Chapter 4883 — The Lost Soul

"You misunderstand. This was not my gift—it came from Jiang Yuechuan." Wei Zhao shook his head.

"Ahai?" Qin Chan froze, staring at Wei Zhao in utter bewilderment, her mind stalling as she struggled to catch up.

"Indeed. When I left Xiangyun Academy, he asked me specifically to bring it to you. That is how I knew of you—you are his betrothed." Wei Zhao smiled faintly.

"Ah!" Qin Chan had only just managed to stem her tears, but at these words they surged forth again beyond her control. The warmth that swelled in her heart in that instant washed away all her unwillingness and grievance—a woman may be strong, but she is also fragile.

Her sobs soon drew the notice of the crowd in the distance, who pointed and whispered. This ruthless figure of the mid Xuan Sheng stage was a true romantic, they said—having already taken two of the Three Fairies, here he was seducing yet another woman. Judging by the scene, he must be using the lightning tribulation node to force her into submission; otherwise, why would she weep?

Yet the onlookers were merely enjoying the spectacle. Dallying with flowers is a common failing of men, and so long as one's strength suffices, taking any number of beauties into one's chambers is only natural—hardly worth condemning.

Hearing the chatter around him, Wei Zhao shook his head in exasperation and said to Qin Chan, "Enough. Set your mind at ease and make your breakthrough first. We will speak of everything else when you come out."

"Yes—thank you, Master Lin!" Qin Chan nodded emphatically and turned toward the lightning tribulation node. But the moment she stepped inside, she could not help glancing back at Wei Zhao with a complicated look.

She was no fool. In her earlier surge of emotion she had not had time to think, but now that she had calmed a little, she immediately sensed something was off. That Jiang Yuechuan might have the means to send her a Golden Core Convergence Pill, she could believe—but a Thunder Mystic Pill? That was far beyond Jiang Yuechuan's reach!

But by now it was too late to say anything more, for Wei Zhao had already stepped into the lightning tribulation node as well. The protective formation activated, and he devoted himself wholly to preparing his assault on the Xuan Sheng stage.

Qin Chan assumed that a man of Wei Zhao's status and ability must carry no small number of Thunder Mystic Pills, and that was why he could give one away so casually. Had she known it was in fact the last one on his person, who can say what she would have felt.

In truth this had indeed been a misstep on Wei Zhao's part. Because the Thunder Mystic Pills for those close to him had all been prepared in advance, he had kept only the final one for himself. Though the jade pendant space still held abundant Thunder Mystic Vine, he had had no intention of refining more for the moment—and then this affair had arisen out of nowhere, leaving no time for an impromptu refinement.

Yet it was not entirely a rash impulse. True, he now had no Thunder Mystic Pill left, and his assault on the Xuan Sheng stage seemed a dance with death—but he was not like Qin Chan and the others. He had received the inheritance of the giant electric eel!

Along the way, some of the lightning tribulation nodes nearer the entrance had already begun to operate. Wei Zhao had carefully observed the tribulations others drew down; at first glance they were truly horrifying—an ordinary expert at the great perfection of the Nascent Soul stage might well be blasted into a charred rod on the spot. Their power was extraordinary.

But if the lightning were only of that degree, Wei Zhao did not think it could do him any real harm. Compared with the strike he had endured when he received the giant electric eel's inheritance, it was simply far too weak.

After all, Wei Zhao possessed a lightning-attribute spiritual root. Ordinary lightning strikes were not merely harmless to him—they were a rare replenishment, capable of making his own thunder power stronger. Only when the force exceeded what he could withstand would it inflict true lightning damage, and even then the harm would be greatly reduced.

So for others, assaulting the Xuan Sheng stage without a Thunder Mystic Pill to shield the body was a dance with death; for Wei Zhao, it could not be said to have no effect at all, but at most it was a minor nuisance—a slight disturbance as he condensed his spiritual root.

Without that profound self-assurance, Wei Zhao would never have gambled with his own life, however much he pitied Qin Chan. His compassion did not run so hopelessly wild as that.

Seated upright within the lightning tribulation node, Wei Zhao drew a long, deep breath, closed his eyes to regulate his state, and formally began his assault on the Xuan Sheng stage!

The crowd still watching exchanged looks at the sight. They had believed Wang Dianxing's words and taken Wei Zhao for a mid Xuan Sheng expert—but what business would a mid Xuan Sheng expert have running into a lightning tribulation node?

Could this fellow not be a mid Xuan Sheng expert after all? The doubt had barely formed in their minds when they saw Wei Zhao within the node begin circulating his mental cultivation method with all his might. The protective formation only served to protect; it did not block the view within, and the crowd was instantly dumbstruck—this fellow was actually at the great perfection of the Nascent Soul stage?!

Thud! At that moment the Lei Dong Academy group, carrying Wang Dianxing, had not yet gone far. Hearing the crowd's exclamations, their hands slipped, and the already wretched foremost Nascent Soul expert was smashed straight onto the ground—adding frost to snow, and knocking him out cold from the pain.

After a good while, the august head of Lei Dong Academy finally came groggily to his senses. The first thing he did was struggle with all his might to look toward Wei Zhao—and one glance was enough to shatter his heart all over again.

"How can this be! How can this be! This whelp is only at the great perfection of the Nascent Soul stage, yet he has strength to rival the mid Xuan Sheng stage?" Wang Dianxing was fortunate to have caught his breath; had he simply passed out and died then and there, he would surely have died with his eyes open in regret.

"Exactly! The head has already attained the legendary perfect Nascent Soul, and even that at most rivals the peak of the early Xuan Sheng stage. Why can that thing rival the mid Xuan Sheng stage? Did he take some kind of elixir?" The others found it no easier to believe.

"That's impossible. Even if he took an elixir, he would have to wait until he assaulted the Xuan Sheng stage to take it. Taking it halfway like this and then going to make the breakthrough—if it wore off midway, wouldn't that be courting death?" someone shook his head and analyzed.

"Just so. Besides, where in this world is there an elixir that could make a great-perfection Nascent Soul expert instantly rival the mid Xuan Sheng stage? If such an elixir truly existed, wouldn't everyone be fighting like mad to seize it?" The bystanders thought it impossible too.

The crowd looked at one another, then all turned their eyes to Wang Dianxing. Among them, the one most likely to see through Wei Zhao's depths was this head of Lei Dong Academy, who had crossed blades with him.

"A perfect Nascent Soul! A perfect Nascent Soul stronger than my own! Impossible! How can this be?" Wang Dianxing was muttering to himself like a man whose soul had been lost… (To be continued..)