Chapter 2130 — The Energy Bomb Returns

"Concede? Ha! Wei Zhao, you think the Golden Bell Sect would ever concede? Dream on!" Jingang Zuan said. "If you are afraid you cannot win, then say you are afraid—spare us all your useless excuses!"

"Conceding would actually be doing the Golden Bell Sect a favor, because the moment I strike, your disciple will have no room to resist at all. One move and he is finished!" Wei Zhao shrugged. "Just one move!"

"Ha! That is the funniest joke I have ever heard. Wei Zhao, you think you are something? Let me tell you—even yesterday, Ma Dashen could withstand the full force of an early Heaven Rank blow. Do not imagine you are the only one who can take a hit! I refuse to believe a single strike from you could be stronger than yesterday's. There is no use trying to trick me into conceding—it will not work!" Jingang Zuan said.

"Then I have no choice but to strike. Blind and stubborn to the end!" Wei Zhao cast Ma Dashen a look of regret. "If you die, blame that idiot master of yours. His ignorance and arrogance have killed you!"

"Hmph!" Ma Dashen naturally had faith in his master. He too took Wei Zhao's words for alarmist bluster, a trick to frighten him into conceding of his own accord—how could he fall for that? Hearing that Wei Zhao was about to make his move, he at once began circulating the inner art of the Golden Bell Cover.

"One move. Just one move. If you survive it, I lose," Wei Zhao said, looking at Ma Dashen.

"Enough, Wei Zhao, spare us the chatter! If you are going to strike, then strike—you said it yourself, one move, and if he lives, you lose!" Jingang Zuan answered for Ma Dashen, because Ma Dashen was just now building his power. The Golden Bell Cover depended on a single continuous breath of qi; to speak now would break the flow, and if Wei Zhao launched a sneak attack at such a moment, it would take its toll on Ma Dashen.

"Good!" Wei Zhao nodded. He brought his palms together, pushed them out flat, and bellowed, "Earth Rank Martial Skill, Third Form—Vacuum Wave Punch!"

That done, Wei Zhao flashed backward at once, retreating all the way to the edge of the platform.

A tremendous boom rang out as Wei Zhao's true-qi bomb slammed straight into Ma Dashen's body. In an instant the mountain seemed to crumble and the earth to split, the sky to darken and the sun to dim. The stone platform exploded front and back, shattered into countless fragments that flew up as sand and stone whirling through the air, and in a single moment swallowed Ma Dashen's body whole.

This true-qi bomb of Wei Zhao's had used a full three quarters of the true qi within his body. Unless Ma Dashen had mastered the Golden Bell Cover to perfection, he could not possibly survive! When Wei Zhao had fought Ma Zhu, he had spent every drop of true qi in his body—but Wei Zhao's strength back then had been what it was, whereas now, even at three quarters, it was several times what it had been before!

Even Wei Zhao had not expected this move to carry such tremendous power. His locked gazes with Jingang Zuan and Ma Dashen, the standing still and holding back, had in truth been him compressing the energy bomb. When the bomb was finally released, Wei Zhao himself was startled.

Since reaching the Earth Rank, Wei Zhao had never unleashed a true-qi bomb of such power. He had used true-qi bombs many times, but most were small bombs of scant true qi compressed over a short while—formidable enough, but nowhere near this kind of devastating force.

Large as the platform was, the rolling waves of power from that true-qi bomb swept even over Wei Zhao himself. Fortunately he had kept a quarter of his true qi this time to shield his body, so he was not blown to the sorry state he had been in last time.

Even so, even with true qi shielding him, he was certain to have been wounded by the blast.

The entire platform was reduced to nothing. Sand and stone filled the sky ever more thickly, and all was murky darkness. Below the platform, the old masters and the clan disciples alike were struck silent with dread.

Wei Zhao—how could he command such power? Such divine ability?

They had plainly seen that Wei Zhao had driven this Vacuum Wave Punch or whatever it was with the strength of a peak early Earth Rank fighter. By any reasoning, the Third Form of an Earth Rank martial skill, unleashed with such strength, could never produce a scene like this, however formidable.

What kind of might was this? Even a Heaven Rank expert could not necessarily achieve it—and yet Wei Zhao had!

The old masters of every house and the masters of every sect now shielded their own juniors lest they be hurt by the violent surge of true qi. As for the flying sand and stone, it no longer did much harm to ordinary Mystic Rank cultivators...

"That opening move—it was terrifying!" Han Xiaopo stared toward the platform in shock and awe. The sand and stone had not yet settled, and that whole quarter was still a murky chaos—but the more so it was, the more it proved the overwhelming power of Wei Zhao's strike!

"Master Lin always exceeds our expectations!" Han Tianba laughed heartily. "To have Master Lin's protection is the great fortune of our Hidden Han Clan!"

Master You, Master Yu, Master Tang, Master Zhao—all of them now exchanged a startled glance. The shock Wei Zhao had just delivered far surpassed anything from the earlier matches. This one move of his was enough to make them ashamed of their own inferiority!

"Wei Zhao has definitely been suppressing his strength. He is no Earth Rank!" After a long pause, Master You spoke with a frown.

"Indeed. During the martial skill contest, the skill he unleashed was at early Earth Rank strength, but now it is peak early Earth Rank. Clearly he suppresses his strength to different levels, deliberately to mislead us!" Master Yu said as well.

"Could he be... early Heaven Rank?" Master Zhao said in shock.

"Early? Do you or I command such power?" Master Tang shook his head.

"If the four of us joined hands, could we take this boy down?" Master You asked.

"Hard to say. If we went all out together, perhaps," Master Zhao said.

But Master Tang and Master Yu said nothing, each lost in his own thoughts... What they saw was Wei Zhao's rise, and what they thought of was regret. They should have drawn Wei Zhao to their side, not shunned him, suppressed him, tried to assassinate him!

So if it were possible, they did not want Wei Zhao dead. But the enmity was already made—and to speak of drawing him close now, would that not be laughable?

"It seems Wei Zhao's wiping out three Earth Rank fighters with one move before, one of them even a late Earth Rank expert, was no accident!" Master Yu said evenly. "Even if we struck, are we confident we could destroy three Earth Rank fighters in a single move?"

Master You, Master Zhao, and Master Tang all shook their heads. Absolutely not!

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