Chapter 1585 — Still a Failure!

"Then let's give it a try!" Wei Zhao nodded, re-entered his cultivation state, ran the Xuanyuan Dragon-Commanding Art, and began compressing the energy around his body.

This time, Wei Zhao raised the amount of compressed energy a notch, but prudently -- not by much, only to one and a half times! Once the true qi was drawn into his body, Wei Zhao felt that thunderous sense of explosion all over again!

Of course, this level of pain was something Wei Zhao could endure -- but the tragedy was that after the explosion, he discovered with shock that his strength was still at the late Profound stage, nowhere near the peak of the late Profound stage!

"Still not enough?" Wei Zhao frowned. He hadn't expected that one and a half times the compressed energy still couldn't help him level up and break through!

"Perhaps this method is no longer applicable," Jiao Yazi said. "At lower levels it works well enough, but the higher your level, the harder it becomes to break through. If everyone could cheat their way up with a golden finger the way you do, wouldn't Heaven-stage experts be crawling all over the place?"

"But... aren't there quite a few Heaven-stage experts around?" Wei Zhao said with a bitter smile.

"Where? Go walk around the streets tomorrow and find me one Heaven-stage expert to look at," Jiao Yazi said dismissively. "If you hadn't touched that realm, you probably wouldn't see a single one in your entire lifetime! You think they're numerous because you've touched that realm -- but across the entire ancient realm, how many Heaven-stage experts are there really?"

"That's true..." Wei Zhao asked, reluctantly: "Could it be that I can't break through anymore? What if I increase the amount of compressed energy further?"

"You can try." Jiao Yazi shook his head. "I don't fully understand what you're doing right now."

Wei Zhao nodded and resumed compressing the energy. This time, he gritted his teeth and raised it to a full two times!

"Boom --" The moment the energy entered Wei Zhao's body, it let out a tremendous roar. Wei Zhao felt his meridians swell like inflated balloons in an instant, followed by another deafening "bang." He let out an involuntary grunt, and cold sweat streamed down his forehead!

Not only did Wei Zhao fail to level up -- he ruptured most of the meridians in his body! The sudden release of energy left his meridians utterly unable to withstand this degree of expansion, so most of them burst open like popped balloons!

Fortunately, only some of his meridians were damaged. Wei Zhao didn't need to seek out General Weiwu or the Heavenly Thunder Pig -- on his own, he could repair the damaged meridians himself...

But while his meridians could be mended, Wei Zhao's spirits were utterly crushed! He had failed -- he had actually failed! Perhaps Jiao Yazi was right: as his strength continued to rise, the technique of compressing energy could no longer serve as a golden finger to boost his power!

Perhaps the amount of compressed energy he had absorbed during his last breakthrough was already the maximum his meridians could bear -- once beyond this critical point, they simply could not hold! Perhaps, in theory, two times compressed energy could enable Wei Zhao to break through, but in practice, his meridians could not withstand it!

That is to say, perhaps from now on, Wei Zhao could no longer break through by means such as this!

"Whew..." Having repaired his meridians, Wei Zhao sighed in dejection. "Still no good. It seems there is no absolute golden finger..."

"Your cultivation speed is already fast enough -- what more do you want?" Seeing Wei Zhao so disheartened, Jiao Yazi could not help but try to console him.

"Fast enough? Is Zhang Naipao fast or not?" Wei Zhao forced a bitter smile. "In just a few months, Zhang Naipao has become an expert with strength equal to mine..."

"Your cultivation is actually no slower than his! Think carefully -- your leveling up only truly began these past few months. The years before you entered the jade pendant space were practically wasted and can be ignored altogether!" Jiao Yazi said.

"That's true... but his mental art really is formidable -- it can convert other people's true qi into his own. If I hadn't had the jade pendant space as a blessed cultivation ground, I honestly wouldn't have been his match!" Wei Zhao sighed.

"If my memory serves me correctly, the Chrysanthemum Treasure Classic and your Xuanyuan Dragon-Commanding Art are both extraordinarily powerful ancient mental arts -- one evil, one righteous, each keeping the other in check..." Jiao Yazi said. "But my memory is limited for now, and I cannot recall much more. Only after you open the second stone gate will certain corresponding matters come back to me!"

"Oh? That powerful!" Wei Zhao exclaimed after hearing Jiao Yazi's words. "But if, as you say, both are extraordinarily powerful mental arts, then without the jade pendant space, how could the Xuanyuan Dragon-Commanding Art possibly stand against the Chrysanthemum Treasure Classic?"

"No, you've overlooked something very important," Jiao Yazi said. "In the ancient era, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was incredibly abundant -- the Xuanyuan Dragon-Commanding Art didn't need the jade pendant space for cultivation at all!"

"Ah!" Wei Zhao's eyes widened in sudden understanding. So that was it! All along, he had assumed Zhang Naipao's mental art was superior to his own -- and had it not been for the few trump cards Wei Zhao had invented himself, it would indeed have been hard to defeat Zhang Naipao. But he had overlooked the present-day cultivation environment entirely!

"Who knows -- after you unlock the second level of the Xuanyuan Dragon-Commanding Art, you might reap unexpected rewards?" Jiao Yazi said with a smile.

"The second level... there is still a while before the stone gate opens. So... during this time, I won't be able to break through?" Wei Zhao felt unwilling to accept it -- truly unwilling!

"I have no way out of this. You'll have to figure something out yourself." Jiao Yazi shrugged.

"All right..." Wei Zhao managed a bitter smile.

Though Wei Zhao was anxious inwardly, he showed none of it on the surface. Aside from his daily cultivation, he continued to live happily with Gu Mengyao, Shen Yushu, and Tang Yun -- eating together and watching television every day.

Since the college entrance exams were over, Tang Yun no longer needed to stay here every day. During the day she would come over and play; at night she would naturally go home to be with her parents. Since attending university would certainly take her out of town, far from this city, the days Tang Yun had left to spend with her parents were numbered.

"Arrowbrand Bro, the class monitor just called -- she said the college entrance exams are over and she wants to organize a camping trip. She's asking if we'd like to go?" Shen Yushu said to Wei Zhao when she saw him step out of his room.

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