"Hah? You humans really are a bold lot!" The brain-eating worm burst out laughing.

To anyone unaware of what was going on, the scene was positively comical—hearing those words issue from the mouth of a tender, harmless-looking white grub. Even Wei Zhao, who knew full well the creature was no simple thing, could not help but feel a twinge of absurd speechlessness.

The moment the brain-eating worm's words fell, two wind blades shrieked forth. Their target had shifted from Leng Leng and the others to Wei Zhao, who stood mere inches away. At such a distance there was simply no room to dodge; the blades had scarcely taken shape before they were pressed flush against Wei Zhao's body. Had matters run their course, he would have been carved limb from limb on the spot.

"Is that so? I'd say your own nerve is none too small either." Wei Zhao replied unhurriedly, making no move whatsoever against the wind blades—there was no need. The true-qi dan-fire bomb he had already gathered in his hand had been pressed to the creature's face a beat ahead of time.

Though it had not bought him much time, these past days Wei Zhao had made a habit of keeping the true qi in his body circulating at a high intensity, which had sharply cut down the time needed to condense a dan-fire bomb. The power of the strike he now unleashed was near the very limit of his present strength.

Boom! The stillness of the night was shattered by a thunderous roar. Everything for miles around was flattened in an instant, and the devastation spread in disarray a hundred li beyond; countless spirit beasts fled in panic, utterly terrified.

By now Leng Leng and the others had already put some distance between themselves and the blast. Having been through this before, they were a bedraggled sight to behold, yet not one of them was hurt.

"Whew!" Wei Zhao let out a long breath of stale air. In the past, detonating a dan-fire bomb at such close range would surely have visited no small backlash upon himself. But his speed now far surpassed even his former peak, and he could shift freely between his primordial-spirit form and half-primordial-spirit form—enough to sidestep the greater part of the backlash.

The brain-eating worm, taking the blast head-on, was another matter entirely. The dan-fire bomb had gone off pressed right against its face; the power and the damage were beyond reckoning. Even an existence on par with a late-stage Golden Core expert—an Primordial Jumang King, say—would have been killed beyond any doubt by such a blow to the face.

Yet Wei Zhao's brow furrowed again—and far more tightly than before. His spiritual sense told him that the creature had not only failed to die on the spot, it had scarcely even been seriously hurt.

"Hngh. Worthy of the human who killed the Crimson-Scaled Serpent. I must admit, you do have some skill." When the brain-eating worm reappeared, it was fully two li away. Beyond a few scorch marks, it bore no more obvious grave wounds; indeed, it looked quite at ease. Half in lingering dread, half in jest, it said: "Lucky for me I copied the Jumang clan's Shadow-Slip Escape. Otherwise that one would have cost me dearly."

This time, Wei Zhao was truly shaken.

The dan-fire bomb was already his mightiest trump card, his killing stroke. Apart from it, every other means at his disposal—the five-element killing qi included—could scarcely threaten anything at the Golden Core level. When all was said and done, he was now merely a primordial spirit; even armed with the spirit body's own life-preserving arts, the primordial-spirit form and the half-primordial-spirit form, he still fell far, far short of the heaven-defying caliber of his true body.

Watching the creature's blithe unconcern, Wei Zhao felt his heart sink to the bottom of a well. Had the dan-fire bomb simply missed, that would have been easier to swallow. But it had been pressed to its face and detonated; even if the creature had used a life-preserving art like Shadow-Slip Escape, the damage of that first instant ought to have been unavoidable. That it should amount to no more than a tickle—what was he to make of that?

"Go, now. Leng Leng, take the lead and look after everyone. Once I've drawn it off, I'll come find you." Wei Zhao hurriedly sent a true-qi transmission to Leng Leng and the rest. Even when he had faced the Primordial Jumang King and the Crimson-Scaled Serpent at once, he had never been this tense. But this time he truly had no confidence at all. Draw it away, then regroup with the others—that was the only plan he could think of now.

"This..." Qiu Lingshan and the others exchanged glances, worry written plain on every face. Never had they imagined matters could turn so grave. It was only a worm, after all—how could it be so terrifying?

"Move!" Leng Leng was the first to collect herself. She at once led the others away at speed, knowing full well that every moment they lingered was another moment of danger for Wei Zhao. With life and death at stake, there was no room for the slightest hesitation.

Watching Leng Leng resolutely lead the others away, Wei Zhao's lips curved in a trace of relieved warmth. What relieved him more was that the worm opposite showed no inclination to pursue them—its target was clear, and it was him.

"You seem to care a great deal about those people?" The brain-eating worm showed no haste to strike, but asked with keen interest instead.

"Does it matter? Your target is me, so letting them go should make no difference to you. Am I wrong?" Though shaken within, Wei Zhao betrayed not the slightest sign of it, still composed and unruffled as a drifting cloud.

"Not wrong at all." The brain-eating worm nodded. Its target had never been the so-called human tribute—after all, tributes were prepared for that esteemed lord. It had come this time to feast alone.

"Good, then. How about we wait a little longer?" Wei Zhao said offhandedly.

"You humans are a fascinating breed. This must be what you call pushing your luck, isn't it?" The brain-eating worm laughed, a worm's face displaying every sort of human expression—a sight strange no matter how one looked at it.

"I wouldn't call it that. In my understanding, this is friendly negotiation." Wei Zhao said, utterly unabashed.

"Friendly negotiation?" The brain-eating worm was briefly taken aback before it caught the meaning, then doubled over with laughter, gasping for breath: "Very well. It seems I didn't come to the wrong place after all. You truly are a rare human specimen."

"Specimen?" Wei Zhao feigned surprise, while inwardly breathing a sigh of relief. Had the creature insisted on striking to keep Leng Leng and the others there, he would have been utterly powerless. He had to admit, this worm was rather sensible.

"That's right, a specimen. In your human tongue it more or less means food, only a little different." The brain-eating worm spoke without beating around the bush.

"So you're planning to eat me?" A look of dawning comprehension spread over Wei Zhao's face, though not a trace of fear showed. Many savage spirit beasts were man-eaters; this worm's appearance was somewhat singular, but in the end it was still a very powerful spirit beast—and one savage enough to devour a Primordial Jumang King. (To be continued.)