Chapter 2801 — The Local Bully

"Bang!"

The two collided, each staggering back two steps.

"Are you blind, you bastard? Can't you see people? You just walked right into me?" Before Zhang Naipao could even get angry, the other man was already furious, jabbing a finger at Zhang Naipao's nose and cursing him out: "Brat, I'd say you don't want to live anymore. Do you know who I am?"

"What?" Zhang Naipao was stunned. He had not expected that, apart from Wei Zhao, anyone in the Xuan Dan Sect's trial would dare to challenge him. After all, when he had first entered the dining hall, he had seen the reaction of the crowd—every gaze one of awe. So Zhang Naipao had grown rather full of himself. Who would have thought that the moment he stepped outside, some hotheaded fool would dare say he did not want to live?

"Hmph, brat, this is the Young Sect Master of our Yellow Earth High Sect of the Western Regions—the Local Bully!" The man who had collided with Zhang Naipao said nothing; one of his underlings jumped out instead.

"Local Bully?" Zhang Naipao was taken aback.

"That's right. What's the matter—scared now that you know?" The Local Bully's underling looked at Zhang Naipao smugly and sneered.

"Yellow Earth High Sect—never heard of it. The Yellow Earth High Slope, now that I've heard of," Zhang Naipao said, shaking his head.

"Hmph, we come from the Western Regions, so it's only natural you haven't heard of us. Barbarians like you have never seen the world. If you don't want to die, get on your knees and beg for mercy at once—otherwise, don't blame our Young Sect Master for being unkind!" the underling snarled.

"Oh, my name isn't Barbarian—seems it's your Young Sect Master whose surname is Tu, isn't it?" Zhang Naipao had been nursing a bellyful of rage from his encounter with Wei Zhao, with nowhere to vent it, and now two fools had delivered themselves right to his door. Naturally he would not let them off: "And what if he is unkind?"

"Heaven and Earth Overturned, Eighth Form!" The Local Bully directly unleashed his prized technique, driving a fist straight at Zhang Naipao. But he likely knew the rules of the trial and did not dare kill Zhang Naipao—he only meant to cripple him.

"Bang!" The Local Bully's fist landed on Zhang Naipao. The Eighth Form was not enough to cripple Zhang Naipao, but it still made him cough up a mouthful of blood. He had come prepared with quite a few Lesser Restoration Pills this time, and he hurriedly produced one and tossed it into his mouth.

As for the Local Bully, he was already in a sorry state—after spewing three mouthfuls of blood, his eyes rolled back and he toppled stiffly to the ground, as though he had suffered a devastating blow.

"Young Sect Master, what's happened to you?" The Local Bully's underling was frightened out of his wits and hastily bent down to examine his master's injuries. But the Local Bully's wounds were grave—all but beyond healing. Every meridian in his body had been severed; apart from the faintest thread of breath, there was no life left in him at all.

"Hmph, you overreached yourself!" Zhang Naipao sneered. "A mere peak early-stage Earth Rank expert, and you thought to stand against me—truly a mantis trying to stop a chariot!"

This bizarre scene left everyone in the dining hall dumbstruck. Hearing about something was one thing; seeing it with your own eyes was another. Zhang Naipao truly had not struck a blow—he had simply stood there—and yet the Local Bully now lay on the ground, his life hanging in the balance.

Wei Zhao was deeply shocked as well. He had not caught the slightest hint of how Zhang Naipao had done it. Zhang Naipao truly had not made a move—he had not even lifted a finger—and yet that so-called Local Bully had collapsed to the ground.

Such a thing was truly bewildering. From where Wei Zhao stood, he could not make out the details, but he guessed that this might be some formidable martial technique of Zhang Naipao's. Could it be a technique that reflected other people's martial arts back at them?

But that did not add up either. This Local Bully was an expert at the peak of the early Earth Rank; even if he had unleashed the Eighth Form of Heaven and Earth Overturned, it should not have been enough to leave him crippled on the ground. Zhang Naipao was an early-stage Earth Rank expert and had taken that very technique head-on, yet a single Lesser Restoration Pill had been enough to nullify the damage—while the Local Bully had been crippled by his own technique. That seemed a bit far-fetched.

Wei Zhao was utterly baffled. He had heard of martial arts like the Great Shift of the Universe, which could redirect another's attack back upon them, but Zhang Naipao's situation was clearly different. It seemed Zhang Naipao had not fully redirected it—because he himself had been injured too.

By Wei Zhao's estimation, the power of the Eighth Form of Heaven and Earth Overturned would normally be enough to make Zhang Naipao cough blood—that fell within the range of normal performance. So it was clear that Zhang Naipao had still taken the hit. But then how had the Local Bully been wounded?

Truly uncanny! Still, when he thought about it, Zhang Naipao's Bee-Absorbing Divine Art from before had been even stranger. Wei Zhao could not help shaking his head. It seemed he had still underestimated Zhang Naipao. Thank goodness he had reacted quickly yesterday and had not attacked Zhang Naipao directly—otherwise the one lying on the ground might well have been him.

Until he understood what cards Zhang Naipao held, Wei Zhao could not rightly judge whether he was a match for him.

The Local Bully's underling cast Zhang Naipao a look of hatred, scooped up his master, and turned and fled quickly. He had to find someplace to treat the Local Bully, and he had been thoroughly shaken by what he had just witnessed. Knowing himself no match for Zhang Naipao, he simply did not strike again.

Having laid out the Local Bully, Zhang Naipao's self-confidence swelled to monstrous proportions. He gave a great laugh and turned to look at Wei Zhao in the dining hall. "Wei Zhao, care to give it a try as well?"

Wei Zhao said nothing and simply ignored Zhang Naipao's question. In truth, Wei Zhao's own heart was pounding. Though he wore a mid-grade Golden Cicada Inner Garment, Zhang Naipao was now an Earth Rank expert, and the mid-grade Golden Cicada Inner Garment offered him no protection whatsoever.

And if it had been yesterday, Wei Zhao still had one card to play—the refined dark iron staff in his backpack, which could attack any cultivator below the Earth Rank, piercing through protective true qi to deliver its strike.

But what Wei Zhao had never anticipated was that overnight Zhang Naipao had advanced to the Earth Rank, rendering that card utterly useless—with nowhere left to play it.

And so, for now, both Wei Zhao and Zhang Naipao remained in a stage of mutual probing. Neither was fully confident, and neither wanted to be the first to strike. Such was the case with Wei Zhao—and Zhang Naipao, too, was wary because of how Wei Zhao had crippled Mo Jiu with a single move the day before.

Seeing that Wei Zhao would not rise to the bait, Zhang Naipao felt rather foolish. He gave a snort, then left the dining hall together with Mo Ba, and they were quickly gone.

Only then did the dining hall return to its former clamor. But the cultivators at the tables near Wei Zhao's all rose and moved away without a word, either going to sit with disciples of sects they knew, leaving every table around Wei Zhao empty.

In their hearts, Wei Zhao had already become as terrifying an existence as Zhang Naipao. Zhang Naipao was uncanny—but was Wei Zhao any less so? (To be continued.)

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