"Fine, then I suppose I just don't understand. Though I really can't make sense of it either—has this tomboy of a woman been starved for too long? To think you'd squeeze the great junior master-uncle of the Cangwu Sect of North Island into such a state. He isn't about to die with his essence drained dry, is he? Splendid, truly splendid—as the saying goes, 'who dies beneath the peony is a ghost of romance even in death.' You may not be a peony, you tomboy, but you've still got a measure of looks about you. To die on a woman's belly is a kind of blessing; we of lesser fortune can only envy it!" Xue Jianming ran his mouth without the slightest restraint, having clean forgotten that only days ago Wei Zhao had saved his life—petty nature laid bare for all to see.

"You—!" Duanmu Yu was furious beyond words, but Wei Zhao cut her off, glancing at Xue Jianming and saying mildly, "What are you doing here?"

"Heh heh, isn't it obvious? The Spirit Perception Grass, of course!" Xue Jianming laughed heartily, his eyes fixed greedily on the Spirit Perception Grass not far off, already half-submerged by the river water.

"You know about the Spirit Perception Grass?" Duanmu Yu was startled.

"Of course I know. What else did you think I'd come all this way toiling for? Without the Spirit Perception Grass, this once-in-a-lifetime Primordial Trial is worth a fart!" Xue Jianming said, brimming with smugness. Few in the Primordial Little Jianghu knew of the Spirit Perception Grass here, but his father was, after all, vice sect master of the Snow Sword Sect—hardly a minor figure on the stage—so it was no wonder he knew a few secrets.

"So you've been hiding on the bank watching all along," Wei Zhao said suddenly, his voice low.

"That's right. With the lot of you so ferocious one and all, how would I dare show myself rashly?" Xue Jianming chuckled.

In truth, he had not known at first that Wei Zhao and Duanmu Yu were here, nor that the two had found the Spirit Perception Grass. He had been drawn here purely by the Brain-Eating Bug passing overhead. And afterward, he had watched the clash between Wei Zhao and the Brain-Eating Bug from first to last, clear as day, missing not a single moment.

To be honest, Xue Jianming had been badly frightened by the ferocity of both combatants just now, and he could not help thanking his lucky stars he had not rashly revealed himself. Otherwise, even as a cultivator at the Gold Core great-circle stage, against either the Brain-Eating Bug or Wei Zhao in his flood-dragon form, he would have been ground underfoot one-sidedly—and that would have been a sorry end indeed.

Fortunately, he had been wise enough to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, and Heaven had watched over him in the unseen, producing a result in which both sides were gravely wounded—just in time for him, the fisherman, to reap the profit!

Now the Brain-Eating Bug had been beaten half to death and had vanished without a trace, and Wei Zhao looked about ready to die with his essence drained dry. As for the remaining Duanmu Yu, Xue Jianming did not take her seriously at all. He was a Gold Core great-circle expert; it was one thing to be wary of a freak like Wei Zhao, but surely he could handle a mere Duanmu Yu?

"So, the Spirit Perception Grass is now in the bag for you," Wei Zhao said, his tone at this moment betraying not the least trace of emotion, without a shred of heartache or regret—nothing but an objective statement of fact.

Duanmu Yu was ten thousand times unwilling, but Wei Zhao was right. This time Xue Jianming had picked up a great bargain, and the Spirit Perception Grass was indeed about to slip through her fingers.

Matters having come to this, there was no choice but to bow the head.

"I thank you for yielding, thank you for yielding," Xue Jianming said, cupping his hands in a gesture utterly devoid of sincerity. Seeing that both of them had the good sense not to move against him, he laughed smugly and strode toward the Spirit Perception Grass. With this thing, he could temper himself into the strongest of Gold Core experts, and then even beings like Wei Zhao and the Brain-Eating Bug would tremble in terror beneath his feet. That picture was beautiful just to think about!

Unexpectedly, just as he bent down to pick the Spirit Perception Grass, the Brain-Eating Bug—now no different from a loach—burst out from the mud once more, wrapped in silt, charging with murderous momentum.

"Oh? Could this thing be the Spirit Perception Grass's guardian spirit beast?" Xue Jianming could not help but be surprised. By rights, an ordinary spirit beast wounded to such a degree would long since have fled without a trace. Even if it stayed, it would at most ambush a spent force like Wei Zhao and Duanmu Yu. He himself was a Gold Core great-circle expert—where did it get the nerve?

Surprised or not, Xue Jianming's reaction was not slow in the least. From first to last he had not let down his guard for an instant. The moment the Brain-Eating Bug moved, he sensed it; before the creature could strike, he struck first—one sword falling from the ninth heaven!

Splash! Blood sprayed in all directions. The already terribly mangled Brain-Eating Bug was gravely wounded once again. With its top-tier, formidable flesh, had it been in its former prime, one sword falling from the ninth heaven might not have broken its defense. But now its weakness was no better than Wei Zhao's, and Xue Jianming cut half its body clean off on the spot. It fell into the mud and stirred no more.

"Heh heh, weak as a drowned rat and it still dares come out to die. A beast is a beast—no brains at all!" Xue Jianming was thoroughly pleased with his kill. Turning his head, he saw that Duanmu Yu, carrying Wei Zhao on her back, was already almost back to the bank, and he felt a pang of regret—such a magnificent display of his prowess, and no one to appreciate it. There was simply no justice in the world.

He looked at the Spirit Perception Grass submerged in the water. The depth was already past his waist; if he did not pick it now, there would be trouble. Xue Jianming hurried forward, cut it off at the root, and picked up the Spirit Perception Grass.

Yet in the process of bending down to retrieve it, his whole body inevitably had to dip into the water—and at that instant, all hell broke loose. Xue Jianming's expression changed drastically; with a strange cry he burst out of the water with all his might like a madman, and without hesitation employed Traceless Snow Tread, fleeing for the bank with all his might.

Traceless Snow Tread was not merely a movement technique that doubled one's speed; on the water's surface it had the wondrous effect of a dragonfly skimming the water. Each step he took was buoyed by ice and snow, so that he did not sink into the water, and his speed was extraordinarily swift.

"What's going on?" Duanmu Yu was startled at the sight. Before she could even react to what was happening, Xue Jianming, who had been far behind her and Wei Zhao, had already overtaken them.

"Run!" Wei Zhao urged hurriedly. What was most shocking at this moment was by no means Xue Jianming's bizarre reaction, but the state of the entire Spirit Perception River. The previous two days, the tide had risen at about the same rate it receded, with nothing particularly abnormal. But now, that surging tide was like the Yellow River bursting its dikes, utterly unstoppable, churning up towering, furious waves!

Once caught in those monstrous waves, the consequences did not bear imagining!

The situation was critical. Duanmu Yu immediately pushed her speed to the utmost. The towering waves came on with terrifying swiftness, but fortunately the two of them were not far from the bank now; if they could make it back to shore in time, they ought to escape disaster.