Xu Yi's thoughts stirred. "By your reasoning, I only beat you because I took the God-Beating Whip from you. If I return it, what can you do then?"
Zhang Fang spat. "Spare me the bluster. With my whip in hand, how many blows do you think you can withstand? I can tell there's some strange restriction inside you, but the God-Beating Whip still inflicted tremendous damage. Your restriction can only defend passively, and it won't activate until the damage reaches your divine embryo. How many lashes can your body take?"
He had already accepted that he would die, so he wasn't about to lose a war of words.
Xu Yi flew into a rage. "If you refuse to accept defeat, I'll return the God-Beating Whip to you, and we'll fight again—"
He stopped short before he could finish.
Zhang Fang sneered. "Very well. If you can beat me again, I, Zhang, will concede wholeheartedly."
Xu Yi coughed, turned, and walked away.
Zhang Fang scoffed. "All bark and no bite."
Xu Yi suddenly stopped. "I was only bluffing. You really want to fight me?"
Zhang Fang froze. Right—given how devious this man was, why would he leave such an obvious opening for him to seize?
But why had he admitted outright that he was bluffing? Had he really been bluffing, or had he simply let the truth slip?
After all, even the cleverest people got confused sometimes.
But why would he bluff me? I'm already in his hands. He can kill me or torture me as he pleases.
That's it. He let the truth slip and couldn't take it back, so he claimed he was bluffing. It has to be that.
As he reasoned it out, Zhang Fang himself never realized what role his buried will to live was playing.
One