Chapter 3695 — A Sneak Attack, of All Things

"Oh? You still want to buy a Foundation Establishment Pill?" Wei Zhao halted and turned to look at him. "Do you have that many spirit jades? Foundation Establishment Pills don't come cheap, you know!"

Wei Zhao wasn't lying to Li Zhengming—the pills were indeed expensive. Though the market price wasn't as outrageous as the four hundred spirit jades a Foundation Establishment Barrier-Breaking Pill commanded, even the cheapest listings ran above a hundred spirit jades. By any reasonable reckoning, an ordinary newcomer like Li Zhengming could never afford one.

Li Zhengming fixed his eyes on every flicker of Wei Zhao's expression and gritted his teeth. "I can find a way."

Surely he isn't thinking of having Meng Jueming scrounge up a pile of junk jades to cheat me? Wei Zhao laughed inwardly, then shook his head. "Sorry—that Foundation Establishment Pill, I've already given it away."

"Given it away?" Li Zhengming visibly started. A treasure as precious as a Foundation Establishment Pill, handed off just like that?

Even if one had no use for it, it could be taken to the market and traded for a heap of spirit jades—how could anyone simply give such a thing away?

Could that display during the trial really have been nothing but bluster? Could it be, just as Meng Jueming said, that this man was no early Foundation Establishment expert at all, and that this excuse was merely a sop—that he meant to keep the pill for his own use?

A Foundation Establishment Pill is useful only to a Heaven-Rank Great Perfection expert, so it was entirely natural for Li Zhengming to entertain such a thought—especially since, from the very moment he had set eyes on Wei Zhao, he had been studying the man's face.

Piecing all the signs together, he was now eighty percent certain that this Wei Zhao had not yet succeeded in establishing his foundation!

Yet he could not simply leave it at that, for Meng Jueming had demanded that he see Wei Zhao take action with his own eyes, no matter the cost—otherwise any judgment resting on outward appearances alone was unreliable!

"That's right, given away." Wei Zhao had no intention of elaborating. An innocent man bears the crime of harboring a jewel; were he to say plainly that he had given it to Qiao Hongcai, he might well bring trouble down upon the man.

The more Wei Zhao said it this way, the more convinced Li Zhengming became. He's definitely scheming to keep it hidden for his own use—otherwise why would he guard his tongue so tightly and refuse to explain?

"Very well then, Brother Wei Zhao, bring out the spirit jades and let's make the exchange." Li Zhengming pressed him at once.

Wei Zhao nodded, blocked Li Zhengming's line of sight, and turned his back to take a spirit jade from his jade pendant's space, pretending he had fished it from his robes. But just as he was about to turn and complete the exchange with Li Zhengming, a blast of icy qi abruptly struck from behind!

He had witnessed this icy qi during the trial—it was none other than Li Zhengming's Heaven Frost Fist!

So that was it! Understanding dawned on Wei Zhao at last. The man's offer to trade for spirit jades had been a sham; his true aim had been to wait for a chance to ambush him!

A helpless curl tugged at the corner of Wei Zhao's mouth. No wonder the little wretch had made a point of taking him down a peg—it seemed that after today's breakthrough, he really had grown a touch smug. At any ordinary time, how could he have failed to see through even this little scheme of Li Zhengming's?

Even as the warning sounded in his heart, Wei Zhao could not help but find it somewhat amusing. This Li Zhengming, a mere Heaven-Rank Great Perfection expert, actually dared to enter his cave dwelling and ambush him—where did he find the courage and the nerve?

Never mind that Wei Zhao was now truly a peak early Foundation Establishment expert; even before his breakthrough, Li Zhengming could never have landed an ambush on him so easily—let alone now.

At this very moment, Li Zhengming stood barely two paces from Wei Zhao, and Wei Zhao's back was turned. Between experts of the same rank, this would indeed have been a lethal ambush, all but impossible to evade. Unfortunately for him, Wei Zhao was not a Heaven-Rank Great Perfection expert of his own rank, but a peak early Foundation Establishment expert a full two ranks above him!

Against a peak early Foundation Establishment expert, even a hundred Heaven-Rank Great Perfection experts could never land a successful ambush. This was absolute rank suppression, without the slightest possibility of a comeback.

Even the Wei Zhao of old could never have fought across so many ranks!

With the faintest shift of his feet, before Li Zhengming's Heaven Frost true qi could even touch him, the figure before his eyes had already become an afterimage indistinguishable from the real thing—and in the next instant, Wei Zhao appeared behind him, his tone unfathomable. "What is the meaning of this?"

Li Zhengming gave a violent start, and before he could make any response at all, Wei Zhao had already pinned him to the wall with a single kick, sending a tremor through the cave dwelling.

In that kick, Wei Zhao had used no martial technique whatsoever. Under such overwhelming rank suppression, pure speed and strength alone were more than enough to crush Li Zhengming utterly.

Pfft! Li Zhengming spewed a mouthful of fresh blood. Staring at the unfathomable Wei Zhao before him, his heart sank straight to the bottom of his chest, and he could not help but curse inwardly: What kind of early Foundation Establishment expert is this? This aura is plainly on par with Meng Jueming's—this bastard is a genuine peak early Foundation Establishment expert!

The thought that he had just launched an ambush on a peak early Foundation Establishment expert made Li Zhengming's head spin. This was like a three-year-old brat provoking a heavyweight boxing champion—if you're going to throw your life away, at least do it properly! This time Meng Jueming and his gang of bastards had truly done him in!

Seeing that look of utter horror on Li Zhengming's face, Wei Zhao silently cursed his own misstep.

His original intent had been to conceal his strength and keep up the pretense of being a Heaven-Rank Great Perfection expert; but having broken through only recently, he could not yet perfectly command every ounce of his power. When the ambush came, instinct had driven him to reveal the strength of a peak early Foundation Establishment expert!

Though he had used no powerful martial technique, unwilling as he was to see a life lost in his own cave dwelling, that single exchange—simple fists and feet though it was—had been enough for a man of Li Zhengming's discernment to gauge his true strength.

Looking at the trembling Li Zhengming, Wei Zhao frowned slightly, and a thought flashed through his mind. If not... silence him forever?

True, a death in one's own cave dwelling would be a troublesome business no matter how one looked at it, but Li Zhengming had struck first. Even if Wei Zhao killed him on the spot, no one could raise a word of complaint.

By the rules of the cultivation world, trespassing in another's cave dwelling was an unforgivable offense, whatever the reason. Should the matter come to light, even Meng Jueming and those behind him would have no choice but to swallow their loss in silence.

Yet no sooner had the thought taken root than the sharp-witted Li Zhengming sensed the killing intent, perilous beyond measure, and fresh terror and desperate struggle flooded his eyes—for from where he stood, this was a very real threat of death.