Chapter 1599 — Breakthrough! Peak of the Late Profound Stage! Wei Zhao Felt His Body Seemingly Explode Open with a BANG!

However, beneath his brief shock, Wei Zhao's heart surged with delight in equal measure — this feeling, he knew it all too well. This was the feeling of a breakthrough! Every time he had broken through before, the sensation had been much the same, and this time was no different.

Wei Zhao hadn't imagined that refining an aphrodisiac in his body could actually trigger a breakthrough — it was truly beyond belief! But when he thought back to Qiu Lingshan's incident, it didn't seem so strange after all. Perhaps that had been the reason for her breakthrough as well?

As it happened, Qiu Lingshan's breakthrough was nothing like Wei Zhao's. She had simply been suppressed at that level for far too long, and then, suddenly stimulated both mentally and psychologically — on top of the unique nature of the Song family's mental arts, the result was a breakthrough!

Wei Zhao's situation was entirely different — he was using raw energy to refine the drug's effects. Because there was simply too much of the aphrodisiac in his system, he had no choice but to refine it over and over, and the true qi that formed from the process began to gather inside his body! Since the aphrodisiac was already contained within him, the true qi produced from refining it also stayed within him — which was quite unlike absorbing energy directly.

With direct absorption, there comes a point where no more can be taken in! But refining through the drug's effects was different — even though his body could no longer absorb any more true qi from outside, the true qi refined within him could not escape either! This was what caused Wei Zhao's breakthrough in one fell swoop, elevating him to a top-tier fighter at the peak of the Late Profound Stage!

Fortunately, unlike Chen Yutian and Qiu Lingshan, Wei Zhao had been cultivating inside the jade pendant's space, so he didn't have to worry about his clothes bursting apart and being seen by Gu Mengyao or Shen Yushu!

"Zhong Yongliang, you and your lackeys really are my good fortune — helping me break through two whole levels in a row... Should I thank you, or should I hate you?" Wei Zhao murmured to himself with a bitter smile, shaking his head.

Zhong Yongliang had meant to harm him, yet had ended up indirectly helping him! Wei Zhao had been agonizing over how to break through — and now he had!

"Elder Jiao, did I just break through?" Wei Zhao asked with a bitter smile.

"Yes, you broke through. Haven't you always wanted to? Isn't this wish fulfillment?" Jiao Yazi replied with a faint smile.

"But... what kind of thing was this? Will I be able to use this same method to break through in the future?" That was what Wei Zhao cared about most. He now roughly understood the principle behind the breakthrough, and what he really wanted to know was whether the same method would work again.

"Every single time you break through, it defies all belief." Jiao Yazi didn't quite know what to say. "I've never even heard of half your methods! Who knows if it'll work again next time?"

"So you're saying there's a possibility it could work?" Wei Zhao asked, his eyes brightening with excitement.

"I said no such thing!" Jiao Yazi shook his head. "As far as I know, going from the Profound Stage to the Earth Stage is a great hurdle. Some people spend their entire lives unable to clear it, stuck at the peak of the Late Profound Stage forever. So if this breakthrough method were the same, then I'm afraid every cultivator alive could clear it with ease! The way to break through from the Profound Stage to the Earth Stage is different!"

"Is that so?" Wei Zhao frowned. "Then breaking through from the Profound Stage to the Earth Stage isn't something just any easy method can accomplish?"

"Precisely!" Jiao Yazi nodded. "Look at the hidden sects and clans — there are plenty of fighters at the peak of the Late Profound Stage, but very few Earth Stage experts! Some people have been stuck at that level for years. If an ordinary method could get them past it, do you think they'd still be stuck there?"

"Uh... isn't it breaking through from the Earth Stage to the Heaven Stage that's supposed to be difficult? How come going from the Profound Stage to the Earth Stage is so hard too?" Wei Zhao said with a bitter laugh.

"Even harder!" Jiao Yazi countered. "Going from the Earth Stage to the Heaven Stage — from ancient times to the present, very few have ever managed it!"

"The Heaven Stage is still far, far off. But how to reach the Earth Stage right now?" Wei Zhao forced a bitter smile. It looked like this method of his — eating drugs and refining them — wasn't going to work.

"How would I know?" Jiao Yazi rolled his eyes. "Not a single one of your breakthrough methods is something I can understand. Go innovate on your own!"

Wei Zhao had no choice but to return from the jade pendant's space to the real world! Though he couldn't find a way to break through to the Earth Stage just yet, he was already quite satisfied with his current progress. If he pushed a little harder, breaking through to the Earth Stage before the Clan Assembly should still be within reach.

"Big Brother Arrow, are you alright?" Seeing Wei Zhao open his eyes with his complexion already back to normal, Shen Yushu was both startled and overjoyed.

"I'm fine, thanks to both of you." Wei Zhao said, getting up with a smile.

"It was nothing, it's the least we could do! You've protected us for so long, it's about time we did something for you!" Shen Yushu said. "I'd even offer myself to you — no problem at all!"

"Shushu!" Gu Mengyao snapped when she heard Shen Yushu start spouting nonsense again.

"Heh..." Wei Zhao laughed. "Come on — didn't Zhong Yongliang say we're gathering at nine? Let's go see what kind of fun activities they've got planned!"

"Are you going to teach them a lesson, Big Brother Arrow?" Shen Yushu felt indignant on Wei Zhao's behalf, since he'd been drugged.

"Teach them a lesson? What for?" Wei Zhao grinned. "I should be thanking them, if anything!"

"Thanking them?" Shen Yushu and Gu Mengyao both froze in bewilderment.

"If it weren't for them, I wouldn't have broken through at all! I'm at the peak of the Late Profound Stage now!" Wei Zhao said with a smile. "So why would I need to teach them a lesson?"

"Whoa — no way! Big Brother Arrow, you're incredible!" Shen Yushu's eyes went wide with shock. "You can break through from that? Then if we took aphrodisiacs every day, wouldn't we all be Heaven Stage fighters in no time?"

Wei Zhao's vision went dark and he nearly stumbled, forcing a bitter laugh. "That was a fluke. If I took any more... who knows what could go wrong!"

"Exactly, Shushu — stop coming up with wild ideas!" Gu Mengyao thought it was impossible too. If you could really break through just by taking drugs, wouldn't experts be everywhere?

The three of them chatted as they made their way toward the resort's lobby. By now, Zhong Yongliang, Gao Xiaofu, and the rest of the classmates had already returned to the lobby and were talking among themselves.

The moment Zhong Yongliang and Gao Xiaofu saw Wei Zhao, Gu Mengyao, and Shen Yushu approaching, a flicker of fear crossed their eyes! If Wei Zhao actually knew they were behind this, would he come after them?

"Well, if it isn't Wei Zhao! We were just waiting for you!" Zhong Yongliang hesitated for a moment, then put on a smile and walked over. "We all arrived just now — everyone was here except you three. I was just about to go looking for you, but it turns out you were still asleep!"

Zhong Yongliang fabricated an excuse — that there was a group activity planned for the evening and Wei Zhao had missed it, which was why they'd gone looking for him.

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