Chapter 4744 — How Did He Get Out?

Without some special move, an ordinary cultivator truly had no way to attack it from the outside.

Such a trifling obstacle, however, was naturally no trouble for Wei Zhao. If all he had wanted was to strike the array's core inside, he had no fewer than five methods at his disposal; but since the requirement was to use his strongest martial technique, Wei Zhao chose without question the Five Elements Killing Qi.

A low, soul-stealing dragon roar sounded, and a stream of Five Elements Killing Qi came surging out from the center of Wei Zhao's palm. Swift and overbearing as it was, it gave one the impression of a true flood dragon, drifting and gliding as it pleased—one thought from Wei Zhao and it could effortlessly change course at any moment.

As expected, the Five Elements Killing Qi slammed squarely into the teleportation array's core without any suspense. Then, before Huo Yudie's utterly astonished eyes, the entire teleportation array blazed abruptly with a burst of blinding white light—it had actually activated!

Watching Huo Yudie's figure vanish within the teleportation array, Wei Zhao's heart settled at once. That last strike had used only fifty percent of his true qi, yet it had sent Huo Yudie off without a hitch—proof that his theory, even if not entirely correct, had to be close to the mark.

His earlier guess had been right on one point: the reason West Island's authorities stated flatly that one month was the teleportation limit was that the attack limit of a peak Nascent Soul expert could reach no further. But Wei Zhao was different. His true strength could already rival that of a genuine Xuan Sheng stage expert, and the might of his martial techniques far surpassed that of any ordinary peak Nascent Soul expert.

More than that, on the surface Wei Zhao was still only a mid-stage Nascent Soul expert, and the true qi he unleashed was genuine Nascent Soul true qi—only its power was astonishingly great. Thus he himself was not subject to the teleportation array's rank restrictions.

Otherwise, had a Xuan Sheng stage expert been in his place, one blast of Xuan Sheng true qi would likely have been more than the teleportation array could bear, and naturally there would have been no sending anyone out as Wei Zhao had done.

Perhaps this was where the true secret lay. It was like a ferry: to cross a hundred-li river lashed by fierce winds and high waves, one needed sufficiently powerful propulsion, or one could never reach the far bank—yet at the same time the passengers could not exceed the ferry's own load capacity, or else never mind crossing the river, they would not even be allowed aboard.

An ordinary peak Nascent Soul expert could not supply such powerful propulsion, while a Xuan Sheng stage expert, though possessed of that strength, was himself severely over the weight limit and could not board the ship. Only Wei Zhao, that freak, carried the weight of a Nascent Soul expert while wielding the power of a Xuan Sheng expert—and only thus could he force the crossing.

Without hesitation, Wei Zhao stepped into the teleportation array, and another stream of Five Elements Killing Qi activated the teleport.

By afternoon, after a wait of agonizing, day-after-day torment, Kang Jingming and Xu Lingchong had at last safely and successfully arrived at the moment when the trial results were to be announced.

In the side courtyard of the temporary palace, the panel of judges and the trial participants gathered once more. When Ning Shanghe reappeared before the crowd with Ning Xuefei, the corners of Kang Jingming's mouth split into a grin. Gazing at Ning Xuefei, he gulped down his drool again and again—from this moment on, this little beauty would belong to him!

Seeing that undisguised piggish leer of Kang Jingming's, Ning Xuefei could not suppress a surge of nausea. Helplessly she looked toward Ning Shanghe in front of her, hoping her mother would rid her of this shameless bastard—but alas, in the face of her daughter's plea, Ning Shanghe showed no reaction at all.

As the mistress of West Island, no matter how her heart ached for Ning Xuefei, she could not possibly make any gesture in public on such an occasion. In truth, even if she had arranged some contingency, she would never let Ning Xuefei know of it. These filthy matters were burden enough for her, the mother, to bear alone; the time had not yet come for Ning Xuefei to shoulder the burden.

Little did she know that this innocent, kind-hearted daughter in Ning Shanghe's eyes was at this very moment secretly steeling herself: if that shameless bastard Kang Jingming truly got his way today, then she would follow the example of Shangguan Lan'er's little Curly Bear and find a chance to cut Kang Jingming down too—leaving him and Xu Lingchong to console each other in their shared misery!

Kang Jingming, oblivious to all of it, remained sunk in his dream of ruling over West Island's rear palace, unable to extricate himself. Had Xu Lingchong not been at his side reminding him from time to time, the man would have grinned himself into an idiot.

"My thanks to the judges. The results of all trial participants have been measured to their exact value, and I trust they are fair and objective enough. I, as island mistress, shall now announce the final results," Ning Shanghe said slowly, sweeping her gaze across the hall.

Before her voice had even faded, every gaze in the hall had spontaneously converged on Kang Jingming. Everyone knew this creature was bound to be the one who laughed last—of that there was no doubt whatsoever.

At that very moment, however, a sudden clamor broke out from the direction of the teleportation array not far off. Everyone turned to look, and discovered that two figures had somehow appeared at the array's exit. In an instant, the entire hall was stunned.

"Oh? Everyone's here—seems we aren't late after all. How lucky!" Under all those staring eyes, Wei Zhao walked toward the crowd with a faint smile, Huo Yudie following behind him with a slight smile of her own.

This time he had been delayed a full half month. Wei Zhao had assumed the results would long since have been settled and that matters would prove rather thorny to handle—yet unexpectedly Ning Shanghe had likewise stalled for a full half month, just in time for him and Huo Yudie to catch up. Truly, a coincidence worthy of a storybook.

"Wei Zhao!" Ning Xuefei's eyes lit up at once, while Han Jingyi and Shangguan Lan'er at her side had already rushed over cheering, crying "Brother Wei Zhao!" and "Little Junior Brother!" Had her mother not been standing in front of her, Ning Xuefei would likely have dashed over even faster than the two of them—as it was, she could only wave frantically from afar.

Wei Zhao replied to the ladies with a chuckle, while Huo Yudie behind him hurried over to Liu Ziqi's side. Liu Ziqi had spent this whole time sick with worry on her behalf, and the man had visibly grown somewhat haggard—a sight that wrung her heart.

"Brother Ling! You're really all right! I knew you wouldn't die so easily!" Qi Wenmo laughed heartily and came up to meet him with Xia Qianqian in tow, giving Wei Zhao a fierce bear hug. These past half month he had truly been sick with fear—no taste in his food by day, no sleep by night—and had thinned a full circle, even his formerly robust air now somewhat hollow.

"Ha ha, sorry to have worried you all." Wei Zhao was moved. Who but a true brother through life and death would fret over him to this degree? Qi Wenmo was a brother worth having, all right.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! How did you get out?" Kang Jingming now wore the look of a man who had seen a ghost, shaking his head again and again in disbelief, and demanded openly before the crowd: "Did West Island open a back door for you specially? Weren't we told that after one month no one could get out!" (To be continued...)