Zhu Xiang laughed heartily upon receiving Zhang Yu's reply. "This matter will certainly be handled properly for Lord Qing Xuan. There will not be the slightest omission, nor will any outsider learn of it."
Zhang Yu took out a golden, glittering pill and handed it to him. "Then I must trouble you, Sage Zhu Xiang."
Daoist Zhu Xiang accepted it. He asked nothing further, merely bowed to Zhang Yu and said, "Then Zhu Xiang shall take his leave. After this, neither of us will owe the other anything." With that, his figure blurred and gradually faded away.
Zhang Yu remained seated. The pill itself was nothing remarkable; even if Zhu Xiang carefully examined it, he would find nothing unusual. Yet once it was cast into that innate qi, it could draw the Mystic Chaos Cicada's power inside. In this way, it might make up what had originally been lacking.
With Daoist Zhu Xiang acting in this matter, since he had agreed to bear the burden of it, any repercussions in the end would fall upon him.
A favor was precious, but there was no chance whatsoever that Zhu Xiang would join Zhang Yu's side because of it. When the time came to oppose him, he would still oppose him. Rather than drag it out until later, it was better to use it now. It was plain to see that even Zhu Xiang himself was more than willing to repay this favor as early as possible.
After parting from Zhang Yu, Daoist Zhu Xiang returned to his own Dao palace. Taking out the pill and examining it, he muttered to himself, "To stir the innate qi?"
Zhang Yu had not concealed it from him just now, but directly told him that casting this pill in would aid an innate spirit in