Chapter 3836 — The True Qi Bomb Returns!

"Without the crowd to cover me, running away like this really doesn't work after all." Wei Zhao glanced back at Nan Tianyong, now almost at his heels, and could not help but frown slightly.

He had expected this outcome, yet when he truly felt the sheer disparity between them, a sense of helplessness still rose in his heart. If he had not prepared his killer move in advance at the Hong Trading Company, then with his current strength it would have been utterly impossible to escape from under the nose of a peak late-Foundation Establishment expert.

In the blink of an eye, Nan Tianyong had closed to within a single zhang of Wei Zhao's back—a distance from which no one could escape his attack, not even an expert of the same level, let alone this ant of a weakling before him!

"Hahaha! Run, keep running! If a lowly ant like you can escape from the palm of this lord, I'll twist off my own head and give it to you as a chamber pot!" Nan Tianyong threw his head back and laughed wildly. Without any buildup of force, he reached out to crush Wei Zhao with a single palm strike.

A killing intent swiftly descended over Wei Zhao's head. Though Nan Tianyong's palm carried no martial technique whatsoever, in terms of raw destructive power alone it surpassed even Yu Jiang's Twenty-Four Forms of the Life-Reaping Chain Sword.

More critically, it was not bound by the various limitations of a martial technique; it could shift and adapt however he wished, striking and withdrawing at will—impossible to guard against.

Crude and simple as he was, Nan Tianyong was, after all, a seasoned expert. He knew that when the gap in cultivation was wide enough, the best way to toy with an inferior was not some mighty martial technique, but plain, simple fists and feet—flawless, infuriating, leaving the victim not even knowing which way to flee.

Yet to his surprise, facing the killing intent shrouding his head, Wei Zhao seemed utterly unaware of it. Instead, he turned his head leisurely toward Nan Tianyong and curled his lip. "A chamber pot? My sincere apologies—your head is really not much to look at. I doubt I could bring myself to use it, and I fear I'd be unable to piss at all!"

"My God!" Nan Tianyong trembled all over with rage and immediately moved to crush Wei Zhao with a palm. "Sharp-tongued little bastard. Go to hell!"

"Is that so?" Hearing this, Wei Zhao did not flee. Instead he halted and said with a half-smile, "How about we make a bet and see who dies first? Come, come—let's show Senior Nan something amusing, shall we?"

"Hm?" Nan Tianyong was briefly taken aback, and his hand paused. Then he saw Wei Zhao, neither dodging nor evading, turn and strike a palm straight back at him. At this he gave a cold laugh. "Fool who overestimates himself—what use is the killing power of an ant like you against this lord?"

Yet before the words had faded, the next instant Nan Tianyong suddenly felt an inexplicable, horrifying shudder rise from the depths of his heart. Only then did he realize that Wei Zhao was not striking at him at all—his hand seemed to be cupping something in the air.

And that thing seemed to have condensed endless true qi; the mysterious menace it concealed made even him, a peak late-Foundation Establishment expert, feel an involuntary terror!

Only at this moment did Nan Tianyong suddenly understand why his disciple Yu Jiang had voluntarily given way to the man earlier. After all, if one spoke of hatred, Yu Jiang and this Lin Er were locked in a fight to the death—far more so than himself, a master dragged in only incidentally.

If even he felt such inexplicable palpitations before this dangerous thing, how could Yu Jiang possibly not fear it?

Humiliating as it was, Nan Tianyong now instinctively wanted to withdraw. He did not know what trick Wei Zhao was playing, but the instinct for danger never lied. If he were to get himself killed chasing a mere peak early-Foundation Establishment ant, that would be far too poor a bargain!

Yet even though Nan Tianyong had sensibly decided to retreat, Wei Zhao would not give him the chance. The thing in his hand was flung out at once, and before Nan Tianyong's utterly terrified eyes, this object that had condensed endless true qi exploded in an instant, less than a foot away from him!

Boom! A thunderous report shook the heavens, and the ground for dozens of li around trembled violently. In the marketplace not far off, countless stalls set out by the shops were shattered on the spot, and the assembled cultivators all turned pale, their faces filled with panic.

Even the guest experts stationed by the many merchants of the inner street could not help but feel shocked and doubtful. A commotion of such magnitude—even if they exerted every ounce of their strength, they might not be able to produce it!

Only Hong Zhong of the Hong Trading Company seemed to have anticipated this earth-shaking upheaval. Yet even so, now that he truly felt the heaven-shaking commotion, he could not help but stand dumbstruck, bereft of speech.

"Truly worthy of a grand endeavor that took a full hour to prepare. This Lin Er is no creature meant to remain in a pond!" Hong Zhong shook his head with a rueful laugh. He considered himself no ordinary man, yet compared with Lin Er he still fell far short—at least, back when he was at the peak of the early Foundation Establishment stage, he could not have dealt with a peak late-Foundation Establishment expert, much less possessed such heaven-defying means.

To say nothing of the uproar in the marketplace—at this very moment, the heart of the explosion had flattened several nearby hills and carved out a circular crater fully a dozen or more zhang deep, giving the impression of a celestial pit blasted out by a falling meteor!

The dust thrown up by the blast blotted out the sky and refused to settle for a long while; at this rate, it would be at least a day before the air cleared.

Moments later, a figure suddenly darted out from the dust and fled without a word. That figure was none other than Wei Zhao, the very author of the earth-shaking upheaval.

"True qi pent up for a full hour—this true qi bomb is really not something a human should toy with!" Even Wei Zhao himself felt his heart still pounding with lingering dread.

Indeed, to deal with Nan Tianyong, a peak late-Foundation Establishment expert, Wei Zhao had deliberately lingered a full hour at the Hong Trading Company, with one purpose alone: to condense a true qi bomb.

Back in the mortal world, the true qi bomb had always been Wei Zhao's signature move, often used to overawe and deal with powerful foes above his level. Thanks to its tremendous destructive power, far exceeding his own cultivation grade, this technique had never once failed him.

Yet powerful as the true qi bomb was, it had one inescapable, fatal flaw: it required charging, and the stronger the opponent, the longer the charging time!

Otherwise, with insufficient charging time, the true qi would be inadequate, and the true qi bomb thrown out would naturally lack power, failing to achieve the desired effect.

Moreover, the true qi bomb was always extremely wasteful in its use of true qi. For the same expenditure of true qi, if a corresponding martial technique could produce a destructive force of ten, then applied to the true qi bomb, it might yield only five. (To be continued...)