Chapter 4706 — You Two, Come Along

Even with the whole crowd struck dumb, anyone with half a brain could work out what this meant: this thing's strength had to be far above Scarface's. Mid-stage Profound Ascension? Peak mid-stage Profound Ascension? Or perhaps something even stronger than that?

This Western Isle trial truly was a den of dragons and tigers, a gathering of the finest from every island. Every monstrous figure that came crawling out of the woodwork was fiercer than the last!

But how on earth had a Profound Ascension expert like this slipped in? He surely couldn't have been trapped here from an earlier trial the way Scarface had been. Plenty of the people present had noticed Wei Zhao beforehand—this thing had clearly been teleported in along with everyone else!

It wasn't just the crowd left gaping. Even Huo Yudie, standing behind Wei Zhao, could not help clapping a hand over her mouth, her eyes brimming with disbelief.

She had known long before this that Wei Zhao was unfathomable, and she had already rated his strength very highly indeed—yet the sight still left her stupefied!

Wei Zhao was plainly only at the peak of the early Nascent Soul stage! How could he slap away a peak early-stage Profound Ascension expert as casually as swatting a fly? What on earth had happened to this world?

Over on the other side, after being slapped flying, Scarface had grunted and groaned on the ground for a good long while before finally prising himself out of the crater. The cheek on the side that had been struck was swollen up enormously—flatly the size of a basketball!

One moment he had been a ferocious terror cowing all around him, and the next he had sunk to such a wretched state. The sheer whiplash of it was almost too much to take in.

Scarface stole a trembling glance at Wei Zhao; when Wei Zhao's gaze swept toward him, he promptly ducked his head and started playing the meek grandson. Though his heart seethed with ten thousand resentments—never since advancing to the Profound Ascension stage had he suffered such humiliation. It was utterly intolerable. But he was no fool: if the man could send him flying with a single offhand slap, then killing him for real would be no trouble at all.

After being slapped, Scarface actually began publicly playing the turtle with its head pulled in. His willingness to read the room was a little more than Wei Zhao had expected—though that was no bad thing. Wei Zhao had had no intention of killing him to begin with; otherwise, it wouldn't have been an offhand slap just now, but the real thing.

Scarface was thoroughly loathsome, of course. Given the litany of savage crimes he had committed, killing him a hundred times over would still be too good for him. But Wei Zhao had no intention of righting the world's wrongs on heaven's behalf. The cultivation world was a place where men ate men—so long as Scarface didn't come provoking him, whatever the man got up to was not worth half a spirit jade to him.

The real reason he had deliberately spared Scarface's life was that he had deeper considerations in mind!

The logic was simple: Scarface, the ferocious gatekeeper, made no difference to him—but to the other trial participants present, the difference was enormous. It bore directly on whether they could enter the Myriad-Year Grand Canyon!

Granted, the Thunder Mystic Vine was not inside the Myriad-Year Grand Canyon. But if too many people were let through, some of them might well cause trouble. Wei Zhao had no wish to leave himself hidden dangers at a time like this. So he might as well spare Scarface and let him keep guarding the gate, using him to frighten off the masses of cultivators.

Kang Jingming glared at Wei Zhao with venomous hatred. He had finally managed to put on a show of authority for once, thanks to the laser cannon—and then the moment he turned his head, this thing had stolen his thunder again. Was there no justice left in this world?!

He simply could not swallow the insult. Fuming, Kang Jingming was just about to launch into another round of sneering at Wei Zhao—but this time, before he could open his mouth, Xu Lingchong drove a foot into his back from behind. "Get on with the real work!" he snapped impatiently. "If you don't want to do it, take the armor off and hand it over!"

Ever since this operation had been planned, this Young Master Xu had been all but invisible. From start to finish it was Kang Jingming who took the lead—but over the course of the journey, Xu Lingchong had more or less figured out how the gear was meant to be used, and he was itching for a chance to try it himself.

If Kang Jingming proved unreliable, Xu Lingchong could snuff him out in a minute—no matter, he would simply step in himself. Even if he ultimately failed to marry Ning Xuefei, the princess of the Western Isle, so long as he could ruin Wei Zhao's plans, he would count his objective achieved. Everything else could be discussed.

"Yes, yes! Calm yourself, Young Master Xu!" Kang Jingming's heart lurched, and he hastily bowed his head in apology. He might throw his weight around in front of others, but he wouldn't dare give ten times the courage to talk back to this immediate superior of his—that was a good way to get himself killed. Kang Jingming was no fool.

After shooting Wei Zhao one last vicious glare, Kang Jingming had no choice but to swallow his resentment. He dared not linger a moment longer, and followed Xu Lingchong away with great care.

What on earth were those two up to? Watching Xu Lingchong's and Kang Jingming's backs, Wei Zhao rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

His instincts told him there was something fishy about the pair turning up here, though for the moment he could make no sense of it. Perhaps, like everyone else, they were simply there to harvest rare treasures from the Myriad-Year Grand Canyon?

"What are you thinking about?" Huo Yudie suddenly patted him on the back. Having suppressed her shock, she found that Wei Zhao was still the same Wei Zhao as ever. With a powerhouse like this for a teammate, her confidence in obtaining the Thunder Mystic Vine had soared a hundredfold—by now she could hardly wait.

"Oh, nothing." Wei Zhao shook his head, then turned to glance at Scarface, who had just lifted his head. Scarface promptly shuddered and buried his head again—the very opposite of his earlier murderous bluster.

Wei Zhao could not help but find it amusing. Having tasted bitter medicine, the man looked set to play the meek grandson for the rest of his days in Wei Zhao's presence. For a peak early-stage Profound Ascension expert of his standing, he certainly knew how to read the room.

Paying Scarface no further mind, Wei Zhao made ready to take Huo Yudie on to the Myriad-Year Grand Canyon. But at the last moment, as he turned his head, the corner of his eye caught sight of two familiar figures—Qi Wenmo and Xia Qianqian.

From the look of it, the two had only just arrived and were about to ask around for news. Just then they spotted Wei Zhao and Huo Yudie as well, and delight lit up their faces.

"Over here—you two, come with me," Wei Zhao called, beckoning to them from afar. Qi Wenmo and Xia Qianqian were hardly about to refuse. Though they had not yet fully grasped the situation, the mood in the air made it plain that this place was not going to be easy to get through.

Under the envious gazes of the rest of the crowd, Qi Wenmo and Huo Yudie—no, Qi Wenmo and Xia Qianqian—quickly made their way toward Wei Zhao, while Scarface and his gang of hangers-on, who stood between them and Wei Zhao, scrambled aside as if they had seen a ghost, terrified of accidentally displeasing Wei Zhao! (The Campus Belle's Close-Range Bodyguard web series launches on iQiyi on August 10th; for more news, follow Yuren's official account 22.) (To be continued)