Chapter 4508 — The Challenge Renewed

Businessmen put profit first. They could not care less about heretic cultivators or anything of the sort—so long as a house could overawe the petty rabble and the pirates, so long as it could deliver their goods safely and reliably, that was the formidable escort agency they would choose above all others.

When all is said and done, the victor is king. So long as one's strength reaches a certain height, even a heretic cultivator becomes the righteous cause. With the Old Sect of the Western Mountains, a mountain-opening titan, holding the fort for the Longzhou Escort Agency, that was no stain—it was a blessing no amount of lifetimes of cultivation could earn.

So long as the Old Sect of the Western Mountains endured, not a soul would dare provoke the Longzhou Escort Agency. Let their vessels fly the Longzhou banner, and even pirates and raiders would give them a wide berth; for to harbor the slightest wicked design against them was to make an enemy of the Old Sect of the Western Mountains—and ten lives would not be enough to pay for that.

Compared with that, whether they recovered second place was a trifling matter, one might even call it immaterial. With the word the Old Sect of the Western Mountains had given today, the Longzhou Escort Agency could forgo joining the Southern Continent Escort Alliance altogether and still be fine. With a mountain-opening titan at their back, could they possibly lack for business?

Long Kuiba was wild with joy inside, but the focus of the hall at this moment was not on him—it was on Cheng Haonan and Wei Zhao.

A moment ago, when they heard the Old Sect of the Western Mountains change tack and refuse to say another word about avenging his nephew and personal disciple Wu Baoliang, the crowd had assumed he meant to let Wei Zhao off the hook. They had never imagined he had been saving that task for Cheng Haonan.

"Yes, Master! Your disciple shall bring back Ling Yi's head at once, to avenge Senior Brother Wu, as the gift of my induction!" Cheng Haonan was instantly elated, brimming with swagger.

The title of leader of the Poison Eye Mercenary Corps might sound imposing, but in the eyes of those at the highest levels it was utterly beneath notice. Never mind the great sects—even a figure like Qi Mingyuan could despise him without a shred of ambiguity.

But now all that had changed. He was to replace Wu Baoliang as a personal disciple of the Old Sect of the Western Mountains—a formidable backing that no great personage would dare slight. From this moment on, Cheng Haonan's life had reached its turning point; he would soar straight up into the clouds.

And of course, all of it was thanks to Ling Yi. His road to glory would begin with killing Ling Yi!

Watching Cheng Haonan strut forward step by step, drunk with triumph, Wei Zhao—the very man he was after—remained as composed as ever. It was Qi Wenmo and the others beside him whose faces had gone ashen, seized with panic.

No matter what, they had always stood on Wei Zhao's side; they were long since a community of shared interests. Neither Qi Wenmo nor Qi Mingyuan—nor Chai Laoshi, standing among the chamber of commerce delegates—would turn his back on Wei Zhao at a time like this.

The trouble was that they truly had no recourse now. Cheng Haonan and his like were not much to fear, but with what were they supposed to stand against the Old Sect of the Western Mountains, that mountain-opening heretic titan?

By strength, all of them put together could not withstand a single blow from the Old Sect of the Western Mountains. To leap out rashly now could only mean courting death—there was no second possibility. And yet, could they simply stand by and watch Wei Zhao be killed by Cheng Haonan?

Everyone who had seen yesterday's battle knew that Wei Zhao had been pressed and hammered from start to finish. Even when he finally unleashed a top-tier killing art like the Blazing Fire Thousand Explosions Fist, it had been to no avail. Cheng Haonan held absolute supremacy over him in strength; he was no match at all.

Only a single day had passed since then. Not one sane person present—Qi Wenmo and the rest included—would believe Wei Zhao could pull off a comeback. Against a Cheng Haonan bearing down in full fury, Wei Zhao was certain to lose.

But if he lost again today, the outcome would be nothing like yesterday's arena duel. Yesterday, one need only fall from the platform to keep one's life. Today, however, this was a fight to the death, with no quarter given.

Seeing Qi Wenmo stir, eager to jump out, Wei Zhao quickly reached out an arm to bar his way and said in a low voice, "This is my affair. You need only watch closely."

Qi Wenmo opened his mouth to say something, but Wei Zhao gave him no chance; with a look, he walked out of the crowd on his own and went to meet Cheng Haonan head-on.

Wei Zhao knew perfectly well that he had to see this day through himself. Qi Wenmo and the others could not help him at all; on the contrary, if they drew the Old Sect of the Western Mountains' wrath because of him, that would be truly disastrous.

"Heh heh, so you do have some backbone after all—you actually dare step forward on your own?" Cheng Haonan's brows lifted at the sight, and clenching his fists he sneered with a savage grin. "I'd rather like to know—are you genuinely unafraid of death, boy, or is there something wrong with your head? Do you really think you can beat me?"

"Whether I can win—how would I know until we fight?" Wei Zhao countered with a faint smile, still utterly composed.

Even with the Old Sect of the Western Mountains standing not far away, he showed not the slightest sign of intimidation. Such bearing set the whole assembly clicking their tongues in astonishment, and each of them thought to himself, what a pity—with bearing like that, given time this youth would surely accomplish great things. Alas, he had offended the Old Sect of the Western Mountains, and today his talent was fated to be cut short.

"Oh ho, such big talk! Lucky my memory isn't too bad, or I'd have thought you were the one who beat me yesterday." Cheng Haonan mocked him wantonly, and with that a layer of black qi abruptly surged from his body. His whole aura turned sharp and domineering in an instant—he had plainly activated his full-body blackened state.

Clearly, Cheng Haonan had no intention of giving Wei Zhao any chance to resist or stall today. This was, after all, his first battle since coming under the Old Sect of the Western Mountains, and if he could not dispose of Wei Zhao cleanly and decisively, he would inevitably lose standing in his master's eyes. So today he had to go all out.

"Transcendent body art..." Wei Zhao's eyelid twitched slightly. Were the Old Sect of the Western Mountains not glaring at him from the sidelines, he would truly have relished a proper exchange of blows with Cheng Haonan.

After all, both the top-tier body art he had newly devised and the transcendent body art still lacked tempering, and here was a perfect opportunity. Perhaps after a single battle his mastery in that regard would leap forward, advancing straight from the rudiments to true proficiency. But for now—staying alive came first.

Wei Zhao shook his head with some regret, yet in the eyes of Cheng Haonan and everyone else, that gesture became open provocation. Whoever saw an opponent shake his head at him would surely take it the same way.

"Hmph! On the brink of death and you still put on airs. Of all the people I've met, you truly are the champion of putting on airs! You don't even know how the word 'death' is written!" With a long cry, Cheng Haonan's form turned in an instant into a spectral black shadow hurtling at Wei Zhao. His speed in the blackened state was astonishing; launching an assault so suddenly, even the vast majority of Nascent Soul experts could not have reacted in time—let alone a mere Ling Yi. R1152