Chapter 4474 — Devoured by Black Qi
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
Cautious as Wei Zhao ordinarily was, even he had allowed himself a measure of complacency and underestimation this time. In the minds of normal people, demonic cultivators did indeed advance at a frightening pace, yet they generally lacked any real foundation—most were empty shells dressed up with a rank, and those who stayed at an ordinary level were rare enough, let alone anyone who could challenge above their tier.
What he did not know was that Wu Baoliang was a freak among freaks even by the standards of demonic cultivators—exactly like Wei Zhao himself, a man utterly beyond the reach of common sense.
"Well? It's not too late to change your mind. The trick you used to hide that escort token—are you going to tell me, boy, or not?" Wu Baoliang squinted his slanted triangular yin-yang eyes, sneering with a cackle as he glared down at him.
"Still harping on it? Figure it out yourself!" Wei Zhao laughed outright. Setting aside the man's identity as a demonic cultivator, there was something almost admirable about Wu Baoliang's tenacity—his determination to get to the bottom of things. People with that kind of obsessive drive were rarely simple characters, and it was clear enough that the strength he now commanded had not come from nowhere.
"Heh heh, won't shed a tear until you see the coffin, is that it? Since you're so stubborn, I may as well play the good man for once and grant you your wish!" As Wu Baoliang spoke, the black qi radiating from his body abruptly thickened, surging skyward in an instant like billowing black smoke.
At the sight, the crowd below broke into a chorus of startled cries, exchanging glances and bursting into heated discussion.
Among them were no few seasoned and knowledgeable figures. On any other occasion, they might quickly have realized that this Wu Baoliang on the platform was in fact a demonic cultivator. But now, not a single one of them caught on.
After all, this was the Nanzhou Escort Agency Grand Gathering—every soul present was a master of the righteous path, and demonic cultivators were dead men the moment they showed their faces here. Even if they had a death wish and went mad, they would never dare come to a place like this!
Back and forth the arguments went, and in the end the crowd arrived at a conclusion of striking unanimity. This Wu Baoliang, barring the unexpected, must be one of those exceedingly rare bearers of a variant spirit root attribute!
At the very least, cultivators of the five conventional spirit root attributes had never been seen emitting black qi from their bodies. That left only those endlessly varied variant attributes.
The world was vast, and nothing was too strange for it. The Nanzhou sea region in particular was a place where dragons and snakes mingled—all sorts of trades and walks of life were everywhere to be seen, and hidden tigers and crouching dragons lurked throughout. The sudden appearance of some mysterious powerhouse was a common enough occurrence; the crowd had long since ceased to find it remarkable.
They could never in their wildest dreams have guessed that Wu Baoliang was no bearer of a variant spirit root at all. This out-and-out demonic cultivator had actually dared to show himself openly at the Nanzhou Escort Agency Grand Gathering—and dared to strut onto the platform and fight in the open challenge!
Across a distance of fifteen zhang, Wei Zhao watched Wu Baoliang with a guarded expression. The dense black qi wreathing the man filled him with an inexplicable sense of dread.
He knew the man was a demonic cultivator, yet even Wei Zhao could not be certain whether this black qi was a trait of demonic cultivators or whether Wu Baoliang truly did bear some variant spirit root attribute. Either way, one thing was certain: this black qi must be extraordinarily dangerous.