Chapter 4535 — Superfast Escape
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
Moreover, back at the spirit beast assembly, every trace of spirit beast aura on Wei Zhao had been fabricated by him, the Ghost Thing. An ordinary spirit beast was unlikely to see through such a trick, but the King of Spirit Beasts was another matter altogether; even if it was merely a puppet king summoned by the Vermilion Bird to hoodwink the crowd, it still had to have some real skill to its name.
This new King of Spirit Beasts had sensed the Ghost Thing's aura, and from there come to suspect that Wei Zhao was one of the Ghost Thing's people—or perhaps even the Ghost Thing himself—and so had suddenly spoken up to extricate Wei Zhao. That was likely the most plausible explanation of all.
As for why the King of Spirit Beasts would do such a thing, that was exactly what the Vermilion Bird and the Azure Dragon feared: this new sovereign was likely unwilling to remain a puppet dancing on others' strings.
Be that as it may, a clean escape was a blessing in itself. Having been frightened so thoroughly, not only did Wei Zhao dare not linger on the South Island, even the Ghost Thing, who had wanted to wander about and take in the sights, was forced to abandon the notion. This time they had been lucky enough to have the King of Spirit Beasts smooth things over, but should it happen again, they would die without ever knowing how.
So the Ghost Thing dared not grow careless. Once they were clear, it began directing Wei Zhao to find a way off the South Island, and Wei Zhao plainly had no objection whatsoever.
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To be sure, the South Island was a natural treasure trove for human cultivators; given the chance to venture here, one would reap no end of unexpected gains—provided one had the strength to match.
By Wei Zhao's current measure, he could still count as a worthy hand in the South Continent seas, but within the South Island itself he amounted to nothing at all. Unless he was prepared to devote himself as feed for the spirit beasts, he had best think as little as possible about rare treasures and heavenly materials—the more he dwelled on them, the faster he would die.
There was only one thing on Wei Zhao's mind now: to get off the South Island as quickly as possible.
But he had entered through the torrential vortex of the Demon Cold Sea, and going back the way he came was impossible, for it was a one-way passage. Even a power like the Old Sect of the Western Mountains could not force its way out against the current, let alone Wei Zhao.
What the Ghost Thing pointed him toward was another exit, one closer to the Weihu Sea, and it was no torrential vortex but a teleportation formation.
Only, to reach that exit formation, Wei Zhao would have to cross at least two major cultivation city districts, and the perils of that could well be imagined.
Thanks to the convening of the spirit beast assembly, passing through the Anluo District was not too great a problem; after all, the Vermilion Bird had already summoned away the stronger spirit beasts here, leaving only feeble creatures of the Golden Core stage or even lower, and generally of no aggressive disposition.
The sole purpose of these feeble spirit beasts' existence was to serve as rations for the powerful ones, so they posed no threat to Wei Zhao. But once he left the Anluo District, his troubles would truly begin.
The spirit beasts he would face next were formidable beings of the Nascent Soul stage and above at the very least. The spirit beast clan was thick with experts; within this single district alone, those comparable to cultivators of the Mystic Ascension stage were not few, and some perilous places were even held by titans of the Mountain-Opening stage. Should Wei Zhao dare set one foot within their territory, he would die beyond any doubt.