Chapter 3948 — Let Go of Me, Now!!!

For some time now, Kang Jingming had made no small use of this same trick. He was not like Wei Zhao, after all—this fellow was a pill refiner. Even if he had latched onto a backer like Xu Lingchong and managed to scrape through Foundation Establishment by relying on pills, his actual combat strength remained his fatal flaw. He had no powerful martial arts, and against a skilled opponent of his own level he had virtually no chance of victory.

Fortunately, he had at least learned one skill: the pill-fire bomb. There was no question about the lethality of this move. Its only weakness lay in the fact that it required a long time to charge. If he did not use some trick to buy time, once he was on the arena platform his opponent would hardly be foolish enough to leave him such an opening.

There was another point as well: the pill-fire bomb might be immune against certain attributes' mental cultivation methods. But Kang Jingming was no fool—he would choose his targets before employing it.

"You need a bit of time?" Wei Zhao raised an eyebrow. Given all the bad blood between him and Kang Jingming, there was no way this little scheme of Kang Jingming's could escape his eyes. Yet he had no intention of calling it out in front of everyone. With an indifferent expression he said, "Suit yourself. After all, you are a new steward—you're bound to be entitled to a few privileges."

That one sentence made every new disciple in the hall look at Kang Jingming with a shade more hostility and envy.

Unlike Wei Zhao, the others might envy Wei Zhao's prominence, but in private they still held a fair degree of awe for his formidable strength. Kang Jingming was different. Apart from the various favors shown him by Xu Lingchong and the Pavilion Master Hu Yunfeng, the crowd could see no sign of strength whatsoever in this fellow!

True, he had occasionally made a few moves, and each time had been a dominating one-hit kill. But the impression Kang Jingming gave was never that of a true powerhouse; he was more like a sycophantic wretch who had risen through favoritism.

For a person like that to be held in contempt was only natural. Even if Wei Zhao himself was hardly a popular figure, if someone could trample this Kang Jingming underfoot, that would be a fine sight to gladden the heart.

Facing the hostile gazes of the crowd, Kang Jingming did not take it to heart at all. Instead, the corners of his mouth curled up in a crafty grin. This posturing fool Wei Zhao was as stupid and arrogant as ever!

And that suited him just fine. In a moment he would send the man to the Western Paradise with the pill-fire bomb, and then he would take his time savoring what sort of expressions these people would wear!

After dawdling for quite a while, everything was ready. With the smile of a victor on his face, Kang Jingming slowly stepped up onto the platform and crooked a finger at Wei Zhao from afar. "Come on, at last the two of us can settle this. But let me say this upfront—though we are old acquaintances, I make no promise that this steward will hold back. I might just kill you later on, you know!"

"Heh heh... I truly find it hard to understand. You, a creature who knows nothing but cheap tricks—where do you get such confidence and nerve? From that piddling trick of stalling for time?" Wei Zhao smiled without a care.

A specimen like Kang Jingming had never been a formidable foe in his eyes. At most, his threat was on par with Meng Zhou's. Even if he had more brains than Meng Zhou, it was a pity that his strength was ultimately his fatal weakness.

Before absolute strength, any stratagem was nothing but a joke. And besides, a petty trick like Kang Jingming's could hardly even be called a stratagem—at best it was a bit of cheap showmanship.

"Hmph, piddling trick? This is the only time you get to flaunt that sharp tongue of yours. If you die with your eyes open later on, then don't blame this steward." Kang Jingming sneered without end.

In terms of strength, he did indeed acknowledge that he was no match for Wei Zhao—at least he had that much self-awareness. But now the pill-fire bomb was ready to go. So what if Wei Zhao was strong?

Shove a pill-fire bomb right in his face, and even the mightiest expert could only be blown into a drooling idiot.

Last time, Shi Yuda had been blown into a cripple on the spot, and even now, months later, he was still a useless wreck. That conceited fool Wei Zhao would soon be following in his footsteps.

As they spoke, the two had already taken their places at either end of the platform. Below, the crowd unconsciously held its breath and stared wide-eyed, eager for this rare showdown.

Wei Zhao was the strongest new disciple in Qingyun Pavilion—that was known to all and beyond doubt. As for Kang Jingming, judging at least by fame and reputation, he could be counted the number one new disciple of Chongtian Pavilion. Thus the duel between these two could almost be regarded as the peak battle of the new disciples of the welcoming pavilions, and all eyes were upon it.

At a single command from Pavilion Master Hu Yunfeng, this peak showdown among new disciples formally began. Yet in Kang Jingming's eyes, this duel had no sooner begun than it was already over.

For in his imagination, once he hurled the pill-fire bomb in his hand into Wei Zhao's face, Wei Zhao was as good as dead. And from the look on Wei Zhao's face just now—as though he had already got the man firmly in his grasp—this fool clearly had no idea of the danger at all.

Kang Jingming truly had never imagined that his various grudges with Wei Zhao in the mortal world would end, after coming to Yunjie Island, in a duel like this—and moreover, with him finishing the man off with his own hands before the eyes of everyone present. This was a wondrous scene that appeared only in dreams!

"Go to hell!" Kang Jingming roared with a savage look, and the pill-fire bomb he had been charging for so long was flung without the slightest hesitation straight at Wei Zhao's face. At the same time he burst forth with all the strength in his body, retreating at full power.

The pill-fire bomb was a thing of enormous power, but it did not discriminate in the least. If he was the slightest bit careless, there was a very good chance even Kang Jingming himself would be caught up in it—and that would be a real mess. So the farther away he got, the better.

Yet just as the pill-fire bomb was about to leave his hand, Wei Zhao, who had been more than a dozen zhang away on the opposite side, suddenly moved. Before Kang Jingming could react, the next instant he was already there before him.

"Your speed is truly atrocious—an utter mess!" Wei Zhao gave a cold laugh, then seized Kang Jingming's left hand with one of his own and curled his lip. "Seems there's something rather remarkable hidden in this hand of yours. Do you need my help?"

In an instant, goosebumps broke out all over Kang Jingming's body—not only because he was shocked by Wei Zhao's terrifying speed, but more crucially because in his left hand at this very moment he was clutching the long-charged pill-fire bomb!

If that thing was held in the hand too long, even he himself could not control it. If by some mishap it exploded in his own hand, then the joke would be well and truly on him.

"Hey, hey, do you want to die? Let go of me right now, you bastard!" Kang Jingming was in a frantic fluster. What had been his ultimate trump card had suddenly become a hot potato—a death warrant!

But Wei Zhao was in no hurry. He kept his grip on the man's left hand and raised an eyebrow mildly. "Oh? Isn't this the trick you schemed and schemed to buy time for, the one you quietly cooked up? What's the matter—seems like you can't control it?" R1152