"Surely not that many?" Wei Zhao smiled too. No trace of regret or loss at a failed strike showed on his face; instead, it was as if everything remained firmly in his grasp—whether or not this blow could annihilate the Ancient Jumang King, the creature had no hope of escaping his palm. They were beings on entirely different levels.

"Hmph, boy, quit your posturing. You're far too green to scare me!" The Ancient Jumang King sneered, curling its lip. "I'll grant you've got some skill—a lowly human at the mere peak of Foundation Establishment wielding such a powerful move. I doubt you could find a second human like you anywhere in the world. A pity I am the Ancient Jumang King; I'm not so easily frightened off. A move that terrifying must drain enormously. Once is the limit; twice is a miracle. As for a third time—heh heh..."

The implication was clear: it absolutely refused to believe Wei Zhao could manage a third. Otherwise it would surely have fled for its life long ago rather than lingering here wasting words on him.

"A most sound analysis. You've hit the nail on the head—I'm quite helpless against you now. You win." Wei Zhao admitted it outright.

At those words, Qiu Lingshan and the others exchanged glances. They had no idea how far Wei Zhao could push himself, but they could well guess that this true-qi elixir-fire bomb of his carried severe limits, and using it twice in a row truly was the utmost. Even so, was there any need to be quite so honest?

By their reckoning, Wei Zhao ought at the very least to keep up appearances and overawe the creature—buy whatever time he could, and at least leave room to think of something, to watch for an opening. Why surrender outright?

Yet the one most shaken by Wei Zhao's words was not the group at all, but the Ancient Jumang King itself. It had indeed concluded that Wei Zhao had no third true-qi elixir-fire bomb. Had he kept bluffing, he could not have cowed it in the least—but now, contrarily, it began to feel uneasy, and could not help muttering to itself: surely the boy isn't trying to trick me into descending again so he can pull some dirty trick?

"Even I've surrendered—they're in no position to fight back at all. What are you still hesitating for? Hurry up and take us tribute away with you." Wei Zhao, down below, began urging it on.

The Ancient Jumang King grew all the more uncertain. It suspected this was very likely a psychological tactic on Wei Zhao's part, an act of mystification meant to frighten it off. Shadow-slipping was the life-preserving divine art of its Ancient Jumang clan, but that art could be used only once in a short span. The true-qi elixir-fire bomb just now had already left it badly wounded; another one, and its chances of survival would be next to nil.

And yet, with so many ready-made human tributes right beneath its nose, it was loath to give them up just like that. After all, getting past that lord's inspection was no easy matter either. For a time, the Ancient Jumang King found itself caught between advance and retreat.

"Hey, hey. What exactly do you mean? Say something, or we'll be on our way." Wei Zhao urged again. Seeing the creature still wavering, he promptly turned to leave, adding with contempt, "Ancient Jumang King, is it? More like the Timid-as-a-Mouse King, if you ask me—scared witless by a mere human at the peak of Foundation Establishment. Truly, there's no one like you."

"You say I fear you?" The Ancient Jumang King finally reacted to that.

"Don't you?" Wei Zhao eyed it sidelong.

"You've a death wish!" With a snort, the Ancient Jumang King plunged down at unprecedented speed. Bedraggled as a drowned rat it might look, its ferocity now far surpassed its earlier peak—this was blood roused by injury. At this moment it was more dangerous than it had ever been!

"Leader, look out!" Qiu Lingshan and the others cried out in alarm. Even they could see the Ancient Jumang King had cast caution to the winds this time—unless Wei Zhao still had a third true-qi elixir-fire bomb, this was going to go very badly indeed.

Of course Wei Zhao had no third true-qi elixir-fire bomb. One in each hand just now had been his absolute limit. Even though he could replenish his true qi endlessly from the jade pendant's space, and even though the Ancient Jumang King's hesitation had bought him a little chance to recondense one, the time was far from enough.

Given his current cultivation, unless he condensed and compressed a true-qi elixir-fire bomb to the utmost of the utmost, it could hardly threaten an existence like the Ancient Jumang King—at most it would tickle.

And apart from the true-qi elixir-fire bomb, with his present primordial-spirit body, trying to fight above his level against the Ancient Jumang King by other means was sheer fantasy—especially now, facing a raging, berserk Ancient Jumang King. To call it a nine-in-ten chance of death would be no exaggeration at all.

Yet even now Wei Zhao showed not the slightest panic. He did not even glance up at the Ancient Jumang King; instead he deliberately bowed his head, the corners of his mouth curling unbidden into a faint, inscrutable arc.

And it was precisely that expression that brought the charging Ancient Jumang King to an abrupt halt. With less than ten meters between them, it suddenly shot back up—faster even than its dive—terrified of repeating its earlier mistake. Another true-qi elixir-fire bomb, and it would be finished for good.

"My god!" Wei Zhao burst out swearing, his face twisted into a look of sheer agony as though holding something in until he might rupture inside. In his hands, unmistakably, surged a powerful, dangerous fluctuation of true qi, seemingly ready to run wild and explode at any moment—only barely held in check by main force.

The boy really was up to tricks after all! The Ancient Jumang King saw it all clearly and was struck with lingering dread. Thank heavens it had kept a little wariness about it, it thought; otherwise it would surely have followed the Crimson-Scaled Snake to the same end. This human was simply too damned dangerous.

Little did it know, the whole thing was a play staged for its benefit. Such a short time was not enough to condense a fully powered true-qi elixir-fire bomb, but conjuring a fluctuation of true qi that looked utterly lethal was no difficulty at all—and against this carefully designed psychological gambit, the Ancient Jumang King had no hope of not falling for it.

"Since going down is dangerous, I'll stay high above and keep watch on them. The moment they show an opening, not one of these tributes will escape my grasp!" The Ancient Jumang King made up its mind. It was thoroughly frightened by Wei Zhao now; real or feigned, it would sooner die than descend below ten meters in his presence again. All it wanted was the tributes, after all—so long as it kept them under close watch, Wei Zhao and his companions would never slip out of its grasp. (To be continued.)