Chapter 2245 — A Heavy Heart

"Master, why hasn't he come back yet?"

The Grand Protector was an expert of the early Heaven Rank, while his master stood at the late-stage peak of the Heaven Rank. The gulf between them was vast—frankly speaking, it was much like the earlier gap between Wei Zhao and the Grand Protector: not opponents in the same weight class at all, but a one-sided, brutal beating.

And yet, half an hour had passed, and his master still had not finished the fight and returned in triumph? Wei Zhao was beginning to worry.

A late-stage peak Heaven-Rank expert—surely it couldn't be that hard to put down an early Heaven-Rank one?

Back when the little Candy Girl was hiding out with the Tang family, she had been utterly domineering!

"Jingyi, stay here. Don't go out. I'm going to check on Master." Wei Zhao hesitated a moment, then said.

"He... he's the one who gave you the map, isn't he?" Sun Jingyan had guessed the identity of the strange Heaven-Rank man as well.

"Yes, that's him. It's been half an hour and he still hasn't come back. I'm afraid something may have happened to him!" Wei Zhao nodded and said gravely.

"Then... be careful." Sun Jingyan had wanted to go along and take a look, but it suddenly occurred to her that going would be pointless—she would only become a burden—so she abandoned the notion.

"After I go, if the situation turns bad, I'll give a long cry as a warning. When you hear it, take the Thunder Pig down the mountain and take shelter in the Fire Lion's cave," Wei Zhao said.

"But..." Sun Jingyan truly did not want to flee alone.

"Only if you get away can I get away. Don't worry, I'll definitely make it back—but I'm afraid I might be hurt too badly to heal myself, and I'll have to rely on you," Wei Zhao said.

"Mm..." Sun Jingyan's face flushed slightly, but she agreed.

Indeed, if she stayed here, not only could she not help Wei Zhao, she would make him hesitant and cautious, a burden dragging him down. This was no time for stubborn pride, so in the end Sun Jingyan agreed.

From the moment he stepped out of the cave, Wei Zhao had begun compressing true-qi bombs, just in case. Now that his stamina had recovered to its peak, he prepared to compress an even larger true-qi bomb.

Of course, once out of the cave, Wei Zhao did not walk quickly—in fact, he moved very slowly, because he took every step with care, constantly scanning his surroundings and sensing any change in the jade-pendant space. If the jade-pendant space gave even the faintest warning signal, Wei Zhao would alert Sun Jingyan in advance!

Wei Zhao made his way toward the great hall at the summit, and no danger befell him along the way. The closer he drew, however, the more he could hear the sounds of fighting from the mountaintop!

It seemed the battle between his strange Heaven-Rank master and the Grand Protector was still not over! That struck Wei Zhao as odd—the gap in their strength was so obvious, so how was the fight not finished after more than half an hour?

Could some new enemy have joined in? Or did this Grand Protector have the same knack as himself for fighting above his level? But even if he did, that knack would have to be absurdly powerful—

an early Heaven-Rank expert holding his own against a late-stage peak Heaven-Rank one?

At the thought, Wei Zhao quickened his pace and at last reached the summit again—only to find the strange Heaven-Rank man and the Grand Protector locked in a fierce, inextricable struggle!

The fighters were still the same two men; no new enemy had joined the battle. Which meant the Grand Protector truly had the ability to contend with late-stage peak Heaven-Rank strength?

Yet after watching a while, Wei Zhao noticed something unusual and could not help frowning.

The Grand Protector was indeed formidable—certainly far stronger than the Heaven-Rank elders of those hidden families like Old Master Zhao—but he absolutely did not have the power to contend with late-stage peak Heaven-Rank strength!

The reason he could now fight the strange Heaven-Rank man to a standstill was that, although the man's strength was undeniable, he did not know how to use martial techniques—whether he had forgotten or simply never thought to use them—and merely poured true qi into the black meteoric-iron staff in his hand to counter the Grand Protector's soft whip. Thus one side fought purely with raw true qi, while the other relied on exquisite martial techniques, which allowed the Grand Protector to make up for much of the gap and his own shortcomings.

But the most crucial factor was that the strange Heaven-Rank man's mind seemed impaired; his wits were muddled, which in turn affected his reaction speed and his moves.

The Grand Protector, by contrast, fought with clear order and method, one move following another in unbroken succession—no sooner had one strike ended than the next arrived. The strange Heaven-Rank man, meanwhile, fought in utter chaos, with no method at all, striking wherever the whim took him!

Watching further, Wei Zhao shook his head again and again! In just the short time he had been here, the strange Heaven-Rank man had already taken hit after hit. Were it not for his overwhelming raw strength, he would surely have been defeated by the Grand Protector long ago and could never have held out this long.

Fortunately his foundation was deep and his strength plain to see; for the moment, though hard-pressed, he was not yet on the verge of defeat.

But Wei Zhao, watching from the sidelines, was frantic with worry. At this rate it would certainly not do—if it went on like this, the strange Heaven-Rank man was bound to lose! For all that he was a late-stage peak Heaven-Rank expert, he had neither tactics nor martial techniques, relying entirely on brute strength.

Already danger followed danger. If the fight dragged on, and the Grand Protector found a flaw and an opening, it was not at all impossible that he would gravely wound or even kill him.

The Grand Protector had clearly seen this too, and so he did not fight the strange man head-on, but instead stole in sneak attacks amid the tangle, all the while seeking out the strange man's weaknesses and openings, preparing to deliver a fatal blow when his guard was down!

The Grand Protector had long since noticed Wei Zhao's return, but he paid it no mind whatsoever.

In his eyes Wei Zhao was a dead man walking. Never mind that he had already been gravely wounded by him before—even if he hadn't, his tricks could have no effect on the Grand Protector.

So he was not in the least afraid that Wei Zhao would join the fight to help. In a battle between Heaven-Rank experts, an Earth-Rank expert stepping in was no help at all but a hindrance; if Wei Zhao joined in, the strange Heaven-Rank man might even have to shield him, which would only give the Grand Protector more chances to attack.

The Grand Protector was confident Wei Zhao was not fool enough to rashly involve himself in a contest of that level.

So he went on fighting the strange Heaven-Rank man with impunity, the unease and fear of their first exchange long since flung beyond the ninth heaven. In his view, defeating or even killing the strange Heaven-Rank man was only a matter of time.

And Wei Zhao delivering himself back to the door—nothing could have been better. Once he had killed the strange Heaven-Rank man, he would not even need to go looking for Wei Zhao; the little wretch had come back to throw his life away!

Compared with the strange Heaven-Rank man's utter heedlessness, Wei Zhao was far more anxious, and watching the strange man suffer setback after setback, his heart grew unspeakably heavy!

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