Chapter 4494 — Too Many Idiot Pills

"Using heretical cultivators to fight in the arena—this is an insult to our entire Southern Continent Escort Alliance, intolerable and unforgivable!" Hai Wuliang's face was a mask of stern fury, and Long Kuiba was so frightened that his hands and feet turned to ice. Only then did Hai Wuliang announce: "Now, in the name of the chief judge of this assembly, I hereby strip Longzhou Escort Agency of all results achieved in this tournament. However, in consideration of the fact that you are not heretical cultivators yourselves but merely men who were deceived, the qualifications of Longzhou Escort Agency shall be retained for the time being. We shall see how you perform at the next assembly."

At these words, discussion erupted across the whole of Demon Cold Plaza, while Long Kuiba, whose face had been ashen as death, came back to life in an instant, looking at Hai Wuliang in disbelief. Only his results were being stripped, not his agency expunged forever?

Hai Wuliang's earlier hardline stance had left the impression that he meant to fight Longzhou Escort Agency to the bitter end, yet in the end he had raised his club high and brought it down lightly, letting them off just like that. It was truly beyond anyone's expectations.

"Many thanks to the chief judge for his magnanimity. It was my failure to judge men that let me be deceived by those two heretical cultivators. Longzhou Escort Agency is willing to accept punishment." Long Kuiba snapped to his senses and hurriedly voiced his gratitude. To him, this outcome was already the greatest fortune within misfortune. Losing second place was indeed a pity, but at least Qingtian Escort Agency was bound to the same stake, which was a small comfort. It was not too bad, all told.

"Mm. Whether you can turn over a new leaf and make a clean break with past errors will depend on your performance hereafter." Hai Wuliang gave a faint nod, every inch the great leader.

Watching this bizarre scene, Qi Mingyuan could not help but knit his brows. What the devil was this fellow playing at? His gut told him Hai Wuliang's move was not so simple—there had to be a deeper design behind it.

"A club in one hand, a carrot in the other. He kicks Long Kuiba and Longzhou Escort Agency off the stage, yet they must still be overflowing with gratitude toward him. Hai Wuliang has truly mastered the art." Far off, Wei Zhao gave a faint smile.

Every time Hai Wuliang opened his mouth it was to speak of future performance—in truth, it was a sharp sword hung above Long Kuiba's head, forcing him into submission and leaving him no choice but to serve honestly as his underling. Otherwise that sword could fall at any moment. On this point alone, Hai Wuliang's methods could well be called brilliant.

"Right now I just want to know what the devil this fellow is scheming, and why he's tying our Qingtian Escort Agency and Longzhou Escort Agency together. Longzhou had heretical cultivators—we didn't. Isn't this nonsense?" Qi Wenmo was still scowling.

"Heh. The dagger shows once the map is unrolled—just keep watching and you'll see." Wei Zhao shook his head without a care.

Sure enough, having seized the right to speak through the Longzhou matter, Hai Wuliang immediately struck while the iron was hot and turned to Qingtian Escort Agency, fixing Qi Mingyuan with a malicious look. "Head Escort Qi, Longzhou Escort Agency has already confessed. You've seen how I handled it. Hand over the heretical cultivator himself, cancel your results in this tournament, and all else is pardoned. This chief judge believes you are a smart man. Why not think it over?"

Hearing this, Wei Zhao was instantly amused. So this was Hai Wuliang's true intent. No wonder he had let Longzhou off lightly—beyond making it easier to squeeze them later, this was the more important goal: to split Qingtian Escort Agency apart!

More precisely, to split him off from Qi Mingyuan and the rest. Without question, the "heretical cultivator" Hai Wuliang kept repeating could only point to one man—Wei Zhao himself.

"Think it over?" Qi Mingyuan sneered in disdain. "Think over what? Whether to listen to your load of crap? Hai Wuliang, you think one sentence can tie my Qingtian Escort Agency to Longzhou Escort Agency? Do you really take yourself for such a big shot?"

"You—!" Hai Wuliang was choked off at once. He had never thought Qi Mingyuan could be so forceful before, but now that Qingtian Escort Agency had reached the top, the man had grown downright aggressive, not putting him in his eyes at all.

By his old domineering ways, if Qi Mingyuan had dared speak to him like this, Hai Wuliang would have stomped him down long ago—as the overlord of the escort agencies, he had every right to. But things were different now. In name, Qingtian Escort Agency was the next overlord of the escort world, and until the matter of the heretical cultivator was settled as fact, Hai Wuliang truly could not touch him.

"Qi Mingyuan, I'm giving you a way out. Don't refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit. Using heretical cultivators to cheat for points—with a mess this big on your hands, what have you got to be so cocky about?" Hai Wuliang's expression shifted.

"Heretical cultivator? Hmph, that's a fine big hat to slap on. Let me ask you one thing: who in my Qingtian Escort Agency is a heretical cultivator?" Qi Mingyuan sneered. He of course knew the man meant Ling Yi. About anything else he would not dare speak, but that Ling Yi was a heretical cultivator like Wu Baoliang and Cheng Haonan—not even beating him to death would make him believe it.

"Ling Yi!" A flash of savagery crossed Hai Wuliang's face as he barked: "Do you dare say Ling Yi is not a heretical cultivator?"

For a moment, every gaze in the hall turned upon Wei Zhao with a measure of doubt and scrutiny. Wu Baoliang, Cheng Haonan, and this Ling Yi—they could be called the most memorable Golden Core experts of this assembly, their strength absolutely outrageous. And now that the first two had been proven heretical cultivators, what of this Ling Yi?

By this natural inertia of thought, the crowd at once set itself against Wei Zhao. This move of pushing with the current, leaving no trace of his hand, Hai Wuliang wielded with consummate skill.

Qi Mingyuan was about to retort when Wei Zhao stepped out from below the stage, glanced up at Hai Wuliang, and said with a curl of his lip: "Which of your eyes saw that I'm a heretical cultivator?"

"Hmph! Still quibbling at this late hour? Your techniques are the same as Wu Baoliang's—if you're not a heretical cultivator, then what? Are we to believe orthodox cultivators can now use the martial arts of heretical cultivators?" Hai Wuliang looked down on him with lofty contempt.

At this, the crowd nodded one after another. Heretical and orthodox cultivation were two utterly opposed systems—just as heretical cultivators could not use orthodox martial arts, so too could orthodox cultivators not use heretical martial arts. This was a principle everyone knew.

And the techniques Wei Zhao had just used, though at first glance somewhat different, were in essence the very same as Wu Baoliang's. Put this way by Hai Wuliang, the suspicion against him was indeed considerable.

"Heh. First let me ask you a question—have you been eating too many idiot pills?" Wei Zhao answered with a smiling question of his own.

"Hah?" Hai Wuliang was stunned. Though he had no idea what an "idiot pill" was supposed to be, Wei Zhao's mocking, jeering expression made it plain that it was no compliment. His face darkened at once. (To be continued...)