Far away at the summit of the snow mountain, Xiaoqing and the Ice Palace Lord had naturally seen everything that happened there as well, though the snow filling the sky made it hard for them to tell exactly what was going on in the field.

"Aunt Qing, which of them do you think will win?" the Ice Palace Lord asked, gazing into the distance, then turning her head with indifference.

"Hard to say... but Feng Nitian probably has the better odds?" Xiaoqing said.

"I never imagined the other ancient sects and ancient families had rotted away to such a degree. Two disciples who have cultivated ancient secret manuals, and they turn out to be such trash." The Ice Palace Lord frowned, a flicker of disappointment and contempt passing through her eyes.

"Palace Lord, you mean... Ling Yi will win?" Xiaoqing was startled and asked in astonishment.

"The outcome is already settled. Feng Nitian's defeat is a foregone conclusion," the Ice Palace Lord said. "In this round, Ling Yi has won again! Just what is this fellow's background? Is he really as simple as a rogue cultivator?"

"Shall I go look into it...?" Xiaoqing asked.

"No need. However formidable he is, it has nothing to do with our Ice Palace." The Ice Palace Lord waved a hand, signaling that Xiaoqing need not waste the effort.

The Ice Palace's inner sect had never taken in male disciples or male guest elders, so no matter how formidable Wei Zhao was, he had little to do with the Ice Palace.

Yubing clenched his fists tightly, staring at the field with quickened breath, wanting to pierce through layer upon layer of flying snow and see clearly what lay within. But he had no clairvoyant eyes; he could not see at all what had happened inside, nor did he know whether Wei Zhao was alive or dead at this moment!

And Yang Qiqi, too, had resolved herself in her heart. Wei Zhao, though you and I were never exactly friendly, you have helped me so many times after all, and I, Yang Qiqi, am not one who forgets a kindness. Still, if you are dead, then the grievance between us is settled by nature — but I will avenge you!

I will not let Feng Nitian and Yushan off. I may not be their match now, but I believe that one day, I will certainly be able to do it!

Zhao Qitan and Zhao Qijiu, too, did not dare draw near; they stood far off, quietly watching how things would unfold. Zhao Qitan was a smooth and tactful man, cunning and reserved, walking on thin ice even within the Zhao family, but he had only one aim: to become the head of the hidden Zhao family in the end.

In his eyes there was no such thing as pride, no such thing as face. Anyone who could be of help to him could become an ally; even if that person was a former enemy, it did not matter. And now, Zhao Qitan was no enemy to either group in the field, so no matter which side won, he could calmly and comfortably go on cultivating ties.

At last, driven by the fierce wind, the snow that filled the sky slowly dispersed, and little by little the scene in the field finally came clear!

Yet, to everyone's surprise, there was not a single person left standing in the field! Both Wei Zhao and Feng Nitian lay on the ground, and the pure white snow had turned red, blood scattered everywhere — and now there was no telling whose blood it was!

"Ling Yi!" Yubing cried out, somewhat anxiously.

"Brother Nitian!" The sight before him shocked Yushan as well! He had not expected Feng Nitian to have fallen to the ground too. How could that be? Wei Zhao clearly could not move a muscle and could only take a beating — so how could Feng Nitian have been hurt as well?

At last all the flying snow dispersed, and only then could everyone see clearly the exact situation in the field!

"Ah!" Yushan could not help but cry out in shock! For he saw that Feng Nitian's upper garment had been completely shredded, and his bare upper body was drenched in blood, a truly horrifying sight, as though he had suffered extremely severe injuries!

By contrast, Wei Zhao's side seemed to be fine, for Wei Zhao lay face down on the snow, and upon his body there was only that woman, whole and unharmed, as if she had taken no injury at all!

Though no one knew how Wei Zhao was, judging from appearances alone, Feng Nitian seemed to be in far worse shape!

The scene before them shocked Zhao Qitan deeply as well! So it was true — the people of the ancient families were not invincible either. And yet, with Zhang Nai Pao as a precedent, Feng Nitian's injury was nothing strange. What made Zhao Qitan deeply wary was Wei Zhao!

He had no idea how the man was doing. If he was unharmed, then Zhao Qitan thought that whatever the cost, he must become friends with him — for that would be of tremendous importance to his own future rise as head of the Zhao family!

Just as everyone was stunned, the two men in the field stirred at the same instant!

Yet what caught everyone off guard was that the first to struggle to his feet was not Wei Zhao, but Feng Nitian!

Could it be that Wei Zhao's injuries were even worse than Feng Nitian's?

Having just breathed a sigh of relief at seeing Feng Xiaoxiao safe and sound, Yubing and Yang Qiqi could not help but grow tense again! Though Feng Xiaoxiao appeared unharmed, Wei Zhao was pinned beneath her and no one knew his condition. Could he be gravely wounded... or even already...?

Their guesses were not wrong: Wei Zhao's injuries truly were far more serious than Feng Nitian's!

Yet the severity of a wound had nothing to do with the aftermath it brought. Though Feng Nitian was the first to move now, that only proved that his body still held enough true qi to sustain him!

Wei Zhao was worse off than him precisely because there was not a trace of true qi left in his body! At this moment his meridians were all severed, and he was within the jade pendant space, seizing every minute and every second to heal himself!

The consequences were the same as the last time, after his hard clash with Ma Zhu: there was not a bit of true qi left in Wei Zhao's body, and his meridians were severed, leaving him no way to restore his strength. He could only slowly mend the external wounds on his body first!

But to repair the meridians without the aid of outside forces was simply impossible!

This situation, in fact, came about because Wei Zhao had used true qi bombs twice in a row today! The first time was against Zhang Nai Pao — though he had not compressed all his true qi, only a small portion of it, he had still spent much true qi and had no time to enter the jade pendant space to cultivate and recover it. And under the circumstances then, it was impossible for Wei Zhao to enter the jade pendant space and compress true qi again; that simply was not realistic.

And just now, Wei Zhao had once again used compressed true qi against Feng Nitian. Though he still held something back, since Feng Nitian was not Ma Zhu and had never cultivated the Golden Bell Shield, there was no need for Wei Zhao to compress all the true qi in his body to deal with him!

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