Chapter 4819 — Vile Tactics

"Heh heh, my Chest-Ripping Claw is indestructible—it can snap divine weapons and enchanted blades in two. You think a piddling late-Nascent-Soul trick like yours can contend with me? Not a shred of self-awareness. Utterly foolish!" The Western Mountain Sage laughed in smug triumph.

Snap divine weapons in two? Wei Zhao raised an eyebrow at that, thinking privately that the man was bragging without even bothering to draft his claims. If his own weapon hadn't stalled at the final step and failed to take shape, he'd have taken that remark as grounds to show this fellow a thing or two today—he'd sunk a mountain of rare and peerless materials into it, and if it could be snapped bare-handed, then life itself wasn't worth living.

"No need for divine weapons. Try snapping this move of mine first!" Before Wei Zhao's words had even landed, a dragon's roar rang out as the Five Elements Killing Qi struck forth, hurtling straight at the Western Mountain Sage.

"Heh heh, you clueless cur—surely you don't actually believe I was boasting?" The Western Mountain Sage reached out without hesitation and grabbed for the Five Elements Killing Qi. The Chest-Ripping Claw was his signature move, and to this very day, at his present cultivation, it remained his primary martial art. Snapping divine weapons was no idle boast—it was plain fact.

In the blink of an eye, the Western Mountain Sage had seized the Five Elements Killing Qi in his claw. But before he could muster a triumphant expression, a sharp stab of pain shot through his claw-shaped hand. A closer look left him pale with shock—the Five Elements Killing Qi had not been snapped at all. Instead, it had coiled right up along his arm, a serpent winding round a pillar, intent on driving straight for his vital point!

In that instant, the black qi wreathing his claw had been ground away to nothing by the Five Elements Killing Qi. His so-called indestructible Chest-Ripping Claw had collapsed of its own accord, blood streaming from all five fingertips. If he didn't find a way to pull free at once, even if he escaped with his life, he was certain to lose that arm.

"Tell me—were those divine weapons you ran into before made of paper, that a fellow like you could snap them?" Wei Zhao regarded him with unhurried composure.

The Five Elements Killing Qi was a fierce, aggressive force of utmost hardness. In its complexity and profundity, perhaps no force of qi in all the world could compare—to say nothing of the paltry evil qi of a mere devil cultivator, which before the Five Elements Killing Qi was nothing but dross.

"Aaagh!" The Western Mountain Sage was furious and frantic, too preoccupied to bother with Wei Zhao's mockery. He strained with all his might to fling off the Five Elements Killing Qi wrapped around his arm, but his evil qi was suppressed utterly by it—however much he poured out, that much was annihilated. After a long struggle, there was still no sign of it weakening in the slightest.

It seemed the ghost thing had been right on the mark. Though this creature was a late Mystic Ascension expert, his true strength fell far short of Leng Rufeng, who was only at early Mystic Ascension. At least the latter, when facing the Five Elements Killing Qi, had been nowhere near this wretched—quite the opposite, he had been devastatingly formidable. Wherever his blade fell, the Five Elements Killing Qi had little choice but to be cut down.

It only went to show that comparisons were maddening. A freak like Leng Rufeng, who could cultivate a saber force, was a genius among geniuses wherever he went. By contrast, this devil cultivator, the Western Mountain Sage, came up far short. Then again, if this creature's aptitude were as heaven-defying as Leng Rufeng's, what the hell would he be doing as a devil cultivator?

"Die and get out of my way!" The Western Mountain Sage was truly desperate now. To grind away the Five Elements Killing Qi coiled around his arm, he poured out every last drop of his evil qi without regard for cost. In an instant his whole body was shrouded in black qi, and the space for several zhang around him turned pitch dark, as though a demon had descended upon the world.

When quality fails, quantity must make up for it. Only after such vast, dense concentrations of evil qi gathered together did the Five Elements Killing Qi finally show some sign of faltering, bit by bit driven back and eroded.

A single strand of Five Elements Killing Qi had driven a late Mystic Ascension devil cultivator to such a sorry state. As a late Nascent Soul expert, Wei Zhao had ample cause for pride.

Still, a trace of regret lingered on his face. The Five Elements Killing Qi was his strongest move at present, and sure enough, killing an opponent in a single exchange was asking too much—after all, the gulf in their cultivation realms was simply too vast.

Of course, even if he couldn't slay the man in one exchange, simply killing him was no great problem—it would just take a bit of doing.

Strike while the iron is hot! Wei Zhao was not in the habit of letting an opponent catch his breath. Before the Western Mountain Sage could fully grind away the Five Elements Killing Qi, a blue arc of lightning suddenly streaked across the sky. Under an attack traveling at near light-speed, the Western Mountain Sage had no chance to react at all—struck in an instant.

The blue arc flashed and vanished into his forehead, and the Western Mountain Sage's whole body seized up. This was the very moment he had gathered all his evil qi to deal with the Five Elements Killing Qi! The blue arc carried little lethal force in itself, but its sudden paralyzing effect was nothing short of a death sentence.

The instant the Western Mountain Sage locked up, the Five Elements Killing Qi—which had been fading—came surging right back. Worst of all, Wei Zhao took the opening to add another strand. His true qi was inexhaustible, after all; given the time and the gap, flinging off ten or eight in a row was easy work.

A full-fledged late Mystic Ascension devil cultivator, and all he could do now was stare wordlessly at the two strands of Five Elements Killing Qi braided together on his arm—and each time he readied himself to expel them with all his strength, another blue arc came down on his head. That paralyzing effect was maddening beyond endurance. The Western Mountain Sage was on the verge of tears. Grandmother's—was there any saving this arm of his or not?!

"Never noticed before—who knew you had such a devious streak in you!" Seeing the Western Mountain Sage floundering in utter disarray, the ghost thing suddenly chuckled.

"Senior, mind what you say. How am I devious?" Wei Zhao said, speechless.

"How is this not devious? You rely on your inexhaustible true qi to fling out your ultimate moves for all you're worth—lightning one moment, Five Elements Killing Qi the next—while you keep yourself well out of reach. If that's not devious, what is?" The ghost thing curled his lip.

"Senior, I call this crisis awareness. If this creature has some trump card held in reserve, charging in recklessly would be courting death..." Wei Zhao corrected him testily. He'd have liked nothing better than to charge in and trade blow for blow in close combat—but the problem was, his opponent was a late Mystic Ascension expert, not some soft persimmon to be kneaded at will. Charge in now, and he'd only become the man's breakthrough point.

When a chain of moves could neatly finish an opponent, to instead charge in personally and play with fire—in Wei Zhao's view, that wasn't bravery. It was idiocy.

"Makes good sense, I'll grant you, but it still doesn't change the devious nature of it—and I like it!" The ghost thing laughed with keen interest. (To be continued...)