Chapter 2845 — He Actually Lost

"Huh?" Zhang Naipao was channeling his mental cultivation formula when he suddenly heard Wei Zhao utter this oddly familiar "new phrase," and he froze on the spot. He looked up at Wei Zhao—only to see a fist flying straight at him!

Startled, Zhang Naipao hurriedly switched his formula and began circulating the Thorns Divine Art. He had no idea what this Hellfire Frenzy Fist of Wei Zhao's was, but with his divine art shielding him, he naturally felt no fear.

"Boom!" Imitating Zhang Naipao's style, Wei Zhao forced the true qi of the Frenzy Fire Fist out through his knuckles and drove it straight into Zhang Naipao's head!

To give the move greater effect, Wei Zhao had been circulating the formula of the ninth stance of the Frenzy Fire Fist, which meant the Hellfire Frenzy Fist he unleashed was likewise equivalent to the ninth stance.

Even so, Zhang Naipao's Thorns Divine Art still rebounded Wei Zhao's Hellfire Frenzy Fist at two hundred and forty percent, leaving only twenty percent to land on its caster!

Naturally, that two hundred and forty percent had no effect on Wei Zhao whatsoever—it was all dissolved by his mid-grade Golden Cicada undergarment. What Wei Zhao had not expected, however, was how utterly draining this Hellfire Frenzy Fist was. It consumed nearly as much as the Frenzy Fire Eight Trigrams Palm. He had succeeded in unleashing the ninth stance of the Hellfire Frenzy Fist, but in that instant, the physical strength and true qi within his body seemed to pour out of him entirely along with the martial technique, shooting toward Zhang Naipao's head, while his own body was left as dry as a drained husk. Before he could think another thought, Wei Zhao collapsed into a sitting position on the ground.

"Ah—!" Zhang Naipao clutched his head. A flicker of terror flashed through his eyes, then gave way to a crimson haze of confusion, and he bolted, racing off at full speed toward one corner of the Five Fiends Wildlands...

Zhang Naipao had never imagined that Wei Zhao could unleash the Hellshadow Demon Fist—or rather, something called the Hellfire Frenzy Fist. It had not looked quite the same, but the effect was much the same. In an instant, Zhang Naipao felt as though he had plunged into a sea of fire: endless flames sprang up behind him, and he fled in terror, desperate not to be scorched...

Wei Zhao's Hellfire Frenzy Fist lacked the true-qi effect of Zhang Naipao's version, which could induce twisted, corrupted memories, but it could conjure a sea of fire just as vividly, so real that none could tell truth from illusion, leaving its victim trapped in the hallucination with no way out.

So although Zhang Naipao suffered no painful memory hallucinations, he was plunged into a hellish vision instead, as though he were being tormented in a sea of fire down in the underworld—and the agony of it was, in fact, even greater!

Think about it: no one would feel comfortable with a sea of fire chasing at his heels; he would have to run without pause. That was exactly how Zhang Naipao felt now. He believed that if he so much as slowed his steps, the flames would swallow him whole—so to stay alive, he had to run and run and run...

In the blink of an eye, Zhang Naipao had shrunk to a mere silhouette in the distance. Wei Zhao sat on the ground, having just recovered a sliver of physical strength and true qi. He had meant to have Feng Shipian, Li Ciba, and the others join forces and finish Zhang Naipao off, but who could have guessed the man would already be so far away!

With no physical strength or true qi left in him, Wei Zhao naturally could not give chase himself. But the Five Fiends Wildlands were full of danger, and he did not want Feng Shipian and Li Ciba to take such a risk—if they failed to catch Zhang Naipao and ran into a spirit beast instead, the loss would far outweigh the gain.

Besides, Zhang Naipao was no slow runner; whether they could catch him at all was another matter entirely. So Wei Zhao felt only the faintest pang of regret before letting it go. Let Zhang Naipao fend for himself—in such a crazed state, even if no spirit beast finished him off, he would never find his way out of here.

Wei Zhao did not believe a man whose mind was no longer clear could still find the teleportation array and leave this place. If the trial ended and Zhang Naipao had not regained his senses, then he would be stuck living here forever.

"Boss, how are you? Are you all right?" Zhao Qitan asked anxiously, seeing Wei Zhao drop to the ground.

"I'm fine. I just used up all the physical strength and true qi in my body—nothing serious," Wei Zhao said, waving a hand. "Let me heal the Thunder Pig first, and then we'll head back to the safe zone and talk!"

"Right." Zhao Qitan hurried over and steadied Wei Zhao.

Feng Shipian, Li Ciba, and Ge Xian were all gazing at Wei Zhao with looks of adoration. They had never expected things to turn around so dramatically—the incomparably formidable Zhang Naipao had actually been defeated by Wei Zhao? It should have been Wei Zhao going mad and losing himself, yet the roles had flipped, and it was Zhang Naipao instead!

Earlier, the three of them had been somewhat hesitant to call Wei Zhao "Boss" the way Zhao Qitan did, out of deference to their own superior strength—they had merely honored him as "Captain." But now, in their hearts, they were already inclined to cultivate a good relationship with Wei Zhao!

"Boss, what should we do with Mo Ba's corpse?" Li Ciba was the most devoted of them all. His fellow disciple had been wounded by Zhang Naipao's hand, and now that Wei Zhao had driven Zhang Naipao mad, no one was happier than he—it was a fine venting of his pent-up fury!

Especially since Zhang Naipao's two lackeys had both been finished off. He was all the more determined that, upon returning to his sect, he would report to his master and have their relationship with Wei Zhao reassessed. But no matter what the sect decided, he had already privately acknowledged Wei Zhao as his boss!

And the word "Boss" came out quite naturally. Only after saying it did Li Ciba feel that his own Heaven-rank strength truly counted for nothing at all. Was Zhang Naipao Heaven-rank? Were Mo Ba and Mo Jiu Heaven-rank?

Dongfang Bushu had been a peak late-stage Heaven-rank expert, and Zhang Naipao had killed him. Yet Wei Zhao, a late-stage Earth-rank expert, had taken down Zhang Naipao and his whole crew. Strength truly could not be judged by rank alone!

"That's right, Boss—what about those two Dark Night Palace lackeys? How should we deal with them?" Ge Xian asked, unwilling to be outdone.

"Boss, those two are trying to slip away. Let me go restrain them first!" Feng Shipian said, volunteering eagerly when he saw the two Dark Night Palace disciples attempting to sneak off.

For a moment, all three were calling Wei Zhao "Boss." Zhao Qitan hurriedly cut in: "Hey, you three may be from the ancient tier, but you joined the boss's camp after me—you have to call me Brother Zhao or Brother Qitan!"

"Fine, no problem!" Li Ciba did not care about such things. Zhao Qitan might be weak in strength, but at least he was one of Wei Zhao's trusted men. They were all in Wei Zhao's camp now—there was no point squabbling over this. Besides, Zhao Qitan had indeed followed Wei Zhao first.

For the fastest updates and ad-free reading, please visit.