao Qitan and Zhao Qijiu knew was limited as well; Wei Zhao even looked at their invitation letters, and what was written on them was less than what Zhao Qitan and Zhao Qijiu knew.

And Wei Zhao did not again mention whether he would join Zhao Qitan's team, nor did Zhao Qitan ask again.

In Zhao Qitan's view, it would not do to press such a matter too urgently. Wei Zhao's failure to make a choice was probably because he wished to wait a few days until more people had arrived before deciding; facing the two of them alone, he was in no hurry to make up his mind.

But Zhao Qitan felt that his purpose in recruiting the man had already been achieved. At least, judging by these past few days of dining together, they had become friends in wine and meat — unable to be allies, perhaps, but certainly never enemies.