Chapter 3429 — A Bolt from the Blue

Here, Wei Zhao did not dare open with the eleventh stance of the Wildfire Eight-Trigram Palm against Number Seven. He had already calculated that this strike would definitely carry the attack bonus of the Essence Necklace, but even so, it could not instantly slay a peak expert—only gravely wound him. And if the man managed to raise a defense, it would not even manage a grave wound.

Yet once Wei Zhao unleashed the eleventh stance, his physical strength and true qi would be drained to the point where he would need a good while to recover. That was why he had brought the Wind-Thunder Violet Lightning Beast along. The beast had two strengths: its thunder-and-lightning martial arts, and its ability to flee. Today, Wei Zhao's odds of victory rested on these two trump cards.

"Little Wind, blast him to death for me!" Wei Zhao ordered directly.

"Roar—roar—roar—"

At Little Wind's three furious roars, the command received, crackling lightning suddenly began to spark and flash at the tip of its single horn, and a massive bolt of thunder hurtled toward Number Seven, not far ahead.

Number Seven was startled. Though his strength was formidable, he had never seen such a bizarre spirit beast—one that could actually unleash thunder-and-lightning martial arts. If that struck him, the consequences were hard to say.

He tried to dodge, but the Wind-Thunder Violet Lightning Beast seemed able to steer the direction of the bolt. The lightning struck precisely where Number Seven dodged, hitting him dead-on like a bolt from the blue, a thunderclap straight down upon his head.

In that instant, Number Seven's whole body broke into a breakdance on the spot. The shock could not kill him, but a normal physical reaction was inevitable.

"Wildfire Eight-Trigram Palm, eleventh stance!" Seizing the moment, Wei Zhao unleashed the eleventh stance and, with Number Seven completely unguarded, slammed it into his chest.

"Boom—"

The tremendous force sent Number Seven, still breakdancing, flying through the air. He landed on the ground far off and violently coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood. Clearly, Number Seven had taken a serious wound.

Wei Zhao and Number Seven's clash was spectacular, but the other three Fire Wolf War Gods had no attention to spare for the spectacle. Their opponents were top-tier experts of the same caliber; a single moment of distraction could plunge them into a hell from which there was no return. Who would dare watch the show?

"Little Wind, let's see how he's doing. If the man's not badly hurt, then when he comes after us, you run! I'll take the chance to recover my physical strength and true qi!" Wei Zhao lowered his voice and instructed the Wind-Thunder Violet Lightning Beast. "But whatever you do, don't let him catch you!"

The Wind-Thunder Violet Lightning Beast nodded readily, thinking to itself: an uninjured peak expert might still outrun me, but a wounded weakling—what's there to fear?

So he had no choice but to grimly endure Wei Zhao's palm strike head-on. Earlier, he had reasoned that Wei Zhao was merely a mid-Heaven-Rank expert, and even unleashing his strongest martial art, it would only be around the fifteenth stance—something he could still withstand.

And when he had heard Wei Zhao call out something like "Wildfire" and "eleventh stance," that was even less of a concern. He had even thought the man was absurdly arrogant, putting on airs—not unleashing the fifteenth stance but the eleventh. How could he fail to seize such a fine opportunity?

So he took it calmly and openly. And so he was **done for**.

Fire Wolf War God Number Seven felt as though all his internal organs had shifted out of place. Not only that, but his bones and meridians had suffered considerable damage. At this moment, he would be doing well just to wield the strength of a mid-Heaven-Rank expert.

Yet even wounded as he was, Wei Zhao did not dare underestimate him—for Wei Zhao right now had physical strength and true qi pitifully drained. After observing that this thing before him now had only the strength of a mid-Heaven-Rank expert left, Wei Zhao's heart settled greatly. He ordered Little Wind, "After him!"

"Roar—roar—roar!" Little Wind answered and carried Wei Zhao racing toward Number Seven. In truth, given Number Seven's remaining strength, Wei Zhao could have ended his life with the ninth or even eighth stance of the Wildfire Eight-Trigram Palm. But Wei Zhao did not do so; instead, with careful caution, he unleashed the tenth stance.

Sure enough, seeing Wei Zhao come at him again, Number Seven tensed at once. He no longer dared be careless—survival was what mattered now—and hastily circulated his heart-method mantra to shield his body. He could not understand how Wei Zhao's martial art could have dealt him such grievous harm. Could it be because he had been caught off guard while electrocuted?

"Wildfire Eight-Trigram Palm, tenth stance!" Wei Zhao brought his palm down on Number Seven's chest.

Number Seven could not flee, for Wei Zhao's mount was simply too fast, and wounded as he was, how could he dodge? He could only pour all his true qi into guarding his body, but the result was regrettable—with a resounding "boom," Number Seven was sent flying by Wei Zhao and slain in a single blow.

In death, he finally understood one thing: how formidable the union of man and beast truly was. But it was too late. In truth, Wei Zhao's "union of man and beast" was no union of man and beast at all—it was merely a trick to fool them.

Though Fire Wolf War Gods Number Five, Six, and Eight were locked with Song Lingwei, Song Xianghua, and Little One in a fight too close to call, a matter as great as Number Seven's death still drew a hurried glance from them, and their hearts filled with dread.

No wonder Wei Zhao, a mere mid-Heaven-Rank expert, had dared to make such boasts—now it seemed the man truly had the skill to back it up. On their side, they were still trading probing blows, while over there Wei Zhao had already finished his fight, and Little Seven was dead.

"Senior Ghost, is Little Seven's corpse of any use? Could it be made into a puppet clone?" Wei Zhao could not resist asking the ghost thing in the jade pendant space. But the ghost thing was dormant and paid him no heed, and he dared not disturb Little One either, so he could only wait and see.

Having unleashed the eleventh and tenth stances of the Wildfire Eight-Trigram Palm in succession, Wei Zhao's physical strength and true qi were utterly spent. He had to rest and recover now.

"Little Wind, if anyone attacks or ambushes me in a bit, you run!" Wei Zhao whispered to Little Wind.

"Roar—roar—roar!" Little Wind also gave three soft roars to show it understood.

Wei Zhao nodded. There on Little Wind's back, he swiftly began circulating his heart-method mantra, rapidly recovering his physical strength and true qi (The School Beauty is about to resume two updates: for now, five days a week with two updates, two days with one! Once the Cloud-Rank Island arc begins, fully back to two or three updates! Please support Yunhai Shuku's new book, and cast your monthly votes for *The Top Cultivation Young Master*—thank you!).