"You dare, wench!" Wan Zhen roared, swinging his palm towards Xiao Yan’s head.
At this critical moment, Xiao Yan, disregarding her own safety, suddenly twisted the dagger hilt, violently stirring it inside Wan Zhen’s abdomen.
Only then did Xiao Yan quickly retreat backward.
But even so, the palm’s force still affected Xiao Yan, and her face turned ashen.
Yet despite this, Xiao Yan’s eyes remained filled with a sense of satisfaction.
Because the injury Wan Zhen suffered was far worse than hers.
The stirring just now severed many of his vital organs inside the abdomen.
This could be seen from the dark, blackish blood flowing from the wound.
Wan Zhen did not dare pull out the dagger, as that would only cause the blood loss to accelerate.
He glared at Xiao Yan with uncontrollable rage, "Wench, you actually colluded with outsiders to betray your master and ancestors?"
"Pfft, what kind of master are you?" Xiao Yan spat fiercely, her face full of resentment and malice.
"Don’t think I don’t know what you’ve been secretly doing to me. If not for your constant underhanded tactics, I would have established my Dantian foundation long ago. Am I wrong?"
"So you knew all along," Wan Zhen said, his face darkening.
"You think I’m an idiot? At first, I submitted to you, hoping to rely on your strength to assist me in my Meridian Opening. But to my surprise, you, this old wretch, turned out to be so despicable, repeatedly sabotaging my progress and making empty promises just to keep me under control. You feared that after I achieved the Dao and opened my meridians, you would lose control over me, right?"
"But this time I really intended to help you develop your meridians!" Wan Zhen shouted.
"Ha, ha, who would believe that? You’re probably up to some sneaky ideas again, sabotaging my Meridian Opening opportunities to make me your slave forever. So I’ve long wanted to get rid of you, I just never had the chance."
"But Heaven opened its eyes, and today I happened upon this opportunity, so no matter what, I must kill you first."
Saying this, Xiao Yan looked at Zhao Ya, "My friend, our interests align at this moment. Want to cooperate?"
Zhao Ya had been watching the drama unfold from the sidelines.
This unexpected turn of events had also taken Zhao Ya by surprise.
After hearing the conversation between this ’master and disciple’ pair, Zhao Ya finally understood what was going on.
No wonder Xiao Yan risked everything to ambush Wan Zhen. Being controlled by him, and repeatedly hindered from advancing, was an unbearable grudge for anyone.
So when she heard Xiao Yan’s invitation, Zhao Ya smiled slightly.
"Of course!"
At this point, Wan Zhen had no fighting spirit left.
Even without mentioning the sneak attack he suffered, Zhao Ya alone was already hard enough to deal with.
Now, with Xiao Yan added to the mix, he was completely at a disadvantage.
So to save his life, Wan Zhen cast a venomous glance at both Zhao Ya and Xiao Yan before turning to leave.
"Don’t let him get away!" Xiao Yan shouted anxiously.
She had actually been observing from afar for a while, and only after ensuring that Zhao Ya indeed had a chance of winning did she make up her mind to launch the ambush.
Because this was her only chance.
Given Wan Zhen’s current status and position, combined with his seclusion deep in the mountains, he seemed unbeatable.
This was why she had been enduring until now.
If Wan Zhen escaped today, she would be doomed.
Zhao Ya didn’t need Xiao Yan’s reminder. There was no way he was letting Wan Zhen off.
He leapt forward in pursuit.
Xiao Yan followed closely behind.
The trio rushed out of the manor, running into the mountains and forests.
Wan Zhen was incredibly fast, being a Meridian Opening Realm expert with four meridians opened, even severely wounded, he remained formidable.
But fast as he was, Zhao Ya was faster.
In full form, Zhao Ya’s speed was like the wind, drawing ever closer to Wan Zhen.
Hearing the sound of someone rapidly closing in behind, Wan Zhen felt a chill run down his spine and couldn’t help but shout out.
"Boy, it’s wise to forgive. Aren’t you afraid of both of us getting hurt and letting that wench take advantage?"
This was Wan Zhen’s psychological tactic.
But Zhao Ya was unfazed, not that he looked down on Xiao Yan.
With Zhao Ya’s current strength, even if Xiao Yan attacked with full force, she might not break his defense.
So he kept silent, focusing solely on pursuit.
Wan Zhen was extremely frustrated, the dagger in his left rib causing increasing pain, and with all the exertion, the bleeding had resumed.
Wan Zhen knew he would die if he kept running.
So he made a desperate decision, suddenly skidding to a stop and lunging at Zhao Ya.
As he lunged, Wan Zhen’s eyes seemed to burn like wildfire, brilliantly intense, his aura surging intensely.
"Be careful, this is one of his secret techniques," Xiao Yan called out loudly from far behind as she saw this.
Zhao Ya was ready.
These Meridian Opening Realm experts often possessed secret techniques to forcibly burn Qi Blood or potential, temporarily boosting their strength.
Just like Jin Cunyue before, Wan Zhen was likely no exception.
So seeing Wan Zhen lunge, Zhao Ya didn’t confront him head-on but used his superior body technique to engage in a tactical fight.
Zhao Ya knew well that time was on his side.
If enough time passed, just the wound on Wan Zhen’s rib would be enough to end him.