Chapter 4958 — Liu Ziqi Appears
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 2
Four walls of sand rose from the ground at a speed the eye could scarcely follow, sealing Wei Zhao in an airtight cocoon of protection. The invincible wind blades sank into them and vanished like mud dropped into the sea, without so much as a ripple.
"What?!" Chang Minghui was startled on the spot. This was plainly not Wei Zhao's doing—it bore the unmistakable mark of a Kaishan-stage titan, and one whose strength was not much beneath his own!
Sensing something amiss, Chang Minghui instinctively tried to shoot into the sky, but his feet suddenly plunged deep into the earth. Two great hands of sand and stone clamped his ankles in a death grip and began dragging him down inch by inch. In the blink of an eye, only the upper half of Chang Minghui remained above ground.
"Who is playing tricks here? Show yourself!" Though half-buried in sand, Chang Minghui quickly steadied himself and roared at the top of his voice.
"Tricks? Hardly, Town Master Chang. I have been waiting here for some time." Liu Ziqi's figure slowly emerged from the sand. He exchanged a glance with Wei Zhao, and the two shared a faint smile.
"Who are you?" Chang Minghui's face darkened.
"Oh? Is Town Master Chang hoping to note down my name and settle accounts later? Telling you costs me nothing—I am Liu Ziqi of the Morning Pride Academy," Liu Ziqi said blandly.
Wei Zhao smiled bitterly to himself. Were it up to him, he would never be so kind as to hand his true name to an enemy—if Chang Minghui survived this night, would that not be inviting trouble down on his own head?
But Liu Ziqi, woman though she was, possessed a temperament stubborn and unbending to the last degree. Concealing one's name was a thing she disdained utterly; if the man had the guts to come seeking revenge, then let him come.
Had she feared retaliation, she would not be Liu Ziqi—and she would not be standing here.
"Liu Ziqi? A place full of women like the Morning Pride Academy, and it turns out they have a fighter of your caliber? I would never have guessed." Chang Minghui frowned, a rare sight. From the aura the other gave off, he had already judged that this Liu Ziqi was at least a mid-Kaishan expert—and now, for some reason, her strength was such that she could even give him a real fight.
"Save your guessing. I have laid the Nine Palaces Sand Formation here," Liu Ziqi said, watching him with a calm expression.
"The Nine Palaces Sand Formation? No wonder!" Chang Minghui understood at once. Legend held the Nine Palaces Sand Formation to be a most peculiar array, one that could drastically suppress an opponent's strength within its bounds. His late-Kaishan power, once inside, was likely reduced to the peak of mid-Kaishan—perhaps even lower!
Ordinarily, with Liu Ziqi's mid-Kaishan strength, she could never have contended with Chang Minghui. But with this Nine Palaces Sand Formation, one side waned as the other waxed, and she had gained just enough to put up a fight.
"So, boy, you were never off to beg help from Zhuang Yifan after all—you set this trap for me to walk into. Not a simple mind at all." Chang Minghui eyed Wei Zhao coldly. By now he was rather inclined to believe Zhuang Yifan had played no part; with this boy's strength and cunning, it was not at all impossible that he could have schemed his arrogant wife to death.
"You flatter me." Wei Zhao nodded faintly. Just as Chang Minghui said, all of this had been planned in advance: Liu Ziqi would lie in ambush at this spot, the most suitable place in all the world for setting the Nine Palaces Sand Formation, and his own sole task had been to lure Chang Minghui here.
Simple as the plan sounded, carrying it out had been perilous at every turn. Had he not been strong enough, had the jade pendant not warned him, he would likely have died several times over by now.