Chapter 4927 — Arrest Them All

Fortunately, Wei Zhao had learned a trick from the long-dead Thunder Dragon. He had discovered that the creature's purple lightning was far more than a simple stacking of thunderous power—it clearly bore traces of collision between lightning particles.

Subtle as that distinction was, even Wei Zhao's keen perception could not grasp it at a single glance. But he had been struck by it more than once or twice; blasted alive so many times that he had tasted every flavor of that purple lightning through and through. Of that there was no doubt: beyond mere differences in the strength of the thunderous force, the most essential gap lay in the collision of lightning particles.

Yet comprehending it was one thing; mastering such exquisite, profound skill in an instant was quite another. Wei Zhao was, at bottom, a novice who had barely just learned the lightning strike—there was no leaping to the Thunder Dragon's level in a single bound. Still, he could follow this line of thinking and, by his own methods, remake the lightning strike bit by bit into something mightier.

Thunderbolt Thousand Bursts—that was Wei Zhao's first step!

By fusing the technique of the Wild Sand Thousand Bursts Fist into the lightning strike, he had produced the Thunderbolt Thousand Bursts that had just stunned the crowd. Of course, one might also call it the Wild Lightning Thousand Bursts Fist—but Wei Zhao plainly preferred Thunderbolt Thousand Bursts. Imposing. Grand.

All around, speculation buzzed without end. Most of them had not actually seen clearly what happened; they had merely glimpsed a thick, deep-blue bolt of lightning flash before their eyes, and then two late Xuan Ascension experts had toppled stiff as boards, black smoke curling from their bodies. But that did not stop them from letting their imaginations run wild.

In no time, all manner of outlandish theories filled the air. By comparison, the claim that Wei Zhao was a Thunder Dragon in disguise already counted as respectable. The even more absurd ones said he was the incarnation of lightning itself, and some even claimed he was the illegitimate child of the Thunder God and the Lightning Mother...

Wei Zhao's face darkened to a scowl as he listened, and he could barely keep from jabbing a finger at their noses and roaring: superstitious nonsense kills people!

These onlookers were merely watching and gossiping, but Chang Laiting, a scant few paces from the two altar masters, was scared witless outright. Cold dread flooded him—thank goodness he had learned his lesson last time and, with admirable self-awareness, let those two unlucky altar masters strike in his stead. Otherwise, would he not have been blasted into human slag on the spot?

"So, Young Master Chang. What do you think we ought to do next?" Wei Zhao cracked his knuckles with ill intent, deep-blue arcs of electricity dancing at his fingertips, fairly the picture of a Thunder God come to earth.

Sensing the chilling killing intent in Wei Zhao's gaze, Chang Laiting was frightened out of his wits. Every time an arc leapt at Wei Zhao's fingertips, his heart gave a violent lurch, terrified that a Thunderbolt Thousand Bursts might suddenly descend on his own head and leave him smoking black alongside those two unlucky altar masters on the ground.

"You... you dare lay hands on me?" That Chang Laiting had not fled on the spot already spoke well of his backbone. With his pride, he would never suffer the loss of face before so many people—and besides, in this place, even if he could not beat Wei Zhao himself, there were plenty of others who could torture this North Island bumpkin to death!

"You're seeing it with your own eyes, aren't you? Or is your eyesight poor?" Wei Zhao said with a faint smile.

Chang Laiting choked on his own words till he nearly spat blood. He jabbed a finger at Wei Zhao, grinding his teeth. "Just you wait! Don't you believe I can make it so you've no place left to be buried? In there I had no way to touch you, but now that we're out, I can snuff you out with a flick of my finger!"

"Then get on with it. All this noise—hardly the mark of a man. Fine, let me help you along." Wei Zhao found him tiresome, and as he spoke the arcs at his fingertips swelled abruptly into a deep-blue pillar of lightning. A simplified Thunderbolt Thousand Bursts, perhaps, but no less awe-inspiring.

Before the words had faded, the pillar of lightning descended straight upon Chang Laiting's head. The fierce-faced, weak-hearted Young Master Chang promptly toppled stiff as a board, black smoke curling from him, his posture identical to that of the two unlucky altar masters. If anything, he fared worse—a faint smell of scorched flesh already clung to him.

The whole crowd was struck dumb, and one after another they hastily retreated another dozen or so zhang, staring at Wei Zhao with the horrified expressions of onlookers gazing upon a fire-wielding fiend. Since when had the North Island produced such a ruthless character?!

Without a word, he had finished off two unlucky late Xuan Ascension altar masters; now, merely because the man was long-winded, he had flicked a finger and blasted Chang Laiting flat. Was this the second coming of Shangguan Tianxia's ruthless deeds from back in the day?

Years ago, Shangguan Tianxia alone had driven the Academy Alliance into a corner. This lightning-wreathed creature was a notch weaker in strength, but he was plainly headed the same way. After all, this was territory under the Yellow-Rank Academy Alliance's jurisdiction.

"Let's go," Wei Zhao said to Wang Xinyan and the others behind him, then took the lead toward the docks. The crowd around them scrambled to clear a path, terrified of provoking this North Island ruthless one by some misstep.

This was no place to linger. Since Chang Laiting and his pack of fools had come knocking, Wei Zhao of course could not fail to strike back—but he had also foreseen that doing so would stir up trouble. Best to get back to the Morning Star Academy's treasure ship first, where they would have another umbrella of protection, and others would have to think twice, more or less.

Yet before Wei Zhao and the others had taken more than a few steps, a squad of men suddenly burst out before them, blocking their way.

Wei Zhao's eyelid twitched at once. These people all bore a special insignia, utterly distinct from an ordinary academy's emblem—and more to the point, every one of them flaunted an overwhelming aura without the slightest concealment. They were all early Mountain-Opening stage masters, figures of the giant tier!

In the two years since coming to Cloud-Rank Island, Wei Zhao had seen a fair share of the world, having once been hunted to the brink of death by the Old Sect of the Western Mountains. But never had he been surrounded like this—before him stood an entire squad of Mountain-Opening stage giants!

This squad of Mountain-Opening giants clearly meant no good. Wang Xinyan and the others paled in alarm. With their strength, they might have managed to hold their own against late Xuan Ascension experts before, but now, facing Mountain-Opening giants—what were they supposed to do?

The onlookers gathered around were in even greater uproar. For all that many of them were early Xuan Ascension experts, before so many Mountain-Opening giants they could not even keep their footing; only by hastily retreating a hundred zhang could they barely withstand the crushing pressure of that overwhelming aura.

"Who dares make trouble here! Seize them!" The leader's strength exceeded the others by no small margin—he was, astonishingly, a mid Mountain-Opening expert.

Wei Zhao's heart lurched at the words. He suddenly recalled having seen that insignia before—on the person of that young alliance chairman with the chancellor's air. Which meant these Mountain-Opening giants were all from the Yellow-Rank Academy Alliance—more precisely, from the Yellow-Rank Academy Alliance's guard corps.