Chapter 1998 — A Cut Above the Rest: In His View It Was Nothing; If a Sneak Attack Wasn't Possible, So Be It. Once Wei Zhao Was Taken Care Of, Wouldn't Feng Sanmang and Xu Shilan Be as Good as in His Pocket?
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
"You've got some skill, haven't you? But that was only the first stance!" The Earth-rank man in black sneered. Once more, ice mist condensed around his left fist, but this time it looked far more fierce and imposing. Clearly, as he had said, what he had just unleashed was the first stance of his martial skill—there was more to come!
And since he was now a mid-Earth-rank master, he could at the very least unleash three stances, perhaps even a fourth!
Wei Zhao drew a deep breath and dared not show the slightest carelessness. He could tell that this move of the Earth-rank man in black was the second stance, for a bone-piercing chill came sweeping over him. Wei Zhao himself could bear it, but Xu Shilan and the others behind him felt as if they had been plunged into an ice cellar, shivering uncontrollably.
So Wei Zhao did not hesitate for a moment; he directly activated the second stance of Wildfire Fist to counter it...
In an instant, Wei Zhao's fist was likewise wrapped in a churning mass of crimson flame. The searing heat filled the frigid late autumn with warmth, and Xu Shilan and the others behind him all felt a cozy glow, as if standing beside a bonfire.
"Fire-element martial skill? If I'm not mistaken, that should not be the first stance... Could it be the third?" The Earth-rank man in black regarded Wei Zhao with some astonishment. He had never dreamed that Wei Zhao would be a fire-element cultivator—and, with the strength of early Earth Rank, could even unleash a third stance!
Under normal cultivation progress, one could generally only unleash a third stance upon reaching the peak of early Earth Rank, on the verge of breaking through to mid Earth Rank. And the man in black's current command of martial skills reached no more than four stances. That was only because, as a mid-Earth-rank master with a long-established reputation, he could unleash a fourth. Even so, he was a genius by the standards of his rank...
But Wei Zhao... could this fellow before him have been playing possum all along? Was his early Earth Rank a false front—had he been hiding his true strength?
At this thought, the Earth-rank man in black's gaze hardened. He resolved to trade a blow with Wei Zhao and probe his true measure.
Of course, a battle between Earth-rank masters carried far fewer concerns than one at Mystic Rank. In Earth-rank contests, martial skills carried enormous weight. He sized up Wei Zhao's Wildfire Fist and judged it to carry the force of a third stance, so in an instant he, too, shifted his Icy Snow Thorn to its third stance, meaning to clash with it head-on.
The Icy Snow Thorn was, in fact, a rather superior martial skill—one that could hold its own among the martial skills collected by the ancient Feng family. So he was confident that, when meeting a stance of the same rank and equal caliber, he could come out on top.
And so, the man in black's left fist drove straight at Wei Zhao's right fist!
Wei Zhao could not be bothered to explain at length. This Earth-rank man in black had mistaken his second-stance Wildfire Fist for a third stance. It seemed Uncle Qing's Wildfire Fist was indeed extraordinary—able, already in its second stance, to vie with the third stance of other martial skills.
What Wei Zhao had not anticipated, however, was that the Earth-rank man in black would, at the critical moment, switch his own second stance into a third. Wei Zhao had no time to convert his in turn. The two fists collided with a resounding boom...
The Earth-rank man in black rapidly retreated several paces, while Wei Zhao's body was sent flying backward!