Chapter 4890 — A Man-Made Lightning Tribulation

And though Wei Zhao's lightning tribulation node was now free, after witnessing that terrifying tribulation moments ago, who the hell would dare use it? Better to be patient and wait for the others, to see how things stood first.

Wei Zhao paid these people no mind, nor did he simply walk away. Instead he stayed to stand guard for them all. With both him and the protective formation watching over them, the crowd had not the slightest concern left as they charged at the Xuan Sheng stage.

With no Bao Zuoliang or Su Kesheng secretly stirring up trouble, it was not long before the crowd once again drew down lightning tribulations, one after another, and formally began their assault on the Xuan Sheng stage.

The ones Wei Zhao watched most closely were, naturally, Wang Xinyan, Huang Xiaotao, and Huo Yudie. Seeing the looks of agony on their three faces, he wished he could take their places—but alas, there was nothing he could do.

Though all three women had taken Thunder Mystic Pills, which could greatly lessen the pain brought by the tribulation, the power of lightning still had to enter their bodies. For those without a lightning-attribute spiritual root, this process remained one of bitter suffering and struggle. Yet cultivators have ever defied heaven—and if one cannot even endure hardship such as this, then one had best not dream of assaulting the Xuan Sheng stage at all.

All Wei Zhao could do was stand to one side and watch carefully, waiting for the three women to break through and emerge.

In less than half a day, Wang Xinyan was the first to emerge. She was, after all, the prized disciple of the Divine Nun of the Eastern Sea; her strength far surpassed that of ordinary experts of her level, and so her breakthrough came all the more naturally, like water finding its channel.

Next to emerge was Huo Yudie. Her cultivation talent was only half a notch below Wang Xinyan's, and she had been stuck at the great perfection of the Nascent Soul for many years, her foundations deep. This assault on the Xuan Sheng stage was thus a classic case of long hoarding bursting forth—her successful advancement was only to be expected.

Wei Zhao was overjoyed. Three of their four had now broken through successfully; the only one left was Huang Xiaotao.

Yet as time crept by, Huang Xiaotao's progress was far less smooth than Wang Xinyan's or Huo Yudie's. This was not hard to understand: three months ago she had still been at the Golden Core stage, and her present strength was built purely on the foundation of seven Nourishing Origin Pills. Even though she, like Wei Zhao, possessed a perfect Nascent Soul, her foundations were inevitably lacking.

Had it been a matter of fighting others, the effects might not have shown much on the surface. But at this final pass of assaulting the Xuan Sheng stage, insufficient foundations were a flaw that could well prove fatal. At the very least, it would be hard for her to break through as naturally as Wang Xinyan and Huo Yudie had; the whole process would become exceedingly difficult, and the odds of ultimate failure were extremely high.

Before entering, the Alliance Chairman had said as much: the first assault on the Xuan Sheng stage was of the utmost importance. Should it fail this time, any future attempt would be far harder still—all but impossible to succeed.

In other words, if Huang Xiaotao failed now, she would essentially be forever cut off from the Xuan Sheng stage, able to go no further than the great perfection of the Nascent Soul.

At this sight, Wang Xinyan and Huo Yudie's joy at their own success vanished at once. They could only keep anxious watch at Wei Zhao's side, silently praying for Huang Xiaotao.

"Hm? Something's not right." Wei Zhao's brow suddenly furrowed.

"What is it?" Wang Xinyan and Huo Yudie exchanged glances.

"Look—the tribulation above Xiaotao has already begun to weaken, but the way she looks, her spiritual root doesn't seem to have fully merged yet?" Wei Zhao said with some concern.

"Truly?" Wang Xinyan was startled. Huang Xiaotao's expression was indeed one of deep struggle; apart from the sting of the lightning's power, only the merging of a spiritual root could bring such agony.

"Now that you mention it, I felt it too—the tribulation wasn't as powerful as I'd imagined. Toward the end it was barely enough to temper my spiritual root. Good thing I merged quickly enough, or I might have fallen short at the final step." Huo Yudie spoke with lingering fear.

The lightning tribulation was undoubtedly an ordeal, yet it was also an indispensable source of power for merging one's spiritual root. Once the tribulation weakened at the end, falling short was inevitable—of this, Wei Zhao knew deeply.

"It's not just you and Xiaotao whose tribulations were weak. Look at the others—the tribulations are generally much weaker than the ones we saw on the road before." Wei Zhao shook his head.

"That's right—now that you say it, it really is so!" Only then did Wang Xinyan and Huo Yudie notice, and they could not help asking in puzzlement, "Why is that?"

"I don't know. But the tribulations I drew down earlier were dozens of times stronger than yours—and more than once. Perhaps it was because of me." Wei Zhao smiled bitterly.

"Dozens of times stronger?!" Both women were badly startled. With lingering fear they looked Wei Zhao up and down, and only when they saw he was unharmed did they set their minds at ease, then exchanged glances with each other.

As the three spoke, the tribulation over Huang Xiaotao's head grew ever fainter, on the verge of vanishing altogether. Seeing this, Wei Zhao's heart clenched—she was about to fail!

His thoughts racing, Wei Zhao glanced about and saw that no one was watching anymore. The few who had remained had, seeing that Wei Zhao had no intention of interfering, promptly seized the chance and slipped into the tribulation nodes Wang Xinyan and Huo Yudie had vacated. Boldness feeds the daring, and starves the timid.

"It's no good!" Wang Xinyan and Huo Yudie both tensed at once. If the tribulation dispersed midway, Huang Xiaotao's efforts this time would truly come to nothing.

Then lightning flashed suddenly in Wei Zhao's eyes. He raised his hand and sent a bolt of lightning to bolster it. The two women were badly startled—they knew Wei Zhao could wield the power of lightning, but before it had been at most a thin arc. Never had they seen one as thick as a bucket of water!

The tribulation had already been fading, but with Wei Zhao's supplement it flared up again like a dying man's last rally, once more terrifying in its power. It would not last long, but Huang Xiaotao had already reached the final pass, and though this bolt put her through additional agony, it also helped her successfully merge her spiritual root. She broke through and emerged a newly advanced expert of the early Xuan Sheng stage.

"Wonderful!" Wang Xinyan and Huo Yudie were overjoyed—but when they turned to look at Wei Zhao, their faces were those of women beholding a monster. What he had just done was far too shocking; even they could not take it in all at once.

If a casual bolt of lightning could rival a lightning tribulation, then could Wei Zhao not help others through their tribulations with the greatest of ease? He was practically a living, walking tribulation node.

True, the early Xuan Sheng stage and the great perfection of the Nascent Soul were worlds apart—two entirely different realms of strength. But was Wei Zhao's rise in power not a bit too absurd?

If a casual bolt could rival a tribulation, then would Wei Zhao not truly be invincible among the Xuan Sheng stage from now on?

When people assaulted the Xuan Sheng stage, they relied almost entirely on Thunder Mystic Pills to endure the tribulation. At such power, even an expert at the great perfection of the Xuan Sheng stage could not withstand it under normal circumstances—though a titan of the Mountain-Opening stage might just manage.