Chapter 4866 — The Thunder-Luring Banner

"Young Master Bao, I think you are overthinking this." Su Kesheng of course knew what was worrying him, and at once offered reassurance: "Wei Zhao may be holed up in the East Sea Pavilion, but with an old relic like the East Sea Divine Nun keeping watch over him, he would never dare lay a finger on Wang Xinyan. You can set your mind at ease."

Had Wei Zhao heard that, he would have laughed himself to death. Lay a finger on her? He had done far more than that with her in dual cultivation—and it was the East Sea Divine Nun herself who had ushered them into the chamber.

Bao Zuoliang, however, found those words quite comforting. He nodded again and again. "There is reason in what you say, but I am still not reconciled. To dare pester my Wang Xinyan day after day—I must do that fellow surnamed Lin to death!"

"Do not be impatient, Young Master Bao. He may have slipped through our fingers at the last auction, but we still have our chances to deal with him." Su Kesheng's expression had returned to one of perfect confidence.

"What chance? Borrowing another blade to do the killing? Even that old bastard Lu Dachang was smoothed over by him with a few words. That blade will not be so easy to borrow again, will it?" Bao Zuoliang frowned.

"No need to borrow a blade. We can do it with our own hands." Su Kesheng smiled a profound smile.

"What? Have you lost your mind!" Bao Zuoliang was startled instead. Given Wei Zhao's station and background, even as the son of Bao Fala he would not dare provoke him to his face.

"Heh heh, here in Morning Star City we naturally cannot make a move. But what if he leaves this place?" Su Kesheng laughed.

"What do you mean?" Bao Zuoliang asked quickly.

"Before this I could not be certain, but since that fellow surnamed Lin is going to such lengths to obtain the Nourishing Essence Devil Gold Grass, it must be for refining the Nourishing Essence Pill. And considering his late Nascent Soul cultivation, his intent is plain at a glance—that fellow surnamed Lin is absolutely set on the Road of Giants! However impressive his background, it holds only within Morning Star City. Once he enters the Road of Giants, things will no longer be for him to say!" Su Kesheng sneered.

"Right!" Bao Zuoliang slapped his own forehead in excitement, but he soon sensed something amiss and gave Su Kesheng a slap, cursing: "To hell with you! And here I thought so highly of you—and this is the stupid scheme you come up with? If they really do go to the Road of Giants, at least he and Wang Xinyan will by then be at Nascent Soul grand completion, while we ourselves have only two at grand completion. Put together we are likely no match for Wang Xinyan alone. How are things for us to say then? Are we to line up and take a beating?"

Though he and Su Kesheng were both far stronger than ordinary Nascent Soul grand completion experts, Wang Xinyan was acknowledged by the academy as a top-tier genius, all but invincible among those of her level. Bao Zuoliang at least had that much self-awareness—to say nothing of adding Wei Zhao, himself a Nascent Soul grand completion, to the scales.

"Young Master Bao, have you forgotten? We still have a divine artifact in our hands. Elsewhere we may be no match for them, but once on the Road of Giants, the power that artifact can unleash is beyond imagining. Never mind Nascent Soul grand completion—even Mystic Ascension grand completion would be hard pressed!" Su Kesheng chuckled.

"You mean the Thunder-Luring Banner?" Bao Zuoliang's eyes blazed at once. He clapped Su Kesheng on the shoulder in excitement. "Right, I nearly forgot that card entirely! The Thunder-Luring Banner is useless as a bird's fart anywhere else, but on the Road of Giants it is a true divine artifact!"

"Indeed. This is a treasure handed down from the master smiths of ancient times. So long as one stands where heavenly thunder is dense, one can easily command the thunder tribulation. The thundercloud-shrouded Road of Giants will be our perfect battlefield. Let Wang Xinyan be as strong as she likes—she will have no choice but to submit obediently to your whim, Young Master Bao. And doing that fellow surnamed Lin to death will be easier than turning one's palm!" Su Kesheng said smugly.

True, compared with the world outside, the Road of Giants offered a far greater chance of stirring up thunder tribulation—but it was by no means guaranteed every time; much still depended on luck. They, however, were different. With the Thunder-Luring Banner in hand, they could summon thunder tribulation at will. Once the heavenly thunder was truly put to use, the mere thought of such a scene was enough to make one's blood run cold.

"You mean..." Bao Zuoliang's eyes glittered.

"Simple. When the time comes, we use the Thunder-Luring Banner to draw the thunder tribulations of everyone around us all down onto the head of that fellow surnamed Lin, and blast him to bits in one breath! Heh heh, no matter how many Thunder Mystery Pills he has, they will be useless once the tribulations pile up. No one can withstand so many thunder tribulations striking at once!" Su Kesheng sneered.

"A fine scheme! We need only be a little discreet in our handiwork, and we can do it without a soul the wiser, leaving that fellow surnamed Lin not even ashes behind—and Wang Xinyan will never grow suspicious. Simply perfect, gah ha ha ha!" Bao Zuoliang burst into smug laughter.

Three months passed in a flash, and in the blink of an eye the grand trial of the Road of Giants was upon them. All the Morning Star Academy disciples preparing to take part gathered on the great plaza, where the academy head, Ling Yuanqing, personally presided over their oath-taking rally.

Since the prerequisite for entering the Road of Giants trial was Nascent Soul grand completion, the number was not large this time—thirty-odd in all. Yet three among the crowd stood out conspicuously: Wei Zhao, Wang Xinyan, and Huang Xiaotao.

Everyone present had long since been a Nascent Soul grand completion expert. But these three, at the time of the grand auction three months ago, had clearly still been far from Nascent Soul grand completion—how had they all suddenly become grand completion?

Wei Zhao was more or less normal. He had the Nourishing Essence Pill, so advancing from late Nascent Soul to grand completion was no surprise. Wang Xinyan was understandable too—she could obtain Nourishing Essence Pills from Wei Zhao as well, and rumor had it she possessed an outrageously heaven-defying innate constitution, so for her a breakthrough was as simple as drinking a glass of water. Nothing strange there.

But what was the story with Huang Xiaotao?

Three months ago she had plainly been no more than a Golden Core expert, and now she had transformed in a blink into a Nascent Soul grand completion. Had the world gone mad?!

Everyone thought their eyes were playing tricks on them, and not even a mountain-opening stage giant like Ling Yuanqing was exempt. Even the East Sea Divine Nun, Huang Xiaotao's own master, had been badly startled at the sudden sight of her disciple fresh from seclusion—and only after learning that she had used a full seven Nourishing Essence Pills had she finally, reluctantly, accepted reality. In the end she could only sigh and remark that this business was simply too thrilling!

The woman of an alchemist was truly a breed apart!

"Damnation, how did even Huang Xiaotao become Nascent Soul grand completion?" Bao Zuoliang clicked his tongue in dismay. He had been stewing over how to do Wei Zhao to death, and the sudden addition of a Huang Xiaotao surely meant the difficulty had just gone up. After all, Huang Xiaotao possessed a dual fire-and-wind spiritual root constitution—another invincible existence among her peers.