Chapter 1713 — Call Me Brother-in-Law

Wu Chendi could not fathom why fortune should favor Wu Chengtian so, or why fate should be so unfair. He wanted to turn it all around, but as things stood he could only swallow his rage for the time being, put on a cheerful air, and plaster a false smile across his face.

"Our Chen family has nothing to say against it. Yutian has grown up — let him take charge." Chen Kuanglan was delighted today. This sudden turn had made him realize that not only had his grandson grown and matured; most importantly of all, he had found himself a patron. At last the old man could set his heart at ease.

"The men of our Song family are not grown yet," Song Xiangwen said, lending his support as well, "but for the time being, Shanshan can make the decisions."

By now even a fool could see it: Wei Zhao's Cultivators' Association was in truth much the same as the great houses of old, only under a different name. Any family that belonged to it would likely remain as before — indeed, sheltered by Wei Zhao as its founder, it would shine brighter than ever, and its numbers and strength would climb higher with every passing year.

"We have no objections either. Our family has no cultivators, but if Divine Doctor Lin does not disdain us, we are willing to join as well." Liu Zhenhu declared with a smile. "Divine Doctor Lin is on excellent private terms with our family head, Liu Tianyi; I trust there will be no difficulty in coming to an understanding."

"The Yang family has no objections either. In future, let Yang Huaijun make the decisions — this old man ought to retire," said Yang Daocha.

That left only the Sun family. The old master of the Suns was very much in favor in his heart, but as each house had spoken, each had put forward a link that could keep up ties with Wei Zhao — plainly, a spokesman for the family within the Cultivators' Association, a figure equal in standing to the head of the house itself.

But whom the Suns should put in that role, the old master could not quite decide. Sun Jingyan bore the Sun name, yet she was in truth of another blood, and she was not placed as Qiu Lingshan was. The Song men were too young to shoulder the burden, and so Qiu Lingshan was standing in for the time being. But the Suns had two males, one elder and one younger, neither of them children; if Sun Jingyan were given the role now, there would be no reason ever to replace her afterwards.

This put the old master of the Suns in a quandary. For a moment he could not make up his mind, and he raised his head to look at Sun Jingyan.

Sun Jingyan had more or less guessed her grandfather's difficulty, and she did not mind it in the least. Nor had she any wish to hold the Sun family in her hand. So she smiled slightly and said, "Yikai, haven't you already met Wei Zhao, and got on well with him? You can handle the liaison for the Sun family from now on. There is too much going on at my company; I doubt I shall have the time."

"All right!" Sun Yikai was overjoyed. He had not expected Sun Jingyan to put in a word for him at such a moment. In truth his position in the Sun family was rather awkward: he had an elder brother above him, and his blunt, straight-shooting nature ill suited him to be head of the house. But now a single sentence from Sun Jingyan had dissolved the awkwardness.

"Sun Yikai, this is the third time we have met, is it not?" Wei Zhao said with a faint smile.

"It is. So what am I to call you from now on? Brother-in-law?" Sun Yikai said with a laugh. It really was funny when he thought about it. The first time he had laid eyes on Wei Zhao, he had said he would look out for him and told him to come to him if he ever ran into trouble; and in the blink of an eye, Wei Zhao had become the foremost cultivator of the secular world, supplanting even the Yu family.

"Wei Zhao will do." Wei Zhao spoke indifferently. "Your sister is a shrewd one — I am nothing but her shield. She comes to me when there is trouble and keeps away when there is none. It seems my lot in life is to be the shield-bearer."

Wei Zhao's words lifted the somewhat stifled air in the hall at once, and everyone finally understood why Shen Yushu called Wei Zhao "shield-bearer." So that was what it meant.

"Then... I shall do as Wu Chengtian and the others do, and call you Chief for now..." Sun Yikai decided to keep in step with the rest. Since Wu Chengtian and Chen Yutian both addressed him so, there could be no mistake in doing the same.

"Heh—" Wei Zhao smiled. "In truth, my purpose in founding this Cultivators' Association is simple: to have everyone stand together. And I will swiftly raise the strength of one person in each of your families. I trust you have all seen with your own eyes how the strength of Wu Chengtian, Chen Yutian and Qiu Lingshan has changed. But for now each family has only one place; later, as circumstances allow, we may consider adding more."

Wei Zhao could only elevate men who were his own trusted followers. He would never dare use the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art on others at will. It came down to a question of loyalty — and if word of it spread, it would be bad for his own safety.

The crowd had suspected before this that the sudden surge in strength of Wu Chengtian, Chen Yutian and Qiu Lingshan had something to do with Wei Zhao, but hearing it from Wei Zhao's own lips still shook them — and left them somewhat regretful.

One place per family meant that only Wu Chengtian, Chen Yutian, Qiu Lingshan, Yang Huaijun and Sun Jingyan would enjoy Wei Zhao's favor. As for the Liu family, having no cultivators as yet, they did not think much of it.

None felt the regret more keenly than Sun Yikai. He knew well enough that Wei Zhao's place would surely go to Sun Jingyan; among all these spokesmen, his circumstances alone were peculiar.

But it did not matter. Wei Zhao had said that more places might be added later as circumstances allowed — which meant he still had his chance.

Seeing the excitement on every face, Wei Zhao went on: "In truth, you should all know my identity well enough. I am a physician. But by another identity I am an alchemist — and that is why I can swiftly raise another's strength. Yet my vigor and my grade are limited; I cannot refine pills without end."

Wei Zhao laid the wondrous power of his Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art at the alchemist's door. The alchemist's identity had already been revealed once, back when he was hiding in the Tang family; that did no harm — alchemists were rare, to be sure, but no one thought anything amiss in it.

But if Wei Zhao were to say that he could transmit true qi into another, and word of it got out, that would be a grave matter indeed. He feared being seized and made somebody's guinea pig. An alchemist was different; taking an alchemist captive was useless. Any cultivator with a grain of sense understood that not just anyone could be an alchemist, and that capturing one gained nothing.

Moreover, there was an unwritten rule in the jianghu: an alchemist stood a cut above the rest. No family or sect would seize an alchemist and force him to refine pills for them; that would be to break the rules of the jianghu.

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