Chapter 4582 — There Are Other Ways

"The five-element killing qi has a spirit of its own. It may not fear you, but it fears me greatly—so it simply scatters on its own," the Dragon of Five Baleful Spirits said with a laugh.

"But those earlier ones clearly still attacked me," Wei Zhao said, puzzled.

"Those were too weak—their spirit was weak too, barely more than mindless things. These five-element killing qi are different. The greater the pressure they radiate, the stronger their spirit, and the better they know what's good for them. Once they sense my presence, they naturally avoid it. And since I'm suspended here, I can't fully hide my aura, so you get avoided along with me," the Dragon of Five Baleful Spirits explained.

"So that means those weaker five-element killing qi earlier didn't dare attack you because their spirit was too weak, but they did dare attack me?" Wei Zhao finally began to understand.

"Exactly. That's just what it means," the Dragon of Five Baleful Spirits said with a nod.

"Uh… this is really…" Wei Zhao was speechless. These five-element killing qi were plainly not living creatures, yet they possessed a certain degree of spirit. Earlier he had found the notion novel, even an eye-opener—but now he could only smile bitterly. What good was such a strong spirit? It wasn't as if the five-element killing qi needed to reproduce! What in the world did it need all that spirit for?

With the Dragon of Five Baleful Spirits' help, Wei Zhao had rather thought he could put all this five-element killing qi to full use—simply seclude himself here for a few years of cultivation, and if he took a few more Golden Core Gathering Pills along the way, he might even surge straight to the perfection of the Nascent Soul realm in one go. And now look: all of it had become flowers in the water, the moon in a mirror.

However great the intensity and pressure of the five-element killing qi here, if it fled so far and simply refused to attack, it was utterly useless to Wei Zhao. If only he could fly on his own, he wouldn't need the Dragon of Five Baleful Spirits to carry him. But that was a pure luxury.

"So what now? Still going back to that place to cultivate?" the Dragon of Five Baleful Spirits asked.

"Forget it. Let's head down first," Wei Zhao said with a sigh. Cultivating in that place was still somewhat better than normal conditions, but the effect was no longer so pronounced. It felt like someone used to riding a rocket who had suddenly been downgraded to an airship—he couldn't help finding it flavorless, and more than a little disappointed.

"All right then," the Dragon of Five Baleful Spirits said, nodding. Its body sank and dropped instantly to the ground below. It had accompanied Wei Zhao in cultivation for three whole months, and even it was starting to find it boring.

Back on the ground once more, Wei Zhao looked thoroughly glum. He gave a helpless sigh. "Can't get out, can't cultivate, and there's nothing worth doing in this place. It's enough to make a man's balls ache…"

He could see those immensely powerful five-element killing qi the moment he looked up, yet because he couldn't fly, he had no way to make use of them for cultivation. That feeling of guarding a mountain of treasure with his hands tied was enough to leave him speechless.

Before he had met the Dragon of Five Baleful Spirits, even if he couldn't cultivate, he could at least explore the place. But now that he knew this was the lair of the Five-Venom Flood Dragon and the Dragon of Five Baleful Spirits, such "exploring" was naturally pointless.

It wasn't merely that he might find nothing worthwhile—even if he were lucky enough to come across something, Wei Zhao would have been too embarrassed to pocket it just like that. After all, in principle the master of this place was the Dragon of Five Baleful Spirits, and everything here, including this whole underground space, belonged to it. If it had been any other spirit beast, Wei Zhao would have plundered without a shred of guilt—but who could help it if the Dragon of Five Baleful Spirits was an old friend of his?

Wei Zhao had never made a habit of robbing friends of their treasures. And besides, the Dragon of Five Baleful Spirits had gone out of its way to accompany him in cultivation all this time. If he still schemed to filch something off it, he'd be less than human. So to spare them both the awkwardness, Wei Zhao simply gave up the notion of exploring altogether.

Trapped here with nothing to do, it was no different from being in prison. Anyone in his shoes would feel frustrated and glum, and even Wei Zhao's placid temperament was no exception.

"Actually, that's not necessarily so," the Dragon of Five Baleful Spirits suddenly said.

"Don't tell me you have a way to keep those five-element killing qi from fleeing?" Wei Zhao's spirits surged at once. If he could keep cultivating smoothly, then at the previous pace it wouldn't be long before he could look forward to the mid Nascent Soul stage.

If his strength truly reached that step, then even against the Old Sect of the Western Mountains, Wei Zhao would have enough confidence!

He might not be able to stand against it head-on, but at least he'd have some ability to protect himself—nothing like the precarious state he'd been in before. Especially with the help of that ghostly thing, Wei Zhao was confident he had a full fifty percent chance of escaping, perhaps even more.

"I hadn't thought of that. Those five-element killing qi are actually more sensitive than any human cultivator or spirit beast. If I shielded my aura with my whole being, I might have a slight chance of fooling them—but the moment I move, there's certainly no hope," the Dragon of Five Baleful Spirits said, shaking its head.

"Uh, then what did you mean by 'not necessarily'…" Wei Zhao grimaced in disappointment.

"I didn't mean it wasn't necessarily about cultivation—I meant it wasn't necessarily about whether you can get out," the Dragon of Five Baleful Spirits said with a smile at Wei Zhao's glum expression.

"Get out? How?" Wei Zhao's eyes lit up and he asked hastily.

Continuing to cultivate here would yield little anyway, so if there was a way out now, he'd have not the slightest regret. It had been nearly a year and a half since he'd left the Northern Island—so much time had slipped by without his noticing. To be honest, he truly missed his fellow disciples and worried whether they might have run into trouble.

"Now you know this place has two entrances. The one in the heart of the Southern Island is certainly not worth trying—after all, you may well be on the spirit beasts' blacklist by now, and that place is far too dangerous for you. But the one you came in through—I think it's worth another try. After so long, perhaps their watchers have already been withdrawn," the Dragon of Five Baleful Spirits said after some thought.

"Right!" Wei Zhao clapped his head in sudden excitement. It was only because he was too close to the matter that he hadn't thought of it. No matter how cautious and suspicious the Old Sect of the Western Mountains might be, human patience had its limits.

They had watched him fall into the Five-Venom Swamp, a place of certain death. For the Old Sect of the Western Mountains to have posted guards for three whole months was already absurd—and now more than half a year had passed. By all reason they should have given up long ago. After all, they had no idea there was such a treasure land down here, still less that Wei Zhao could evade the attacks of the five-element killing qi.

"Go up and take a look first, then we'll see. If that doesn't work, I'll tell you other ways," the Dragon of Five Baleful Spirits suggested. (To be continued..) R752