Chapter 2149 — A Stroke of Bad Luck

"Fine, step this way!" Master Wo nodded. He bore the Hidden Pi Family no grudge, so he spoke to the Wind-Thunder Violet-Lightning Beast in beast tongue, instructing it merely to toy with Pi Zhihai and force him to concede--there was no need to press him hard.

In truth, the Wind-Thunder Violet-Lightning Beast could understand human speech. An ancient spirit beast possessed of spiritual intelligence, its mind was far beyond the ordinary. It was only that, in its eyes, a weakling like Master Wo was not worth the trouble of even conversing with, so it merely gave a snort--neither consenting nor refusing, offering Master Wo an answer that was neither here nor there.

"Very well. So long as you do not harm the disciples of our Qianshan Sect, that will do." Seeing the beast's attitude, Master Wo had no recourse; he could only settle for the next best thing.

Pi Zhihai entered the cage, watching the Wind-Thunder Violet-Lightning Beast tensely, not daring the slightest negligence. And the next moment, the beast charged at Pi Zhihai as though gone mad!

Pi Zhihai was startled half out of his wits and took to his heels!

And so a wondrous scene unfolded: inside the cage, Pi Zhihai fled in front while the Wind-Thunder Violet-Lightning Beast gave chase behind. Yet the beast was plainly not exerting its full strength--for Master Wo knew its speed went far beyond this.

Still, no matter how fast Pi Zhihai ran, the Wind-Thunder Violet-Lightning Beast kept a fixed distance from him. Pi Zhihai ran himself to the very limit and past it, yet the beast followed unhurried at his heels, as though it were making sport of him.

At the sight, Master Wo breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed the Wind-Thunder Violet-Lightning Beast had still given him some face; so long as Pi Zhihai's life was spared, the Hidden Pi Family would not truly be offended.

But Master Wo knew this to be so--the others did not. The Wind-Thunder Violet-Lightning Beast pursued Pi Zhihai closely, Pi Zhihai ran like a madman, pursuer and pursued in hot chase, and old Master Pi was frightened into a sweat that drenched his whole head.

Pi Zhihai had come in with the notion of tempering himself, but he had never imagined the Wind-Thunder Violet-Lightning Beast could be so swift. He had meant to seize a chance to strike at it by surprise--but now it seemed that surprise attacks were out of the question; he would count himself lucky if the beast did not strike him by surprise instead!

After two laps of the chase, the Wind-Thunder Violet-Lightning Beast grew a little bored, and a little vexed. You, a mere external-school expert at the peak of the early Earth rank, come strutting before me? I have chased you two laps already--you do not kneel and beg for mercy, you do not concede, so what are you still running for?

So the Wind-Thunder Violet-Lightning Beast resolved to teach Pi Zhihai a lesson. It suddenly let out a great roar and quickened its pace...

"I yield, I yield!" At last Pi Zhihai gave in. He was afraid--to be beaten to death here by this Wind-Thunder Violet-Lightning Beast would be far too poor a bargain!

Master Wo thought to himself: you should have yielded long ago. Did you fancy yourself capable? And you would lock horns with the Wind-Thunder Violet-Lightning Beast? Even before an expert of the early Heaven rank, that beast is no inferior--let alone a mere peak early Earth rank, and an external-school one at that.

"Very well. I shall open the cage door--come out!" Master Wo said, betraying nothing on his face.

But the instant Master Wo opened the cage, the Wind-Thunder Violet-Lightning Beast swiped at him with a claw, striking Pi Zhihai squarely across the back. The blow was not landed with full force, yet it left Pi Zhihai's back a dripping mass of blood. He staggered out of the cage and, with a "blargh," vomited a mouthful of blood, his face ghastly pale. Outside the cage he stood no more than a few seconds before collapsing flat to the ground.

"Zhihai!" A deep worry and regret flashed through old Master Pi's eyes. Had he known how formidable this Wind-Thunder Violet-Lightning Beast was, he would have stopped Pi Zhihai from entering the trial no matter what. He had nearly lost his life!

Pi Zhihai was the hope of the Hidden Pi Family's younger generation. Pi Zhishan managed the family affairs, Pi Zhihai devoted himself to martial cultivation--the two working in concert could make the Hidden Pi Family flourish by degrees. But if Pi Zhihai were lost here, the gain would not be worth the loss!

"Grandfather... I... there seems to be a strange true qi in my body... pff..." As he spoke, Pi Zhihai vomited another mouthful of blood and lapsed straight into unconsciousness!

Old Master Pi was filled with bitter regret. Was he not simply idle and restless? Why had he insisted on agreeing to let Pi Zhihai undergo some trial or other? What was there to temper? Small wonder so many families had chosen to withdraw--it seemed they were the wise ones after all!

"Zhihai, you said your body..." Seeing Pi Zhihai unconscious, old Master Pi was frantic with anxiety, but he was no internal-school expert and could not examine the condition within Pi Zhihai's body. At his wit's end, he could only look to Master Wo for help.

"Old Master Pi... pray restrain your grief and accept what fate decrees. The might of this ancient spirit beast, the Wind-Thunder Violet-Lightning Beast, is exceedingly great. If I am not mistaken, a true qi peculiar to spirit beasts has been driven into your grandson's body. Such qi resembles refined heaven-and-earth spiritual energy; only a Heaven-rank expert can attempt to draw it out and refine it. Otherwise..." Master Wo did not finish, but old Master Pi could well guess the rest--it meant nothing good.

"Ai!" Old Master Pi sighed and looked toward several Heaven-rank experts--old Master Zhao, old Master Yu, old Master You, old Master Tang, and the others--hoping they might lend a hand.

But these old masters sat as though in meditation, eyes fixed straight ahead, and not one came forward to help. It was not that they were hard-hearted and unwilling; rather, refining another's true qi was no pleasant task--much effort and no thanks. And if by some mishap it were not fully drawn out, and the qi slipped into their own bodies, they would have brought disaster upon themselves!

A cultivator cultivates heaven-and-earth spiritual energy by drawing it in through the qihai acupoint, then circulating the internal-energy method, whereby the qihai acupoint transforms the spiritual energy into the true qi the body requires and sends it into the various meridians. But to have them draw spiritual energy directly in through the acupoints of their hands is utterly impossible--for spiritual energy taken in without passing through the qihai acupoint and the internal-energy method can by no means be transformed into the true qi the body requires. It is therefore a most dangerous undertaking, one that may well prove fatal. And who would be willing to do such a thing?

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