Chapter 3471 — Breakthrough: Peak of the Late Heaven Rank!

He had taken Qi Gathering Pills before, and they had never caused him any trouble. So why, this time, were the side effects so severe?

It was a suffocating sensation—not suffocation of breath, exactly, but suffocation of true qi. Wei Zhao could not draw in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and every meridian in his body was twitching in protest.

Kang Zhaoming!

The name surfaced in Wei Zhao's mind all at once. This Qi Gathering Pill had come from Kang Zhaoming—could the man have tampered with it somehow, and brought about this condition unlike any he had known before?

He turned it over and over, and it was the only possibility he could find.

No wonder Kang Zhaoming had handed over the pill so smoothly. There had been a scheme hidden in it all along!

But at this moment Wei Zhao had no time to spare for hating Kang Zhaoming. He had to find a way out of this—the spiritual energy of heaven and earth around him was already no longer enough for him to absorb, and so he had to find a solution, and fast.

Then, all at once, Wei Zhao slapped his own forehead. What a fool he was, sitting on a mountain of treasure without knowing it!

In the mortal world, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth had all but run dry—but inside the jade pendant's space there was an inexhaustible supply. He could enter at any time and draw on boundless spiritual energy! At the thought, Wei Zhao slipped swiftly into the jade pendant's space.

In that instant, Wei Zhao was like a flying dragon plunging into the sea; a comfort beyond all description flooded through him. The pure spiritual energy within the jade pendant's space poured through the gates of his meridians into his channels and his dantian, and the physical true qi within his body surged upward at that very moment.

It felt as though he had taken another Qi Gathering Pill.

Yet for all that, a certain unease still lingered in Wei Zhao's heart. After all, he had no idea whether the pill carried any lingering aftereffects, and if it did—well, who could say what further trouble would come of carrying on like this?

But even so, there was nothing he could do. He could only take one step and see what the next brought; for now, he would satisfy his present need for spiritual energy and worry about the rest later.

In the space of a few short breaths, the true qi in Wei Zhao's body had more than doubled, and it was still climbing even now.

Then, all at once, the surge of true qi jerked to a halt—and Wei Zhao had once again touched the barrier at the peak of the late Heaven Rank!

No way. Could this Qi Gathering Pill really raise him two levels at once? Wei Zhao was genuinely shaken. Apart from being a little frightening, this thing was a rare treasure—and if Kang Zhaoming would gift him something so fine, did Patriarch Xuanchen even know about it?

From somewhere unknown, a vast force abruptly coalesced within Wei Zhao's body. It battered at every meridian with utter ruthlessness, and wherever it passed, the channels—great and small alike—visibly swelled a size. At the same time, that faint barrier he had touched began slowly to dissolve.

The process went so smoothly that Wei Zhao himself could scarcely believe it. Yet the billowing true qi still swelling swiftly within him made it plain that the barrier had indeed been burst open by the immense force of the Foundation-Breaking Barrier Pill.

There was none of the agony he had felt the last time he broke through to the late Heaven Rank. When Wei Zhao broke through to the peak of the late Heaven Rank, the whole thing was natural and smooth as could be.

Could it be that because the breakthroughs came one after another, the second was less painful than the first?

As for the precise reason, Wei Zhao could not quite work it out. But after the barrier was broken, he could plainly sense that his true qi—whether in purity or in sheer volume—had surged by a striking margin over what it had been. And even now the true qi within him was still climbing. The intensity was no longer as violent as at the start, but the rise was still unmistakable—clearly the lingering effect of this Qi Gathering Pill!

This went on for a full stick of incense before it finally subsided into calm. By then, the true qi in Wei Zhao's body was a full third greater than it had been when he had just broken the barrier!

He was now just a single step from the realm of full mastery at the peak of the late Heaven Rank.

Wei Zhao's body gradually settled, and he no longer absorbed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. The burning heat of the pill in his belly faded away to nothing as well—the medicinal effect had likely been used up.

Even so, Wei Zhao did not dare leave the jade pendant's space at once. He sat quietly within it and waited, ready for whatever might come.

But he sat there for the better part of an hour, and nothing strange happened at all. Everything was perfectly normal.

And Wei Zhao's cultivation had steadied as well. A fine expert at the peak of the late Heaven Rank, he was no longer far from full mastery.

This Qi Gathering Pill really was a fine thing, Wei Zhao thought. Kang Zhaoming had given him only one—if there were another, would he not already be a master of full mastery? Perhaps he might even break through to the Heavenly Dao!

Of course, that was only a passing fancy. This was certainly no ordinary Qi Gathering Pill—at the very least, not the common sort! By now Wei Zhao understood Kang Zhaoming's aim as well. By any reasonable reckoning, the consequences of his taking that Qi Gathering Pill should have been grave indeed.

If Wei Zhao had not had the jade pendant's space, he would very likely have run into trouble from the lack of true qi—might even have been in mortal danger! After all, the sensation had been as painful as suffocation.

That Kang Zhaoming was a vicious one, all right. If Wei Zhao had not had the jade pendant's space, this time he would truly have been doomed.

Still, since the boy had given him such a fine thing, it would be inexcusable not to ring him up and thank him.

Once out of the jade pendant's space, Wei Zhao picked up the phone and dialed Kang Zhaoming's number.

Kang Zhaoming had said he was leaving, but in truth he had never gone. He had called Patriarch Xuanchen and reported what had happened here. Although Wei Zhao had taken the Limit Qi Gathering Pill, Xuanchen was uneasy—afraid that Wei Zhao might give it to someone else instead of taking it himself. So he had told Kang Zhaoming to keep watch nearby, and if Wei Zhao came out, or if any of Wei Zhao's underlings came calling, to hurry over and stall them however he could.

But Kang Zhaoming waited and waited, and no one came. He was just dozing off when the phone suddenly rang. He snatched it up and saw that it was Wei Zhao's number—and was at once baffled.

Wei Zhao still had not taken the Limit Qi Gathering Pill after all this time? It had been hours now. Kang Zhaoming had assumed Wei Zhao had already taken it and dropped dead—never imagined the man could still be calling!

Yet puzzled as he was, Kang Zhaoming put on an air of perfect calm and answered the phone: "Great Master Wei Zhao! What can I do for you? You haven't taken that Qi Gathering Pill yet, have you?"