That was why this move was never used lightly, save when there was no other way—and now, there was no other way. For Woking Dao had been driven into a dead corner by Wei Zhao, with nowhere left to dodge, and even fleeing the arena was no longer possible…

Of course, the crucial thing was that he did not want to concede just like that. He had already squandered so much effort; to give up now would be an utter joke. Besides, he had already let loose his boasts—he could not afford the shame.

So he would rather risk a drop in rank than cut Wei Zhao down in a single move! Man-and-beast as one was Qianshan Sect's most powerful secret art, stacking the might of man and beast together and driving it to its limit! Now this spirit wolf already possessed attack power no less than that of a cultivator at the peak of the late Earth rank. Add Woking Dao, and it was the peak of the late Earth rank plus the peak of the early Earth rank—and this was not the same as two cultivators striking together. This was the stacking of true qi, able in an instant to reach a might approaching the peak of the early Heaven rank!

It was precisely for this reason that this divine power was honored by Qianshan Sect as a secret art, never to be used lightly, only in the critical moment!

Woking Dao did not believe Wei Zhao could survive this move. Even if by some fluke he did not die on the spot, his meridians and bones would be shattered, leaving him a cripple beyond even a third-grade pill's saving. So he made up his mind and unleashed this great move!

Hearing Woking Dao's summons, the spirit wolf stopped attacking Wei Zhao and suddenly leaped up, landing atop Woking Dao's head and loosing a shrill wolf howl. Meanwhile Woking Dao silently recited a mantra, and a golden light flashed over man and wolf alike, then turned blazing red, as though bathed in the setting sun!

"Man and beast as one—Heaven-and-Earth Wild Wolf Transformation!" With a fierce shout from Woking Dao, a green gleam flashed in his eyes, and his whole body seemed to become a giant crimson wolf. His ten fingers pressed together and rose high above his head, coming to rest exactly upon the spirit wolf's head, and then he hurtled toward Wei Zhao like a drawn bow, smashing down with all his gathered force!

"Frenzied Fire Fist—Fourth Stance!" Wei Zhao too was on the arrow and had no choice but to loose it. Though he had caught a whiff of danger, he could only steel himself and press on! If he dodged now, the might of Woking Dao's strike would very likely sweep over Han Xiaopo, not far away!

Wei Zhao could withstand the force of this move, but Han Xiaopo absolutely could not—and Wei Zhao's final stance of the Frenzied Fire Fist was meant to deal Woking Dao a fatal blow. Otherwise he would never have begun from the first stance and driven it all the way through to the last!

It was because martial techniques unleashed in such a continuous sequence were far more powerful than one triggered on its own! He had once slain a black-robed Earth-rank man in an instant, and Woking Dao's strength was inferior to that black-robed man's—Wei Zhao was confident he could put him to death!

Wei Zhao had already witnessed Woking Dao's treachery, so he did not intend to leave this scourge alive. Since he had already crossed swords with Qianshan Sect, he could only offend them to the death!

"Boom—" A deafening roar like heaven and earth splitting apart, like a landmine exploding, and at the point where the two fists met a gigantic vortex of true qi took shape, instantly bursting outward in every direction. Woking Dao and the spirit wolf alike, and Wei Zhao too, were all blasted backward by the true qi born of that explosion…

Woking Dao felt a tremendous true qi, like a volcanic eruption, invade his〖Body〗, wantonly destroying his meridians and his five viscera and six bowels! He could not believe it—could not believe that Wei Zhao's fourth stance of the Frenzied Fire Fist could produce such power!

After all, Woking Dao had observed Wei Zhao when he used the fourth stance against the spirit wolf before, and it had been nowhere near this powerful; yet now the might of this strike far exceeded the fourth stance used previously!

Could it be… A possibility suddenly occurred to Woking Dao. He had heard before of certain martial geniuses who, by unleashing techniques in continuous sequence from the first stance onward, could raise the power of each successive stance!

But such a method was limited to martial geniuses and superior techniques. If one could not even bring out a technique's normal power, could not use it with fluency, how could one speak of continuous use? Could Wei Zhao be a martial genius?

But even so, surely he himself was not this weak? Woking Dao felt he was dying—his five viscera and six bowels were burning, his meridians snapping inch by inch. He had even foreseen his own end…

That was it! Once more Woking Dao recalled something he regretted beyond remedy: when he and the spirit wolf used Man-and-Beast as One, though the attack power greatly increased, their own strength would drop in rank!

He, Woking Dao, had fallen to the peak of the early Xuan rank, and the spirit wolf had dropped out of the Yellow rank entirely, becoming an ordinary spirit beast… And so their bodily defense had fallen with it… So that was it, so that was it!

Woking Dao was unwilling to accept it. He regretted that he should have used this secret art of Man-and-Beast as One earlier, rather than waiting until Wei Zhao had driven through the first, second, and third stances before employing it! Had he been a step earlier—even one move faster—the outcome would not be what it was now…

Was this match doomed to be a mutual destruction, both sides perishing together? Woking Dao was unwilling, oh so unwilling. He seemed to return to his childhood, when he and the spirit wolf kept each other company, again and again trampling their foes beneath their feet and making them the spirit wolf's feast!

Yet all of it now seemed so near and yet so far beyond reach. With his last strength he opened his eyes, wanting to look upon his old companion—and saw a headless spirit wolf! The spirit wolf's head had been blown apart by Wei Zhao's fourth stance of the Frenzied Fire Fist!

A spirit beast without rank could no longer count as a spirit beast—merely an ordinary animal with the qualification to be upgraded into one!

So, under the savagery of Wei Zhao's fourth stance of the Frenzied Fire Fist, it had become a dead wolf.

The greatest use of Man-and-Beast as One lay in cutting down one's opponent one-sidedly, not in clashing head-on with the foe… Woking Dao remembered what his master had told him before: when using Man-and-Beast as One, one must take care never to fight the enemy head-on, for that was mutual destruction!

But Woking Dao had always been invincible before, and had never used Man-and-Beast as One. When he finally did, hatred and fear had already seized his whole mind, and he had forgotten his master's words.