Chapter 4884 — The First to Break Through

But if his opponent were also at the great circle of the Nascent Soul, then this blow would be crushing beyond measure!

Wang Dianxing was not only the head of the Leidong Academy, but the foremost figure of the Nascent Soul stage, a man of the perfect Nascent Soul. Whether or not that title was truly deserved, one thing was certain: Wang Dianxing had always been a top-tier prodigy who drew every eye, a man who had never met a rival of his own level, and it was this lifelong crushing dominance that had forged the Wang Dianxing of today.

His strength came not only from his power itself, but chiefly from the confidence built upon his invincibility among his peers. Now, having encountered Wei Zhao, that confidence was shattered in an instant.

Once that formidable self-assurance was gone, Wang Dianxing was no longer the so-called foremost man of the Nascent Soul stage—he was merely an ordinary Nascent Soul at the great circle, and nothing more.

His spirit was utterly broken. Even if his injuries healed, that confidence would never return. This time, in all likelihood, even his attempt at the Xuan Sheng stage would fail.

The people of the Leidong Academy carried the dazed, soul-stripped Wang Dianxing away, farther and farther. Most of the onlookers dispersed as well; those who remained intended to try their luck, hoping that once Wei Zhao and his companions made their charge at the Xuan Sheng stage, they might, with a bit of fortune, snatch a lightning tribulation node—at worst, at the cost of some price.

The time needed to break through to the Xuan Sheng stage varied. By past experience, so long as there was a suitable lightning tribulation node on this Road of Giants, it took at swiftest three to five days, at slowest half a month—generally, the affair would be done.

Of course, outside this place, one might wait a year or half a year and still fail to draw down a lightning tribulation; that was another matter entirely.

This time, however, the crowd was fortunate enough to witness something remarkable, for they saw men who needed not even three to five days—from beginning to end, less than a single day in total!

It was not the much-watched Wei Zhao, nor the two fairies of the Three Fairies, Wang Xinyan and Huo Yudie, but two men the onlookers had paid little heed to before: Bao Zuoliang and Su Kesheng.

Of all the Morning Star contingent, these two had entered the lightning tribulation nodes first, and they had chosen rather remote spots that drew little attention. For this charge at the Xuan Sheng stage, they had made thorough preparations—each of them, in fact, held a Thunder Mystic Pill!

Bao Zuoliang was, after all, the son of a city lord; deep background made all the difference. He had even obtained a pill as rare as the Thunder Mystic Pill, and two of them at once, so that Su Kesheng benefited along with him.

Had it been only the Thunder Mystic Pills, that would have been one thing—they could merely preserve life beneath the lightning tribulation, not make one faster than others. But do not forget: Bao Zuoliang also had the Lightning-Baiting Banner.

In this place where lightning clouds gathered thick, a single light wave of the Lightning-Baiting Banner could effortlessly summon a lightning strike. Bao Zuoliang had only to make the slightest move, and the tribulation lightning of the two men came roaring down!

In truth, if they had not wished it, they could have used the Lightning-Baiting Banner to avoid even the most basic lightning tribulation. But then they could not have used the power of the tribulation to temper the spiritual roots within their bodies, and thus could not have merged the two kinds of spiritual roots into one—and naturally could never have charged at the Xuan Sheng stage.

It must be said that although Bao Zuoliang and Su Kesheng were full of wicked schemes, their strength was quite decent. Having drawn down the tribulation lightning, they succeeded in their breakthrough in a mere day, becoming the first from the Morning Star Academy to emerge as Xuan Sheng stage experts!

At this very moment, everyone else—Wei Zhao included—had not even drawn down their tribulation lightning, let alone succeeded in charging at the Xuan Sheng stage.

That the two should be the first to break through with such terrifying, astonishing speed left the onlookers outside stunned as if they had seen gods. They exchanged glances and broke into excited chatter: when had this obscure Morning Star Academy become so formidable?

First a heaven-defying Nascent Soul at the great circle whose strength rivaled the mid Xuan Sheng stage, and now two fellows who had broken through in a single day, succeeding in their charge at the Xuan Sheng stage within the span of one day—surely this broke every record in history?

Every breakthrough is a process of long accumulation released in a burst; with breakthroughs of a major realm especially, a matter of months is commonplace. Only the process of charging at the Xuan Sheng stage is somewhat special, in that it draws down a lightning tribulation, which shortens the time a little—yet the principle remains unchanged: the faster one breaks through, the stronger one generally is.

Following that logic, did it not mean that these two Morning Star Academy disciples, who had broken through in a single day, were also beings whose strength could effortlessly crush those of their own level?

The onlookers all wore expressions of awe, and only after a long while did someone finally dare to steel himself and edge forward, fawning with lowered eyes and a flattering smile: "Congratulations, brothers, on breaking through in a single day—a miracle unprecedented and unrepeatable! You two are truly dragons among men!"

Bao Zuoliang and Su Kesheng were taken aback for a moment, then nodded with a touch of smugness. Everyone loves flattery, and the two of them were no exception—Bao Zuoliang especially, who had grown up hearing such words and felt downright uncomfortable on any day he went without them.

"Brothers, you are already exalted Xuan Sheng stage experts and have no need of these two lightning tribulation nodes. Might you let this little brother make some small use of them? I would be endlessly grateful and would repay you richly in the days to come!" Seeing his chance, the man hastened to state his purpose—had it not been to snatch a tribulation node, he would never have come fawning over these two; he was not so idle as that!

"Get lost!" Bao Zuoliang, who a moment ago had been beaming with pleasure at the flattery, turned hostile the instant he heard this. He cursed and snarled, "Damn it, you think a few sweet words buy you a tribulation node? You take me for a fool? Looking for death?"

"Uh—" The man was startled and did not dare utter so much as a peep in the face of two newly risen early Xuan Sheng experts. He nodded and bowed hastily, apologizing again and again, and was shrinking his neck to beat a retreat.

"Hold on!" Su Kesheng called him back, then turned to Bao Zuoliang and said in a low voice, "Young Master Bao, these tribulation nodes of ours will just sit empty anyway. Better to give them to these people—it will conveniently help us deal with that fellow surnamed Lin. After all, our Lightning-Baiting Banner can't conjure tribulation lightning out of thin air; the more people around us charging at the Xuan Sheng stage, the more smoothly we can marshal the lightning."

"What do you mean?" Bao Zuoliang blinked, glancing at the tribulation nodes around them—fifty-odd of them at least. Surely they could spare one or two?

"Think about it, Young Master Bao," Su Kesheng said softly. "If the ones we marshal are all our own Morning Star Academy disciples, then even if we kill that fellow surnamed Lin, so many of them discussing it afterward will surely notice something amiss. And if the higher-ups come to investigate in person, we might find ourselves in trouble."