Chapter 2239 — Setting the Terms

Rancor and fury writhed across the Grand Guardian's face. His bloodshot eyes fixed hard upon Wei Zhao; the force of that single blow had churned his qi and blood, and only after circulating his inner art through one full cycle did he manage to calm them. His expression savage, he said, "Good. Very good! Boy, I underestimated you—that you could unleash such a formidable martial technique. If I am not mistaken, that strike of yours already carries the might of the eleventh form, does it not?"

"Hmph!" Wei Zhao had not expected that his full-powered blow would merely send the Grand Guardian's qi and blood surging; in the space of a breath the man had recovered completely. A pang of gloom settled in Wei Zhao's heart. He... was still too weak!

At the Hidden Clan Assembly his confidence had swelled to its peak, yet here in the Ulaghot Mountains he had met with setback after setback.

"It does not matter if you say nothing. Your secrets—I do not wish to know them." The Grand Guardian spoke blandly. "I must admit, among the younger generation you have some skill. But there is no injustice in dying by my hand—even if you were the prized disciple of an ancient sect, there would be no injustice in it!"

"Why are you completely unharmed? That move of mine was the equal of an eleventh-form martial technique. You are an early-stage Heaven-rank expert; at most you could unleash an eleventh-form technique yourself. Even if you shielded your body with true qi, it is impossible that you come away with nothing at all."

This was what Wei Zhao could least comprehend. Back when Xu Shilan and Cheng Yiyi had come under attack, he had fought the Earth-rank man in black head-on; that man, whose strength was greater still, had been unable to withstand Wei Zhao's technique. Yet this man before him seemed to have taken no injury whatsoever.

"You are very eager to know?" The Grand Guardian smiled faintly. "Then it does no harm to tell you, so that you may die with your eyes open. That strike of yours had power, and it had presence, but it lacked true strength. You raised it only by crooked means—the force of your true qi falls far short. Against an ordinary early-stage Heaven-rank expert it might just suffice; against me, your luck has run out!"

At these words Wei Zhao's expression shifted unpredictably. He had not imagined matters would come to such a pass!

This was the most difficult, the most maddening battle Wei Zhao had ever fought. Before the fight had even truly begun, he was already beating the retreat.

If what the Grand Guardian said was true, then Wei Zhao was truly no match for him.

"Ah—since you are so utterly confident, how about taking five of my moves? If you can withstand five moves from me, I will give you the thing, and my life will be yours to deal with as you please!" Wei Zhao hesitated a moment, then spoke with some reluctance.

Wei Zhao's proposal rather startled the Grand Guardian. He had not expected Wei Zhao to make such an odd demand at such a moment.

And yet, truth be told, Wei Zhao's proposal set the Grand Guardian's heart stirring.

In his eyes Wei Zhao was nothing; taking the lives of Wei Zhao and Sun Jingyan would have been as easy as turning his palm. What he feared was that the two of them would flee in different directions. If Sun Jingyan fled, he would have to give chase; but if Wei Zhao fled, there were variables to consider—if Wei Zhao truly escaped with the two spirit beasts' essence cores and fled to the Great Fire Lion's side, then he would indeed have no recourse.

Of course, the treasure in Sun Jingyan's hands was far more important than the spirit beasts' essence cores, but the essence cores in Wei Zhao's possession were not something he wished to lose either.

At this thought the Grand Guardian nodded slowly and said, "Fine. Since it has come to this, what harm is there in taking five of your moves?"

"Good—then I am about to strike!" Wei Zhao's heart eased. He began urgently compressing the energy bomb, while on the surface he dawdled as though merely going through the motions of a technique.

"Are you going to strike or not?" Seeing Wei Zhao make no move for so long, the Grand Guardian knitted his brows and asked with some impatience.

"I am striking—must I not build it up first? That fierce blow of mine just now did nothing to you; this time I must build up properly and produce a truly vicious move," Wei Zhao said.

"Hurry up!" The Grand Guardian gave a cold snort. A vicious move, was it? He did not know what Wei Zhao was dawdling over, but he supposed Wei Zhao meant to catch him off guard and land a blow.

Yet the Grand Guardian sneered inwardly. A Heaven-rank expert—do you think you can ambush one just because you wish to?

"Almost ready!" Wei Zhao said.

"..." The Grand Guardian was somewhat speechless. He thought: if I were not afraid of trouble, afraid that you would flee with those two spirit beasts' essence cores, I would not waste my time playing this game with you.

But Wei Zhao was still there, neither hurried nor slow, seeming about to strike and yet not, and none could tell what he was actually doing.

Sun Jingyan was worried. She wanted to send the Heavenly Thunder Pig to summon the Great Fire Lion up to help, but then she recalled what the Great Fire Lion had said before and abandoned the idea.

If the Great Fire Lion could have accompanied them up the mountain, it would have done so long ago. That it had not come up meant it surely had some hardship it could not speak of, so Sun Jingyan could not force the matter. She could only watch Wei Zhao with deep anxiety, not knowing what on earth he intended.

Wei Zhao was now stalling for every minute he could. Since even the eleventh-form Frenzied Fire Fist could not harm the Grand Guardian, the only thing he could rely on was the true qi bomb. The true qi bomb was Wei Zhao's never-failing trump—whatever rank of expert you were, it would blast you to shreds all the same!

But the flaw of this move was that it took a very long time to use. If the enemy did not give Wei Zhao that time, then there was nothing Wei Zhao could do.

"Are you finished or not? If you do not strike soon, this old man will change his mind!" Though the Grand Guardian did not know what Wei Zhao was stalling for, in the end his patience ran out, and he roared at Wei Zhao.

"Oh, almost done." Wei Zhao said, "You are a senior expert—surely you must give a junior like me a little time to prepare?"

"Prepare if you must, but what is this endless business about? Are you not just stalling for time to think of a way out?" The Grand Guardian was no fool. Wei Zhao's strength was plainly mid-stage Earth-rank; however capable, in his eyes Wei Zhao could raise no great waves, so his behavior now was somewhat suspicious.

"It is not endless. I am preparing to unleash a great move—it must be done in one breath, so I need to recover my strength a little." Having said this, Wei Zhao deliberately paused.

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