Chapter 2293 — Wei Zhao Escapes

The Twelfth Elder was addressed as Twelfth Martial Uncle, and the one up the mountain as Sixth Martial Uncle. That meant the fellow on the mountain was surely the stronger of the two. What truly made Wei Zhao click his tongue was that number—"twelfth." What sort of clan was this? More formidable than the ancient sects, with at least twelve Heaven-Rank experts to its name?

How many Heaven-Rank experts did the Ice Palace even have? Who would have thought that in this remote little town of Ruileida, there existed such a clan?

Astonished as he was, Wei Zhao could not help but fall into thought. His own vantage point was simply too low. Only from a height can one see far—and that height was one's own strength. He was merely a small Earth-Rank mid-stage expert...

There had been a time when Earth-Rank was something Wei Zhao looked up to. But now, it truly amounted to nothing much. Yet that was simply how things went: change the frame of reference, and the conclusion changes with it.

Shaking his head, he set these thoughts aside for the moment. What also gladdened Wei Zhao was that Sun Jingyan had evidently escaped these people's search. From the Twelfth Elder's words, the man still believed Sun Jingyan was up the mountain with him, not yet descended.

That in turn proved Sun Jingyan had already gotten away safely—which meant Wei Zhao could act without any scruples! By his reckoning, Sun Jingyan had been gone three days now, ample time to leave Ruileida Town and reach the border town.

Moreover, neither Tagan Long nor the Twelfth Elder had mentioned Sun Jingyan's capture, which meant she was truly safe and sound.

What struck Wei Zhao as rather odd, though, was that Tagan Long seemed to set great store by those two spirit-beast essence cores. Wei Zhao had assumed such things were commonplace, but now it appeared that was not the case at all.

If even the Tagan clan, so rich in Heaven-Rank experts, valued them so highly, they must truly be important. But what exactly were they good for? Wei Zhao wanted more information, yet Tagan Long had said no more—merely mentioned them once before leaving.

It was time. Wei Zhao rose to his feet. At this hour, in theory, no adventure teams were descending the mountain, and the men searching the mountain pass had grown lax. This was the perfect moment for Wei Zhao to escape. Of course, he hardly expected to slip past the Twelfth Elder unnoticed.

Slipping silently away from a Heaven-Rank expert was unrealistic. All he could do was leave quickly, then draw him somewhere else and see whether to use the Heaven-and-Earth Net or the true-qi bomb. If there were many people, he would use the net; if there was no one but the Twelfth Elder alone, he would use the bomb.

"In a moment I'll go first. Then you seize the confusion to slip away along the edge and follow me at a distance nearby. Once the danger has passed, regroup with me!" Wei Zhao instructed the Thunder Pig beside him.

"Oink, oink!" The Thunder Pig nodded in understanding.

Having made his decision, Wei Zhao wasted no time. He leaped straight down from the mountain range, and in the darkness his figure flashed swiftly past the checkpoint at the mountain's exit, darting off toward a spot not far away...

"Hmph!" A cold snort came from the Tagan clan's temporary tent. The moment Wei Zhao came down the mountain, the Twelfth Elder sensed it. He knew the real quarry had arrived. Leaping out in one bound, he gave chase in the direction of Wei Zhao's flight!

Behind him, the Second and Third Protectors moved in concert with the Twelfth Elder, racing off in Wei Zhao's direction.

Wei Zhao glanced back at the five pursuers and cursed his luck under his breath. Of those three, only one was a Heaven-Rank expert—the other two were merely Earth-Rank—yet Wei Zhao had no confidence he could kill all three in one blast. After all, they were spread out one in front, one in the middle, one behind, and they clearly meant to flank him, which left Wei Zhao thoroughly frustrated.

If even one of them survived the blast, Wei Zhao's strength would be exposed, so he dared not act rashly. It seemed the Heaven-and-Earth Net was his only option. With any luck, the net would catch two of them; if it caught only one, Wei Zhao truly had no confidence of escaping.

Sensing the three closing in behind him, Wei Zhao led them straight into a back-alley lane—a place from which, after casting the Heaven-and-Earth Net, he would have an easy time fleeing and breaking away. Then he suddenly hurled it forward and shouted, "Heaven-and-Earth Net!"

The net flew straight toward the Twelfth Elder. This man was Wei Zhao's greatest threat; at the very least, the net could snare him alone.

Sure enough, when the Twelfth Elder saw a great net descending from the sky, his heart lurched in alarm. He had no idea what it was and instinctively tried to dodge—but how could anyone dodge the Heaven-and-Earth Net? Not only he, but the Second Protector close beside him was caught up as well. When the net fell, it enveloped the Twelfth Elder and the Second Protector both, leaving them utterly no room to resist.

Wei Zhao had experienced the Heaven-and-Earth Net firsthand and knew its power. Seeing it now, he found it every bit as formidable as promised—beneath the net, even a Heaven-Rank expert was nothing much. No wonder the Heaven-Rank spider had used this net to snare even a Heaven-Rank Fire Lion...

Only, the thought of the Heaven-Rank Fire Lions and Heaven-Rank Spiders who had vanished without a trace left Wei Zhao's chest tight, filled with an indescribable gloom.

"What is this thing?" The Twelfth Elder flung out his hand and drew a curved blade—his weapon. He meant to cut through the Heaven-and-Earth Net before him, but he underestimated it. He poured true qi into the blade and struck with the first form of a common martial technique, yet failed to damage the net in the slightest. Instead, the net only drew tighter and tighter.

At first, the Third Protector had meant to keep chasing Wei Zhao, but now, seeing this bizarre spectacle, he had no choice but to halt and lend a hand, for he had no idea what magic treasure Wei Zhao was using. Though he was of the Tagan clan and knew of the Spider clan's existence, he did not know the Spider clan's treasures.

"Earth-Rank Martial Technique, Thirteenth Form!" The Twelfth Elder had no choice but to give it everything, unleashing his strongest martial technique in hopes of shattering the Heaven-and-Earth Net in one blow—yet the net seemed to have a resilience all its own!

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