Chapter 605 — The Medicine King's Analysis

"That is exactly the point!" The Medicine King nodded. "So if Wei Zhao is not a fool, he should not have dispersed his power — or rather, he would not have dispersed it unless he had absolutely no other choice!"

"Or perhaps he truly had no other choice?" Li Cihua frowned. "Wait — could it be that his strength has already recovered?"

"His strength recovered..." Both the Medicine King and Uncle Zhu drew a sharp breath. Li Cihua's conjecture was far too bold. Such a possibility was not absent, but it was far, far too idealistic.

"What? Is there a problem?" Seeing the exaggerated expressions on the faces of the Medicine King and Uncle Zhu, Li Cihua asked in bewilderment.

"The scenario you describe is possible," the Medicine King said. "But it can exist only under ideal conditions. First, if he were in a blessed cave-heaven where true qi is extraordinarily dense, restoring his strength within a single day would not be impossible, for with enough true qi to absorb, restoring his strength would of course be no trouble at all. Of course, to this day I do not know whether such a place exists on Earth; at the very least, I have never heard of one."

"That does sound rather like the fairylands in those television dramas — the sort that could not possibly exist..." Li Cihua shook his head. "Apart from that?"

"Apart from that, the second method is for a master of the same sect to empower him, channeling his own true qi into Wei Zhao's body, which would likewise achieve a swift recovery. But this method has its flaws. First, it must be an expert of the same school, because the cultivation methods of different sects differ, and the true qi within their bodies differs with them; to force the matter would only be to kill the man. Second, though it may save a life, it brings no good to the expert himself: the true qi he has cultivated through such hardship, once given away, makes his own strength plummet, and he may even drop a rank. I think that even between blood brothers, or between father and son, no one would rashly resort to such a method. For the higher the rank, the harder it is to cultivate. To save the life of a Yellow Rank expert, the rescuer must be at least an Earth Rank expert; and once he gives his own true qi to the one he saves, he may well fall back to Yellow Rank, and to climb once more to Earth Rank would demand another long stretch of bitter cultivation. No one, I think, would do such a thing," said the Medicine King.

"So that is how it is!" Li Cihua nodded. "By that account, then, Wei Zhao really did disperse his power? Or rather, he truly has no hope of recovery? For I fished a few things out of Gu Pengzhan as well — Wei Zhao has no fellow disciples, he is utterly alone, so there is no one to save him, and no rare treasures of heaven and earth to nourish him. If he had not dispersed his power, he could only have waited to die."

"That is hard to say..." The Medicine King shook his head. "In any case, I find this whole business very strange."

"Indeed! And that Gu Pengzhan is a most ungrateful fellow. I beat around the bush for the longest time and still could not get a straight answer out of him!" Li Cihua said indignantly.

"Enough, stop studying Wei Zhao. Why study him at all? Whether his strength has recovered or not, I mean to deal with him," Young Master Bing said, somewhat impatiently. "Since he has no backer, that is enough. I will make him die before my eyes! And as for this Gu Pengzhan — by that account, he is determined to protect Wei Zhao? I had not intended to deal with him right away, but since he is so ungrateful, I will deal with him as well!"

"That is true enough!" Li Cihua nodded after hearing Young Master Bing's words. "Master Yao, Uncle Zhu, how shall we deal with Wei Zhao?"

"Brother Zhu's condition cannot possibly recover in less than half a year to a year, so there is no need to consider Brother Zhu," the Medicine King said. "But even if Brother Zhu had recovered, I would not advise a head-on clash with Wei Zhao."

"Oh? Medicine King, are you not a Yellow Rank expert yourself? Are you afraid of Wei Zhao? If you and Uncle Zhu joined hands, could you not take him down?" Zhao Qibing asked.

"Young Master Bing, it is true that I am a Yellow Rank expert, but my Yellow Rank... is rather particular," the Medicine King said with a bitter smile. "Though my strength is also of Yellow Rank, it was raised with medicines, and that is not the same as an expert who has honestly absorbed the true qi of heaven and earth to advance. Moreover, the method I cultivate is of a supplementary, restorative nature; its purpose is to save lives, not to attack."

"So that is how it is!" Young Master Bing nodded, though he felt somewhat aggrieved. "Then how do we deal with Wei Zhao? Are we to be unable to do anything to him even though he has been reduced to an ordinary man?"

"That is not so. Whether Wei Zhao is truly an ordinary man, no one dares be certain at present. What if he holds some ancient divine medicine? One pill might be worth half a year of recuperation, and might restore his strength outright — who can say?" The Medicine King shook his head.

"There exists such a miraculous medicine?" Zhao Qibing's eyes went wide.

"The world is vast, and nothing is too strange for it," the Medicine King said. "Though it sounds rather frightening, I have indeed seen mention of similar elixirs in certain ancient texts, called the Great Rejuvenation Pill and the Lesser Rejuvenation Pill. The Great Rejuvenation Pill can instantly restore an injured person to the peak of his strength, while the Lesser Rejuvenation Pill can swiftly heal injuries, though strength must be recovered little by little. Of course, such divine medicines are only legend, and whether they exist at all is another matter. But what if Wei Zhao has one? Then a head-on clash would put us at a disadvantage."

"That makes sense!" Li Cihua nodded.

"Damnation — then are we not hamstrung?" Hearing the Medicine King's analysis, Zhao Qibing was thoroughly displeased. Was this not toying with him?

"What if we deal with Gu Pengzhan first?" Li Cihua suddenly had an idea, and proposed it. "Since it is difficult to move directly against Wei Zhao, why not start with Gu Pengzhan? That way we can also test Wei Zhao's strength. If Wei Zhao truly has recovered, he will surely leap out; and if Wei Zhao is an ordinary man, then he cannot meddle along with him either."

"Right!" Zhao Qibing perked up at once. "Indeed! We can deal with Gu Pengzhan first! Just so — let us work out how to deal with him."

"Young Master Bing, this business side of things is not our specialty, Brother Zhu's and mine, so we will refrain from speaking..." The Medicine King shook his head. Different trades lie as far apart as mountains; he could not rashly offer Young Master Bing advice.

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