Chapter 4962 — Come With Me a Moment

Come to think of it, tonight's fishing plan had truly been fraught with peril at every turn. Even Wei Zhao himself could not help but feel a lingering chill of fear now. Chang Minghui's strength was simply beyond imagination; fortunately, luck had been on their side, and the man had been careless and underestimated his opponent. Otherwise, forget about stalling until the end so that Zhuang Yifan could make his move—Wei Zhao doubted he could even have survived the first step of luring the enemy. He would have died beneath Chang Minghui's wind blades before ever reaching the ambush point.

And in the end, if not for Zhuang Yifan's appearance, given the near-total exhaustion of both his and Liu Ziqi's strength at the time, facing a furious Chang Minghui would have meant a ninety percent chance of death. In that respect, Zhuang Yifan had actually done them a great service. Though he had not killed Chang Minghui as Wei Zhao had hoped, he had at least frightened the man off and preserved both his and Liu Ziqi's lives. This debt of gratitude had to be remembered.

"Hm?" As Wei Zhao healed himself and examined his internal state, he suddenly discovered that his composite eight spiritual roots had become far more consolidated than when he had first broken through, the attributes of each element fusing together with even greater seamlessness. Even the true qi within his body had grown a shade calmer and less turbulent!

This discovery instantly filled Wei Zhao with delight. Based on past experience, this was clearly the sign of having thoroughly consolidated the early Mystic Ascension stage. How long had it been since his breakthrough? He had originally thought it would take at least three months, perhaps even half a year.

On second thought, however, this outcome was not so surprising after all. Real combat was the best way to consolidate one's strength, and looking back on Wei Zhao's recent encounters—setting aside a weakling of the same level like Chang Minghui—the unfathomable vengeful spirit's primordial soul, Zang Zili of the early Mountain-Opening stage, and Chang Minghui of the late Mountain-Opening stage—every one of them had been an overwhelming battle. If his cultivation had failed to consolidate under such circumstances, that would truly have been strange.

While Wei Zhao rejoiced on his side, elsewhere Chang Minghui, fleeing in miserable haste atop the Ghost-Eyed Golden Eagle, was in the foulest of moods.

Not only had he failed to kill Wei Zhao, but he had been jointly schemed against by Wei Zhao and Liu Ziqi—a sword run clean through his chest and a lightning burial at maximum intensity. For a late Mountain-Opening expert like him, such injuries might not be fatal, but they were certainly no trifling wounds that would heal in a day or two.

What frustrated Chang Minghui even more than his injuries was that Wei Zhao was plainly on Thunderclap Plain Island, yet he could only watch helplessly and dare not strike again. Zhuang Yifan's sudden appearance had already given him a severe fright. Though Zhuang Yifan had not moved to detain him, if it happened a second time, who knew what Zhuang Yifan might do!

Amid his frustration, Chang Minghui finally understood: with his strength, killing Wei Zhao should indeed have been as easy as turning his palm. But Wei Zhao had a skilled expert like Liu Ziqi protecting him, and Chang Minghui could not achieve absolute suppression. Once things dragged on even slightly, Zhuang Yifan would certainly come to the rescue. Under such circumstances, killing Wei Zhao was all but impossible.

Yet having understood this, Chang Minghui had no intention of giving up. According to the rumors Wei Zhao had had Li Ren spread earlier, however, the time left for him to act was already short. Never mind letting Wei Zhao escape back to North Island—even if Wei Zhao merely returned to Morning Star Academy's territory, he would no longer be able to make a move.

After all, the three giants of Morning Star Academy were all no weaker than Liu Ziqi. The chancellor, Ling Yuanqing, was in particular not much weaker than Chang Minghui himself. If he dared kill Wei Zhao on Morning Star Academy's territory, the three giants would not be as full of twists and turns as Zhuang Yifan; they would absolutely fight him to the bitter end. Chang Minghui might well lose his own life in the bargain—and he dared not take such a risk.

After much deliberation, Chang Minghui concluded that the best opportunity still lay here—to strike before Zhuang Yifan could react, killing with a single blow through absolute suppression. Or perhaps he might simply dispose of that detestable Zhuang Yifan as well?

After hesitating for a while, Chang Minghui suddenly had a flash of inspiration and made up his mind. By draining the Ghost-Eyed Golden Eagle's vitality to push its speed to the utmost, man and eagle swiftly vanished into the moonlight.

In the great hall of Morning Star Academy's treasure ship, the enormous commotion earlier had drawn nearly everyone aboard into the hall. Li Ren, the lead officiant, was busy directing men to hurriedly repair the protective formation.

Although the protective formation had been shattered on the spot by Chang Minghui's two massive wind blades, neither the treasure ship's main body nor the formation itself had actually suffered much damage. With a little hurried repair and a fresh infusion of sufficient spiritual energy, the protective formation could naturally be reactivated.

"Master, how is Wei Zhao?" Huo Yudie and the others rushed up the moment they saw Liu Ziqi come out.

"He seems in good condition—should be fine. Rest easy, all of you," Liu Ziqi reassured them with a smile.

"Oh, good, that's a relief." Huo Yudie and the others all breathed sighs of relief, then asked about the battle that had just taken place. Liu Ziqi answered every question, and though she glossed over it all in a few plain sentences, the information revealed still made everyone break out in a cold sweat and shudder with lingering fear.

No wonder Wei Zhao had insisted they not get involved. Though all of them were already at the early Mystic Ascension stage and far stronger than ordinary experts of the same level, before a fiend like Chang Minghui they did not even count as cannon fodder. Even Wei Zhao had skirted death at every turn—how much more so the rest of them?

While they were talking, Wei Zhao had finished healing and appeared before everyone, light and at ease. Needless to say, he was promptly subjected to a forceful inspection by the women, who checked him from head to toe and back again. Only after confirming he was truly recovered did they finally deign to release him.

"I told you I'm really fine, and you still didn't believe me..." Wei Zhao looked at his disheveled clothes with a mix of laughter and tears, cutting quite the wretched figure of someone who had been manhandled. Just then his eye caught a figure in the corner of the hall, and his heart stirred as he recalled an earlier matter. He called out at once: "Miss Qin Chan, would you come with me a moment?"

The moment the words left his mouth, not only Liu Ziqi and Huo Yudie and the others, but even the other Morning Star disciples in the distance turned strange looks their way, each one eyeing Wei Zhao and Qin Chan back and forth with sly, suggestive glances. Had it not been for Wei Zhao's strength and status, rumors of every sort would have been flying thick and fast by now.

"Me?" Qin Chan was taken aback as well. Noticing everyone's expressions, she could not help but blush. After a moment's hesitation, she lowered her head and answered weakly, then followed in Wei Zhao's footsteps.

The two arrived at Wei Zhao's room. He had barely sat down when he saw Qin Chan turn and shut the door behind her.

"What are you doing?" Wei Zhao could not help but stare blankly.