Chapter 4688 — Swift Annihilation

By now, however, the thing had been pierced clean through the center of its body; it was plainly dead beyond any doubt, and this was clearly the handiwork of the Five Elements killing aura Wei Zhao had unleashed a moment ago.

"Thank you..." Huo Yudie's face flushed scarlet once again. This time it was not from the earlier awkwardness but from shame at her own carelessness. A true expert had to remain vigilant at all times, and she, her mind still churning with thoughts she could not chase away, had plainly tossed that law of survival clean out of her head.

"You're welcome." Wei Zhao smiled faintly. Ever since the business with the Eight-Legged Kache Insect, he had kept his divine sense trained on everything around them, lest they repeat the same mistake.

And somewhere along the way, Wei Zhao had accepted Huo Yudie as a comrade in his heart, no longer guarding against her at every moment as he had before. The jade pendant's warning naturally took her in as well.

The two pressed on. After that scare, Huo Yudie's state had finally returned to something normal, and she grew far more cautious as they walked. Before long, she suddenly stopped short.

"What is it?" Wei Zhao asked in surprise from behind her, thinking they had run into danger—though his divine sense revealed nothing out of the ordinary, and the jade pendant gave no sign of warning either.

"Something's off. I smell a scent I've encountered before, not far ahead." Huo Yudie's brows knitted tightly.

"A scent you've encountered before?" Wei Zhao gave her a strange look, then stepped past her to the front. Without turning his head, he said, "It's this way, isn't it? Just follow behind me."

"I'm not lying to you—I'm very sensitive to smells. There's definitely danger up ahead!" Huo Yudie called hastily.

"I never said I didn't believe you. But even if there is danger, we still have to push forward, don't we? We can't just give up halfway because of a little risk." Wei Zhao waved a hand, and as he spoke he had already drawn some distance ahead.

Huo Yudie gritted her teeth and had to hurry two steps to catch up. Wei Zhao was right—even knowing a tiger lurks on the mountain, one must still head up the mountain path. If they wanted to obtain a heavenly treasure like the Thunder Profound Vine, it was impossible to do so without taking some risk.

They walked on less than thirty zhang when a sliver of alarm suddenly rose in Wei Zhao's heart, and at the same moment the jade pendant sounded its warning. At once he shouted, "Back!"

And just as Wei Zhao and Huo Yudie drew back, dozens of thick, hideous vines burst violently from the ground—Pseudo-Human Vines again!

"Your nose is sharp." Wei Zhao glanced at Huo Yudie without haste. Because the Pseudo-Human Vine hid deep underground, even his divine sense could not detect it before it launched its attack; yet this girl had smelled it from so far away, after only a single encounter, no less. It was simply incredible.

"I've always had a gift for that, and I've had special training too—all so it could come in useful on certain special occasions," Huo Yudie replied.

"Mm. In places where divine sense can't reach, that nose of yours really can be a great help," Wei Zhao said with a faint smile.

"What do we do now?" Huo Yudie stared at the Pseudo-Human Vine ahead, its tendrils clawing and flailing, and felt as if she faced a great enemy. A moment ago Wei Zhao's warning had let them retreat in time, but the problem was that this was the only road. Unless they killed this Pseudo-Human Vine, the Thunder Profound Vine was nothing but a pipe dream.

The last time, working together with Ren Zhongyuan and the others, it had taken all four of them—Nascent Soul grand completion cultivators—just to barely kill a Pseudo-Human Vine, and every one of them had come away wounded. Now the Pseudo-Human Vine blocking their way had giant tendrils that looked even thicker and more terrifying than the last, and only she and Wei Zhao were left to face it. However you looked at it, the situation did not bode well.

"Nothing for it—we kill it, that's all." As he spoke, Wei Zhao's figure suddenly flickered and he charged forward. The Pseudo-Human Vine's hundred-odd giant tendrils went wild at once, whipping madly toward Wei Zhao like sharks that had caught the scent of blood. The sight was so astonishing that Huo Yudie was badly startled—if it had been her, that single exchange might well have flayed her to shreds.

Yet Wei Zhao neither dodged nor evaded. A surging, sky-high heat erupted from his body, and in an instant he was like a fire god descended to the world, wreathed in roaring flames that no eye could bear to look upon.

Even a plant that had cultivated into a spirit was still, in the end, a plant, and the Pseudo-Human Vine feared flame above all. Sensing its peril, it tried to flee in an instant; the madly dancing giant tendrils withdrew faster than one another, and in that unguarded moment the roles of attacker and defender were utterly reversed.

But the Pseudo-Human Vine had fled too late. Wei Zhao's Frenzied Flame Fist struck of a sudden, hitting its most vital root system dead-on. Amid a chorus of eerie shrieks, neither human nor ghost, the entire Pseudo-Human Vine was wrapped tightly in flame. In mere moments, this colossal thing that had left even Nascent Soul grand completion experts at their wits' end was burned away to nothing, leaving only a heap of ash upon the ground.

Huo Yudie stared at the scene, dumbstruck, her whole being utterly stunned. She had thought that with her and Wei Zhao's strength, passing through here would surely mean a bloody battle, perhaps even at the cost of grave injury—never had she imagined that in the space of a single dazed moment, the Pseudo-Human Vine would be so effortlessly dealt with by Wei Zhao.

"What are you standing there dazed for? Let's go!" Wei Zhao glanced at her.

"Ah? Oh!" Only then did Huo Yudie come back to herself, and she hurried to follow in Wei Zhao's footsteps. This time it was her turn to watch Wei Zhao's back from behind, and once again she found herself unknowingly lost in thought.

Before, it had been vague and uncertain, but this time she truly saw it: a Pseudo-Human Vine so powerful and terrifying, annihilated in a single casual move. Wei Zhao's cultivation might be only the peak of early Nascent Soul, but his true strength far surpassed that of ordinary Nascent Soul grand completion experts.

At the East Continent Academy, where geniuses emerged in wave after wave, challenging above one's level was nothing strange—but to leap levels as monstrously as Wei Zhao did was rare even across the whole academy. He was simply a freak!

What set Huo Yudie's thoughts wandering was not merely Wei Zhao's display of power, but the feeling of hiding behind a man's back and being protected in the midst of battle. It struck her faintly as odd—something that had never happened to her before.

To say nothing of the fact that, given her strength, she seldom met real danger; and even when she did, though there might be people like Ren Zhongyuan beside her who swore up and down that they would protect her, when the critical moment truly came they were often too busy saving themselves to protect anyone. Only Wei Zhao, here and now, was truly protecting her... (To be continued.)