Chapter 4266 — Equal Shares for Those Who See It

Two mere ants at the early Golden Core stage, yet when they joined hands they could unleash such a fierce martial technique—enough to rival the full-force strike of a peak late-stage Golden Core expert!

And though this gray-robed man possessed the strength of an Nascent Soul expert, he had just been far too careless and arrogant, which was why he had been reduced to such a sorry state, forced into a draw by two early Golden Core juniors. Even if it had taken only that one exchange, it was humiliating enough.

The gray-robed man's face instantly darkened like water, and his qi and blood surged within him. Only then did he realize that, caught off guard as he had been, he had actually taken a slight injury—truly the very picture of wretchedness.

"Hmph, you two do have some tricks after all. Two early Golden Core cultivators who can trade these two palms with me—you have every right to be proud." The gray-robed man did not strike again, but stood ten zhang away and laughed coldly. "What a pity—this is as far as you go. In all the world, there has never been an Golden Core expert who survived my Sundering Essence Palm. You two are worthy of praise, but unfortunately you still cannot escape death. Hahahaha!"

"Oh? You are that confident?" Wei Zhao remained sitting on the ground. He and Huang Xiaotao did indeed look rather worse for wear at the moment, but hearing the gray-robed man's words, he still raised an eyebrow and asked mildly in return.

"Confident? Hmph, this is not confidence—it is mere common sense. I will not deny that your combined palm technique is impressive in its power, but unfortunately it is ultimately crude and shallow—nothing more than a low-grade palm art that flails about wildly!" The gray-robed man sneered with confidence. "Even if you can block my Sundering Essence Palm on the surface, what can the likes of you use to withstand the damage to the primordial spirit? Your primordial spirits have clearly been gravely wounded, yet you force yourselves to put on a show before me. I want to see how long you can keep it up. Hahahaha!"

"Gravely wounded primordial spirits?" Wei Zhao could not help but laugh at this, looking at the gray-robed man as though at an idiot. "There is a limit to self-deception, is there not? Which of your eyes saw that our primordial spirits have been gravely wounded?"

Before the other could answer, Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao had already risen hand in hand. Both wore relaxed expressions—to say nothing of wounded primordial spirits, they did not even seem to have ordinary physical injuries. They looked entirely as if nothing had happened.

"H-how… how is that possible?!" The gray-robed man was struck dumb on the spot, so stunned that for a moment he could not even speak coherently.

He had absolute confidence in his Sundering Essence Palm. Even if he had been careless just now and had not struck with his full strength, he should at least have been able to wound the other's primordial spirit—so how could they be completely unharmed? Was his eyesight failing him?

What he did not know was that an ordinary Golden Core expert truly could not withstand his Sundering Essence Palm. Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao could not withstand it either—but unfortunately for him, Wei Zhao had an invisible helper by the name of Ghost Thing!

When it came to manipulating the primordial spirit, Ghost Thing considered himself second in the world, and likely no one would dare claim first. This was a true grandmaster; even if his opponent was an Nascent Soul expert skilled in such arts, how could the other possibly compare with Ghost Thing in this regard?

That bit of divine-sense attack the gray-robed man had mixed into his Sundering Essence Palm—Ghost Thing had dissolved it silently and formlessly, with such skill and subtlety that the man could not detect it at all.

"The facts are right before your eyes, and still you think it impossible?" Wei Zhao laughed, shot Huang Xiaotao a glance, and did not attack at once. "Does Your Excellency think that because our strength is ordinary, you have us completely in hand? Heh. I am afraid you are a bit too confident."

Wei Zhao's calm demeanor threw the already uncertain gray-robed man into disarray. The way he looked at Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao finally shed its earlier contempt and arrogance, becoming much more solemn.

He could see that Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao were truly uninjured at this moment. After taking his Sundering Essence Palm, not only were their primordial spirits not gravely wounded—they did not even have the most basic physical injuries. By contrast, he himself had actually taken a slight injury from that exchange!

Looked at this way, though these two before him were low in strength, when they joined forces their combat power and defense seemed in no way inferior to his own—one might say they were evenly matched, six of one and half a dozen of the other!

When something is abnormal, there must be something uncanny behind it. The gray-robed man felt a sudden jolt in his heart, sensing that today's affair would not be as easy and pleasant as he had imagined.

Having kept close watch on the changes in the gray-robed man's expression, Wei Zhao finally let out a secret breath of relief. From the very start the man had acted lofty and superior, looking down on the two of them; but now, after one exchange, he had been frightened by appearances and was thinking of the two of them too highly.

In truth, during that palm exchange just now, although Ghost Thing had erased the divine-sense attack for Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao, the lethality of the opponent's Sundering Essence Palm was still not to be underestimated. Both Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao had in fact suffered no light injuries—otherwise they would not have looked so wretched, knocked back and sent sprawling.

It was only that Wei Zhao could heal himself quickly, and since his hand was clasped with Huang Xiaotao's, within the span of a few sentences he had smoothed away even her injuries—which was how they could appear so utterly unruffled.

But the gray-robed man knew nothing of this. To his eyes, all he knew was that Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao, facing the Sundering Essence Palm he was most proud of, had come away without the slightest harm to either body or primordial spirit. What that implied behind it all was truly enough to make one's blood run cold!

"Very well. I am not an unreasonable man. Since you have proven your strength, I acknowledge that you have the right to speak with me." The gray-robed man spoke in a heavy voice.

"What do you mean by that?" Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao were slightly taken aback. With that one sentence, the pressure the gray-robed man exerted on them vanished into nothing. Seeing that the two of them were not soft persimmons to be kneaded at will, he was now preparing to negotiate? This fellow's hide was thick indeed!

And so it was. To reach the Nascent Soul stage, the gray-robed man had certainly seen a vast deal of the world and possessed immensely rich combat experience. Even if he could not see through Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao's hidden cards, he at least knew one thing: these two were absolutely not as easy to deal with as he had imagined.

If he continued to force a fight, though as an Nascent Soul expert he believed his odds of victory were somewhat greater, given how troublesome these two had just proven themselves to be, it would surely cost him great effort—and quite possibly end in mutual destruction. That would hardly be worth it! What he feared most was that the fight would draw in a third party, and then he would gain nothing at all.

"Simple. By the rules of wilderness adventure—equal shares for those who see it. Hand over half the infant ginseng, and I will let you two go. You tend your side of the stream, I tend mine." The gray-robed man spoke with great assurance. (To be continued) R655