Chapter 2959 — The Xuandan Sect Makes Its Move

Before one becomes a cultivator, a full recovery from a broken leg is possible, but to be able to cultivate after that recovery—and moreover, to be a metal-attribute cultivator—that is rather rare, and rarer still is one who can cultivate to the earth rank. Especially for an ancient sect like the Dark Night Palace, which is comparatively poor in resources and has few people and few disciples, finding an heir to carry on one's mantle is a very difficult thing for a black-clad elder. When he suddenly laid eyes on Zhao Qibing, he naturally began to scheme. Of course, whether he could take a disciple still depended on the Supreme Elder's wishes. "Master, that Third-Grade Great Return Pill—your disciple will treat it as a gift for accepting me, and present it to honor you, Master!" Zhao Qibing hurriedly pressed his advantage while the iron was hot. "Mm, I will ask for you," the black-clad elder said, his tone and expression now much more genial. He waved a hand at Zhao Qibing, signaling him to be patient, then walked off to one side to make a phone call. Old Master Zhao, meanwhile, gave Zhao Qibing a thumbs-up in admiration! And so it was: with Zhao Qibing as a disciple of an ancient sect, the Zhao family had only to wait for prosperity. To recover a Third-Grade Great Return Pill without the slightest effort, and on top of that to have taken on a prized disciple—by any measure it was a bargain. It was only that the Supreme Elder of the Dark Night Palace ruled arbitrarily and alone, so the black-clad elder had no choice but to seek his instruction. This time, however, the Supreme Elder did not interfere unduly; he simply nodded and agreed, which set the black-clad elder's mind at ease. "Taking you as my disciple is naturally fine. In a few days you will come with me to the Dark Night Palace. Tomorrow at first light I must go once more to Wei Zhao's home—will you come?" the black-clad elder asked. "I will, of course I will, Master—wherever Master goes, your disciple goes!" Zhao Qibing said hurriedly. "Mm, very well. Since that is so, I will rest tonight at your Hidden Zhao family, and at first light tomorrow you and I will set out together to find Wei Zhao and demand the pill!" The black-clad elder nodded, well satisfied with Zhao Qibing's answer. Late that night, at the Xuandan Sect. In Tian Canbian's room, Little Peach Blossom had long since gone to bed, while Tianchan sat in her usual place cultivating as always. Suddenly, however, the window stirred, making a faint sound that no one could detect without listening closely. "Come in," Tianchan said calmly, opening her eyes. In the next instant a black-clad figure drifted into Tianchan's room. It was a masked woman in night-traveler's garb, yet not the slightest breath emanated from her body—she was like a dead person. Had she not deliberately made some small noise, even Tianchan likely would not have noticed her arrival! She had concealed her strength to a degree that made it nearly impossible to detect. "Tian Die pays her respects to the young miss," the black-clad woman said, kneeling respectfully at Tianchan's feet, her voice cold and devoid of human warmth. "Little Die, you come back so suddenly—is there some important matter?" Tianchan asked, somewhat puzzled as to why Tian Die would return at such a time. Although Tian Die's strength, like her own, had already reached the peak of the late heaven rank, and when she suppressed her power even Tianchan—let alone anyone else—would be hard pressed to detect her, Tianchan still rarely summoned Tian Die, for the sake of secrecy. Tian Die was an orphan Tianchan had saved when she was a child. Before Tianchan took over as young sect master of the Xuandan Sect at age eight, Tian Die had always been her maidservant, yet she had cultivated alongside Tianchan, advancing together, the two sharing their cultivation resources and progressing at much the same pace. But the secret that Tian Die was also a cultivator was known within the Xuandan Sect—indeed, not even to Tianjixing or Tiandi Ren—only to Tianchan herself. She was one of Tianchan's hidden trump cards. After Tianchan took the position of young sect master of the Xuandan Sect at eight, Tian Die had "died in an accident," replaced by Little Peach Blossom, an ordinary girl. Tian Die had not actually died; she had been secretly hidden away by Tianchan. And Tian Die had always regarded Tianchan as her idol; Tianchan's resolve and ruthlessness from childhood, and the decisive severity with which she governed after taking the young sect master's seat, had all imperceptibly shaped Tian Die. Her near-obsessive worship of Tianchan made Tian Die strive to model her own character on hers—only what she learned was the outward coldness, the chill and bloodlessness of Tianchan's exterior. Tianchan, taking up the young sect master's seat of the Xuandan Sect as a woman, could not each day be herself; the hardships of it only Tianchan knew. But Tian Die did not understand such things. From childhood she had loved to imitate Tianchan—whatever Tianchan was like, she was like. She loved being Tianchan's shadow. Over the years she had been out in the world secretly cultivating power, building a new force distinct from the Xuandan Sect—both a trump card for Tianchan abroad and her eyes and ears in the wider world. Though Tian Die found it strange that Tianchan had suddenly set her to watch a man named Wei Zhao, Tianchan's orders she carried out without reservation; even in doubt, she would see them through with care. "Young miss, Wei Zhao attended a banquet of the Hidden Zhao family and was plotted against by them—poisoned, then beaten into a cripple, his meridians and dantian destroyed..." Tian Die recounted the past few days' events without expression. "What?! The Hidden Zhao family plotted to harm Wei Zhao?" Tianchan's eyes went wide; she found it utterly incredible. Was not Zhao Qitan Wei Zhao's lackey? She had seen him at the Xuandan Sect's inn, and he had not seemed the sort to turn traitor. How had he come to plot against Wei Zhao? But there was no time to ask the reasons; Tianchan asked instinctively, "Then why did you not step in to save him?" "Save him?" Tian Die started. "Did the young miss not instruct Tian Die to step in and help only when Wei Zhao's life was in danger? He is injured now, yes, but his life is not in danger." "You..." Tianchan was speechless for a moment. Tian Die was too obedient—whatever she was told to do, she did, without any flexibility. Yet Tianchan could hardly say more; she could only ask, "And then what happened?" "Then Wei Zhao returned home, and people from the Dark Night Palace came to make trouble..." With that, Tian Die recounted the affair of the Dark Night Palace's people coming to the door to stir up trouble. Hearing it, Tianchan fell into thought, then frowned and said, "The Dark Night Palace is too bold—they actually dare to question the results of our Xuandan Sect's trial?" "Yes, that is why Tian Die hurried back to report," Tian Die said. "This is what we will do. Tomorrow I will hide myself away for a day. You will impersonate me and go to Wei Zhao's villa. If that black-clad elder of the Dark Night Palace comes to make trouble again, show him my token and tell him to apologize to Wei Zhao and then crawl back to the Dark Night Palace—otherwise, the Spirit Gathering Pill they were promised, they can forget about!" Tianchan's eyes turned cold as she instructed Tian Die. To be continued. 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