Chapter 3685 — It Must Be Broken!
After all, Kang Jingming was an alchemist, and he was more sensitive to wood-attribute herbs than anyone else. Besides, with Xu Lingchong watching over him, it would have been hard for him not to take first place.
Of course, none of that had anything to do with Wei Zhao. What did please him somewhat was that Zhong Yongliang had managed to enter the top three.
Once the Skyward Pavilion and the Mystic Mechanism Pavilion had finished in turn, it was finally the Azure Cloud Pavilion's turn. Yet four or five names were read out in succession, and every score hovered around two or three hundred points—nothing at all comparable to the results of the new disciples from the other two pavilions. The faces of the three elders, which had been fairly satisfied a moment before, immediately fell.
The new disciples of the Skyward Pavilion and the Mystic Mechanism Pavilion promptly burst into unrestrained jeering laughter. The bald elder seated on the central chair frowned and said, "Have the Azure Cloud Pavilion's new disciples really degenerated to this state? Truly, rotten wood cannot be carved. It seems I should propose to the council of elders that the Azure Cloud Pavilion need not bother recruiting new disciples at all in future—it is a pure waste of resources."
The two elders beside him nodded slightly in agreement. However one looked at it, four or five people in a row scoring only two or three hundred points—such results were utterly wretched. At this rate they would comfortably set a record for the lowest average score; it was just that others strove for the upper limit, while this bunch of worthless Azure Cloud newcomers strove for the lower.
The few who came after them had somewhat more presentable scores, but still only hovered around three or four hundred, remaining incomparable to the new disciples of the Skyward and Mystic Mechanism Pavilions. It was not until Meng Jueming announced Meng Zhou's accumulated points that everyone in the hall suddenly jolted.
"Meng Zhou, one thousand six hundred points."
One thousand six hundred points!
What did that even mean? One had to remember that the highest score among all the new disciples of the two pavilions before this had only just exceeded one thousand two hundred. This score was a whole stretch higher!
The new disciples of the other two pavilions erupted at once, and even the three elders seated above were briefly taken aback. After a moment the bald elder nodded and said, "This new disciple is not bad—highly competitive. He must have snatched a good deal of points from the other newcomers. At least he has saved the Azure Cloud Pavilion a fig leaf."
Hearing the bald elder's praise, Meng Zhou could not help but tilt his chin triumphantly at Wei Zhao, who stood at the very end of the line, his provocation plain for all to see.
Wei Zhao curled his lip in a half-smile, neither confirming nor denying.
After Meng Zhou's dazzling display, the other new disciples reverted to the three- or four-hundred-point level. Amid the mockery and ridicule, this only made Meng Zhou's achievement stand out all the more. Just as the bald elder had said, this new disciple was highly competitive—among the crowd of worthless Azure Cloud newcomers, he stood out like a crane among chickens!
"Xiao Che, one thousand and twenty-three points."
At the sight of Xiao Che's score, the long-suffering senior brother was visibly overjoyed. This result was far better than the total wipeout he had anticipated. Meng Jueming, however, was somewhat stunned; once he recovered, he shot Meng Zhou a glare of displeasure. After all, he had gone to considerable effort this time to ensure Wei Zhao and his companions were eliminated in the trial.
Not only had he prepared a wood-attribute sensor for Meng Zhou in advance to guarantee first place, he had also made a special point of rallying the new disciples so that they would follow Meng Zhou's instructions completely during the trial.
By all reason, with Meng Zhou leading so many people against Wei Zhao's group, barring any major mishap, perfectly eliminating the three of them should have been simplicity itself. Yet here they were: before Wei Zhao's turn had even come, Xiao Che had already broken past a thousand points and reserved a top-three spot in advance!
"Can't even handle such a small matter—utterly useless!" Meng Jueming turned and cursed under his breath.
"Cousin Jiu, you really can't blame me for this. There were genuine extenuating circumstances—I'll explain in detail later," Meng Zhou said, scratching his head awkwardly in self-defense.
"Extenuating circumstances? I'd like to hear just what excuse you've cooked up!" Meng Jueming did not believe for a moment that any reason could explain such a failure given the enormous disparity in strength. But this was hardly the occasion for a long conversation, so he had to let Meng Zhou off for the time being and settle accounts with this good-for-nothing who spoiled everything after the event.
"Qiao Hongcai, five hundred points."
Meng Jueming's expression darkened several degrees further. Five hundred points was not high, but against the general backdrop of the Azure Cloud Pavilion's new disciples mostly scoring three or four hundred, it already counted as a rare high score.
By now he had given up all hope of eliminating Wei Zhao's group. The one thing he counted himself lucky for at this moment was that he had prepared a wood-attribute sensor for Meng Zhou in advance—at least the first place would not slip away. After all, a high score of one thousand six hundred was something no ordinary new disciple could possibly reach unless they plundered the other newcomers wholesale or simply cheated.
Yet when Wei Zhao's turn finally came, and Meng Jueming saw clearly the number displayed on the basket, he was struck dumb on the spot, unable to react for a long while.
"Hm? Jueguang, what are you standing there dazed for? Hurry up and call it out!" Hu Yunfeng shot Meng Jueming a glare of displeasure. Wei Zhao was the last one, and everyone in the hall, the three elders included, was waiting.
"Oh, right." Meng Jueming came back to his senses, rubbed his eyes in disbelief, and finding the number unchanged, finally announced incredulously: "Wei Zhao, one thousand eight hundred points."
One thousand eight hundred points! The whole hall went wild in an instant. Meng Zhou's one thousand six hundred had already given them a shock, and now, unexpectedly, an even more staggering figure had burst out at the very end!
"Good heavens! How is that possible?" Meng Zhou, who had been so sure of victory, was struck completely dumb.
He had already been preparing to celebrate first place! That fool Wei Zhao had clearly given Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai a full thousand points between them—how could he possibly still have one thousand eight hundred? Cousin Jiu must have misread it; it should have been eight hundred!
Yet when he lunged over to see for himself, the basket plainly displayed: one thousand eight hundred points!
"Th-this basket must be broken, surely?" Meng Zhou stammered to Meng Jueming, who was equally incredulous.
The thousand points Wei Zhao had seized earlier had clearly all been distributed to Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai. That meant every point remaining to him had been gathered by his own hands.
One had to remember that Wei Zhao had no cheating device like Meng Zhou's wood-attribute sensor. Gathering everything bit by bit on his own, how could he possibly have amassed a terrifying figure of one thousand eight hundred points? There was only one explanation left: the basket must be broken!
"Indeed, that is possible. I demand it be opened and inspected!" Meng Jueming did not believe for a moment that Wei Zhao could have earned such a high score on his own. Hearing Meng Zhou's words now, he found them deeply convincing.