Chapter 2788 — Going to Find Zhao Qitan

After these attempts failed, Wei Zhao first gave the white energy stone that had belonged to Sun Jingyan to Wang Xinyan, and had her place it in the pocket of her clothes over her chest to test its effects.

A week later, the energy stone at Wang Xinyan's chest had undergone a slight change. Though it was only a very subtle change, it did not escape Wei Zhao's eyes, for he had carefully recorded the stone's condition beforehand. The next day, the stone's luster had dimmed somewhat, ever so faintly, but it still proved one thing: Wang Xinyan's jade pendant could be replaced by an energy stone!

Having clarified this point, Wei Zhao actually breathed a sigh of relief, both startled and delighted. The matter of the jade pendant that had plagued him all this time had unexpectedly resolved itself; the pendant was not the only solution after all—an energy stone could serve as a substitute.

And according to Yu Dake, there should be many more such energy stones on the map he possessed; it was just that Yu Dake had gone once and failed to find them.

Wei Zhao planned to make a trip to the Hakunamata Desert, the location marked on the map, to search for energy stones when he had the time. He believed that with the help of the Heavenly Thunder Pig, locating where the energy stones were should not be too difficult.

With Wang Xinyan's matter settled, Wei Zhao could finally set his mind at ease—and by now, the date of the Mystic Pill Gate's trial was already close at hand!

Wei Zhao left the Heaven and Earth Net at home, and set out wearing only his mid-grade Golden Cicada undergarment. Of course, he had wanted to keep this Zhong Yongliang Golden Cicada undergarment at home for Gu Mengyao and the other women to use for self-defense, but Yan Shu said it might come in handy for protecting himself, so Wei Zhao put it on.

After giving Wu Chengtian, Pi Zhishan, Han Xiaopo, and Zhuang Niaoqiang their instructions, having them take turns guarding the safety of the women in the villa, Wei Zhao drove off toward the Hidden Zhao family.

He intended to pick up Zhao Qitan and go together to the site of the Mystic Pill Gate's trial.

Zhao Qibing had been very quiet of late, staying inside the Hidden Zhao family and not daring to go out. The business with Yu Ning last time had frightened him badly. Although the Hidden Yu family had not done anything to him afterward, Zhao Qibing still feared they might stab him in the back.

On the surface, Zhao Qibing was the young heir of the Hidden Zhao family, and the Hidden Yu family might have refrained from tearing off all pretense with the Hidden Zhao family out of that consideration. But in truth, relations between the Hidden Yu family and the Hidden Zhao family had already sunk to a low point; since that incident, the two families had not been in contact again.

In the end, the root of the matter was that Yu Shan of the Hidden Yu family had bitten the hand that fed him, leaving the Hidden Yu family no way to find fault with the Hidden Zhao family; the affair could only be left to fizzle out.

By now, there was no disciple of the Hidden Zhao family who did not know Wei Zhao. At the summit of the hidden aristocratic families, Wei Zhao had made his name in a single battle. So when Wei Zhao's car stopped at the gate of the Hidden Zhao family's estate, the patrolling disciples were as wary as if facing a great enemy, and hurriedly reported Wei Zhao's arrival to Old Mian, who in turn reported it to the Old Master Zhao through Old Mian's mouth.

"What? Wei Zhao is here?" Old Master Zhao was taken aback. Wei Zhao had arrived without the slightest warning and had not contacted him beforehand; coming so suddenly made Old Master Zhao somewhat alarmed. "What has he come for?"

"I don't know. The patrolling disciple didn't ask—he just hurried over to report it," Old Mian said cautiously.

"It isn't because of that business with Yu Ning of the Hidden Yu family last time, is it? Coming to make trouble?" Old Master Zhao was filled with deep worry. He had already heard that Wei Zhao could kill a Heaven Rank expert in an instant, and at this moment he was utterly terrified of Wei Zhao. If Wei Zhao wanted to kill him, it would probably take only a single move.

"Old Master, could Wei Zhao be here to pick up Zhao Qitan? To go with him to the Mystic Pill Gate's trial?" Uncle Zhu spoke up at this point.

Old Zhu knew perfectly well why Wei Zhao had come. It was he who had been in contact with Wei Zhao, telling him that the Zhao family intended to send Zhao Qitan to the Mystic Pill Gate to take part in the trial. So Wei Zhao's coming here was surely to look for Zhao Qitan.

As for making trouble—if Wei Zhao were here to make trouble, he would surely need Uncle Zhu as an inside man. Since Wei Zhao had said nothing of the sort, that could not be it. So Uncle Zhu did not mind occasionally playing the prophet to increase his standing within the Hidden Zhao family.

"Hmm... Little Zhu, what you say makes sense. Wei Zhao really might be here for Zhao Qitan!" Hearing Uncle Zhu's words, Old Master Zhao suddenly saw the light. He had been too close to the matter to see it clearly before; now that he thought about it, if Wei Zhao wanted to kick up a fuss, he would have come long ago—why wait until now?

Wei Zhao had been capable of instantly killing Heaven Rank experts for some time now; it was not as though he had only gained that ability in the past few days.

Thinking this, Old Master Zhao quickly said, "Old Mian, Little Zhu, the two of you go to the gate in person to receive Wei Zhao and invite him in to talk!"

"Yes, Old Master!" Old Mian and Uncle Zhu answered hurriedly.

In the Hidden Zhao family's reception hall, led by Old Mian and Uncle Zhu, Wei Zhao met Old Master Zhao. Wei Zhao did not even bother with the least courtesy, sitting straight down on the sofa, which left Old Master Zhao, who had been about to step forward to shake hands and exchange pleasantries, deeply embarrassed.

"Um... Young Hero Lin, may I ask what brings you here so graciously?" Old Master Zhao, after all, was old and shrewd, able to bend and stretch as the situation demanded. Though Wei Zhao gave him no face, he did not dare fly into a rage.

He even thought that Wei Zhao was deliberately acting so brashly in order to provoke his anger; the moment he lost his temper, Wei Zhao would have an excuse to strike, and it would then appear that Old Master Zhao had provoked him, leaving the other hidden families little room to say anything.

So the more it went on like this, the calmer Old Master Zhao became.

"Where is Zhao Qitan? I'm taking him with me to the Mystic Pill Gate's trial. Call him out," Wei Zhao said with a wave of his hand, his tone indifferent, paying no attention whatsoever to Old Master Zhao's pleasantries.

"Uh, Qitan..." Old Master Zhao was briefly startled, thinking to himself that Wei Zhao really had come for Zhao Qitan. But that was easy enough—so long as he was not here to make trouble. What Old Master Zhao feared most now was Wei Zhao coming to kick up a fuss, and Wei Zhao was clearly only here for Zhao Qitan. So he said to Uncle Zhu, "Little Zhu, go and call Qitan here. As it happens, with Young Hero Lin's protection at the Mystic Pill Gate's trial, there should be no problem."

"Yes, Old Master!" Uncle Zhu answered hurriedly. He had kept his eyes fixed straight ahead when Wei Zhao arrived; an ordinary person would truly have found it hard to detect any connection between him and Wei Zhao.

"Heh heh, Old Master Zhao speaks truly. This time, with me accompanying Qitan at the Mystic Pill Gate's trial, he will naturally be able to return safely. But when that time comes, might Old Master Zhao consider making him the head of the family?" Wei Zhao asked, his tone neither warm nor cold.

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