Chapter 2374 — Gravely Wounded

"Bang!" "Bang!"

Wei Zhao struck Piao Laoliu, and Piao Laoliu struck Wei Zhao! Though Piao Laoliu's martial art seemed the more powerful, the damage he took was in no way less than Wei Zhao's! The claw he had taken earlier, with no guard up at all, had dealt his body a heavy blow in particular.

What was more, Wei Zhao's last words had made Piao Laoliu subconsciously withhold part of the Heaven-Splitting Earth-Rending Claw's power, for he did not want Wei Zhao to learn any more of it. The man had already copied it so convincingly—if he learned more, would it not be the death of him?

The two flew apart. Wei Zhao sat down on the ground; Piao Laoliu once again slammed into the wall—and Piao Huotai's brow knit even tighter!

The look he turned on Wei Zhao had gone from initial contempt to grave solemnity! Where on earth had this man come from, and from what power? To think he could imitate another's martial art! Was that not utterly heaven-defying? He had never heard of any cultivator with such an ability.

At that moment Piao Laoliu's eyes were filled with dread. His former arrogance was gone entirely, replaced by nothing but alarm and uncertainty! He could not believe it—how was this possible?

In truth Wei Zhao had been battered badly too; he simply did not let the pain show on his face. This was the swaggering art of swallowing a broken tooth down into one's belly—but sometimes a show simply had to be put on. Confuse your enemy, and you win. That was the highest attainment of putting on airs.

Wei Zhao was recovering; Piao Laoliu was mired in alarm and doubt; and Piao Huotai was frowning as he weighed the gains and losses!

Piao Huotai had assumed the matter would be easily settled—that Wei Zhao would see the difficulty and withdraw was the most perfect solution of all. But now the situation was entirely different!

Anyone could see that Wei Zhao's two successive martial strikes had left Piao Laoliu badly hurt. If the fight went on, it was hard to say which of the two would win—very likely both would perish together! Yet for Piao Huotai to simply give up Chen Xi—that he would never be reconciled to!

Such a fine cauldron was not easy to find again once abandoned! Women of this superb constitution, raised and trained from childhood specifically to serve as cauldrons—they were simply too rare! Piao Huotai had seen many a girl of excellent aptitude, but all of them had passed the age at which they could still be trained into cultivation cauldrons. That was why he refused to give up Chen Xi, and why he had chosen to make an enemy of Wei Zhao.

"Piao Laoliu, finish this quickly! Trade blow for blow if you must, but kill him. That little wench is of great use to me!" Piao Huotai made his decision in an instant. "If you die, you die for the glory of the Right Miao Sect. Your tablet will be enshrined by the sect, and your son—I will beseech our master to take him as a disciple when he comes of age, with a standing no lower than my own!"

Piao Huotai had begun to paint Piao Laoliu a pie in the sky. Having made his promises, he had already written Piao Laoliu off.

Yet those words made Piao Laoliu's eyes light up. He could not deny that Piao Huotai's promises had moved him! He knew that if he and Piao Huotai did not hand over Chen Xi today, there was no chance Wei Zhao would let the matter rest. But Piao Laoliu also knew how much Chen Xi mattered to Piao Huotai. So he knew the only way was to fight with all his might!

"Boy, you heard him. If you know what's good for you, leave now and we part peaceably. But if you insist on thrusting your neck out, then even at the cost of my life, I'll drag someone down to hell with me!" Piao Laoliu drew a deep breath and spoke to Wei Zhao.

Of course, he still clung to a last shred of hope that Wei Zhao might give up and walk away, and then he would not have to throw his life away for nothing! Though for the sake of the sect he did not fear death—still, who would choose to die if he could live?

"Since it's been said that this ends only with death, let us continue!" Wei Zhao rose to his feet and looked at Piao Laoliu with a smile. "What if the one who dies at the end is you, and not me?"

"Impossible!" Piao Laoliu rejected it flatly. "I'll grant you this—your thieving ability is formidable, stealing my martial art as you did. But you cannot deny that your strength is plain for all to see: only the middle Earth Rank. Even if you activate my martial art, there is no way you can bring out the power of the eleventh form as it was. If my sense is right, it is only about the sixth form. And I am a fighter at the peak of the late Earth Rank. My strength, my endurance, and the power of the martial arts I unleash far exceed yours. If we wear each other down like this, the one who dies first will surely be you! Though I too may be gravely wounded."

"Oh? Anything else you'd like to say?" Wei Zhao asked mildly. "When you're done, we continue."

"…" Matters had come to such a pass that Piao Laoliu knew it was utterly impossible to talk Wei Zhao around. There was nothing for it but to keep fighting with all his strength!

"Raging Fire Heaven-Splitting Earth-Rending Claw, fifth form!" Wei Zhao's wounds and stamina had mostly recovered. Another Raging Fire Heaven-Splitting Earth-Rending Claw shot out, straight at Piao Laoliu, catching him completely off guard!

He had not expected Wei Zhao to strike the moment he spoke. But Piao Laoliu was, after all, a fighter at the peak of the late Earth Rank, and his reflexes were no feeble thing. He hastily revolved his mental formulas and oral secrets, forgoing true-qi protection altogether, pouring every ounce of his true qi into his martial art, and unleashed his strongest technique—the tenth form of the Heaven-Splitting Earth-Rending Claw!

"Bang!" "Bang!"

Two great reports; the two bodies crashed together and then broke apart, flying off in opposite directions!

Piao Laoliu was gravely wounded. After spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood, he gasped for breath in great heaves. Though his boasts had sounded fine before, only he knew in his heart just how much the Heaven-Splitting Earth-Rending Claw had hurt him!

This martial art was the bane of the external body techniques he cultivated. Never mind that Wei Zhao had only unleashed the sixth form—so long as he had not risen to the Heaven Rank, even the first form could grind him to death! Only upon advancing to the Heaven Rank could the harm wrought by the ten Earth Rank forms truly be disregarded. But unfortunately, he was no Heaven Rank fighter.

Wei Zhao was hardly faring well either. After spitting out a mouthful of black blood, he merely clenched his teeth and silently endured. Once he landed, he desperately revolved the second layer of the Xuanyuan Dragon-Taming Art to heal himself! He wasted no words on threats; pale-faced, he seized every moment to recover.

This feeling left Wei Zhao somewhat frightened. If Piao Laoliu kept unleashing his martial arts without giving Wei Zhao a moment to breathe, then Wei Zhao's fate would likely be to take a one-sided beating—just as when he had faced the Five Protectors of the Courtyard. Unable to heal himself, he could only be savaged.

But Piao Laoliu seemed to harbor some misgivings and did not press the attack. In truth, it had never occurred to Piao Laoliu that Wei Zhao could heal himself! RQ

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