Chapter 1454 — The Trials of the Ice Palace, Part Two

Among the younger generation of the Zhao family who had trained hardest, the only one who had broken through from the Yellow Tier into the Mystic Tier was his third brother's son, Zhao Qitan. His own son by Yu Xiaojin was still young, with only Yellow Tier strength, still some way short of the Mystic Tier, and Zhao Qibing was worse off still. So if they were to send anyone at all, it could only be his third brother's son, Zhao Qitan, or one of the Zhao family's outer-surname disciples. Among those disciples there were, in fact, a few Mystic Tier experts of the right age to meet the trial's requirements.

"As it stands, if these trials of the Ice Palace had been held a few years later, I would have wanted Qibing to go and try his luck. But now, Qitan is the only one who can go," Elder Bi said. "As for the others, none of them are the core of our Zhao family; their loyalty has yet to be weighed."

"This... if Qitan goes... then in the future..." What Zhao Guangyin feared was for his own two sons. If, by some stroke of fortune, Zhao Qitan broke through the Mystic Tier and rose to the Earth Tier, then the heir to the Zhao family would be him and no one else — and that was not a sight Zhao Guangyin wished to see!

But if he kept Qitan back and sent other disciples of foreign surnames instead, then, as Elder Bi had said, it simply would not be safe. Those disciples were still young, their loyalty not yet firm. What if in years to come, once their wings had hardened, they refused to return to the Zhao family?

All at once Zhao Guangyin found himself caught in a quandary.

"Young Master, this is our Zhao family's opportunity, and we cannot let it slip. Of those who can go, Qitan alone is suited to it; if the Old Master were out of seclusion, I fear he would decide the same," Elder Bi said. "In the years to come I will train Qibing with all my strength, to make an Earth Tier expert of him as soon as I can. I will spare no effort to that end... Yet if Qitan, too, becomes an Earth Tier expert, then all we can do is leave it to fate. The future of the Zhao family must go to the most capable."

"Then that is all we can do!" Zhao Guangyin sighed. Though he was reluctant to accept this decision, he had no other choice. "Qitan, then. And send one of the more loyal Mystic Tier disciples to go with him."

Every family and every faction had two places. Though Zhao Guangyin did not want Qitan to achieve anything, neither did he want him dead. Qitan's aptitude was excellent, after all, and that mattered a great deal to the Zhao family's future. Now that a helper would accompany him into the trials, at least some chance of victory could be secured; even if he failed to pass, saving his life should be no trouble.

The hidden Pi family, meanwhile, sent the two brothers Pi Zhishan and Pi Zhihai to the trials without a moment's hesitation. Between the two there was no contention: Pi Zhishan wished to become the young family head, while Pi Zhihai had no heart for the struggle, wholly absorbed in martial practice and indifferent to all else.

The brothers were on good terms, so the Pi family had Pi Zhishan and Pi Zhihai form a team for the trials — which could only raise their odds of victory.

At the Gu family villa, Wei Zhao took his leave of Kang Xiaobo, Xiaofen, Fatty Lai and the rest, and set out on the journey to the far northern lands. For the past two days he had been packing his things, and had also laid in some necessities for the long road.

"Chief Wei Zhao, aren't you going to say goodbye to Sun Jingyan...?" After days of unbroken seclusion, Wu Chengtian had finally broken through to the early Mystic Tier with his Iron Hand Technique, and at last he could come out.

But even Wu Chengtian was told by Wei Zhao not to breathe a word of his rise in strength to anyone, the Wu family included. Wei Zhao meant to make trouble for the Yu family at the Aristocratic Family Assembly, and he could not allow the Yu family any chance to prepare. If the Yu family learned that Wu Chengtian had broken through, they would surely grow wary; if they began to connect the dots, it would be trouble indeed.

Wu Chengtian had, after all, been beaten into grievous disability by Uncle Zhu, and the matter was no secret — word had long since reached every family. The old master of the Wu family wept day and night in his grief; Wu Chengtian was the hope of the entire Wu family, and Wu Gonggao had placed great expectations upon him, never imagining that he would be beaten so severely.

Yet once Wu Gonggao learned that Wu Chengtian was injured, he did not dare go and take revenge. The other party was the hidden Zhao family — unless the Wu family wished to end its own existence, going to the hidden Zhao family for vengeance was no different from courting death.

And after Wu Chengtian was injured, word of him stopped coming altogether. He simply cut off his phone and broke contact with Wu Gonggao, afraid that it would break the old man's heart. What Wu Chengtian did not know was that the news had long since leaked out.

The two Xiao brothers, his enemies — how could they ever have concealed such a thing for him?

Wu Gonggao thought his grandson a fool, to stand up for Wei Zhao's woman of all people and be beaten half to death for it. And now look: a chief acknowledged for nothing — and of what use was that? The moment trouble came, the man had vanished, alive or dead unknown. Had he not been preparing for the Aristocratic Family Assembly, Wu Gonggao would have come to Songshan City himself to search for Wu Chengtian.

Within the Wu family, of course, none was more delighted than Wu Chendi. Wu Chengtian was ruined, vanished alive or dead — and this was his chance to rise. He had long coveted the position of Wu family heir, and now at last his opportunity had come.

In his eyes, even if Wu Chengtian were not dead and were found and brought home, he would pose no threat whatsoever.

"Grandfather, please accept what has happened and find peace. The great matter now is the Aristocratic Family Assembly, and there our first concern must be holding our rank. As for everything else, let us speak of it once the Assembly is over!" Wu Chendi consoled Wu Gonggao. "The family still has me. I will train with all my might, and strive to avenge my eldest brother before long!"

Wu Gonggao nodded, his expression bleak. Though he did not care for Wu Chendi, he had no choice now but to pour his efforts into training him. Deep in his heart, though, a little hope remained: he hoped Wu Chengtian's injuries were not grave, that he might yet recover. For an out-of-clan cultivator, after all, the meridians were not so vital; so long as Wu Chengtian's hands were whole, he could still practice the Iron Hand Technique.

Still, what Wu Chendi said was right. The pressing matter was to hold the Wu family's rank at the Aristocratic Family Assembly; if the Wu family fell, it would truly be finished. Fortunately Wu Gonggao was now at the mid Mystic Tier, and an in-law of the Liu family besides, so for the moment he faced no great danger at the Assembly.

At the Gu family villa, hearing Wu Chengtian's words, Wei Zhao suddenly thought of Sun Jingyan. In truth he had not thought of her before; when all was said and done, his dealings with Sun Jingyan were not many — for the most part she had merely served as a shield. And after Wu Chengtian gave her up, Wei Zhao had even less to do with her.

It was only that he had said farewell to nearly everyone, and not to speak a single word to Sun Jingyan would have seemed rather off — she was, in some sense, half a sweetheart, after all. Though that title of half a sweetheart had brought Wei Zhao not the slightest benefit.

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