Chapter 1500 — Making a Move to Snatch
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
Everyone in those two bands knew exactly what sort of man Zhang Nai Pao was, and regret crept into their hearts: they should never have quarreled over a single spirit herb. Had either side simply given way, they would never have run into Zhang Nai Pao.
And now look at the fix they were in: not only was the spirit herb before their eyes gone, but the rest of the spirit herbs in their hands would become another man's spoils.
"What... what are you going to do?" one trial participant in one of the bands asked, still clinging to hope. He prayed that Zhang Nai Pao and his companions were merely passing through, or that they had taken a fancy to the ownerless spirit herb lying on the ground; if so, they might yet slip past this calamity.
"Do? Hand over every spirit herb you carry, nice and obedient, and Lord Pao will spare your lives. Otherwise—hmph—you know what became of that Ling Yi, don't you? If you fancy that you can be drained dry of true qi and still recover, then by all means, come and try your luck!" Zhuangniao Pao snorted coldly.
"So you mean to rob us outright?" The expert in one of the bands, a man at the peak of the late Profound Rank, was rather unconvinced. His strength was the highest among them, higher even than Zhang Nai Pao's, and naturally he had no wish to hand his spoils over with both hands.
"Rob you outright? What a joke. Have you still not worked out the rules of the trial? The trial permits seizing spirit herbs from another's hands. Are you deaf, or is your memory faulty?" Zhuangniao Pao said icily. "What is it—you don't intend to hand them over?"
"Clever!" The trial participant at the peak of the late Profound Rank also gave a cold snort, then roused his internal cultivation art and hurled a punch at Zhang Nai Pao, not far off, shouting as he did: "To catch the bandits, first catch their chief! I will keep Zhang Nai Pao tied up—all of you, come at them together and use the chance to cripple a few of them! Otherwise every scrap of our spoils will end up in another man's hands!"
In the mind of this peak late-Profound Rank trial participant, no one on earth would willingly hand his spoils to another. If he took the lead now, surely the rest would unite and fall upon the enemy as one.
Yet this peak late-Profound Rank trial participant had overestimated the courage of the others. As he saw it, at the very worst the opposing band might hold back—but his own band would surely join the fray.
After all, the interests of all of them were at stake.
But once the peak late-Profound Rank trial participant made his move, neither of his two teammates stirred, to say nothing of the members of the band that had been their enemies a moment before.
His two teammates, too, had been assembled on the spot; their bond was anything but solid, a mere union of convenience. At such a moment everyone's thinking was simple: fighting Zhang Nai Pao was folly. The man's Bee-Devouring Divine Art could turn an opponent into a cripple on the spot—who would take such a risk?
And even if they wounded Zhang Nai Pao, would that truly be the end of it? Behind him stood that ancient sect, the Tomorrow After Tomorrow Sect. To be marked by a colossus like that—not only would one's own days be numbered, one's whole clan would likely be dragged down with him.
So no one moved. They even adopted the attitude of spectators: if the peak late-Profound Rank trial participant could defeat Zhang Nai Pao, then they would gladly sit back and reap the profit; if he could not, what use was it for them to join in? Better to hand over the spoils obediently.
Without those spoils, they could search again; and even if they found nothing and failed the trial, that was no great matter. But to lose one's strength and become a cripple—that would be the end of this life.