Chapter 4993 — Never Back Down

Inside and outside the Heavenly Pill Pavilion, a dead silence reigned. Everyone looked at Wei Zhao as though he were some kind of monster. Diao Huanshan, a late Nascent Soul cultivator, had come to make trouble and been slapped flying. Zhao Youque, a mid Xuan Ascension cultivator, had come to make trouble and been kicked flying. Now it was Wu Miao's turn, a peak late Xuan Ascension expert, and the result was the same—one slap, sent flying. Just where in the world had this ruthless devil crawled out from?

"At this rate, he means to sweep the whole Central Island without a rival. Even Wu Miao has been put in his place so thoroughly he has no temper left to show. Is there anyone left on our Central Island who can stand against him—only the Island Lord, surely?" someone whispered.

"On the surface, the only one whose strength clearly surpasses Wu Miao's should be the Island Lord. But our Central Island is a place where dragons lurk and tigers crouch. Never mind the Council of Elders behind the Island Lord—the great sects alone harbor no small number of hidden masters, and plenty of them must be stronger than Wu Miao. They simply keep out of sight most of the time," another analyzed.

"Setting aside those who never show themselves, on the open stage alone this Wei Zhao absolutely ranks among the top on our Central Island. He's simply burst out of nowhere. Could he really be from the Eastern Continent?" someone speculated.

"I doubt it. Where did I hear that the Heavenly Pill Pavilion has some connection to the Northern Island?" someone nearby immediately countered.

"The Northern Island? You must be joking. The Northern Island has only a handful of presentable experts. The most famous of the younger generation seems to be someone named Gongyang something—I've never once heard of anyone called Wei Zhao..." the man beside him sneered.

"Pretending to know when you don't. That's all stale history from the Northern Island. Have you even been to the Northern Island these past two years? Let me enlighten you instead. The foremost of the Northern Island's younger generation is called Gongyang Jie, but the one who has been making the biggest splash these past two years isn't Gongyang Jie at all—it's a man from the secular world, and his name is Wei Zhao!" A middle-aged man curled his lip.

"Really? Then is this Wei Zhao truly from the Northern Island? Say, Boss Cui, how do you know all this so clearly?" Everyone nearby turned to look.

"Whether this Wei Zhao is that Wei Zhao, I couldn't say. But I've been dispatched to the Northern Island these past two years to establish a branch office, so naturally I've pried into every last bit of Northern Island business—otherwise what the hell would I be doing there?" Boss Cui chuckled.

The crowd buzzed with discussion, every one of them regarding Wei Zhao with awe and reverence. A strong man is admired wherever he goes. Yet Tianchan, Xueli, and Wei Shenjin were all heavy with worry at this moment, unable to muster any joy at all.

"What if this Wu Miao refuses to let the matter drop? What then?" Tianchan and Xueli exchanged a glance, their faces full of concern.

"He may have been scared witless by our leader just now, but from what I know of Wu Miao, he's a dark and brooding sort—I doubt he'll meekly bring back that seventh-grade Great Restoration Pill. He may well go rally reinforcements..." Wei Shenjin warned.

"Reinforcements are nothing to fear. People bully the soft-hearted. Since they've come kicking down our door, our only choice is to resist. At a time like this we absolutely cannot give ground—not even a single step—or they'll take a mile, and the Central Island will no longer have any place for us." Wei Zhao shook his head.

In truth, he could see perfectly well that Wu Miao was not the sort to be cowed so easily. His show of force just now had been nothing but groundwork for the counterattack to come. If Wu Miao truly dared provoke them again, he could strike the man down before all eyes without hesitation—and even the Island Lord's Court would have nothing to say about it then.

After all, he had already yielded once in public, already given the Island Lord's Court ample face. If Wu Miao came again, that was Wu Miao's own folly. By the rules of the cultivation world, Wei Zhao would be fully justified in killing him, and if the Island Lord's Court branded him a mortal enemy of the Central Island over such a thing, they would have neither reason nor principle on their side.

"But what if next time he brings the Central Island Lord himself?" Wei Shenjin was still uneasy.

"The Central Island Lord?" Wei Zhao thought back carefully. The last time Tianxing Dao and Southern Aurora had contended for the post of Vice Island Lord, he had glimpsed that Central Island Lord from afar. He had never seen the man make a move, but at the time he had not sensed any strength in him that reached the utterly transcendent—at the very least, the aura he radiated had not been earth-shaking.

Now, after his journey to the Eastern Continent and after witnessing a late Heaven-Opening expert like Zhuang Yifan, Wei Zhao's standards had grown exceedingly high. So what if the other man was the Central Island Lord? If he proved as unreasonable as Wu Miao, then perhaps there would be no choice but to let fists do the talking.

Seeing that Wei Zhao still wore an expression of unconcern, Tianchan and Xueli were hardly surprised, but Wei Shenjin could only smile bitterly to himself. His leader was not only immensely powerful—his nerve was absurdly great as well. If the next one to step onto the stage really was the Central Island Lord, and that lord proved as unreasonable as Wu Miao, then the show today would turn truly spectacular.

Perhaps the entire order of the Central Island would be shaken to its foundations because of Wei Zhao. It was only a pity that for Wei Zhao himself this was anything but a good thing—because even if he could defeat the Central Island Lord, what then?

The Central Island revered strength, yes, but it had not yet sunk to the chaos where whoever defeated the Island Lord could rule the island. That sort of thing happened only in the lawless waters of the Southern Continent, and could never happen on the strictly ordered Central Island. In the end, Wei Zhao would have only one fate: to be hunted down by every sect on the Central Island, all of them together!

However strong Wei Zhao might be, could he truly stand against the entire Central Island? That was plainly unrealistic. But if he could not defeat the Central Island Lord, his end would hardly be any better.

Turning it over and over in his mind, Wei Shenjin concluded that the only thing left to count on now was the Central Island Lord's character—he could only hope the man was not in league with the likes of Wu Miao. Otherwise, this predicament today would have almost no solution.

"Ah, if only Elder Tian were here. With him around, none of this would have happened, and even if it came to this pass, at least there would be someone to step forward and mediate..." Wei Shenjin sighed.

"The world is ever changing. Since Brother Tian isn't here, we can only weather this crisis ourselves—there is no second option." At this, Wei Zhao glanced at Wei Shenjin and patted his shoulder. "You've worked hard these past two years, but this matter has nothing to do with you. There's no need for you to bear it with us."

"Huh?" Wei Shenjin was stunned on the spot.

"Honestly, I'm not certain I can come through this storm unscathed either. But it doesn't matter if we end up breaking with the Central Island for good—worst comes to worst, we abandon the Heavenly Pill Pavilion here and take Tianchan and Xueli back to the Northern Island to lie low. However formidable the Central Island's people may be, they wouldn't dare chase me all the way to the Northern Island to arrest me, would they?" Wei Zhao smiled indifferently.