Chapter 1217 — A Colossal Reward
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
Jiao Yazi was rather lost for words; but since Wei Zhao was set on it, there was nothing more for him to say.
Wei Zhao circulated the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art and调动 the elemental energies of the jade pendant's space — all of these preliminary steps he had long since mastered and handled with perfect ease. Yet at the final instant of the breakthrough, failure once again proved unavoidable.
Once... twice... three times... and by the tenth attempt, Wei Zhao was beginning to want to give up!
It seemed Jiao Yazi had been right — his present preparation was not yet sufficient. Though he had cultivated all the way to the great perfection of the middle Mystic tier, he was still short by the smallest of margins. And no small matter was that margin, for there is a saying that an error of a hair's breadth can lead one astray by a thousand miles!
Still, Wei Zhao's thoughts drifted back to the reward Jiao Yazi had promised, and a restless itch crept into his heart. He opened his eyes, looked at Jiao Yazi, and ventured, "Elder Jiao, what if I give up — you simply tell me what the reward is?"
"I say, young Lin — what does your giving up or not giving up have to do with me? If you give up, why on earth should I tell you any reward? Do you take me for a doddering old fool?" Jiao Yazi could not help being laughed into a rage by Wei Zhao. "Clever little scheme you've hatched there — give up and still walk away with a reward! Do you think you are dreaming?"
"Uh... well..." Wei Zhao reddened a little under Jiao Yazi's words, yet it only goaded his stubbornness the harder. "Very well — then I shall break through and show you!"
"Then carry on..." Jiao Yazi nodded.
"Carry on I shall — who's afraid of whom?" Wei Zhao drew a deep breath and resolved to enter the next round of breakthrough attempts.
This time Wei Zhao did not plunge into cultivation so rashly and blindly as before; instead he carefully recalled the sensation of the instant just before the breakthrough!
He kept feeling that the energy he drew in was not quite enough — only a little more, just a little more. Yet the amount he could absorb had already reached its very limit; it was simply impossible to take in a single further measure. Did he truly have to cultivate for a while longer, waiting until the energy within him had accumulated more fully, before entertaining any thought of breaking through?
But then the reward would be gone! And Jiao Yazi, for all his bluster, was after all a mere virtual being — there was no use trying to press him. So if Wei Zhao wanted to know the reward, the one and only way was to break through today!
But how could he break through? Wei Zhao knit his brows tight.
Watching Wei Zhao rack his brains, Jiao Yazi found the sight faintly comical, and thought to himself: So the lad wants to know what this reward is that badly? Once you have cultivated the second layer of the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art, you will know of it soon enough! And as things stand, what good would knowing it do you even now?
Your strength is not yet at the second layer — even if you knew, you could not use it!
Wei Zhao did not yet realize that he had in fact been outmaneuvered by Elder Jiao, who had dangled before him a reward that was nothing but unrealistic! Had he known as much, he would never have been in such a tearing hurry to break through!
A little more energy... just a little more... how was he to get a little more?
Suddenly a flash of insight struck Wei Zhao, as if he had seized hold of something, and his expression turned somewhat strange...