Chapter 2799 — The Rejected Yang Qiqi

All night long, under Mo Ba's protection, he pressed on with the circulation of his heart method and oral formulas, and by the first light of the next morning, Zhang Naipao had finally broken through and set foot upon the Heaven Rank.

Above the Xuandan Sect inn, a vast surge of heaven-and-earth spiritual energy came flooding in. The cultivators lodging within the inn all knew this was the sign of someone about to break through—but who could be so fortunate as to break through at a time like this?

Others might not know, but Wei Zhao was somewhat surprised, for in the dining hall, the only ones he could recall as absent were Zhang Naipao and his subordinates. Could it be that Zhang Naipao had broken through?

"Have you heard? At the last trial in the Ice Palace, someone broke through—they say it was Zhang Naipao of the Tomorrow Upon Tomorrow Sect. And now someone's broken through again. What a coincidence," said a disciple from Fire Flame Mountain at a nearby table.

"I know Zhang Naipao. He's already arrived—I saw his name at the sign-in desk by the entrance. But he's not in the dining hall right now. Could the one breaking through this time be him again?" said a disciple from the Dark Night Palace beside the Fire Flame Mountain disciple, greatly astonished.

"Then it must be him. I'm afraid the one breaking through this time is Zhang Naipao again." The Fire Flame Mountain disciple from before nodded. "The Tomorrow Upon Tomorrow Sect—their foundations are plain for all to see. We can't envy that. And I hear Zhang Naipao is a core disciple, while the rest of us are just disciples who came to earn merit and gain benefits from the trial. It's not the same..."

"That's true enough, but I heard that at the last Ice Palace trial, besides Zhang Naipao, another person also advanced a rank. They say that person is quite formidable too—Zhang Naipao was wounded by him. I wonder if he's come?" This speaker was a disciple from the Endless Western Sea.

"We'd best discuss these things as little as possible. Though we all come from the ancient plane, it would be trouble if the Ice Palace disciples overheard us." The Fire Flame Mountain disciple from before gave a warning, telling him not to bring up the strife at the Ice Palace last time.

"What's there to fear? The Ice Palace and our Endless Western Sea are both water-element cultivators, of the same lineage. They'll give us some face, at least," the Endless Western Sea disciple said indifferently.

Wei Zhao heard their conversation clearly from where he sat. In truth, the tables here were all quite close together, and among the cultivators present, few were of the Mystic Rank—most were Earth Rank or above, even Heaven Rank. To make out what was being said at another table was simplicity itself.

The Xuandan Sect had changed the rank standards for trial participants, so naturally the cultivators sent by the various sects were no longer limited to the Mystic Rank. To improve their odds of winning, most sects sent disciples of comparatively high strength, the better to secure their chances.

It seemed, however, that news of him had not spread. The ancient plane knew only that such a thing had happened, but his identity remained unclear to them.

Before long, Yang Qiqi walked into the dining hall—except that by now there were no empty tables left. At every table sat cultivators in twos and threes, all acquaintances. After buying her breakfast, Yang Qiqi meant to find any empty seat and sit down, but when she came to a table and was about to sit, the two cultivators already seated there immediately glared at her in fury. Yang Qiqi wanted to flare up but dared not, and could only look for another place.

After all, the cultivators here were basically all stronger than Yang Qiqi—how could she possibly be their match?

Yang Qiqi tried two more tables, and the cultivators there were equally unfriendly, shouting at her to leave.

These disciples of the ancient plane all kept to their own small circles. Only disciples from sects on good terms with one another would sit together, and outsiders were kept firmly at bay. Moreover, cultivators who had reached this level of strength generally no longer felt such urgent need for beauty.

No one would look twice at Yang Qiqi merely because she was a pretty girl. In these disciples' eyes, there was only cultivation and profit; as for beauties, they were but passing clouds.

Yang Qiqi was thoroughly dejected. She had not expected that after sleeping in, there would be no seats left in the dining hall—and what galled her most was that the cultivators here were all so hard to get along with. She was all alone, without even a place to sit!

"May I sit here?" This time Yang Qiqi had learned her lesson. At the next table, she asked politely.

"No," said the Endless Western Sea disciple at the table beside Wei Zhao, coldly. Clearly they were still very much on guard against cultivators they did not know.

Unless one was someone like Feng Shihua, who loved making friends far and wide, or weak cultivators like those two from the Dark Night Palace, everyone had their own circle and would not readily accept newcomers.

Rejected so mercilessly, Yang Qiqi was on the verge of tears. Holding her tray, she could neither leave nor stay. Clinging to a last hope, she decided to try Wei Zhao's table—and if that failed too, she would squat in a corner, bolt her food, and hurry back to her room. She truly felt she had the worst luck in the world.

"May I sit here?" Yang Qiqi asked listlessly.

"You may. But once you've eaten and got your strength back, don't turn around and try to kill me," Wei Zhao said with a smile, glancing at Yang Qiqi.

"Ah—ah—ah—you're Wei Zhao?" Yang Qiqi's eyes went wide. She had never imagined she would run into Wei Zhao here of all places. She felt an urge to burst into tears—who would have thought the one who finally took her in would be her sworn enemy, Wei Zhao.

"I am Wei Zhao, but there's no need to make such a fuss, is there?" Wei Zhao looked at Yang Qiqi, somewhat speechless. This cool girl was far too shocked.

"Wonderful, wonderful—I've finally run into someone I know." Yang Qiqi was close to tears of relief as she set her tray on the table. If she had not run into Wei Zhao, she would have had to squat in a corner to eat or carry her breakfast back to her room.

"Brother Lin, aren't you going to introduce us?" Feng Shihua, who loved making friends above all, asked Wei Zhao with a smile.

"This is my... well, how should I put it—friend and enemy both, I suppose. Her name is Yang Qiqi. She's a lone cultivator too, and a fine external-school practitioner. By the way, what rank are you now?" Wei Zhao did not know Yang Qiqi's current rank; she was an external-school expert, and he could not tell.

"Still at the peak of the late Mystic Rank..." Yang Qiqi said faintly. What she cultivated was the external-school heart method of the qinggong school. In the early stages, one needed only grasp the essentials to advance with relative ease, but once one's movement speed reached a certain limit, ascending another grade became extraordinarily difficult. So if Yang Qiqi wished to advance further, she would have to pay in far more sweat and sacrifice.