"Bullying you? You've been running your mouth about stealing my girlfriend, and you still have the nerve to call me the bully?" Wei Zhao was instantly amused by the sight of him. He crooked a finger and said, "Come here. I promise I won't beat you to death."

"Hah! Who beats who to death is still up in the air! Snow Sword, out of the sheath!" Xue Jianfeng bellowed. A soft sword coiled about his waist sprang free with a ringing hiss and stabbed through empty air at Wei Zhao at a speed the eye could scarce follow. The temperature around them plunged in an instant, raising gooseflesh on every arm in the room.

Xue Jianfeng was no mere empty showpiece, after all. His title as the Tai Gu Alliance's foremost expert at the Foundation Establishment great perfection was not unearned. The one-sided thrashing he had taken at Wei Zhao's hands a moment ago owed something to the gap in strength, but a good part of it had been deliberate, meant to lull Wei Zhao into carelessness. Now that the true qi in his body had recovered its smooth flow, his real power at last came into view.

Qiu Lingshan and the others were astonished at the sight. This thing could actually fly a sword through the air—a divine skill straight out of legend! Each of them broke out in a cold sweat on Wei Zhao's behalf.

Wei Zhao, for his part, felt nothing of the sort. So long as the outward projection of true qi was strong enough, flying a sword through the air was really no difficulty at all; swordsmanship was the true measure of strength.

Xue Jianfeng was nothing more than a Foundation Establishment great perfection cultivator. In the eyes of Qiu Lingshan and the rest he stood high above them, but to Wei Zhao he did not even rank as worth noticing. He had seen with his own eyes the sharp swordsmanship of a titan like Liu Ziyu of the Mountain-Opening stage. Beside that, a mere Xue Jianfeng was not worth a glance—not even worthy of entering his field of vision.

Yet for some reason this one sword form of Xue Jianfeng's gave him a sense of déjà vu, as though he had seen it somewhere before. He could not put his finger on just where, and at last could only shake his head and let it go.

The soft sword drove straight at Wei Zhao's face. Had this been Wei Zhao's true body, he could have let the blade come on and Xue Jianfeng's strike would likely not even have scratched his true qi defenses. But Wei Zhao was now only a primordial spirit body at the Foundation Establishment great perfection, and though he still held every advantage in strength, he dared not be so careless.

Wei Zhao's form flickered in and out of sight. In an instant he had lightly left the soft sword behind him, and without pausing for the slightest breath he hurtled straight at Xue Jianfeng in the far corner, raising a hand as though to bestow another slap upon his cheek.

"Hold it right there. Aren't you afraid I'll kill them?" Xue Jianfeng said with a savage grin. He was still flying his sword through the air; killing Wei Zhao might be a tall order, but if he turned his target to Qiu Lingshan and the others, each strike would find its mark without fail.

Qiu Lingshan and the others all changed color at these words. With their strength they truly had no way to dodge, and they burst out cursing the creature as despicable and shameless.

"Hah! You've all brought this on yourselves—spurning the wine cup only to drink the forfeit!" Xue Jianfeng sneered coldly, pointing at Wei Zhao. "If you truly care about them, then be sensible and kneel down and apologize. Perhaps I'll let them off. Otherwise—hah, hah!"

What he had not expected was that Wei Zhao paid his words no heed at all. Without the slightest hesitation he sent another slap flying across his cheek, and did not forget to add mockingly, "Being stupid isn't a crime. But being stupid and insisting on parading that stupidity in front of everyone—that's your own fault."

The man was a madman! Xue Jianfeng was badly startled. He had supposed that Wei Zhao would never stand by and let the women and underlings in the room be slaughtered—even if only as a show to win hearts, he would at least have found some opening to exploit. Never had he imagined that Wei Zhao would not give a fig for their lives at all.

"Fine! Since you insist on driving me to my death, then I'll send every last one of them to die with me!" Xue Jianfeng ground out through clenched teeth, twisting his body aside with all his might to dodge Wei Zhao's slap while trying to command the soft sword to begin the slaughter. But in the next instant he froze, struck dumb—where was his soft sword?

Bang! Xue Jianfeng was sent sprawling to the floor by another slap from Wei Zhao, no suspense about it. Even now the creature was frantically searching for his soft sword, and at last he found a pile of shattered iron fragments on the ground. His mind went blank, and he mumbled in disbelief, "How can this be?"

He had been controlling it through the air the whole time, and the soft sword's speed had been appallingly fast. Wei Zhao had plainly done nothing but dodge the first strike before charging straight at him. How could the soft sword have shattered to pieces like that?

"Hard to understand? A sword form this ordinary, and you have the gall to play at flying swords through the air. I solved it with a casual stroke of five-element killing qi. Don't tell me this was your trump card?" Wei Zhao curled his lip as he looked at the man's dazed, stricken expression.

"This—" Xue Jianfeng spewed a great mouthful of blood on the spot, shocked and furious beyond measure. He had truly been provoked past all endurance today.

"Why do I suddenly feel a little sorry for the creature?" Ying Ziyu said, the corner of her mouth curling up.

"He kicked an iron plate, that's all. Came strutting and showing off right in front of Wei Zhao, our leader. You'd think he'd have taken a look at himself in a puddle first. He actually believes the Tai Gu Alliance means he can throw his weight around and put on airs wherever he goes—what a bumpkin. He had it coming." Wu Chengtian chuckled.

The others all roared with laughter as well. What had just happened had truly set their hearts pounding, and yet Wei Zhao had dissolved it all with such casual ease. Such uncanny skill left them all surging with excitement.

Wei Zhao smiled at the sound. Three years apart, and none of them had changed in the least. Glad as that made him, he could not help but sigh with feeling. And the moment he thought of the women lying unconscious upstairs, his heart grew heavy again. Three years had passed and still no way had been found to cure them. His strength had grown greatly, true, but he had still never managed to find Zhang Liju. How much longer could they wait for him?

While the others were laughing and joking, Xue Jianfeng on the ground suddenly moved. This time, however, he had no thought of a last-ditch counterattack—such a notion was sheer delusion. He had only one thought now: get out of this villa!

He threw every ounce of strength into escaping, his whole body hurtling at the nearest window like a cannonball. Qiu Lingshan and the others cried out in alarm. If Xue Jianfeng escaped back and embroidered the tale in front of the Tai Gu Alliance's high command, it might well set off a world war between the Tai Gu Alliance and the secular world's cultivation forces.

He was nearly free—Xue Jianfeng's heart leaped with joy—when a figure appeared before him. Wei Zhao's speed now was no slower than, even faster than, that of his true body, and his movements were like those of a ghost. For Xue Jianfeng to slip free from under his hand, the odds were lower than winning the lottery.