Chapter 3694 — Breakthrough, Peak of the Early Foundation Establishment Stage!

Until a larger vessel was obtained, no matter how much extra medicinal efficacy there was, it would only be squandered in vain; and as time passed, this surplus efficacy would dissipate without a trace.

Normally speaking, the Foundation Establishment Golden Pill, besides serving the function of an experience pill, also possessed the effect of a Foundation Establishment Barrier-Breaking Pill—more than enough to shatter that layer of barrier.

But Wei Zhao was now keenly aware that this Foundation Establishment Golden Pill had already expended far too much of its medicinal power earlier; the efficacy that remained was no longer sufficient to break the barrier, and if things continued this way, he feared all this surplus efficacy would be utterly wasted.

Something stirred in Wei Zhao's heart, and he immediately made a decisive move—he took out a Foundation Establishment Barrier-Breaking Pill refined last time and, without a word, stuffed it into his mouth.

Moments later, the Barrier-Breaking Pill's efficacy took effect. Compared with the heart-gnawing agony the Golden Pill had brought earlier, its prelude was far gentler—Wei Zhao had scarcely felt a thing before he sensed its effects directly.

Gathering from some unknown source, a vast force abruptly surged within Wei Zhao's body, domineeringly battering every one of his meridians; wherever it passed, every meridian, great or small, visibly swelled by a ring. And at the same time, that faint barrier he had touched earlier began slowly to dissolve as well.

"Breaking through the barrier, just like that?" The process went so smoothly that Wei Zhao himself could scarcely believe it; yet the vast true qi rapidly swelling within him made it plain that the barrier had indeed been burst apart by the mighty force of the Barrier-Breaking Pill!

After breaking the barrier, Wei Zhao could distinctly feel that his true qi—whether in purity or in sheer volume—had surged markedly beyond its former level. And even now the true qi continued to rise; though the intensity was no longer as fierce as at the start, the increase was still plainly evident—this was clearly the lingering effect of the Golden Pill!

This process continued for a full half-hour before it finally subsided. By then, Wei Zhao's true qi had increased by fully one third compared with the moment he had just broken through the barrier!

After sensing the rebirth-like transformation throughout his body, Wei Zhao let out a long breath of turbid air, profoundly relieved.

Thank heavens he had acted decisively and swallowed a Barrier-Breaking Pill just then; otherwise the Golden Pill's residual efficacy would have been completely wasted. At his normal cultivation pace, the extra third of true qi in his body now was worth at least a year of arduous training!

At that moment, the Ghost Thing drifted over and remarked, "Not bad—you brat, reaching the peak of the early Foundation Establishment Stage so fast, you're quite something!"

"You flatter me, Senior." Though Wei Zhao was modest on the surface, he was secretly delighted—after all, the Ghost Thing had once been an elder of the spirit beast clan, a superbly powerful existence ranking among the finest on all Cloud-Tier Island; for someone of his insight to offer praise was a rare thing indeed!

Unexpectedly, the Ghost Thing immediately sneered, "What's there to be happy about? Your piddling strength doesn't even amount to anything on North Island, and where we come from you wouldn't even qualify to set foot on the island—what the hell are you so smug about..."

With that, the Ghost Thing fell silent, leaving Wei Zhao to smile bitterly alone—that was just too crushing...

Still, he could understand the Ghost Thing's good intentions. Just as the other had said, though the peak of the early Foundation Establishment Stage was a notch above the early stage proper, on Cloud-Tier Island it was still merely the starting level—hardly worth gloating over. The future remained a long and arduous road.

Still, as a newly minted expert at the peak of the early Foundation Establishment Stage, he might not amount to much elsewhere—but at least within this little Welcome Pavilion, he was now comfortably more than a match for things.

For it meant that in strength Wei Zhao now stood on equal footing with veteran senior stewards like Meng Jueming; even if conflicts arose in the future, he need not fear the other's power. And given Wei Zhao's long-standing property of invincibility against those of his own level, should the chance ever come, even finishing off Meng Jueming would be no difficult matter!

Of course, this did not mean all was well once one broke through to the peak of the early Foundation Establishment Stage; to fully unleash this strength, Wei Zhao not only needed time to consolidate it properly, but also required further training in the Madfire Eight-Trigram Palm.

Compared with before, Wei Zhao could now use the twenty-first stance of the Madfire Eight-Trigram Palm without draining all his true qi; in fact, in his current state, he could fully deliver two consecutive strikes of the twenty-first stance. And more importantly, he could finally take a step further and begin attempting to unleash the twenty-second stance!

The twenty-first stance alone could instantly kill experts of the early Foundation Establishment Stage; with the more powerful twenty-second stance, Wei Zhao was utterly confident he could slay a peer at the peak of the early Foundation Establishment Stage in a single blow!

He cultivated a while longer within the jade pendant's space, and by the time Wei Zhao stepped out of his cave dwelling, the sky had darkened once more. This time, however, he had not come out of his own accord—rather, he had sensed someone triggering the restriction array on his cave.

"You? What is it?" Wei Zhao was slightly taken aback upon seeing Li Zhengming standing at the door.

Li Zhengming's expression was somewhat conflicted; after hemming and hawing for a while, he seemed at last to make up his mind: "Brother Wei Zhao, I've heard that the spirit jade awarded to the trial's first place are all top-grade fine jade. I wonder if I might trade one with you?"

"You want to trade spirit jade with me?" Only then did Wei Zhao understand Li Zhengming's purpose, and he laughed inwardly—Meng Jueming and his lot truly could not wait; the ten spirit jade had barely reached his hands before they were already rushing Li Zhengming out to test the waters.

"That's right—top-grade spirit jade, apart from aiding daily cultivation, is also somewhat beneficial for foundation building, so I'd like to stockpile a few. Brother Wei Zhao, you're already an expert of the early Foundation Establishment Stage, so you shouldn't have any need for it, right?" Li Zhengming said, eyes fixed intently on Wei Zhao's expression.

His main purpose in coming this time was of course not to trade for spirit jade—that was merely an excuse Meng Jueming had arranged for him to get close to Wei Zhao; otherwise, with Wei Zhao hiding in his cave all day and never coming out, he would have had no opening to probe even if he wanted to.

Wei Zhao's expression shifted slightly, and he feigned hesitation: "That's true enough, but even for an expert of the early Foundation Establishment Stage, top-grade fine jade is still hard to come by..."

Li Zhengming hastily said, "The price is negotiable—I can even do three for one, like last time."

"That's more like it. So did you bring the spirit jade? Let's make the exchange right here in my cave!" Wei Zhao nodded at once. He was still thinking about that Star-Ink Stone at the Hong Clan Merchant Guild; since someone was delivering spirit jade to his door of their own accord, he could hardly ask for better. (To be continued...)

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