Chapter 3950 — Blown Up by His Own Bomb

The only way out was the one he had named before: chop off his own left hand, the one being held. Unfortunately, Kang Zhaoming not only feared death but feared pain as well; even with two extra doses of courage he could never bring himself to do something so manly.

He could not break free no matter how he struggled, dared not cut off his own arm, and his little tricks were utterly useless. Watching the pill-fire bomb in his hand grow more and more violent by the moment, Kang Zhaoming's heart was in his throat.

Throwing all face to the winds, Kang Zhaoming cried out again and again, "I yield! I surrender! I voluntarily give up—will that do?"

Those words were not directed at Wei Zhao alone. From Wei Zhao's earlier attitude, Kang Zhaoming knew that even if he truly conceded, Wei Zhao might not grant him the chance. So he was really shouting for the crowd below the platform—and especially for Hu Yunfeng, Pavilion Master of the Welcome New Pavilion.

The moment the words left his mouth, an uproar swept the hall. Earlier, when Kang Zhaoming begged for mercy, he had deliberately lowered his voice, and they had not heard him clearly. But now he had shouted this out before everyone, and it was hard for anyone not to hear.

"This... am I hearing things? Kang Zhaoming actually surrendered?" The crowd exchanged looks, every face wearing a strange expression.

That Kang Zhaoming was no match for Wei Zhao, they had long expected. But this fellow was, after all, a newcomer backed jointly by Xu Lingchong and Pavilion Master Hu Yunfeng. Even if he cared nothing for his own face, surely he should care for the face of those above him! To be driven by Wei Zhao into begging and conceding before the crowd—that was simply too humiliating!

That was the truth of it. Pavilion Master Hu Yunfeng, who had always set great store by appearances, now wore a face as black as the bottom of a pot. Was this not Kang Zhaoming slapping him across the face in public?

Fortunately, Xu Lingchong was not present. The young master had been busy contending with Nantian Pass for the post of senior steward of the Chongtian Pavilion, and matters had recently reached a critical stage, so he had not come. Otherwise, had he been here, and Kang Zhaoming dared to shame him like this, the man would have been dead beyond any doubt!

Kang Zhaoming was no fool. Had Young Master Xu been present, he would likely have put on a different face—one of righteous indignation.

But as things stood now, no matter how displeased Hu Yunfeng was, so long as Kang Zhaoming shouted those words in public, Hu Yunfeng was obliged to step forward and protect him. Otherwise it would be a grave dereliction of duty.

Sure enough, though Hu Yunfeng's face stayed black, once he heard Kang Zhaoming's plea he flickered and appeared on the arena platform, saying in a loud, clear voice, "Since that is the case, this match ends here. Wei Zhao, you may let go."

With that, Hu Yunfeng fixed his eyes on Wei Zhao. Should Wei Zhao make the slightest improper move, he could use it as a pretext to strike and vent the fury in his heart.

Yet Wei Zhao merely paused a moment, then obligingly released his hold, saying indifferently, "Since Pavilion Master Hu has spoken, I shall show mercy and let you off. Whether you live or die, however, is up to your own luck."

As he spoke, before the crowd could react, Wei Zhao suddenly retreated at great speed. At the same time, Hu Yunfeng, also on the platform, changed expression and, without a word, flashed down from it.

Now only Kang Zhaoming remained on the arena platform. At first he thought his scheme had worked and felt rather lucky, but then he sensed something wrong: the pill-fire bomb in his hand was clearly on the verge of exploding.

Once he realized it, Kang Zhaoming's face filled with terror. He flung his hand about frantically, desperately trying to hurl the pill-fire bomb away, but before he could fully release it, the bomb burst with a bang.

Boom! The ground shook violently, and the faces of all below changed drastically. When the dust settled, more than half the arena platform had been destroyed.

The protective formation of the Welcome New Pavilion's arena platform was not, perhaps, of the highest grade, but the only one who had ever done such a thing before seemed to be Wei Zhao alone. Who would have thought that Kang Zhaoming, that spineless coward, was a ruthless character too!

With such power, only a freak like Wei Zhao could come off unscathed. Against any other newcomer present, it would surely have meant certain death, with no chance of survival.

This Kang Zhaoming fellow really did have some skill after all.

What they did not know was that this time, in order to secretly do Wei Zhao in, Kang Zhaoming had deliberately held back his pill-fire bomb for a long while, and its power had reached the limit of what he could produce. That was why it had gotten so out of hand that even he could not control it.

Now, thanks to that, the pill-fire bomb he had painstakingly nursed in secret had failed to blow up Wei Zhao—and had instead buried himself.

Originally, thanks to Pavilion Master Hu Yunfeng's intervention, Kang Zhaoming, though in dire peril, would still have had a chance to fling the pill-fire bomb away in time and escape unharmed.

Unfortunately, Wei Zhao gave him no such chance. At the instant he released his hold, he had secretly slipped a thread of true qi inside. If Kang Zhaoming could still hold on until the bomb left his hand, that would truly be a wonder to behold.

Having barely escaped one calamity, he had never expected to be played by Wei Zhao in the end after all. This time Kang Zhaoming was truly out of luck.

Like the others, Wei Zhao stared fixedly at the scene on the platform. He, too, was eager to know one thing now: whether Kang Zhaoming was dead or alive.

Given the present balance of strength between them, Kang Zhaoming could hardly pose a real threat to him anymore. But in view of all their past grudges, Wei Zhao would not mind taking this chance to do Kang Zhaoming in.

A moment later, someone with sharp eyes among the crowd spotted Kang Zhaoming in the ruins of the platform. His whole body was covered in wounds, and where the flesh had been torn open, patches of ghastly charred black showed amid the bright red—a sight truly too awful to behold.

Hu Yunfeng's eyelid twitched at the sight. However much Kang Zhaoming disgraced him, the man was, after all, someone Xu Lingchong had instructed him to cultivate and promote. If he simply let him die here, it would be hard to answer to Xu Lingchong afterward.

With a flicker of movement, Hu Yunfeng appeared beside Kang Zhaoming and carefully checked his breathing. He found that the man was breathing out more than he was taking in, clearly on the verge of death—but fortunately, one last breath remained.

Hu Yunfeng hesitated a moment, then gritted his teeth and drew from his robe a top-grade fourth-rank Great Restoration Pill, feeding it to Kang Zhaoming. Precious as a fourth-rank Great Restoration Pill was, if it could buy back Kang Zhaoming's life, it would not only be a life-saving favor to the man himself, but also, crucially, put Xu Lingchong in his debt. All in all, it was well worth it.

Watching this, Wei Zhao could not help silently lamenting the lost chance. This time he had finally had a rare opportunity to openly do Kang Zhaoming in, and once this chance was gone, it would be a long while before another came his way. R1152

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