Chapter 4719 — The Thunder Mystic Vine!

Yet the very next moment left her frozen in place: the terrifying, peerless thunder column was not aimed at her or Wei Zhao at all—its target was the Five-Thunder Tribulation Arch.

Then, before Huo Yudie's stunned gaze, the arch—which had looked so unremarkable before—was not blasted to pieces. Instead it blazed all at once with ten thousand rays of light, like some peerless treasure of the ages that, having endured the baptism of heavenly thunder, now revealed its world-shaking true form.

"Looks like it worked." Wei Zhao's eyes shone as he studied the transformed Five-Thunder Tribulation Arch. Before, it had been nothing but an archway; now it was covered in intricate, profound runes, and at its edge a small halo had appeared, rippling with perfect regularity. That halo felt familiar—something like a teleportation array.

"This... this really did break the formation. But how is that possible?" Huo Yudie stared, dumbstruck. She had a rough idea of what should happen after the formation was broken, and the intelligence report described it almost exactly as it appeared before her—yet still she turned to Wei Zhao in disbelief. "You really can unleash martial techniques of five kinds of true qi at once?"

"Mm. My technique's a bit special." Wei Zhao gave a vague explanation, then said, "Let's go."

"Oh—oh, right. Looks like I really did pick the right person!" Huo Yudie was immensely relieved. Without that trick of Wei Zhao's, this whole business would have been a nightmare—they might have ended up unable to even get through the door. But now everything was solved, because according to the intelligence she had gathered, once the Heaven-Thunder Formation was broken, there would be no further obstacles.

The two of them wasted no time and stepped into the halo at the edge of the Five-Thunder Tribulation Arch. Sure enough, it was a small teleportation array—though not quite like the ones they had seen before. The others had all required some time to activate; this one was different. The moment Wei Zhao and Huo Yudie stepped into the halo, the scene before them changed at once.

It felt less like teleportation and more like pushing open Doraemon's Anywhere Door—one push, and you were somewhere else entirely.

What now lay before the two of them was a narrow one-way passage, with a sliver of sky overhead, dense with thunderclouds that made the heart quail at the sight. At first Wei Zhao had half a mind to go up and explore, but one look at those thick thunderclouds and he dismissed the thought on his own—going up rashly would get him struck dead by lightning for sure.

Phew! Beside him, Huo Yudie let out a breath of relief. The intelligence had said as much, but she had genuinely feared some unexpected crisis might arise at this point. From the look of things now, there was no danger for the moment.

"Let's go." Wei Zhao said, and took the lead forward. There was only one one-way passage ahead, no other choice. Besides, he had the jade pendant to warn him—even if danger came, he could react in advance.

After three turns, Wei Zhao suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, and Huo Yudie, caught off guard, ran straight into his back. With a little yelp, she asked, "What is it?"

"The path ends here." Wei Zhao's voice now carried a note of inexplicable excitement.

"It ends here?" Huo Yudie blinked, then poked her head out from behind Wei Zhao—and in the next instant she too was struck dumb. Her eyes sparkled with boundless exhilaration as she murmured excitedly, "The Thunder Mystic Vine! This is the Thunder Mystic Vine!"

There truly was no path ahead of them—only a sheer, perilous cliff face. But on that cliff, several strangely shaped vines were growing, clinging to the rock. Apart from being somewhat thicker than ordinary vines, their most striking feature was the arcs of electricity that flickered across their surfaces from time to time. Without question, these were Thunder Mystic Vines!

Counting them quickly, Wei Zhao's eyes lit up—there were actually five Thunder Mystic Vines here. Two of them, however, had been cut down at some unknown time, leaving only two stumps of unequal length.

The remaining three grew in distinctly different stages. One of them was clearly fully mature—not only was its vine far thicker than the others, but the electric arcs that flickered across it were more powerful and more frequent as well.

As for the other two Thunder Mystic Vines, they were comparatively tender. One showed signs of nearing maturity, while the other had only just sprouted—its vine had not even properly spread out yet.

"So the five Thunder Mystic Vines rotate in turn!" Wei Zhao understood at once. From the look of it, the five vines' growth cycles were deliberately staggered, which meant, in essence, that one Thunder Mystic Vine was guaranteed to be ripe at every trial.

It seemed these Thunder Mystic Vines were not purely wild—someone had carefully arranged them, most likely to preserve the value of the West Island Trial. After all, the Thunder Mystic Vine was a heaven-and-earth treasure of the highest caliber. If there were ever a gap in the supply, the West Island Trial probably would not be as renowned across the five Cloud-Tier Islands as it was today.

"It's this one—hurry, cut it down!" Huo Yudie pointed at the fully mature Thunder Mystic Vine, so excited she was raring to go.

"Cut it down?" Wei Zhao was taken aback. "Why cut it down? Wouldn't it be better to take it back whole, roots and all? We can plant it back home, can't we?"

"Huh? You don't know the customary rules of the cultivation world?" Huo Yudie glanced at him, and seeing that he genuinely looked baffled, she explained, "Always leave a line for others—especially when it comes to heaven-and-earth treasures. Unless there are special circumstances, you must never pull them up by the roots. After all, finding it is your own fortuitous fate, but you can't deprive other cultivators of what nature has granted them. Remember: push things too far, and your own good fortune will run out all the sooner."

"Ah. I've learned something." Wei Zhao nodded humbly. He truly had not expected there to be such customary rules on the Cloud-Tier Islands. It seemed the cultivation world, for all its scheming and treachery, was not entirely without rules.

Greed is human nature. Without such rules, the heaven-and-earth treasures on the Cloud-Tier Islands would surely have been dug up clean long ago, leaving nothing behind. Leaving a line for others in such matters was, in a sense, leaving a line for oneself.

Of course, since these rules were customary, that meant they were not mandatory. Apart from disciples like Huo Yudie from the East Continent Academy or other famous sects, who had that kind of self-discipline, others might not be so law-abiding! (The The Blossom Guardian drama launched its second day! Word has it the reception is red-hot—absolutely must-watch! Everyone hurry over to iQiyi! Fishman's official WeChat: yuren22) (To be continued...)