Chapter 1178 — Don't Want to Go Along

"Can't upgrade you for now. Wait until I reach Earth Rank, then I'll do it." Wei Zhao hastily cut Qiu Lingshan off and said it straight out.

"Huh?" Qiu Lingshan was stunned. She had assumed that this upgrade from Wei Zhao was the limit, that he would never help her advance again — after all, most methods of boosting strength by external force came with restrictions. Another person's true qi was not the same as what one cultivated oneself; a small amount was fine, but too much would cause problems.

Of course, how could Qiu Lingshan know that Wei Zhao's true qi was an all-purpose true qi — once it entered her body, it transformed into true qi identical to her own. That was one of Wei Zhao's top-tier golden fingers. How could an ordinary person compare with a protagonist wearing a halo?

"It can still go up?" Qiu Lingshan asked, rather astonished. She was already doing well enough with late-stage Yellow Rank peak strength — if Wei Zhao upgraded her again, what level could she reach? Could she rise another whole rank and become a Profound Rank expert?

"It can. But you likely won't break through to Earth Rank — most likely you'll end up around late-stage Profound Rank peak. I haven't worked out the general rule yet, but you should always stay a bit below my level." Wei Zhao said, "Of course, don't go telling anyone about this. I would rather not have people lining up at my home asking me to boost their strength."

"I'm not stupid, of course I won't say anything!" Qiu Lingshan thought. How could I possibly let anyone else know about this? But then she asked, "Can I really reach late-stage Profound Rank peak?"

Qiu Lingshan could hardly imagine it. Late-stage Profound Rank peak — among the great families of the mundane world, that was the very pinnacle of existence. Could she really possess such strength? And Wei Zhao said she would break through to Earth Rank? Qiu Lingshan was truly dumbfounded. She naturally knew Wei Zhao was very strong, but she had never known he was this strong!

Other people's goals advanced half a tier at a time; Wei Zhao went straight to Earth Rank. Could Wei Zhao already be an expert of late-stage Profound Rank peak? At that thought, excitement surged in Qiu Lingshan's heart — the man she had set her sights on really was no mistake!

"We'll talk after I break through to Earth Rank. I don't even know when that will be." Wei Zhao thought. I'm not even at late-stage Profound Rank peak yet, and you're already dreaming? You're far too greedy. I grind away leveling up with such hardship and only barely manage to rise; then when the time comes I'll casually give you a hand and you'll be upgraded — it really isn't fair!

But in truth, if anyone heard Wei Zhao's thoughts, they would probably spit blood in fury! You have a cultivation space, you have a golden finger, you can mass-produce experts — that practically makes you a top-tier, invincible existence, and you still think it's hard?

"Mm-hm!" Qiu Lingshan said hurriedly. "Then this little silly girl will wait for you to break through, and then get all clean and fresh, ready at any time for you to upgrade me!"

"...You called just to talk about this?" Wei Zhao was speechless again.

"No, actually there's one more thing. You already know all about Liu Bojia's business, right? Chen Yutian came to me and asked me to pose with him as a husband-and-wife pair of thieves on a tomb mission. I wanted to invite you along. With your skill, you could lower the danger of this operation..." Qiu Lingshan got to the real matter.

"Go tomb robbing with you?" Wei Zhao asked, taken aback.

"Not robbing tombs with us — catching tomb robbers, and incidentally recording how the tomb's mechanisms are opened, to help our archaeological work," Qiu Lingshan explained.

"Not interested." Wei Zhao said flatly. "I'm staying here to protect Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu. Recently the Xiao family has teamed up with some hidden Pi family, and the hidden Pi family has sent several experts to hold down the fort at the Xiao family's place. I figure they'll come looking for trouble sooner or later! Just now Gou Huli even brought a lion here to make a scene!"

"Brought a lion?" Qiu Lingshan was startled. "No way? Where's the lion?"

"Chased up a tree by my family's high-rank Yellow Rank dog. It's still up there now." Wei Zhao smiled. "That dog was upgraded by me too."

Qiu Lingshan was speechless. Wei Zhao really did have nothing better to do, upgrading a high-rank Yellow Rank dog! But this also indirectly revealed how formidable Wei Zhao was — producing experts without the slightest pressure!

"Didn't you study medicine? According to our investigation, this tomb is very likely that of Zhang Liju, the folk medical sage of the late Song and early Yuan. Doesn't that interest you?" Qiu Lingshan began to tempt Wei Zhao, bringing out what interested him most. "There may be some ancient texts inside. Of course, we can't give you the originals, but copies can be provided!"

Qiu Lingshan was a person of principle; she could not use cultural relics to curry favor with Wei Zhao, so looking was fine, but taking them away was absolutely out of the question. Only, as for those ancient texts, even if Wei Zhao wanted the originals they would be of little use to him.

"Heh, not very interested." Wei Zhao remained uninterested. The old man had thousands of ancient texts at home, more than he could even read himself — why go read someone else's? And Wei Zhao truly had no time; a trip to the tomb would probably take at least half a month before he could come out.

"Huh?" Qiu Lingshan hadn't expected even this to fail to attract Wei Zhao, and she was instantly disappointed. "Think it over again. Just treat it as protecting this little silly girl. The tomb is unimaginably dangerous — aren't you afraid this little silly girl might die?"

"Then don't go either." Wei Zhao said. "Anything else?"

"No... nothing." Qiu Lingshan was a little disappointed, but there was nothing to be done. If Wei Zhao wouldn't go, she couldn't very well force him, so she could only let it drop. "Then think it over again. It's not all that urgent anyway — maybe the Xiao family business will be settled by then."

"We'll see." With that, Wei Zhao hung up.

After hanging up, Wei Zhao left the room and went to the living room. When Gou Huli had come with the lion to make trouble earlier, he had noticed it. Though the bathroom where Wei Zhao bathed had curtains, through the gap one could still see outside the villa. But when he saw Shen Yushu take Mighty General out, he relaxed — one lion was more than Mighty General could handle with ease.

When Wei Zhao came out, Shen Yushu was vividly recounting to Gu Mengyao the heroic tale of Mighty General battling the lion. She was in full flow when she saw Wei Zhao and hurriedly called out, "Brother Arrow-Brand, you missed it earlier — Gou Huli brought a lion to make trouble, and Mighty General took the wind right out of its sails in one go..."

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