Chapter 2483 — The Vice President of the Trade Association

Earlier, Wei Zhao had struck down an expert of the late Earth rank despite being outmatched in rank, and that could still be excused—one could explain it away by the exquisite refinement of his martial techniques. But now, apart from Han Xiaohu, not a single person present gave Wei Zhao any chance of winning.

What did "an expert at the peak of the late Earth rank" even mean? It meant a半步 Heaven rank—an expert half a step into the Heaven rank—and one whose Earth-rank martial techniques had been honed to the utmost, capable of unleashing the tenth form. Wei Zhao could manage only the sixth. The outcome of such a clash was only too easy to imagine.

And to most onlookers, though Wei Zhao stood there unmoving, the young guard had been battered into that state—could Wei Zhao really be completely unharmed? Even standing upright as he was, he must surely have taken no small internal injury; that was simply inevitable. The more he forced himself to endure, the worse the damage would become, for it was impossible that he had escaped injury altogether. He was an expert at the peak of the mid-Earth rank, not a Heaven-rank expert.

Never mind someone of Wei Zhao's level—even an expert at the peak of the late Earth rank, trading blows head-on with an ordinary late-Earth-rank expert, would come away gravely wounded. And Wei Zhao was not even at the peak of the late Earth rank.

Yet just as everyone was anticipating that Wei Zhao's flesh would be sent flying in the next moment, they were all disappointed. The elder guard was once again blasted backward under Wei Zhao's strike, slamming down right beside the young guard, tumbling head over heels and spewing blood wildly before his eyes rolled back and he fainted dead away—looking, if anything, even more wretched than the young guard before him.

"Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo…"

Besides the two guards at the entrance of the **者 market, there were also quite a few staff members stationed there—not Earth-rank experts, but ordinary ** of the Yellow rank. When they saw both guards cut down by Wei Zhao, they were so terrified that they frantically sounded the emergency alarm, calling for the experts inside the market to come to their aid.

As for the others all around, the way they looked at Wei Zhao had turned to shock and dread. Instinctively they backed far away, not daring to stand too close to Wei Zhao, Han Xiaohu, and Yang Qiqi—partly for fear that Wei Zhao might vent his wrath on them, and partly for fear that when the people from the **者 Trade Association came out, they would be taken for Wei Zhao's accomplices.

"What do you think you're doing?" Wei Zhao's gaze swept to those few staff members as he asked coldly.

"I…" The expert at the peak of the late Yellow rank who had sounded the alarm turned deathly pale at Wei Zhao's question. He wanted to flee but did not dare—before an expert at the peak of the mid-Earth rank, what chance did he have of escaping? And this was, moreover, a freakish expert who could easily cut down experts at the peak of the late Earth rank. So he was instantly drenched in cold sweat, and only after a long while did he stammer out, "Senior… you're killing people here, so we could only notify the people inside the **者 market…"

"Oh, notifying them is fine too." Wei Zhao nodded. "This matter has to be settled sooner or later anyway."

"Thank you for understanding, Senior…" The expert at the peak of the late Yellow rank forced a smile of relief, looking at Wei Zhao with gratitude.

Wei Zhao did not leave either; he simply stood there with his hands clasped behind his back. Arrogant as those two guards were, Wei Zhao did not believe the bigwigs of the **者 Trade Association could be equally arrogant. Even if those two were their subordinates, and even if their conduct had been tacitly permitted, at the very least, in a public setting, they could not possibly endorse such open obstruction of **者 seeking entry to the market and the picking of quarrels to extort bribes.

Of course, the possibility of dirty tricks played behind the scenes, or of trouble being stirred up later, did exist—but they would absolutely not fall out with Wei Zhao on the spot. To do so would chill the hearts of every **者. After all, the entry invitation alone had required a hefty deposit, and that deposit was non-refundable; if on top of that one had to pay tribute upon entering, it would truly be too outrageous for words.

If the blame could be pinned on the two guards' individual conduct, that would still be forgivable. But if the **者 Trade Association openly endorsed such crooked practices, that would be rather indefensible.

"Who dares to kill here?" A grim voice suddenly rang out. An old man, flanked by two subordinates, strode quickly toward Wei Zhao. Catching sight of the two guards on the ground, their lives in doubt, his expression changed at once. "Insolence! You dare to kill members of our **者 Trade Association? Law Enforcement Hall, seize him!"

"Yes, sir!" The two subordinates following the old man immediately clasped their fists in acknowledgment, then lunged toward Wei Zhao.

This old man was an expert at the peak of the early Heaven rank, and the two so-called Law Enforcement Hall subordinates behind him were both experts at the peak of the late Earth rank. Such a lineup could hardly be called small—but against Wei Zhao, it was truly a bit inadequate.

Once upon a time, experts at the peak of the late Earth rank and at the peak of the early Heaven rank had been figures Wei Zhao could only look up to. Back in the Ulanhot Mountains, he had stood no chance at all against them. But times had changed; standing here now, Wei Zhao felt not the slightest pressure.

Even in a head-on clash, he was confident he could finish off this expert at the peak of the early Heaven rank.

"Old fool, you arrest people without even asking right from wrong?" Wei Zhao sneered. Watching the two experts at the peak of the late Earth rank approach, he said flatly, "Take a look at the strength of those two things on the ground, and then think about whether the lot of you can take me down!"

The two Law Enforcement Hall subordinates' steps faltered at once, their expressions shifting drastically. Earlier they had seen only that Wei Zhao was an expert at the peak of the mid-Earth rank, and trusting in their own peak late-Earth-rank strength, they had rushed forward to make the arrest without a second thought. But now, jolted to awareness by Wei Zhao's reminder, they knew something was off. The two on the ground were one late Earth rank and one peak late Earth rank, and Wei Zhao had killed them both—so the two of them, peak late Earth rank as they were, really did not amount to much.

"Boy, are you threatening us?" The old man at the peak of the early Heaven rank furrowed his brow and gave an angry snort. "You kill people here, and you think you're in the right?"

"Why don't you first ask why I finished off those two guards, and who struck first? Is the **者 Trade Association entitled to be overbearing and unreasonable?" Wei Zhao sneered in return, meeting him head-on. "You can protect your own, but you ought to have grounds for it. Ask this subordinate of yours who sounded the alarm what started all this."

As he spoke, Wei Zhao glanced at the Yellow-rank ** who had passed on the alarm.