Chapter 4330 — Encountering the Pirates Again
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
Wei Zhao stood dazed for a long while, and only after heaving out a long breath of stale air did he finally piece together cause and effect. He muttered to himself, "No wonder it hurt for so long just now, and no wonder I was stuck at the threshold of the early Golden Core stage all this time, unable to break through. So that was it."
As a peerless expert of the Golden Core stage who had achieved a perfect breakthrough, in theory he should have been able to advance swiftly and unchecked through the entire Golden Core realm—yet Wei Zhao had been wedged at the early Golden Core threshold the whole time.
If one really thought about it, the combat experience Wei Zhao had accumulated over this period was by no means slight: from the inner-sect grand tournament of the Sandie Pavilion on the Northern Island, to all the encounters after he came out to the Southern Island—every opponent had been either a Golden Core expert or a Nascent Soul expert, and each one stronger than the last.
By all reason, even the stiffest bottleneck should have loosened long ago; yet for so long there had been no sign of it at all. And now, having taken a top-grade Golden Core elixir, he had leaped the whole gap in one step, breaking straight through to the mid Golden Core stage. Fate, truly, loved to toy with people.
Wei Zhao thought to himself: most likely the cultivation was long since ripe, only that he had lacked the spark to trigger a breakthrough. Taking the top-grade Golden Core elixir had happened to provide exactly that spark; add to that the elixir's own potency, and rising two stages at once was only reasonable.
Facing this unexpected joy, Wei Zhao, who had been somewhat despondent, was instantly buoyed from head to toe. A perfect Golden Core expert already stood above ordinary Golden Core experts, and with his present mid Golden Core strength, even against a typical expert at Golden Core Great Perfection, he would absolutely dominate in every respect.
And if he were to unleash his strongest hidden card, Wei Zhao felt with fierce certainty that even alone, he would be confident of crossing stages to deal a heavy blow to a Nascent Soul expert!
Feeling the surging newborn power within him, Wei Zhao glanced at the remaining top-grade Golden Core elixir. His heart stirred. He believed that with the potential of a perfect Golden Core expert, taking it would likely push him up another stage—but in the end, Wei Zhao suppressed this tempting thought.
Advancing further was certainly cause for joy, but the path of cultivation taught one to know when to stop; to greedily chase speed in all things was to overshoot the mark.
However mighty and harmless a pill might be, in the end it was only an aid; only the cultivation won through water-dripping, stone-piercing grind constituted true inner foundation.
Though he had successfully broken through to the mid Golden Core stage, Wei Zhao did not go out. Instead he remained in the inn in secluded cultivation. He had, after all, already given Wang Xinyan and Huang Xiaotao his instructions; rather than risk going to look for them, it was better to stay quietly at the inn and consolidate his strength. Once his power had grown in the days to come, there would be no fear of lacking chances to meet again.
For several days on end Wei Zhao never stepped outside. Only when he felt the true qi within him once more obey his every command, and his strength was thoroughly consolidated, did he finally walk out of his room for the first time—balancing work and rest, ready to go out and get some air.
This time Wei Zhao did not bother putting on the Thousand Silk Mask, for the Dawn Star Academy's selections were now over. Those people from the Academy should all have left by now, so there was naturally no need for such an extra precaution.