Chapter 4396 — The Mysterious Center
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
If there was nothing fishy going on here, then he was the biggest fool alive. Besides, the Central Chamber of Commerce had dragged so many people in there solely to conduct those so-called human experiments—such a ruthless, cavalier disregard for human life could not, by any measure, be squared with a normal merchant guild. A cult was closer to the mark.
"That is exactly what I think as well. The questions I asked were in fact quite oblique and were not intended to be directed at them in any way, yet they still reacted so sensitively. Clearly something is hidden behind all this—otherwise, why arrest me?" Lu Bianren said with certainty.
"Mm. But now that things have come to this, I fear Deputy Pavilion Master Yao, whom neither of us has ever met, is in grave danger. It is even possible they have already seized him for their human experiments," Wei Zhao said with unconcealed worry and regret.
"That may not be so," Lu Bianren said, shaking his head. "Deputy Pavilion Master Yao is an expert of the early Xuan Ascension stage. As for those human experiments the Central Chamber of Commerce conducts, they have always taken only Golden Core experts—they do not even want Nascent Soul experts, much less an early Xuan Ascension one."
"What? Deputy Pavilion Master Yao is an early Xuan Ascension expert?" Wei Zhao was somewhat taken aback. His first encounter with that tier of expert had been back on the Central Isle, when the Heavenly Path Sect faced off against the Southern Heaven Aurora—and at that time, the Southern Heaven Aurora, relying solely on early Xuan Ascension strength, had already been able to contend for the position of Deputy Isle Master of the Central Isle.
After that, the next time Wei Zhao witnessed the bearing of a Xuan Ascension expert was with the three giants of the Morning Star Academy. The Eastern Sea Divine Nun had stared Cheng Qitian, a Golden Core expert, to death with a single glance—the shock of it had left a deep impression.
So in his subconscious, Wei Zhao had always regarded Xuan Ascension giants as supreme beings beyond all reach—even after he later encountered Xuan Ascension experts in the Central Chamber of Commerce, and more than one of them, that notion had never changed.
And this Yao LUNZHEN, as Deputy Pavilion Master of the Azure Cloud Pavilion of the North Isle, held an extremely lofty position—yet compared with a Deputy Isle Master of the Central Isle, he was still a notch below.
Moreover, he was cast from the same mold as Lu Bianren—wholly absorbed in the study of formations, not the sort who would throw himself into desperate cultivation to raise his strength. Wei Zhao had assumed his power must fall somewhere in the Nascent Soul range, most likely at the Nascent Soul Grand Perfection realm. He had never imagined that this man was actually an early Xuan Ascension expert!
"Quite so. Though Deputy Pavilion Master Yao is devoted to formations, his cultivation talent is in fact extraordinarily high. In his day he was a top genius of great renown on the North Isle—otherwise he could never have sat in the Deputy Pavilion Master's seat of the Azure Cloud Pavilion. It is only that he has always kept a low profile, and in recent years has never done anything of great stir, so he has drawn somewhat less attention," Lu Bianren said, seeing Wei Zhao's puzzlement and explaining with a smile.
Wei Zhao nodded. On reflection, it made sense. The Azure Cloud Pavilion might bring up the rear among the North Isle's Threefold Pavilion, but it was at least a colossus of the same rank, and its Deputy Pavilion Master already counted as a great figure at the very pinnacle of the North Isle. That he possessed early Xuan Ascension strength was hardly strange.
"Mm. Since Deputy Pavilion Master Yao is an early Xuan Ascension expert, the odds of his being taken for human experiments are indeed much lower. Perhaps he really is off somewhere repairing a formation," Wei Zhao said, stroking his chin in speculation.