Chapter 4891 — At Parting

In truth, they had all misread the situation. That single strike from Wei Zhao had been his strongest blow—and it had only been possible because his body had just absorbed a great deal of lightning power he had not yet fused, which he had simply gathered up and hurled out along with it. Were he to try again, even Wei Zhao's mightiest attack could never match what they had just witnessed.

When all was said and done, Wei Zhao was still only an early-stage Xuan Sheng expert, and one who had just advanced at that—his cultivation and realm had yet to fully settle. Even as the unprecedented eight-spirit Xuan Sheng cultivator, he could not casually conjure a lightning tribulation at will. That would be far too absurd.

"Oh? You are all here! Everyone succeeded—that is wonderful!" Huang Xiaotao looked rather frail, yet the sight of the others sent her into a flurry of delight. All four of them had broken through—truly a cause for celebration.

"Ha, you had best rest a little. How about a seventh-grade Great Restoration Pill to replenish yourself?" Wei Zhao said with a smile. Huang Xiaotao's breakthrough had been a close-run thing, and she was now nearly drained to the last drop—her weakness was only natural.

"No, no, I just need a short rest. Save it for a real emergency later," Huang Xiaotao said, waving her hands again and again. Then, with a note of relief, she said to the others, "Come to think of it, we were truly lucky just now—two lightning tribulations in a row! If not for that, I would certainly have failed. I was breaking out in cold sweats the whole time."

The others exchanged glances, then burst out laughing. The silly girl still had no idea what had really happened.

"You foolish girl, you were lucky indeed—but that luck was not sent by heaven. It was sent by him," Wang Xinyan said with a smile, pointing at Wei Zhao.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Huang Xiaotao was utterly baffled.

"Sister Xiaotao, that second lightning tribulation just now was added by Wei Zhao himself," Huo Yudie explained on her behalf.

"Really? You can even add lightning tribulations?" Huang Xiaotao was thunderstruck. She had always worshipped Wei Zhao's strength blindly, but never had she imagined anything this absurd. Such a feat—let alone an expert of the Xuan Sheng stage, even an expert of the Kaishan stage might not be capable of it. It simply overturned all common sense.

"This time the circumstances were special. Next time it will not be nearly so powerful," Wei Zhao said with a shake of his head and a smile. In truth, unleashing such a ferocious bolt of lightning had left him secretly thrilled beyond measure—but such an experience would be hard to come by again.

Of course, it was not entirely impossible for it to happen again. If he could once more accumulate a stock of surplus lightning power within his body as he had just done, he might yet repeat the feat of commanding a lightning tribulation. But such conditions were far too exacting, and under ordinary circumstances could not be met.

All four had broken through, passing through danger unscathed. Wei Zhao and the three women were in excellent spirits, and did not leave just yet. Instead they stayed behind, chatting and laughing, to wait for the rest to finish their breakthroughs.

After about a week of waiting, at last all the Morning Star disciples emerged. Huo Yudie's friends from the Morning Pride Academy and the Soaring Cloud Academy also came out one after another. The final results were, as ever, a matter of joy for some and sorrow for others—or to put it precisely, joy for one house and sorrow for ten.

In the best of past trials on the Road of the Titans, nearly thirty percent of disciples had ultimately advanced successfully. This time, however, because of the interference, the lightning tribulations the crowd drew down were generally weaker than usual.

As a result, though the danger was greatly reduced—even those disciples who had not prepared Thunder Mystic Pills suffered no serious injuries—there was one enormous aftereffect: almost everyone found themselves in Huang Xiaotao's predicament, where insufficient lightning tribulation left their efforts just short of success.

And they did not enjoy Huang Xiaotao's good fortune. Wei Zhao was hardly going to stuff himself with nothing better to do than supplement their lightning tribulations for them—and in fact, even had he wished to, his lightning strikes were no longer powerful enough.

In the end, apart from Wei Zhao's group of four and the two who had left early, Bao Zuoliang and Su Kesheng, of the nearly fifty people remaining, only five succeeded in breaking through—and every one of them had struggled through the process with desperate luck. Had their fortune been even slightly worse, they too would likely have failed like the other unlucky wretches.

In other words, if Wei Zhao and his companions were excluded, the success rate among the rest was a pitiful ten percent and change. Such a dismal ratio, compared with any previous trial on the Road of the Titans, would absolutely rank at the very bottom—one would be hard-pressed to find a more wretched showing. One could only say that these people had truly had the worst of luck in running into Wei Zhao.

Of course, none of this could be blamed on Wei Zhao. If blame there was, it belonged to Bao Zuoliang and Su Kesheng. Without those two meddling, things would never have turned out so badly. One might say their misery had made Wei Zhao's glory—otherwise, an eight-spirit Xuan Sheng expert? Not even in their dreams.

They had not broken through, but fortunately they had not suffered grave injuries either—a blessing in misfortune. The crowd could only console themselves with bitter smiles.

What slightly surprised Wei Zhao was that among the five who had successfully broken through to the Xuan Sheng stage was none other than Qin Chan. With so many present having failed, anyone who could still succeed under such conditions was no ordinary person—clearly this Qin Chan was not simple.

Seeing Wei Zhao's gaze sweep toward her, Qin Chan hastily nodded in gratitude. But perhaps because of the many eyes around them, she did not dare make a show of it before the crowd, and could only be silently thankful.

To be honest, her success this time was owed in part to her own foundational strength, but also in part to the Thunder Mystic Pill Wei Zhao had given her. It was precisely because of that pill that she had been able to fuse her spiritual root with a single mind; otherwise, enduring the agony of the tribulation while simultaneously condensing her spiritual root, she would in all likelihood have failed as well.

Besides Qin Chan, among the five there was another familiar face—Lu Xiaozhong. This one was worthy of being the son of a Kaishan-stage titan: not only had he inherited his old father's rascally ways, but his foundational strength was no small matter either. If one had to name the one among the five who had broken through to the Xuan Sheng stage most effortlessly, it would have to be him.

Seeing that everyone had emerged, Wei Zhao spoke up: "Everyone, it is a rare thing to come to the Road of the Titans. I intend to go exploring inside next. Those of you who are so inclined may come along; those who are not, I will not press. But I would advise you to travel in groups as much as possible! After all, there are at least a few Xuan Sheng experts among you now, so hardly anyone should come looking for trouble with you."

The implication was plain: if anyone wandered alone, things would be far less certain. In a place like this, killing for treasure was perfectly normal—especially since the vast majority of them were still at the great perfection of the Nascent Soul. Once targeted by a Xuan Sheng expert, they would not even have the strength to fight back.