Chapter 4897 — An Attempt at Fusion

Take the present moment: Chang Laiting's true qi contained three attributes at once—wood, metal, and fire. To oppose him with a single-attribute technique meant being suppressed no matter which of the basic attributes one chose. And when an expert of equal rank found their true qi attribute countered, the outcome was only too easy to imagine.

It might not be utter helplessness, but it was certainly being trampled from head to toe—and the difficulty of turning such a fight around was, in some ways, comparable to fighting above one's level.

"Scared stiff, are you?" Chang Laiting saw Wei Zhao frozen in place, motionless for so long, and doubt stirred in his heart. Yet he would not hold back on that account; the black sword only quickened by a fraction, sworn to cleave Wei Zhao clean in two from the crown down.

Then, at the final instant—when even Wang Xinyan and the others felt their hearts catch in their throats—Wei Zhao finally moved. It was not the lightning strike whose power had soared so wildly of late, nor the five-element killing qi that served as his hidden trump; it was merely a plain, simple Wildfire Fist.

At the sight, Chang Laiting's mouth split into a grin. As expected, everything that came from the Northern Island was trash. Even a freshly advanced early Xuan Sheng expert of the Eastern Continent would surely know the qualitative transformation that came after the Xuan Sheng stage—that one must never use a single-attribute technique against an opponent of equal rank was the most elementary of common knowledge, for it was absolutely certain to cost one dearly.

But before Chang Laiting could laugh aloud, the black sword in his hand had already clashed head-on with Wei Zhao's Wildfire Fist—and the result made jaws drop. Chang Laiting did not cleave Wei Zhao dead as he had wished; instead, each was forced back half a step, an even match!

"Impossible!" Chang Laiting felt at once that his eyes had played tricks on him. That sword strike had not been at full strength, true, but it was still a mighty move fusing three attributes—how could it be evenly matched against the other's single-attribute technique?

After all, he was one of the illustrious Four Young Masters of the Nascent Soul, one who had stormed the Xuan Sheng stage on the strength of his profound foundations—and a three-spirit Xuan Sheng expert at that. Never mind an early Xuan Sheng like Wei Zhao, fresh from the Northern Island; he could hold his own even against a mid-stage Xuan Sheng. How could he fail to overpower a single-attribute technique?

Turning it over and over, Chang Laiting could conceive of only one possibility: his eyes had indeed deceived him. The other's move was no single-attribute technique at all, but one laced with a second attribute—only he had been careless and failed to notice. Add to that the fact that his sword had not been at full power, and that was how the fellow had gotten off by sheer luck.

What he did not know was that Wei Zhao had used the pure fire-attribute Wildfire Fist, and nothing more—he had simply been using the man as a test subject.

Wei Zhao was not like the other Eastern Continent Academy disciples, who had been schooled in all the matters of the post-Xuan Sheng stage before they even began their assault. He had to grope his way through everything himself, and observation and conjecture alone were clearly insufficient for that. Deeper understanding demanded experiments of every kind—and this former member of the Four Young Masters of the Nascent Soul, Chang Laiting, was, conveniently enough, a rather decent subject for testing.

That one exchange had already yielded Wei Zhao a conclusion: a single-attribute technique was indeed at a great disadvantage against a multi-attribute one. Otherwise, given his strength, a single Chang Laiting should never have been able to fight him to a draw.

Since single-attribute techniques would not do, then why not try a dual-attribute technique?

Seeing that Wei Zhao would not even spare him a glance, Chang Laiting's face at once became unbearable. Stung into fury, he snarled, "Northern Island trash, it seems I underestimated you after all. To trade blows evenly with a sword at thirty percent of my strength—you do have some ability. But this is as far as you go. I'll show you right now the gap between a genius and a waste!"

"Thirty percent of your strength?" Wei Zhao smiled at that, a trace of amusement in it, and glanced at him. "Then how much are you planning to use next—thirty-five percent, or forty?"

"Northern Island trash, don't get cocky too soon!" Chang Laiting's old face flushed red. That sword strike had not been at full power, true enough, but to claim it was merely thirty percent was sheer boastful self-flattery—sixty or seventy percent, at the very least, was closer to the mark.

The words had scarcely fallen when Chang Laiting thrust another sword at Wei Zhao's face. This time, goaded past all patience, he struck with his full power. The black sword fairly howled with a strange rumbling roar, the three streams of light upon it—azure, yellow, and crimson—whirling madly, bursting out of thin air time and again as though exploding. Even Wang Xinyan and the others, standing far off, could feel the terrible might contained within.

"To die beneath my own unique Blast Sword—count that as your fortune. Rest easy and go!" Chang Laiting sneered, his face hideous.

Blast Sword? Wei Zhao's gaze narrowed slightly. The true qi before him erupted and he abruptly retreated at speed, while seizing the chance to study closely those three-colored streams of light on the other's black sword.

Chang Laiting gave chase, closing in, the black sword all but pressed against Wei Zhao's chest, the booming explosions ceaseless in his ears. Had Wei Zhao's true qi defense not been so thorough, he would long since have been blasted to dust and bone.

At the sight, Wei Zhao's eyelid twitched. Wood, metal, and fire fused together—and the fellow had actually wrung from them an effect like the explosives of the mortal world. This man was a talent, no doubt about it.

And from this alone one could see that the other must have devoted thought, even cultivation, to the idea before ever entering the Path of Giants—otherwise it would have been utterly impossible for him to master such a move within mere days of advancing to Xuan Sheng.

After all, a qualitative transformation lay between the Xuan Sheng and Nascent Soul stages. One with somewhat better talent might quickly grasp the basic use of multi-attribute true qi, but for someone like Chang Laiting to master in so short a time a move unique to Xuan Sheng experts, such as the Blast Sword—the difficulty of that was no small thing.

It was not merely a matter of carrying three attributes at once; it was causing a qualitative change, as though a chemical reaction, to arise among the three. Without prior, deliberate preparation, one would not merely fail to master it—one would not even think of it.

Herein lay the gap between the Eastern Continent Academy disciples and those of the outer islands. Their conditions were simply too good: not only did they enjoy a cultivation environment and resources blessed by heaven, but, rarest of all, they had experts of the Xuan Sheng stage and above to instruct them in person. They had made early preparations for what path they would walk in the future—a systematic, all-around guidance available only at the Eastern Continent Academy.

The outer island disciples, by contrast, the vast majority of them, could only grope their way forward like Wei Zhao. If they all had heaven-defying talent like his, that would be one thing—but how many Wei Zhaos were there under heaven?