Chapter 3745 — Ambush on the Road
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
That sword qi was not dazzling or brilliant; at first glance it looked quite ordinary, and many a Heaven-rank expert could unleash sword qi a hundred times more imposing. Yet the two were not remotely comparable in power.
If the sword qi of those Heaven-rank experts counted as one, and Wei Zhao could dismiss it entirely from his mind, then this single blade of sword qi was at least eight hundred—perhaps even a thousand. Had he failed to dodge in time just now, his only fate would have been death and the oblivion of his Dao.
If not for the jade pendant's life-saving warning, Wei Zhao might well have been reporting in at the underworld by now.
And even if Wei Zhao wanted to tend his wounds, that would take time—would the man not seize the chance to finish him with another strike?
"Heh, a mere rootless rogue cultivator, and you actually dodged my Twenty-Two Forms of the Life-Taking Chain Sword. Not bad at all!" A familiar figure slowly stepped out from behind a tree by the roadside—none other than Yu Jiang, the very man who had competed for the Star Ink Stone at the Hong Merchant Guild earlier.
So it really was this one!
Wei Zhao had expected as much. Back at the Hong Merchant Guild, this fellow had already betrayed a biting killing intent; it was only that in such a setting he had not dared to make a move.
And afterward, when Wei Zhao left the Hong Merchant Guild, he had deliberately circled the Inner Street twice—chiefly to smoke out this fellow's position, because he knew the man would surely tail him and set his sights on him.
The result, however, was somewhat unexpected. After two full circuits of the Inner Street, Wei Zhao's senses had failed to catch the slightest trace of the man, and he had reluctantly given up and left the market quarter.
In fact, a full stick of incense's time had passed since he left the market. Cautious as Wei Zhao was, even he had begun to wonder whether this fellow had given up.
And so, with one small lapse of vigilance, the crisis came.
Wei Zhao kept his face calm and ordinary, but inwardly he was sighing at his own good fortune. Without the jade pendant's warning, that blow just now would truly have landed!
This fellow knew full well that he was at the peak of early Foundation Establishment, yet with the strength of a mid-stage Foundation Establishment expert, he had nonetheless trailed him this long before striking—and without the slightest regard for decency, he had chosen an ambush from which there was no evading.
Both the patience and the caution made it unmistakably clear that this was no ordinary or easy opponent. Compared with the shallow display back at the Hong Merchant Guild, he seemed a completely different person!
Looking at the powerful confidence now showing through Yu Jiang's mocking expression, Wei Zhao's heart tightened at once. This fellow had been putting on an act ever since the Hong Merchant Guild; that shallow front had been pure performance, meant to lull him into thinking the man was nothing more than that!
This fellow was far stronger and more cunning than the likes of Meng Jueming!
This was an out-and-out formidable enemy!
Wei Zhao watched every movement of the other without betraying a thing on his face, but inwardly he was utterly on guard.
True, in the month and more since coming to Cloudstep Island, he had seen no small number of formidable figures, and had even felt firsthand the might of elders—experts whose strength far surpassed this man before him.
But in the end, none of those he had met before were true mortal enemies. Never had they so brazenly displayed killing intent toward Wei Zhao. Even Xu Lingchong and Meng Jueming, foes with whom he had deep grudges, would have to rack their brains for a suitable opportunity if they wanted to kill him—unlike this man before him, who without a word opened with a lethal blow.
It seemed the Thousand-Silk Mask had its advantages and its drawbacks after all!