Chapter 4495 — You Knew All Along?
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
Everyone exchanged glances. True, the righteous and the heretical could never stand together, and martial techniques could not possibly be shared between them—but Wei Zhao's point was not exactly wrong either…
"Sophistry! One is an ordinary fist, the other is a proper martial technique—are those the same thing?" Hai Wuliang exploded with fury, his face twisted with murderous intent. "Even Cheng Haonan has fled, and you still won't run? Do you really believe the Southern Continent Escort Alliance has sunk so low as to throw in with heretical cultivators? You truly don't even know how the word 'death' is written!"
"Heh, I don't know how to write the word 'death'—do you, then?" Wei Zhao's expression was utterly unruffled, as though he had not even registered Hai Wuliang's accusation. He actually seemed in the mood for a bit of teasing.
Hai Wuliang flew into a rage. Were it not for the constraints of his station, he would have struck the man down himself on heaven's behalf. Given his deep reserves of cunning, a mere sentence or two from Wei Zhao should never have made him lose his composure—but this awkward predicament he and the Four Seas Escort Agency now found themselves in was entirely Wei Zhao's doing. How could he not hate the man?
Now, with a ready-made chance to kill Wei Zhao and vent his fury, of course he wanted nothing more!
Yet in the end, Hai Wuliang did not act rashly, for he did not yet know how Qi Mingyuan would react. If Qi Mingyuan merely stood by, that would be fine enough—but what if he acted too, in order to shield Wei Zhao?
Then it would descend into a chaotic brawl, the situation would spiral utterly out of control, and that would do Hai Wuliang no good at all. The initiative was now entirely in his hands; he had no intention of taking such an unnecessary risk.
Besides, if he killed Wei Zhao, Qi Mingyuan would surely cry murder to silence a witness—and then things would get troublesome indeed!
"Hmph, there's no use in saying more. This chief judge disdains to bandy words with you!" Hai Wuliang turned at once to the crowd and declared in a loud voice: "Wei Zhao used the same martial technique as Wu Baoliang—that is proof enough that he is one and the same as Wu Baoliang and Cheng Haonan. All of them are heretical cultivators. Everyone has seen it with their own eyes; there is no disputing it!"
Fearing that delay would breed change and the night would bring too many dreams, Hai Wuliang was set on nailing the coffin shut at once. After all, Wei Zhao was not the same as Wu Baoliang and Cheng Haonan—three parts was conjecture, seven parts was slander. He had to strike while the iron was hot and settle it on the spot.
"Hold on!" At that moment Qi Wenmo suddenly stepped forward and said in a clear voice: "Ling Yi is an inner disciple of the Threefold Pavilion of North Island. He even carries the pavilion's mission token. He traveled ten thousand li to the Southern Continent this time for the sole purpose of slaying the heretical cultivator Wu Baoliang. I ask you—how could such a man possibly be a heretical cultivator?!"
As the words fell, an uproar swept through the assembly, and everyone began talking at once.
"So he's a disciple of the Threefold Pavilion of North Island—then he can't possibly be a heretical cultivator." Many nodded at once.
"Indeed. North Island's strength may not match our Southern Continent, but its cohesion is exceedingly high, and the upper echelons of the Threefold Pavilion are thick with experts—they even have titans of the Profound Ascension and Mountain-Opening stages. They have always styled themselves a great orthodox sect. How could such a place ever take in a heretical cultivator as a disciple?" Those who knew more about North Island were all the more convinced.