Chapter 4416 — First Sit Down and Rest

Even so, the Golden Core Perfection cultivator was still in a wretched state. Not only had the enemy's fierce flames singed him black from head to toe, but acrid fumes of scorching rose from him as well—he looked for all the world like a coal miner...

"So they really do have some tricks after all." At the edge of the field, Wei Zhao frowned slightly at the sight. The other side had clearly come prepared; this joint-attack technique had plainly been specially trained. On paper the two sides' strength seemed well matched, but if it came to a straight head-on clash, the odds of their four winning were exceedingly slim.

"Oh my, a moment ago you were cowering and afraid to make a move, a pack of thousand-year-old turtles—how is it you've suddenly turned into rabbit demons and run so fast?" The woman from the Yongxing Escort Agency stood with her hands on her hips, tossing out sarcastic remarks and pressing on with her tactics of mockery, provoking loud laughter from the onlookers.

All four from the Qingtian Escort Agency turned the color of the bottom of a pot. Were it not for the rule that contestants must not step outside the field's bounds, they would have liked nothing better than to leap down and drag the despicable woman off for a sound beating. As it was, they could only vent their fury on the four opposing escorts.

Still, having just had a taste of that lesson, the four did not dare act rashly again. That move of theirs, Blazing City Inferno, was no empty threat—had the other three not come to the rescue in time, their strongest fighter, the Golden Core Perfection cultivator, would likely have been burned to a charred cinder by now.

But if they just kept cowering and refused to advance, that woman's insults would only grow more vicious. They would lose face, and the whole Qingtian Escort Agency would become a laughingstock along with them. What were they to do?

Caught between advance and retreat, the four unconsciously turned their heads toward Wei Zhao at the field's edge. Under the circumstances, all they could do was pin their hopes on the honored Escort Chief they had been told to rely so heavily upon.

Wei Zhao, however, glanced at the long incense at the edge of the field. Not even half of it had burned—there was still a considerable gap before the time he had in mind. So he smiled faintly at the four and said, "Try again."

Try again? The four were taken aback for a moment, somewhat puzzled, but seeing the calm expression on Wei Zhao's face, they found his composure infectious, and the fluster from the sudden shock just now dissolved without a trace.

The four exchanged a glance and nodded. Since Wei Zhao wanted them to probe once more, there was nothing more to be said—they would try again!

"Heh heh, so you barely manage to look a bit like men after all. But this time, I'll make sure none of you leave here alive!" Seeing this, the woman from the Yongxing Escort Agency sneered.

That earlier moment had in truth been their best chance, and yet the enemy had slipped through their fingers—a real pity. It could only mean their opponents were not as careless and arrogant as they had imagined. Despite her taunts and provocations, they had still managed to hold their formation of mutual support, which had brought the attempt to ruin in the end.

No matter. Their side's move, Blazing City Inferno, had been devised by selecting four highly capable cultivators with fire-attribute spiritual roots, who had trained together for a full year. To cultivate their mutual rapport, the agency had even refrained from sending them out on escort jobs. All of it was for the sake of making a dazzling showing at this year's Southern Continent Escort Agency Grand Assembly.

Though the events of each iteration of the Southern Continent Escort Agency Grand Assembly differed in detail, their essence remained the same: there was always a group-versus-group contest. This was because such a situation was the most common one encountered in real escort work, and no matter how the format changed, it could not deviate much from that. Thus the Yongxing Escort Agency's preparations could well be called a blood-costing investment.

Executed jointly by two experts at the peak of late Golden Core and two more experts of late Golden Core, and drilled together for a full year besides, this move, Blazing City Inferno, was utterly invincible at the Golden Core level. Whatever the enemy tried was futile; to think of breaking through their defensive line was sheer delusion!

The four from the Yongxing Escort Agency had now, after that first exchange, fully entered their zone. Faint ripples of true qi passed between them, clearly linking them into a single whole. The scorching heat radiating from their bodies seemed ready at any moment to swallow a person whole, filling the air with an ominous sense of extreme danger.

Compared with before, the probing assault of the four from the Qingtian Escort Agency this time was noticeably more cautious. Once again the Golden Core Perfection cultivator led the charge, and once again they chose the same late Golden Core opponent as their point of attack. The only difference was that this time their formation was tighter, making it easier to support one another and harder for the enemy to cut them apart.

Blazing City Inferno! Once more four walls of fire surged into the sky, and this time it was not only the leading Golden Core Perfection cultivator who suffered, but the other three of the Qingtian Escort Agency as well. Though they did in the end break through the ring of fire, every one of them reeked of scorching, in a most sorry state.

The onlookers could not help but point and whisper. The Qingtian Escort Agency was one of the five great agencies, and they had assumed it would at least hold the upper hand. But judging by this, hold the upper hand—what upper hand? This was nothing short of being comprehensively crushed by the Yongxing Escort Agency.

It looked as though, this year, the Yongxing Escort Agency might well prove a dark horse and take the Qingtian Escort Agency's place!

"Hmph hmph, reckless fools. I advise the four of you to just hide away obediently and not move at all. Otherwise, once you're all burned to black ash, you'll be saying we from the Yongxing Escort Agency went too far, and then everyone will lose face—won't they?" Seeing this, the woman chattered on all the more, needling everyone's nerves as always—the classic type who, once she had the advantage, would never let it go.

"What do we do?" The four from the Qingtian Escort Agency ground their teeth. They could not swallow this humiliation, yet did not dare act rashly. They had already suffered two losses in a row. The first time, one could still call it underestimating the enemy; but the second time surely not. At this rate, they truly had not the slightest hope of winning!

"Di the Second, can you really pull it off? Are you confident you can take out that shorty Number Four?" The group all turned to look at the Golden Core Perfection cultivator. This man's surname was Di, and he was the second son in his family, so everyone in the agency called him Di the Second.

As for the "shorty Number Four" they spoke of, that was precisely the Number Four whom Wei Zhao had named and numbered just now—the weakest late Golden Core cultivator on the opposing side.

"Very difficult. This shorty Number Four may not be much himself, but joined with the other three, their coordination is exceptionally smooth. To go after him means taking on all four at once. If we really tried to force him, at least two of us would have to die first." Di the Second shook his head helplessly.

Silence fell over the group. At least two of their own would have to die just to take out the enemy's weakest late Golden Core—there was simply no hope of victory at all. What were they to do?