As Zhao Yao didn't have any time to think, he instinctively jumped backward, trying to dodge the attack.
Still, Zhao Wei's claw gantlet scraped his chest, adding force to his backward jump. After hitting the ground, and Zhao Yao rolled backward, trying to gain time and distance between them.
The claw hurt him internally, but it somehow didn't manage to injure him. Only then he remembered that his Master was protecting him.
The strike to kill brought out the fear in Zhao Yao, making him want to dodge subconsciously. Rubbing his chest, Zhao Yao tried to keep his eyes on Zhao Wei.
'Master. You have to help me.' Zhao Yao immediately requested his Master's aid in defeating Zhao Wei.
'This is your fight. Since you two are youngsters of similar age, I don't want to be involved in this,' Immortal Lu discarded his disciple's call for help.
'But, he is way stronger than me. I can't defeat him.' Zhao Yoa panicked.
'You provoked him and manipulated him to try killing you. So it's all on you.' Immortal Lu replied.
Zhao Yao was in a tight situation, and he didn't have time to think thoroughly. He realized that his Master could be trying to punish him for his overreliance on his Master. Zhao Yao doubted that his Master believed he could defeat someone who was a realm above him.
"Why don't you bring out the cultivation you are hiding all this time?" Zhao Wei whispered while smiling. "Zhao Yao, we always show concern about your pathetic crippled existence. So, we check on you occasionally and it's was disappointing to see that you didn't have any cultivation last week."
"You..." Zhao Yao acted exaggeratedly to show that he was afraid even though he really felt a bit of fear. Zhao Wei enjoyed seeing the fear in Zhao Yao, and this gave some valuable time for Zhao Yao.
'Master, you will not let your disciple die, amputated, or get seriously injured, right?' Zhao Yao asked, using this extra time.
'Yes.'
Zhao Yao felt like crying after he heard his Master's reply because he knew what that meant.
'You won't let my father's cultivation robe be destroyed, right?' Zhao Yao tried to negotiate.
'Hmm...I will do that.'
Zhao Wei used his claw strikes attack, but this time, Zhao Yao stood up, facing his opponent's claws head-on.
Zhao Wei's hands were fast, and before Zhao Yao could block them, it hit. This time Zhao Wei aimed for the neck.
"Clang." Zhao Yao was again forced to fall. The impact on his neck made it difficult for him to breathe. But despite the pain, he was relieved to see that he wasn't injured in the slightest, at least externally.
'Master will protect me. But without any offensive power, I will only become a good punching bag.' Zhao Yao hated the idea. He wasn't masochistic, and he had no interest in being a BDSM receiver. 'Damn.'
Zhao Wei kicked the fallen Zhao Yao and then pulled him up. "Your treasure robe is good. How long does it last? I have treasure breaking skills."
"I would like to see that." Zhao Yao said as he punched Zhao Wei. It was like he hit an iron wall as the thin Zhao Wei stood unaffected.
Zhao Yao tried to kick this time, but the quick Zhao Wei kicked him faster.
Zhao Wei grabbed the hand that punched him with his claws and twisted it.
"Arghh." Zhao Yao endured the pain as blood spurted from his body for the first time.
"See. I don't have time to spend. So, let's break your treasure robe and get this over with." Zhao Wei said friendly.
Zhao Yao didn't reply as he tried to contact his Master. 'Master, he is way stronger than me. Are you going to let your disciple tortured like this? You could take me and escape from here, right?'
'Of course. I can take you away whenever you want.' Immortal Lu replied.
"Armor tearing Tiger claws." As Zhao Yao spoke in his mind, Zhao Wei released a lot more Qi and unleashed a powerful claw strike on Zhao Yao.
The strike was fast that Zhao Yao couldn't respond to it. The power behind the strike sent Zhao Yao spinning and he lost consciousness for a couple of seconds.
When Zhao Yao recovered a bit, he felt disoriented and his body churned badly.
Zhao Yao spat blood as he wriggled on the ground in pain. Fire surrounded him in three directions.
"Sss..shh." It was like the fire was calling him with whistles as it burned and grew with each second. His right side had heavy fire as there was a large quantity of wood and clothes in that area.
'Do you want me to take you away? You only suffered some internal injuries. That kid fully unleashed his hidden cultivation to give you that strike and destroy the 'treasure' robe.' Master said.
'By the way, that Su clan Leader is fine. That servant he brought was a lot powerful. They called him a Half Martial King or something.'
The news brought by his Master brought back Zhao Yao to consciousness. It was great to hear that Uncle Su was fine. He thought that Old Chen was strong. But he didn't consider him to be someone who was on the verge of breaking through to become a Martial King. Like all cultivation novels, the crossing the border meant huge strength gains.
Not many get stuck in between and get called Half Martial King. It's a rare phenomenon among cultivators.
Now he think about it, everything made sense. The Demonic Guardian and the Zhao Clan's protective formation detected and prevented any Martial Kings from entering. The formation prevented any unauthorized Martial Lords from entering anywhere other than the main door. So a Half step Martial King was a perfect support Uncle Su could bring to protect himself in the Zhao Clan. But if the clan wants to kill him, then it was unlikely he will survive even with multiple Martial Kings.
There is hope.
He had written many MC's facing the death crisis many times. He unapologetically used 'plot armor' to make them survive most of the time whether the audience liked it or not.
'I am the hero of my story. And why shouldn't I fight? If there is a will, there is always a way. And, no one will have a 'plot armor' that is strong and solid as my Master.' Zhao Yao smiled despite still feeling pain all over him.
Original Zhao Yao had some physical training, but he lacked real combat experience. Earthborn Zhao Yao wasn't a Martial Artist, but he survived in the streets. He fought in the street's way. People interpret it the dirty way, but it was the way of survival.
Zhao Yao could escape just with a wish. But he didn't want to flee like a dog after all the sufferings and pain he endured. At least not at the hands of this spy bastard. He considered the ones who faked friendship to be among the worst type of humans.
With his Master, his life will be in no danger. As long as he could find a way to beat Zhao Wei, he didn't care about the amount of pain he will suffer.
Pain. Zhao Yao didn't enjoy it. He had endured it a lot. And, he was not afraid of it.
"You still alive?" Zhao Wei stood in front of him, readying his claws. "I can't waste time on you. The flames are everywhere now."
Without waiting for him to strike, Zhao Yao tried to stand up.
Flames. 'Yes, I know how to beat you.'
Zhao Wei himself had given Zhao Yao the idea for his defeat.
Zhao Yao stumbled backward in his attempts to stand.
As Zhao Wei came closer, Zhao Yao stepped to the left with faltering steps.
"I will save you from 'burning to death.'" Zhao Wei stood where Zhao Yao initially laid.
"No. I actually prefer death by fire. And let's go together." Zhao Yao rushed forward, and spear tackled Zhao Wei.
Despite spending a good amount of Qi in his early armor breaking skill, Zhao Wei easily stopped him and used his elbow to shatter Zhao Yao's back.
Enduring the blow, Zhao Yao was forced to bend down, and he came face to face with his target spot.
"Sledgehammer." Zhao Yao unleashed his trump card. Using half of the Qi that he recovered so far, Zhao Yao aimed to damage Zhao Wei's genitals.
"You have Qi? The treasure gives you Qi?" Zhao Wei's higher cultivation and abundant Qi prevented him from taking any damage. But the weird sensation, and the surprise of the dirty attack, must have made him instinctively jump backward.
Zhao Yao used this opportunity to his advantage.
Using all the remaining Qi into his legs, he sprang up, tackling Zhao Wei in midair.
Mustering all his strength, Zhao Yao held Zhao Wei and sprang into the flame engulfed right side.
"You crazy bastard." Zhao Wei hit Zhao Yao's face damaging him severely.
Immortal Lu, maybe after moved by Zhao Yao's determination to win, increased the damage reduction, thus helping Zhao Yao to fare better in enduring the strikes. The spilled blood or cuts in his face didn't bother Zhao Yao.
Taking the hits like a champ, biting down the pain, Zhao Yao was focused.
He had a goal. And a way to defeat Zhao Wei.
Zhao Yao never let go of Zhao Wei's legs even after the flame swallowed them.
"You idiot. You will be burnt to death." Zhao Wei grabbed Zhao Yao's neck and started to strangle him to death. Zhao Yao used his opponent's focus on killing him to roll more into the flame.
It took Zhao Wei more than a minute to realize that he couldn't strangle Zhao Yao to the death.
He was using his Qi to prevent the flame from burning him.
Despite being a Foundation Establishment 3rd layer cultivator, his Qi amount wasn't limitless.
Zhao Yao, despite the dizziness and blindness, used the time to climb onto Zhao Wei and grapple him. Clasping his legs on his opponent's legs, Zhao Yao used his newly freed arms to throw seemingly fruitless blows.
With time, Zhao Wei's strikes reduced in strength, while Zhao Yao was enhanced in ferocity. He savagely continued to attack Zhao Wei's weak points.
"You turtle bastard. You are trying to waste away my Qi?" Zhao Wei, who thought Zhao Yao will get burnt to death, only realized the later's plan then.
He was unafraid of the fire and tried to use his strength to kill Zhao Yao, which further burnt his Qi.
Zhao Wei used his arms to free Zhao Yao's grapple hold on his legs. But Zhao Yao prevented it by using his own hands.
Zhao Wei felt the impending danger started to crawl to escape the fire. But the fire had spread further with the minute and dragging the holding Zhao Yao made it harder for him.
"Zhao Wei." Zhao Yao called "I can't wait to die. Can you kill me, please."
"What are you? How can you survive this long and not die despite all these?" Zhao Wei turned to ask.
"I am a turtle, and this is a battle of endurance. Let's see who will last. I dare you to kill me. If you can't, beg me, maybe I will show you mercy and save you from a fate of getting burnt to death." Zhao Yao had opened his eyes and realized his Master was protecting it too. He talked to Zhao Wei distract him, and after getting a clear guess on his face, he aimed for the eyes.
"Poke-hammer." Zhao Yao used the slight amount of Qi, he regained to poke Zhao Wei's right eye. Zhao Yao improvised his beloved Sledgehammer skill to this mini finger-friendly version.
The surprise element, along with the weakened Qi, made it very easier for Zhao Yao's nearly level 2 skill to break through Zhao Wei's Qi layered eyelids. Breaking the Qi protection, the finger wreaked destruction in the soft body sensory organ.
Their roles had been switched. The one who instilled pain on Zhao Yao was the one who was going to feel pain from now on.
Hearing his childhood friend wreathing loudly in pain for the first time, Zhao Yao snickered.
And it brought some nostalgia as well. 'It has been a while since I fought like this.'