Chapter 4745 — The Thunder Mystic Vine Again

"No, I just find it strange. How else do you explain this thing suddenly appearing? Don't you all agree?" Kang Jingming was startled by this and hastily dragged the others present in as a shield—after all, everyone else was just as curious as he was about how Wei Zhao and Huo Yudie could have suddenly appeared.

In truth, it was not only these people; even West Island's own higher-ups, Ning Shanghe and Yan Xinlan among them, found it inconceivable. To be teleported out after a full month and a half—such a thing had never happened before. This time it was truly an unprecedented first.

"Oh, so you really are curious about this. Then I shall graciously enlighten you—it was that Xuan Sheng stage expert who sent us out," Wei Zhao said with an airy, indifferent smile.

"What? Impossible! If he could send you out, why didn't he come out himself?" This time Kang Jingming's mind worked rather quickly, and he immediately spotted the flaw.

Everyone else wore expressions of doubt as well, especially Ning Shanghe and the others. They knew well how the teleportation array operated and knew that a Xuan Sheng stage expert could never activate it. They had tested it many times before, and not once had it ever succeeded.

"Heh, then go ask him yourself. That thing's been trapped in there for so many years—who knows what tricks he's figured out. There are plenty of strange folk these days," Wei Zhao said, fabricating irresponsibly off the top of his head. He had no wish to invite suspicion, so he simply made things up; no one could track down Scarface to verify it anyway. Whatever he said went—suspicion would be useless.

Huo Yudie nearly burst out laughing at this, though she quickly composed her expression. Since Wei Zhao did not want anyone to know, she would simply have to keep the secret with him until the end of time.

The crowd exchanged bewildered glances. They had all seen Scarface and the other trial participants. Was it really possible that such a greedy, brutal mountain king would suddenly develop a kind heart and send people out for no reason?!

But no matter how much they disbelieved, there was nothing to be done. Just as Wei Zhao had thought, this matter could not be verified at all. As long as Huo Yudie did not expose him, Wei Zhao was free to spout whatever nonsense he pleased, and in the end it would devolve into a meaningless unsolved case.

"Hmph!" Kang Jingming snorted coldly at Wei Zhao and said smugly, "So you got out—so what? It doesn't matter. You pose no threat to me whatsoever. I'll let you witness the moment of my final victory!"

"Oh." Wei Zhao smiled dismissively at this, too lazy to bother with the creature, and turned to call out to Ning Shanghe from afar, "Excuse me. Where do I register the spoils?"

Ning Shanghe gave a slight smile and nodded gently to the West Island disciple in charge of the matter. At once a judge came over to appraise Wei Zhao's spoils publicly.

"Heh heh, the outcome's been obvious for a long time now. What good treasure could a thing that can barely keep its own life produce? What a waste of everyone's time," Kang Jingming sneered from the side.

Most of the others shared that view as well—but once they saw clearly what Wei Zhao had brought out, the whole hall erupted. Thunder Mystic Vine—it was Thunder Mystic Vine again!

Ning Shanghe, Yan Xinlan, and the other West Island higher-ups could not help but twitch. Kang Jingming had already dug up one Thunder Mystic Vine earlier; that alone had been infuriating enough. Who would have thought Wei Zhao would now produce another one—was there no end to this, no living path left for the other West Island disciples?!

However, after examining the Thunder Mystic Vine Wei Zhao had brought out more carefully, the expressions of the West Island higher-ups softened considerably. This was a mature Thunder Mystic Vine, and it had not been uprooted—meaning it was entirely reasonable and proper, a far cry from Kang Jingming's case.

Kang Jingming's eyes went wide and fixed, his mouth stammering without producing half a sentence. He could only turn to look at Xu Lingchong beside him. How could this show-off have a Thunder Mystic Vine—and a mature one at that?

Xu Lingchong likewise shook his head again and again in disbelief. When they had gone in, there had clearly been no mature Thunder Mystic Vine, and back then Wei Zhao and Huo Yudie had had no place to hide anything on their persons. Where had this come from?!

An uproar filled the hall without end. Earlier, Kang Jingming had already been all but assured first place on the strength of an immature Thunder Mystic Vine. Now a mature Thunder Mystic Vine had simply appeared out of nowhere, grinding Kang Jingming underfoot—the scene was too dramatic, as if it had all been arranged in advance!

"Impossible! How can this be! Where did you get it?!" Kang Jingming stared blankly, his expression that of a man about to go mad with rage. He had been on the verge of realizing his dream of entering West Island's rear palace, only to have it suddenly trampled to pieces—and by Wei Zhao, his mortal enemy, no less. Anyone in his place would have gone insane.

"Oh, that Xuan Sheng stage expert gave it to me too. He's actually a very kind man," Wei Zhao answered irresponsibly, shattering glasses across the hall once again.

"This—" Kang Jingming was so furious he spat out a mouthful of blood, his vision going black as he nearly fainted on the spot. The higher one climbs, the harder one falls—he was the living picture of that saying at this moment.

While Wei Zhao was stunning the entire hall, Huo Yudie, though she did not need to win final victory as he did, still had to go through the motions. Casually producing two natural treasures extorted from Scarface was enough to handle it easily—and without bringing shame to Liu Ziqi.

As for the Thunder Mystic Vine, such a thing was naturally best hidden as deeply as possible. Unless, like Wei Zhao, one absolutely had to bring it out, only a fool would show it off publicly—was that not just inviting trouble for oneself for nothing?

Thus Wei Zhao's first place could no longer be shaken by anyone. However unwilling Kang Jingming might be, it was useless now. His immature Thunder Mystic Vine compared to Wei Zhao's was different in value by far more than a little—there was essentially no comparison between them at all.

After all, a mature Thunder Mystic Vine could be refined into top-grade Thunder Mystic Pills, while an immature one could at best produce low-grade Thunder Mystic Pills. The former's tribulation-crossing success rate approached one hundred percent, while the latter's was at most under sixty percent. What was there even to compare?

At this moment, Ren Zhongyuan and the others standing in a corner, watching the Thunder Mystic Vine in Wei Zhao's hand from afar, all wore unconcealable greed on their faces and could not help exchanging glances. They truly had not expected that such a weakling could in the end obtain a mature Thunder Mystic Vine—this kind of heaven-defying luck was just too fucking incredible! (To be continued…)