"Brother Qi, stand down. In all my life, no matter how strong my enemies were or how many there were, I never fought them alongside anyone."
The short elder waved a hand and spoke indifferently.
The black-faced middle-aged man stiffened. Just as he was about to speak, the short elder's expression darkened. "What? Do I have to say it twice?"
The black-faced middle-aged man gave an awkward laugh and leaped aside. "Very well. I'll see what Brother Gao can do."
The short elder snorted and pointed at Xu Yi and the others. "All of you, come at me together. Hurry up and make your move. Once I strike, you won't get another chance."
Xu Yi threw back his head and laughed. "I had no idea that, besides the Great Sun Dharma King, Central City had another powerhouse with such sky-splitting ambitions. Excellent. You're worthy of making me take action."
As he spoke, he slowly took off his cloak and tossed it to Xiong Bei Ming. He stretched his chest and fixed his gaze on the short elder. "Are you ready? I'm about to make my move."
"If you're going to fight, then fight. Why all the blather?"
The black-faced middle-aged man snapped. He could hardly stand to watch. He'd known for ages that the short elder loved to put on the airs of an unrivaled expert, but now he'd run into another one. With two oddballs like these facing off, they'd probably keep up their act until they'd exhausted every last pose before finally fighting.
But just as his urging fell, the short elder suddenly stumbled three steps back, his face full of terror, as if he'd seen the Nine Netherworld King in broad daylight. "I-I'm not... ready..."
The black-faced middle-aged man frantically dug at his ears, suspecting he'd misheard.