Chapter 1501 — Yang Qiqi Meets an Enemy
True qi taken from another's body had to undergo conversion a second time before Zhang Nai Pao could make use of it, and since the original energies differed from one person to the next, some loss occurred in the converting. Depending on how pure the other party's energy was, the loss varied as well.
The true qi he had absorbed from Wei Zhao had been exceedingly pure, which was what let Zhang Nai Pao leap straight from the peak of the mid Profound Rank to the late Profound Rank. But the true qi of this trial participant at the peak of the late Profound Rank was far from pure. So although the man's strength surpassed even Wei Zhao's, once Zhang Nai Pao drew it into his body, the efficiency of turning it into true qi of his own was not high—it benefited him only slightly.
As for his talk of being on the verge of another breakthrough, that was nothing but bluster to overawe the others.
That cultivator at the peak of the late Profound Rank, given a single push by Zhang Nai Pao, staggered and dropped to the ground. A flicker of regret crossed his eyes—but by then, regret had come too late.
Once he had gathered up the spoils, Zhang Nai Pao departed with the two brothers, Zhuangniao Pao and Zhuangniao Qiang. These people had lost their value; he was off to find other squads and seize their spoils.
"I'm sorry... the way things were then, we had no way to step in...
" After Zhang Nai Pao had gone, the cultivator at the early Profound Rank who had belonged to the same squad as that crippled trial participant at the peak of the late Profound Rank spoke to him with some shame: "Back then, I saw with my own eyes how Zhang Nai Pao dealt with Ling Yi. I knew we were no match for him... and by the time I thought to hold you back, it was already too late..."
"Never mind... it's my own fault for being so rash, for leaning on my peak late Profound Rank strength and underestimating Zhang Nai Pao. I've no one to blame but myself!" the crippled trial participant at the peak of the late Profound Rank said with a bitter smile. He had no way to lay fault at another's door; he could only blame himself for being careless, for being too impulsive.
"Let's go. We'll keep searching for heavenly treasures. Don't worry—whatever we get, we'll set aside a share for you!" Everyone felt a measure of guilt over what had happened. Both squads were now penniless, which left no further grounds for quarrel; better to band together and set out once more in search of spirit herbs...
Yang Qiqi carefully cut down the snow lingzhi. The instant she tucked it into her pack, the score card gave two more beeps, and the number on it began to climb at a furious pace.
In the blink of an eye it had passed one hundred... two hundred... three hundred... and still it had not stopped!
Yang Qiqi's eyes went wide. She had never imagined she would truly stumble into such fortune—that she had actually picked up a treasure. This snow lingzhi was likely far more than a mere hundred years old!
Five hundred... six hundred... one thousand... one thousand and five! At last the number on the score card came to rest at one thousand and five, which meant that this one snow lingzhi had earned Yang Qiqi a full thousand points.
A thousand points! Did they have any idea how many ordinary heavenly treasures it took to pile up that much? The eight-leaf grass from before had been worth a mere five points.
What was more, scarcely half a day of the trial had gone by—and Yang Qiqi was instantly brimming with confidence. She was certain that so long as her luck did not turn too sour, and she could find a few more ordinary heavenly treasures, passing the Ice Palace trial ought to pose no trouble at all.
"Wonderful!" Yang Qiqi found that the wounds on her legs and arms no longer pained her much; every fiber of her being surged with fighting spirit.
"Little girl, what's so wonderful?" Suddenly, from behind Yang Qiqi came a cold, sneering voice.
"Who's there?" Yang Qiqi turned without thinking—and saw the three people she least wanted to see. Zhuangniao Pao, Zhuangniao Qiang, and Zhang Nai Pao!
On the road to Ice Snow Spirit Town, this Zhuangniao Pao had leered and dallied with her, which left Yang Qiqi with a very poor impression of him. If she had not known her own skills might fall short of theirs, Yang Qiqi would long since have struck down these scoundrels.
"Why, it's your Brother Pao here... and your Lord Pao as well!" No sooner had Zhuangniao Pao said this than he recalled that Zhang Nai Pao was standing right there, so he tacked on the last part.
"What do you want?" Yang Qiqi asked instinctively.
"Little girl, aren't you full of yourself? Aren't you above giving us the time of day? Now I'll show you the price of looking down on us!" Zhuangniao Pao said with a cold laugh. "Out here, this is my world! I'll play you to death..."
But no sooner had the words left his mouth than Zhuangniao Pao noticed that Yang Qiqi was drenched in fresh blood—on her body, on her legs, a truly frightful sight. He could not help cursing his luck under his breath. He had meant to have his sport with Yang Qiqi during the trial, but her wretched, bloodied state snuffed out his interest on the spot.
Who would want to take their pleasure with a woman steeped in blood?
"Damn it, what did you do to yourself? You're covered in blood!" Zhuangniao Pao asked, none too pleased.
"What's it to you?" Yang Qiqi said, watching the three of them warily.
"Count yourself lucky. Hand over the spoils you're carrying, and Lord Pao will let you off—won't do you in," Zhuangniao Pao said, waving a hand in impatience.
"And why should I!" Yang Qiqi instinctively clutched her pack tighter. She had won this through bitter toil; how could she simply hand it over with both hands? Absolutely impossible!
"Why should you? If you don't want to die, hand it over!" Zhuangniao Pao barked.
"In your dreams!" Yang Qiqi cried out, then roused her lightness skill and whirled to flee.
But Yang Qiqi had forgotten that her leg was already wounded; her once formidable lightness skill was now gravely impaired. She had not run more than a few steps before the pain in her leg nearly sent her crashing to the ground.
Yet though she got off to no slow start, someone else was faster still.
In the blink of an eye, Zhang Nai Pao stood not far in front of Yang Qiqi—so fast it made the tongue click in wonder.
This was also the first time Zhang Nai Pao had revealed any ability of his beyond the Bee-Absorbing Divine Art. He was not limited to that single skill; the Chrysanthemum Treasure Manual held other techniques besides, only Zhang Nai Pao ordinarily never used them.
The other techniques were nowhere near as practical as the Bee-Absorbing Divine Art, which could convert another's strength into his own—to Zhang Nai Pao, it was nothing short of a cheat for cultivation.
Of course, even so, Zhang Nai Pao could not simply go about absorbing strength from whomever he pleased; that would make him the common enemy of the other ancient sects. They might not be able to destroy the Tomorrow Upon Tomorrow sect, but destroying one Zhang Nai Pao would be easy enough.