Chapter 3884 — A Slap That Sent Her Flying

Apart from deceiving spiritual sense, Phantom Finger had another trait: it excelled at breaking a surface with a single point. In a straight clash, even an expert of the same level would unconsciously flinch, let alone Wei Zhao, whose strength on paper was a full tier below Murong Zhen's.

Meng Jueming had lured Murong Zhen into challenging Wei Zhao with promises of profit, and he had pictured the scene of Murong Zhen killing Wei Zhao right there on the platform. Yet now that the moment was finally at hand, it suddenly felt unreal to him—this exquisite feeling was like a hazy dream!

Alas, that beautiful dream of Meng Jueming's was destined never to come true.

"Deceiving spiritual sense is indeed a clever trick, but before absolute power, what use is it?" Without betraying a flicker of emotion, Wei Zhao raised both fists before his throat, and a searing, blazing heat erupted from his whole body, giving the impression that one had plunged in an instant into a roaring sea of fire.

Wei Zhao still had no way of telling which shaft of white light was the true Phantom Finger, but one thing was certain: Murong Zhen had locked onto his throat a moment ago, so no matter which direction the strike came from, its final target had to be the throat!

That made things simple—so long as he guarded that fatal weak point, he need only wait for the chance to strike back!

Murong Zhen was startled by the blazing heat pouring off Wei Zhao. Such an overbearing, domineering fist intent was truly rare. Even with Wei Zhao holding it in check, the scorching force on the platform was already enough to steal one's breath; had Murong Zhen not been willing to expend her true qi suppressing it, her clothes would likely have burst into ash of their own accord.

But when she saw him shielding his throat, she gave another cold laugh. If simply guarding one's throat could fend off the Phantom Finger, then what business did this beauty have playing the game at all!

With a flick of her mind, the Phantom Finger's target shifted in an instant to Wei Zhao's chest. The human body had no shortage of vital points—surely the throat was not the only one! And given her mastery of the Phantom Finger, even changing targets at the very last moment was simplicity itself!

However, Murong Zhen soon discovered that she was wrong—not merely wrong, but wildly, absurdly wrong!

Because Wei Zhao had been waiting for precisely the instant she changed targets. No martial art is flawless. However ingenious the Phantom Finger's deception of spiritual sense, at certain moments it would betray a flaw—just like this instant when she altered her target!

Among the dozens of shafts of white light, one reacted noticeably faster than the rest. The difference was so minute that an ordinary cultivator's perception could hardly detect it, but Wei Zhao could.

Raging Fire Fist, Twenty-Third Form! Twin Burst!

After this period of devoted training, Wei Zhao had fully mastered the realm of the peak of the early Foundation Establishment stage. Even a formidable technique like the Twenty-Third Form of Raging Fire Fist was now well within his power to unleash twice in succession!

One fist met the Phantom Finger. The other hammered straight across the air at Murong Zhen's face!

Boom! The Phantom Finger collided head-on with the blazing fist intent of Raging Fire Fist. As Wei Zhao had expected, even a technique as rigid and domineering as Raging Fire Fist could hardly gain any advantage against the enemy's point-breaking-surface property.

After the collision, that strike of Raging Fire Fist, Twenty-Third Form, was actually pierced clean through, and the Phantom Finger stabbed straight into Wei Zhao's chest!

Fortunately, Wei Zhao's profound true qi shielded his body, and after clashing with Raging Fire Fist the Phantom Finger was already at the end of its strength. So though the scene looked desperately perilous, the wound on Wei Zhao was nothing but a flesh wound—it had not touched any vital point at all.

Murong Zhen's side, by contrast, was faring far from well at this moment. She had never imagined that while dealing with her Phantom Finger, Wei Zhao would dare to split his attention and turn on her—that he would even have the spare strength to turn on her. It was simply inconceivable!

Caught utterly off guard, she was engulfed by the scorching fist intent of Raging Fire Fist surging down from every direction. Murong Zhen's lovely face paled at once—after all, the Phantom Finger had already consumed the greater part of her true qi, and she was now in the awkward position of having spent herself dry!

"Ah!" In her panic, Murong Zhen—a peak expert of the early Foundation Establishment stage, no less—was frightened into a shrill cry. At a loss, she gritted her teeth against internal injury and once again brought out the Phantom Finger.

Unfortunately, the Phantom Finger was indeed formidable on the attack, but for defense it was hardly worth a look.

Its point-breaking-surface property was utterly useless at a time like this. At best the Phantom Finger could shatter the single point where Raging Fire Fist was strongest, but it had no way to block the attack across the rest of its range.

Bang! Murong Zhen was instantly shrouded in the searing fist intent of Raging Fire Fist. It was not enough to wound her grievously, but it was certainly no pleasant experience—at the very least, her appearance at this moment was utterly bedraggled.

Not only was she scorched into a wild, disheveled mess with the exposed skin of her body blackened all over, but even her already flimsy clothes had been burned into rags, laying bare the alluring scenery wrapped beneath—and below the platform, the whole crowd swallowed hard in unison.

At first the crowd had all been on Murong Zhen's side, but now, having feasted their eyes, they instead secretly praised Wei Zhao for a job well done. If this starving ghost of a lecher had not burned her clothes off for them, where would they ever have found the chance to admire Murong Zhen's exquisite body!

Bedraggled she might be, but there was a rare and singular charm to it all the same!

Yet on the platform, Murong Zhen was now seething with fury. She had come up in such flimsy clothes precisely because she did not mind letting the crowd below enjoy an eyeful—in fact, she rather enjoyed the feeling, for it drew everyone's attention all the more, made them unable to restrain themselves, and brought them willingly to kneel at the hem of her skirt.

Never, however, had she imagined being beaten into such a sorry state by Wei Zhao. After all, she had come forward to challenge Wei Zhao today not only to trade favors with Meng Jueming, but chiefly to vent her own anger—who told this Wei Zhao to be so blind to propriety as to ignore her charms again and again!

Yet in the end, not only had she failed to vent her spleen, she had instead been left utterly bedraggled herself, losing face so badly that how would she ever stand before these people below the platform again?

"Wei Zhao, you just wait—" Paying no heed to the embarrassment of her exposure, Murong Zhen ground her teeth and made to strike at Wei Zhao once more. She only looked wretched at the moment; as for whether she had truly suffered any grave injury, that was another matter.

At least in her own eyes, she still had the strength for one more fight, and she absolutely would not swallow this insult today!

But before she could finish her words, Wei Zhao's figure had already flashed before her. Without a word, he raised his palm—smack!

One crisp slap, and Murong Zhen was sent flying clean off the platform. In that instant, everyone in the arena was struck dumb, frozen where they stood.