Chapter 1213 — Having to Give Up

Wei Zhao first set about restoring the blood his body had lost. The process was not complicated; for Wei Zhao, it was like repairing an injured body, using energy to accelerate the production of blood.

Once his body had returned to normal, Wei Zhao began the restoration of his cultivation. At this moment, his body was like a huge empty vat, greedily gulping down the elemental energy of the jade pendant space in great, rapid draughts!

Time, in the course of cultivation, always passed in the blink of an eye. Wei Zhao could feel the energy accumulating within his body growing ever more abundant—from having no cultivation whatsoever, to the early Yellow Stage, then from the early Yellow Stage to the pinnacle of the late Yellow Stage, and then to the early Profound Stage...

Finally, Wei Zhao reached the middle Profound Stage, the very level he had held before his cultivation had dropped!

This process passed without the slightest mishap, for Wei Zhao had done it many times before and was completely familiar with the road.

Having returned to his previous level, Wei Zhao did not slacken his efforts. He continued to circulate the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art, preparing to break through in one fell swoop to the pinnacle of the middle Profound Stage!

So it is with many things: the first surge carries you through, the second falters, and the third is exhausted.

If one cannot charge all the way through in a single breath, then breaking through afterward becomes far more difficult! Thus Wei Zhao did not wish to waste this opportunity of breaking down to build anew; he gritted his teeth and pressed on!

But then again, how easy was breaking through? Even with favorable timing, advantageous terrain, and harmonious human relations, many people remained stuck at a bottleneck for years on end; some might never break through to a higher level for their entire lives! Was it that they had never touched the barrier? No, that was not the case—they had touched it and stood on the very edge of ascension, yet breaking through that layer of obstruction was a feat of a thousand difficulties and ten thousand hardships!

Wei Zhao did not want to admit it, but he was forced to: this time, his assault on the barrier had failed!

Failed, no doubt about it! Break down to build anew—for the first time, Wei Zhao tasted the flavor of defeat; he had broken down, but nothing was built!

This attempt to break through to the pinnacle of the middle Profound Stage was somewhat different from his previous several attempts. In the last few days, each attempt had been extremely difficult—even absorbing a little bit of energy into his body was already hard, and in most cases, he could not absorb even a single wisp!

It was like a bag already stuffed full of things; no matter how small the item, there was simply no room to squeeze in even a tiny bit more! That was also the reason Wei Zhao had struck the barrier several times without breaking through!

This time, however, he had indeed been able to absorb a little energy into his body—but still, he had failed!

"Hoo... it really doesn't work after all!" Wei Zhao let out a long sigh and opened his eyes. After catching his breath for a moment, he resolved to launch yet another assault on the barrier to the pinnacle of the middle Profound Stage! He was unwilling to accept this failure; he wanted to break through in one fell swoop!

The elemental energy of the jade pendant space was once again stirred into motion by Wei Zhao, swirling around him at an almost inconceivable speed! He had now mastered the method of drawing in energy, and the first layer of the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art could be employed with consummate skill. One could say that breaking through to the second layer was within easy reach. Everything was prepared; only the east wind was wanting—all that remained was for the stone door to open once more, and he would obtain the cultivation manual of the second layer of the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art!

But Wei Zhao was only entertaining the thought. Greed is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant; sometimes one should not be too covetous. To have achieved what he had was already quite remarkable!

Once, twice, three times...

Though the elemental energy gathered around Wei Zhao's body, he simply could not break through the barrier in one decisive surge!

Each time, he could indeed absorb a little energy into his body, yet every single time he felt that he was just a hair short! If only there had been a little more energy—even the tiniest bit more—he would have broken through!

But no matter what, the energy he could draw in was always limited; there was no getting more! And the energy, once absorbed into his body, was instantly consumed by metabolism, leaving no room for accumulation across multiple attempts!

It was like a person trying to push open a door: if his strength is too little, no matter how many times he pushes, the door will never open! He knows full well that with just a tiny bit more force, the door might give way, yet try as he might, he cannot muster it! Nor can the force from his previous pushes be accumulated; once expended, it is gone.

And that was exactly Wei Zhao's situation now. His body was brimming with energy; if only a tiny bit more could be drawn in, he would shatter the barrier. But absorbing it bit by bit availed him nothing!

This predicament left Wei Zhao both agonized and disheartened. He opened his eyes and looked at Jiao Yazi, who sat not far away with an ambiguous half-smile. "Old Jiao, why is it that I'm just a tiny bit short of breaking through?" he said in frustration.

"It's actually very simple. You only just broke into the middle Profound Stage not long ago; to advance even further is naturally all the more difficult. Your time has been too short, and your cultivation has not yet been consolidated." Jiao Yazi said with an utterly indifferent air. "If you could break through at this juncture, that would be the real rarity."

"But..." Wei Zhao simply could not resign himself to it! The breakthrough was right before his eyes, yet he was forced to fall just one step short. This feeling tormented him immensely—it was like having a sumptuous feast set before him, yet being unable to take a single bite!

Wei Zhao tried several more times, all ending in failure. He wanted to give up, but he was unwilling to. In the past, this method of breaking down to build anew had worked every single time without exception, yet this time, it had to run into an accident! It seemed that the pinnacle of the middle Profound Stage was not so easily attained after all!

Disappointed, Wei Zhao returned to reality. When he opened his eyes, he found that the room was pitch dark—it must already be evening!

He sat up from the bed and walked out of the bedroom. Pushing open the door, what met his eyes was a stretch of bright light. Wei Zhao's adaptability, however, far surpassed that of ordinary people; under the strong lamplight, he felt no discomfort whatsoever and could clearly see everything in the living room.

At this moment, Feng Xiaoxiao and Tang Yun were sitting on the sofa watching television, huddled close together, both clad in cartoon-patterned pajamas. They looked for all the world like a pair of sisters!

Although the television in the living room was still on, the two had clearly fallen asleep. Wei Zhao glanced at the wall clock in the living room—it was already past one in the morning. No wonder they had both dozed off! It really had been hard on these two girls, staying up so late just to wait for him.

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