However—
Things didn't go the way the Fu siblings had imagined.
From the moment the fight started, Ji Zhang had been hiding nearby instead of staying behind in the Xiao Kingdom like they thought.
But as Ji Zhang secretly watched from the shadows, he hadn't expected the Fu siblings to crumble so quickly. In just a few moves, they were easily defeated, and even Fu Linglong ended up as Wei Tu's prisoner.
"Wei Tu's strength is no joke. He's even stronger now than when he defeated Situ Yang on Shengya Mountain more than ten years ago."
Ji Zhang looked conflicted. Right now, he wasn't sure if he should stick to his original plan of swooping in like a hero to rescue Fu Linglong and win her heart.
After all, the plan had hit a snag.
First, Wei Tu's power was way beyond what the intel had suggested.
Ji Zhang guessed that without using his trump cards, he could at best fight Wei Tu to a draw, with the odds of victory being fifty-fifty.
Second, instead of seriously injuring Fu Linglong during the fight, Wei Tu had just steamrolled her and captured her alive.
That meant if he tried to rescue her, there was a real risk that Wei Tu might kill her on the spot.
The first issue was annoying but manageable.
But the second one could make all his efforts go down the drain, leaving him with nothing.
"Find a weakness… strike later…"
Even though he felt anxious, Ji Zhang forced himself to calm down. As the leader of the Six Desires Sect, he had solid mental fortitude.
But a moment later—
He noticed Fu Linglong in Wei Tu's arms, her face twisted in pain as she let out faint, shaky breaths… and Ji Zhang's expression started to contort. He was growing restless.
He didn't love Fu Linglong that deeply, but he had always seen her as his own possession—someone no one else was allowed to defile.
Now, with Wei Tu taking full advantage of Fu Linglong, how could he, her so-called "Dao companion," just keep hiding in the dark, saying nothing?
"Even if the plan changed, giving up some benefits now to rescue Linglong… the outcome wouldn't be too different."
Ji Zhang's mind was spinning fast as he thought it through.
When it came down to it, his true goal for coming to the Chu Kingdom wasn't just to show off in front of Fu Linglong, but to dual cultivate with her so he'd have a better chance of surviving the "Spirit Awakening" tribulation of the Nascent Soul's three thresholds.
Sure, giving up benefits would feel humiliating. But it would also mean he'd saved Fu Linglong's life.
And besides, Fu Linglong was already smitten with him…
So with both those things combined, she probably wouldn't resist dual cultivation too much.
With that decided, Ji Zhang stopped hesitating. He flicked his sleeve and shot off toward the battlefield.
"Wei Tu, don't you dare act so arrogantly—Ji Zhang is here!"
"Let Linglong go, now!"
As he flew, Ji Zhang amplified his voice with his magic power, shouting the words loud and clear.
In the distance, Fu Linglong's face lit up with surprise as she heard those words.
It felt like a ray of light breaking through the darkness.
She never expected that Ji Zhang, who had seemed to cut ties with her on the surface, had actually never given up on her after she left Tianyi Sect. He had been secretly watching over her all along.
And now, in her most dangerous moment, he had stepped forward!
"Boss is here!" Fu Dalu was thrilled inside too.
With Ji Zhang joining them, the three of them together could definitely turn the situation around.
After all, Ji Zhang's strength at the peak of the Golden Core stage was in a league of its own, far beyond the average cultivator.
Even someone as powerful as Wang Tianwu could only fight Ji Zhang to a draw.
"So this is Ji Zhang?" Wei Tu's expression stayed calm. He glanced at the imposing man flying toward him and let a mocking smile tug at his lips.
Ji Zhang's appearance fit Wei Tu's earlier guess about the Fu siblings' strength, but where he showed up was completely different from what Wei Tu had expected.
Earlier, the reason Wei Tu changed his battle plan, acting faster than Yu Gongshou's trio to unleash his power and capture Fu Linglong so quickly—besides using some weird soul-type techniques—was because he was worried Ji Zhang might be lurking nearby, waiting to launch a surprise attack.
Just the thought of an assassination attempt by a peak Golden Core expert had sent chills down Wei Tu's spine.
But the reality was unexpected.
Ji Zhang hadn't appeared near the battlefield but instead revealed himself more than 20 li away.
The difference in where he showed up meant something, and with Wei Tu's wealth of combat experience, he understood immediately.
It meant that from the start, the Fu siblings' ambush plan never included Ji Zhang's strength as part of their strategy.
Was it neglect? Or did they have some other arrangement?
Impossible!
Ji Zhang's power far surpassed the Fu siblings', and he could completely change the outcome of a fight.
There was no way they would send someone like Ji Zhang far from the battlefield just to cover their rear when they already held the advantage.
Wei Tu guessed that Ji Zhang's sudden arrival was probably unknown to the Fu siblings.
"This is the Chu Kingdom—Ji Zhang couldn't have just happened to pass by. So how did he manage to appear right in time to rescue the Fu siblings…"
Wei Tu narrowed his eyes, sensing there was a lot more to Ji Zhang's sudden appearance.
Thinking of this, Wei Tu activated the sub-disk of the "Dinggui Compass" hidden in his sleeve and sent a message to Yu Gongshou's trio, telling them to slow down and not rush to his location.
After all, both Ji Zhang and the Fu siblings weren't ordinary bandits. They had the support of two major sects behind them—Jinglian Convent and Tianyi Sect.
If he exposed the identities of Yu Gongshou's group too soon, the chances of Guangyuan Yu Clan following through on their promise to help him would drop sharply.
They might protect his safety, but they definitely wouldn't stick around to kill powerful bandits like Ji Zhang and the Fu siblings.
But that outcome was something Wei Tu had already anticipated.
The only reason he spent a fortune to hire Guangyuan Yu Clan as bodyguards was for two purposes.
First, to guard against Ji Zhang.
This man was no weakling—his cultivation was a full realm above Wei Tu's, sitting at the peak of the Golden Core stage.
Second, to protect against things spiraling out of control, like an enemy Nascent Soul ancestor showing up…
But now that he had captured Fu Linglong alive, Ji Zhang and Fu Dalu wouldn't dare attack him recklessly as long as he kept her unharmed.
That meant he was currently safe, and there was no need to drag Guangyuan Yu Clan into this and complicate things further.
As the saying goes, the scariest moment for your enemy isn't when you throw a punch, but when you clench your fist.
For Wei Tu, having Yu Gongshou's trio stay hidden right now was better than having them show up.
The same logic applied to Ji Zhang.
The version of Ji Zhang Wei Tu feared wasn't the one standing in the open now, but the one lurking in the dark earlier, ready to strike at any moment.
As long as Yu Gongshou's trio stayed out of sight, Ji Zhang and the Fu siblings wouldn't know where Guangyuan Yu Clan stood—were they just pretending to care, ignoring the fight, or truly supporting Wei Tu?
That uncertainty was Wei Tu's bargaining chip right now.
Whether to advance or retreat, the choice was his!