Chapter 2533 — Come Hit Me

Zhong Yongliang might not have had any real strength to speak of, but he wielded that black iron rod with remarkable skill, covering every vulnerable point on his body so that Wei Zhao simply could not get a blow in!

Watching Zhong Yongliang carry on, Wei Zhao could not help but be amused. The kid really did have some talent—using defense as offense, closing in on him step by step. Yet was the black iron rod truly so marvelous? Wei Zhao had held it in his hands before but never had the chance to test it, and from the look of things, Zhong Yongliang was brimming with confidence!

Wei Zhao drove a fist at Zhong Yongliang, but Zhong Yongliang was not about to be outdone—he swung the black iron rod up and smashed it at Wei Zhao's arm!

"Bang!"

The black iron rod cracked against Wei Zhao's arm, and Wei Zhao's fist slammed into Zhong Yongliang's chest.

Wei Zhao's punch had been a probing one, no different in force from before, so Zhong Yongliang could still bear it. Gritting his teeth, he swung the black iron rod at Wei Zhao with desperate speed, one blow after another.

"Bang, bang, bang..."

Wei Zhao was battered until he was grimacing, forced to fall back two steps. This black iron rod of Zhong Yongliang's really was a fine piece of work—it could indeed pierce a cultivator's protective true qi. Of course, whether it would work against a Heaven-rank he had no idea, but at any rate, a Earth-rank like himself could not defend against it!

Still, the iron rod could not do Wei Zhao any serious harm—it would not kill him. But take enough blows, and injury was certain, for Wei Zhao had no way to ward them off with true qi and could only take the beating passively!

True, if Wei Zhao gritted his teeth, he could still cut Zhong Yongliang down in an instant—but cutting Zhong Yongliang down was not his aim. He merely wanted to teach him a lesson. That, however, was now out of the question; Wei Zhao could not trade punch for punch with Zhong Yongliang as he had before, for if he did, he would surely take a beating himself!

Wei Zhao frowned. The few blows he had just taken had been swiftly repaired by the second layer of the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art, but he still had no wish to serve as a human punching bag and stand there like a fool taking hits from Zhong Yongliang. So, after a moment's hesitation, he compressed a tiny true-qi bomb and hurled it at Zhong Yongliang!

These miniature true-qi bombs Wei Zhao could fire off in an instant, and their destructive power was not great. Zhong Yongliang was charging forward with his rod when he suddenly felt something strike his leg—in truth, the true-qi bomb had exploded against it.

In an instant Zhong Yongliang staggered and crashed to the ground. Wei Zhao strode over in a few quick steps and drove a kick into the acupoint at his wrist. His hand flew open, the black iron rod clattered to the ground beside him, and he let out a miserable howl: "Aaah—"

Originally, when the students below the arena saw how ferocious Zhong Yongliang was, they had all thought he might turn defeat into victory—even Gao Xiaofu believed Zhong Yongliang would more or less win this time. But who could have guessed that after a mere two moments of glory, Zhong Yongliang would be inexplicably knocked to the ground and then subjected to a furious kicking from Wei Zhao.

Shen Yushu and Gu Mengyao, however, had watched the arena with unruffled calm the whole time. Both knew that even with the black iron rod, Zhong Yongliang could not possibly affect Wei Zhao in any way, for although the rod could break a cultivator's protective true qi, in Zhong Yongliang's hands the force behind it was still that of an ordinary man.

It would certainly hurt Wei Zhao—that was a given—but Wei Zhao could heal himself. And unlike Zhao Qibing and You Panhu, Wei Zhao's counterattacks were effective, whereas theirs had been useless.

So Zhong Yongliang was destined for tragedy. Even without those miniature true-qi bombs, Wei Zhao could still have beaten him until he was fleeing in disgrace—it would merely have cost him a few blows in return.

"Ow, stop hitting me, stop! I yield, isn't that enough?" Zhong Yongliang cried out helplessly.

"Oh? So this time you really lose? No more welching?" Wei Zhao stopped pummeling him.

"No more, I really lose!" Zhong Yongliang nodded, clambered up from the ground, and handed the black iron rod to Wei Zhao. "Here, take it. I've lost!"

Wei Zhao nodded, picked up the black iron rod, and leaped down from the arena. With Wei Zhao gone, Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu naturally left as well, and soon the rest of the crowd dispersed in twos and threes...

Only after Wei Zhao had gone did Zhong Yongliang climb to his feet on the arena. In fact, he had taken no real harm—Wei Zhao had held back when he struck him, and Zhong Yongliang could feel it. He chalked it up, however, to Wei Zhao not daring to be too bloody on school grounds.

"You Panhu, wait!" Zhong Yongliang called out, stopping You Panhu, Kang Jinglong, and the blond- and purple-haired youths, who were just about to leave.

"Brother Liang, what is it?" Zhong Yongliang might have just been given a dressing-down by Wei Zhao, but You Panhu was not Wei Zhao—he had no capital to throw his weight around in front of Zhong Yongliang. So he halted, turned around, and greeted him with a smile.

In his heart, though, he was cursing. Zhong Yongliang, you put on such a grand air, and yet weren't you beaten by Wei Zhao until you were bawling for your parents? What a piece of work—all you've got is the nerve to strut before us weaklings; when it comes to Wei Zhao, don't you just bow your head and yield? Bully the soft, fear the hard!

Fighting Wei Zhao on the arena, you weren't even as tough as before, and that weapon in your hand was no use either. What a disgrace! And to think Kang Jinglong and I were pinning our hopes on you to deal with Wei Zhao!

"You there, Purple Hair—you're the strongest, aren't you? Come hit me!" Zhong Yongliang pointed at Purple Hair.

"Huh? Me? Hit you?" Purple Hair's eyes went wide. He dug at his ear, certain he had misheard. "Brother Liang, what are you saying? You're joking with me, right?"

"Nonsense, do I look like I've got the leisure to joke with you? Hurry up and come hit me!" Zhong Yongliang ordered.

"This..." Purple Hair hesitated, unsure what Zhong Yongliang meant. Was he toying with them, or did he really want to be beaten?

"Brother Liang, what do you mean by this? You'd better explain clearly, or Purple Hair won't dare hit you!" You Panhu had no choice but to ask on his subordinate's behalf.

"It's nothing. I just want to see whether I can defend against his attacks!" Zhong Yongliang said. "Come on, hit me a few times. When I say stop, you stop!"

"Oh..." You Panhu hesitated a moment, then said to Purple Hair, "Go on then. Give it a try!"

"All right." Purple Hair nodded, walked up in front of Zhong Yongliang, and tentatively extended his fist to strike him once.

"Huh?" Zhong Yongliang felt as though Purple Hair had not hit him at all—there was no pain whatsoever. He frowned and said, "I told you to hit me, so hit me with some force! Don't fake it to fool me!"