Chapter 4177 — One Move, Instant Kill

To have successfully formed a Golden Core at twenty—this brat Wei Zhao was far too great a threat. If he was not eliminated today, there would be no end of trouble to come!

For a time, no one below the stage dared even to breathe too loudly. Miserable Senior Brother and the others were so tense they trembled in secret, and Shangguan Lan'er even tugged at Shangguan Tianxia, signaling that he could step in and save Wei Zhao now.

In their eyes, Wei Zhao was indeed an early Golden Core expert, but Su Zhaohe had not earned his fame for nothing either; this appointed duel today was still exceedingly dangerous.

Only Shangguan Tianxia, watching with perfect clarity, remained calm and composed. This little fellow Wei Zhao was the strongest Golden Core expert, one who had broken through in perfect form—would he lose to a Su Zhaohe of the same rank? Don't be ridiculous!

Annihilation! The instant Su Zhaohe's eyes blazed, he drew the Heaven-Shrouding Net closed, and countless strands of true qi that could shear through gold and cleave iron descended straight toward Wei Zhao's crown from every direction, leaving him nowhere to flee.

Yet Wei Zhao remained unhurried. At the final moment, as the Heaven-Shrouding Net closed in, his figure suddenly stirred, and he lashed a single Frenzied Fire Thousand Kicks straight at empty air.

Boom! Su Zhaohe's bedraggled figure abruptly appeared upon Wei Zhao's leg, and was then blasted backward like a cannonball, punching through stone walls dozens of meters thick and burying itself deep beneath the stands!

As for the deadly net that had surrounded him, in the wake of that astonishing kick it vanished into nothing, as though it had never existed at all.

So sudden was the scene that the whole crowd was left with their jaws hanging open. They craned their necks one after another to peer down into the deep pit, where Su Zhaohe now lay with his eyes rolled white, bloodshot eyes still staring fixedly, bubbling blood at his lips, unable to move—clearly breathing out far more than he drew in.

"One move! Instant kill!" After the entire hall had stood in dead silence for a long while, someone—no one knew who—cried out those words. Only then did the crowd come to its senses, and in an instant the place erupted in an uproar of endless discussion.

The number one newcomer truly lived up to his name. He had never been some posturing show-off at all; he genuinely possessed this crushing level of strength. Both were early Golden Core experts, yet a man like Su Zhaohe, who had been praised to the skies, could not withstand even a single move before him. What kind of monster was this!

And yet, when Wei Zhao finally spoke in a faint voice, the clamorous hall fell silent of its own accord. At this moment, he was the sole protagonist here.

"I could have spared you, but I have a friend named Huang Xiaotao..." Wei Zhao said lightly toward the deep pit, and Su Zhaohe, who had clung to his last breath, stiffened abruptly at those words; after a helpless, despairing convulsion, he died on the spot—dead beyond any doubt!

"He really did it for me..." Huang Xiaotao, up in the stands, was moved to tears at once. That Wei Zhao could kill Su Zhaohe in a single move naturally delighted her, but that final sentence, as she heard it, was more precious by far than the instant kill itself!

"Sister Xiaotao, do you like our little junior brother?" Shangguan Lan'er, herself still steeped in delight, looked at Huang Xiaotao with some puzzlement and suddenly asked.

"Ah? I... I..." The question came too suddenly, and Huang Xiaotao immediately began to stammer, not knowing how she should answer.

"Haha, so that's how it is. Then shall your junior sister play matchmaker for you?" Shangguan Lan'er could not help laughing, and on a sudden impulse made the suggestion.

Yet as she said it, for some reason her own heart gave a faint, inexplicable squeeze, though she could not grasp why. But Shangguan Lan'er was not a sensitive sort by nature; though she sensed something odd, she did not take it to heart.

"This... this..." Huang Xiaotao grew even more agitated, her words tumbling over one another. Was Shangguan Lan'er saying this to mean that she accepted her? If so, then would she not be free to be with Wei Zhao openly and honestly, with no obstacles left in the way?

Silly girl! Watching from the side, Shangguan Tianxia shook his head with a bitter smile to himself, though he said nothing.

He cared only about whether Wei Zhao was strong enough and whether he could look after his granddaughter properly; how many confidantes Wei Zhao might have was no concern of his. Polygamy had always been the way on Yunjie Island, and he was not so benighted as to insist that Wei Zhao marry Shangguan Lan'er and no one else.

Taking in the shock written on every face in the hall, Wei Zhao smiled faintly and thought to himself that this first appearance back on North Island had concluded perfectly.

To kill Su Zhaohe in a single move—such a fierce and domineering display was aimed precisely at overawing the petty schemers. Unless Wei Zhao was mistaken, word of all he had done on Middle Island would sooner or later travel back to North Island; matters like the Heavenly Pill Pavilion were certain to draw envy, and there would inevitably be those with ill intentions, so a show of overwhelming force was needed!

At this very juncture, when he meant to make an example of one to warn the rest, Su Zhaohe—that piece of human garbage—had delivered himself to his door, with old grudges and fresh hatreds already standing between them. How could there be any reason not to kill him?

Looking over the many foes Wei Zhao had on North Island—the Nan Tianxiong and Nan Tianguan brothers among them, and also Kang Jingming, Murong Zhen, and the like—with his present strength, none of them were worth fearing any longer; their powers no longer occupied the same plane.

Though the rules of the Sandie Pavilion barred Wei Zhao from striking them down directly, after witnessing today's scene they would certainly not dare provoke him lightly again—otherwise Su Zhaohe would serve as the warning of what awaited them.

Absolute power brings absolute deterrence. Once one's strength has grown to a crushing level, persistently concealing it will only invite a great deal of needless trouble; when necessary, one must display that strength and let these petty schemers despair of their own accord!

"How can this be? It has only been a month or so—how is he already an early Golden Core expert, and how could he kill even Su Zhaohe in a single move? How is that possible?" Murong Zhen stared blankly at Wei Zhao on the stage, murmuring to herself without end.

Not long ago she had still been fantasizing about making Wei Zhao kneel at the hem of her skirt begging for mercy. Yet in so short a time, Wei Zhao had become an existence she could only look up to; she could no longer keep pace with him at all.

Beside her, Kang Jingming, who hated Wei Zhao even more bitterly, was shocked and dazed at this moment, yet wore no expression of particular dejection. Back in the mortal world, he had always been chasing at Wei Zhao's heels and eating his dust, always hoping to turn the tables and never once succeeding—so he had long since grown used to such things as a matter of course.

Since he could not bring Wei Zhao down this time either, then he would just submit for now. He had never had any shame to speak of anyway, and had never imagined overpowering Wei Zhao through his own strength; no matter how strong Wei Zhao grew, there would always be someone stronger, and when that time came he would simply stir up trouble between them. (To be continued..) R527