"You—!" The Ancient Jumang King was instantly cowed by Wei Zhao's tone. It was supposed to be the one looming on high, and in its eyes Wei Zhao was nothing but a mere ant. Yet now, after all this fuss, it was the one who had come off as the weaker party, so startled by Wei Zhao that it was left dazed.

"Well? Give me an answer, yes or no—we've still got ground to cover, no time to sit here and mess around with you." Wei Zhao's tone grew more brazen by the moment.

"Boy, this is the territory of our Ancient Jumang clan. Acting tough with me? You've picked the wrong mark!" The Ancient Jumang King gave a cold snort.

"Is that so? From the sound of it, you must be a good deal stronger than the Crimson-Scaled Snake. Why not try the move it just took? I guarantee it packs a punch!" Wei Zhao said with a half-smile.

"Boy, do you really think that's enough to frighten me?" Though the Ancient Jumang King kept itself in a posture of extreme vigilance, a trace of retreat crept onto its face unbidden. Yet actually letting itself be scared off just like that was unrealistic—never mind the question of its own dignity, failing to deliver tribute to that lord would be enough to land it in hot water.

"I never counted on scaring you off with just that. But do you have the guts to come down and fight?" Wei Zhao taunted without the slightest restraint.

The Ancient Jumang King said nothing. Instead, it answered with a giant wind blade.

Wei Zhao nimbly dodged. From the Ancient Jumang King's altitude, the wind blade was at most a show of force; there was no way it could actually strike him. He promptly looked up and grinned: "Looks like you don't dare come down and fight after all. The Ancient Jumang clan—sounds mighty impressive, but when a grand Ancient Jumang King like you carries on like this, one can well imagine what the rest of you are worth."

"Insolence!" Stung by the provocation, the Ancient Jumang King plunged down in a fury, its target one and only: Wei Zhao.

Wei Zhao was not alarmed but delighted at the sight. He was not afraid of the Ancient Jumang King flying into a rage—what he feared was the creature backing down and withdrawing. After all, it was a formidable existence on par with the late Golden Core stage, and once it fixed its sights on them, no one—himself included—would have a moment's peace. The only way was to annihilate it on the spot, just as he had dealt with the Crimson-Scaled Snake. Only thus could he leave no future trouble.

What Wei Zhao counted himself fortunate about was that the creature had never once shown any intention of striking at Qiu Lingshan and the others. Otherwise, no matter how many tricks he had up his sleeve, he likely could not have kept them all safe.

In the blink of an eye, the Ancient Jumang King's figure was less than ten meters from Wei Zhao. The dark green poison wreathing its body could almost graze his face, and the sight left Qiu Lingshan and the others trembling with fear. Yet in a situation like this there was nothing they could do to help—even Leng Leng, the strongest among them, could only stand by and watch. Charging in would only make matters worse.

Of course, Wei Zhao had never expected them to help in the first place. As long as he could keep his distance and keep the others out of it, he was more than satisfied.

"Die, boy!" the Ancient Jumang King roared, killing intent blazing. Once the poison entered the body, no human could hope to survive—not even this Wei Zhao, who had hidden some ungodly trick up his sleeve.

"Good, this distance will do. Off you go too—the Crimson-Scaled Snake is waiting for you." Wei Zhao grinned, then hurled the true-qi dan-fire bomb he had been holding in his other hand.

From the very moment the three Jumang had set their sights on him and he had sensed something else lurking behind it all, he had been quietly gathering the true-qi dan-fire bomb—and not just one, but one in each hand!

Back in the old days on Cloud Terrace Island, his true self's strength had of course been far greater than it was now, but even then, holding a true-qi dan-fire bomb in each hand was not necessarily something he could have managed. This was an extremely dangerous business: the more the dan-fire bomb was charged to its limit, the more unstable it became. One slip, and even Wei Zhao himself would be in deep trouble—to say nothing of two dan-fire bombs affecting each other.

But over the ten-odd months since his primordial spirit had been projected into the mortal world, Wei Zhao's spiritual sense and perception had advanced by leaps and bounds, and his control over true qi had grown more precise and exact. Only thus could he now achieve what he did.

It was just as well he had one dan-fire bomb in each hand—one for the Crimson-Scaled Snake, one for the Ancient Jumang King. Otherwise, Wei Zhao would truly have been at his wit's end.

In midair less than ten meters above the ground, the true-qi dan-fire bomb exploded with a deafening roar. Without the Crimson-Scaled Snake's belly to contain it, this blast was far more horrifying to witness than the last; within a radius of several li, everything was razed to flat ground in an instant.

Even Qiu Lingshan and the others were caught in the shockwave without exception. Fortunately, Wei Zhao had deliberately put distance between himself and them, and the dan-fire bomb had only detonated ten meters above the ground. Otherwise they would not merely have been in a sorry state—they would have been gravely wounded.

"Is it dead?" Qiu Lingshan forced herself to look up before the turmoil had even passed.

"Of course it is! When our leader strikes, it's out of the ordinary. The Crimson-Scaled Snake died, so that Ancient Jumang King or whatever must not have a scrap left of it," Wu Chengtian said with a chuckle.

The others nodded and smiled in agreement. Though the sky above was still in chaos, everyone had seen that the true-qi dan-fire bomb had been mere inches from the Ancient Jumang King—an almost point-blank explosion. If that did not kill it, they might as well believe in ghosts.

But Wei Zhao's expression was not nearly so relaxed as the others'. They were used to relying on their eyes and for the moment could not make out the situation above, but Wei Zhao was different—not the slightest stir above could escape his spiritual sense, and in his perception, what was happening up there was not so encouraging.

"This time we're in real trouble..." Wei Zhao sighed with some resignation. Before his words had even faded, Qiu Lingshan and the others all cried out in alarm—for out of the chaos above, a shadow came shooting high into the air. It was none other than the Ancient Jumang King.

"Close, too close! Thank goodness I had my life-saving divine art, Slipping from the Shadow, or this time you really would have done me in from the dark. You truly are a capable one, human." The Ancient Jumang King's face was full of relief, though its present state was utterly bedraggled—its once gorgeous five-colored plumage now ragged and ruined. It scarcely looked like a grand Ancient Jumang King; it looked more like a drowned chicken.

"You're not bad yourself. At least a bit more capable than that foolish snake from before," Wei Zhao said calmly, his expression unchanged.

"Only a bit?" Even now, the Ancient Jumang King could still laugh. It had fallen for the trick and paid the price, but the same move that had killed the Crimson-Scaled Snake had left it alive and free. That in itself was something to celebrate. (To be continued.)