Chapter 4968 — Victory at First Bout

Both of them were great masters of the late Earth-Splitting stage. Once they truly came to blows, the might would be world-shattering—not only this dock beneath their feet, but the entire Thunder Plain Isle would feel the shock, consequences no one could bear. So their battlefield could only be the boundless open sea, where alone they could unleash their full strength without restraint.

In an instant the two vanished from everyone's sight. What remained now were only Chang Minghui and Wei Zhao's group.

"Town Master Chang, those two have already begun. Shall we have another round ourselves? Last night's bout hardly satisfied me." Wei Zhao looked up at Chang Minghui.

"Hmph, your time to die will come soon enough. No need to be so impatient!" Chang Minghui wore an unmoved expression. He itched to kill Wei Zhao and be done with it—but not now.

Haste makes waste. After all, word of what happened here would soon spread, and the League Guard's contingent of Mountain-Opening experts would arrive before long. Add to that Liu Ziqi, a mid-Mountain-Opening expert, and he would not have the slightest chance of victory—he might not even be able to flee.

"Heh, so even the imperious Town Master Chang knows fear. Could it be you're afraid your kinsman can't beat Guild Master Zhuang, and that he'll come back and settle accounts afterward?" Wei Zhao said with a faint smile.

"Don't gloat too soon, boy. Since I went out of my way to fetch my kinsman, he naturally has what it takes to deal with Zhuang Yifan. Once Zhuang Yifan falls, whether you live or die will be a word from my lips. If I were you, I wouldn't waste my breath playing tough right now—I'd be thinking hard about how to beg for mercy later." Chang Minghui sneered.

"From the sound of that, Town Master Chang seems quite confident in your kinsman. But judging by what the two of them said just now, how was it that he once ended up the defeated party under Guild Master Zhuang?" Wei Zhao said mildly.

"Times change. My kinsman lost once back then—that doesn't mean he'll lose again now!" Chang Minghui looked down on Wei Zhao and his companions from on high, lofty and aloof. "None of you know this yet, but Zhuang Yifan and my kinsman are both late Earth-Splitting masters. This time, however, Zhuang Yifan is certain to lose—because he is injured!"

"How would you know that?" Wei Zhao regarded him with interest. Such a matter was top secret; Zhuang Yifan would never casually let it slip, or every enemy he had would come knocking at his door, and his head would ache plenty.

"Heh heh, either way this serves my interests with no drawback, so telling you is no harm. Zhuang Yifan had my wife refine an Earth-Solidifying Pill—that is a Mystic-Tier, First-Rank pill made specifically to heal wounds and shore up the constitution. If he weren't injured, why would he pay such a price to have someone refine such a specialized pill?" Chang Minghui said smugly.

"So that's it. No wonder Town Master Chang is so sure." Wei Zhao smiled in understanding, then glanced at him sidelong. "But I have rather bad news. Guild Master Zhuang told me today that his injuries are fully healed, and that he has already recovered to his absolute peak. I'm afraid your clever scheme came too late."

"Rubbish! His injury can only be cured by an Earth-Solidifying Pill, and in the entire Yellow-Tier sea region my wife is the only Mystic-Tier, First-Rank alchemist. Where would he get an Earth-Solidifying Pill? Boy, if you want to bluff, you'd best use your head first—do you take everyone else for a fool like yourself?" Chang Minghui looked at Wei Zhao as though at an idiot.

"Oh? Don't tell me Town Master Chang is still unaware that I am a Mystic-Tier alchemist?" Wei Zhao said with feigned surprise.

"You?" Chang Minghui was momentarily stunned. He truly had not known this. His first reaction was that the brat was boasting to intimidate them, and he snorted. "A greenhorn like you, a Mystic-Tier, First-Rank alchemist? Boy, don't make me laugh!"

"I truly never imagined that a dignified Town Master Chang would be so poorly informed. Even if you hadn't heard of this, doesn't it strike you as odd that a figure of Guild Master Zhuang's caliber would treat a junior like me with such special regard?" Wei Zhao said with an unconcerned smile.

"Uh…" Chang Minghui was struck dumb by this. To be honest, he had found it strange—why would Zhuang Yifan protect an unknown brat like this so fiercely, one said to be from North Island? He had assumed the boy was some relative of Zhuang Yifan's. Now, looking at it this way, could he really be a Mystic-Tier, First-Rank alchemist?

"Heh heh, whether my words are true or false needs no one's proof. We'll know soon enough if we wait here." Wei Zhao smiled calmly, then instructed Li Ren to set up a table on the deck—and proceeded to invite Wang Xinyan and the other women to breakfast, utterly disregarding Chang Minghui, a late Mountain-Opening master, hovering overhead.

At the sight, Chang Minghui was nearly sick with rage—he almost toppled off the back of the ghost-eyed golden eagle. He choked for a good while before finally giving a cold snort. "Then we'll wait and see!"

Though the atmosphere was tense as drawn blades, at this moment neither Wei Zhao nor Chang Minghui had the slightest intention of actually trading blows. They could only keep up this hollow war of words, because both knew the decision did not rest with them. Once Zhuang Yifan and Chang Tianwen settled their contest, matters here would settle as well.

Of course, there was another important reason the two sides did not come to blows just then: neither was confident enough to devour the other. Chang Minghui dared not risk being surrounded and attacked by the League Guard, while Wei Zhao simply had no way to deal with him—at least judging by last night's exchange, he and Liu Ziqi together could pose no threat to Chang Minghui.

So the two sides fell into a stalemate of waiting. Wei Zhao led the women in a leisurely breakfast, chatting about this and that, while Chang Minghui could only watch helplessly from the sky.

Half an hour later, Zhuang Yifan and Chang Tianwen suddenly appeared above the crowd. Neither showed any sign of injury, yet their auras were now utterly different: Zhuang Yifan remained steady as ever, while Chang Tianwen's was visibly disordered—clearly he had come off the worse in their exchange.

"How goes it, kinsman?" Chang Minghui asked hastily.

"Go!" Chang Tianwen's face was ashen. He swept up the ghost-eyed golden eagle and Chang Minghui with his true qi and vanished into the thick clouds in the blink of an eye.

"Congratulations, Brother Zhuang. It looks like you won victory at the first bout." Wei Zhao smiled and went to meet Zhuang Yifan.

"Heh heh, this Chang Tianwen was never my match to begin with. Had my injuries not healed, there might have been some uncertainty—but coming at this moment was simply asking for trouble." Zhuang Yifan was in excellent spirits. At his level he rarely fought anyone anymore, and today's battle had been thoroughly satisfying. His already-peak condition had clearly risen another notch from the fight, and he faintly sensed the first signs of a breakthrough.