Chapter 4447 — Arranging an Opportunity
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
"Is that the truth?" Hai Wuliang could not help but start. He had never seen Ling Yi take action, but he had after all come into close contact with him, and as the chief escort of the top escort agency in Nanzhou, his eye for judging people was far sharper than most. Even if he did not know exactly how much strength Ling Yi possessed, he could at least tell that this man was not so easily dealt with.
If he himself, the chief escort, were to take action personally, that would naturally be no problem—but the trouble was that the rules of the Nanzhou Escort Congress had always restricted the competition to the Golden Core stage, barring any expert at the Nascent Soul stage or above from taking part. That was the greatest problem of all.
"Not a word of a lie. This strategist of ours is a remarkable man who has devoted himself to cultivating a singular art. Though his apparent strength is suppressed to the Golden Core peak realm, his true power is such that even a mid-stage Nascent Soul expert is no match for him. He is our trump card. We had no need to deploy him in the earlier rounds, but the final is upon us now, so there is no longer any point in keeping him hidden. Arrange for that Ling Yi to face our strategist, and the boy is as good as dead!" Cheng Haonan pushed forward the silent Wu Baoliang, who stood to one side saying nothing.
"Oh? You are truly that formidable?" Hai Wuliang's interest was instantly piqued, and for the first time he looked Wu Baoliang squarely in the face.
In the waters of Nanzhou, mid-stage Nascent Soul strength already deserved to be called powerful—such a one could all but run rampant without fear. Yet here was a Golden Core peak expert whose strength rivalled that of a mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator. That was not merely rare; search the whole of Yunjie Island and one would likely not find another such marvel.
Such strength placed him squarely in the ranks of the invincible among Golden Core cultivators. However remarkable Ling Yi might be, he could not possibly be a match for a marvel of this order.
"You flatter me. It is merely that my cultivation method is somewhat unusual, and allows me to suppress my apparent realm through a secret art," Wu Baoliang said, cupping his hands in a show of modesty—yet in his cunning, slanted yin-yang eyes, the gleam of smugness was impossible to conceal.
In truth, this had been a measure forced upon him by circumstance; he had never expected it to prove so useful now.
Ever since he had fled from the Northern Island to Nanzhou, fallen in with the Cheng father and son, and joined the Poison Eye Mercenary Corps, Wu Baoliang had never made a breakthrough—at least not in his apparent realm. In truth, his real strength had been advancing by leaps and bounds the whole time. Otherwise, how would he have been worthy of the title of evil cultivator?
This was not by his own deliberate design. It was simply that his newly improved core method of evil cultivation worked only at the Golden Core stage. Once he broke through to Nascent Soul, he could still continue to cultivate—but then, if he wished to continue dual cultivation with those women, he would have to drain them to death on the spot.
The reason he had been exposed on the Northern Island in the first place was the mass disappearance and death of women. He had had no choice but to flee to Nanzhou. True, the waters of Nanzhou were notorious for their chaos, but if he were to repeat his old tricks, traces would eventually be discovered—and then, even with the protection of the Poison Eye Mercenary Corps, he would not be able to remain long in Nanzhou.
Chaotic as it was, no place openly tolerated the existence of evil cultivators. Even these waters of Nanzhou were no exception.