At that thought, Wei Zhao drew a deep breath and made ready to flee, but the Grand Protector seemed to have seen right through him. "Boy, do not think of running," he said coldly. "If you dare to run, I will first strike your woman dead with a single palm, and then come after you!"

The Grand Protector had divined Wei Zhao's misgivings and threatened him outright.

"Despicable..." Two words slipped from Wei Zhao's mouth. He had not expected the Grand Protector to see through his plan. Yet for all his fury, Wei Zhao had no recourse whatsoever! Whether the old man's words were true or false, Wei Zhao did not dare put them to the test.

"A small man may be petty, but a true man stops at nothing," the Grand Protector said dismissively. "I had meant to leave you a whole corpse, but you have exhausted my patience. Boy, you may go and die now!"

As he spoke, the Grand Protector raised his hand, and a soft whip appeared in his grasp!

A weapon... Wei Zhao drew a sharp breath. He had heard that the martial techniques of a Heaven-rank expert could be used together with a weapon, multiplying their might enormously, but he had never witnessed it. He had never thought his first sight of it would be here!

And earlier, a single blow from the Grand Protector that had used no martial technique at all had already left Wei Zhao unable to cope. Though all that dawdling had let Wei Zhao recover most of his injuries, who would have guessed the old thing would simply pull out a weapon?

Wei Zhao's mouth twitched twice. His luck really was rotten. Ever since he reached the Ulonghot Mountains, he had suffered setback after setback. Had his luck been too good before, his fortune overflowing without pause, so that it was all used up at the Hidden Families Assembly?

"To deal with a mid Earth-rank, is a weapon even necessary?" Wei Zhao said, drawing a deep breath.

"Hmph!" The Grand Protector paid him no heed. He had seen it too—this boy before him was cunning and would not let slip a single chance to turn the tables. Since that was so, he would hold nothing back. The soft whip snapped upward, instantly sheathed in a layer of azure true qi, and lashed at Wei Zhao: "Raging Sea, Furious Waves—First Stance!"

A vast and mighty force came crashing down on Wei Zhao, and he was greatly alarmed. Not daring to meet it head-on, he swept Sun Jingyan up from behind him, circulated his inner-energy method to shield them both in true qi, and with urgent, darting steps flung himself to one side.

"Boom!"

The soft whip struck where Wei Zhao had just been standing. The enormous force hammered into the bluestone paving with a deafening crash, and the stone slabs flew up on that vast surge of energy, bursting apart and scattering in all directions. Where the paving had been, a huge crater now yawned.

Fast as Wei Zhao had dodged, the gust of force carried by the whip still sent him stumbling, and the sleeve of his right arm was split open in a long gash. On his arm a wound had been cut clean to the bone, a mass of mangled flesh and blood.

Too strong! That was the only thought in Wei Zhao's mind. He had already dodged, and with true qi shielding his body besides, yet the force from that whip had still wounded him so grievously—to say nothing of what would happen if the whip struck him squarely.

It was likely just as the Grand Protector had said: one blow, and it would be fatal. He would be staying here for good.

Dust filled the air. Feeling his right arm, which had all but lost sensation, a grim look passed across Wei Zhao's face. An early Heaven-rank expert—such terrifying power. He did not know how many times over it surpassed a mid Earth-rank like himself, and the thought only deepened the bitterness in his heart.

"Quick on your feet, aren't you!" The Grand Protector gave a cold laugh. That last blow he had not aimed at all; it had been a casual lash, and he did not mind. He only said tauntingly, "This old man will play a game with you. I will lash you five times. If you can withstand them, then I will let you go. How about that?"

Wei Zhao's mouth twitched. The old thing clearly meant to play cat and mouse. That last blow had been only the first stance of his martial technique, yet driven by his early Heaven-rank strength and joined with the whip, it had unleashed earth-shaking might. If the old thing used his strongest move, would Wei Zhao still have a life?

Never mind five moves—one more, and Wei Zhao might not even be able to dodge it!

"Fine! A word is a word!" Though he knew the old thing was toying with him, at a time like this he had no choice but to grit his teeth and hold on.

"Best not die too quickly—that would be far too dull!" The Grand Protector drew back his soft whip, raised his head, and gave Wei Zhao a sinister smile. His right hand snapped up again, his body shifting slightly, and he cried: "Raging Sea, Furious Waves—Eleventh Stance!"

Damn it! Hearing the Grand Protector's cry, Wei Zhao nearly choked on his own blood. The first stance a moment ago, and now, all at once, the eleventh? Everyone knew that for an early Heaven-rank expert, the eleventh stance was likely his strongest technique of all—the old thing plainly meant to take his life in a single blow!

Instinctively, Wei Zhao's first thought was to run. He could not take this head-on; to meet it squarely was certain death. So he once again worked that wondrous footwork, but this time the Grand Protector seemed set on finishing him off outright. The soft whip clung to him like a maggot to the bone, sweeping wherever Wei Zhao fled, giving him no chance to hide at all.

Seeing the fierce killing intent filling the Grand Protector's eyes, Wei Zhao was beside himself with rage. Old thing, when this young master turns the tables, you will be the first I finish off!

This fight was unbearable for Wei Zhao. Pitted against a man several times his strength, the two sides were simply not on equal footing at all. Even if Wei Zhao exhausted every trick he had, he could do nothing against the thing before him.

But by now Wei Zhao had no room left to maneuver. Desperately he gathered Sun Jingyan up and flung her with all his might into the air. He did not care where she landed—he could not dodge this lash, so he might as well take it head-on. One blow, he reckoned, would not kill him outright.

But Sun Jingyan was another matter. One lash, and even if she did not die, she would be little better off.

"Bang!"

The instant Wei Zhao threw Sun Jingyan clear, the whip came down straight at his face, striking him full on the chest!

A sweetness rose in Wei Zhao's throat, and he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood. He staggered back two steps, his face ashen, and collapsed to the ground.

The power of that lash was truly too great. Though Wei Zhao had shielded himself with all his true qi, he could already feel that every rib in his chest was broken and most of his internal organs injured. Had he not used the momentum of his fall to discharge part of the force into the bluestone beneath his feet, his injuries would surely have been even worse!

Even so, the bluestones beneath him had been smashed to powder, shattered into pieces under his feet!

Wei Zhao knew he could not withstand it head-on, and he was too weary to even stand. Lying prone on the ground, he circulated the second layer of the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art, rapidly repairing the injured parts of his body.

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