Chapter 4476 — Wei Zhao Loses
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
Moments later, a bedraggled figure came hurtling out of the black qi atop the platform, and the crowd's worst fears were confirmed—the one who fell was none other than Wei Zhao.
"Brother Ling! Are you all right?" Qi Wenmo shouted as he rushed over. Wei Zhao was wreathed head to toe in tendrils of black qi, as though seared by the stuff, and scorch marks from blasts marked him everywhere; in places the flesh was mangled beyond recognition. It was a truly harrowing sight.
A commotion swept through the onlookers. This duel, which no one had been able to watch clearly, had ended with the flashy Ling Yi being blasted off the platform in a sorry state—surprising, to be sure, yet not entirely beyond expectation.
Qi Wenmo was frantic, darting around Wei Zhao like a headless fly, at a loss for what to do.
He knew nothing of healing. He could not even tell what injuries Wei Zhao had suffered, nor how grave they were. He could only stand by, eyes wide, rubbing his hands in helpless agitation.
Fortunately, Wei Zhao's injuries were not as severe as the crowd imagined. Though he looked wretched and was indeed badly hurt, he had not yet reached the point of true damage to his vital essence—at the very least, he could still sit up and heal himself.
Of course, this was mainly because he had wrapped himself in plenty of true qi for protection, and also because Wu Baoliang had never intended to strike a fatal blow.
To Wei Zhao, so long as he still had the strength to heal, it was no great matter—especially since no bones or sinews had been injured. A few moments would suffice to restore him to full strength.
Wei Zhao knew his condition was not serious, but in the eyes of everyone else, his wretched state was worse than pitiful—he looked like a dying cripple.
Wounds covered every inch of him, and ominous black qi still seeped from them. If that was not an omen of death, what was?
The black qi atop the platform dispersed, and Wu Baoliang's figure reappeared before the crowd. Compared with before, the gazes turned upon him now held noticeably more awe. It was the treatment a strong man deserved.
"I declare the Longzhou Escort Agency the winner! They may proceed to challenge the next opponent!" the presiding judge announced at once.
With that, the Longzhou Escort Agency seized a full one hundred points directly from the Qingtian Escort Agency. Its ranking climbed by one place, from sixth to fifth, and it achieved its wish of joining the ranks of the five great escort agencies. The agency it displaced was none other than the Sihai Escort Agency—the very agency most loudly touted as the overlord of the trade.
Watching the live standings shift, Hai Wuliang, seated at the very center of the panel of judges, turned the color of a burnt pot bottom once more, his face so dark it seemed ready to drip.
True enough, both this challenge among agency heads and Wu Baoliang's stepping forward to deal with Ling Yi had been arranged by Hai Wuliang himself, and both had achieved the desired effect. But his own Sihai Escort Agency being shoved out of the top five by the Longzhou Escort Agency—that had most certainly not been part of his plan.
In his original design, his Sihai Escort Agency was meant to reach second place after the fifth round of the Escort Agency Championship. Alas, heaven did not favor his wishes. The Xuanying Escort Agency's sudden rise had turned that plan to naught; instead of second, he had fallen all the way to fifth, and now this farce had broken out!
The mighty overlord of the trade, squeezed out of the ranks of the five great agencies—staring at that humiliating ranking on the scoreboard, Hai Wuliang felt his face had been smashed to bits, and that he could never again show himself in public...
But what was done was done; regret was useless now. Besides, the real show had only just begun—so long as his follow-up plans unfolded as intended, the Sihai Escort Agency would still have a strong chance to turn things around.