Chapter 2796 — Visitors from the Divine Fist Hall

Such a martial art could only be unleashed by an expert of the mid Heaven Rank—and yet Wei Zhao was plainly no more than a mid Earth Rank fighter!

"Wei Zhao, we'll settle this at the trial!" Zhang Naipao finally restrained himself and did not trade blows with Wei Zhao on the spot. For one thing, he feared that if he did strike, he might simply kill Wei Zhao outright and ruin the trial's plan; for another, if he held back his ultimate move, he was afraid he might genuinely not be Wei Zhao's match.

It would have been one thing if Wei Zhao had come at him directly, but if Wei Zhao kept attacking his other lackey on the right, that would be a damn mess—Zhang Naipao would be left a commander without an army.

"Oh," Wei Zhao said carelessly.

"Hmph!" Zhang Naipao gave a cold snort and said to his remaining lackey, "Mo Ba, carry Mo Jiu. We're leaving!"

"Yes, Brother Pao!" The lackey called Mo Ba was frightened too. Wei Zhao had crippled Mo Jiu with a single move and clearly still had strength to spare; if another blow came his way, he would not be able to withstand it either. Hearing Zhang Naipao's words, Mo Ba felt as though a great weight had been lifted from him. He hoisted Mo Jiu onto his back and hurried out of the dining hall with Zhang Naipao.

A hasty arrival and a hasty retreat—their attempt to put on airs had failed utterly.

"Ge Xian, you stopped me just now because…?" Wei Zhao turned to Ge Xian and asked.

"Ah!" Ge Xian only then came back to his senses. The scene just past had shaken him profoundly. He had never imagined that the legendary Zhang Naipao—the Zhang Naipao who had disposed of a Divine Fist Hall disciple on the road to the trial—could be thwarted, and thwarted by a lone cultivator he had only just met, a lone cultivator he had not thought much of at all!

Earlier, when Wei Zhao said he had wounded Feng Nitian, Ge Xian had merely been somewhat impressed. After all, he had not seen it with his own eyes, and considerable time had passed since then. He had never truly witnessed anything like a heaven-defying divine art, so naturally he had not taken it especially to heart.

But now Ge Xian finally understood: there was a reason Wei Zhao had been able to defeat Feng Nitian.

"Earlier I heard that that Divine Fist Hall disciple also struck Zhang Naipao once and was reduced to a cripple. It suddenly occurred to me—if Zhang Naipao just stood there and let you hit him, might there be something wrong with that?" Ge Xian explained.

"I thought of that too, so I didn't hit him. I hit one of his lackeys instead," Wei Zhao said with a nod. He had been operating on the principle that every one eliminated was one less to worry about. Zhang Naipao had brought two lackeys this time, which had made Wei Zhao wary, but now that one was gone, matters would be easier.

So long as he formed an alliance with Feng Shipian during the trial, they should be able to stand against Zhang Naipao and his remaining man: he would deal with Zhang Naipao, and Feng Shipian would check Mo Ba. Unless Mo Ba was someone on par with Wei Zhao himself, Feng Shipian, an early Heaven Rank expert, should be able to hold him off for a while.

"Yes. Though I don't know exactly what happened, when I think about it—earlier Zhang Naipao hadn't even lifted a hand, and the Divine Fist Hall disciple was already crippled. There's something very strange in that, and the fact that he then deliberately let you strike him strikes me as even more bizarre. There must be a problem somewhere," Ge Xian said. "That's why I stopped you from making your move…"

Wei Zhao nodded. "I had that worry as well. This Zhang Naipao is a disciple of the demonic path; he can't be judged by ordinary standards. It seems we'll have to investigate carefully."

"Don't worry, I'll do my best to find out what I can. But what I can dig up is really only surface-level information; for anything too secret, I'm powerless." Ge Xian shrugged helplessly.

Not long after Zhang Naipao left, three more cultivators arrived—clearly here for the trial as well. One of them, however, was traveling alone, his face sallow as though he had suffered some great misfortune, while the other two kept their distance from him, as if wary of being tainted by association.

"That sallow-faced disciple is from the Divine Fist Hall. One of his companions was crippled by Zhang Naipao, and because he has feuded with Zhang Naipao, the other two don't dare to get too close to him!" Ge Xian lowered his voice and explained to Wei Zhao and the others.

"Where are the other two from?" Wei Zhao asked.

"That I don't know. I only have news of that Divine Fist Hall disciple, because they had a fight with Zhang Naipao," Ge Xian said.

"Young hero, why not come sit with us?" At that moment Feng Shipian rose to his feet and extended an olive branch to the Divine Fist Hall disciple. In truth he was no fool—merely upright and guileless by nature. He could reason it out: Wei Zhao and Zhang Naipao were sworn enemies, and since he had been sitting with Wei Zhao, Zhang Naipao would inevitably count him as an enemy too. The enemy of an enemy is a friend, and this Divine Fist Hall disciple, whose companion had been crippled, must surely hate Zhang Naipao to the bone.

The Divine Fist Hall disciple was startled. He had not expected anyone to actively recruit him; disciples of the other sects could not avoid him fast enough, terrified of being drawn into his affairs and incurring Zhang Naipao's revenge. He had been wondering whether he should even continue with the trial, and now someone was calling him over.

"Hello… are you calling me?" the Divine Fist Hall disciple asked, pointing at himself with some uncertainty.

"Naturally. I am Feng Shipian, an early Heaven Rank inner-family expert and a scion of the ancient Feng family. Might I ask the young hero's honored name?" Feng Shipian asked with a smile.

"I am Li Ciba, from the Divine Fist Hall, a mid Heaven Rank outer-family expert!" Li Ciba said with clasped fists, plainly ill at ease. At any other time, a Divine Fist Hall disciple would have been haughty; though the other man was a scion of the ancient Feng family, he was only early Heaven Rank, and Li Ciba would certainly have looked down on him somewhat. But the circumstances now were different—Feng Shipian taking the initiative to speak with him was already an enormous face-saving gesture.

"Ha ha, Young Master Li, do sit down. Let me introduce you to the others!" Feng Shipian gestured toward Wei Zhao. "This is Young Master Lin, a late Earth Rank expert…"

At the mention of Wei Zhao's strength, a flicker of disappointment passed through Li Ciba's eyes. In his view, Wei Zhao's cultivation was simply too low. Among those present, only Feng Shipian was of the highest caliber, but to contend with Zhang Naipao and his companions—that was utterly impossible.

"Young Master Li must not underestimate Brother Lin. Though Brother Lin is only a late Earth Rank expert, just now, with a single move, he crippled one of Zhang Naipao's mid Heaven Rank subordinates. One move, nothing more. So Brother Lin's strength is the greatest among us all!" Feng Shipian had noticed Li Ciba's disdain and offered this explanation—he even addressed Wei Zhao respectfully as Brother Lin.

"Ah!" Li Ciba was stunned, staring at Wei Zhao in alarm!

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