Chapter 3566 — One Move to Win

"Rest easy. One way or another, we're still fellow disciples of the Azure Cloud Pavilion. At most I'll cripple you—I won't kill you!" Meng Zhou cracked his knuckles and came striding toward Wei Zhao with a savage grin.

The others hurriedly fell back to the sides, all wearing the look of spectators settling in for a show. After all, this was the first challenge they had witnessed since joining the Welcome Pavilion, and the two parties were the fiercest of this batch of Azure Cloud Pavilion newcomers, Meng Zhou, and Wei Zhao, who had come up from the mundane world—both figures well worth watching. Naturally, such a fine spectacle deserved their full attention.

"Junior Brother Wei Zhao, if you can't hold out, call out your surrender at once. That ends the challenge, and he won't be allowed to strike at you again," the Miserable Senior Brother said hastily to Wei Zhao before withdrawing. Like everyone else, he did not think much of Wei Zhao's chances, and if Wei Zhao stubbornly refused to yield, it would be all too easy for this to end in death.

Xiao Che had witnessed Wei Zhao's formidable strength back in the mundane world, but even so he felt a twinge of worry now. Still, he could hardly advise Wei Zhao to back down, so he could only say: "Brother Lin, good luck."

Wei Zhao nodded to the two of them, then turned to Meng Zhou and said coolly: "Go ahead."

"Hah! About to meet your doom and you still dare put on airs before me—you don't even know how the word 'death' is written!" Meng Zhou laughed loudly and lunged at Wei Zhao, without the slightest warning sweeping out a horizontal kick—the Twentieth Stance of the Thousand Legs.

This was the martial art he was used to. The Thousand Legs carried the force of a thousand catties; even against a local expert of the same tier it had ample killing power—let alone against some cut-rate article from the mundane world.

Caught in the backwash of the leg-wind, everyone around paled. Only Wei Zhao, the man at the center of it all, remained unhurried; without any flourish, he met it head-on with the Fifteenth Stance of the Frenzied Flame Eight Trigrams Palm!

Fearing that others might grow resentful and make common cause against him if his strength seemed too high, Wei Zhao did not use his strongest move. Even so, the Fifteenth Stance of the Frenzied Flame Eight Trigrams Palm alone was enough to instantly slay an expert at the peak of the late Heaven Rank—but he had no intention of taking Meng Zhou's life; that would likely have left him unable to stay on the northern island of the Heaven Rank.

His aim, then, was merely to establish his authority, to make people feel he was not to be trifled with, without going straight to wiping anyone out. It would be all to the good if Meng Zhou backed off; if not, then let him bring it on. He had not killed Meng Zhou, so presumably those great personages would not step forward on Meng Zhou's behalf.

Bang! Boom!

Leg met palm, and Meng Zhou was actually sent flying backward by a single blow from Wei Zhao. His internal organs felt as if they had been displaced; before he could struggle to his feet, he retched with a "blaargh" and vomited blood all over the ground—a harrowing sight.

Hiss!

Everyone present fell silent at once, leaving only a chorus of sharp indrawn breaths as they stared at Wei Zhao, every gaze filled with utter shock!

To send Meng Zhou—a peak late Heaven Rank cultivator at great consummation—flying with a single palm strike: what kind of strength was that? Could the people of the mundane world really have grown so overbearing now?

Not only these newcomers; even Meng Jueming now looked at Wei Zhao with something like disbelief. Meng Zhou might be a rootless loose cultivator, but at the great-consummation Heaven Rank level he could hardly be called weak—and yet a so-called cut-rate article from the mundane world had defeated him in a single move. The result was simply too unexpected!

"I thank you for the lesson..." Wei Zhao smiled with an airy indifference. To avoid revealing his Foundation Establishment strength, he had deliberately suppressed himself to the great-consummation Heaven Rank level—and even so, Meng Zhou had been no match for him at all.

"You can't even beat some cut-rate article from the mundane world—what a waste!" Meng Jueming glared at the bedraggled Meng Zhou on the ground and cursed him in exasperation at his failure to live up to expectations.

This had been arranged especially to give Meng Zhou a chance to shine, to let him establish his authority before the newcomers. Who would have thought the mud could not be troweled onto the wall—and now the limelight had been stolen entirely by that fellow Wei Zhao.

The strong are honored, and these newcomers were fence-sitters with no firm footing to begin with. The only reason they had previously gone to such lengths to curry favor with Meng Zhou was that he was strong and had a powerful backer. Now that Wei Zhao had knocked him flat with a single move, the wind had shifted in an instant.

Though, with a backer like their senior brother Meng Jueming, these people would not go so far as to attach themselves directly to Wei Zhao, the awed and reverent looks they now cast at Wei Zhao made it clear that it would no longer be so easy for Meng Zhou to win them over in the days to come. At the very least, he would have to get past Wei Zhao—that fellow who kept his depths hidden—first.

Under everyone's watching eyes, after a spell of miserable struggle, Meng Zhou finally managed to climb to his feet, his gaze toward Wei Zhao full of venom. This time he had lost face before everyone—defeated in a single move by a country bumpkin from the mundane world. It was a humiliation that would be hard to wash away for the rest of his life! If word of this got out, he would never have a foothold in the Welcome Pavilion again!

"Your eyes say you're not convinced. That's fine—the match has only just begun. I've thrown a single move, barely warmed up, and haven't even gotten into my rhythm yet. Shall we continue?" Wei Zhao regarded Meng Zhou with a calm expression. Clearly this fellow was not reconciled.

Again? What the hell! Warmed up? Not into his rhythm?

Seeing every gaze in the place fixed on him at once, Meng Zhou's expression changed again, and he involuntarily shrank back two steps.

Wei Zhao had not struck to kill just now, but taking that Fifteenth Stance of the Frenzied Flame Eight Trigrams Palm had left him badly hurt—had he not already vomited blood all over the ground? The fact that he could struggle to his feet now was purely stubborn pride clinging to the last shred of his face. If he took another palm strike like that, he would surely be beaten to death on the spot!

Seeing Meng Zhou actually frightened off by a single casual remark from Wei Zhao, several of the newcomers at the edge could not hold back their laughter. Meng Zhou had been swaggering and blustering just moments ago, carrying on as though he were invincible across the whole field—and after one palm he had been scared into this state. The contrast was simply enormous!

And to think he had been the one accusing Wei Zhao of putting on airs! Now it was plain as day that the words had been aimed at himself all along. What shameless boasting—and now look: the posing had failed, and he had made a complete fool of himself!

"What are you laughing at? A challenge between fellow disciples is only a friendly sparring match—is there anything so funny about it? Do you laugh because you think you're quite capable and want to step up and have a try? And you, Meng Zhou—you idiot, how long do you mean to go on disgracing me? Get out of here at once!" Meng Jueming's face was livid with rage. Had it not been for all the eyes watching, he would have loved nothing more than to step forward and beat Meng Zhou soundly himself.