Chapter 2353 — Zhao Qitan's Conversation

"Alas!" Old Master Zhao heaved a long sigh, a flicker of alarm passing through his eyes. "Wei Zhao... is he truly that formidable? Just what level of expert is he? Has he advanced again?"

"No. He is still mid Earth rank," Zhao Qibing said with a firm shake of his head.

He was a cultivator himself, and when Wei Zhao made his move, he had seen the man's strength clearly. Mid Earth rank, beyond doubt.

"Mid Earth rank... no wonder he claimed he had the strength to fight Heaven rank. It was no boast!" A cold sweat broke out over Old Master Zhao's body. Before this, had it not been for Old Master Yu's outburst, he would have gone looking for trouble with Wei Zhao the moment the Hidden Household Summit ended...

Now it seemed that if several Heaven-rank experts joined forces, they might still manage. But what he feared was each harboring his own designs, none of them going all out when the time came—and then it would be they who suffered the misfortune!

"Indeed, Grandfather. I never imagined the man on the other side would be Wei Zhao..." Zhao Qibing said with a bitter expression.

"This is not your fault." Old Master Zhao sighed. He was not an unreasonable man. Lei Daming had helped the Zhao family rake in money in East Sea City, and when trouble arose, the Zhao family naturally had to show up and back him. But who could have guessed that Han Xiaopo had not come to champion an outsider, but to serve as someone's lackey!

Wei Zhao had been in the private room; Han Xiaopo's appearance there was nothing strange. It was only that they had misjudged Han Xiaopo's position, and so the present situation had come about.

"Patriarch... I... I was wrong..." Lei Daming knew this trouble had been stirred up by him. Now that Old Master Zhao did not blame Zhao Qibing, did that not mean he meant to make an example of him? Terrified, Lei Daming dropped to his knees with a thud.

"Lei Daming, get up. This is not your fault either. But since you have offended Wei Zhao, you are no longer suited to make your way in East Sea City..." Old Master Zhao waved a hand. "I will arrange for you to go to Jidun City, near here. It is a small city, with few family powers. Once you are there, use the Zhao name and build something for yourself."

"Thank you, Old Master Zhao!" Lei Daming was both startled and delighted. Being sent to a remote little city amounted to exile by the Zhao family, but that his responsibility had not been pursued was already the best of luck, and he let out a breath of relief.

"Qibing, Guangyin, for the time being the two of you had best lie low. As for that seafood restaurant—if Wei Zhao wants it, let him have it." Old Master Zhao spoke mildly. "If Wei Zhao keeps kicking up such a fuss, sooner or later someone will take a disliking to him and deal with him! Our Hidden Zhao family has only me as a Heaven-rank expert at present, and my realm is not yet stable. We must do our utmost to avoid any further conflict with him!"

"Understood!" Zhao Qibing and Zhao Guangyin answered at once.

"Spread the news that Wei Zhao wounded Old Bi with a single move, and let those hidden families feel a little sense of crisis. Once these people realize something is off, someone will not be able to resist making a move against him!" Old Master Zhao meant to play the trick of borrowing a knife to kill.

"Yes!" Zhao Guangyin nodded.

Old Master Zhao said no more, but turned and walked toward the room where Zhao Qitan was under house arrest. Whether Old Bi could recover from his injuries this time now depended on Zhao Qitan...

"Qitan!" Old Master Zhao pushed open the door and entered Zhao Qitan's room. Though guards stood at the door, Old Master Zhao, as the former patriarch of the Hidden Zhao family, passed without hindrance—a privilege Zhao Guangyin did not enjoy.

"Grandfather..." Zhao Qitan rose abruptly from his chair and turned around. In his eyes as he looked at Old Master Zhao there was excitement, and there was unwillingness...

Looking into his grandson's eyes, Old Master Zhao felt an inexplicable pang in his heart. Though Zhao Qibing contributed most to the family, and was Zhao Guangyin's son, Zhao Qitan was his grandson too, after all! Though Zhao Qitan's father had died young, and Zhao Qitan's standing in the Zhao family was destined never to be high.

Though his strength had always been in the lead, and he had taken part in the Ice Palace trials, it was precisely for that reason that he had become a stumbling block in the way of Zhao Qibing's rise!

To say Zhao Qitan had no ambition would be false—a soldier who does not want to be a general is no good soldier, and Zhao Qitan dreamed of becoming the young heir of the Hidden Zhao family! Before Zhao Qibing appeared, his standing in the family had not been high, but by virtue of his outstanding strength he had still caught Old Master Zhao's eye. And most important of all, Old Bi, one of the family's core figures, had never declared support for any of the third-generation scions!

Old Master Zhao's youngest son by Zhao Guangyin was utterly unruly, and Old Master Zhao did not care for him; Old Bi made no secret of his loathing for the boy. Had he not been the son of Yu Xiaojin of the Hidden Yu family, and had Old Master Zhao not always had his misgivings, he would never have been considered a successor.

So Zhao Qitan still had a chance.

But Zhao Qibing's arrival had upset that balance. A cowardly bastard son who ran riot abroad, inexplicably gaining the support of Old Master Zhao and Old Bi—how could Zhao Qitan swallow such a thing?

By what right? To lose out to Zhao Guangyin's youngest son, he could accept. But to lose to Zhao Qibing—that he would not accept!

"Alas!" Old Master Zhao sighed. In truth, over this period he had come to some understanding of Zhao Qibing's ability to handle affairs, and had begun to be disappointed. But Zhao Qibing was the Zhao family's great benefactor, and words once spoken could not be taken back!

And Zhao Qitan, though he had the makings of something, had no backing within the family. Old Master Zhao believed that unless Zhao Qitan possessed strength like his own or Old Bi's, even if he became the young heir of the Zhao family he could not hold the household together, and the family would splinter, with an even worse outcome.

"Grandfather, I know that in contacting Wei Zhao I violated a great taboo of the Zhao family. Wei Zhao is the Zhao family's enemy, and by rights I should have been hostile to him..." Zhao Qitan gave a bitter smile and went on: "But Grandfather, I am not reconciled to it. Zhao Qibing—by what right? A man whose legs Wei Zhao has broken countless times—how can he be the heir to the Zhao family?"

"Qitan, there are things you do not know." Old Master Zhao sighed. "The reason I was able to break through to Heaven rank was the Qi-Gathering Pill Qibing brought back. You could say Qibing is our Zhao family's great achievement! My advancement to Heaven rank has infinitely extended my lifespan, and for the Zhao family that means a great deal. So I must support Zhao Qibing! Even if his strength is weak, I must do so—I cannot chill the hearts of the children who have given their strength to the Zhao family!"

"What!" Zhao Qitan's eyes went wide with disbelief. "Zhao Qibing? He brought back a Qi-Gathering Pill?"

That Zhao Qibing had brought back a Qi-Gathering Pill was long since no secret; it was only that Zhao Qitan had been kept under house arrest all this time, and so had not known.

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