Chapter 3714 — Finally Out

And what they did not know, even now, was that the pressure bearing down on Wei Zhao was not the doubled force they believed it to be, but a full twelve times over!

Xu Lingchong, the young master Xu, ground his teeth in fury, cursing inwardly at those wretches from the Law Enforcement Hall on the platform for shirking their duty—otherwise, how could so many of them fail to bring down a single Wei Zhao?

Yet the Law Enforcement Hall experts at the center of it all wore faces of iron, driven nearly to madness by Wei Zhao!

They knew better than anyone that sustaining twelve times the pressure was a strain even for them; at this rate, Wei Zhao would still be standing while they themselves collapsed in disaster.

For so many Law Enforcement Hall experts to join forces against a mere newcomer of the Welcome Pavilion, and not only fail to cripple or kill him, but to suffer backlash and injury themselves—if word of that got out, they would be laughed out of existence.

Twelve times the pressure was already the limit of what they could control, yet judging by Wei Zhao's serene demeanor, it was not a matter of holding out one or two more sticks of incense—he looked as though he could sit there a year or half a year without the slightest trouble!

This was truly, absolutely, beyond all belief a case of seeing ghosts today!

At this point the Law Enforcement Hall experts were stuck fast on a tiger's back, able only to grit their teeth and keep hanging on—otherwise there would be no explaining themselves to young master Xu Lingchong.

Wei Zhao calmly weathering twelve times the pressure? If such a thing were spoken aloud, not only would no one believe it, they would think it an insult to their intelligence!

In truth, even they, the parties involved, could scarcely credit it even now; in the depths of their hearts they could not help but wonder whether something had gone wrong with the pressure formation—for how else could this bizarre situation be explained?

"Brat, want to keep going? Nothing better to do anyway—this old man would happily play along with them!" The ghostly thing cackled in Wei Zhao's mind.

Wei Zhao laughed inwardly at that. He had noticed that ever since arriving on Cloud Terrace Island, the ghostly thing's condition was plainly much better than it had been in the mortal world—and he suspected the surroundings had a great deal to do with it!

Now the old thing even had leisure for mischief, and was gleefully bullying these little children of the Law Enforcement Hall!

Before a top elder of the spirit-beast clan like the ghostly thing, these so-called Law Enforcement Hall experts were of course nothing but children; to cross swords indirectly with an expert of elder rank through the pressure formation—was that their honor, or their misfortune?

That was right: the one actually resisting the twelvefold pressure was not Wei Zhao himself, but the ghostly thing!

As a former elder of the spirit-beast clan, a top expert whose name ranked high across all Cloud Terrace Island, even reduced to a remnant primordial spirit, the ghostly thing found this level of pressure a trivial matter; twelve times over was not worth a fart in his eyes!

And Wei Zhao, the "party involved" in everyone's eyes, had not the slightest pressure on him at all—no different from his usual meditation in the cave dwelling—which to outsiders naturally looked like perfect composure and ease.

But no one else knew that Wei Zhao carried a great divinity like the ghostly thing within him; if he sat on so brazenly, the crowd below, though ignorant of the truth, would in their awe begin to harbor doubts, and all manner of wild rumors might sprout—which would be a nuisance sooner or later.

As for the Law Enforcement Hall experts who were likewise parties to this, though their inner shock ran far deeper than anyone's, Wei Zhao was not worried about them spreading gossip: what they were doing could not bear the light of day, and once it was known, the first to fall would be themselves!

Glancing at the sixth stick of incense nearing its end, Wei Zhao smiled faintly and answered the ghostly thing with his divine sense: "Senior, once the seventh stick is lit, let us stop."

Holding out for six sticks of incense meant thirty points for duration, and with fifteen points for first place in the rankings, Wei Zhao had already secured the theoretical maximum of forty-five points; holding on further would raise his score no higher, and served no purpose.

"Oh? You brat do know when to stop!" The ghostly thing chuckled, still unsated. "Very well, since you say so, this old man will not make trouble. But after playing with them so long, I ought to leave them a little memento."

Wei Zhao smiled to himself. He did not know what the ghostly thing intended, but he could already begin observing a moment of silence for these Law Enforcement Hall experts; the ghostly thing's methods, needless to say, were bound to be extraordinary.

When the sixth stick burned out and the seventh was lit amid the astonished, doubtful gazes of all present, Wei Zhao still sat like an old monk in meditation—while the Law Enforcement Hall experts charged with controlling the pressure had fine beads of sweat on every brow, plainly at the end of their endurance!

The men exchanged glances. A wise man does not eat a loss before his eyes; better to let the brat off for now and call it quits, and at worst suffer a few scoldings from young master Xu—surely not worth sinking themselves for the sake of one mere newcomer!

But just as they meant to withdraw, the pressure in the arena suddenly began to climb wildly beyond control, breaking through the twelvefold limit in an instant and racing toward fifteen, sixteen times—and in less than a breath it had reached an unprecedented twentyfold height!

The Law Enforcement Hall experts paled in shock, and before they could react, Wei Zhao—the very man they had schemed so hard to crush—rose unhurriedly and strolled down from the platform with perfect ease.

At last the fellow was willing to come down!

The crowd below erupted in uproar: in the first trial, Wei Zhao was the only newcomer of the Tri-Layer Pavilion to score the full forty-five points!

Even if every one of them was stung to fury at being "played" by Wei Zhao, his strength spoke for itself; however bitter and resentful they felt, before such a godlike display they could only offer one word from the heart—submission!

Looking over the performance of all the newcomers in this round, even Kang Jingming of the Soaring Sky Pavilion—the designated newcomer steward and current favorite—had scored only thirty-five points. Setting aside the fifty bonus points granted to the newcomer steward, beside Wei Zhao's perfect, god-tier showing he was plainly outshone. RS