Chapter 2183 — The Mysterious Visitor

"So it seems we missed a fine opportunity. At the Summit of the Hidden Clans, a pill-refining contest we had in the bag—and we withdrew of our own accord..." The last shred of hope in You Panhu's heart shattered. He had been deceiving himself into believing that You Zhentian would agree with his deduction—that Wei Zhao was only pretending not to know how to refine pills. But now it appeared that Wei Zhao truly could not.

And Wei Zhao had no reason to deceive Leader Bai, either. Just as You Zhentian had said, so what if he was no pill refiner? Refiner or not, Wei Zhao's other strengths spoke for themselves. Those hidden clans with grudges against him still dared not move against him—or rather, still could not.

"Missed is missed. Our Hidden You Clan lacks neither rare treasures nor money," You Zhentian said. "The only thing you need to confirm now is this: that material in Wei Zhao's hands—is it really Leader Bai's personal notes on pill refinement?"

"It should be. Leader Bai admitted as much himself!" You Panhu said. "Unless Leader Bai and Wei Zhao are in league to deceive us—but that possibility seems very small..."

"Then good. How much do you reckon it would cost to trade that material back?" You Zhentian likewise felt that since Leader Bai had admitted it, there could be no doubt. The key point, in his view, was that a man of Leader Bai's towering prestige could not possibly conspire with Wei Zhao to deceive anyone.

"Very difficult," You Panhu said. "This time is different from last. Wei Zhao is highly guarded—there is no hint of that feigned reluctance to part with something. The crux is that we have nothing to offer that would tempt him! What we can produce, he may not even deign to look at. A cauldron is out of the question—he already has both a first-rank and a second-rank cauldron. We can hardly offer him a third-rank cauldron, can we? Even our Hidden You Clan has only a handful of those."

"Naturally that is out of the question," You Zhentian said. "A third-rank cauldron is a treasure; under no circumstances can it be traded! Still, you are right—at the Summit of the Hidden Clans this time, Wei Zhao won so many treasures that ordinary things no longer catch his eye..."

"By the way, Uncle, there is one thing I still don't understand. Since Wei Zhao cannot refine pills, what did he want our cauldron for? And why wouldn't he trade pills with us at the Summit of the Hidden Clans?" You Panhu still could not fathom Wei Zhao's intent.

"Perhaps it was simply to make us lose the pill-refining contest at the Summit on purpose. That brat Wei Zhao is quite capable of such a thing." You Zhentian thought it over, and only this explanation seemed reliable.

"Most likely," You Panhu said. "I'll go sound out Wei Zhao this afternoon and see what he says. If a trade is possible, we can then work out the terms!"

"Very well. I'll go discuss it with your grandfather," You Zhentian said with a nod.

After hanging up, just as You Zhentian was about to pay his respects to the Old Master, a most distinguished guest arrived at the Hidden You Clan—so distinguished that even the Old Master of the You family received him in person. Moreover, the guest was seated while the Old Master stood respectfully to one side!

"Young Master Tian graces us with his presence—truly our You Clan is honored beyond measure!" The Old Master was astonished and delighted, and somewhat taken aback as well. He had not expected the visitor to be none other than Tian Canbian, the young sect master of the Xuandan Sect!

"You are too kind, Old Master You. Do sit and let us talk," Tian Canbian said faintly. "The Hidden You Clan and our Xuandan Sect have always enjoyed excellent relations, and you have made no small contribution to our sect!"

Tian Canbian's features were delicate and refined—he was a handsome man through and through, though something about him gave off a faintly effeminate air. A trace of subtle wickedness lurked in his eyes, discouraging direct gazes. Behind him stood an old man of utterly ordinary appearance, dressed in coarse cloth. Yet despite his unremarkable look, the old man was a peak late-stage Heaven-rank expert—ample proof of how highly the Xuandan Sect valued this young sect master.

"Thank you, Young Master!" The Old Master was somewhat nervous and reverent. The peak late-stage Heaven-rank old man behind Tian Canbian had not sat down, yet he had been seated first—which showed that the young sect master still thought highly of the You family.

"Last time, the recipe for the Marrow-Cleansing Bone-Transforming Pill that your You Clan contributed was excellent. My grandfather verified it personally—it is truly a rare ancient formula!" Here Tian Canbian's eyes flickered with disappointment. "Only, to refine the pill described in this formula, one prerequisite is required. That is precisely why I have come to see you..."

The reason Tian Canbian set such store by this formula was that it was immensely important to the Xuandan Sect—important to the point of being irreplaceable! For all these years, the Xuandan Sect had been searching for this formula. Now they had found it, yet could not refine it—the most agonizing thing of all!

The formula for the Marrow-Cleansing Bone-Transforming Pill was only a third-rank formula. In theory, if the Xuandan Sect's patriarch—Tian Canbian's grandfather, Tian Diren—were to take charge of the refining, the success rate should have been quite high. Yet he had failed!

The ingredients were rare to begin with, and still he had failed. This left Tian Diren deeply vexed. As a result, he could not rush into refining; instead he consulted ancient texts far and wide, and at last found some clues.

To successfully refine the Marrow-Cleansing Bone-Transforming Pill, there was a prerequisite: the refiner must be a pill refiner of pure constitution. In other words, only a refiner who had himself taken the Marrow-Cleansing Bone-Transforming Pill could refine it!

Though Tian Diren did not know how the very first Marrow-Cleansing Bone-Transforming Pill had been refined—how that first refiner had succeeded without having taken the pill himself—the question was like the chicken and the egg: no longer traceable, and impossible to trace. Tian Diren could not be bothered to agonize over it. He simply wanted to find someone who had taken the Marrow-Cleansing Bone-Transforming Pill, bring them into the Xuandan Sect, and cultivate them into a formidable refiner to produce the pill.

Even if that person had no talent for pill refinement, Tian Diren would pour out rare treasures without limit to alter their bodily attributes and make them a refiner! Lacking a fire constitution, they could take the Flame Blazing Sun Pill; lacking a wood constitution, the Ten-Thousand-Year Spring Wood Pill. Every one of these pills ranked alongside the Ice Heart Jade Bone Pill as supreme elixirs capable of transforming a cultivator's constitution—and refining them or gathering their ingredients was doubly difficult!

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