Chapter 4878 — Some Rather Bad News

Wei Zhao and the others looked at Lu Xiaozhong beside them, caught between laughter and tears. This creature truly thrived on chaos—that shout a moment ago had been his, and without it, so many bystanders would never have turned so suddenly and unanimously hostile.

The stir among the onlookers could hardly escape the notice of the Lei Dong Academy group, but they all wore careless, swaggering expressions, not in the least troubled by the crowd's enmity. Plenty of people had made enemies of Lei Dong Academy over the years; a gaggle of fence-sitters who did nothing but wag their tongues was beneath their notice.

Meanwhile, Wang Dianxing had already walked alone into the ranks of Chenjiao Academy and Xiangyun Academy. Before him, a single man, so many perfect Nascent Soul experts could only retreat step by step, and not one dared step forward—a truly pitiful and lamentable sight.

Ren Zhongyuan's example lay right before their eyes, and to this moment the man still did not know whether he lived or died. Who would dare provoke the foremost seat of Lei Dong Academy again?

Before everyone's eyes, Wang Dianxing swaggered straight up to Huo Yudie and, with a lewd grin, reached out to tear off her veil. "Fairy Huo, things have come to this—I trust there's no need to choose anymore? This concerns not only your own great affair, but the great affair of every disciple of your two academies. Playing the coy maiden any longer would be pointless. I hear Chenjiao Academy has more than its share of loose women—serving men is hardly new to you, so you must be well practiced by now, eh? Hahahaha!"

Huo Yudie was the only one among them who had not retreated. She twisted aside to evade his hand, and by now she was trembling with rage. Even knowing herself no match for him, she was ready to fight.

That so many people from two academies combined should prove less spirited than one woman, Huo Yudie—thinking on it truly left one at a loss for words.

Then again, Chenjiao Academy was all women, and though Xiangyun Academy was mostly male disciples, this time its leaders were the likes of Ren Zhongyuan and Yi Xiaotian. To expect them to stand against Wang Dianxing and Lei Dong Academy, one might as well expect a sow to climb a tree.

If Leng Rufeng were present, that would be another matter—only, he had long since become a Profound Ascension expert and would never come to a place like this.

Nor was Yang Qianshuang here, though she had been struck down to the perfect Nascent Soul realm. Her two spiritual root attributes had long since fused, so returning to the Profound Ascension required none of the complicated preparations the others faced. She could trigger her tribulation anywhere at all, needing at most a Thunder Mystery Pill as a precaution—and if all went smoothly, she might not even need the tribulation.

Wang Dianxing saw through Huo Yudie's intentions and burst into even more brazen laughter. "Oh ho, a woman of mettle! Just to my taste. If you were like the other women—wantons who come fawning the moment I crook a finger—I'd find it dull. The more you resist, the happier I am. Hahahaha!"

Huo Yudie would not waste words on a creature spewing such filth. She gathered her true qi at once, ready to strike. Even weighing the interests of so many academy disciples, she could never compromise—after all, what was at stake was her reputation, the thing she prized above all.

Besides, she had long since seen through it: even if she and the others did submit, the other side might not truly yield the tribulation points. The likeliest outcome was to draw water with a wicker basket—all for nothing, toyed with and discarded.

"Come on, then—hit me as hard as you can. Rest assured, I won't send you flying like I did that fool just now. I'll only cherish you properly!" Wang Dianxing leered and teased, reaching again for Huo Yudie's face.

Her meager strength was nothing in his eyes—or more precisely, he had never regarded any perfect Nascent Soul expert as worth his notice, for he was acknowledged as the foremost man of the Nascent Soul realm.

The situation was on the verge of erupting when suddenly a figure stepped out from the crowd and said slowly, "All right, enough of your foul bleating. I've taken a liking to this place. Those with sense, get lost. Those who don't—die!"

As the words fell, the man walked unhurriedly up to Huo Yudie and regarded Wang Dianxing with an easy expression, utterly calm and unruffled.

Wei Zhao! Though she saw only his back, Huo Yudie recognized him at a glance, and in her shock and joy she nearly cried out—but catching the subtle gesture Wei Zhao made behind his back, she hastily swallowed the words on her tongue.

Not only Huo Yudie; Yi Xiaotian, Yao Jiali and the others nearby recognized him too, and every one of them paled with astonishment, speechless for a long moment.

"What did you just say? I didn't catch it. Care to repeat that?" Wang Dianxing dug at his ear and stared at Wei Zhao in disbelief, thinking he must have let his attention wander and misheard. With Ren Zhongyuan's example fresh before him, he truly could not believe anyone would dare provoke him in public.

"Huh? So you're a cripple after all this? And they call you the foremost seat of Lei Dong Academy—more like the foremost cripple's seat, eh?" Wei Zhao said with a sidelong glance and a curl of his lip.

The whole crowd erupted. Everyone had assumed Wang Dianxing had Huo Yudie cornered, and they had been hoping for a glimpse of the legendary beauty of one of the Three Fairies—who would have thought a troublemaker would suddenly pop up?

The others were shocked; the Chenxing Academy group was even more so. Lu Xiaozhong, who had long detested Lei Dong Academy, was capering with glee, while the rest of the Chenxing disciples all wore the look of people who had stumbled into disaster. Wei Zhao was their temporary captain—by doing this, he wasn't just courting ruin for himself; all of them would suffer for it too.

Regret filled every heart. He had been steady enough all along the way—how had he suddenly turned like this? Had they known, they would have died rather than agree to let this creature be captain!

Only Wang Xinyan and Huang Xiaotao remained relatively calm. They knew of the relationship between Wei Zhao and Huo Yudie—if Wei Zhao held back and did nothing at a time like this, that would truly be a wonder to behold.

Bao Zuoliang and Su Kesheng, meanwhile, wore conflicted expressions. Wei Zhao was courting death and inviting disaster, deliberately provoking a formidable foe like Wang Dianxing. At any other time the two of them would have been overjoyed—but now they were both holding back, preparing to use the Lightning-Guiding Banner!

If Wei Zhao were simply killed on the spot by Wang Dianxing, that would be one thing—but what if he were only beaten half to death and became too frightened to attempt the Profound Ascension breakthrough? Then all their preparations would have been for nothing.

"The foremost cripple's seat? Hahahaha, you really are a funny one!" Wang Dianxing did not fly into a rage as everyone had expected. Instead, as though he had heard the greatest joke in the world, he rocked back and forth with laughter, nearly choking on it.

At length Wang Dianxing raised his head and looked at Wei Zhao with the eyes one reserves for the dead, his tone cold and grim: "I do like amusing fellows like you. But there's some rather bad news—I like turning them into dead men even more!"